That was my view at the Verizon Center last night as I was able to swing my first ever courtside photo assignment.

It was pretty overwhelming. Head over to DCist for the results.

I've become very familiar and comfortable shooting MLS games but this is a much different beast. The action is much faster and since the court is much smaller than the pitch, the lulls in action are few and far between. Thank god for TV timeouts. The ball almost hit me once, but thankfully I didn't have to duck out of the way of a player while he was jumping out of bounds or anything like that.

I had a hard time finding the right lens to use. I brought out my 70-200mm and my 17-50. One was too long and the other too short. Hopefully my 28-75 will be just right. Still, I got some shots I was proud of.

Even though the TWolves are 3-16, it was really cool seeing all the Celtics from last year's team. Minny has a decent squad, but the pieces don't mesh very well. Corey Brewer is a keeper though. He was battling Brendan Haywood for boards all night long. And when he'd corral one, he'd take off up the court and take it to the hole.

Unfortunately for him, he had to guard Caron Butler. I'm having trouble coming up with a long list of players that are playing better than Butler is this year. Seriously, if you're not paying attention to Tuff Juice, you're missing out.

Count me in.

but I'm intercontinental when I eat French toast. And play fantasy football.

Yes, yours truly has willed his ragtag group of NFL cast-offs and no names (Jeff Garcia, Ryan Grant, Earnest Graham and Michael Boley to name a few) all the way to the top of the standings. Cleverly Named Team will not be stopped!

Yes, I know you couldn't care less, but I felt the need to make you aware of my extraordinary GM abilities. I don't have single player in the overall points Top 20.

Of course, I'm currently sitting in 10th place in my basketball pool (thanks Gilbert).

This, dear friends, is what is known in the basketball parlance as "laying the smack down."

Memo to Qrich: Stop talking that shit.

**UPDATE**

Another thing I can cross off my list of "to-do's": Be on the field when a major league sports team celebrates winning a championship. That's your truly captured in the reflection on the MLS Cup trophy. Houston ensured that New England will not have a stranglehold on winning every sports championship this year, beating the NE Revolution 2-1 yesterday. For The Revs, it was deja vu all over again, as they struck first and took the lead, but ultimately lost the game. Just like last year.

More photos soon.

Oh, and my high school reunion was so much fun that I missed my flight back on Sunday morning and missed the first half of the game. Oh well.

I have quite the weekend ahead of me. Tomorrow morning I'm flying to the Cackalack to meet up with some high school friends that I haven't seen in over 10 years. We're all heading to our 15 year high school reunion. (Sidenote:I'm OLD) Should be interesting. I'm alternatively excited and terrified. I haven't seen anyone from high school since before I moved to NYC seven years ago.

And if that's not enough, I have a 7 a.m. flight back to D.C. on Sunday (yeah, that's going to be awesome) so I can be back in time for MLS Cup, which kicks off at noon. Even though D.C. United didn't make it through to the finals, I'm very much looking forward to the match up between New England and Houston. Both teams are fun to watch and hopefully that will translate into an exciting game. They're predicting a high of 48 degrees on Sunday, better bundle up.

Speaking of United, Luciano Emilio won MLS MVP honors yesterday.

Completely unrelated:
Gary Payton, pretty much retired.

Wired likes the new Canon 40D.

The rocky history of rockers in videogames.

Wu-Tang Clan's RZA breaks down his Kung Fu Samples by film and song.

10 video games that should be movies.

I was in the Pacers locker room tonight after the game and after getting a few quotes from visibly frustrated former Dukie Mike Dunleavy Jr., I headed over to Jermaine O'Neal's locker to join the crowd trying to get quotes from him. I was late getting over there and was forced to stand on the periphery of the crowd. While I was straining to get my voice recorder near JO, I felt someone tugging at the printout of the final box score in my free hand. It was Danny Granger (4-13 from the field, 11 points, 5 turnovers, 5 fouls). I let him have it, he gave it the once over, looked at me and said, "Damn." Then he handed the sheet back to me and headed to the bus.

D.C. United tied Chicago last night but ultimately fell on goal aggregate 3-2, thus ending their season. I'm sad. I lovelovelove going to United games and covering them for DCist. I get such a rush being on the field and taking photos. To see them lose last night was tough. The silver lining here is that by winning the Supporters Shield, United will start their season early again (February?) next year. That and my Mom said I was on TV a few times during the game. I DVR'ed the game, screenshots (and Julie Foudy photos) forthcoming. Until then...

After the game I headed over to the Black Cat to meet up with my new friend Jim Fairchild (aka All Smiles). I missed Jim's set but met up with him while David Bazan was playing and we had a great time hanging out downstairs at the Cat. I'm certainly glad I don't work in the music industry anymore, but at the same time, I sure do enjoy talking about it and its ailments. Jim is a great guy and a joy to be around, as is David. I think I talked Jim into trying to snag the opener slot on the upcoming Super Furry tour (scheduled for January '09) so hopefully we'll be seeing each other again very soon.

Also, Jim said someone that bought a CD from him at a recent show told him that they did so on my recommendation. Awesome! And cheers to you whoever you are.

Morrissey. Tonight.

With a photo pass.

!!!!!!!!

You should take my absence from the interwebs (on a week where I have not one but two Morrissey shows on tap in addtion to the MLS playoffs coming to town and the NBA tipping off) as an indication at just how frigging busy I am at work right now. Lots of stuff to be said but no time to say it.

At Natalya's behest, I saw Jimmy Eat World last night at the 9:30 Club. They were good but not great. Actually they are great at what they do but I'm not really a fan of that. They tend to have two types of songs: shouty and sing-alongy. The set was more the former than the latter. Although "The Sweetness" was pretty bad ass. Always secretly liked that song. Due to the dreaded ticket snafu(it eventually got sorted), I missed 90% of Viva Voce's set, which is a shame because I really wanted to check them out. But I loved what I did get to see. I had to sign a photo waver for the headliners, so head over to DCist to see a few photos from the show.

After the show I came home all ready to watch some NBA only to have my cable and internet go on the fritz. Thanks Comcast. Also, I'm going to have to pull a Sports Guy and run my NBA preview over the weekend or next week. I got my Washington Wizards press credentials renewed this year so (assuming he's not traded for Kobe) expect more leaf v. Agent Zero posts in the very near future. Best.

Morrissey at Ram's Head (capacity 600) tonight. I decided just to shoot photos at the D.C. show on Friday (still waiting on confirmation). I hope I don't end up regretting that one.

Here's an mp3 to make up for this lame post:

[MP3] UNKLE | War Stories (The Psychopab Def Mix)

My grandmother, a Red Sox fan until the end, lived a long and full life and never saw a Red Sox team crowned World Series Champion. She died in June of 2004 and never got to see The Idiots conquer the Yankees and sweep aside the Cardinals.
She's definitely on my mind tonight.
So's my grandfather. He's lived to see two Red Sox Champions.
So have I!
It's a wonderful feeling and it never gets old. '04 was a different sort of ride, but I got the goosebumps and the shit eating grin all over again tonight.
It's a great feeling.
I know being a member of Red Sox Nation today doesn't mean the same thing it did in '03 or '04 (or before that for that matter) but I don't give a fuck. Haters can hate all they want.

The Red Sox are World Series Champs again!

Time for Manny to hit the strip club.

**UPDATE** Like Ghostface, I just want to celebrate.

[MP3] Ghostface | Celebrate