Hitmen Out in First Round

December 14th, 2007, 6:30 PM PST @ Pan American Park

Hitmen Eliminated by Cal Twerps. Season ends. I didn't get a chance to play in this game because of a company holiday party.

The Recap:
LZ Softball: Bye Week; Next Game 1/3/08
LBC Basketball: Bye Week. Next Game (playoff) 12/22/07
LZ Basketball: Next Game 1/2/08
NotGuilty Basketball (below): Season ended; 2nd place.

LZ Basketball Winners Again

December 12th, 2007, 7:00 PM PST @ LA Fitness Hollywood

LegalZoom 73, Uzi SMGs 57.

The Playoff Run

December 7th, 2007, 6:00 PM PST @ Pan American Park

Hitmen softball playoff game was canceled due to bad field conditions. This was great news because I had a playoff basketball game in Chinatown.


December 7th, 2007, 6:15 PM PST @ Alpine Rec Center

NotGuiltyBrand.com dominated this game from the get-go and never looked back. We won by thirty. Not bad for our first playoff game.

Boxscore (I swear I hit at least one three-pointer, whatever we won):

NotGuitly 69, Monkey Baller 42

What a surprising win. We lost by twenty-points on a regular basis in the regular season and decided to win by twenty-points in our first playoff game. Nice.


December 8th, 2007, 12:30 PM PST @ Banning HS

LBC received news that Big Jibri has been banned from all future games for the South Bay Basketball League.

Then we played 5 on 4 (with a 30-point spot) and whooped them 119-77. The only thing I can remember from this game is this one bad player on the other team.

1. He couldn't catch a basketball if his life depended on it.
2. He couldn't dribble a basketball with two hands. I'm not sure if a third hand would of helped.
3. He couldn't shoot. Actually, I lied. He shot a layup and shot it over the backboard. Yes, he shot a layup.

LBC advances to the quarterfinals (first-round bye last week) and will probably play against 10-0 Lights Out.


December 8th, 2007, 6:00 PM PST @ Best Fit Gym

NotGuilty 58, Walnut JL 48

Good mercy, my stats are nasty sucky. I don't even remember shooting 15 times. Now I know why they always send me to the bench first. Bastards.

Besides Grandpa, there was nothing memorable about this game except that the 60 freeway was at a dead-crawl all the way to the Azusa exit. Ridiculous traffic on a Saturday night.

There was this 50-something-year old man that played for Walnut JL. He goes flying if you make even the smallest amount of contact. He went down on this one play trying to box me out for a rebound. I barely touched him and nearly killed him. I blew by him about 20 times and missed the layup every time. Snaps, that explains the 2 for 15.

Anyhow we advance to the Championship game with this win. Walnut JL was 10-0 in the regular season and did not bring their full-squad.

One more thing to report:

Long Beach Poly 13, Crespi 3.
Southern Section CIF Division I Champs.
Lookout for:
Melvin Richardson and Vaughn Telemaque


December 9th, 2007, 11:30 AM PST @ Best Fit Gym

This was a winnable game and we should of been crowned champions but we had to settle for second place.

It was a bad sign from the moment my cell phone rang.

Tuan calls me one hour before my alarm went off (there goes my sleep) and says he can't play in the game because his car wash fun-raiser is no longer rained out. I try to go back to sleep and can't. So I wake up in a grouchy mood and extra hungry. I go to the kitchen in search of some tummy-stuffers. Nothing. So I hit up the dry-food shelves and dig out some cup-noodles. I figured I'd eat two cause I'm so hungry. Two, three, three. That's the number I pound my finger into the microwave keypad. I go start up the car. I pop the second cup in while I eat the first one (I like to pound Sriracha and vinegar, don't do this unless your stomach can handle it) while watching Vince Young get sacked after the Titans recovered a fumble deep in Chargers' territory. Anyhow, I finished my first cup noodle and the second one is ready (after some Sriracha and vinegar, of course). I trash the first one and get the second one out of the microwave. I decided to pop a third one in while I eat the second one. So I ended up downing 3 cup noodles (all with Sriracha and vinegar) before gametime. That's a lot of MSG. Still. I'm still hungry.



So right when I'm about to get into the car, my stomach starts to act up. I'm like dang, I gotta hit up the toilet but it's already 10:45 AM and Sean just called me and asked me if I was on my way. So I gutted it out and hit the road.

When I get to the gym, my stomach tells me that I gotta go. And if you gotta go, then you gotta go. At least that's how I see it. So I hit up the men' restroom and the toilet rolls are dangling with nothing. Great!



So I'm thinking to myself that there are barely any girls here so I should try the women' restroom (yeah I'm that ghetto and that gangster, or whatever you want to call it). I go in there and check stall number one. Damn, does anybody refill toilet paper in this joint. Stall number two (there's only two stalls) is empty as well. The janitor must be on vacation or something. So at this point my stomach is reaching its peak. I see sheet-covers on the ground and got this great idea that I'm going to use this as toilet paper. This isn't my greatest improvision technique but dang it's a lot better than nothing. So I pull one of those babies over the toilet seat and gametime.

Man, while I was sitting and thinking how whack this gym is, the door squeaks open and someone comes in. And yes, I'm still in the women' restroom and not in the men' restroom when I'm pretty sure there were seat covers in there too. Some girl goes into the first stalls and then immediately goes back out and walks past my stall and towards the locker/shower area. And then she goes back past my stall and hangs around the sink area (probably checking herself out or something) cause I didn't hear her exiting (the door didnt squeak a second time). But finally she leaves and I wipe using the seat covers with my left hand (I've been wiping with my left hand since the day I broke my middle finger and it still hurts when I try to do it with my right hand). So just when I'm done wiping, I heard a bunch of kids screaming in the hallway and a voice of a Mom trying to settle her kids down. So I'm thinking man I can't just bust out of the women' restroom just like that with all those people out there. So I wait and wait and finally they stop and I wash my hands (yes I didn't forget) and left when it was quiet.

Mission accomplished.

Then we lost the game.

Taiwan Center B 59, NotGuilty 53

Not sure why I didn't log 40 minutes in the most important game of the season!

Losing It

December 6th, 2007, 9:00 PM PST @ Pan Pacific

Little Bar Lounge 13, LegalZoom 12

This was a pretty good game even though we were dead-short on players. A holler to Marshall for bringing his roommate to fill the lineup card although I have to say he sucks. He struck out twice (in a row), the second time after saying he's going to hit a monster opposite-field homerun. Right.

We also had to pick up Billy from the other team who did a pretty solid job.

Time to let the boxscore take the floor.



On a different note, it seems like I've been losing it when it comes to my managerial skills. For the past couple weeks, our softball team has been struggling to get eight players to show on a consistent basis. The minimum number of position is ten. Not solid.

In addition, the basketball team has about 6 to 7 players showing up on a consistent basis with two of the main big guns yet to return.

I can't control other peoples' doings though. Besides, all you really need is me. =)

Big Lost

November 30th, 2007, 6:30 PM PST @ Pan American Park

Long Beach Softball playoff game rained out. I was planning on going to the Poly game but watched it at home instead.

Long Beach Poly 2,
Orange Lutheran 0



CIF Southern Section D-I Championship
December 8, 2007, 8:10 PM PST @ HDC
Long Beach Poly vs Crespi


December 1st, 2007, 3:30 PM PST @ Banning HS

LBC goes down 63-54 in the last game of the regular season of the South Bay Basketball League.

This is a big lost because Big Jibri got ejected and will have to serve a one-game suspension for the opening round of the playoffs in a single-elimination postseason starting next week.

JBreeze received a second technical at the end of the third quarter for mumbling a couple of f words at Mr. Ref and got tossed. Ejection. After throwing a tantrum and a couple chairs, he decided to leave the gym in a proper manner. The game was tied after three quarters.

I'm pretty sure our record is 5-5 but somehow we hold the second best record in the league at 7-3.


December 2nd, 2007, 2:00 PM PST @ Montebello HS

Chinese Ballers League Basketball playoff game canceled. Postponed to next week. NotGuity (3-7) to play Monkey Ballers (4-6) in the first-round.

LegalZoom Softball Smashed

November 29th, 2007, 7:30 PM PST @ Pan Pacific Park

Priviledged & Confidential 23, LegalZoom 6.

We scored in one inning, the third inning, and they smacked us for ten runs in the bottom of the first.

Lame Game

November 28th, 2007, 7:00 PM PST @ LA Fitness Hollywood

LegalZoom (3-1) wins over Air Ballers (0-3).

This was the most boring game of my life. Our opponents' skill level was that of the Chinese Ballers' League's caliber. They were ridiculously weak. I didn't bother to play half of the game because it was too easy.

The scary thing was they were all black and they even had a beastly looking Glen Davis.

Sorry Big Baby, good game.

After the game, I drove to West LA to Westwood Rec Center for basketball practice with the Chinese League Team. We played one game and then the lights went out. We then drove over to Stoner Park and played some half-courts until 11:30 PM when the Park Ranger kicked us out.

Solid exercise night!

A Thanksgiving Game

November 24th, 2007, 10:30 AM PST @ Banning HS

Surprisingly, there was a game this past weekend during Thanksgiving weekend and it wasn't a forfeit. The game did start with a 4 on 4 and Tom (the Commissioner) kept on saying this is the first time he has held games over a holiday weekend in over 18 years. I didn't bother to ask him why this year was different. Whatever.

We lost an overtimer 80-74. LBC is now 5-4 although the standings have us at 6-3. Cool.

Stats: 16 points, 7-12 FG's.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! We lost the Turkey Bowl against the Meckna's 28-14.

Poppin' W's

November 16th, 2007, 7:45 PM PST @ Pan American Park

The Hitmen (8-2) got by What's Poppin' (8-2), 16-14.

It was three weeks since I last played in this league. I played right-center field for the first time and had two big put-outs in the final inning in a one-run game. Too easy.

A holler to Sam for some great-pitching. He got major help behind him with some very solid infield play, primarily from Stevo. As for the outfield, everyone was solid except for Edgar who dropped three fly-balls. The ball kept poppin' out of his glove as if some poppin' device was secretly inserted in his glove. Very strange.

Anyhow it was good to beat these guys. What's Poppin' is the biggest-mouth trash-talking softball team ever and it was good to whoop on them and shut them up.

Batted: 3 for 4.

Final Regular Season Stats:



Final Standings:




November 17th, 2007, 2:30 PM PST @ Banning HS

LBC (5-3) wins. I did not play. I was in Chinatown for the Chinese League doubleheader.

Thanks to Ronnie for filling-in for me. I'll be back next game, thank you very much.


November 17th, 2007, 3:00 PM PST @ Alpine Rec Center

NotGuilty (1-7) loses to Denglaw Center (2-6). This is terrible. We were up 10-0 to start the game and then things changed. We started to miss defensive assignments, miss layups and open jumpers, and turned the ball over a kazillion times. I played miserably.

We lose by double-digits.

Boxscore: http://chineseballers.com/show_game_result.php?id=1485&PHPSESSID=a7d3404fdea0326faab96167371d4128


November 17th, 2007, 4:00 PM PST @ Alpine Rec Center

NotGuilty (2-7) gets a win in the second game of their doubleheader against United Pacific Bank.

Even though we were able to pull this one out, it was an ugly game. I believe we won by three points and they had a shot to tie the game with a three-pointer in the corner with about 12 seconds left. Fortunately they missed. If the game had gone to overtime and we had ended up losing the game, I'm not sure if we should ever be allowed to play in this league again.

Somehow someway we blew a twelve point lead with about :50 seconds left in the game. For some unknown reason our players kept fouling the other team in the backcourt sixty feet away from the rim, putting them on the line for free points with the clock stopped. It's as if some of us had money on the game and wanted them to cover the spread. Ridiculous stuff.

As for the game, it was Killa Kev's game (for some reason he is Adrian Magniza in the box score). I'm not sure how many threes he hit but I kept driving and kickin' it to him for the 3-balls. Solid shooting. Any kind of solid anything is good enough to win games in this league.

I've never said this before because I wasn't there for the first game but "Not Guilty Wins! Not Guilty Wins!"

Boxscore: http://chineseballers.com/show_game_result.php?id=1482&PHPSESSID=a7d3404fdea0326faab96167371d4128


November 18th, 2007, 1:00 PM PST @ Best Fit Gym

NotGuilty (3-7) wins in a halftime forfeit by Monkey Ballers. We were up by ten points.

There's nothing to say here except that we're actually good enough to beat a team with four players in one half of play. Sweet.

Boxscore: http://chineseballers.com/show_game_result.php?id=1460&PHPSESSID=a7d3404fdea0326faab96167371d4128

Here's a look at the final standings:



And the playoff bracket:

Low Row, Still Two in a Row

November 15th, 2007, 7:30 PM PST @ Poinsettia Rec Center

LegalZoom 14, Piraats 9.

A weak win but we match our longest winning streak in two seasons: TWO!



Here are the standings (we are now [4-5]):

http://www.laparks.org/dos/sports/softball/fall_win_07_08/492-7F.pdf

The Shoot-Out

November 14th, 2007, 7:00 PM PST @ LA Fitness Hollywood

LegalZoom 107, Milwaukee's Best 97.

It was a shootout display put on by LegalZoom (2-1) and Milwaukee's Best (0-2) Wednesday night. Both teams shot like 80% and some former Auburn player threaten to break Kobe's 81. He had 38 points at halftime. Kobe only had 26.

He came up just a little short.

When the final buzzer went off, he had dropped a fat five-eight in the points column. That's fifty-eight (58 pts) points including 14 three-pointers. He was still 23 points shy of 81.



The difference: Kobe's black and he aint. They both whine like bad poker players though.

I would give the dude more props but the guy just kept complaining like a bitch. Some of his comments and what actually happened in brackets.

"That's an and-one." [nobody is within 2 feet of him]
"He's holding me." [he pulled up for a 3 pter pass half-court, no one's around him]
"He touched my elbow." [two defenders ran by him clean]

Someone needs to drop a Milwaukee Best beer can on the sucker! "Men should act like men."



Here are some stats from our team (92% of our offense):

Dillingham, L.
30 points, 17 rebounds, 7 assists

Lew-Hailer, K.
25 points

Sheppard, M.
22 points, 18 rebounds

Nguyen, V.
21 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists

Fantasy Beat Continues..

Yahoo:




ESPN:

Missed, Canceled, and Won

November 9th, 2007, 6:30 PM PST @ Pan American Park

I didn't go. Not sure if we won. Traffic. Had chores anyway.


November 10th, 2007, 2:00 PM & 3:00PM @ San Marino HS

Both games were canceled. I'm not sure why.


November 10th, 2007, 5:30 PM @ Banning HS

LBC 78, Running Bull 74. LBC goes over the .500 mark (4-3).

We jumped out to a big early lead and never relinquished it. A shout to Tomo and Sereywath for filling in nicely. Good win.

Solid Team Win

Novemeber 8th, 2007, 7:30 PM PST @ Poinsettia Rec Center

LegalZoom (3-5) softball escaped with a 13-9 victory in seven innings Thursday night.



This was a solid win over Dead Presidents (5-3) since we started and finished the game with only eight players. We played some great defense and committed a total of one error with only three infielders and three outfielders. Pretty solid.

Thanks to Omar for being a nice fill-in. Omar was a random guy at the park playing soccer with his kids. I told him about our forfeiture situation (we only had seven players) and he gladly offered his help. Solid.

Dead Presidents' offense was non-existent for the first sixth innings, scoring only three runs but exploded for six in the final inning to make it interesting. Like my man Chick Hearn use to say "Close but no cigar."

Another Lost

November 7th, 2007, 7:00 PM PST @ LA Fitness Hollywood

LegalZoom's (1-1) basketball team lost, 62-51, Wednesday night to the Bulls (1-1). It was a decent effort by LZ, playing without most of their big guns (no Moseley, Withers, Dillingham, and McNair).

We built an early thirteen point lead in the first half but couldn't hold it. I had about 13 points in the first half shooting 6 for 8 and then decided to disappear in the 2nd half scoring only 3 points.

NFL Fantasy Domination Continues..

Yahoo Leagues:



ESPN League:

Team Help

November 2nd, 2007, 6:30 PM PST @ Pan American Park

I didn't play softball on Friday; I was catching up with some good friends: Tony, Karen, Pamela, Liz, and Melanie.

I heard we won. Hitmen (6-2) beat Faded (2-6).




November 3rd, 2007, 4:00 PM PST @ San Marino HS

NotGuilty (1-6) was destroyed and embarassed by Walnut JL (7-0), 84-50. I believe we trailed by 39 points at one-point. I didn't start. I'm not happy about that. Three subs came in at the 9-minute mark left in the first half and I wasn't one of them. I need to take over this team and I will.

I don't think I've ever seen or been a part of a licking like this ever. For the first time ever, I wanted to quit.

We need to make some changes: new coach, less players, and a new team name. How about Team Help.

Stats: Click here.


November 4th, 2007

South Bay basketball league was on a bye-week. LBC (3-3).

Axed

November 1st, 2007, 7:30 PM PST @ Pan Pacific Rec Center

Axewounds 26, LegalZoom 11, Final 5 Innings.

Here are the current standings:

http://www.laparks.org/dos/sports/softball/fall_win_07_08/492-7F.pdf

Axewound (6-1)
LegalZoom (2-5)

Another Fantasy Post

ESPN Fantasy League:



Yahoo Fantasy Leagues:

Hammer and Hammered

October 26th, 2007, 9:00 PM PST @ Pan American Park

Hitmen (5-2) hammered Cal Twerps (3-4) by eight runs Friday night, 26-18.

A couple pictures of the brothers:




This wasn't a very exciting game (for me at least). I got hammered in the first two innings (3 runs in the 1st and 10 runs in the 2nd). I was pulled and our best pitcher was inserted. He showed up just a little late. His reason was a big surprise: stuck in traffic on the 405.

I lost confidence in the second inning and was pitching like Ballfour (probably not that bad but I wasn't good). I finished the second inning, then Sam came in and finished the last five innings nicely.

Anyhow, the highlight involved a guy by the name of Kendrick Chipman. Kendrick is the best hitter in the history of softball leagues. He's our Barry Bonds without the steroids. Actually, I'm not sure; he could be on that HGH stuff, especially, after what happened in this game.



He homered in his first plate appearance. The ball hit the trees in right-field and almost disappeared. His second at-bat was an unintentional intentional walk where the pitcher threw three pitches halfway to homeplate and one over his head. He had to throw four because Kendrick swung at one of them to keep his at-bat alive. He walked on the fourth pitch.

In his third at-bat, the pitcher did the same thing. He throws one ball deep over the catcher's head and then one ball halfway short to homeplate. On the third-pitch, he threw another high pitch over Kendrick's head. But this time Kendrick took a hack and didn't miss. He swung his bat over his head in a downward-forward motion just like a blacksmith hammering his rod of steel. Kendrick didn't miss, he connected and the ball landed in the same spot as his first homerun: in the trees. The pitcher was clapping his hands. The umpire gave him a high-five as he stepped on homeplate. It was a disturbing homerun. Boy, I'm glad he's on my team.

Manager DPeng just released Season 25 stats. Here they are:




Here are the updated standings:



October 27th, 2007, 5:00 PM PST @ San Marino HS

NotGuilty (1-5) got hammered, 52-41 by Taiwan Center B (4-2).

I don't have much to say here except for the fact that I sucked it up because we should be winning even if our team sucks. But yeah, we suck. The other team sucks too. But they won and we didn't. That means we really suck!

Props to McNair and Killa Kev for showing up with six minutes left in the game when we were down by fifteen points. I appreciate it fellas! Not to mention, Magniza went down after ten minutes into the game with an ankle-sprain. Great game all-around.

Stats link: www.chineseballers.com


October 28th, 2007, 9:50 AM PST @ Banning HS

LBC (3-3) lose to 3-D, 74-70, on Sunday.

Once again, we found a way to lose a game. Even though we didn't have our best player, Kevin filled in and we should of won.

We were up by ten points on the defending champs in the third quarter until we decided to pass the other team the ball instead of to our own teammates. We turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions and had a 50-40 lead turned into a 51-53 deficit. Horrible.

More problems. This is from the October 2nd entry:

"James, our starting power forward, told one of his boys to join the team. I didn't get his name but he's a short Asian/Filipino/Mexican-looking guy. He pulled me from the game a couple times after like four minutes of play. I didn't like the gesture. He thinks he's good. He's not. I don't like him. I hope he never comes back."

It turns out that he shot about 1/10 in this game including 0 for 5 from 3-point land. Towards the end of the game, he pulled me out of the game (as if he's a better shooter than me or as if he's been hitting threes all-day) when we were down by 2 points and the other team shooting two free-throws. The guy shooting the free-throws was a defensive specialist and didn't seem like a good free-throw shooter. He missed both free-throws and finds a way to get his own rebound. That Asian/Filipino/Mexican-looking guy (let's call him Turnover) doesn't run after the ball and I blame him for not getting the loose ball. So that guy returns to the free-throw line to shoot two more. Of course, he makes the first one. In between the first and second free-throw, Turnover tells Manny to switch with him. Let's just say that Manny is about 6 inches taller than Turnover. What a great switch! Put the smaller man in the paint to rebound a miss free-throw! For some reason Manny conceded to the move but the dude ends up hitting the free-throw anyway (not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing). So we're down by five points and Turnover comes down and chucks up a three-pointer like it's going in. It doesn't. Manny gets the rebound and hits a three. We foul the same guy and somehow he hits two more free throws and we lose.

Jibri on Turnover (after our previous game):
"I don't like that guy man...[he] turns the ball over too much."

Stats: 3/5 FG's, 2/2 FT's, 8 points, 4 rebounds.

LZ Softball Gets A Win

October 25th, 2007, 7:30 PM PST

LZ's (2-4) Softball beat Junk in the Trunk (0-5) Thursday night, 16-11.



All week long before this matchup between two cellar dwellers, my co-worker AC's been telling me he can't be worst than me in pitching. This is suppose to be the game where he takes over the pitching duties and allows me to play third-base (a position in dire need of a new player, no offense to my man Strum). However, a new-recruit was playing third this game putting me in right field. Either way, AC starts the game as pitcher.

In the first inning, he walks a couple batters but manages to get out of the inning fairly harmless: three runs, one walk. No biggie. Good start.

In the second inning, AC strikes out two of the three batters and they go 1-2-3. Nice, new pitcher in the making!

Not so fast...

In the third inning, "Ball-four" became AC's new name. He walked the bases loaded to start the inning. And then he walked a couple more with the bases loaded. After walking home a couple more runs, he decided to walk home a couple more. He wasn't even close to the plate. If you enlarge the plate three times its regular size, he'd still miss by four feet. He was missing long, short, left, right, top, bottom, high, low, everywhere! You get the point. So then he throws one strike and then walks in a couple more.

After a while, I decided enough is enough. Exit: AC. Enter: Me. I come in from right field and AC goes out to right field. My confident little self tells blue (blue = umpire) that I don't need any warm-up throws. I throw three pitches in a row to the first hitter I face and walk him. Not good.

But of course, I don't walk anyone else and the next three batters are out in order and we're out of the inning. They scored six runs in that inning. I gave up two runs in the last four innings including three shut-out innings. Solid. Ballfour = not solid.

Here are some pictures from the game:

This is Kevin, our best hitter on the team. He plays left-center/center field.



This is Kendy, our second best hitter on the team. He plays left-field.



This is me and AC. Don't ask me why I'm holding a football with my left hand. Michael Vick baby!



This is me and Athens:

Slow Start, Fighting Finish

October 24th, 2007, 7:30 PM PST

The third-season kick-off wasn't as strong as I wanted but still a successful one. LZ (1-0) posted a 45-41 victory over one of the weaker teams in the league.

We ran ten deep with three returning starters from last season. Our two best rebounders were M.I.A.; they both averaged over ten rebounds each last season. It was definitely a factor last night as we got pounded big-time on the glass. This one youngster (Kevin Durant-like) was killing us left and right. He scored at least sixty-percent of their team's points (I think half of his points came on put-backs). Too bad in the end he lost and we won. Good game KD!

On an outside note, this game was in the makes of getting pretty dirty pretty fast. Some white-guy (about 5'11) with an Arizona Mike Bibby jersey (#10) brought his elbow up high on my shoulder when I was boxing him out on a shot that was a pump-fake.



I had to give him the check-down. He pulled off for a screen for one of his teammates. I gave him a blind-sided push on his back. Left hand on the number one and right hand on the zero. A solid ten-yard illegal block in the back. The good thing was that neither ref saw the push or else I'd been called for a technical (maybe an ejection). He didn't retaliate and played as if nothing happened. Sweet.

Wait...

A couple possessions later, Big L (yes, the dynasty is reborn!) drove to the rack for a lay-up and Bibby (B) gives him a solid foul. L goes chest-to-chest with Bibby and hollers "Let's Go!..."

L: Watch out baby...I'm unemployed and I'm looking for work.
B: I know, I know you're living off your Mom at home.
L: Oh no baby, your mom is living with me and she's sucking my #@$*.

Next possession down, KD drives to hoop in the open-court and my guy McNair gives him a solid shoulder to the mid-section making sure he meets mister floor. Bibby comes in for some more mouth-jawing and McNair tells him what are you going to do about it. Flagrant foul. No punches thrown. No technicals. Halftime.

In the second half, KD drives to the hoop again and Kevin decides he need to get on the foul tally sheet. A clean foul in attempt to stop an easy lay-up. KD didn't appreciate the contact. He opens his mouth and Kevin gets in his face. KD's mouth suddenly goes into shut-down mode. Kevin becomes Killa Kev and Bibby is mumbling something hiding behind his boys. Technical foul. KK out of the game.

In the end, no fists were fired. And oh yeah we didn't lose.

Sports League Updates

Wednesdays:
LZ Basketball Third Season starting...
Record: 0-0

Thursdays:
LZ Softball Season Game Six tomorrow night.
Record: 1-4

Fridays:
Hitmen Softball Season Game Seven Friday night.
Record: 4-2

Saturdays:
NotGuilty Basketball Season Game Six Saturday night.
Record: 1-4

Sundays:
LBC Basketball Season Game Six on Sunday.
Record: 3-2

Fantasy Post Update

2007 Fantasy Archives (from 8/27/07 post):

$5 NBA 2006-2007 Fantasy Lil' Bro's League (last place: -$5)
$50 NBA 2006-2007 Fantasy LegalZoom (1st place: +$205)
$25 NFL 2007 Playoff Fantasy LegalZoom (1st place: +$75)
$20 NFL 2007 Super Bowl Picks LegalZoom (1st place: +$90)
$20 NCAA 2007 Pick 'Ems (last place, money back: $0)
$50 MLB 2007 Alex's League (6th place out of 7: -$50)
$20 NFL 2007 Fantasy Ryan's League (see below "The$$$$y'all")
$20 NFL 2007 Fantasy Pitou's League (see below "sillywilly")
$25 NFL 2007 Fantasy LegalZoom ESPN (see below "2ND FLOOR")

Ryan's/Pitou's Leagues:



LegalZoom League:

Poker and Basketball

October 19th, 2007, 9:00 PM PST

I never made it to the game. I went to go play poker with Killa Kev right after work and didn't leave until 9:30 PM PST. I missed my softball game, missed a dinner get-together with my high school friends, and missed a birthday party at V2O. I didn't miss on my sleep-time though; I slept like a baby. Solid.

Another day at the office produced a $96 profit. I played NL $40.

Two memorable hands:

1.) I am in seat six. I have about $80. I look down at JJ under the gun (UTG = position right after BB [big blind]).



I limp for $2 (blinds are $1/$2) hoping for a raise. Seat #1 has been raising all-night with junk and so has Seat #3. Seat #9 has been calling all night with mediocre hands as well. Seat#9 calls the $2. Seat #1 raises to $10. Bingo. Seat #3 calls. I check my hand once more and decide that I should just call because if I go all-in they're gonna call me no matter what (the skill of the game will go out the window and up the percentages to their favor with that thing called luck). So I call the $10 and so does Seat #9. So we are 4-way to the flop. Flop comes two spades QJ7. Money flop. I check. Seat #9 goes all-in for $28. Seat #1 folds. Seat #3 goes all-in for $32 total. I tell the dealer I call. Turn and River are blanks. Seat #9 shows Q10. Seat #3 shows KQ. Send it!

2.) I am still in seat six with about $160. I look down at KK.



Once again I am UTG and limp for $2. Everyone calls until it reaches Seat #2. Time for a little introduction to Seat #2. Seat #2 is a tight-player. He is Asian and has built his stack off one hand when he hit quads on the turn. He has 180 chips and is the only other big stack I'm worried about. I'm pretty sure I can push him off a top-pair board. Back to the action, he opts to raise it to $5. Seat #3 calls of course and it comes to me. I announced "raise." I decided to make it $20 total. Seat #7 calls and says I'm about to lay a bad beat down. Seat #9 calls the $20 too. Action comes back to Seat #3. He gives a little ugly laugh and says forty more. Now action comes back to me and I call time to think. My thought process, there's only one hand out there that can beat mine. I don't think he has Aces because he would of gone all-in so he has to have Kings or Queens. He can't have Kings because I have two of them. I put him on Queens. I call the $40. Seat #7 calls with his last $38 or so. And of course Seat #9 goes all-in for about $25 total. Flop comes: QQ7 rainbow. Seat #3 checks. At this point, I'm guessing he has Jacks or Aces because he didn't like the flop. I decide to check. Turn 3. He checks, I check. River 4. Check, check. Seat #7 shows 69 off-suit. Seat #9 shows QJ off-suit. Seat #3 shows KK. I show KK.

I heard we won the softball game 19-3.



Ocotber 20th, 2007, 2:00 PM PST

Notguilty's game was canceled due to some random event going on at San Marino High School.

October 20th, 2007, 4:20 PM PST

LBC 75, God's Army 78.

I'm not sure how we lost this game but we found a way. We had about ten illegal defenses called on us (more like six but still), missed about ten layups (~5), and had one huge breakdown on defense with a one point lead with 45 seconds left in the game. The shortest guard on God's Army drove in for a layup, uncontested out of a timeout in the half-court set. Lost.

Stats: 2/5 FG's, 4 pts.

The Third Season

October 17th, 2007, 7:00 PM PST

LZ to open season tonight with zero starters from last season. Should be interesting.

The statement above is actually a false one because K-Khange decided to skip his $125 Poker $100K-Tournament at Hollywood Park to play some basketball instead. Tough decision. Wait, horrible decision. It turned out to be a preseason game and the other team didn't even show up. We ended up running a scrimmage game against random pick-ups and Killer K smashed his finger, sat out most of the game, then missed the game-tying three pointer from forty feet.

He did bring us back from nine-points down late in the game after we blew a fifteen point lead.

RECAP:

SEASON ONE: 7-0 SEASON; 2-0 PLAYOFFS; CHAMPIONS.
SEASON TWO: 5-3 SEASON; 3-0 PLAYOFFS; CHAMPIONS.
SEASON THREE...

Lost and Lost

October 12th, 2007, 7:45 PM PST

Hitmen loses big to WhatsPoppin', 35-13. These guys beat us up bad. Then they beat us up bad again. And then they decided to beat us up bad once more just for kicks.

These guys talk a big game and then they go and back it up. They haven't lost a game and they're in first place. I'm not sure if I like them much. Bastards!



Batted: 1 for 3.


October 13th, 2007, 4:00 PM PST

NotGuilty blows a fifteen point lead and fall 56-50. Our team sucks. We need to trade for Kobe!

Stats: Click here.


October 14th, 2007, 11:50 AM PST

LBC game was canceled.

LegalZoom Can't Hold Lead

October 11th, 2007, 7:30 PM PST

Little Bar Lounge 18, LegalZoom 12.

This was a much anticipated game for LegalZoom primarily because of the situation with Left-Glove and not because both teams have one win.

It was a good game and we led all the way until my defense failed me in the seventh and final inning. We couldn't hold a one run lead due to some terrible defense. No surprises here. Our defense sucks. I haven't been that frustrated in a very long time. Not good.

Props to Little Bar Lounge as they put up seven runs in last inning and then shut us down in the bottom of the seventh.

As for the situation-help, Left-Glove shows up late in the fourth inning or so when we were batting. She sits down at the end of the bench. No greeting from her. I speak first.

I ask her if she's playing tonight and she says yes. I tell her to sign the lineup card and that she's batting at the bottom of the order. No complaints.

We only have nine players before she shows up. Adam, who was catching his first game, was re-inserted back to his normal role at third. Left-Glove is now catching. No complaints.

Only complaints came from a soft-spoken guy that works in my department (let's call him BT). I am on first-base. I was on base and taking third on a single to right-field. He told me to go home as I approached third-base. I questioned his decision because it was just a single and I got gunned down last week trying to score from second. So I held up as the ball was already in the infield. There were two-outs. BT points towards home plate and says look who's coming up. Left-Glove was coming up thereafter to bat. I should of listen. She grounds out to the pitcher. Inning over. Two runners stranded. Did I ever hear it from BT. I respond, "I didn't know she was coming up, you know I would of gone."

That was her first at-bat. Her second at-bat came in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases juiced and one-out. She grounds out to the pitcher again. The pitcher boots the ball so a runner manages to score. She's out at first. Dandy stuff.

Batted: 3 for 4. 2 singles, double.

Situation Help

(backdoorstraight - 3 miles in 11 minutes)

For those of you who don't know, Company's softball is in its second season. Our first season didn't go so well primarily because our talent pool just isn't very solid.

Prime example: our first practice session ever before our first season had a total of eight players. Five of them were late. Three of them were girls. Perfect!

That's just the beginning. Two of the girls never made it on the team but one did.

And this one is a manager's nightmare to say the least.

Before the practice session, she emails me and tells me she played softball in high school. "I have been playing softball for a long time, I am a very good player." Alright we have hope!

She shows up to the first practice session with the wrong-sided glove. Yes, she brought a left-handed glove. I asked her where she got it and she tells me she just bought it over the weekend. I told her to return it. She goes on and tells me that this is normal for her. She throws and catches with her right hand. Yes, she says she catches the ball and then takes her glove off and then throws the ball with her right hand. Wonderful. No offense to my former Angels' pitcher but I just found a successor to Jim Abbott and she's going to play on my team!

So practice ends and we return to work the next day. She emails me and asks me if she needed cleats to play in these softball games. I told her they're not mandatory but they're highly recommended and you should have them if possible. She says okay and comes to the first game of the season with tennis shoes.

So here we go.

On her very first at-bat, she swings and hits a slow-grounder to third base. The third-baseman finds a way to boot the ball and kicks it towards the fence in between the catcher, third-base, and the pitcher's mound. At this point, cool, she's going to be safe at first.

Wrong.

She trips over herself half-way to first base and hits the deck hard. She's down for a couple seconds and gets up and tries to beat the throw to first-base. OUT!

So she comes running back into the dugout, yelling at me and telling me that's it's all my fault because I told her that she doesn't need cleats. I told her I never said that. She said yes you did. I said okay. So game ends and the next day she emails me again.

She tells me she wants to play left-field or first-base, and not catcher. She wasn't joking. Neither was I when I told her that she's not good enough to play those positions. She didn't take it well. I asked Killer K to talk to her about the whole thing and next thing I know, I get a forwarded email with her calling my boy a sexist. Nice.

So game two comes rolling-around the corner. One-day right before the game, I go upstairs to talk to the CEO of the company. He's on the team also and he funded the team. He was telling me he's been in dire-wanting to play softball (he couldn't make it to the first-game of the season). It was a good-solid conversation with him telling me that we need a strong left-fielder and a good-first basemen because those positions require the most work. I agreed and assured him that we have a good left-fielder and a good first-baseman. After we finished talking, I was about to go back downstairs when I saw the CEO waiting by the elevator practicing his baseball swing. This guy was ready to play some ball! I'm all for it.

So I go back downstairs and KK informs me that he just told Left-Glove that she can play left-field tomorrow night. Excellent. Did not I just tell the CEO that our left-fielder is pretty good?!

Me: What did you do that for?
KK: I'm trying to prove a point. That's probably a bad thing huh?
Me: Yeah, hah.

So our second game comes around and we put Left-Glove in leftfield. The very first pitch of the game is hit hard to where else, left field! So she comes charging in and then when the ball nears, she slaps her glove at the ball and knocks it down. Then she boots it a good ten feet. She chases it down, then picks it up and throws with all her might. The ball went about ten feet. So the shortstop comes running out to left-field to grab the ball off the ground and throws it back in. The runner has already scored.




The inning ends and I put her at catcher the very next inning. No complaints.

Finally, her ramblings end and I think she got the point. Or did she?

A season and a half later...

This was an email dated today, Tuesday, October 9, 2007.

This is the email I sent out to the team:


Team,

Reminder: This week’s game (Thursday, October 11) is at 7:30 PM at the new park. We (1-3) are the home team versus Little Bar Lounge (1-2). Please let me know whether or not you’re coming. Thanks.

This email is how she responded:


Contrary to what you may think, I’ll be there.

Also I expect to be at the top of the lineup, thanks. I’m not catching. I’ll be at LFC.

See you Thursday


And this is how I responded (haha):

No.

No.

And NO.


This is how she responded:

Yes Vi, and I’m not playing with your ass. But you can’t stop me either way. I’ll see you on the diamond.

THIS MAY GET INTERESTING.

Just Another Weekend.

October 5th, 2007, 7:45 PM PST

Hitmen (3-1) mercied Ptsd (2-2) Friday night.

There was one memorable point in this game. This guy wearing a bright-blue shirt on the other team came out to relieve the starting pitcher (who did pretty well). This blue-shirt-guy walked about eight batters and I'm not sure if he recorded an out. At the same time, he was rambling at us for not swinging at his pitches. I walked on three pitches. Two of the pitches almost hit the umpire in the head.



After walking in like fifty-five runs (can you say Brett Tomko), the manager on the other team yanked him. He didn't record one out I don't think.

Batted: 3 for 3 with a walk.

Here are the updated standings:



October 6th, 2007 4:20 PM PST

LBC (3-1) wins 78-70.

This is a solid victory. With Big Bri out serving his one game suspension and LBC running the whole game without any subs, it was an outstanding effort by the starting-five. Manny, Tuan, James, myself, and some random pick-up from the other team.

We led pretty much the entire game and pulled away in the fourth quarter leading by as much as fifteen points. This was my first real game back and I have to say...well, I'm back! Holler!

Stat line: 5 for 7, 10 pts, 10 rebounds.

October 6th, 2007 6:00 PM PST

NotGuiltyBrand.com loses 75-56.

This has to be the worst league game I've ever been apart of in my life! So my game at Banning High School ended at approximately 5:32 PM PST, I high-fived my teammates and told them I have to run. I have to get to San Marino by 6:00 PM PST for this new league I just entered. Actually, I entered this league last month but then I broke my finger into five pieces sucking at softball playing second base. I am a late-addition.

Anyhow, I showed up to my first game (team's fourth game, we're now 1-3) with 16 minutes and change left in the second half (this league has two halves) thanks to some killer traffic on the Long Beach Freeway.



I entered the game with about twelve minutes left and I'm not sure what happened but we lost by nineteen points when it was all said and done.

Some short, Asian kid with glasses was scoring on us at will! I sucked too! It's on next week!

Stat line: Please see http://www.chineseballers.com/
Click on "Players" and search for me. However, just for this game, I was using someone else's name, Eugene Cheng. 2 points, 1 rebound.

After the game, I went to Noodle World and ordered #82 with Thai Iced Tea Boba! Even though we lost, my stomach won! =)

Base Running Mistakes

October 4th, 2007, 7:30 PM PST

LegalZoom (1-3) fell Thursday night to Priviledged & Confidential (3-0), 16-11.

This was a terrible game. I am extremely disappointed.

We were four for five in the first inning and then the inning ended. In the second inning, we were 3 for 5 and then inning over. In the third inning, we were five for six and somehow the inning ended! Our runners were getting thrown out left and right trying to steal the extra bag. As coach, I take responsibility.

No, I lied. I can't control people trying to take extra bases. Yes, I got gunned down at home (and I could of control this I guess) but that's only because there was no third-base coach and I heard "Go home, go home!"



The worst part is these guys on the other team in the outfield were some short, skinny Asian dudes firing bullets at their designated targets and not missing. They were gunning us down like Vietnam over again!



Batted: 1 for 3, single, walk.

KK, we win if you show.

LBC loses to Lights Out

September 30th, 2007, 11:50 AM PST

LBC (2-1) lead the entire way until Lights Out (3-0) hit a couple of clutch three pointers with a few minutes left in the game to steal a win Sunday afternoon, 79-75.

James, our starting power forward, told one of his boys to join the team. I didn't get his name but he's a short Asian/Filipino/Mexican-looking guy. He pulled me from the game a couple times after like four minutes of play. I didn't like the gesture. He thinks he's good. He's not. I don't like him. I hope he never comes back.

On a side note, JBreeze had a little altercation with this black dude on the other team (who dunked on us). Pushing and shoving ensued after the last buzzer went off. A couple shirts went off and some tattoos were about to get acquainted real fast until both teams pulled their guy back. It was about to go down! Both players suspended one game! That's our best player! Damn!

Stats: 2 pts, 8 minutes, 1-2 FG.

Hitmen Cruise

September 28th, 2007, 9:00 PM PST

Hitmen 26, Faded 15.

Stats: 1 for 2, walk, single.

LegalZoom Softball Wins

September 27th, 2007, 9:00 PM PST

LegalZoom (1-2) posted their first win of the season Thursday night, beating Piraats (0-2) 24-5. The score was 24-0 after three innings.

Piraats has to be the worst softball team to ever sign up for softball. No joke.

They're definitely a memorable opponent though. Their pitcher was this sturdy-looking Asian chick that probably would kick my butt if we got into a fight.

She kept telling our hitters to shake our booty when we were up to bat. She was doing some crazy dance every time she was up to bat. She wasn't good-looking. I wasn't distracted. I did walk her. It wasn't the booty-shaking, I swear.

Batted: 3 for 3, 2 singles, 1 double.

Hitmen Lose, LBC Off.

September 21st, 2007, 7:45 PM PST

Cal Twerps 19, Hitmen 10.

Bye week for LBC basketball.

Stats: DNP.

LegalZoom Crushed Again!

September 20th, 2007, 9:00 PM PST

Dead Presidents 26, LegalZoom 6.

Even though LegalZoom lost big-time, I made an appearance as the starting pitcher and it felt good!

http://www.laparks.org/dos/sports/softball/fall_win_07_08/492-7F.pdf

"It feels so good to be back."
-Marshall Mathers

Batted: 0-2.

Dynasty No More

This post is dedicated to Big L. For some reason, the "best-player-I-have-ever-played-with" is no longer with the company. How can you release Kobe?!

Yeah, it's business but that's just not cool. He's a cool and fun character too (always joking with the refs/umps, his teammates, and co-workers). Just doesn't make sense to me. Good Luck Brother.

Signed
Viet Nguyen

Hitmen and LBC Win

September 14th, 2007, 6:30 PM PST

Hitmen (1-0) wins. Hitmen 30, Xxxplosivo 6.

Stats: DNP.

September 16th, 2007, 4:00 PM PST

LBC (2-0) wins.

Stats: DNP.

LBC Wins New Season Opener

September 9th, 2007, 2:00 PM PST

LBC (1-0) wins 70-65.

Stats: DNP.

LegalZoom Softball

September 6th, 2007, 7:30 PM PST

LegalZoom (0-1) loses. LegalZoom 4, Axewounds 19.

Stats: DNP.

Back-to-Back!

Moseley (30), Withers (18), Lew-Hailer (17)
Gym Shot
Dillingham
McNair (41)
Lew-Hailer (17)

September 6th, 2007, 7:00 PM PST

LegalZoom 73, Hollywood Rookies 45.

Stats: DNP.