Why Do I Hate Connecticut Huskies?

4 No. 1 seeded teams in NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament has advanced to Final Four. It tells you one thing: The sport is stagnant. The parity is not there. Who do I blame it on?  

The answer is obvious: Connecticut Huskies.  

Some people, especially with UConn fans, tried to compare Geno's domination with John Wooden's domination. That is not even true. When I see them do that, I tossed a response similar to what Krona did to Hal Jordan when Hal thought he had the upper hand on him - Krona easily dispatched Hal and said this line:

"Is it ignorance or delusional confidence that allows you to actually believe you have the ability to do such a thing?"

Yes, there are many deaf UConn fans, mostly from New England like the Biskupiaks and so on. But do they really know the nature of the sport behind the basketball politics deeply like Mike Weinstock, Darlene Ewan and I do? Of course they may be the fans of UConn but they do not know the sport well as 3 of us do.

A true fan of the sport would not compare Geno Auriemma or Pat Summitt with John Wooden. One just cannot do that. Only a novice or bandwagon fans would do such a thing like that. Why? It all boils to the numbers!

It boils not down to the W-L records, it boils to the numbers of boys and girls basketball players! The history has proved that since 1960s, the numbers of little boys wanting to play basketball are 10 times bigger than little girls. The parents encouraged boys but discouraged girls from playing basketball. In elementary, middle schools' basketball teams as well as the AAU summer league teams, the boys still outnumber the girls.

So when the kids grew up, the numbers of outstanding high school boys basketball players are plentiful for 300 division I schools to recruit. On other hand, the girls basketball players tend to fight harder in proving their parents that they wanted to play basketball. So many girls simply gave up, the numbers of outstanding high school girls basketball players are not many.

Since 1984, I was introduced to the collegiate women's basketball by a school friend and I instantaneously was hooked to the sport. It was fun watching them play. When Virginia lost to Tennessee in Knoxville, 66-58, Mr. Richard Koch told me that it will not be easy for Virginia to win the national championship - he went on to explain about the recruiting battles and all that small details because he used to coach the girls basketball teams in the past.

In the past, it was not easy to identify the best high school girls basketball player in this country and beyond. For boys, many MBB coaches can rely on hundreds of AAU & high school observers all over the country for the tips to recruit who's who through the local or national press. For girls, many WBB coaches only had three for 30 years: Mel Greenberg, Mike Flynn & Clay Kellam through what? Because for years, the press ignored them - Mel, Mike & Clay had the Mailing List which they personally distributed to the WBB coaches when they asked them to send.

And the list is always small. The high school boys basketball players has a long list (500-800) of 5 stars, 4, stars, 3 stars, 2 stars, 1 star and honorable mentions. For girls? They mostly have only Top 100 per class. The best is always in Top 10. Guess who recruited the best HS girls basketball player year in and out in the last 10 years?

Connecticut.

They would take maybe 4 or 5 players and the rest of the crumbs goes to Tennessee, Notre Dame, South Carolina and so on. When Tennessee got 3 best Top 10 players, what did Geno do? He went crazy and attacked Tennessee. If Notre Dame got 3, what did Geno do? He went crazy and attacked Notre Dame. If South Carolina got 3, what did Geno do? He went crazy and attacked South Carolina!

Because the recruiting pool is small, the battles are very vicious and very personal. Because the sport is not like MBB where there are plenty of players to recruit, the sport is very family-like and very personal. I could visit WBB coaches during the summertime just to say hello when I travel across the country when I was at Gallaudet (Virginia, Old Dominion, George Washington, Maryland, Tennessee, Southern Cal, Arkansas, Duke, North Carolina, Temple, St. Joseph's (PA), Richmond, VCU & Clemson are the schools that I stopped by just to say hello). There is no way you can do that with MBB coaches!

Because Geno has been a bully when it comes to recruiting the limited best hs girls basketball players, the growth of the women's basketball sport has been stagnant for the last 10 years. The attendance figures has indicated that many Division I colleges are losing fans because they are sick of seeing UConn bullying around year in and out. In the last 10 years, the attendance figures at Final Four and the National Championship games has dramatically declined each time UConn got there. But when Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Baylor, Maryland and Purdue won everything, the numbers go up. With Connecticut in it, the numbers go down. 

Unlike the boys basketball players where the numbers of outstanding high school players has continued to grow at an accelerated level, the high school girls basketball players are not growing at an accelerated level, they are growing very slowly. The numbers of girls basketball players participating in summer recreational leagues & high school teams are still smaller than boys had. So the talent pool within the girls is extremely small in comparison with boys'. 

So because of that, you cannot compare Geno with John Wooden at all. John had plenty of players to recruit and so does other schools! On other hand, in WBB, we don't have that luxury like John and other MBB coaches did - so for others to compare Geno with John, you're being stupid, really.

And it is appalling that both hearing and deaf UConn fans does not respect the history, the politics and the growth of the sport. You fans are terrible, to say the least. You UConn fans are the reason on why I despised UConn. You UConn fans are part of the problem on causing the stagnant in the sport and lack of parity within this sport. The truth is that ... the folks associated with UConn are selfish pricks to begin with.

Cheers,

R-

The Victims Is Not Limited To People

I wonder if there is a historical book focusing on the domestic & wild animals that were caught in the middle of many wars all over the world.

I knew that the US Naval Forces do use the dolphins in the open sea. I know that the Armed Forces used many kinds of dogs for different purposes like attacking & biting the enemy as well as sniff for any IEDs (homemade bombs) and so on. I know there are hundreds of domesticated animals like horses, chickens, sheep, goats & cows were either injured, killed or startled to death all over Europe.  I know that in Africa, Europe & Asia, they used the elephants, chickens, camels, pigs, rats, sea lions and yes, pigeons.  Pigeons were used to carry the messages from their base to someone's base. Chickens are used for detecting the poison & chemical gases.

The most devastating attacks by wild animals upon the soldiers took place in Ramree Island, an island in Myanmar (Burma) where the allied soldiers in World War II pushed & circled 900 Japanese soldiers who fell back into the swamp. the Japanese were battling on two fronts against the Allied soldiers ... and saltwater crocodiles.  The exact death tolls cannot be accurate as some said 500 Japanese soldiers successfully escaped the swamps. Only 20 survived.  Saltwater Crocodiles ate the rest of Japanese soldiers.

Not only that, when the Imperial Japanese Naval Submarine destroyed the USS Indianapolis in 1945, 880 US soldiers had to abandon the sinking ship and many of them still used the life preservers but they were also attacked by massive sharks who killed and ate 550 soldiers.

So there should be a historical book focusing on these animals from BC to the current. Is there one?

Cheers,

R-

Help me to make the right decision!!

I wanted to get a tattoo of Mordru on my right calf cuz he is Amethyst's archenemy. Amethyst is on my left calf so it will balance out But the problem is: I'm extremely indecisive on which image I wanted to put on my right calf.

If I had another life spare to use, I would tattoo on my face the same way Esteban Maroto's Mordru in Amethyst Mini-Series. 

If I had another life, I would want Mordru's face tattoo on my face

 I don't know if this image would be good on my right calf or not.  Aye or nah?

* * *

 Mordru's body on Dr. Fate's helmet 

Aye or nah

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Only his body. Aye or nah

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Only Mordru, Dr Fate & Mordru's comments on my right calf?

Aye or nah

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Or this one?  No rainbow for me, of course.

Aye or nah

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No words, just the transformation of Mordru

Aye or nah

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Or this one? The entire comment, magic & Mordru - no background needed

Aye or nah

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Flaw, Mordru & the fonts only.

Aye or nah

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No white circle - remove it and good enough? 

Aye or nah

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Only his comments but not the rest.

Aye or nah

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And this one? Mordru, his magic creatures & his words stay.

Aye or nah

Finally, can you folks help me to decide which one I wanted it on my right calf?

Cheers,

R-

All About Planet Daxam!

I was surfing the 'net when I came across this awesome graphic novel I ever had seen out of DC Comics' futuristic tale within the Legion of the Super-Heroes called "Great Darkness Saga".  This tale took place in 30th Century.

Many descendants at Planet Daxam were originally from Planet Krypton. People on Daxam is Superman's cousins. Therefore, Daxamites do get weak if they were under a red star. If the star is yellow, billions of Daxamites instantaneously became Supermen, to say the least!

However, this incident did not happen only once.  One was in The Great Darkness Saga, the other was the War of Lights.

During the War of Lights, Sodam Yat who was infused with the Entity of Will is from Planet Daxam. His mother fled Daxam to search for Sodam to tell him that Sinestro Corps has now seized Daxam and they are terrorizing billions of Daxamites for practically no reason. Sodam went back home for the first time since he ran away from his family due to their xenophobia nature.

Sodam and his colleague tried so hard to stop the Sinestro Corps but they were too many. And not enough Green Lanterns are responding to the emergency call about. Sodam had to decide immediately or his people will be annihilated by Sinestro Corps - they needed a leveling field to save Daxam and its people. Sodam had no choice but to enter the dying red sun and used the Entity of Will to transform the red star to the yellow star. Suddenly, billions of Daxamites from an infant to senior citizens immediately possessed the same powers that Superman has with the yellow sun in our solar system.

Whoa, is it?  The Mysterious creature who took the Entity of Will out of Sodam Yat's body was none other than Krona!

And yes, the tale of powering the billions of Daxamites using the yellow sun was nothing new for DC Comics. They used it in Legion of Super-Heroes' "The Great Darkness Saga". The premise of this tale occurred in 30th Century which the members of Legion of Super-Heroes were trying to identify the mysterious creature whose his planet & himself suddenly appeared in their universe after a thousand year of slumber. 

That mysterious creature was so powerful that he immediately seized 6 billions of Daxamites' minds and at the same time, he was able to teleport & switch his ancient planet with Planet Daxam so that Daxam can revolve around the yellow sun, not the red sun. With six billions of Daxamites under his control, he chose Daxam to make an announcement that the supervillain is finally identified.

                                      

                                         

Yep, it was Darkseid who seized the minds of Daxamites and used them to destroy and remake the Planet Daxam into his image. Powerful but cunning thing to do, that Darkseid guy.  

Cheers,

R-

NCAA Sucks

NCAA is punishing Syracuse by vacating 108 wins, suspending Coach Boeheim from coaching 9 ACC (Why only ACC?) games and took 12 scholarships away for next 4 years for what they did ... more than 10 years ago.

Why punish the current roster that has nothing to do with the allegations that occurred in 2004-06?  It is like you punishing someone for what his father did. That's not how it should function in 1st place.  The truth is:  NCAA failed miserably. And the late Jerry Tarkanian was right when he said:

"If you're so mad at Kentucky, just give Cleveland State another year or probation."

Cheers,

R-

Virginia Cavaliers No. 2 In East Region

Virginia Cavaliers (29-3) is seeded at #2 in the East Region and will face #15 Belmont (22-10) in Charlotte, North Carolina this coming Friday.  Belmont got in after winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Belmont has a player who transferred from Virginia after his freshman season. He did not get to play a lot as a freshman so he bolted to Belmont for more playing time. Name?  Taylor Barnette who is averaging 10.7 points per game including the winning basket for Belmont in the OVC Finals.

Barnette is not the only former Virginia player who transferred to other school in East Region.  Paul Jesperson went to Northern Iowa after playing two years at Virginia. Northern Iowa Panthers is seeded #5 playing #12 Wyoming Cowboys. Jesperson is averaging 5.4 points per game for his team which went 30-3 for the season.

Virginia must not overlook Belmont in the first game - take care of Belmont, then the fans can hope for a revenge as Virginia may get to play Michigan State, the same team that upsets Virginia, 61-59 last year in Sweet Sixteen appearance. Oddly, the way I look at the bracket, the first two games are tough for Virginia Cavaliers but the next two games en route to the Final Four seems to be easy drive. Virginia may have to play Oklahoma Sooners (22-10) if they did not lose to Providence Friars (22-11). If Virginia took care of them, the next opponent could be Villanova (32-2), Northern Iowa (30-3) or Louisville (24-8).

Cheers,

R-

Virginia Cavaliers, 29-3; 16-2

Virginia Cavaliers

I'm still frustrated with the women's basketball program at Virginia who finished the season at 17-13, now waiting for an invitation to WNIT sometimes next week. I don't know if the team will be able to receive an immediate help from 6'3 Mone' Jones, 6'4 Debra Ferguson and 6'4 Shakyna Payne when they come to Charlottesville next year. If at least two out of 3 freshmen can alleviate the pressures on Sarah Imovbioh & Lauren Moses, then the team will be in a good shape and in a right direction. If not, it is going to be a long season for us all.

On other hand, I'm thrilled to see what Head Coach Tony Bennett has done for Virginia Cavaliers Men's Basketball team.  Last year, the team went 30-7, won the ACC Regular Season and ACC Tournament Championships. This year, the team won the ACC Regular Season Championship but was upset by North Carolina Cheaters Tar Heels in ACC Tournament. Well, in two seasons, 3 out of 4 ACC Championships are just great. Last year, they received No. 1 seeding and reached the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Michigan State by two. This year, I think the team will receive No. 2 seeding.

We lost in ACC Tournament because I think the team was not used to have Justin Anderson back after he missed 8 games due to the injury & appendectomy. Not only that, I'm not sure if Landon Perrantes is 100% healthy after sustaining the broken nose a couple of weeks ago. Not only that, it is always difficult to play in Greensboro Coliseum where in the last 26 ACC Finals in Greensboro, Duke and UNC combined for 19 titles. Next year? Washington, DC's Verizon Center. It is about time that the ACC gets out of that shithole.

But I can say one thing:  Virginia Cavaliers will remain to be very good team next year.

Anthony Gill & Head Coach Tony Bennett

• The next year's edition will lose only one starter in Darion Atkins. 
• They practically return everyone else.  Malcolm Brogdon, Anthony Gill, Justin Anderson, Evan Nolte and Landon Perrantes will return. 
• Not only that, the ACC Sixth Player of the Year Mike Tobey also will return. 
• Oh, yeah, freshmen Isaiah Wilkins, Jack Salt, B.J. Stith & Marial Shayok and redshirt freshman Devon Hall will return with plenty of their playing time under their belts.  
• Wait!  Darius Thompson, who was rated No. 4 as overall combo guard in 2012-13, will begin to play after his transfer from Tennessee Volunteers.
• The newest recruit of Virginia Cavaliers, a huge post player in 240 lbs, 6'9 Jarred Reuter will fill in nicely. Some people compared him to North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough.
• There is undecided recruit named Thon Maker, a 7'0 post player from Australia. Virginia is one of several schools on his list. Virginia already had an Australian player in Jack Salt. So Thon has another Australian teammate should he sign with Virginia.
• And most important of all:  We have Head Coach Tony Bennett and you do not. 

As you can see, Virginia is going to stay in Top 10 for a long time.  Get used to it, folks.  Go Hoos!

Cheers,

R-

ESPN's I Hate Christian Laettner

First of all, I'm a hard core fan of Virginia Cavaliers.  Always had, has and will be.

But when I was in high school, I admitted that I had a little crush on Christian Laettner.  Back in his high school days in the suburbs of Buffalo, New York - he was recruited by every Division I school. But he narrowed down to 3:  Duke, North Carolina & Virginia.

He chose Duke and led Duke to four Final Four appearances including the National Champions. He is famous for hitting the winning basket at the buzzer to beat Kentucky, 104-103 in overtime.

He will be featured on ESPN's show named 30 for 30, "I Hate Christian Laettner".  I'm not sure if I plan to watch that episode because I will watch The Walking Dead.

However, I stumbled upon this post by a fan of Virginia Cavaliers on a message board whom he talked about his sons & his encounter with  Christian Laettner at a local gas station in Durham, NC.  Read what he has to say about Christian.  Very classy.

Christian, you are an idiot.

Cheers,

R-

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'Christian' Laettner -- When this turd was playing at Duke, I pulled up to get gas at a station on Roxboro Rd, in Durham NC -- 

I had spent a really nice Saturday afternoon playing BB with both my sons, ages 7, 9 -- at a nice outdoor court on Hamlin Rd near our home.

When I was inside the store, a car pulled up, and the guy behind the counter said "hey that's Laettner"-- His dad said " make sure he pays ..." --

Everyone laughs, including me. BUT I stand around to watch the dude pumps his gas and then floats around the car (Brian Davis was in the passenger seat).

I step outside the store - Now my sons recognize the guy - They are standing in the back of my Blazer with the window down , all excited - The oldest says -"Hey Dad It's Christian Laettner!!!!!" - The youngest is jumping up and down - The oldest says "Can he sign my ball daddy?!!"

I said "ok boys -- ask him and he will I'm sure" --

Standing there - with my two sons all excited to see a 'star' ---- imagine how they felt to see 'Christian' Laettner -- or hear him -- Literally point to my UVA bumper sticker - and get in his dumbassed convertible with his Brian Davis boy - and flip my little boys the bird and yell "Fuck Virginia" as he drove off without paying for the gas.

POS is what he is.

I will never ever respect Duke because of this ass.

No, I don't like the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina

"No, I do not like Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina."

That sentence got me suspended on Facebook for 30 days.  I never made a threat or bully anyone else. I simply responded to someone who asked me if I don't like Bosnia-Herzegovina. I basically told her that I do not like the MUSLIMS who resided in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

If you study the conflicts in The Balkan States, you would know that the Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina always pose a threat to any kind of peace for the last 600 years. It was in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina that the World War I first sprang after the Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.  He was killed by 19 years old Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip.

Gavrilo Princip was not a Muslim but his family were Christian peasants cowered before the Muslim Landlords who oppressed against the Christian peasants.  Let's stroll back to the Ottoman Empire, the land in the Balkan States were generally Orthodox Christians (Serb, Eastern, Greek & Russian).  When the Ottoman Empire (100% Muslims) conquered the area, what did they do?  They snatched all young boys from Christian families and sent them to Istanbul as part of Janissary. The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire would provide food, clothing & shelter to these vulnerable Christian boys as he had his staff to brainwash & convert these Christian boys into hard-core Muslims.  When they grew to be adults, they became very loyal to the Sultan so much that they would serve the Sultan in wars. When they completed their service to the Sultan, what did the Sultan do to these Muslims boys? The Sultan sent them back home to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

It should be a happy homecoming for these boys who were kidnapped from the Christian peasants when they returned home, right? But no, the boys rejected their real Christian parents.  During the Ottoman Empire, the Muslims seized the good lands and banished Christians into the mountains. These boys who became the Muslims, thanks to the Sultan, seized towns, properties and land - they became the Muslim Landlords who oppressed against the poor and devastated Christians. These Christians are Croatians, Montenegrins, Bosnian Serbs, Serbians, Macedonians and Kosovars.

The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire has succeeded where others has failed - he used the kidnapped boys to turn against their real families all over the Balkan States even as of today.  For centuries, Muslims has oppressed and terrorized the Christians in the region so much that the Christian generations loathed the Muslims in the region.  The Muslims often murdered the Christians and never got prosecuted. The Christians does not forget what the Muslims did. The Muslims would behead many Bosnian Serbs and used them to decorate the walls in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

So Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand to make a statement - he wanted Bosnia-Herzegovina to be part of Greater Serbia under the Christian rule, not part of Great Austrian-Hungarian Empire or the Ottoman Empire.  So the slaughter between the Bosnian Serbs & Bosnian Muslims escalated for many decades.

In 1990s, the Bosnian Muslims brought the Islamic Extremists to the region where they murdered many Bosnian Serbs. Many were beheaded and the Muslims used these decapitated heads to play soccer.  Of course, you don't see that in the American or European newspapers. But the Bosnian Serbs knew what the Muslims were doing. And yes, the Serbs did do the right thing to retaliate and massacre the Muslims from time to time.

It is quite amazing that the Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina acted like they were innocent & victims. They were not.  And the Americans should not protect the Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first place.  By doing that, the Americans literally supported the oppression of other religions in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

This is why I do not like the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina, they were not the victims. They were the oppressors, murderers and criminals. And Facebook decided to suspend me for another 30 days just because I said this sentence, "No, I do not like the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina."

Facebook does not support free speech, most of Facebook moderators are from where?  Outside of the United States in Morocco, India & Mexico.  Morocco & India has millions of Muslims living in their countries so they were trying to silence me when I said I don't like the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Shame on Facebook, really. They allowed the video beheadings by Muslims against the Christians on Facebook but punished me for saying this simple sentence?   By being silent about it, Mark Zuckerberg is advocating the silence of free voices against the unjust oppressors like the Muslims.

Double jeers to Facebook for doing the criminal thing.

Cheers,

R-