June 25, 2008 Report

[WuDrWu]

Almost every person (at least every right thinking American :D ) will mature as they get older and become concerned with the direction some social aspect is heading. Take music for example.......Look at the transition of pop music in the last 50 years....

Big band music, mostly for social gatherings.

Rock & Roll.....beginning to contain some "expressive" undertones. Mostly inuendos at most.

70s with the free love hippy drug using themes so prevelent. More "expressive" but mostly non violent.

80s hard rock and bubble gum pop.....inuendos fading with more suggestive lyrics.

late 80s 90s today....grunge and hip hop which has developed into "gansta" hip hop. Violence...drugs....abuse all celebrated.....

Now take a look at where the social graces of mainstream kids has come from and where it is today.

What makes muture people concerned is.....where are we going to be tomorrow?

You can call me crazy if you like.....but you don't have to be on the "fringe" to project things like......drugs on demand...abortion on demand...sex on demand.....all for kids.

You know a lot of it happens now...nothing I just said doesn't go on to some extent....it's only a matter of time until the state sponsers it...in the name of freedom.

[WUs Your Daddy]

Ramon

I stopped by and caught a couple minutes of play last Thursday and I have to admit the only thing that stood out to me was Ramon's ball handling.

[WuDrWu]

Sorry folks and apologies to RDR......I really don't mean to get on the soap box. I really love the updates and basketball season can't start soon enough.

Thanks RDR and all the people that give us the updates!

[Ricky Del Rio]

As much as I would love to believe you concerning Ramon, I'll believe it when I see him actually do that in a game. A game where the opponent actually provides structured, double teaming, switching defenses by athletic big men. If he can do this then, I'll be sold. I mean, who was really going to stop him today?

Perhaps I have been a little too ebullient about Ramon.

From last year, I remember his ball handling skills were above average for his position. What I saw yesterday was on a much higher level. Perhaps there were reasons he did not exhibit the skills last year.

Most players cannot beat the double team. I did not mean to imply that he can. However, when he runs into defensive traffic, he is smart enough to know what to do with the ball. He really is more cerebral than you might think.

I have watched all of the Valley teams for the last X years. There are not many big men, who are capable of guarding someone like Ramon. Maybe a couple of the Illinois State players. Maybe Randal Falker. Guys like Tony Boyle, Dane Watts and God Shaw stand no chance.

There was not anybody capable of stopping him one-on-one yesterday. He would take the ball at the top of the key and go left or right.

This guy is rough and tough. If someone plans to guard him, he had better cowboy up because Ramon is physical, quick and relentless.

While he was shooting well yesterday, I am not sold on his shot making transformation yet. I remember too well, when he struggled to make 10' jump shots last year.

[Ricky Del Rio]

I was there today (my 3rd time) and I agree with just about everything you say with the exception of TM. I thought he was fantastic. He seems to glide down court and all of a sudden there is this burst of energy that leaves who ever is guarding him with broken ankles. I agree EO is going to be hard for the valley to score on him inside, he needs to improve his offense. He has good moves but the ball never seems to drop for him.

Yes, I was probably too harsh on Murry. I was pretty fixated on Ramon and EO.

[Ricky Del Rio]

Hmmm, you don't have to specifically say something about the rap music to clearly express how you feel. What? Would you have rather the guys play with Garth Brooks wired in? Or how about the Backstreet Boys? Or better yet, nothing epitomizes basketball in musical terms than getting down and dirty to Hannah Montana.

They're playing you're not - wear ear muffs next time.

By the way, nice report. Keep up the good work.

<sigh>

I was hoping for some Henry Mancini songs such as Peter Gunn, Pink Panther and Mr. Lucky.

[Snapshot9]

Who was there yesterday to guard RC? EO and GS don't really count as of now because they are too raw. If you had said Paul Miller was there yesterday, I would have been more impressed with your comments.

Don't get me wrong, I like RC a lot, but game time is different from practice time.

[Bigshotmaker]

Shooting the ball comes natural,it will come around.Weightlifting takes its toll in the beginning, especially if you've never lifted on a consistant basis like they're doing now, but once the soreness is gone they will be stronger more explosive players.Shooting the ball is about repetition and I doubt if they're shooting 300-500 balls on a consistant basis like they're gonna do somewhere down the road.Just getting out and playing after two-a-day lifting sessions speaks volumes for all the young men.From the reports we get everybody is playing, which tells me they all have bought into the work ethic that HCGM want and need for them to be successful.Again HCGM have these guys on the right track and what makes it easy for him is they want the same thing,to be winners.This is a new team with a new culture.JT and AE are just soph and GS and EO are freshmen that's 3 yrs together.This team have weapons of destruction.

[Ricky Del Rio]

Who was there yesterday to guard RC? EO and GS don't really count as of now because they are too raw. If you had said Paul Miller was there yesterday, I would have been more impressed with your comments.

Don't get me wrong, I like RC a lot, but game time is different from practice time.

Paul will have to go out to the top of the key, trail Ramon, prevent too much separation and then block his shot because of his height advantage. I will have to see it.

Garrett cannot do it today and he will not be able to do it four years from now.

EO will be able to prevent the drive and shot on the glass, but he will have to give too much cushion. Hence, a pull up jumper. If EO plays tight, he cannot prevent a drive around, I just am not sure about Ramon's success in getting his shot off because of EO's height and vertical.

[rjl]

Almost every person (at least every right thinking American :D ) will mature as they get older and become concerned with the direction some social aspect is heading. Take music for example.......Look at the transition of pop music in the last 50 years....

Big band music, mostly for social gatherings.

Rock & Roll.....beginning to contain some "expressive" undertones. Mostly inuendos at most.

70s with the free love hippy drug using themes so prevelent. More "expressive" but mostly non violent.

80s hard rock and bubble gum pop.....inuendos fading with moresuggestive lyrics.

late 80s 90s today....grunge and hip hop which has developed into "gansta" hip hop. Violence...drugs....abuse all celebrated.....

Now take a look at where the social graces of mainstream kids has come from and where it is today.

What makes muture people concerned is.....where are we going to be tomorrow?

You can call me crazy if you like.....but you don't have to be on the "fringe" to project things like......drugs on demand...abortion on demand...sex on demand.....all for kids.

You know a lot of it happens now...nothing I just said doesn't go on to some extent....it's only a matter of time until the state sponsers it...in the name of freedom.

Music is one of my passions, so excuse me while I remain off-topic.

I think the one thing people can take from it is that new music will almost always be misunderstood by older generations.

Sentences like...

late 80s 90s today....grunge and hip hop which has developed into "gansta" hip hop. Violence...drugs....abuse all celebrated.....

...portray a fairly gross over generalization of a musical period and genre, and are normally fairly false.

Who are the biggest hip-hop stars today? Kanye never killed anyone in any of his songs. Oh, he raps about sex? News flash: music has ALWAYS been about pushing the boundaries of sexual innuendo. The primal urges of beats, rhythm moving to a crescendo, and sex go hand in hand. Hell, there's more lovemaking in one James Brown song than on Saturday night Cinemax. Even Beethoven, a suicidal bipolar who disdained authority, made music that challenged society's sexual mores. Just like now, there were old dudes in 1815 going around begrudging the young kids with their subversive Beethoven.

I think the worst thing you can say about modern music vs. the "good 'ol days" is that, while their essentially talking about the same thing, they've just gotten a lot more blatant about it.

[SubGod22]

I will say that there is a lot of music in the rap industry that goes too far. I like rap. But some of it goes way beyond innuendo and leaves nothing to the immagination. There was a stretch where I couldn't get away from that stuff and have since listened to less rap. But I still try to find artists with less negative messages in thier lyrics.

[Hotel Paper]

Nujabes, Talib Kweli, Common, the roots...

[Bigshotmaker]

The Roots featuring Jill Scott."You Got Me"

[boyshocker]

How come I keep founding my Queen, Eagles, Steve Miller cd's in my teenagers cars?? They never take my Willie cds though.

[small tyme baller]

Willie Hutch? cuz that fool has soul