4 teams 1 city

After a Lakers game in which I'm still trying to forget (I'm clueless as to how we could even win a game against them in the playoffs if they play as well in the post-season) the Suns fans were seemingly outnumbered by Lakers fans. More importantly they were louder. Even the nationally televised announcers were making comments about that.

1). Cardinals- Yes they are indeed 7-5 at the time of this posting, and they will almost certainly hold on to win the division.....for the first time in 33 years. Honestly. Most people are transplants to the phoenix area anyways so they will root for the city which they left. The Cards would never sell out games (even when they played at the college stadium before tax payers were duped into footing the bill for their stadium) except for when the Cowboys or Bears would come to town.

That's fine though. The Bidwell family are turds and they get what they deserve. Even the Plummer years in which they won a playoff game was a once in a.....team history win.

But after a 48-20 beat down by the Eagles, I'm just reminded that they are the same bad team with little defense which has the benefit of playing in the worst division I've ever seen. The rest of the NFC West is 3-8, 2-9, and 2-10.

Be proud Cards fans and enjoy your first round exit.



2). Coyotes- "What's the NHL?" says one Payson, AZ rancher.

"We have a team in it too?" says the other Flagstaff hippie.

"Who's this guy named Gretzky that coaches? Sounds communist to me or even worse...Canadian!!!!" says the collective population of Cochise County Arizona.

Everyone in D.C. wears Ovechkin jersey's. Phoenix is trying to figure out the rationale behind building an ice rink in the Sonoran desert...




3) D-Backs- I like this team. I like that they were born here on the back of the Colangelo family and even gave the city it's first major championship. But I, like many others have admitted, are fair-weather fans at best. Chase Field is a blast to see a game at and Mark Grace is filled with comedic and sarcastic undertones when watching them on the tube.

We love our spring training games too. So why do so few people attend games. I just think 162 game season is too damn long. I realize the reasons behind it including revenue, marketing, travel times, pitchers rotations, but its exhausting.

Middle of the road on them. Fun to watch, but from a fan that actually watches and attends games, the only excitement generally involves drinking. Plus do you really thing Arizona fans could ever pull anything this cool off....

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

4) Suns- Obviously, I'm biased but since 1968 (20 years longer then the Cards presence in Arizona) the purple gang from phoenix has been intertwined with the city's culture.


The characters and players becoming icons and philanthropic figures in their local community.

They have a culture of only accepting winners (or had until Colangelo bailed)

...and if you can forget the "darkbury days" and look beyond the "7S.O.L." era.....they had Kevin Johnson.

...and K.J. is the final word on any topic.

Matrix returns only to "Yo Gabba Gabba" with Amare

After a couple of close Suns wins, I still continue my cautiously optimistic view on the team. Only beating the OKC THUNDAAAA (weak name) by a single point because Nash went off knocking everything down he took for just one quarter.

When he plays like this, I liken him to the Mario brothers star power-up. You rarely get to see it, it lasts a short amount of time, but when you obtain it you can run speed ahead without concern. While these moments have been few and far between since "Trix" left, it was great to see.

Speaking of which....It's the return of the Matrix to Phoenix tonight against the Heat. Let it be known that I was and still am a HUGE Shawn Marion fan. He brought scrappy play and hustle into our otherwise only offensively minded "7-seconds or less era". He said more than a few mumbles about his coin during contract years and even when he did, it was only because he put up the best numbers on our team.

When he returns, I expect/hope our fans show him nothing but love and respect for his years here. I certainly did at games I attended and even at the occasional sighting in "Snobbsdale" which he would frequent.

It shouldn't be weird for him to return to the PHX.

At least no weirder then seeing Amare doing a choreographed dance routine on a children's acid tripped rip off of my beloved Sesame Street.....

Right....................

Amare
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This is a Suns sports town. I'm sorry but no other major team comes close. I'll break it down in the next blog...

Northwest Branch Report

Before the weather turns every crag out here into an ice skating rink I needed to get out to the local crags. I spent two separate weekends out at the Northwest Branch in Maryland.

It's hard to describe this place in any way except...urban. The rock is stiff and unforgiving but can be dirty. Aesthetically, a beautiful place with a perennial stream cutting the rocks in half. Anytime you get cold water crossing with a crash pad on your back, you know a good day is in store.

Each trip was mixed with new climbing buddies, a few homeless people, some broken glass, and crazy fall colorings on the leaves. My buddy Ben (in the long wall photos) describes our trip best in his blog "Go Big or Go Home" so I'll defer to him.

"...since the weather in morgantown, west virginia was bad and getting worse, the organizers of the trek to cooper's rock bailed on the trip. perhaps this weekend, we'll try again. waking up groggy and deflated from a blowout win, i expected a lazy sunday.

no, wait, i didn't. climbing! hellacious wind gusts overnight left the rocks nice and dry and the temps somewhere around 40. perfect. tromping down the leaf-strewn trail with my crash pad and a beginning of the day stranger, we searched for the fabled long wall and easter egg boulder. i'd tried in vain to find them this summer, but was appalled by the stench of raw sewage runoff from a spill earlier that week. i bailed about 100 yards from where i wanted to be.

there was no mistaking long wall. it was...a long..wall. well done and creative, you first ascensionists. the highball warm ups were more like free soloing, but the holds were good, even if the face was scummy from mud runoff. scrubbed 'em down, and topped 'em out. if it weren't for graffiti, i'd have sworn i was at lrc. good grippy texture, nice flat landing. sent a few lines there, including one that we refused to grade because the grades at this microcrag are all over the board. the prettiest line we had was technical and tested our footwork and contact strength. tim sent it first and i took away some moves with my ape index when i sent.

easter egg boulder was home to only two problems. first one, pull off the jugs to slopey slap-happy slabbing. dynamic to static moves. i'd liken it to udge, nudge, or grudge plus a move. not that i've done any of those three, but... the other one, didn't much try it. too small of holds for me, and my fingers were getting pretty tender from the schist and crystals. for pictures, check on facebook.

a good half day. anyone who comes to visit might actually get to boulder now. not a destination crag by any means, just something to futz around on if the weather's decent."

I really hate ratings at crags that I'm not familiar with but Dr. Topo has a guide for some of the routes. According to them, my sends were scattered from v1-v5+ . It should be noted that the "Long Wall" is not listed in the guide book. It has maybe 3 lines of which only one is worth sending (v1,v2,v4) on it with and smaller sloper filled low-ball boulder next to it (v2ish and some super contrived hard project v8ish?)

Not sure if this crag warrants another trip but the "Chaos Roof" section and "Ultimate Doom" (v10-v9 respectively) look like some pretty gnarly projects. I only tried ult. doom once due to the lack pads and knowledge but seems fun with a terrible and scary landing.

Little Bit of Riddim

Without a doubt.....the best night of live music I've ever experienced.


So I had seen Michael Franti & Spearhead 4 times already, 3 times in AZ and once in Alaska. I believe every one of these included my best friends and former roommates Matt and Kim. This show at the 9:30 club in D.C. was followed by a private open MIC night at a coffee house where Franti did a benefit for IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War)

There were at most 80 people at the after show which was a full acoustic set which I got to meet him after. The main show was your typical incredible live Spearhead concert with a 2:30 hour set.

When Franti says "I wanna see ya'll jumpin!!!!"....everyone jumps. It's just how it works. No matter how many times I've seen him (this was the second time on this tour alone) he brings the energy. Everyone is either dancing, singing along, or just smiling the entire length of the show.

This tour has been particularly great because of the inclusion of Cherine Anderson, a soulful and sensual singer from Kingston, and the Solillaquists of Sound.

I truly believe there are two types of music fans. Those that love Michael Franti & Spearhead....and those that don't know how much they do until they see actually hear 'em.

Do yourself a favor and make the day better by checking out a couple of concerts from tours past as well as his sold out show a few weeks ago in Times Square.......

Amsterdam show from his tour in Europe

Franti at the Nokia Theater, NYC

Cautiously Optimistic (When I need to make love to the camera)

When I get to see a Suns game out here on the east coast, I get excited. When that game is shown on NBATV and is simulcast with the Phoenix broadcast crew including Eddie Johnson....I practically "pitch a tent".

So last nights game against the Pistons showed me something incredible about this team. That we actually have a complete team of players....not just a complete team of people. The distinction is that last year while we had a full roster, we honestly only played 7 maybe 8 players deep. Yes this formula worked in previous years for the Spurs but they played a slowed down, half court, defensively minded game as opposed to "7 seconds or less" offense with aging players.


When watching the Houston game a few nights earlier, I was still waiting for the defensively minded team that Terry Porter has been promising us. All I saw however was the same D'antoni type team that let the Rockets score at will, combined with a half-posturing at playing defense.

What I did like was Matt Barnes and his cheap shot. Yes....it was a cheap shot and I can't condone it as smart move, but pros get tired of having elbows and jabs thrown into their chest all game. The little things that you never see that takes place off-the-ball. If we really want to be respected as a defensive and physical team then I want to see anger and tenacity out of our better defenders like Barnes (we let our best defender by far go away in Marion and I haven't seen true tenacity from Raja in 2 years).


So with the victory over the Pistons, I finally saw a bench come in that for whatever reason, didn't give me the usual overwhelming anxiety of "ok, so how much will this lead shrink till Nash/Amare comes back in?" Grant Hill is showing flashes of old and reformed his game incredibly well after injury, Boris is still an enigma when given the ball but seems to be co-existing well with Shaq on the other side of the paint, Lopez filled in nicely when Shaq was ejected on a bullshit flagrant 2, even Singletary and Louis Amundson (long lost Hanson bassist?) played great hustle minutes.


What makes the win most impressive was that with Shaq out the Suns maintained a physical presence against one of the most imposing defensive teams and won by 18. All this without Leandro or Matt Barnes even in the lineup.

Now I say cautiously optimistic because I'm unsure if this team can maintain their physical play throughout the season against a ridiculously stacked Western Conference. My only hope is that Vitamin Water can keep the whole team looking sexy throughout the season.



Cause it seems to work nicely for Steve "Zoolander" Nash.......

Taxation Without Representation

I'm really enjoying my new living situation in Washington D.C. I moved here just in time to see all of the fall colors from burnt oranges, to burnt red, to crispy-burnt browns.

I've been outside every weekend so far making the most of the season. However I'm yet to be a random tourist and see the majority of the cultural sights. I visited D.C. in years prior and saw the majority of the monuments, Smithsonians, etc but I need to see the "true" culture. The underground. The social movements.


This is not an attempt to find the "radical" or "loud" counter-culture aspects, but I love finding what really makes the lifeblood of an urban area. My short list at the moment includes finding a real seedy piano/jazz club with that sax player on the soprano playing his heart out till 3 in the morning, visiting as many urban parks as possible once the snow falls, and spending some time at a local homeless shelter/foodbank.

Many of you have asked what D.C. is like and I believe it's too hard to summarize all of its' characteristics. So instead I'll let Colbert's interview with our only Congressional Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton summarize for me.

Enjoy..................

Rat Rockin

A couple of weekends ago I traveled up to Manhattan with my friend Kristine. We met up with 4 other close friends to watch one of them run the NYC Marathon.

First off, major props to Ryan for putting out an uber-impressive 3:02 time in the marathon only to literally have to come home to a cold shower because his building had turned off their hot water.


I have been to the city multiple times before this and had already done all of the obligatory tourist shit. This was far and away my favorite trip out there yet because while I only had about a 36-hour window, there was no strict itinerary to follow besides hanging out with friends.

I did however wander off from my friends with my chalk bag and shoes hidden in my backpack to find "Rat rock" in central park south. I've come to the acceptance that I must find all bouldering opportunities when I travel regardless of how urban the setting.

Central Park bouldering in general ("cat rock" and "worthless boulder" included) has an great history and story behind it. The beta I had for the place was very limited, just like the amount of time I had at the rock.


During the 45 minutes or so there I ran into another boulder-holder who kindly gave me some beta and even snag his crash pad. I only get to send 2 routes which I find out later are around V2 & V3 respectively (#14 and #15 listed here for beta purposes)

Certainly not a destination point, but if I ever have a crash pad and find myself in Manhattan I'll have to tour the rest of the burrow for problems. Word of some highballs with pavement landings exists around Ft. Tryon and Harlem.....

Because he has a sick crossover?

Last week many citizens of this country voted a black man into power, some simply because of their belief that he can hit a 16 footer from the elbow with ease. They didn't even care about his policies or lack of political experience but he won nonetheless. If I could have voted in this election however, I would have done the same.



I'm talking of course.......about Kevin Johnson.


I played many sports growing up but was primarily a basketball nut. I have followed the Suns from as long as I can remember and playing on basketball teams I only wanted the #7 jersey on my team because KJ was my, along with many other people's, favorite player.

Many nostalgic memories are brought up from my childhood watching the most aggressive point guard to ever wear a purple and orange uniform (yes, Steve is great too but can't play defense even close to as well as when KJ would be put up opposite "His Airness").

"The new Mayor talks about dunking on Hakeem"

I'm not sure about his vision as mayor to turn Sacramento into a point of travel, but any guy that can dunk on Mark Eaton, Hot Rod Williams, and Hakeem, gets my vote.

Rules

I figure I should lay out some ground rules for this blog and those who read it about what I will discuss.

1). Pulling On Plastic:

This phrase describes my current unfortunate situation at the moment (ask a climber what it means and no....it's not a sexual innuendo).

I've always walked the thin line of "rock climbing hippie from flagstaff" to "professionally dressed researcher". Therefore this blog will most likely reflect these interests.

I don't expect you to enjoy all of the topics....and I can assure you, there are much better blogs out there then this one that I encourage you to visit.

2). Things that WILL be discussed:

• Rock climbing/bouldering
• The Phoenix Suns
• Philanthropy and altruistic behavior
• Self-deprecating and ethnically insensitive Jewish jokes and stereotyping (see; Seinfield/Curb Your Enthusiasm for better examples then mine)
• Washington D.C.
• Dark manly beers
• Salmon and Grizzly bears
• Michael Franti and Spearhead

3). Things that WILL NOT be discussed much:

• Country Music
• Organized Religion (does not include the teachings of one Edward Abbey)
• Politics (Yes I'm politically aware, yes I live in D.C. and get enough of it on a daily basis thank you)
• Ann Coulter (see above)
• Bud Light with Lime
• My sex life (I'm happy with it, but my parents will probably be reading this soon enough....and I've already said too much)
  
  
  
• Blatant racism. Discrimination based on pure observations is allowed however. (Litmus test: If it was in "Blazing Saddles" then it's kosher to me)
• Collar popping scarf wearing Jersey guidos

I believe that we're on this earth to help others. What the others are here for....I'm not sure of yet.

These are only rules however....and I've broken many rules before and had a blast doing it......

Starting a New Blog

I just moved from away from my harsh and beautiful home of Arizona to Washington D.C.

In an attempt to simply put my thoughts onto paper, I thought I would give this blog/journal a try.



The goal is as much for myself to get all these thoughts out of my head so I can look back on them later down the road as it is to share them with others. Therefore in true "diary" form, my hope is that this is wrought with spelling and grammatical errors.

The last time I wrote in a journal I was probably ten and on a backpacking trip. I didn't go back and correct grammar then and I don't intend to now.