How dare you forget about Baron Davis

Jeremy Lin? Jeremy Lin!? I understand he’s a good player and he’s been playing great. Averaging what? 20 ppg and 10 assists per night since he became relevant. Well, he has not been relevant that long. Baron Davis or B.D. as I call him is currently Jeremy Lin’s back up on the Knicks and I feel like that’s a crime against humanity. Baron Davis as a back up to Jeremy Lin!? What has this world become? It’s sinful. I am nauseated, repulsed, and horrified by the notion that B.D. is the back up to Jeremy Lin. I don’t care about this Linsanity. Baron Davis did not need a Linsanity or a system coach in Mike D’antoni to ball. Baron Davis could ball immediately after exited his mother’s womb. He was crossing over doctors as they tried to cut his umbilical cord.  

You brought shame to yourself if you thought Jeremy Lin should be the starter over a healthy Baron Davis. Since, Baron Davis as been out of basketball for a year with a herniated back I understand the caution. I also understand that he is getting up there in age. But, If Baron Davis can play like he used to then Jeremy Lin would have to worship a statue of B.D. in order to get playing time. Instead of thanking God after every game, Jeremy Lin would have to thank B.D. for letting him get any minutes at all. Do you need proof?

Here are Baron Davis stats during some of his best seasons;

03-04 - 22.9 ppg - 7.5 apg

04-05 - 19.5 ppg - 8.3 apg

05-06 - 17.9 ppg - 8.9 apg

06-07 - 20.1 ppg - 8.1 apg

07-08 - 21.8 ppg - 7.6 apg

These seasons may have been a long time ago but of recently, when he played for the Clippers, he was still a 15 ppg and 7 apg guy [not to mention he grabs about 3 boards a night]. Lin's numbers may be better than these but B.D. does not care if Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant or even Jesus guards him--he's going to cross them over. Lin almost cried during the game against the Heat. 

I think we forget how great Baron Davis was. How he averaged 25.3 points, 6.5 assists, 2.9 steals, 4.5 rebounds in that epic upset series against the number one seed in the 2007 playoffs. 

If B.D. is playing B.D. ball, there is no question he should be a starter over Jeremy Lin. It doesn’t matter how good Lin has been over the 12 or so games he’s played.We never questioned how good Baron Davis was going to be--we questioned how great he was going to be. We're still worried that Lin's performance is just a mirage. 

How could you forget his dunk on AK-47 (Andrei Kirilenko)? Some of us thought he should have been arrested for that dunk cause it was that criminal. 

Jeremy Lin!? Hahaha...yeah right.

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Finding Your Identity Hurts...All of Us

Bullying is not a recent phenomenon; it has been around for ages--ask Mussolini. Far too often we witness horrible acts due to bullying such as school shootings and suicides, especially among teenagers. Although bullying is coherently the problem, indirectly it’s all our fault. The problem is that we try too hard finding our identity--trying to find a place somewhere and some of us get left out. For instance, in High School, we try very hard to fall into a category [not necessarily intentional] and we end up as jocks, preps, sluts, rednecks, nerds, and etc. Actually, no; it’s much deeper than that. We end up as guys that play football, guys that pretend to be athletic and play lacrosse, nerds that learn C++ and nerds that play Magic in the library, girls that have tattoos, girls that smoke, and girls that have tattoos and smoke. This list is only partial. [The list I compiled here is as partial as the stars in our galaxy compared to all the stars in the universe.] 

Okay, that may be an exaggeration. But, it’s close enough.

Whatever forces that are working in our lives, are compelling us to join “sects” as a way to define ourselves. However, that is also limiting us mentally, emotionally, intellectually, and physically. We refuse anything/anyone that refutes our defining selves which leads to shunning. Let’s say someone at work or school wore a turtleneck everyday with white chinos. Most people would probably avoid that person because of their appearance alone. 

I used to try to find a place in high school like most kids. 

I gave that up when I got to college. [Inadvertently]

I don’t try to adopt an image. I don’t care to appease tendencies based off of factors, whether societal or cultural. I do what I like/want to do because I like/want to do it. In College, I followed the NBA religiously [I could give you the names of every player and where they play] and played Dungeons and Dragons [yes, the role-playing game] and Sopio [If you don’t know what Sopio is, I proved my point]

Want more? I’ll show you. These are a few of my interests:

My Yankee Candles

My Jordans

Some of my Books

Some of my Video games

A map of Skyrim on my wall

A poster of cars on my wall

My WVU football jersey (I went to Pitt)

My Bath and Body Works hand soap

Sadly, our shape is induced by external forces and a lot of today’s problems come from that [i.e.; drunk driving]. But, I'm not saying to be different because that is another category. Rejecting the expected may be a more proper thesis, here.

If you reject what is expected of you, people may begin to think you are strange. 
But, who cares? 

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A Problem with Islam Today

The lovely Erykah Badu

What's wrong with Islam these days?

Erykah Badu’s most recent concert has been canceled in Malaysia over a tattoo she has on her body. Officials in Malaysia [a muslim-majority country] claim that tattoos are forbidden in Islam. Of course, news outlets also claim this theology. 

BBC reported: “Tattoos are forbidden in Islam...”

Yet, searching for any mention of tattoos as a sin in the Quran leads to nowhere.The idea comes from the Hadith which is a supplement book to the Quran and represents some behaviors of the Prophet Muhammed [Peace be upon him]. Before I go on, let me mention the the Quran does not mention that Muslims should mimic Prophet Muhammed’s behavior or foresaw another holy book as the Hadith. If you don’t believe me; ask yourself how many wives did the Prophet have and how many wives are allowed in Islam? [More than one wife could be conditional, but is debatable] 

According to that same Hadith, plucking of the eyebrows is also a sin.

Please! Only an asinine person would take that serious. However, I know for a small proportion of Muslims, the only differences between today and 599 A.D. are guns and oil [maybe the hijab]. 

And this is the problem in Islam. We never had a council of Nicaea. There is no Pope of Islam. There are not dozens of different sects that break up the religion by slightly different beliefs or political factions. Thus, when a group of benighted Muslims decide that tattoos are forbidden, they expect the rest of the Islamic world to follow and most do. The only mention of tattoos comes from a guy who said another guy said that the Prophet forbade it. Let’s come to our senses; if tattoos were an essential part of the culture to the Arabs that doctrine the Hadith as the Burqa, they would not have forbade it---I’m sure a Saudi dignitary would actually have a Fatwa in a similar manner as the Burqa stating: The correct view of Islam is that Tattoos must be present on a person’s body. 

The correct view? No, that’s your view. 

One must ignore other views to know what Islam truly is. Read and study the Quran. Most importantly, understand the history and the context. Philosophize an alternative and refuse any dogmatic views. You can’t view the whole picture by looking at one corner. Reciting the Surahs of the Quran and following the words of your elders will not make you a believer [In Islam, no one is allowed to claim that they represent God’s word].  

I know that there are people that will say that I am an ignorant human being that constantly explores and invents things that I am aware of. But how is that any different than Sharia law, fatwas, and even the Hadith? How is that different from you? 

A PhD in Islam is not excuse.

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