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| so i had a crazy argument with my black roommate about basketball and the outcome could mean one of these two:
1) i am a basketball genius
2) just because they ball well, black people don't necessarily know much of basketball.
and i'm pretty sure it's not number two. jk.
and in this entry i'm going to do that will probably shock some people that know me; make an argument to defend kobe. yeah, pretty weird.
so my roommate, lonnie, and i were watching the season opener lakers vs rockets game. while we were watching the game, we were both hating on the lakers because i, for one, am not a big lakers fan, and my roommate lonnie is a rockets fan.
so we were comparing how much the rockets have a squad this year (stevie franchise, tmac, shane battier, yao ming, luther head, chuck hayes, bonzie wells, dikembe mutombobobobobobo, raefer alston...you get the picture), as opposed to the lakers (kobe......and i think it's been that way for...3 years now?). then we got into the lakers' good old days when lakers won back-to-back-to-back with kobe and shaq being the unstoppable duo, fisher to draining the tres (i guess he still does), and rick fox and mark madsen staying useless on the bench.
then lonnie, out of nowhere, yells out, "you can't give kobe ANY credit for winning the championships."
if you know me, i am not much of a kobe fan. in fact, i used to have rants of how i hate kobe's swagger and his style of playing ball. but i never doubt the fact that he's an amazing player, possibly the best and the most expensive player in the NBA right now. without kobe, NBA would not be the national basketball league as we know it now.
anyways, back to my roommates ignorance. he states that "the championship games cannot be won by the swingman alone." which is true. but you can say that about the player that runs the 5 or the point or any position. basketball obviously is a team sport. if it wasn't, then there wouldn't be five players to play the game. then he says how the only reason why lakers won was because they ran the triangle offense around shaq and if shaq didnt have an opening to put up the basket, he would dish it out to fox or horry to drain the tre.
...obviously that's why kobe had 25+ points each game, right? and even if that was the case, kobe was the best bait for another player to come and play the help defense, and while kobe is doubled he would dish it to shaq where shaq would be only guarded by one player, and we all know no one can stop shaq one-on-one.
after making my case, lonnie says, "ok. you misinterpreted me. i meant to say we can't give kobe all the credit for winning the championships." might i mention i HATE when people change their words around thinking that if it sounds similar enough, then what they stated before doesnt even matter.
now this is where i'm so mad at him at his ignorance. after making my case and my two other roommates agreeing with my point, lonnie says, "dude. you're asian. you don't even know anything of basketball. shut up." i laughed it off. just cuz i knew he got beat. race is not even the issue. just his pure ignorance of what he's talking about makes me so ticked off. but i still like my roommate. hes probably one of the coolest dudes i met. but just when it comes down to certain things like that...i want to kick him out.
so yeah. and if you're asking me about the clips and their seeming-to-be-sorry season, i donno what to say yet, except chris kaman cut his hair...and that's a sign of a good news. hopefully al thronton could step it up in place of eb, but no one can replace him yet skill wise, knowledge wise, and leadership wise. yeah, same cassell's there...but hes soon to be senile so you can't really trust him. AHHHHHHHH come on clippers....
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| "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay my tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'" -- Luke 18:10-13
the first man we see is a pharisee, a religious jew who does things by the book and has much knowledge of the scriptures, yet does not have the basic idea of what it means to be an acceptable sacrifice to God. the pharisee had the nerve to boast himself in prayer, telling of all his good works that he has done to God Himself. there is no broken heartedness, no willingness to confess of his sins, but rather to boast of his works. he goes to even put down a tax collector to glorify himself up to God to show Him that he deserves God's blessings.
the second man we see is a tax collector, who are hated by all the jewish community since they are shrewd, lying, and cunning to all the people they collect tax from. they are known as the most vile, unreligious, a traitor to the jewish community for the roman government. however, this man does not boast of himself nor does he try to sweet talk his way into forgiveness. he cannot even bare to look up to the heavens and all he can do is beat his chest and confesses his guilt and his identity as a sinner.
the picture is painted so that you can clearly see the tax collector's depravity, worthlessness, and his sinful nature as who he is, while the religious pharisee has the guts to boast of himself when he knows nothing about the meaning of offering.
"I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice" -- Hosea 6:6
the tax collector had the broken heart that would eventually lead him to his loyalty to God. as for the pharisee he obviously does not know his scriptures as well as he thought he did.
true repentence comes from a broken heart that recognizes the total depravity of oneself without Christ. i am always so humbled and blown away by this parable and am ashamed that i am not even like the tax collector who beat his chest recognizing his guilt and shame, but rather have the nerve to call myself the child of God and go to church on sundays and sing worship songs when i know that i have sinned against God.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" -- Proverbs 9:10
fear the Lord so that we may gain wisdom, read the Word so that we may gain knowledge of God and to understand His grace and glory.
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