Choice-New York Knicks

For my second choice blog this week, I am choosing to write about the New York Knicks, one of my favorite basketball teams, and the expectations that I have for them this coming year. The Knicks season ended in a heart breaking playoff run last year. In the first game of the post season, the Knicks lost Iman Shumpert to an ACL tear. Then after a loss, the Knicks lost Amar’e Stoudamire when he got angry and punched the glass of a fire extinguisher case, ending his season. This left Carmelo with virtually no help having to play the three headed monster team of the Miami Heat.  Tough playoff match up. But this year, the Knicks are back baby.  Carmelo Anthony is in his prime, and may be the best scorer in the entire league. With the sense of urgency for a ring now gone, the Miami Heat will most likely lose a lot of focus and fire power this year. The Chicago Bulls were without Derrick Rose last year, and upon his return from an ACL tear, I just can’t see him being the same player that he was prior to the injury.  This basically leaves the eastern conference open for the taking. And the Knicks are the team to take it. The Knicks had a rather disappointing year in 2011, barley finishing above .500. But the Knicks have done nothing but improve their coaching staff and roster.  The big stars return, and now the Knicks have one of the most powerful front lines in the league in Stoudamire and defensive player of the year; Tyson Chandler. The bench spots in this position are solid as well, including vetrans such as Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace, as well as young gun Chris Copeland who has shown a lot of promise in the preseason. The small forward position is solid as well, with Melo being backed up by Steve Novak, who led the NBA in 3 point percentage last year. The shooting guard position contains two of the most athletic guys in the league. The first is sophomore Iman Shumpert, who was a defensive star last year for the Knicks, and has nowhere to go but up this season. He is backed up by a talented scorer in JR Smith; a guy who will slam home a windmill dunk or step back and knock down a 3 depending on what the defense gives him. The point guard position is led by one of the newest members of the team, future hall of famer Jason Kidd. He will be splitting time with Raymond Felton, a talented guard. In conclusion, the New York Knicks are my pick to win the eastern conference this coming NBA season.

Thanksgivin'

Thanksgiving is BY FAR my favorite holiday. Everything about the holiday is just wonderful. First of all, the food is always good. I am a huge fan of carrots and corn first of all, especially when butter and salt is loaded on. You simply can’t go wrong there.  Then of course there’s the stuffing. To be honest, I’m not even completely sure as to what stuffing actually is, but hey, it’s tasty and a must-have on Thanksgiving.  Next, we move on to my personal favorite side, the mashed potatoes. These things are absolutely amazing. I love fluffy mashed potatoes, saturated with butter and covered with dark gravy. It’s really heaven in your mouth.  And then of course you’ve got the turkey. Regardless of how you eat it, the turkey is the best part of the meal hands down. Then we move onto dessert, where it’s basically pie city. My personal favorite is the chocolate pudding pie, where chocolate pudding is resting on top of pie crust, and then is covered with a solid inch of whipped cream.  Then, bits of Crunch Bars are sprinkled atop the whipped cream. Good stuff right there. And since I have a Filipino aunt, she usually makes some strange looking dessert thing, and I’m not exactly sure what it is, but it tastes very good as well. Another excellent thing about Thanksgiving is the football. You have got to love that stuff. And then of course there’s the family. I really enjoy spending time with my family, and there is a lot to learn from them, especially since my sister and I are amongst the youngest members of the Zelasko family.  Another good part of Thanksgiving is the Turkey Bowl, which takes place at Miner’s house in the morning. I always win the Turkey Bowl, which is nice as well.

Choice- C'mon Philly

For one of my choice blogs last week, I chose to write (complain) about the Buffalo Bills. Well it turns out that I am also a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles as well. And I would like to take the time this week to complain about the Philadelphia. After being nicknamed the “dream team” last year, the Eagles didn’t even make the playoffs. Ok, so maybe there were chemistry issues, maybe injuries hurt the team. So you think that this year they would for sure be a power house, not only in the east but in the entire NFC. Well let me tell you this, it’s been another tough year to be an Eagles fan. The Eagles are now 3-4, the same record as the Bills, which says something in itself. The Eagles have one of the most talented teams in whole league, no doubt and hands down. So what’s the problem some might ask? Where do I even start? First of all, there’s more to a football team than just skilled positions, and the Eagles front office needs to realize that.  The offensive line is absolutely awful. You know there might be a problem when the quarterback has to wear a Kevlar vest (same stuff made in bulletproof vests) to keep his ribs protected. Speaking of the quarterback, Michael Vick is a bum! The guy leads the team in turnovers, and he’s a huge part of the team’s offensive struggles.  In the post-game interview yesterday, Vick seemed to say that he didn’t care if he gets benched. Well it seems like he gave up on the season. Time to give the rookie Nick Foles a chance if you ask me. The problem with that is Foles doesn’t have the scrambling ability that Vick has. So when the offensive line fails (which we all know it will) Foles is pretty much screwed. Stay tuned to read about my complaints about the Eagles defense.

Buffalo Bills.

For my choice blog this week, I suppose that I’ll be writing about the Buffalo Bills. I have a lot of things to complain about here, and I need to let my blog do the talking. First of all, we enter our bye week with a 3-4 record. Are you kidding me Buffalo? 3-4? We have one of the easiest schedules in the entire league, and we are only able to record 3 wins. Let’s take a look at the teams we’ve played so far. We started the season off by getting demolished by the Jets. The Jets are no more than a mediocre team. But hey, let’s give the Bills the benefit of the doubt, it was in New York, and sure the Jets are more talented than the Bills. That loss was acceptable I suppose. Next, we played rather well against the Kanas City Chiefs. Big deal. And by the way, Matt Cassel threw for 300 plus yards on our embarrassing secondary. Then we went on to beat Cleveland, which is probably the most untalented team in the AFC.  Then came the biggest embarrassment in a decade for the Bills. The Patriots game. Not only did we give up a 21 point lead, but we ended up losing by 24 points. The following week, we lost 45-3 to the 49ers. The following week may have been one of the worst wins in Bills history. Thank god that the Cardinals made huge mistakes, resulting in an overtime win for the Bills. Then we blew a late lead to the Titians. Here we are at the bye week with a 3-4 record. It seems like we’re going to see another disappointing season in Buffalo. In my opinion, the Bills should be at least 5-2, maybe even 6-1 at this point. Its time to step it up.

Post College Plans

Seeing that I am only in the tenth grade, I am not completely sure as to what I plan to do after high school. I suppose that I have some sort of idea as to what I wish to become. My dream goal, although it’s unlikely, is to attend Syracuse University for their journalism program. Journalism is an interest, hence the reason why I took this class. But let’s be realistic here. Syracuse is quite an expensive school. But no need to fear, I have another idea. For my freshman year of college, I will attend ECC, and then when the year ends I will transfer to Canisius. It will be more cost effective this way. But let’s have some fun with this for a minute. What if I didn’t choose the path that leads to college, and instead I chose to work with my father for a few years, while learning to count cards at the same time. Then, when I have enough money saved, I plan a trip to Vegas, and use my card counting talent to become rich. I will invest half of my earnings in the stock market. Once I have enough money, I will start the next social networking site, which will use holograms, because by this time they will be invented. Regardless of the success, I will use the money that I have to enroll in Syracuse University, where my journalism skills will flourish and I’ll soon be on top of the sports reporters’ world. This will obviously bring in even more money, which can be invested into my social networking pages. With the rest of the money, I will purchase a secrete water bungalow in Tahiti, which will help me to avoid assassins. I will then spend the rest of my life spear fishing.  The end.

Favorite Class

I have to say that I really enjoy the majority of my classes so far. Not to be a suck-up, but in all seriousness my favorite class has got to be Online Publishing. There are really a lot of things that I enjoy about this class. First of all, the atmosphere in this room in wonderful.  It’s a great group of students, and we’re guaranteed to have a good laugh every time we’re here.  Whether it be from Leyton Miner making fun of is brother Mex, or Devon Zobrest calling out Mr. Currin it’s always a good time. Another thing about this class that I enjoy is that it’s really preparing me for my future goals. I would love to pursue a career in journalism, and this class is a start towards achieving that. I also really enjoy writing about the varsity football team every week. It’s a fun process. First I take the stats for the game, then I get to write about them a few days later and my article is featured in the Alden Advertiser. One of the best feelings is when someone compliments me on my article that they read in the Advertiser. It’s really the best reporter job that there is to have in this town. I hope that my writing in this class will help get me into a college for journalism. It would be awesome to attend Syracuse University for their journalism program. This class could possibly help me get there! That’s a major goal, and that’s part of the reason why I took this class in the first place.  I plan to take this class again next year and become a senior editor. Then I would like to return once again as a teacher’s assistant. I mean, the class is referred to as the “Best Class Ever”