NBC’s Kings is an entirely unique show, a retelling of the story of King David in the modern world. Ambitious in scope, Kings is filled with professional actors, starting with Ian McShane of Deadwood fame. There are scenes here and there that don’t really work, particularly those with David’s family, but for the most part this is a smart, well made show that is well worth watching.

Of course, since it is on NBC, it’s not getting a fair shot. Already it’s been pulled from it’s lame Sunday night spot, and been moved to Saturday night. Still, there are 8 more episodes, and you can watch the first four on hulu.com. Catch it while you can…

It’s been over seven months since I last wrote, longer since I wrote anything consistently, and even longer since I wrote anything worth reading. The first few months off were intentional, as I felt like I was getting stale, and losing whatever little originality I once had. Since around November, my absence has been a little different, more of a forgetfulness combined with an addiction to Facebook, plus the very real fact that I kind of forgot how to write. At the very least, I lost the rhythm that regular writing brings. So I’m going to try to get that back, at least a little bit, because I have missed the blog. Neither my personal life or my work life are overwhelmingly filled with creativity, and the writing kind of filled that hole for me.

Will it again? I hope so. My work like has been busier than ever this past year, as we are more short staffed than ever, and I’ve taken on slightly different roles at the workplace. It’s been a while since I haven’t simply worked straight through lunch, and that is when a lot of my writing has happened. I’m just coming out of what’s been one of the busiest stretches I’ve had in years, so I should have enough time to write at least a little bit…

Normally when I’ve taken breaks from my blog writing over the years, I’ve gone and re-vamped, usually with a vague attempt at a new blog. I don’t think I’m going to do that this time, mostly because some of the things that were frustrating to me about the old versions of the blog are fixed with just my last switch from blogger to wordpress.

As for topics? I don’t imagine they’ll change much. Don’t look for too much from me on Politics or the collapse of our financial system, as I get to spend plenty of my work time working on just these things. Recently I’ve been watching some pretty good tv shows, so I’ll probably write about them. I’ve read a few good books recently, so I’m sure I’ll get to those as well. Other that, I’m really just looking forward to stretching out my writer’s muscles again, and seeing if I’ve still got it.

Officially, there’s a month or so of summer left. In reality, summer for me ends when my wife goes back to work, or Labor Day weekend, whichever comes first. Today, the wife has students back in the classroom.. So summer is winding down. It’s been a pretty good summer. I’ve played a ton of golf, including my first tournament last weekend. (Where I did not finish last, which was my only goal..) We took a great trip to NYC, including a Yankees game, old friends, museums, good food, and a Broadway play. We didn’t spend as much time at camp as I would like, but we did get up there a few times. We never did make it down to Portland, nor does it look like the Lawn Game Olympics are going to make it back for their fourth year. Still, as summers go, this was a pretty good one.

Still..

Still, I am not quite ready to be done with summer. I haven’t quite gotten the sun out of my system. I’m not quite ready for raking leaves, or football. I am absolutely not ready for snow, darkness at 4:00, or gallons of red wine.

So I’m feeling a little melancholic today. It’s warm out, but not summer warm. It’s more that, last gasp of summer warm, where you need to bring a coat anyways because it’s going to be cold out at night even if it’s not cold right now, sort of warm.

Oh well. This is the life we choose, living in Maine. Summers are gorgeous, fickle seasons, filled with stifling humidity and blue skies, ending almost before you get used to them. Fall is blink of the eye, colorful maybe, but impermanent, and not nearly enough of a buffer to make up for the fact that it is a season that serves in Maine merely as a bridge to an interminable winter. Spring is so far away right now I can barely remember anything but the mud, intermixed with the first green sprouts, and baseball in other parts of the country.

Is it a bad sign that this summer is barely over, and I’m already looking forward to the next one?

Since the first incarnation of this blog, I’ve always been a little streaky. I’ll throw out a blog or more a day for weeks and months, and then stop again for weeks at a time. (That’s just kind of how it is kids, I’m a streaky sort of guy.) This time wasn’t quite like some of the others. This time, I felt like I needed to take some time off to possibly regain some element of creativity.

I’ve never really had any interest in writing a sports blog, or a book blog, or a movie blog. Rather, I’ve always wanted it to be a combination of all those things, plus some music, some pet peeves, some “what’s going on in my life” stories.

So..

I’m going to try to get back to there in the next couple days. Tonight, I’ve got a bottle of gin nearby, several things to write about, and my wife is out until later, so there’s nothing stopping me. Except maybe the gin. And tornadoes. Forgot about the tornadoes.

What a whuppin.

Good lord, what a whuppin.

Finally, the Celtics played a complete game, with the fully intense defense, and an offense firing on all cylinders. The big three all showed up last night, as did Rondo and Perk, as did everyone else the Celtics threw in there.

What a team.

(And, while I’m at it, what a colossal stink bomb the Lakers threw up. As much as the Celtics did everything right, the Lakers did everything wrong. Kobe played like a star, but certainly not a super star, and nobody else really played at all.)

I could go on, but I think anyone who reads this blog has probably read all my thoughts on everyone on the team… (Or, more likely, is just about sick of me writing about nothing but the Celtics. Sorry people.)

So.. I guess it’s time to actually pay some attention to baseball?

This’ll be quick:

• Lakers needed to win more, and the Celtics let them.
• Gasol sure looks more agressive when Perkins is out, doesn’t he?

• I know I’ve slammed Sam Cassell for his terrible point guard play, but I actually think he played well Sunday night. The main difference was that he got his shots out of the offense, instead of stopping the offense so he could get his shots.
• Paul Pierce was great, but I wasn’t surprised at all. I was especially happy that he made no excuses for the turnovers at the end of the game. The old PP might have had that strong of an offensive game, but he might have been taken mentally out of the game at various points.
• KG was… Well… I’ve tried to defend KG this series, but Sunday night I thought he played an all around terrible game. No offense, and sloppy defense. Not lazy defense, but stupid defense. To be honest, I didn’t actually know that KG could play that bad.
• I’ve vowed not to question Doc, as I think he’s done a great job this playoffs, and particularly this series. So… Just pretend I’m not asking this. How do you start someone (Leon Powe) and then not play them throughout the second half? When all of your bigs are in foul trouble? Just wondering.

I think the Celtics win this game. I hope the Celtics win this game. It would be nice if they could somehow manage to not be down 20 at the end of the first quarter. That might help

I just re-read my postgame ramblings, and man, I even confused myself. I thought about taking it down, but whatever, that’s kind of how I felt after that game. A little emotional, a little exhausted, but happy, and more than anything, rewarded.

There’s all kind of Celtics praise to go out, and I fully plan on getting to that in a minute. But first, the Lakers. More specifically, Kobe. Here is where we can finally learn about Kobe’s character. He’s been taking some heat this morning, but I think a lot of it is undeserved. He’s not Michael Jordan, but nobody else is either.

Kobe’s numbers weren’t that good, maybe, but I don’t think they really reflect what happened in the game. He played the distributer, running the ball through him, and setting up his teammates. In the first half, they got open, and they couldn’t miss. In the second half, they couldn’t get open, and also shrank from the big moments, leaving Kobe out by himself on an island.

Sunday night we’ll learn a lot about Kobe. If he’s able to rally his team, and win that game, it will lift some of the recent tarnish from his resume, and confirm some of the “Kobe’s a great teammate” story lines from this season. If he reverts to his gunner ways, throwing petulant temper tantrums and throwing teammates under the bus… Well, that will tell us something else.

Now to the Celtics. As well as the Big Three played, as well as Eddie House, and Posey, and Powe played… This game goes to Doc Rivers. When you get to this level of the NBA, quite a bit of the job is to be a motivator. Clearly, when the Celtics came out after halftime, they were motivated and ready to go. All season long, the Celtics have owned the third quarter. Last night, the only chance for them to win was to come out and play the best third quarter they’d played all year. Doc preached defense first… And defense won that game. Furious, stingy, sweaty, old-fashioned grind it out defense won that game. When it came time for personnel decisions, Doc deftly pulled strings he’d tangled all year. Never underestimate Doc’s role in keeping bench players motivated. Eddie House being ready to play? Tony Allen not pouting on the bench? Good reflections on them, for sure. But also good reflections of a coach who motivates his guys to play hard.

I think to finish, I’ll post the text messages sent back and forth between my brother and I last night.

Jeff (10:19) This game is f***ing awful

Me (10:19) Sure is

Me (10:20) Not over yet though

Jeff (10:21) True, but who’s going to step up?

Me (10:23) Allen maybe?

Jeff (10:27) It would have to be vintage Ray

Me (10:29) Be sweet to see

Me (11:50) Wow

Jeff (1:44) I still can’t believe that just happened!

It’s midnight right now, and I should be in bed. Really, at this point in my life, I should have been in bed hours ago. Problem is, I just watched the Celtics come back from a 21 point first quarter deficit, battle back, fighting, playing absolutely stifling defense like nothing I have ever seen..

Maybe tomorrow I can come up with some rational thoughts about this game. Maybe. Right now, all I can think about is that this.. This game was why we are fans. As often as not, teams let us down. Sometimes though, sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you follow a team through their down times, develop an appreciation for young players learning the game during losing seasons. Most years, the successes are on a relatively small level, maybe a tough win on the road mid season.

Sometimes though..

Sometimes you follow a team, and you start to get a feeling. You start to notice things like, “god, this team really seems to like each other.” You try, all year, not to get your hopes up. (Because, remember, as often as not, teams let your down.) But despite your best efforts, you start to get your hopes up. God. Getting your hopes up as a sports fan, you well know, is setting your self up for disappointment. And yet…

And yet…

Sometimes you get a game like tonight. Where you decide not to give up on your team, because they simply haven’t played that bad all year, so they can only play better. (At least they can make a game out of it..) And you sit there, as the team you’ve followed all year starts to make some shots. Despite yourself, you start to have these thoughts like, well, if they can just get it down to ten by the end of the third, they can still make it a game. Then you stop having any thoughts at all, because really, this is uncharted territory for you.

The last few minutes go by in a blur. A blur of fist pumping, and whispered “YESSSsssss’s,” because your wife is asleep upstairs.

Just a few more possessions now…

Just make these foul shots now….

Just don’t foul them now…

Just….

Just…

Breathe.

Smile.

See, that smile there? That’s why I’m a fan.

Watched this game while playing bar trivia, so my thoughts are a little muddled. And not just because of the g and t’s I was drinking, either. Watching this game basically confirmed for me that I hate people. Watching this game with at the same time as us, in the Bear Brew, was a crew of maybe ten girls who were maybe 21, and were fully decked out in their brand shiny new KG and Paul Pierce jerseys. Belligerently drunk, they spent the whole time talking like they must imagine people from the “hood” talk, my guess was they were all from Maine. They screamed loudly at the wrong things, cursed incessantly at the top of their lungs, and were oblivious to the fact that everybody else in the bar wanted to stab them in the eye.

They weren’t the only people there, there were plenty of people that I didn’t hate there too. Just not as many.

Some actual game thoughts after the jump.

Before the game, I put the Celtics chances at basically zero. The Laker’s are just too good of a team, and they aren’t as soft as they’d played the last two games. So, I really don’t feel like there’s much to take from this game. The Laker’s needed it a lot, a lot lot, more than the Celtic’s did. Thursday’s game seems to me to be a game that the Celtic’s should be on more equal footing. (Can anyone explain to me why there was more time between the two games in Boston than there was between games two and three? That must have something to do with the slop-sloppy game we saw last night, right?

Other thoughts:

• Rondo rolling his ankle could be a huge factor. If he’s not at his quickest, the Celtic’s lose one of their most effective weapons against the Laker’s. Also means Sam Cassell will be playing more, which doesn’t excite me much either.
• I have a sneaking suspicion that we’re going to see a huge game out of KG. Road games are won by stars, not role players. Despite all the grief people have been giving him, KG is still a star. I love how he hits that 18 foot jumpshot all year, and then people get mad at him for taking it in the playoffs. Sorry, that’s a big part of his game. I do agree that I would like to see KG work inside a bit more, but I don’t think it means he shouldn’t shoot outside as well.
• Somehow, I’m just getting a feeling that this series is going to go seven games. I used to get this feeling early on during Sox/Yanks series, you can just tell sometimes when teams are battling back and forth, that a series is just destined to go the distance. There’s just too much pride, too much legacy on the line for either of these teams to roll over at all.

I was a little worried about last night’s game, right up until the moment where Kobe started the game with two ticky tack fouls that never should have been called, and Pierce hit a clutch three. At that point, I started feeling better.

Unfortunately, I’m 105 years old, so I couldn’t make it through the whole game.

Some quick thoughts:

• Terrible, terrible officiating. And yes, it was in Boston’s favor. Big time. That said, other than Gasol, the whole Lakers team was settling for jump shots. That’s not how you draw fouls.
• Rondo was terrific, 16 assist, 2 turnovers? That’s good stuff from any pg, never mind a 22 year old one. His aggressive, ball-hawking defense prevented the Lakers from getting into their offense for long stretches of the game.
• Leon. Powe. This game was only a surprise to people who didn’t watch the second half of the Celtics season. Powe can’t really create his own shot, but he is very aggressive, and will take advantage of the other teams mistakes. In last night’s case, he took advantage of some incredibly lazy defense by Odom and Gasol. (Turiaf wasn’t lazy, he just didn’t play very well.)
• Up by twenty at points, and the Lakers came back to within two? Well, a win’s a win, but let’s just say I’m glad I was asleep at that point.

Thoughts for Game three? I think we see the Lakers team we were all expecting to see. This is absolutely and obviously a must-win for the Lakers, they’ll have to do a lot of things differently. Like, make some shots for one. Drive to the hoop for two. Play defense for three. Other than that, they’ve played great.