Just some good ol' fun

I feel the need to comment on one of the more enjoyable trends that is taking the nation by storm. It is also a brilliant story of a brand reinventing itself and finding new opportunities for growth.

I'm talking, of course, about the Lego Video Games.

What a great idea. Lego remains to be relevant. (Not that it was becoming irrevelant, although it was to me, but that's because I'm 25 now and don't want to play with Legos anymore, it's a part of growing up.) The different video game systems make money. The stories (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.) make money. People spend the money and have fun. Everyone wins!

Torrie and I have a Wii, and every once in awhile we'll pull it out and play a few levels of Lego Star Wars. The puzzles are just hard enough to be fun, you don't have to worry about dying, (although Torrie gets really mad when one of us dies and we lose all the little studs). It's also fun to go through the different star wars movies, and I love how they fashion all of the different characters/props out of legos.

I've made a concerted effort not to play too many video games, especially now that I'm married. Who wants to be married to a boy who would rather play video games then spend time with you? I thought so. Every once in awhile the boyish dorkish urge grows and I have to suppress it - the season and a half I played of Madden (It's from like 2005, Brian Griese is the Denver QB, I took the team to two undefeated seasons) while Torrie was gone for a few days got the video game phase out of my system for awhile. So my rule is that I can only play if we play together, which is about once a week, maybe a little less often if we have other things going on. So we'll get done with it…probably around Christmas. Maybe. Anyway that's a good amount, and if you think about it, it's a little more stimulating then simply watching like a reality show on TV or a movie that you've already seen ten times, at least you're doing something.

Although I love batman, I'm not familiar enough with the stories to be truly excited to get lego batman, but maybe I will someday, on a good deal or something.

Lego Indiana Jones I think will be fun.

They also just announced a Lego Harry Potter. I think that one is going to be cool, too.

Blueprint to Barack Obama's Foreign Policy

It's easy!

1. Come in promising drastic, sweeping changes. Make the masses of countries all over the world love you, even though you haven't done anything.
2. Realize the Bush administration was doing a pretty good job on a number of foreign policy issues, and that there were circumstances and situations that you didn't know about while making promises on the campaign trail.
3. Hold a press conference and declare sweeping changes, which are mostly comsetic.
4. Continue on. (Or should I say...Stay the Course?)

It will be interesting to see how many people pick up on this song & dance. He's done it a few times, with Iraq (we were on our way out before Pres. Obama took office), Afghanistan (again, another Bush policy), Gitmo ("Oh, it's not my fault, my party won't give me the money and no states want the prisoners on their soil, darn, I guess I'll have to keep it the way it is for now and hopefully the media will forget about it") to name a few.

Am I pleased? Yes. I think as far as foreign policy is concerned, our nation was on a fairly good direction with Pres. Bush and I'm glad that Obama is continuing that way. I just wish he would give credit where credit is due. We'll see what happens as he encounters new situations that Condie hadn't already figured out…

My Favorite Basketball Player

Chauncey Billups.

My first favorite player was Magic Johnson. I don't know why, as a 5 year old, you decide that you like a player, but I loved Magic. Maybe it was his nintendo game, Magic Johnson's Fast Break. Maybe it was his big smile. It could possibly be that he was an amazing player and I loved especially the way he passed, but naaahh. I cried when I found out he had HIV and couldn't play anymore.


After he retired, I think my favorite player was John Stockton. Again, I loved the way he passed. I also loved the way that he shot free throws. He worked hard and was tough.


So since he retired, I've drifted as far as favorite players go. I always had a favorite team - since I moved to Detroit, I have loved the Pistons. However, the Pistons had no superstar, but instead had an amazing team, so I never really had a favorite player, until I read this article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/­espn/eticket/story?page=­090511/billups

And it dawned on me. My favorite player, for awhile, has been Chauncey Billups. I just hadn't realized it.

Every single time he quotes he says the word "aggressive". Every single time. If they're playing well, it's cause they're playing aggressive. If they're not playing well, they need to be more aggressive.

I know his nickname in Detroit is Mr. Big Shot, but I am more entranced with how he always has control. The best PG always have control - Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd - it seems like they always know where to go, what to do, where to make the pass.

You could tell his leadership helped the team. He would calm down Rip would he would whine. He would push Tayshaun along, and help him be more aggressive. He'd help the young kids progress. He was coachable and listened to the coach.

The Pistons were one Robert Horry three pointer away from winning the championship twice in a row. (That's still my biggest sports disappointment; Rasheed leaving Horry wide-open in the corner to double Manu in Game 6 of the Finals with very little time left. How do you leave the best playoff clutch shooter ever open???) I don't think anyone remembers that, really. Everyone just thinks they were the team that got lucky and beat a feuding L.A. team.

I do wonder if he had gotten complacent over the last year. However, I don't think he was I know he was injured, and that really hurt his ability to make plays. It made Stuckey look better than he actually was. The part of the story where he was traded Detroit really hurt me and my view of the Pistons' organization. If you were going to get rid of someone….get rid of Rasheed. You'll notice he wasn't in the three that cried together when they found out Chauncey was leaving. That was Rip and Tayshaun.


I've loved that he has flourished in Denver. I knew he would, and I'm cheering for Denver to surprise and win the Western Conference. The Lakers certainly look beatable now, and I know Denver can beat Houston.

He's wearing # 7 because that's John Elway's number. That's pretty cool.

One of my favorite Chauncey moments, however, was an on-the-court interview that he gave after helping Detroit win some double overtime game.

He didn't talk about his clutch shooting. He didn't talk about his leadership. Instead, he said something to the effect of, "Yeah, it was a great game, and I'm tired, and I have to go be a soccer dad tomorrow. My daughter has a soccer game so tomorrow I'm a soccer dad. I just hope she comes out aggressive."

I did make up that last sentence. But he's a good person too.

That's why my favorite basketball player for the last 7 years is Chauncey Billups.