NBA Finals Preview

After experience trumped youth in the conference finals we have a match up that we saw 5 years ago as the #3 seed and West Champion Dallas Mavericks take on the #2 seed East Champion Miami Heat (who have home court by 1 game but Dallas has only lost 1 road playoff game all postseason). This is a very different series then the 2006 series only 3 players remain from that series (Dirk, Wade, and Jason Terry) and both coaches are different. I will break down this series position by position and give my final prediction. On a side note there will never be more Dallas Mavericks fans in the US then there will be over the next 7 games.
POSITIONAL BREAKDOWN
PG: Jason Kidd vs. Mike Bibby- These two veteran point guards are both seeking their first ring but I see Kidd as being more of his former self and better at this point Edge- MAVS.
SG: Deshawn Stevenson vs. Dwayne Wade- Wade is clearly the better player here and his 2006 performance was so clutch he should be the go to the guy for Miami in this series EDGE-Heat
SF: Shawn Marion vs. Lebron James- Lebron is looking to erase the image of his failure in the 2007 NBA Finals where he and the Cavs were swept by the Spurs. Marion is a great defender and gives Lebron as many problems as any other defender in the NBA but the Edge goes to Miami
PF: Dirk Nowitzki vs. Chris Bosh- The run Dirk has been on in these playoffs is historic and Bosh can not matchup with him on the perimeter or he will get in foul trouble Edge- Mavs
C: Tyson Chandler vs. Joel Anthony- Chandler could be an X-factor in this series as he will likely be forced to defend bosh while Anthony has for the most part been a long for the ride Edge-Mavs
Bench: Jason Terry, JJ Barea, Brendan Haywood, Peja vs. Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, James Jones and Mario Chalmers- Led by former NBA 6th man of the year Terry and sparkplug Barea the Mavs have one of the best benches in basketball Edge- Mavs
Coaching: Rick Carlisle vs. Erik Spolstra- Carlisle
has more playoff experience and was in the finals as a player with the 1980's Celtics he also has 2 former head coaches as assistants while Spolstra hasn't proven himself yet- Edge- Mavs
Intangibles- Wade is the only player in this matchup with a ring and the Heat do have home court while the Mavs have a lot of hungry vets and Dirk seeking redemption Push
Prediction- This just appears to be Dirk and the MAVS' year Dirk is the most unguardable player in this series and the Mavs are the deeper team MAVERICKS IN 6 MVP: DIRK NOWITZKI

Looking Back at My Junior Year (Spring)

f(Coming off an amazing fall semester and winter break I was ready to start a great spring semester. My spring semester got off to a hot start literally as the bar I was planning to go to for my 21st birthday celebration burned down 3 hours before my 21st. Yet my 21st was amazing as I got to spend time with my friends and family and see how many true friends I had. Then as February started I found out that in one of my classes I would be presenting a marketing plan to the Ravens, my favorite sports organization, a dream come true. Also, during that time I further cemented my place as the true leader of Hillel partially by treating everyone with respect and just showing up to events.
March was as they say complete madness. It became clear that my fraternity was not going to get any pledges which sucked. On the positive side I showed that I wa becoming a better public speaker, something I was struggling with. Then spring break came a long and it was weird not having a trip because every other break I had since sophomre of High school I have had a trip but it was good to relax and spend time with family. Also during spring break I found out I was going to have two jobs over the summer (JCC and Baltimore County Rec and Parks). During March I showed off my Improv skills and sometimes despite my inappropriate nature at times I was funny.
April was one of the most trying months I have had in recent years. Yet despite this there was a few highs most notably me and my brothers doing our first ever Greek Sing to songs by Beyonce and NSYNC (it made me so proud to be in AEPI). Also I nominated my friends for some student leadership awards. However April 2011 will be largely remembered for Hillel elections. In the beginning of the month I found out it wasn't just me and the current president running it was a member of the jewish sorority who had no executive board experience same went for my opponent at VP. As soon as I heard this I knew it was over because their sisters were heavily involved and controlled the vote. While I gave everything I had to this election I knew I lost. Ironically, It became official I lost hours after Greek Sing. This was incredibly difficult to swallow because I knew i lost both not because people saw the winners as the best candidate but because they were in the aforementioned sorority. This was proven to me by the fact that whenever two sorority sisters ran against each other they lost. In fact I still believe I was clearly the best candidate.
This did teach me a lot about myself. First of all I saw how much I grew because a year earlier when I lost I was furious and crying and while I was still angry I handled myself with dignity. Furthermore, I saw how many people I had impacted and connected to in a meaningful way after seeing how many people checked in on me and wanted me to stay involved. This is in comparison to the current president who just cried and people could careless about as he did not treat people with the same level of respect as I did. He later became president of AEPI which concerns me. I learned how true it is that adversity doesn't build character it reveals it. The month ended on a high as I was named Hillel Treasurer, becoming the first ever three time executive board member in the organization's history.
In May everything turned around for me beginning with my presentation for the Ravens which was absolutly amazing and went better then I expected. Also, I finished off the semester only missing two Hillel events despite being called untrustworthy and self-centered by the former Hillel President. I even won the Hillel Mensch award for this year and gave a show stealing tribute to my friend, roommate, and graduating senior. I also kept up my academic performance high. While I am saying good by to my many friends who are graduating I know they respect me and I hope they know how much I respect and admire them. All In All, this semester was fun despite my trials and tribulations I have experienced.

Looking back on my junior year

I am done my Junior year college, wow that sounds weird to say; I remember my first day of college and even my first day of high school and that feels like yesterday but now I may only have 1 year left of formal education. Looking back at my junior year at Towson University there have been many high points and even some low points sometimes highs and lows occured within hours of each other (Fall semester/Winter Break now and Spring Semester/conclusion later today).

The year began with a lot of unanswered questions and new situations. From having an apartment to being an upperclassmen to being Vice President of Hillel when I did not trust most of the other executive board members including the President. Not to mention truly getting into my major, so in order to handle all this I only took 12 credits in the fall. In addition I made a promise to myself that I would give 100% of myself to everything I do everyday (class, Hillel, and AEPI) while being respectful of everyone else and true to myself.

The year was going well as I started to notice that I was opening up more and creating friendships with new people and strengthening old friendships. Along with that I got a 2nd little in AEPI and am so thankful I did, he (Eric Blum) is an amazing person and brother. All the while I was maintaining my high academic performance and demonstrating my excellent leadership skills in Hillel, which earned me the respect of many of my peers.

One of the best aspects of first semester for me was participating in a class taught by a local Rabbi where we spent a shabbat at his house during the semester. This class allowed me to learn a lot about myself, my religion while meeting some awesome new people and becoming closer to my classmates I already knew. Spending shabbat at his houe gave me a new perspective on Judaism and how tied to technology I was because during this day we went to an ultra orthodox shul multiple times and couldn't use technology (the amazing food was just a bonus).

Unfortunatly a few rough patches were ahead as the tension between me and other Hillel Executive board members was starting to boil over and hurting our effectiveness. While I knew I was doing all I could do to make Hillel as strong possible and had the support of family, friends, role models and former Hillel leaders (who called me the true leader of Hillel) it was still tough. Then I experienced a loss in my family which put things in perspective. Unfortunatly me and my roommate/friend Sam were dealing with the biggest douchebag I have ever met as a roommate who was completly inconsiderate and disrespectful.

Then came one of the most interesting weeks of the year (late october-early november) which began with Hillel's Bar Mitzvah where I met and reconnected with people from Hillel's past and saw how much the organization meant to them. It was also at this event where I got to hear from people who at the time I didn't consider my friends that they saw what I saw (I was doing an amazing job despite the difficult situation I was in with a bad e-board) this inspired me to run for President in the spring. This also led to me openly bashing my fellow e-board members and getting me in trouble with the staff before the biggest event of the semester. From then on I focused on only what I could do but was not afraid to express my opinions of others if asked.

While this was going on AEPI was going through a interesting semester we started with 7 pledges but only 4 of them became brothers. Furthermore cliques were forming and sometimes took precedent over the fraternity. All of this took a back seat when we threw a 400 person party sponsored by AMP our most successful event and philanthropy ever, it was one of my proudest member as a brother just 2 years after we started.

Fortunatly the semester closed on a high as I maintained my high GPA, was able to move out of my room and along with Sam move in with another friend, realized that despite being just Vice President I was seen by most as the true leader of Hillel and was acting like it, and I was making new friends, strengthening old bonds, and making my family proud. On top of that, despite being told I had no shot of going, I got on a winter break trip to Amsterdam through Hillel.

Along with that during Winter Break I volunteered at an after school program further confirming that I want to work with kids. In addition I started the application process for summer internships. The best part of break was going on a trip to Amsterdam with Hillel (where I was the only single guy). From meeting so many nice dutch people to seeing sights like the Anne Frank House and Heineken brewery to sleeping in a lobby with cats to getting closer to peers on the trip it was an amazing experience (Full reflection can be seen in my blog post- Amsterdam/Ravens Review Part 1). I was really looking forward to an awesome spring semester.

Reflection on the day's events

If you have not heard the big news of the past 24 hours you have been living under a rock. Almost a decade after the unspeakable tragedy that was September 11th, 2001 the US Special forces have finally found and killed the man responsible, Osama Bin Laden. I will look back at how that event has changed my life and the lives of all Americans in the past 9+years as well as a strange connection to the date on which Osama was killed.

I will never forget where I was when the attacks began on that tragic Tuesday morning, I was a 6th grader at Sudbrook in Mr. Sakers Math and Science class. The principal comes on asking all teachers to turn on the news where I saw the footage of the World Trade Center in flames and heard that two planes hit the buildings. Not long after we heard and saw the damage done to the Pentagon and in the field in Western PA as well as the collapse of the Two Twin Towers which increased the death toll drastically. Another image burned into my memory is the faces of all the people on the streets of New York watching this horror unfold. Perhaps no image is more memorable for me then the New York Firefighters raising the American Flag at Ground Zero.

Lastly me and my family visited Ground Zero and I will never forget how emotional we all were.

Since that point I have grown and changed so much as I am now a 21 year old College Junior but that day forever altered my life. Besides the increased security and alert as well as the multiple wars that have resulted there are other ways 9-11 changed me and the nation as a whole. As many of you know sports is one of my biggest passions, and while I still say the classic 2001 World Series (D'Backs-Yankees) and the Super Bowl 36 (Pats-Rams) helped the country heal, that tragedy has helped me put the results of sporting events into perspective. Also, I (and many Americans) now don't view every setback or every fight with a friend or family member as a major ordeal or at least in my case I get over it quicker. Furthermore, that event has made me appreciate my friends, family, and amazing experiences that I have in my life as I now see I could lose it all at any moment. Lastly, 9-11 has made me, and many other Americans, a lot more patriotic and a lot more grateful for the work our Military puts in everyday defending our freedom.

Ironically, Osama's death came on the same day 66 years after Hitler was declared dead. Also, yesterday was Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Rememberance day, when we remember and honor the 6 million Jews who lost their life in that unthinkable tragedy. Like 9-11 this tragedy has greatly impacted my life in a number of ways. I am a first generation American on My Dad's side, in fact many of my dad's family members were killed in the Holocaust and he was born in a displaced persons camp after the war. Also even though both of his parents survived their lives were shortened and greatly hindered by the Holocaust so much so that I never really knew either one.

This tragedy has forever changed my life and my family's life in a number of ways. First of all, I truly appreciate my family that I do know everyday because I don't know much about my ancestry. Also, I am extremly proud to be a Jew and try to live my life in a way that honors my family and my religion. This involves carrying on traditions that my dad learned from his parents such as keeping some kosher laws even while living on a college campus. Along with that I have been to countless holocaust related museums in many nations (Netherlands, Argentina, and Israel) and everytime I get incredibly emotional and the visits are always tough. For instance, when I went to the Holocaust memorial in Amsterdam they had a list of names of Dutch people who were killed in the Holocaust and I saw people with my last name and was on the verge of tears. I then called my dad to find out if we had any Dutch ancestry and he could not tell me definitivly, showing me how little I know about my past. Thus despite the fact the Holocaust occured 45 years before I was born it has changed both my life and the lives of Jewish young adults everywhere.

In closing both 9-11 and the Holocaust have forever changed me as they made realize what is truly important in life: Family, friends, and my health. That being said to all my family and friends I care about each one of you and am so lucky to have you in my life.