Good sign last night at the Rose Garden.

It was a memorable sequence against the Clippers that ended well.

...on English lessons and Houston fans.

"Press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement that Obama was inadvertently struck by an elbow. The elbow's owner wasn't identified."

...have an unlikely mash-up in this linguistics textbook.

...on Amare Stoudamire's house.

"[F]indings indicate that a player who has hit a number of shots, and is thus considered hot, is no more likely to hit the next shot than his or her overall shooting percentage would predict."

(Even so, I'd rather Rudy and Martell don't read this.)

Interesting breakdown of sports viewers by party affiliation and likelihood to vote. Right-wing sports include college football, golf, and NASCAR. (Surprise!) Progressives prefer the NBA, WNBA, and...professional wrestling?!

Based on party and voting participation, my best guess for gubernatorial candidate (and nice guy) Chris Dudley is that he's a drag racing fan.

Don't think. Use your brain less. (And for the love of all that's holy, don't pick up a book!)

Chris Dudley's career free throw percentage: 46%

Does anyone remember this Trail Blazers recipe book from 1991? (There was also a subsequent volume published, mysteriously titled "Having a Ball Cooking, Volume II.")

I'd love to see the table of contents on either one.

...at Amare Stoudemire.

Here's the money quote:

Amare Stoudemire enjoyed a ferocious dunk. It was quite well-done, but the effect was ruined when Stoudemire, smugly gave me a sneer and a jeer.

Few players endear themselves less with me and my mates than this Sun. His manners are as uncouth as his skills are prodigious. And his judgment! In order to prepare for being team captain, Stoudemire consulted the Wikipedia entry on "Leadership." (His research left no stone turned!)

Except of course that this isn't the real Rudy so there's no need to declare war on Spain....yet

Funny video for a slow day.

...assessing his new environs.

Rudy Fernandez: "a great outside shooter." (The Blazers' Spaniard joins Tony Parker and Steve Nash while beating out... Yao Ming!)

[Bill] Russell once said, "Whenever I leave the Celtics locker room, even heaven wouldn’t be good enough because anyplace else is a step down." As with the championship Knick teams I played on in the ’70s, the bond among players lasts a lifetime. You share with them the memories of being young and on the road in America, playing a game you love, performing before the crowd, and proving yourself to your teammates and yourself. You never forget your teammates’ loyalty and how you returned it in full measure, and how that trust and mutual respect allowed you to be a champion.

"It's not a long flight from Spain," Fernandez said. "And it's New York."

...according to neuroscientist David Eagleman. (Perhaps this explains why Oden sometimes seems out of sorts on the court?)

Aftereffects include clenched fists on one squad, clenched jaws on the other.

After informal polling at Rudy's hypothetical blog, his nickname was established as El Machetero. This translates to "the machete wielder," or more generally as "the trail blazer."

Time to do some chopping on Houston's trees...

Choices include the preexisting El Mago ("the Magician") as well as:

—El Machetero ("the machete wielder"/trail blazer)

—El Bigote ("the Mustache," in response to apocryphal reports that Rudy will grow a mustache for the playoffs)

—Other ideas are welcomed!

He doesn't like either one.

There is some confusion.

It's not pretty, but no one was injured.