Finished another book today:

Shooting Star: The Bevo Francis Story by Kyle Keiderling - This is the story of Bevo Francis, a basketball player for Rio Grande College during the early part of the 1950's. I had heard his name once or twice but never realized how famous he was during the 50's. I enjoyed reading the book (it is an easy read) and learned more about how basketball grew in popularity. Bevo was a 6 foot 9 inch player who could really shoot the ball. He played for this small college in Ohio, called Rio Grande. The coach he had was a real promoter and used Bevo to further his own aspirations. But Bevo could score - he scored over 100 points on a couple of occasions and held his own against name colleges. The poor guy could never catch a break though. Interesting read and I would recommend it to any basketball fan.

Another day, another Duke win. I was a little upset with all the turnovers in the first half but probably not as much as Coach K - I wouldn't have wanted to be in the locker room at halftime. Everyone is starting to play well together and they can seamlessly rotate people in and out of the line up. Redick has a good shot to become the all time leading scorer at Duke and the ACC in the last home game of the season against UNC - that would be special! And a word to Mike Patrick - what on earth are you doing correcting the other guy who's working with you when you make more mistakes than any annoucer I've heard!

This afternoon I watched the Fantastic Four. It was a decent movie, nothing special. Why does every superhero movie have to have a love story. Can't they just beat up the bad guys and leave it at that?

Last night we went to the Chicago Bulls game against the Washington Wizards. Bulls got a key victory although they got beat on the offensive boards pretty bad. It was fun to go but college basketball is much more fun to watch, at least in my opinion. At least our Dunkin' Donuts coffee won it's race especially since we don't drink coffee.

It was nice to see DeMarcus Nelson back on the floor for Duke tonight - I think he makes them the team to beat with his defense and versatility. Shelden Williams played great tonight - I was kind of suprised when I saw he ended up with 15 rebounds. Two criticisms - the referees were terrible both ways - I knew their would be at least one technical. At least they got the call right when the guy kicked Melchionni in the face. Mike Patrick made one astute observation the entire night when he said the game was "officiated oddly." And ESPN, please keep Dick Vitale in the studio - he never talks about the game and when he does, he tells us things we already know like "J.J. Redick is a great shooter" or "that guy can jump." Oh, and who the heck is Tiger Williams and how can he afford a $30 million dollar estate? I wonder if he knows Tiger Woods just payed $30 million for an estate as well - maybe they share the same real estate agent.

Here is my find of the year so far -a Spalding Lewis "Hack" Wilson glove. I'm very excited because I got it in a lot off ebay really cheap - sometimes when you gamble you get lucky. Hopefully this a omen of all the great finds I'm going to have in 2006! (or for you negative nellies in sector 7-G, it could be the only thing I get this year.)

Finished up a couple books the past couple of days:

Scooter by Mick Foley - I picked up this book because it was about growing up with baseball, a coming of age story, etc. What I didn't know was that the author used to be a professional wrestler. It's obvious that his former career opened a doorway that is normally shut to people who can't write. The story line is kind of interesting but the delivery comes off poorly - I couldn't adapt to his style, his forced humor and his jumping from one time period to the next. Not a horrible book, but not that great either.
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, Messenger by Lois Lowry - I read these books because they form a triology with her masterpiece, The Giver. I had read The Giver a couple months ago and thought it was fantastic, especially the ending which is very ambiguous. These two "sequels" are very well-written, explore the moral and ethical dilemas of everyday life and society, as well as show people compassion and helping others is truly important. Although I liked these two stories, they aren't comparable to The Giver. Plus, Messenger sort of tells you what happens at the end of The Giver, taking away the fun of believing what you want to believe (but my belief was pretty spot on, if I do say so myself). I'd recommend them but make sure you read The Giver first.

Well, the bad news is Duke lost today. The good news is that I didn't break anything! It wasn't a terrible loss - they were coming off a tough game Wednesday and played like crap on defense. They did mount a comeback and never gave up. Paulus proved he still is a freshmen today but he'll learn and be better for it. And can we just give J.J. the player of the year award now.

We watched a movie Friday night and one this evening. Last night was The Interpreter with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. It was ok but it sort of fizzled out at the end with it's predictability. Tonight we watched Wedding Crashers - it was pretty funny. Some of it didn't make a lot of sense but it kept me laughing - not Simpsons or Office funny but worth watching none the less.

Nice win for Duke tonight. I was impressed with the senior leadership down the stretch of a tight game - I think that will be the deciding factor in how far they advance in the tournament. Dockery looked really good for the last 5 minutes and I don't think any of Redick's 10 free throws even touched the rim - dead on perfect. Anytime you get a win in the ACC, it's a good win. Next up is Georgetown, on the road I think, so they should get a challenge but hopefully a win as well.

If anyone locates the Chicago Bears defense please send them back!

A satisfying win for Duke the other night over Maryland. It was nice to see DeMarcus back on the court - a little scary with him in that walking cast for the second half but everything seems to be fine - don't know if we'll see him today against Clemson but I hope he stays healthy the rest of the season - he looked awesome when he was out there. Clemson has played pretty decent this year so it might be a good game this afternoon although I think Duke should definitely win.

Watched two movies this week:

Constantine - Picked it up at the library thinking I probably wouldn't like it. Turns out, it wasn't too bad. It reminded me of The Mummy or Hellboy. Keanu Reeves did a good job as the character although the storyline sort of feel apart a little at the end of the movie.

Rock School - This is a documentary about this music teacher in Philadelphia who teaches kids ages 9 to 17 about rock music. It was entertaining and interesting to see the how the guy teachers - lets just say if I did what he does, I'd be fired in a second. One of the highlights for me was the Friendly Gangstaz, a Quaker rap group - totally hysterical!!

Books I read so far this week:
Blue Blood : Duke-Carolina: Inside the Most Storied Rivalry in College Hoops by Art Chansky - First off, I was surprised our library actually had this book. The book was written by an author with strong UNC ties. He explained at the beginning of the book that he had Duke people take a look at it to make sure it wasn't biased. For the most part, it was pretty fair but there was a definite bias against Coach K - the author talked about his faults in much detail but rarely bad mouthed Dean Smith. I did enjoy the history lesson and learned a lot about the rivalry and players/coaches from before my time. I'd recommend this book to any fan of college hoops.

Family Guy : Stewie's Guide to World Domination by Steve Callaghan - Saw this book on the shelf at the library and couldn't resist. It only takes about 15 minutes to read through the 100 pages and it's pretty funny. If you are a Family Guy fan, check it out - Stewie's chapter bashing MTV is well worth it.

I'm going to try and keep track of all of the books that I read this year on my blog. I finished 3 this week so here is a list and if I liked them or not:

Wrecking Crew: The Really Bad News Griffith Park Pirates by John Albert - Interesting book about some has-beens, wanna-be actors/musicians forming a baseball team in Los Angeles.

Pompeii by Robert Harris - Fictionalized account of the aquarius trying to fix some water problems that were unknowingly being casued by the soon to erupt volcano. I liked the book and have a greater appreciation for the Roman aqueduct system as a result of reading.

Hour Game by David Baldacci - Fun and quick read. All his books are pretty much the same but they keep you entertained. I had most of the mystery figured out before the characters did.

Happy New Year 2006! Kristin and I had lots of fun on our trip. Here is a picture of us in St. Augustine.

So I still haven't listed my favorite movies for 2005 yet. Haven't seen Syriana or Munich, two I still would like to so they might have ended up on here. Anyway, this is what I thought:

1) Walk the Line
2) Crash
3) Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
4) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
5) The Constant Gardener

Worst movie of the Year: A History of Violence - I haven't met one person who liked this movie. The critics loved it but it sucked - the acting was terrible, the plot was borning and it made no sense. Total waste of money! War of the Worlds was pretty sucky as well.

Duke looked good against Bucknell today. McRoberts was impressive, especially taking the ball down the court and slamming it home! ACC season gets in full swing next weekend - let the fun begin!