That's my Dan!

A true story from
-Ashna Anne Philip


That night he was here, that man who knew and understood me and yeah – loved me for who exactly I am ..Holding me tight , afraid that there was someone out in the dark waiting to take me away from him .. his lips were steady as he said "baby .. no matter what, I am always there for you , you know that?"
"uh-uh" I replied confused. "And do you know that I have loved you so much more than what you’d ever imagined love is, and that it can neither be measured nor weighed?"

"yes – I do know"



I looked into his eyes, his eyes never leaving mine .. I knew there was something he wanted me know .. just my ears he did not want it to travel from my nerves to brain and ask him cross-questions .. I wanted to say him it was all right .. and whatever was his problem we both could conquer it down .. but I decided that I would never dodge him to say it to me .. I wanted him-self to say it to me - at least when he thought he could trust me on it .

His eyes were weary and tired .. I felt that nothing of him was the same .. although he was the same old Dan .. there was something missing in him ---- the way he touched me said it all , every day after the day’s work he’d come on in and sit on the couch , removing his formal shirt and flexing his muscles he’d say ..
"Ash ..I need a women like oxygen" saying this he’d fall on me and kiss me.. the type of kiss that could heal pain away and turn sorrow into joy . He was all but everything an ideal women would have ever dreamed off ..and I've always considered myself lucky for having seen the best laugh in the world .

Today was another day and holding me tight was another Dan , at least not the man I've loved for years.
I waited patiently for his lips to activate and at last he blurted out partially dropping tears and said something I’d never wanted to hear from his lips , he asked for a BREAK UP . I swallowed some oxygen and asked "A what Dan?" hoping that he’d never said that.

"Oh please Ash don’t make me say that again .. I know you have heard me and that’s all I want for the moment " he said facing down, I felt that I were shot right through my chest .. The word he said pierced into my heart making a hole visible inside my mind. I felt the world’s one complete revolution taking place in that moment . I wanted him to say that he was just lying about It, instead looking elsewhere he said "I’d found my dream girl .. she is beautiful , she loves me and I love her .. Sorry Ash , but am totally into her." His voice was shaky and I were totally numb the blood flow inside my body had stopped, I didn't feel anything because I had lost my feelings .. my senses, right then I were a something that could breathe but had no emotions .. no life . I lifted my hands and kept’em on his cheeks .. it was cold , and I said, "Tell me you don’t mean it Dan , I know this ain't you .. not the one I've loved , please kiss and tell me that everything before five seconds was just an illusion" .. he shut his lashes down and began to cry , he pressed his lips on not wanting to cry more .

"please" I said "I’d go out of your life but please don’t cry , I can never withstand that." He looked at me, tears swelling in his eyes .. I said , "Although you can lie to me now , I know that you can and will always love me , or let me take it that way .. and my house is just few lanes from yours , the door wouldn't close at your face .. It is always open , just wanted you to remember that" not wanting to see his tears , I walked straight to my car and went home.

six months later , after my final semester I’d got this letter from Dan ,
To mine in Earth ,
Dear Ashlyn .. Hope you ain't mad at me , although I am mad at no one but myself. Do you remember that I had loved you before? well I just wanted you to know that I still love you and that I would continue the same love in future too .. That day was nothing but a play in which we both had played the main roles .. I had to lie to you because I wanted you to forget me , because my live days could only be predicted by god .. it was in the hands of my doctors,. in glucose and hospital beds I lived .. my hair has been shaved off .. my muscles have all died inside myself .. my blood has been infected with various macromolecules that cuts down by bodily systems .. I've lost my weight .. my attitude and everything through which anyone could judge me from the outside .. but there is one thing that grew the entire time .. one thing the virus couldn't take away from me .. one thing I pleaded not to be taken from me .. my love for you , that is the only thing that grew even through my chemo and radiation sections. Now I just wanted you to know that you have been the perfect girl of my dreams, the one that had given me the colors of my life when the entire world was dark .. whenever you do feel lonely shut your lashes down and I’d be there in front of you .. holding you tight like your guardian angel .. till you find your perfect man .. There is nothing to worry because time heals pain and you’ll surely get on with your life .

P.S I will always love you , till the last breath of this universe.
From yours in heaven.

heart wallpapers for desktop

heart wallpapers for desktop

Why the Rudy Gay Deal is a great move for Memphis(And Rudy Too)

(Rudy Gay has played his last game for the Memphis Grizzlies.)

Two days ago, Rudy Gay tweeted this statement:

"I'm long overdue."

And while Rudy was most likely not speaking about his time in Memphis(or maybe he was, the writing was not only on the wall but all over the internet), he was correct in his assumptions. Rudy Gay was one of the highest paid players in the NBA this year, and has been since he signed the five year, $80 Million deal with Memphis in 2010. 

The deal included the stipulation that Rudy Gay's contract would increase by 10.5% each year, meaning that the Grizzlies were on schedule to pay Gay close to $17 Million in 2014, and $19 Million in 2015. While Gay has slowly become one of the faces of the franchise, he was simply not earning that type of money. To give you a comparison to other players:

Rudy Gay is currently ranked 27th among all Small Forwards in the NBA(yes, just small forwards) in PER, with a 14.39. (This is hugely ironic by the way, as John Hollinger, the man pretty much responsible for trading Gay, invented that stat.) The two players who surround Rudy Gay are Kwahi Leonard of the Spurs (26th, 14.43) and Dorell Wright of the Sixers (28th, 14.12). 

(Gay Simply wasn't earning his paycheck in the minds of John Hollinger and Memphis.)

While Rudy is set to make right around $15 Million this year, Dorell Wright will make $4.1 Million this year, and Kwahi Leonard will make $1.8 Million. Not really getting any bang for your buck are you?

Rudy was  averaging career lows in free throw percentage and field goal percentage(his field goal percentage is down from 45% to 40%, making almost a shot less per game) and thus his scoring is down as well. Gay also doesn't fit in the Grizzlies scheme in the way that your highest paid player should. With him not shooting well and pounding the ball, teams could sag into Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, preventing the Grizzlies from being able to play any inside-out or pick and roll with any efficiency. Also, with O.J. Mayo gone, Tony Allen was the other scoring option if Gay couldn't get open and the ball couldn't get down low. Needless to say, it was time for a time to rebuild this offense.

While Zach Randolph's name has been thrown around in trade rumors as well, the Grizzlies seemed to have built themselves for long term. They grab an expiring contract in Tayshaun Prince(who could actually help them on the defensive side of the ball, another area where Gay was lacking), and a young player in Ed Davis who isn't well known now, but will be soon now that his energy and solid defense has moved south of the border. Austin Daye has also been looking for a new place to prove himself, and after the Grizzlies trade last week, there are room for role players on that bench. They also have alot more cap space to work with in 2014.

Don't feel bad for Rudy Gay though. He gets a new home in Toronto that is going to feature him as their star, and will most likely turn to him when making certain decisions. He also teams up with Kyle Lowry, whom is well known to be one of Gay's closest friends in the NBA. A starting five of Lowry, Derozan, Gay, Terrence Ross and Amir Johnson is a much better starting five than they started the day with. 

The Raptors can rebuild their offense to play off of Gay(possibly in the way you see the Celtics do with Paul Pierce at times), and become extremely athletic. Don't be surprised if the Raptors make a small push here in the second half, and make sure to circle February 20th on your calendar. The Raptors and their new superstar head to Memphis.


-Bford

 

Memphis Ships Rudy Gay to Toronto in 3-team deal

Well, I wrote about this earlier as being set in stone, and in fact Rudy Gay has been moved this evening.  The Grizzlies will receive promising 23 year old PF Ed Davis from the Raptors as well Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye from Detroit.  Detroit will receive PG Jose Calderon.  Toronto Receives Rudy Gay of course along with reserve center Hamed Haddadi.

The Memphis starting lineup Projects as:
Pg: Mike Conley
Sg: Tony Allen
Sf: Tayshaun Prince
Pf: Zach Randolph
C: Marc Gasol

Key reserves: Ed Davis, Darrell Arthur, Jared Bayless

Look for Memphis to try and find a way to trade Zach Randolph in the next two weeks as they redo the roster.  All in all, not a terrible haul for Memphis, I think Davis is really good young player and they get two key players in Prince and Daye. Toronto gets its target...now they need a trade partner for Andrea Bargnani. Detroit gets the veteran PG it needed.  I think this is an all-around win for each team.

Toronto now boats three of the best in-game dunkers in the league now in Gay, Terrence Ross, and DeMar Derozan.

Senior Editor Brian Ford will have more on this later!

Rising Star Roster Set for All Star Weekend

Rookies: Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, Harrison Barnes, Andre Drummond, Alexey Schved, Dion Waiters, and Tyler Zeller

Sophomores: Kyrie Irving, Kenneth Faried, Brandon Knight, Kawhi Leonard, Chandler Parsons, Klay Thompson Tristan Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, and Kemba Walker.

Where is the love for Jared Sullinger, Terrence Ross, MKG, Ricky Rubio and Bradley Beal? Can't bring everyone but those guys could have been there.

Southwest Division: Spurs are Dominant, Rudy Gay is all but gone from Memphis

I'll be bringing my talents to...

While the Division looks to be back to just a one team race for the top spot (was it ever in question the Spurs would win this division?), it doesn't mean there aren't story lines galore in the Southwest.  Where will Rudy Gay land? Will the Rockets use their young assets to bring another star around Harden before the deadline? Can the Mavericks continue to recover from a poor start? And the "Pelicans" hang tough with just about every team...Greivis Vasquez for Most Improved anyone? Let's tackle these questions in the our most recent roundup.

SOUTHWEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	L10
San Antonio	36	11	.766	-	20-2	16-9	11-2	21-8	104.4	96.3	+8.1	Won 8	9-1
Memphis	29	15	.659	5 ½	17-7	12-8	4-5	16-11	93.4	89.5	+3.9	Won 1	5-5
Houston	25	22	.532	11	15-8	10-14	4-7	9-17	104.9	102.4	+2.5	Won 3	4-6
Dallas	19	26	.422	16	12-9	7-17	3-5	10-17	100.6	103.0	-2.4	Lost 1	6-4
New Orleans	15	30	.333	20	7-15	8-15	4-7	8-20	93.5	97.3	-3.8	Lost 1	5-5

We don't need to say much about San Antonio this week as they have continued their dominance winning 8 straight games to stretch their lead to 5.5 games.  They also have dominated divisional opponents winning 11 of 13 contests so far.  The scariest news for other teams in the division? The Spurs are likely to win their next 4 games, against NBA bottom feeders Charlotte, Washington, Minnesota, and Detroit.  The only possible tests I see in there is Detroit potentially or Washington if Martel Webster or Bradley Beal catches fire from downtown.  So it looks like they will be winners of 12 straight soon...time for Pop to start coming up with a rest schedule for his stars.  This team does everything well except maybe rebound, but they aren't too shabby at that either (-.7 differential is minimal).  I honestly think this is the best team in the NBA and I can't wait for the Feb 21st game against the Clippers of Lob City and the March 11th game against OKC.  Those will be the real measuring sticks we need to evaluate the championships hopes of each team I believe (sure it's just one game, but those are the BIGGEST regular season games left in the Western Conference). Well, just to understand the Spurs magic, here is Tim Duncan doing the un-amazing amazingly:

Okay so now onto the real gritty stuff in this division.  First off, I believe Rudy Gay is all but gone from the Grizz.  His contract is such a huge cap hit next year, that a small market team like Memphis just can't take on the risk of having to pay out the final 37 million on his contract.  While reports from reliable sources like WoJo say that the Raptors and Grizz have all but completed a trade, needing only a third team to take on Jose Calderon's $10.5 million contract, I think that is just one instance where Gay could land outside Memphis.  The Celtics with Paul Pierce's contract that could be bought out (only 4 million guaranteed next season) are another option, although as a C's fan, I don't think the blowup strategy would really work with our roster (a topic for another post). Anyway, the biggest hurdle is finding that third team.  Could the aforementioned Celtics, a team in need of PG help following the season ending ACL injury to star Rajon Rondo, be a taker? The Mavericks who have a lot of veterans on short contracts including Chris Kaman's expiring 8 million could be a landing spot for Calderon to help facilitate this deal.  All in all, where there is smoke, there is likely fire, so Rudy Gay you better get a travel bag ready.  While often a poor shooter, his talents/potential are in line with stardom:

Oh yeah, so the Grizzlies are pretty good right now too, winning 3 of 4. Marc Gasol is a monster and they have the best defensive backcourt (Tony Allen & Mike Conley) in basketball. Too bad they just can't generate the revenue to support the team they could have.

The Rockets are yet another interesting team in this Southwest.  The team is not poised to truly compete this season, although they are extremely fun to watch and can actually be good on both ends of the floor. What this team really needs is another star to compliment James "the beard" Harden.  Could they make a run at Kevin Garnett or Pau Gasol, even Zach Randolph? They certainly have the young talent to entice a team in transition mode in need of youth, but are those the players they want to add.  With Harden and Asik as really the only untouchables, (Parsons, Morris, Paterson are all valuable pieces, but not untouchable) putting a star with them makes this team one of the most dangerous in the league.  I want to know what Rocket fans think...Do you try and improve now for a two year window and then find another player to team with Harden, or do you steadily wait and hope you have a long window that starts as early as next year, but most likely 2014? I'm thinking championships here, not just a playoff team.  The Rockets have won 4 of 5, so maybe they just stay the course this season and reevaluate where they are after. It'll be tough to compete with Spurs, Clippers and Thunder over the next couple years anyways. Just keep in mind that if they want to be aggressive, they have the young talent to go get someone.

The Mavs are a team that I think will be Buyers, but really should be sellers come the deadline in two weeks.  They have almost no shot at competing for a title this season, and unless they can bring in some more talent to surround Dirk, Mayo, and Collison with for next season they will find themselves in the NBA hell-fire of a late lottery team.  They suffered a heartbreaking, soul crushing loss last night to Portland, who stormed back after being down 21 points.  Portland was down 3 with about 5 second left and managed 5 points in that time frame, thanks to a 50/50 charging foul called on Mayo and a heroic effort by LeMarcus Aldridge (game tying 3 with 5 second left, buzzer beater after the charge to win). I just don't think this team has what it takes and should sell off Kaman, Brand, and Carter.  The one big question in Big D is whether or not the team has a chance at Dwight in the offseason? If they do, they only want back expiring contracts or inexpensive talent, but if they feel he is out of their reach they need to acquire some long term talent to pair with Dirk in his
twilight.

And finally, the NO Pelicans..err Hornets always seem to have a sting in them, but just not enough to get over the hump. Greivis Vasquez and Omer Asik are my two picks for a toss up in the Most Improved Player award,  While Vasquez is still less than stellar at shooting, his determination and grit is admirable.  He gets into the lane nicely and he continues to find his teammates at a staggering pace.  Vasquez went from 5.4 assists per game last season to 9.3 so far this season in 9 more minutes   That's incredible improvement.  I'm just waiting for Anthony Davis to figure the NBA game out.  He doesn't always get rebounds and he sits on the baseline offensively way too often.  Once his activity level boosts, he will be a star.  I look for a monster second half from the big fella.

That all for today's roundup folks.  Remember to follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/theNBAninja and stay tuned as the PickandPopDiaries enters 21 days of trade rumors heading up to the deadline.

Spiro Radulovic from Serbia wins the Golden Hat in Knokke-Heist 2013, Belgium

Spiro Radulovic from Serbia with the cartoon "Periscope" won the 52nd International Cartoon Contest Knokke-Heist. The decision giving to Radulovic this year's Golden Hat was made by a jury consisting of Fleur van Groningen, Katrien De Vreese, Jos Collignon, Eva Mouton, and Klaas Storme (Zaza).
Jury statement for Golden Hat:
Metaphor for the contemporary man seeking. Snorkeling with a periscope is the absurd image of modernity instead just to swim and enjoy, we dive under oxygen bottles and then we use complex machines to get back above water to watch. Man makes everything more difficult than it is.

The Silver Hat goes to Nikola Hendrickx from Belgium with the cartoon Shit!
Jury Statement for Silver Hat:
The turd is afraid of being crushed, the shoe is afraid to be smeared. both pulling learn fear. a dynamic that you find in many situations: politics, love, work, ... This joke laughs with the human ego and therefore universal and timeless.
The prize of the Fund David is also for Nikola Hendrickx.

The Bronze Hat this year was for Victor Crudu from Moldova.
Jury Statement for Bronze Hat:
We have gone for diversity in our top three.
Contemporary 1, 2 by thinker, 3 an image from the first glance funny. Dry, avant-garde and artistic.
* It took this year 778 cartoonists from 67 countries participated in the contest. They sent along 1,978 cartoons in which 1253 digital and 725 cartoons on paper.
Source: http://www.cartoonfestival.be/cartoon/.