GarageGabs

Often times when I take a couple days off from posting, I return with little to no inspiration.  That happened to me this weekend as well.  I searched Sirius radio on the long ride home yesterday for inspiration, and found little.  In fact, I ended up spending most of the trip listening to talk radio go on and on about Anna Nicole Smith.

I got home and still…no inspiration.  Carolina had trounced Weak Forest , on a day that was understandably special to their fan base…but wasn’t all that special to me.

UNC Reunion Photo Album  (InsideCarolina.com)

I flipped to find my beloved Wolfpack getting out rebounded, out hustled, and beaten…by Miami, the worst team in the ACC.

Ho-hum, the Pro-Bowl was on…I didn’t watch a single second of it.  My fiancee and I settled in to watch a few of her shows that she had DVR’d.  I’m talking shows like “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” .  I’ll be honest, while Ellen provides no inspiration for blogging, I generally don’t mind her show.  She’s entertaining, somewhat funny, has good guests (often hot women) and unlike Rosie O’Donnell on “The View” she doesn’t find the need to constantly obsess over her being a lesbian.  Speaking of Rosie, while I know none of the rest of us were all that broken up over the death of Anna Nicole, check out her comments about Anna Nicole Smith just hours before she died:

Honestly, Rosie didn’t say anything the rest of us didn’t already think but talk about bad timing!  Wow!

Anyway, I got a little off track.  Maybe I break “man code” by watching these shows, but I generally enjoy them.

Back to my lack of inspiration.  After moping on the couch for a couple of hours, we decided to go check out Eddie Murphy’s new movie “Norbit”.   If you like funny movies, and aren’t offended by race, sex, or weight jokes, you’ll love this movie.  We both enjoyed it a lot.  Ate a lot of popcorn, laughed and then came back home.  I don’t even remember falling to sleep last night.  Still no inspiration.

I woke up this morning and found my inspiration.  How?  I did what I normally do on a lazy Sunday.   I made a visit to the rest-room.  And there it was!  My inspiration….something/someone for me to write about.  Something I was interested in, that pertained to sports!!

That something or someone was Dwight Howard, ESPN’s “NEXT” athlete for 2007….and he was in my bathroom!  How could I have missed this!?  You really have no idea how much inspiration I get while in the john.  I do most of my reading in there.  I get ideas.  I think.  It’s quiet, I’m not disturbed.  It’s an amazing place to brain storm.

Anyway, I had been following Howard’s career ever since I snagged him off the waiver wire early in his rookie season.  His 12 points and 10 boards, along with 50+% shooting, and 1.7 blocks per game helped team “Tony Montana” win the Grandmaster Flash league.  The first of my back to back Fantasy Basketball Championships.

The kid was Amare Stoudemire raw.  6-11, 265 pounds, straight out of high school, beast.

Fast forward to present day.   Howard has now come into his own.  He’s dropping 17 and 12 per night, while shooting nearly 60% from the field!!  He and Stoudemire are redefining the center position.  No longer is height the only asset.  No more tall, lumbering, strictly post-up guys barely making it up and down the court.  Howard is a pure athlete, in a sculpted body.  Cat quick, with the ability to attack the rim…not only with power…but with speed.  The kicker?  He’s 21 years old!

Wanna see an incredible stat line?  Check out Howard’s numbers from a January 10th win over Golden State:  44 minutes, 11 of 18 from the field, 8 of 15 from the line, 25 boards, (9 offensive) 2 steals, 1 block, 30 points.  He’s the youngest player in history to accumulate 20 points and 20 boards in the same game….He’s done it 6 times now, 4 in this season alone!  Beast.

I chose to write about Howard because I want to write about the future, today.   I’m not sure when, but at some point Howard is going to be leading his team to great things.

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By the way, before I finish up.  Howard (64,477 votes) did have some competition in “ESPN The Magazine”.  Calvin Johnson (62,427), Evgeni Malkin (49,668),  Jose’ Reyes (38,504), and Juan Pablo Montoya (12,758).

Malkin: (One of the best hockey goals you’ll ever see)

Montoya Burnout

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