Winning a tight game...

I'm sorry. This subject will take me more than one day. It's just that so many times Michael Jordan caught my eye. Not only mine, I'd say... there were a decent share of people that "knew" who to go to in a last minute situation.

He'd always take the responsability to win or lose a basketball game. Because of him, the "go-to man" expression became common. And that's another reason for everyone to find him nothing less than unique.

Here's a list of MJ's winning shots:

- 1984.Nov.11, Bulls vs Pacers, 118-116
12-footer with four seconds left.

- 1984.Dec.7, Bulls vs Knicks, 95-93
18-footer with five seconds left.

- 1985.March.26, Bulls vs Pacers, 120-119
Two free throws with five seconds left.

- 1985.April.24, Bulls vs Bucks, 109-107
Jordan nails the eventual game-winning jumper from the corner with 22 seconds left on the clock to force Game 4 in the first round of the 1985 Playoffs against Milwaukee.

- 1985.Oct.25, Bulls vs Cavaliers, 116-115
Jordan is at the line to win the game against the Cavs. He misses the first, but drains number two for the victory.

- 1986.Nov.11, Bulls vs Haws, 112-110
Jordan drives through traffic to the basket and manages to sink the tough layup with nine ticks left, skidding out of bounds after the shot.

- 1986.Nov.21, Bulls vs Knicks, 101-99
Jordan scores the last 18 of the Bulls' points, including the final two for the win on a running 18-footer with one second remaining to down the Knicks 101-99.

- 1988.Feb.12, Bulls vs Bucks, 95-93
Terry Cummings sends Jordan to the floor with the hard foul, but Jordan exacts revenge by coolly dropping in both free throws with two ticks left for a Chicago victory.

- 1988.April.3, Bulls vs Pistons, 112-110
Jordan drains two free throws with four seconds left.

- 1988.April.15, Bulls vs Nets, 100-99
Jordan rises and shoots the jumper over Mike O'Koren with 20 seconds left to down the Nets in New Jersey.

- 1989.Feb.16, Bulls vs Bucks, 117-116
20-footer with one second left.

- 1989.May.7, Bulls vs Cavaliers, 101-100
They call it "The Shot". It's the reason Cleveland fans will never forgive Jordan, as this shot at the buzzer won Game 5 and the series for Chicago in the first round of the 1989 Playoffs.

- 1989.May.19, Bulls vs Knicks, 113-111
After Trent Tucker's four-point play tied Game 6 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Semifinals at 111, Jordan stepped to the free throw line and iced the series with two freebies with four seconds left.

- 1989.May.27, Bulls vs Pistons, 99-97
With future teammate Dennis Rodman guarding him in Game 3 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals, Jordan wins the game for the Bulls with the pull-up jumper with three seconds left.

- 1989.Feb. 16, 1989 vs. Milwaukee, 117-116
20-footer with one second left.

- 1990.Nov.13, Bulls vs Jazz, 84-82
As time runs out, Jordan creates some space for the shot over Thurl Bailey and Jeff Malone, downing the Jazz on their homecourt with the 15-footer.

- 1992.Jan.22, Bulls vs Hornets, 115-112
Jordan picks up the loose ball in Charlotte and runs the length of the court for the layup, drawing the foul and completing the three-point play for a three-point Chicago victory.

- 1992.Nov.11, Bulls vs Pistons, 98-96 (OT)
Jordan victimizes the Detroit Pistons, draining the long range three-pointer at the buzzer for a 98-96 win in overtime.

- 1993.May.17, Bulls vs Cavaliers, 103-101
"The Shot -- Part Two," Jordan does it to the Cavs again, this time victimizing Gerald Wilkins with the jumper to win Game 4 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Semifinals in Cleveland.

- 1995.Mar.25, Bulls vs Hawks, 99-98
Jordan, fresh from his return from baseball, brings the ball up the court and drains the jumper over Steve Smith to drop the Hawks in Atlanta.

- 1997.Feb.11, Bulls vs Hornets, 103-100
Michael is at it again - this time he connects on the clutch jumper from downtown to lift the Bulls to a 103-100 victory over the gritty visitors from Charlotte.

- 1997.March.18, Bulls vs Sonics, 89-87 (OT)
With the Sonics battling the Bulls in OT, Gary Payton fouls Jordan on the jumper with eight seconds remaining. Jordan goes to the line, sinking both free throws to shut down Seattle.

- 1997.Jun.1, Bulls vs Jazz, 84-82
Michael Jordan puts his cape on to perform the heroics again, when he drains the jumper as the buzzer goes off giving the Bulls a 84-82 victory and a 1-0 lead in the series.

- 1998.Feb.13, Bulls vs Hawks, 112-110
Michael Jordan comes through in the clutch yet again, pulling up to drain the game-winning buzzer-beating jumper over Atlanta's Steve Smith and Chucky Brown.

- 1998.Mar.22, Bulls vs Raptors, 102-100
MJ does it again, nailing the short fadeaway jumper from the right wing with five seconds left, lifting the Bulls to victory.

- 1998.Jun.14, Bulls vs Utah, 87-86
This will probably go down as Michael's most famous shot of all-time. His final shot as a Chicago Bull. Michael Jordan knocks down the game-clinching jumper with 5.2 seconds remaining in the game and the Bulls beat Utah 87-86 in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals for their sixth NBA title.

- 2001.Dec.22, Wizards vs Knicks, 87-86
Michael Jordan takes a couple dribbles to get separation from Sprewell, and drains the shot to seal the victory with 3.2 seconds left (his first winning shot with the Washington Wizards).

- 2001.Jan.31, Wizards vs Cavaliers, 93-92
"The Shot" part 3, Jordan hits the game winning shot for the Wizards as he nails a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to beat the Cavaliers 93-92.

- 2002.Feb.15, Wizards vs Suns, 97-96
Jordan receives an inbound pass at the top of the circle, he drives to the right side of the lane, and gets Shawn Marion off the ground with a headfake before burying a 13-footer.

Happy Birthday, Michael !!!

Ok, I admit.
He was different.
Yes, he was something else.

On the court, he'd take games in his hands (like the time he scored the Bulls final 18 points to beat the Knicks by 2), he'd motivate players to be more than they had ever been (BJ Armstrong, Craig Hodges, Horace Grant, Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Bobby Hansen, Dennis Hopson, Tony Kukoc, to name but a few) and the world was a better place to live in.



On the basketball court, he was the #1 ever.
Read this article to know all about his career. Or his NBA.com bio to check all the facts & numbers.



Other websites worth mentioning:
- www.jumpman23.com (official brand)
- www.23jordan.com (fan tribute page)
- www.wikipedia.com (bio &info)
- www.imdb.com (tv & cinema info)

Sailing (without words)

Name one song from "The Beatles" which doesn't have any words/lyrics... let me give you a hint... it has flutes, guitars... what else ?!...


"





"

          - "The Beatles", in "Sailing"

A boat without a captain...

What is a boat without a captain ?!
It is a lifeless vessel drifting... or merely a being without pulsing heart. If the captain steps down willingly, there will likely be one who will take the lead (his 'right-hand man', one may guess) but if he's killed, chances are that no course is found, no way nowhere...

The following poem (titled "Aboard at a Ship's Helm in the "Sea Drift" chapter) refers to a strong leadership (which doesn't imply 'imposed leadership')... one any ship needs. And leadership is gained from respect and responsability... not from hiearachy and authority alone.

Here it goes...

"Aboard at a ship's helm,
A young steersman steering with care.

Through fog on a sea-coast dolefully ringing,
An ocean-bell - O a warning bell, rock'd by the waves.

O you give good notice indeed, you bell by the sea-reefs ringing,
Ringing, ringing, to warn the ship from its wreck-place.

For as on the alert O steersman, you mind the loud admonition,
The bows turn, the freighted ship tacking speeds away under
    her gray sails,
The beautiful and noble ship with all her precious wealth
    speeds away gayly and safe.

But O the ship, the immortal ship! O ship aboard the ship!
Ship of the body, ship of the soul, voyaging, voyaging, voyaging."

          - Walt Whitman, in "Leaves of Grass"

My friends

A favourite of mine.
There was a time when I would buy guitar magazines to learn how to play certain songs. I would buy quite a lot of them. Of course, several bookshop owners/workers knew me.

One time, I looked into a magazine with this song transcribed but the magazine itself was poor, without any relevant articles or interviews (by then, "Nirvana" had recently murdered rock and any song played in tune with more than three chords was considered to be too elaborate). I asked the lady in the bookshop to let me borrow the magazine as I just wanted to take a photocopy of the transcription. She smiled and just said "hurry back and tell no one!"... and so I did.

"My friends are so depressed
I feel the question of your loneliness
Confide... 'cause I'll be on your side
You know I will, you know I will

Ex-girlfriend called me up
Alone and desperate on the prison phone
They want to give her seven years
For being sad...

I love all of you, hurt by the cold
So hard and lonely too
When you don't know... yourself

My friends are so distressed
And standing on the brink of emptiness
No words I know of to express
This emptiness

I love all of you, hurt by the cold
So hard and lonely too
When you don't know... yourself

Imagine me taught by tragedy
Release is peace

I heard a little girl
And what she said was something beautiful
To give your love no matter what
Is what she said

I love all of you, hurt by the cold
So hard and lonely too
When you don't know... yourself"

          - Red Hot Chili Peppers, in "My Friends"

Old friends

Today, a meeting was held between some youth buddies, old friends... and it became what we expected it would be. Not a meeting, more like a gathering. At lunch time, graced by the warm winter sunlight.

Purely magic... as a new generation reveals itself (there's quite a few of offspring already), and although we're not the same, although we know little about our dear friends' husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, even though we've grown apart (in some cases, we did grow apart), in moments like this, nothing counts... we're as one. The husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends feel somewhat dislocated, but not unhappy...

And fortunately, we're not that old.
Meaning, this will happen again.

Yet, some were absent.
Some were missed.

So, before we get too old for words or simply too old to be truly happy about these meetings, let me quote some other old friends...

"Old friends, old friends,
Sat on their parkbench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
of the high shoes of the old friends

Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settles like dust on the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today,
Sharing a parkbench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy

Old friends, memory brushes the same years,
Silently sharing the same fears"

          - Simon & Garfunkel, in "Old Friends"