Cavs, UK and Puke

The layoff is over. I (like the Cavs) am back! I've got so many things I want to write about after the long layoff, but I won't hit all of them in this particular post. Without further ado...

I started a new job this week, so that's monopolized most of my time. Add that to an epic trip to Columbus last week to celebrate my new job and the result is my disappearance from the blog lately.

Speaking of that trip to Columbus ... the old body doesn't respond to a heroic night of drinking like it used to. I arrived in C-bus at 4:30 last Tuesday afternoon and within 45 minutes was sitting on the patio of Brazenhead in Old Dublin on a gorgeous evening with an Amstel Light in hand. Eleven hours later I was puking in Chad and Sean's kitchen sink wondering how the hell I got home and whether or not I would still be alive the next day. I was, but barely. I couldn't eat anything and I felt like I had to puke the entire day -- which made sense because I did have to puke the entire day. I was laying on Chad's bathroom floor at one point, after another round of upchuck, trying not to think about the fact that I was 28 years old and that all this was occuring on a Wednesday afternoon. Good times. Thanks, Andy Greene!!

Puking sucks. There's no two ways about it. But, I'll say this: I've had some very proud moments during puke sessions. For example, Chad and Sean went back to their place before I did that night and they still have no idea I puked in their sink (until they read this post anyway). How it's possible for our body and mind to get on the same page for brief moments during a bodily crisis like puking after an epic night of drinking is beyond me, but it happens. I was so fucked up I could barely stand to hold myself over the sink, but yet I still managed to muster the strength to clean up after myself. I had to. I was at my buddies' place after all. You clean up after yourself. No questions asked. And, if you're really good, you leave no evidence behind. I was ripping off paper towels, clearing out the drain and running water to clean the sink like I was a career maid at the local Super 8. It was impressive.

The best ever though was when I got a little carried away at a Christmas party at my boss' house when I worked at a TV station up in Wisconsin years back. It was my first big social event with most of my co-workers, including my boss, and I ended up in his bathroom upstairs at the end of the night ... and, well, you can guess. I was on my hands and knees cleaning off the toilet seat and wall (hey, you miss sometimes) for what seemed like an hour. I came out thinking I was in the clear as I was mercifully driven home by a friendly TV person. That was until Monday morning at the station when my boss called me into his office and told me his wife had spent the next morning cleaning up the spots I had "missed." It wasn't my finest hour, but my boss was super cool with the whole thing and actually just made fun of me. I called his wife to apologize later that day and she loved me forever because of it -- the call to apologize that is, not the puke on the wall. See, effort counts in life.

Thank God the Cavs get back to work Wednesday. If all I had to watch right now was the Tribe I would be making repeated trips to Chad and Sean's kitchen sink or my boss' bathroom. I've said all along that the team that scared me the most in the East was Orlando. I don't like the way the Cavs match-up with them. They're big and they all can shoot (with the exception of Dwight Howard). With that said, I still like the Cavs. They are on a mission right now. They're the only team left that has that look. Boston had it last year. The Cavs have it this year. Denver has played really well, but they have that look the Cavs had two years ago. You know the look. It says, "I can't believe it's late-May and we're still playing. This is great!!" I see the Lakers beating them in 6 or 7. And Orlando's just not ready for this stage. The Cavs have the experience. They have the homecourt. They have that look of a team that's on a mission. And most importantly, of course, they have LeBron. I just don't see anyone beating them 4 times in 7 games. I really don't. I like the Cavs in 6 (possibly 7).

Before I go, are you paying attention to what's going on in Lexington right now? Yes, that Lexington. The home of this. UK Basketball is scary good on paper right now, and we still don't even know yet if Jodie Meeks will take his name out of the NBA Draft. (He should, by the way.) We've gone from an NIT berth and a team in turmoil beause of rumors that the coach might get fired and the two best players would leave for the riches of the NBA ... to a legit national title contender in a span of less than two months! I loved the Calipari hire as I expressed in this post back on April 1, but even I wasn't expecting all that's taken place in the weeks since. When John Wall announced his decision to attend UK late Monday night the Cats immediately became a team that has to be ranked in the preseason Top 5, if not the Top 2 or 3. Patrick Patterson announced he's coming back a few weeks ago. And they already had what was widely thought of as the best recruiting class in the country coming in before Wall committed.

So, IF Meeks comes back, here's what we're talking about roster-wise next year: 2 legit first team All-American candidates in Patterson and Meeks; 6'9'' senior Perry Stevenson down low (a very serviceable big man who's started the past two years); promising 6'7" sophomore Darius Miller (who saw major minutes last year as a freshman and who could thrive in Cal's system); shaky but ultra-athletic 6'6" sophomore DeAndre Liggins (another that could thrive under Cal); Ramon Harris (another senior who's played major minutes in his career) and, of course, the SPECTACULAR freshman class. Four guys ranked in the Top 25 by Rivals.com, including the top two -- Wall (No. 1) and DeMarcus Cousins (No. 2). Wall's a point guard and Cousins is 6'10". Throw in Daniel Orton (No. 22), Eric Bledsoe (No. 23) and 4-star recruit and the reigning Kentucky "Mr. Basketball" Jon Hood (No. 40) and I think we might have something. Oh, and don't forget about the coveted JUCO transfer Darnell Dodson. Wow.

Soak it in.