I was dreamin' when I wrote this. Forgive me if it goes astray.

Read it, don't read it, I don't care...just needed to get some things off my chest.


In no order of chronology or importance...


PERFECT mood to rant.  In the word of Stephen Baldwin in Usual Suspects, "bad day, f%^& it."


1)  Random notes from Game 7 between Boston and Miami:


-the fact that Paul Pierce flirted with foul trouble early and that they moved Brandon Bass to guard LeBron James severely diminished any chance of them hanging with the Heat.  It is not a great defensive matchup, unless you are LeBron James.


-It didn't work, but I like the style of Doc Rivers.  He told his team to pack for OKC and their future game on Tuesday.  Must be nice to not worry about the cash for non-refundable tickets also as a guy who travels a lot.


-Bosh sure picked an odd time to suddenly start making 3's.  Actually, the fact that he was attempting so many was odd.  He has a smooth stroke, and I am not surprised when they go in, but to suddenly do it in that level of a game was freaking gutsy.  He could have been the goat if those shots don't fall.


-Speaking of 3's, why did they pick up Shane Battier before the season?  Three main reasons.  Defensive stopper, smart guy to help on the court and in the locker room, and GREAT spot up shooter.  That last part became pretty damn important when he drained those 3's in the third.


-stop ball.  This is one of the seemingly obvious rules of any defense against a fast break.  Mario Chalmers pretty much waltzed to the basketball hoop in the third, a sign that Boston's minds were not totally in the game and were frustrated.


-the Heat's attacking pick and roll in the third quarter really tore apart the Celtics, who did not have ha solution.


-Dwayne Wade had several tip outs on rebounds late in the game, preventing the Celtics from getting the necessary stops to switch the momentum.  SO deflating, to have stopped the team for 24 seconds without fouling, and then have them get another run at it.


-this whole glasses thing with Durant, Wade, and LeBron is pretty funny.  I look at them and think that I wish they could have been the star athletes when I was in grade school.  It would have made my pre-teen years a little easier.


-when it was tied after 3, I was crazy excited.  You have to love when a game lives up to expectations.


-LeBron's 3 ptr in crunch time in the fourth was WAY out.  Maybe from Ohio.  I love when he drains those, not even trying to draw a foul or beating the shot clock.  He just says THIS is in my range.


-how come every year there has to be some idiot in some sport who can't shake hands after the final game?  I lost a little respect for both K.G. and Rondo after they stormed off the court after Game 7 without shaking hands.  Watch a freaking NHL game and you will get it.


2)  What is the old cliche?  Something about the person who retaliates against the other person is usually the one who gets caught and in trouble.  Anyway, I have the NHL game on in the background.  I was expecting a monumental game.  Well, it is monumental, but not for the reasons I expected.  The Kings got away with an illegal hit in the back against the Devils that was NOT called.  Probably wanting to even things up and send a message that they are not going to take that shit, the Devils DID get busted on the retaliatory hit a couple minutes later.  The result?  A 5 minute major, and three goals.  Boom.  In playoff hockey more than any other sport outside of being up 2-0 in World Cup, this thing is DONE.


3)  My random French Open notes:


-poor Djokovic.  With the level of play of these two, it was fantastic tennis to watch, as expected.  I say poor Djokovic, because he would have beaten ANYONE else in the world outside of Roger Federer with the way he was playing.  The problem?  Nadal being on the other side of the net.  


-dibs to Djokovic on his lob when Nadal got the net.  Every time it was perfect and over the head.  It is tough to hit those things.  You need to disguise it, get it over their head, AND put enough topspin on it to make it stay in the lines (topspin curtails its flight).  VERY much of a touch shot.  I had one in my playing days, but found it more fun to try and hit the person in the gut.  That is also why a lot of "your mother" jokes amazingly occurred during my matches.


-John McEnroe still very much has game.  They showed some clips of him playing with his brother in some celebrity/ older person event.  Dude can still play.  He wasn't the hardest worker back in the day, but he probably was the one of the most talented people to ever step on a tennis court.


-just THINK about this.  Nadal is 52-1 all time at the French Open. 52-1.  Wow.


-there was a game in the second set where Djokovic was up 40-30 on serve, and then Nadal came back to win the game.  HUGE momentum stopper, if there was even any Djokovic momentum going on at all.  When you play Nadal, winning 3 straight points IS a momentum change.  Scary.


-I have NEVER seen Nadal play on clay where it is not evident that you need to TAKE it from him, not just play pretty good.  The dude considers clay is throne, and he is the king who really likes that fancy chair.


-some people like fine art.  Some people like expensive win.  Some people like really good food.  I like watching Nadal beat the shit out of people on clay.


-Djokovic should not be worried.  We are going into grass season.  Paybacks are fun, right?  And I do believe he will pay back this loss in style.  Novak is just too good not to.


-I love John McEnroe, but him talking "comeback" when Djokovic gets up ONE break in the third was putting the cart before the horse.  Talk momentum shift, but don't tell me a break is going to solve the puzzle that is Nadal on clay.


-when Djokovic DID win the set, you had to pinch yourself and remind yourself that as hard as that actually seemed, he would have to do it TWO more times in the same match to do this.  Not going to happen.


-Nadal totally whiffing on a ball in the fourth set told me two things.  One, that was really freaking odd.  Two, maybe they let them play a little too long in the rain.


-if there was even a CHANCE that Novak was going to pull this off, the rain decapitated his comeback.  He was looking good, and then the delays started.  I COULD be devil's advocate and say that the rain hurt Nadal more than Djokovic and that was the main reason the won set even happened in the first place.


-think about THIS.  There was a rally, with both players absolutely shellacking the ball, where there were 44 shots in one rally...IN THE FOURTH SET.  Wow.


-Alright.  I have tried to explain this to lots of people, and there are still a lot more people out there who don't get it.  "On serve."  It MEANS you can have the score 3-2 (for example) with the other person ahead, and NOT be losing technically.  You are behind in the actual SCORE column, but tennis ASSUMES you will win your serving games, so if you are down 3-2, and you serve the next game, you are "on serve."  If you win all of your service points, it is impossible to lose until there is a tiebreaker, therefore you are not "losing."


4)  I forgot to include this last time.  Did you check out George "The Animal" Steele's first pitch? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNwtDwv6aso


5)  I will be honest with you.  I thought I was in the perfect mood for a Rant, but it is a little hard getting sucked into my stream of consciousness as I do normally.  I am going to keep on trucking, and pretend this is my version of MJ playing with the flu, but forgive me if it is not as fluid as it usually is.  It is a little tough focusing right now.  Got some shit going on.


6)  Sign of things to come.  Get used to it.  I have been raving about the Nats for two years in this Rant.  They just went to Fenway and swept the Red Sox.  That is not easy, no matter WHAT the year.  Strasburg and Harper are two players that OPPOSING fans are paying hard earned money to see.  These guys are for real.  I WOULD like to make a compromise though.  Since I have been talking about you for two years now, can you at least wait ONE more year?  Can my Phils get one more before you start housing people?  What's that?  Oh, you are right.  I suppose they need to be above .500 first.  Gotcha.


7)  Figures.  They were in the World Cup final, I actually get soccer, and I predict them to beat Spain in the final.  Then, what happens?  The Netherlands get beat in the first game by DENMARK in the Group of Death.  HORRIBLE defense on the scoring goal.  It is early.  I am allowed to change.  Give me Germany over Spain instead.  Thanks for allowing that.  This means I will also have to change my big upset in the quarters of France over Germany.  Damn, you Dutch, you really bucked my system.


8)  In my continuing "Bee Chronicles of Mark Filler," I have another one.  I went to the grocery store Saturday.  They were short on carts.  I finally found one, still with people looking for carts, and started entering the store.  I noticed a wasp hovering by the cart by something hanging from the bottom of the cart.  There were people around, and some lady giving away free ice cream at the entrance.  I decided this wasp REALLY liked the cart, pushed it away from me while running/ trotting away, got some odd stares, and then went into the store cartless.   I need to go to a grocery store farther from my house during the summer in case I ever see someone I actually know.


9)  4-0 with 15 minutes left in the SECOND period.  This game is getting ugly.  I might have to switch to Family Guy during my Rant and then catch the coolest thing in all of sports later...the shaking of hands after the last hockey game.


10)  Joey Logano won NASCAR's Pocono 400.  Just reporting it as usual.  Want to hear a secret that you can't tell Susan (Seinfeld reference)?  I had to look up his first name.  I would have guessed Jeff, but NASCAR is not my forte.  While I am on this hook, I should sign up for an AIDS walk (continuing the previous Seinfeld reference).  Maybe I will go scratch off my waist size ticket on my jeans while I am at it.


11)  Did you enjoy your no-hitter, Johan Santana?  I hope so.  I hope you got a good dinner, maybe some drinks, and some play in bed in celebration.  Because, you got rocked by the Yankees in your next outing.


12)  OK.  Real life problems or not, I am getting in the zone.  I hope it transcends to my laptop writing.  When I used to bartend, I used to tell people "check your shit at the door, because these people coming out to have fun don't give a shit if you are grumpy.  This is your job.  To make them happy."  I guess I am saying that I need to check my shit at the door for work...and ranting.  Lol.


13)  World Cup 2014.  Thanks to the person who told me about an American group going to the World Cup in 2014.  You have motivated me to sell lots of stuff, pay back who needs to be paid back, and then throw down $500 for a spot in that group.  I am so in.


14)  RANT SQUAD UPDATE:  The only problem about Ochocinco getting released by the Pats is this.  We now have weeks of Ochocinco media alerts.  I hear the Dolphins are looking at him.  That is JUST what the world needs.  An older, disgruntled Ochocinco on a losing team.  Hold on.  What am I TALKING about?  That is EXACTLY what the world needs.  I don't have to dig and look for blog material-it will be just thrown in my lap if he goes there.  Yay.


15)  Damn.  In the words of Hall and Oates, I was so close, yet so far away.  I ALMOST picked the Belmont.  My shipped in Baffert horse, Paynter, got nipped at the end.  I don't even know why I am mad at this.  I already told you all I suck at picking horses.  Moving on.  I'll Have Another is in some stable with his owner, nursing his injuries, and checking out hot mare pictures.


16)  Stony Brook is going to the World Series.  They knocked out heavyweight LSU, even after dropping a game that was called and continued the next day.  I would say that we could give them a call, but tonight they are watching Hoosiers, tomorrow Rocky, and Wednesday Bull Durham.  Their schedule is packed.  Sorry.


17)  Check THIS out.  My colleague told me he "crashed" a wedding this weekend that was near his apartment in downtown Denver.  It was an Indian wedding, which really begs for some Seinfeld joke, but I am going another route.  He told me the groom flew in a REAL ELEPHANT from California for the wedding.  I am SO jealous of my colleague.  He not only crashes a wedding, which is cool, but he crashes one with a freaking ELEPHANT sitting in the room. I once crashed a party in Newport hosted by Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt.  Great story, we didn't get in, and the best part is the story involves no jail time.


18)  Article that I DID NOT need to read, and I didn't.  "Sandusky talks about soap battles."  EEEWWW.


19)  I have not seen anything as odd in a while as the baseball game I was watching Friday night.  SIX pitchers deliver a no-hitter with Seattle and LA.  Being the sports guy, I was being asked "if it counted."  Of course, it counts.  Just a bunch of asterisks flying all over the place covering the oddities.  I will say this.  I had to wrap my head around the level of impressiveness I felt, but here is the bottom line.  It is not as impressive as one guy obviously, but it is pretty impressive for randomness.  Basically, the stars aligned, and six guys pitched badass games all in the same night.  I could flow chart the complexities of this if you have time.  I know I do.  Shame Kevin Millwood had to bow out due to injury.


20)  I was asked today at work, since I am taking my first day off ever from there Friday, if hours "topped out/ rolled over"  I didn't know.  I don't check.  Sad to say, but that is how I roll I guess.  Pretty sure I should probably take some, because I am assuming I should have more than 15 days after two years.


21)  It is SO painful to watch all these ex-Flyers winning this game.


22)  Very sad to hear about the shootings near Auburn University.  Sure, when I was in college and went to a couple parties that were not all student related, but I couldn't imagine someone pulling out a gun an firing.  I would have expected that more from a couple high school parties I went to in Jersey in high school.  Would have matched the stereotype and then I could use a Soprano reference.  Then I could tell you my dad was the 3 year president of our Italian American political club, even though we aren't Italian.  Badass.  My thoughts go out to the 3 people's families.  Horrible stuff.  As I am writing this, apparently they are outside his house firing tear gas into it.


23)  I am not saying he is innocent.  I don't know enough about the case.  But with this whole Geno Auriemma thing about being sued for advances on a woman during US Team training, I will just say  this.  All the success.  Being around young women every day at work for over twenty years.  Yup.  I am not buying this one.  I think the dude is innocent.  We will see.


24)  The Cubs get Cuban Soler.  Congrats to both parties involved.  Perhaps the Cubs can be moderately good, and at least Soler is going to one of our better US cities to tell his friends and family (ranked #4 in my personal rankings behind San Diego, New Orleans, and Boston) about.


25)  Someone is going to purchase the Memphis Grizzlies.  Can you rename them when you buy them?  Some nicknames transfer, and some don't.  Utah Jazz?  Memphis Grizzlies?  I don't think so.


26)  I can't WAIT to see this replay of the Pacquiao/ Bradley fight.  Highly controversial.  The judges say that Manny was dealt a "boxing lesson,"  but my sources tell me a different story.  Whoever is right, whatever happened to TAKING the title from a champion.  He better have gotten beaten pretty bad for that decision to happen.


27)  EURO 2012. I hope you caught a little of the action.  I did.  Germany/ Portugal was at a high level and very entertaining, with the better team winning.  I caught a little of some other matches also.  Check it out if you want to like soccer.  Otherwise, you will be waiting until 2014.


28)  I can't believe I didn't open this article.  Maybe it would have had a Paris Hilton like link to entertain me.  "Australian Olympic star's sex photos stolen."  Anyway, funny thing is this.  That is not illegal in Australia.  Stealing is, but showing the the videos is not.


29)  OKC-Heat preview and prediction:
OKC in 6.  Why am I worried at all?  I HATE the 2-3-2 format that suddenly happens in the finals.  HATE it.  If the Heat steal one of the first two, they are golden to try and close it out with three straight at thie crib.  Of course, the devil's advocate would say that OKC then gets TWO chances to seal it at home if they steal one of the games in Miami.  Whatever.  Tomato.  Tomahto.  OKC is younger, and will not be athletically outmatched.  They have home court advantage, meaning they can probably get enough momentum in the first two games to just have to win one of those last two games.  I HATE to say this, but Westbrook is the key.  Miami has no one to make him play defense at the point.  Perkins will not get into foul trouble, because OKC can put someone else on Bosh to give away fouls.  Durant is a problem in whatever game he plays because of his shooting and length.  OKC has the hardest home arena to play in.  The Heat face two PERFECT tests.  They already beat the wily veterans from Boston, and now they draw a team that won't get tired, is too young to be scared, and has a second unit (not that Miami officially USES a second unit) that is better.  Durant will do what he does, but Westbrook and Harden will shine, and they will let James be James but contain the others, and NOT let them run because of their personnel, which is key.  Bottom line.  Miami is playing a team that plays a little slower, but has the athletes to match them if running happens.  OKC in 6.  Book it.


30)  Did you all see the 2 and 4 year old kids naming EVERY freaking LA Kings player?  Classic, and scary.  http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/07/news/la-a-twoyearold-and-a-fouryearold-recite-the-kings-roster-video-20120607


31)  Clemens.  Ugghhh.  Now, McNamee's WIFE is saying she shot up.  What a dumb chick.  It is HGH, girl.  You don't want any part of it.  This is like the court version of the Real World.


32)  BIG news.  The US men's soccer team won, but looked shaky...against Antigua.  Yes, I had to look up where they were located.  Glad this wasn't a blind airplane rant.


33)  How can you not pay your taxes?  I would never want to be on their radar.  Ever.  I LOVE you, Tony Gwynn.  You are one of the best hitters to ever hit the ball.  So, you are telling me that you are in a group that is trying to buy the Padres AND you owe 400k in taxes?  Can't see this working out very well.  April 15th, dude.  Send an Outlook invite to yourself.


34)  Maria Sharapova won the ladies French Open.  You might find this remarkable.  You should.  Maybe some of you don't understand the surfaces in tennis and how different each one is, but trust me, this is impressive.  She has now won all four Grand Slams.  Bonus is she is hot as shit.  To win all the titles means you can modify your game to the surface.  Wilander (my boy) never won Wimbledon.  Lendl never won the French.  All these things I say are true, and meaningful.


35)  I think Sam Hurd's cousin thinks you can be on my Rant Squad just by being RELATED to an athlete.  You can't.  Sorry, bro.  I admire your drug conspiracy charge, but Sam Hurd would have had to do it to be considered.  I admire your motivation, but rules are rules.


36)  Broncos LB wants to be on the Rant Squad.  Being our social media hero of the week, he tweeted 6 defensive formations via Twitter.  Nice.    Stop answering questions.  You will only dig your hole deeper, and there is nothing you can say.  You jacked this all up AND let everyone know you are switching positions.  Good job.  Go out and get a hooker tonight and we will talk.  Tweet about it afterward and I will give you bonus points.  As always, take Marcus Vick with you.


37)  I am moving the other things on my yellow legal pad list (seriously, that is where I write everything and I carry it around CONSTANTLY).  That is it.  I will possibly do another Rant Thursday night, but Game 2 of the NBA will be on, so I will probably just do an airplane rant on Friday morning.  Finally, I would like to give a shout out to my colleague, Brian.  We have become good friends over the years, and because of my background I get worried when people marry, but I will say this.  His woman and him are PERFECT.  I want that.  He has that.  And I tell him pretty much every other day or so.  He is marrying the perfect woman for him, and everyone in the world wants what he has.  She is a badass.  Right choice, bro.  Peace.


37a) Oh.  And the game just ended.  Congrats to the Kings.  You truly deserved to win the hardest thing to win in all of sports.  I am jetting to watch the handshakes and the Cup ceremony.


37b) Just like Prince cornered the market when he wrote the song 1999, the Black Eyed Peas pretty much cornered the market when they wrote that "tonight is going to a good night" was brilliant, and will be played after every sporting victory...until someone else corners the market with some happy song.


37c) I am surprised I got a stream of consciousness.  Tough day. I am in the "we need our space period."  Has never worked out for me in the past.  I have no reason to think it will end differently this time.  Talk to you all Thursday or Friday after an airplane rant.