by John Walters
Starting Five
Russell, Athletic
1. Requiem for a Heavyweight
On the final night of the season, Russell Westbrook scores 37 points (34 in the first half), grabs 8 rebounds and dishes out 7 assists as the Thunder beat the T-Wolves by 25, But that and OKC’s 45-37 record isn’t enough at the Pelican West beat San Antonio to claim the 8th spot.
Westbrook finishes with a scoring title (28.1 ppt), something teammate Kevin Durant claimed a year ago, and 11 triple doubles, the most of anyone in 26 years, when Michael Jordan had 15 in 1989. It would’ve been 12 had he not sat out the entire 4th quarter once it was apparent OKC had no chance for the postseason.
If you’re looking for one play that symbolizes what Westbrook did this season for a team that lost two of its integral starters, this is it.
2. Guilty
Life without parole for Aaron Hernandez, who caught 175 passes in his first three NFL seasons with the Patriots and would’ve starred in February’s Super Bowl had he stuck around. Hernandez caught a touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLVI, which makes him the first man to score a Super Bowl touchdown AND be convicted of first-degree murder.
And, remember, AH still has a double-murder trial ahead of him.
I’ve always thought that Hernandez believed (or discovered) that Lloyd was talking to people about that double homicide whom he shouldn’t have spoken to, and decided to silence him. Can’t prove; just my hunch.
3. NetFlix Soars
Look at you, Princess Buttercup! (as a fellow 48 year-old, I can tell you kids that this shape is possible if you just live right)
With no small thanks to actors Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, Netflix (stock symbol NFLX, as if it’s an X-rated version of the NFL, which is already an X-rated version of itself) boomed after its earning report yesterday, scaling 12% higher, or $58, after hours.
If you had gotten into Netflix back in July, 2012 –when Dan Wolken and I spoke about doing so, but DIDN’T BECAUSE WE ARE IDIOTS!– you could’ve had it for $60 per share. That was right when Frank and Claire Underwood laid the cornerstone for House of Cards.
Now? Now NFLX is at $533 per share. Beware, though. The stock itself may be a house of cards, as Netflix has had three straight quarters of negative cash flow. That is, beware the bubble.
Stock I’ve done well with lately? GoGo Internet (GOGO), which is up 50% since January.
4. Coachella Fitzgerald
St. Vincent. Coming to a place where people recognize stardom near you
Here’s Rolling Stone’s “40 Best Things We Saw at Coachella” review…until the Washington Post releases a scathing report saying that 37 of them never happened.
Something about inviting hundreds of thousands of people to party in a desert in the middle of a state that has a SERIOUS water problem is amusing.
5. Peak Peak
“Picacho” means Peak in Spanish….
Above you, Picacho Peak, which anyone who has ever made the drive from Phoenix to Tucson, or vice versa, is quite familiar with. I wrote a little story about how yesterday was the 153rd anniversary of a Civil War battle that took place here. Truly. And it was the western-most battle of the Civil War.
My first ride along I-10 past Picacho was in August of 1978 as my dad and I were driving my cousin back to school at the U of A. Almost all of the trip was nothing but desert, but my dad said to me, “Some day everything between Phoenix and Tucson will be houses and people and it’ll be more like one huge metropolis.”
Sadly, that premonition looms closer to reality 37 years later.
Music 101
Hearts on Fire
“I been achin’ from desire/Her blood’s running like a raging river/And her heart’s on fire”
If you’ve seen the Eagles documentary, you certainly remember the anecdote in which Randy Meisner refuses to sing Take It To the Limit onstage and Glenn Frey rips him a new one for not giving the people what they paid for. Meisner had a voice as golden as California, but his personality just couldn’t compete with the egos of Messrs. Frey and Henley. Here’s his first solo effort, a simple upbeat rock tune from 1980 –yes, this shirt and hairstyle were in back then.
Remote Patrol
Vikings
History 10 p.m.
We’ll sack Paris tonight, and then in a few hundred years our descendants will walk the runways there.
One of my closest friends forever and ever, Smoron, devours this show. And he’s a smart dude. So even though I have yet to watch it, I’m going to recommend it. It’s kind of like the Wildings coming south of the Wall, no? In tonight’s new episode, the Nordics launch an all-out assault on Paris. Viewer discretion: there may be some pillaging.
As I don’t have HBO & have never seen even one episode of Game of Thrones, VIKINGS has filled my blood & guts/marauding & massacring quota over the past 3 years. I’ve see all except the last 3 episodes (will try to catch up this weekend). I find most of the characters fascinating & that it is loosely based on historical facts (or “Norse legend”) makes it that much more interesting to me. If you Netflix it, wait till the ‘Blood Eagle’ episode. You WILL squirm! Or look away! Or course, as an avid GoT viewer, I guess you’ve seen much worse.
Speaking of NFLX, I also did not invest even though it has been one of the Motley Fool’s pics for several years. I just kept wondering why people would need this service when their cable vendor could give them back episodes & movies without an extra monthly expense. What I didn’t foresee was all the people DROPPING cable & keeping NFLX. And you are correct – ‘BUBBLE, BUBBLE, TOIL & TROUBLE’! The last time I quoted “the witches” was about 3-D printing stocks & boy am I glad I waited for THEM to plummet back to earth!
My best performer the past 6 months or so is INFN. I bought into it 3 times between Mar 2011 & Nov 2012 (as it kept going doooowwwwnnn) & then it just kinda sat there until late last year. My avg price is $6.25 & it’s recently gone over $20 (more than a triple for me). The BIG news is that it’s finally profitable which means some even bigger gains are about to commence. Can’t wait! Need something to offset all my energy Debbie Downers!
As for Hernandez, with that lengthy jury deliberation, I thought there was going to be a hung jury. I didn’t follow the trial every day but while the circumstantial evidence seemed overwhelming (& possible proof of Hernandez’ abject stupidity &/or arrogance), it didn’t seem a slam-dunk. When is the other trial scheduled?
And speaking of slam-dunks (life, as often my comments, is/are a circle..), the Playoffs start Saturday! Can’t wait! MY biggest question for now – will the HEADBAND RETURN like its wearer did to Cleveland? Honestly, that he took that thing off in the middle of a game & it has not been seen for the last 3 weeks even though he wore one in EVERY game since at least JR High (15 years) is a bigger mystery to me than anything investigated on ‘The X-Files’. 15 YEARS!
Finally, after spending so much time in Arizona, did your ears pop when you moved back to NYC? 🙂