Premature Randomness

I know I just had an entry of random notes on Friday, and I hate to do another one again so soon, but I'm going to anyway. Hey, it's my blog, so I can do what I want.

I overslept this morning, and hence was two hours late to work. I do this from time to time, and it drives me crazy. I don't know how I do it. I don't feel too bad about it, considering we're definitely not busy here at work and I didn't miss anything at all. Still, it's definitely not a habit I'm proud of. I generally pride myself on punctuality. That aside, the extra two hours of sleep was quite nice.

Speaking of work, the guy I share my office with is on vacation for the rest of this week and maybe beyond. This means I'll have the office to myself for a while, which will be nice. I like the guy, but I don't like sharing the office. Of course, even when he's here, he's not actually in here all that much.

Despite the fact that the Reds were on TV, I managed to coax myself out for a run last night. I managed to run almost as far as I had the night before, even though my legs were a little sore at the outset. I'm pretty happy about that. My lungs were willing to go further than I did, but my legs were not. As soon as I can get them on the same page, I'll be in good shape.

Injuries are starting to catch up to the Reds a little bit. Right fielder Austin Kearns and starting pitcher Aaron Harang are both on the disabled list, and shortstop Barry Larkin left the same last night after hurting an abdominal muscle. They've lost two games in a row against Oakland, but luckily, they're still in first place for the time being. Hopefully they can get back on track tonight.

While watching the Reds game, I switched over occasionally to keep tabs on Game 2 of the NBA Finals. I've tried really hard to get into the NBA this year, and Lebron drew me in pretty well. The game last night just about killed it for me, though. The officials call nothing, which leads to sloppy basketball. I probably wouldn't mind if I didn't know anything else, but I happen to love college basketball, which is called much tighter and therefore is better basketball. NBA officials let the players do pretty much whatever they want, so they gain advantages they shouldn't have, and it's hard for me to feel that is in any way legitimate.

Secondly, I'm not a basketball coach by any means, but what the hell was Detroit doing last night? Going into overtime, Shaq and Kobe both had five fouls, meaning that either of them was out of the game with one more. Since they seem to be the only Lakers capable of actually doing anything, don't you think it would have made sense to try to draw fouls and get them out? I would think that Detroit's players would be driving the lane each time. Why not? Two things can happen: either Kobe and Shaq have to play soft defense, leaving Detroit free for easy layups; or else they continue to play tough and take a chance on fouling out. Instead, Detroit's players stood around and took jumpshots. Unbelievable.

Ohio State yesterday fired men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien for recruiting violations. One of the problems I have with Ohio State fans is that many of them think their programs are always on the moral high ground and can do no wrong. This is an unfortunate situation, but maybe it will put things into perspective for them a little bit. I'm interested to see how O'Brien's firing affects incoming freshman player Matt Terwilliger, who is from Troy. I think he'll probably still end up there (he's signed to a Letter of Intent, so it would be difficult for him to change his mind), but I'm curious to see who will be coaching him next year. Of course, each time a "major" program loses a coach I'm at least mildly concerned that BGSU head coach Dan Dakich will be poached from our program, but I don't see it happening in this case.

Come to think of it, OSU hiring Coach Dakich would probably make me a big fan of the Buckeye basketball team. That doesn't mean I want it to happen, though. I like him right where he is.