Seth Curry Coming To Duke

It's been a busy couple of weeks, so I haven't had much time to post. But tonight, there's potentially great news for Duke.

Seth Curry, brother of star Stephen and son of superstar Dell, will be attending Duke university next year.

With our untimely exit from this year's NCAA tournament, good news like this is always welcome. Seth led all freshmen in scoring this year. He'll have to sit out a year, but we'll have him for the 2010-11 season.

Champs!!!

What a great day yesterday!! Duke had a healthy lead most of the game in what was never much of a contest. Getting to watch the celebration afterward was great. I only wish we had a bit more time to spend watching it before heading to the airport. Watching an entire ACC tournament was definitely on my list of things to do before I die. To have Duke come out victorious makes it all the more special.

What was even more enjoyable was watching David transform into a boisterous Duke fan for 4 days, rooting our team on to victory. It was definitely a lot more fun with the two of us cheering them on to victory!

Late in the game, Jon Scheyer knocking down free throws

And the winner is.....

The crowd stands and applauds the team.

Gerald Henderson, cutting down the nets.
Mike Krzyzewski, cutting down the nets with his two boys.

ACC Semifinals

Forgot to post last night! UNC *LOST* in the first semifinal. I was surprised at how many UNC fans actually stuck around for our game. I guess they really do hate Duke enough to want to see us lose.

Anyway, the first half was tight against Maryland. Then, we came out and played our game in the second half. Enjoying a comfortable lead through most of the second half, we made it a bit tighter than we needed to, but now we're in the ACC championship!

Duke plays Florida State at 1:00pm EST today. We beat them twice this year. One game wasn't close. The other one, on our home floor, was very close near the end of the season. Their star player, Toney Douglas, was very hot against UNC. Let's go Duke!

Here's some pics from yesterday's session:

Two of our stars, Greg Paulus and Jon Scheyer
Gerald Henderson, our most dynamic player:

Go Duke!!!

ACC Quarterfinals-Night Session

After watching Maryland beat Wake, Duke took the floor to play Boston College. Gerald Henderson, one of our stars, picked up two fouls in less than a minute. We played pretty bad offensively in the first half, kept only alive by good defense.

Down 7 coming out of halftime, we fought and quickly took the lead. We lead the entire second half until the very end, when we were down one. Gerald Henderson hit a huge bucket with 35 seconds to go. Then, we played great defense, and BC was forced to foul, putting one of our best free throw shooters, Jon Scheyer, on the line for a one-and-one, with Duke up by 1. He missed the first one, and BC had the rebound.

They had 3 more attempts at the basked over a frenetic 17 seconds that involved multiple timeouts. In the end, Duke held on when BC missed a last second shot. Whew!

We play Maryland tomorrow, who we should beat handily. I was a lot more worried about BC and their size. Maryland is a much smaller team with only one really good player (Grevis Vasquez). Some fun pictures from tonight:

ACC Quarterfinals

Ended up staying up late to watch all 6 OTs of the Syracuse v UConn game. Awesome.

Earlier today, UNC got a big scare from VA Tech before eeking out a victory. Florida State did the same thing against Georgia Tech.

In the night session, our appetizer is MD vs. Wake Forest. Then, at approx. 930 EST, I get to see the Blue Devils for the first time in the tournament, with what we hope is a convincing win over Boston College.

ACC Tournament-End of Day One

We watched Maryland pull away from NC State, and then the first half of a thoroughly uninspiring game that pitted Boston College against Virginia. Boston College won, so the Dukies know who we play tomorrow night. A pic of David and I, followed by a pic from the upper deck.

ACC Tournament-Night Session

So, Georgia Tech pulled it out against Clemson. Lot of fun to watch.

After a break, we're back for the night time games. Game 3 pits Maryland against NC State. Maryland is supposed to be the better team. Both teams are playing sloppy, tied at the half.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 15:14:59 2009
Subject: ACC Tournament-Georgia Tech

1 minute left, and Clemson comes alive to close it to 4. Because we're in Georgia, there are obviously a lot of GA Tech fans here. Every time they score, the crowd roars.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 15:01:16 2009
Subject: ACC Tournament-Georgia Tech

With 6 minutes left, GA Tech is beating Clemson handily. They're up 8 in a game that doesn't feel that close. Paul Hewitt is a good coach, and he's showing it now motivating a bad team to whip Clemson.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 14:24:24 2009
Subject: ACC Tournament Update

Game 1 was won by VA Tech in convincing fashion. Miami never showed up for the game.

Now, Georgia Tech is playing Clemson. Georgia Tech managed 2 wins the entire ACC season, and are the worst team in the tournament. At the half, they are tied with Clemson in a shoot-out, and frankly, they're outplaying Clemson.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 12:25:02 2009
Subject: At the ACC Tournament

My best friend, David, and I arrived in ATL last night for the ACC tournament. Due to an odd seating configuration in the Georgia Dome, we had no idea how good our seats were.

Well, we're sitting here watching Virginia Tech play Miami, and we're behind the basket, 6 rows from the floor. Awesome seats!

I can't wait for Duke to play tomorrow night. I'm posting to the blog via e-mail from my Blackberry for the first time, so I have no idea how it looks.

More updates to follow!

ACC Tournament-Georgia Tech

1 minute left, and Clemson comes alive to close it to 4. Because we're in Georgia, there are obviously a lot of GA Tech fans here. Every time they score, the crowd roars.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 15:01:16 2009
Subject: ACC Tournament-Georgia Tech

With 6 minutes left, GA Tech is beating Clemson handily. They're up 8 in a game that doesn't feel that close. Paul Hewitt is a good coach, and he's showing it now motivating a bad team to whip Clemson.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 14:24:24 2009
Subject: ACC Tournament Update

Game 1 was won by VA Tech in convincing fashion. Miami never showed up for the game.

Now, Georgia Tech is playing Clemson. Georgia Tech managed 2 wins the entire ACC season, and are the worst team in the tournament. At the half, they are tied with Clemson in a shoot-out, and frankly, they're outplaying Clemson.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 12:25:02 2009
Subject: At the ACC Tournament

My best friend, David, and I arrived in ATL last night for the ACC tournament. Due to an odd seating configuration in the Georgia Dome, we had no idea how good our seats were.

Well, we're sitting here watching Virginia Tech play Miami, and we're behind the basket, 6 rows from the floor. Awesome seats!

I can't wait for Duke to play tomorrow night. I'm posting to the blog via e-mail from my Blackberry for the first time, so I have no idea how it looks.

More updates to follow!

ACC Tournament-Georgia Tech

With 6 minutes left, GA Tech is beating Clemson handily. They're up 8 in a game that doesn't feel that close. Paul Hewitt is a good coach, and he's showing it now motivating a bad team to whip Clemson.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 14:24:24 2009
Subject: ACC Tournament Update

Game 1 was won by VA Tech in convincing fashion. Miami never showed up for the game.

Now, Georgia Tech is playing Clemson. Georgia Tech managed 2 wins the entire ACC season, and are the worst team in the tournament. At the half, they are tied with Clemson in a shoot-out, and frankly, they're outplaying Clemson.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 12:25:02 2009
Subject: At the ACC Tournament

My best friend, David, and I arrived in ATL last night for the ACC tournament. Due to an odd seating configuration in the Georgia Dome, we had no idea how good our seats were.

Well, we're sitting here watching Virginia Tech play Miami, and we're behind the basket, 6 rows from the floor. Awesome seats!

I can't wait for Duke to play tomorrow night. I'm posting to the blog via e-mail from my Blackberry for the first time, so I have no idea how it looks.

More updates to follow!

ACC Tournament Update

Game 1 was won by VA Tech in convincing fashion. Miami never showed up for the game.

Now, Georgia Tech is playing Clemson. Georgia Tech managed 2 wins the entire ACC season, and are the worst team in the tournament. At the half, they are tied with Clemson in a shoot-out, and frankly, they're outplaying Clemson.

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Pizzarello
To: ed264.pizza@blogger.com <ed264.pizza@blogger.com>
Sent: Thu Mar 12 12:25:02 2009
Subject: At the ACC Tournament

My best friend, David, and I arrived in ATL last night for the ACC tournament. Due to an odd seating configuration in the Georgia Dome, we had no idea how good our seats were.

Well, we're sitting here watching Virginia Tech play Miami, and we're behind the basket, 6 rows from the floor. Awesome seats!

I can't wait for Duke to play tomorrow night. I'm posting to the blog via e-mail from my Blackberry for the first time, so I have no idea how it looks.

More updates to follow!

At the ACC Tournament

My best friend, David, and I arrived in ATL last night for the ACC tournament. Due to an odd seating configuration in the Georgia Dome, we had no idea how good our seats were.

Well, we're sitting here watching Virginia Tech play Miami, and we're behind the basket, 6 rows from the floor. Awesome seats!

I can't wait for Duke to play tomorrow night. I'm posting to the blog via e-mail from my Blackberry for the first time, so I have no idea how it looks.

More updates to follow!

Ruminating

Tonight I started working on my NCAA bracket pool for 2009, a 19-year ritual for me that I enjoy immensely, despite the sheer amount of time it takes to organize.

This lead me to a remembrance of my friend, Spero Peratino, who passed away a short time ago. I didn't expect the flood of emotions that followed.

It makes me want to live every moment to the fullest, and enjoy time with family and friends.

I'm off to the ACC tournament with my best friend, David, this week. My hope is that we'll be there for 4 days, culminating in watching Duke win the ACC tournament. But no matter the outcome, it'll be a great experience with family.

Boxing: James Kirkland vs. Joel Julio

To my knowledge, this is my first blog post on boxing. I've been an avid boxing fan for a number of years, even as the sport has suffered from a lack of true superstars.

As usual, I recorded the Saturday night fight on HBO. There were 3 fights on the card, with the top of the card pitting two light middleweights against each other, James Kirkland and Joel Julio.

Max Kellerman, one of the HBO commentators that I'm not usually wild about, said, "If you know someone who used to be a boxing fan, hit pause and go get them."

I had no idea what to expect, as I had never seen either fighter in action before.

Joel Julio threw 30 power punches in the first round, landing 10 of them. Throwing 30 power punches in a round is a pretty high number by boxing standards, though not a record. But, all in all, a great output by Joel Julio. Which paled in comparison to the 76 power punches James Kirkland threw in the first round.

For comparison, Floyd Mayweather threw 241 power punches against Oscar de la Hoya....in 12 rounds. James Kirkland passed that number early in round 5. Now, he didn't land at as good a rate as Floyd, but boy did this make for an interesting boxing match. These guys swung for the fences for 6 rounds straight before a cut over Julio's eye stopped the fight, which he was definitely losing.

Still a long way to go for boxing to return to it's heyday from the 80s and 90s, but what a great fight.

Duke vs. North Carolina

The final score won't tell the story of this game. The largest lead prior to the final minute was 7. There were two things that cost Duke this game.

First, Gerald Henderson was completely ineffective the entire game. He went over 20 minutes without scoring a basket. For a guy as vital to our success as Henderson, this was the softest 14 point performance I've ever seen.

Second, the referees definitely did not call the game in our favor. I don't want to make this sound like sour grapes. They let a lot slide, which meant when our guys were driving to the basket, we weren't getting foul calls. Couple that with a couple of offensive fouls we got called for that were very borderline, and you have a loss instead of a photo finish.

All that being said, we played the type of game we needed to in order to beat NC. It just didn't work out in our favor. This gives me a lot of confidence going into the ACC tournament, where I'll be in attendance starting Thursday. Look for updates each night from the ACC tournament in Atlanta.

Restaurant Review: Roy's Hawaiian Fusion

While in Rancho Mirage, we enjoyed a dinner at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion.

I had never heard of this restaurant, so I was surprised to hear they had locations in 10 states, including one not far from where we live.

We arrived as a party of ten, with 4 kids. They sat us immediately, and no sooner had we sat down than they brought out appetizer plates for the kids. There were a few pieces of cheese quesadilla, with some other small items. This immediately occupied the children so the adults could focus on the menu.

Two of our party enjoyed the sushi appetizers. The portions were very substantial for the price, made fresh, and tasted wonderful. I chose a combination appetizer, which turned out to be an excellent choice. While the potstickers and vegetable rolls were decent, the shrimp sticks were top notch, as was a spicy Tuna Poke. Not to be outdone, though, the szechuan St. Louis Ribs were outstanding. The meat was tender enough to fall off the bone. They were a bit sweet, a bit spicy, and they disappeared from everyone's plate. Even Catherine got in on the fun!

For entrees, I chose a Parmesan Crusted Swordfish. This was fine, but paled in comparison to Michelle's choice. Her grilled seafood trio started with a Hibachi Style Chilean Salmon with a citrus ponzu sauce. The sauce really made this piece of salmon pop. Next we had Blackened Ahi Tuna with a Soy Mustard Butter. Also an excellent choice. The trio finished with Misoyaki Butterfish, finished with a Pepper Soy Vinaigrette. Butterfish is basically Black Cod. I generally don't see Blck Cod on the menu very much, so I was glad Michelle ordered it. The Butterfish was the best of the entrees, in my opinion.

All this was accompanied by a Ravenswood Tedeschi Zinfandel. This is one of the Ravenswood reserve wines I haven't had. It's a very good fish wine, as long as you have a good sauce to stand up to it.

Dessert was a pre-ordered Chocolate Souffle. It was more like a Molten Chocolate cake from Morton's than a souffle, but it worked out just fine. To put a perfect ending to the evening, each kid got a complimentary ice cream sundae, complete with their name written in chocolate.

I'm not sure what was more compelling. The fish was fresh, the food imaginative. But as a father of an almost 3-year old little girl, it was truly a great treat to be able to have dinner in an upscale restaurant with our daughter and have her be entertained the entire time. An older couple even stopped by to compliment us on how well-behaved all the kids were.

Moral of the story: It's worth your time and money to give this restaurant a try.