Me my Father and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Dedicated to my father Curtis Skeeter Sr.

I'm a boxing fan because of my father. Back in the day my house would be packed on fight nights. It was a huge event to my family. Sugar Ray Leaonard, Thomas Hearns, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson... I really miss those days. He recorded all the big fights and I watched them thousands of times by myself analyzing the styles and copying the movements just in case I might have to fight myself. I never really got into too many fights so I didn't really have to ever show my skills. lol

As I got older I stopped paying attention to the styles and started falling in love with knockout artists. I wasn't watching for sport anymore I was looking for the kills. I liked to see the flashy guys who got people outta there!

I paid attention to Floyd when he was younger. I say younger respectfully now since I noticed I'm only 2 years older than him. He was demolishing dudes and I hadn't been impressed with someone like him since I saw Sugar Ray Leaonard fight Haglar. The funny thing is Sugar didn't get hit too much either. He pranced around the ring and won on points but I saw a young Floyd putting work on people. It was kinda ugly.

As Floyd got better his skills got better and his restraint from not taking as much risk in prior fights made him unbeatable but I didn't like it. I wanted to see the knockouts so I joined the hater crowd. Floyd is this Floyd is that. Floyd is scared, he's running, he's scared to take a punch...

In later years I reconnected with my father for the fight nights where he was staying. He had the device that gave all the channels even the dirty ones. lol Some of yall know what I'm talking about. I'd visit him regularly and on fight night it was on. We'd be screaming and hollering at the TV together like a father and son should in my opinion. I couldn't get enough of that feeling. I miss it.

Then it was Mayweather Vs. De La Hoya. I had become a De La Hoya fan towards the end of his career because he became an animal. I don't know if it was desperation because his skills were fading but I liked the aggressive De La Hoya. During the fight I'm pro De La Hoya and my pops is drilling me on Mayweather. My uncle was there drilling me too but I was for Oscar and I felt like Floyd was running but my father kept drilling me and Mayweather kept "Boxing". Then I saw De La Hoya getting frustrated and Mayweather started popping him crazy. He was hitting from angles Larry Bird had never tried. Pop Pop Pop Shoe Shine and out. It was a old fashioned ass whipping now since I've analyzed the fight over and over again. I got it on file in my fight stash for sentimental reasons.

The biggest thing that I got from that fight is during the debate of who was gonna win my father said something I'll never forget. He was looking me dead in the face between one of the rounds. I said said to him "He's scared to get hit. He's just stealing rounds. He's not really fighting!" His response was "If that was you I wouldn't want to see you get hit!" and I shut the fuck up and watched him beat De La Hoya's ass!

Since that day I've never wavered from Floyd. I talk to hype stuff up but my eyes were opened. The man comes to win. He doesn't care what cameras are on him. He's not trying to be politically correct and he's not fake. He's about his money. Fuck the belts the rankings, press and what anyone has to say about him. He's playing by the rules and within those rules he's the greatest pound for pound fighter I've seen in my life and he can't do wrong by me win or lo$e.

The year the Knicks came back.

It takes alot of courage to do what Amare Stoudemire did. The Knicks were in heavy persuit of Lebron, Wade and Bosh. Hell Joe Johnson, Grant Hill and Jason Kidd didn't want to come either. A summer of hope seemed to be doomed when Lebron took his talents to South Beach. We were all stunned. Before you know it we tune into the news and we see Amare wearing a Knicks cap saying "The Knicks are back." He didn't stutter, He wasn't intoxicated and he was serious!


He wasn't the best option available at the moment but he knew before the world did what he was bringing to the table. "Swag Immortal!" New York has had it's share of talented legends but Amare was bringing the most Charisma to the Garden since Clyde Frazier's fashion sense became cool.


Stoudemire was a MVP favorite early in the season but you could tell his body was taking a beating and at times it seemed like he was taking every big shot. He rallied a young Knicks team back to respectabilty.


Carmelo Anthony was going through rougher times in Denver. It had become public knowledge that he wanted to test free agency and he didn't sign a hefty extension which indicated to Denver they had to part ways and hopefully get something back for him. He was very diplomatic with his situation but everyone knew he wanted to come home which meant possibly play for the Knicks.


It happens. Bodies get thrown everywhere and Carmelo Anthony and Chauncy Billups become Knicks. The Knicks had to pay the price by losing crowd favorites but it was all worth it. The Knicks land one of the top 10 players in the game and make a appearance in the playoffs for the first time in 7 years.


The season ends with hope. We have our own big three in New York and with the right decisions being made this off season we might get to see a a few banners raised in the Mecca of basketball!

Why the Knicks can win the series but can't beat the Celtics.

David...

That was how the Summer of 2010 started. Amare was brave enough to come to a city that was starving for a hero. He understood what he got himself into and accepted the responsibility of the consequences without knowing what else was yet to come...

He put the team on his back on many nights but when it came to facing the elite competition the Knicks still came up a little short.

Rumors started getting crazy about Amare getting some help. Carmelo Anthony had become a pleasant distraction to Knicks fans all over the world. He handled the situation as best as he could...

And then "He Did This!"

When the season ended Amare was proven to be corrrect.
"THE KNICKS ARE BACK!"

The Knicks finished the season with a winning record for the first time in 10 years and made the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Their reward? A first round matchup with the defending Eastern Conference Champions...
The Boston Celtics

Goliath!

The Celtics are battle tested and their Organization has plenty of hardware to prove it. If the Knicks are gonna learn how to win, then this is the series to do it. Why not learn and then take what we learn to the next round? I have a very healthy respect for the Boston Celtics and their fans but I'm going with my Knicks in 6. I've been wrong 4 times this season. I'm ready to be wrong 4 more times but I'm sticking with the Knicks until the end.

Do your thing Melo!

My fellow Knicks fans please ease up on Melo. Especially since we got him *one year in advance*. If we had kept the former players we had here things wouldn't be better at all. The players we dealt are future studs without a doubt but that's partially the reason why they had to go. This isn't a 2K11 league where you can just keep a roster full of elite players and play it out. Denver inherited our problem not our future. To sum it up it's easier to pay one true elite player than it is to have a roster full of players who think they are elite.

The fact is Carmelo is here! We're not gonna have to fight for him anymore. To start the 2011-12 season he will have completed a full training camp, Have had a taste of Eastern conference opponents and would have alreaded played one or two of the best teams in the east in his first playoff run as a Knick. He's not worrying about a collective bargaining agreement or where his family is going to settle the next upcoming year.

Next season Earl "The Pearl" Monroe will take #15 from the rafters and place it on Carmelo's back himself! Do you get where I'm going?


We are playing with house money right now! Yeah things look crazy out there but we're practically running 2011's training camp during the end of this regular season and playoffs. This kind of experience is platinum! Melo is going around the track for the first time in the Eastern Conference and after things start getting familiar he'll be smiling while looking in his rear view mirror. Carmelo is still that dude that took Syracuse to the championship in one season..."Syracuse".


Don't sign off on him... Never! He's just as big of a Knick fan as you are and he's gonna get it right. He already has by defiantly yet professionaly stating he wanted to come home. Not because he wanted the hoopla. He'll get that if he played anywhere. He wanted to come home because that's where he felt he'd be at his best. He's committed.


If we had the players we dealt and were playing the same ball we were playing before the trade, do realize that was gonna be as good as it was gonna get. Plus we would have lost one or two of our favorite players anyway due to cap restrictions.
http://hoopshype.com/salaries/denver.htm

It was a no brainer for Melo to want to come home and it was a no brainer for the Knicks to bring him home. Don't worry about the past when the future is so much brighter! http://hoopshype.com/salaries/new_york.htm

Gotham Rises

One man accepted the challenge. We thought we were safe.



We were wrong. So he got some help.


Hopefully in the Knick of time!

New Year's Blog 2011

I got all I can handle in 2010. I had to take the good with the bad and sacrifice pleasure for pain in hope that the pain makes me stronger. Every day hurts lately. There is not a second without regret for some of the bad decisions I made but my moves were with faith. I don't know what 2011 has in store for me but I embrace the challenge now more than ever. I no longer doubt the content of my charecter so I don't care who does anymore. Whatever pain I caused I got it back 100X worse. Maturity has been a humiliating process that I've had to go through on my own. It all starts with me again in 2011 but I want to end it with us. I believe I earned the right to ask for that. I'm working hard for that. Harder than anything I have in my life.



On a side note I have to work tonight. I really can't bitch about it because on this day last year I was praying for this. There are alot of people in the mindset I was in last year so I'm going in with no complaints for them. God has a plan for all of us. To relate it to basketball junkies like myself, he's the coach and it's your job to stay ready when he calls you off the bench. He can make that seat real hard. When it's your turn you gotta show him you're worthy. Well I'm in the game now and when I come out my jersey is gonna be soaked.



Once again I'm grateful for my family who loves me unconditionally. I'm just as proud of you as much as you are of me. I may seem distant at times but it's for the best. I carry you guys in my heart everywhere I go. Your love empowers me do do things I didn't know I could. We'll be together when it matters most. That's a promise.



Now for my Knicks...Thank you!


Hottest Movie I saw this year was



And yeah. I'm still trying to be like Obama! lol

My 2010-11 NBA Preview

We were all baited in to watch Lebron's Decision to join the Miami Heat but his decision doesn't command who will be raising a championship banner this season.

With all decisions made and rosters being set for 2010-11 I think the Lakers will once again win the NBA Championship. Phil Jackson perhaps the greatest coach in sports history's job was made easier with a few underated off season moves. Steve Blake, Matt Barnes and veteran center Theo Ratliff are perfect additions to a Championship team.

Yes Lebron, Wade and Bosh will be a traveling circus all season but can they bring drama to the post season where they will have to go through the Boston Celtics? The Celtics have added Shaq and Jermaine O'neal to solidify the center postion which was their weak spot in the finals. Not being able to get key rebounds against a surprisingly tough Lakers tandem of big men The Celtics knew they had to get a force in the middle and they don't come bigger than the 4 time NBA Champion Shaq. It's going to be a interesting season but things might start looking the same in June.

For those who are interested in my honorable mentions I'd like to say in the West look out for Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. He can emerge as MVP this season and push the Lakers if they steal a few games from championship caliber clubs and get home court advantage in the playoffs for a couple of series. Last year Russel Westbrook showed flashes of wanting to enter the conversation as one of the leagues top point guards and seems ready to go toe to toe with the likes of Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

As for the East the Celtics and Orlando Magic will be there to cool down the Heat. Dwight Howard has worked with Hakeem Olajuwon all summer to work on basketball moves. If Howard can develope some up and under moves he can tilt the power scale all by himself. The Celtics and Magic are stronger than Miami in the post and both clubs will be looking to exploit that fact constantly.

Believe me I'm not trying to gas myself up with possibilities but look out for my Knicks. We didn't get Lebron or Wade or Bosh or yata yata yata but somehow we came up with Amare Stoudamire who has never had a losing season under head coach Mike D'Antoni. The Knicks have sacrificed years out of Knicks fans lives to put a product on the floor that can allow us to stand by the water cooler and not be afraid to admit who we cheer for.

I'm not going to go into detail of how crazy it will get in NYC if Carmelo Anthony joined the Knicks just yet but if it happens...