Bellevue Alumni Tourney 2013: All Tournament Teams

Saturday was the 4th annual alumni basketball tournament at Bellevue High School. I have participated the last three years as a member of The Blackout.  We have not won since our debut year and a huge upset over the red team.  Since then we have come close but short every time.  This year we played the eventual champions to a draw at the end of regulation.  We lost in overtime, but it was the best game anyone gave the champs and the most exciting game of the day.  The winner was Brad McIntosh and the Blue team.  The rivalry between his and Jake Ross' team was all of the talk going into the tournament when all of the talk should have been on the pressure of Brad cutting down the nets for the first time.  Brad's rivalry extends back to last year where punches were nearly thrown in an intense physical game.  Brad has a history with this team due to his smack talking on the court.  Jake's team, does however, takes things to the extreme when retaliating.  They were nearly kicked out of being able to play after last season but were allowed to enter again after some negotiating with Dave Slater.  The team ended up facing Brad and his gang twice in the tournament, with no huge fireworks except for a ball being thrown at Brad's face and Jake getting thrown out in the championship.  Overall, the tournament was a success as usual.   This blog is to debut the all-tournament teams:

All Tournament First Team

SF. MVP-Brad McIntosh-Blue Team. Although Brad did not participate in his team's first game, that was their closest.  He lead his team to the largest margin of victory and had key baskets in all of his games.  He was the captain of a talented team and helped his teammates get open baskets.  This is his first All-Tournament First Team appearance.

PG.  Alex Grant-Blue Team.  Alex was the point guard for the eventual champions.  He was the hustler and made things happen for his team, all the while drilling key three pointers down the stretch of many games.

SG. Justin Ross-Orange Team.  Justin was the key player for the team that became the runner up in the tournament.  Brad was quoted as saying that he was worn down by Justin's defense and he is the only person besides The Bradley Stopper (me) who can shut him down.  Well all he did was contain McIntosh, but Justin added key baskets to lead his team to the finals.

SF. Paul Eaglin-White Team. The seasoned veteran. Paul is usually a mainstay on this list and he made it again except he was not surrounded by the usual talent that led his team to the championship in previous years.  Paul was still very good, but came up short this year.

SG. Chris Kilgore-Green Team. Chris was the sharp shooting player on the green that knocked out The Blackout.  Chris helped shoot his team to a 4th place finish in the tournament.  Without Chris, the Green may have been the first team eliminated.

All Tournament Second Team

SG Jimmy Scott-Blackout

PF Steve Baker-Green Team

SG Brandon Hoffman-Red Team

SG Jordan Fogelman-Blue Team

SG Joe Lay-Orange Team

All Hustle Team

PG Alex Grant-Blue Team

PF Justin Caudill-Black Team

SF Austin Kessen-Blue Team

PG David Stefanopoulos-Black Team

PF Chaz Woodyard-Red Team

Head Coach of the Tournament-Stuart Watton Blackout. If not for anything else, for the mustache.

Assistant Coach of the Tournament-Mindy Merritt. For helping coach three teams.

Shoutout of the Day: Jeff Stefanopoulos, because I promised this a while ago.

Walking Dead, T-Dog, and 5 best TV Series of all time.

The big craze right now when it comes to television series is The Walking Dead.  I have never been into zombies and stuff except for Dawn of the Dead.  The new one had the great Ving Rhames in it who shares a birthday with me so of course I am a fan.

It doesn't hurt that he plays Marcellus Wallace, the crime boss, in my favorite movie, Pulp Fiction. Anyway, I hated all the zombie/vampire/werewolf/insert sci-fi figure here movies and t.v. shows. In some of the groups I run with, what I am saying right here is blasphemy because they are all comic book nerds.  About a year ago or so, a friend of mine asked me to check out The Walking Dead.  I wanted nothing to do with it.  I was really into Mad Men at the time.  A few weeks later I decided to finally watch the pilot.  It really impressed me and it wasn't long before I was hooked. The cliffhangers they leave at the end of every episode keeps you interested in viewing the next episode.  The zombies aren't even the biggest plot point in the show usually.  The makeup is pretty decent for a t.v. show too.  The drama is what keeps me interested.  The character development is done very well.  As many of you know outside of this blog, my favorite character on the show is T-Dog.

*SPOILER ALERT* God rest his soul.  He had very few lines and he was never important to the plot, but as you know I like characters like that.  His real name was Theodore on the show, but they called him T-Dog and gave him the most black name you could give a black character on a show.  Usually the minor characters die off pretty fast but not T.  He survived into the third season, which is still currently airing.  I have a created facebook fan page for our fallen hero which you can visit here.  I also got an autograph of IronE Singleton (the actor who plays him) as a Christmas present from my father.  It ended up being my favorite present this past Christmas.

For a while I thought The Walking Dead had the potential of overtaking Mad Men as my favorite series currently on the air.  Then a dark horse came out of nowhere: Breaking Bad.  I guess I just love AMC shows.  Breaking Bad is a show about a chemistry teacher who finds out he has cancer, and he decides to pay for it by cooking crystal meth.  It stars Brian Cranston from Malcom in the Middle fame.

The show drags for the first two seasons, but once season three begins, it is worth hanging in there for the first two.  I'm telling you all of this, because I am about to reveal my five favorite television shows of all time. This can be any kind of series from sitcom to drama.

Honorable mentions: Life With Louie, Power Rangers, Survivor, Sportscenter, American Idol, TRL, Family Matters, All That, Boston Public, Saturday Night Live, Keenan and Kel, Seinfeld, Zoobilee Zoo, The Walking Dead...yes it didn't make the cut and yeah I can go on and on with honorable mentions but I'd be here all day so here is my top 5:

5. Sex and the City.  Yes. Sex and the City. Sarah, my sister owns the whole series and she'd always be watching it when I got out of class so naturally I began watching it and the main characters on there are developed very well and they build characters who resemble people you know in real life.  Carrie Bradshaw is one of the best television characters of all time.  She, along with Miranda, Charlotte, and of course Samantha helped create one of the best shows ever made, not just in the chick category.  I mean, overall.  It's basically about 4 middle aged women and their sex lives.  None of the women are the hottest women on the planet yet you still find yourself attracted to them.

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yes.  This was my favorite show as a youngster.  It follows 4 mutant turtles and the rat master, Splinter as they fight crime.  As I child, what more could you ask for?  You want them to be named after painters?  Too late they got that covered.  You want them to love pizza? That too.  You want them to fight against ninjas known as the foot?  Oh yeah that too. Shredder was their rival with his mutant hog Bee-Bop, and rhino, Rocksteady.

3. Breaking Bad. If it weren't for the first two seasons going so damn slow, this may be my number one.  Seasons 3, 4, and so far 5 are that good. I already spoke about this movie so I won't waste your time again, but I strongly recommend it.  The writing, acting, and directing are all amazing.  They will put something in the show and you won't know what it fully means until 5 episodes later.  Watching Walter transform through the series is a work of art.

2. Freaks and Geeks. This show was one of the funniest shows I've ever seen.  It was created by Judd Apatow.  Yes. That Judd Apatow.  It stars a bunch of kids that went on to do bigger and better things (Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jason Segal,  and Martin Starr among others).  The story focuses on a family and their two high school kids in the early 80's.  Their son hangs with some nerdy kids and their daughter is trying to fit in with the freaks.  The show somehow only lasted one season which is shocking considering the star power, but it is the best show about high school I've seen and it captures what high school is really like.

1. Mad Men.  This show is about a bunch of ad men on Madison Avenue in the 60's.  It focuses on a character played by John Hamm who does an excellent job at his role and his family.  The show does a fantastic job with the drama in this show as you can cut the tension with a knife.  The show keeps you intreagued and once you watch an episode you will have to watch two.  The show isn't for everyone as it moves slow, but for people who love Oscar winning style movies, this series is perfect.

Now that it took so long to write all of this I will not be doing the 'of the day' section.  Tune in next time.