Yesterday was the last day of the 2014-2015 regular season. The 2015 NBA Playoffs begin this Saturday, April 18. The Atlanta Hawks clinched the Eastern Conference division, while the Golden State Warriors clinched the Western Conference division. Â The NBA broke its attendance record by drawing nearly 22 million fans during the 2014-15 regular season.
Russell Westbrook closed the season as the highest scorer with an average of 28.1 points per game, although that meant nothing to him because he will be sitting at home watching the playoffs as OKC finished 9th in the Western Conference division.
Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade will also be watching the playoffs from home for the second time. While the Lakers and Knicks closed their worst seasons in franchise history. Lakers with a 21-61 record and Knicks with a 17-65 record. Shameful.
Of course, the Cavaliers open playoffs as favourites to win the title. But let us see, as the Spurs or Warriors will be great contenders!
See the exclusive video by The Jamaica Observer here on what President Barack Obama ate at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. Word is he cleaned his plate and some of the must eats got crossed off of Suga’s recommended list such as Ackee and Saltfish and Red Stripe beer!
Furious 7 is still in theatres. The response was HUGE and deservedly so. Besides the fact that the movie was made out for the late, Paul Walker, it definitely was one of the better ones. Jason Statham has to be the most annoying villain. That just shows how good he was, but were the Furious 7 better? The movie definitely did Paul Walker justice.
Of course, there were the usual ‘that is not possible’ scenes but the creativity was still quite commendable. Tyrese gets the award for most hilarious in this one as well. Good fight scenes between Statham and Dwayne Johnson, ‘The Rock’ and a hardcore cat fight with Michelle Rodriguez (Letty).
Do not make the mistake of watching this one online, the effect of seeing cars drive out of planes will not be the same (not a spoiler, this was in the preview/trailer :))
This Fast & Furious franchise could go on forever and I would still watch it. Definitely Suga endorsed.
The Town Hall Meeting staged at the University of the West Indies, Mona last Thursday for the President of the United States, Barack Obama’s visit, yes I said staged, touched on all the topics we needed to hear about and he wished to talk about. It cannot be a coincidence that Gun control, Foreign Direct Investment, Cuba, China, His Presidency, Marijuana etc. were all addressed. I don’t know how they got him to pick the chosen few from the audience to ask those specific questions, but they did and it was well done. He just randomly picked out the President Elect of the Guild? Really? Also, I rate some Jamaicans, but when have we ever ALL sounded so prepared? Anyhow, that’s just Suga’s conspiracy.
Did you see how Obama eloquently answered questions and had the audience fully engaged? Something I wish our current leaders could do, speak well even when prepared and think sharply on their feet, or just think full stop. As Dr. Michael Abrahams said in his article yesterday, he makes you want to listen to every word that comes out of his mouth. I totally agree.
One thing Suga would like to go into is China. Obama stated that, ‘It is great to have China invest and help make our country better but where we need to get concerned with China is when they start using their size and muscles to force countries like us into subordinate positions. If China is investing in our infrastructure, education and our people, welcome them, but it is important to look at what strings may be attached. They were invited to work here, build roads and ship in their workers, but we do not know the conditions behind the contract made with our Government as to how they were brought here and how it will help is in the long run’. Look around, the Chinese no longer need a permit to work in Jamaica. They are coming in droves. No longer opening tuck shops, wholesales or Chinese food places, but fancy restaurants such as Sea Deck. They are all over our streets, no longer humble, some well dressed now, feeling more and more comfortable, most not caring to learn or speak English, bringing their children up in our system. Will they one day rule? Will we become slaves to the Chinese? Look out Jamaica. It definitely is a concern.
Obama certainly had a lot to say, but the most important things that stuck for me were in order for us to become a better country we need our Government to exercise the following:-
â— Transparency
â— Clean up Corruption
â— Have a good Infrastructure
â— Invest in Research, Education, our People and Skilled Workers
Was our Government listening or did his wise words fall on deaf ears? If they do not take heed, we will continue on the very same path, a downward spiral. We must and can do better. Thanks Obama.
Spectacular service and food as usual from The Cheesecake Factory. Suga visited the location by North Point Mall, Alpharetta, Georgia last Friday night. Had to take home the mouth-watering Red Velvet Cheesecake and Lemon Meringue Cheesecake after their expected large servings of dinner. I wish Jamaica would take a page out of their book on how to efficiently run a restaurant on a busy night. They are busy all the time and still, no wait to be seated at the North Point Mall location and quick service by pleasant waitresses.
Two thumbs up for the Chicken Scampi. Great flavour. Only complaint was the chicken cuts could have been smaller. The Louisiana Chicken with bow tie pasta only gets one thumb up. Nothing special about the taste or flavour of the chicken and sauce.
Great job though Cheesecake Factory. Always a pleasure, especially after some retail therapy. Next ATL visit stop -> The Cheesecake Bistro 🙂
Varasano’s Pizzeria has a range of items on their menu including Salads, Pastas, Chicken dishes, Desserts and a selection of Wines, but their specialty of course, is Pizza made from scratch.
The experience was average for me, probably because I expected more based on their reputation. For Gourmet pizza, prices were reasonable (Pizzas ranged from $13.50US to $18.95US + toppings of $1.50US to $4.00US). Their service however was excellent and I probably remember the waiter more than the pizza. He reminded me of the actor, Owen Wilson from Wedding Crashers. Hilarious.
Their 2 meatballs for $5.00US were alright. But onto the pizza. I had the traditional House Special, Nana’s pizza with mozzarella and San Marzano tomato sauce with a secret blend of herbs and their ‘best’ topping, Capicola. What is Capicola? The menu needed a bit more English with so many choices. Capicola is a traditional Italian pork cold cut. The pizza was tasty, but it needed more herbs and I did not think their Capicola was the best topping as stated on the menu. It was too salty. The Chica Bella Specialty pizza was delicious. It had ricotta and mozzarella finished with arugula, a pinch of lemon and my choice of topping, Chicken Sausage with Fennel. The ricotta-arugula-lemon combo really brought out a savoury taste, making it the big winner for the evening.
Varasano’s pizzas have a thin crust so one person can eat a whole pizza and would not have to worry about looking greedy. They also state the recommended toppings for each pizza, though they advise that you choose only one, so that you do not crowd the thin crust.
So would I go again? Yes, but would not go out of my way to go there.
The Lions and Leos of Downtown Kingston have a monthly feeding at the St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in Allman Town. Though a few months ago, Suga is happy to highlight how they started their year under the theme, ‘Relieving World Hunger’, feeding over 100 senior citizens on Sunday, January 25, 2015.
The seniors were treated to a scrumptious, filling meal of Curried Goat, Rice and Peas, Tossed Salad and Fruit juice, topped off by Ice cream and Fruit cake for dessert.
It was also an inspirational day, as members of the St. Matthew’s Anglican Youth Fellowship offered prayers and inspiration via songs to the seniors present.
Items of clothing and shoes were offered to individuals in need as well.
Kudos to the Lions and Leos of Downtown Kingston for keeping up such a thoughtful and helpful initiative.
After a long day of work, ready to unwind with the Spurs-Heat NBA game on TNTUS, I saw it was blocked. I was not the least bit amused. It was a mixed feeling of panic, shock and anger all at the same time. My favourite sport blocked?! This was not a Tv show I could find online later or watch at my leisure when ready, it was a LIVE game. FLOW stated, ‘Digicel Sportsmax have bought the rights’, so I called immediately to subscribe. What about persons that do not have or wish not to spend more money on subscription channels? After all, I AM already paying for TNTUS. I then think I am missing a huge part of the game since it took 35 minutes to speak to a FLOW agent. The 2 Sportsmax channels were finally added. Angry but ready, what do I turn to Digicel Sportsmax to see? Football! on one channel, ok, the next? Sports Zone! News!, telling me about their big announcement yesterday about their ‘ideal’ acquisition with the NBA to show the games. Great. How about actually showing the game then?! Waiting any minute for them to cut and show the game, nope, did not happen. They chose to only show the second game scheduled on TNTUS that night, Warriors vs Clippers. At this point I was Irate.
So with investigation and according to digicelgroup.com, yes, Digicel Sportsmax have secured NBA rights in more than 30 Caribbean territories, making Digicel the official partner of the NBA in the region. They now have a MULTI-YEAR partnership with the NBA that will deliver live games and extensive NBA programming. Where was my Spurs-Heat live game?!
They will show 48 regular season games and 8 playoff games each season. They also claim to include the highlights show ‘NBA Action’, NBA TV and select classic games. So what about the games they don’t select? Are they going to block them too like last night?
For a full broadcast schedule, we are to visit digicelsportsmax.com but up to last night they still only had last week’s schedule up. The FLOW guide is also useless. Today I see a schedule in the paper. I am not going to have the paper at home when I am ready to watch tv, nor feel like going through the hassle to look up a Sportsmax schedule online.
I am all for progress and admire the ambition of our local television networks and the fact that Digicel has made a significant step in evolution from a pure mobile generator to a total communications and entertainment provider, but they have crossed the line with this one. I admire it but I do not care and I don’t think half of the passionate basketball fans in Jamaica and the Caribbean care either. No money is going into our pockets. More is being taken out. President and Sportsmax CEO, Olly McIntosh stated that ‘For fans this is a real treat with Digicel Sportsmax bringing a true Caribbean feel to the programming and basketball fans closer to court side than ever before’. What treat?! Not showing all the games? I already felt close to court side before this. Why must customers pay for a cable service that is constantly being disrupted? Why must customers be subjected to this? What am I left with? When will it end? It is unfair. We are expected to pay extra for channels that some of us do not want to watch, to see only SOME of our usual programmes. They block the channel from showing the programme and they do not show the programme on the station that they forced us to subscribe to. In the case of TV shows, for instance with the new show, EMPIRE, local Tv waits a whole week to show a finale that has been aired. Are they serious? Who waits a whole two weeks for a finale? Did they do the maths there?
Thank goodness for NBA League Pass, but you have to pay for that as well. I personally prefer to watch the game on the big screen and not a computer or phone if I don’t stream to the tv or have All Share Cast. The NBA League Pass does not show ‘Inside the NBA’, which was also blocked, or Halftime shows.
If our cable providers or television networks plan to make such a huge step, being inconsiderate of fans that not only just watch the game but all the juicy, in-depth analysis that comes with it as well, be prepared to show the game in the first place and have quality feed too.
I already looked through the newspaper in the early am, so after an extremely long work day, like others, I would have loved to unwind in peace, watching the channels that I just finished working hard all day to pay for. I do not feel like watching the news or anything else, I had a timer set on my phone app to watch a specific game. My therapy. Others who have to work and to a larger extent kids to take care of etc. and needed this outlet, that small time for themselves, were robbed last night and sadly may be robbed even further by Digicel Sportsmax. If I was so irate last night, I don’t want to see myself during the Playoffs! Fix it Sportsmax! Fix it! Or jus do not bother to psychologically and emotionally mess with our daily lives and routines. It affects our health as well by raising our blood pressure. Fix it.
