The rockets we use now are more like regular rockets and have a straight body with four fins and a nose that is a perfect cone. Our rockets are now a lot more sleek and they have less wind resistence and go higher. The name of the highest rocket we flew was the American Comet that went 90 feet. If you have any thing to say just write down a comment and I will try to ansewer your questions or talk about your ideas so make sure to leave a comment.

A second-quarter collision between Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki and Houston’s Carl Landry knocked both players out of the game.

The trade-off worked out in the Rockets’ favor.

Kyle Lowry(notes) came off the bench for a career-high 26 points and 10 assists, and the Rockets took advantage of the second-half absence of Dallas’ top scorer to beat the Mavericks 116-108 in overtime Friday night.

Aaron Brooks added 25 points, nine in overtime, and Luis Scola contributed 19 points and 10 rebounds to help the Rockets end the Mavericks’ five-game winning streak.

… for more visit yahoo/rockets mavericks results

I’m back in Texas for the Winter break, and it’s lovely to be home. People say Merry Christmas, little boys wear cowboy boots, and the weather is nearly 50 degrees. I’m coatless and wearing cute flats. I can honestly say I’m not too sad that I’m missing the blizzard that is about to take over DC.

I’ve celebrated being home by being inundated by new stations and my parents dissatisfaction with the media, watching the Rockets, getting my haircut, and prepping for my academic adventure this spring/summer. But what am I most excited about?

Texas State Politics!

The gubernatorial race is staring to gain some speed, it’s something that is personally very important for me because it marks my first real interest in politics. I’d had a moderate interest, but I started really getting into the game senior year of high school. I was enraged at the Dem’s lackluster candidate, and threw my support behind Kinky Freidman. Yes, I was a senior in high school and he spoke to that rebellious child. I still think he’s got some stuff right, but this time I’m putting my  money on Bill White. I’m really excited that he’s decided to run, he’s done such great things as the Mayor of Houston. He’s not caught up in politics, he’s not a great public speaker, but he’s an incredibly hard worker.

I’m also putting together a list of New Year’s resolutions, I’m hoping that this blog will help keep me on track. Some of them are silly, some are things I’ve just been meaning to do. Some small, some not so small. Others may be secret, but I think it’s going to be a lengthy list. I might as well have some lofty goals for 2010, I

have really good feeling about it.

Also, I find my current state rather amusing, and I don’t mind sharing. Slave to my poor vision and beauty regimen.

College football bowl games start this weekend and there is still time to join in on the $2500 Bowl contest. Don’t forget that the bowl games start next week and there is still time to get into the best contest if you want a chance at winning some cash!

ONLY a few spots are left! Deadline is Saturday!

2009 Regaw World: $2,500 Prize Contest – Bowl Games Contest

The top ten places will get paid out $2500 and first place will get $1000! Right now there are only 25 people in the contest so now is the time to join. You have to signup before the first game and make sure to read all the details and get a free$50 for just signing up to play! The contest is hosted by BetMania.com sign up and get a 100% bonus!

NBA Friday Night Free pick

Milwaukee @ Cleveland

Shaq and Lebron have been a hit in Cleveland

The Cavs are at home tonight for a meeting with the Bucks. The Bucks are off back to back over time games and will not have the legs to keep up with the cavs tonight. The Cavs have this game before heading out on the road so they want to win this game tonight to grab momentum before the road trip. The Bucks are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600 and 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games as a road underdog of 5.0-10.5. The Cavaliers are 16-5 ATS in their last 21 vs. NBA Central and 17-7 ATS in their last 24 Friday games. The favorite is 4-0 ATS in the last four meetings and all of those were big wins by the Cavs. Look for more of the same tonight!

Cleveland -9.5

Bet the NBA and Bowl games here! Enter Bonus code BCS100 and get a free $100 when you deposit $100 at Diamond Sportsbook

I have writeups, trends and winning picks on more games tonight and they are all for free! All you have to do is sign up with a sponsor and you can get all of my picks for free! Click a banner and email me at mregaw@yahoo.com and you will get all of the great picks and writeups on the following games:

Philly @ Boston

Denver @ New orleans

Kings @ T-Wolves

Want more Bowl contests? Sign up at BetUS.com and have a chance to win

thousands during bowl week just for betting at BETUS.com!

As expected, Dirk Nowitzki has carried the Dallas Mavericks during their current win streak, but the Houston Rockets have had more trouble stopping top reserve Jason Terry in recent meetings.

Terry will try to rebound from one of his worst performances of the season by helping the Mavericks to a season-high sixth straight victory and their fourth in a row over the Rockets on Friday night at home.

Nowitzki, who is scoring a career-best 26.9 points per game this season, is the only Mavericks player averaging more than 14.0 points during the team’s run (27.8 ppg), and he topped 30 for the fourth time in six games with 35 in a 100-86 victory Wednesday night at Oklahoma City.

… for more visit yahoo/mavs rockets preview

]]> http://moogleempmog.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/it-almost-seems-a-shame/ Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:27:58 +0000 moogleempmog http://moogleempmog.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/it-almost-seems-a-shame/

It Almost Seems A Shame

Tracy McGrady, the NBA player under contract to the Houston Rockets, is back.

T-Mac, the NBA star whose spectacular scoring ability earned him that contract, along with seven All-Star appearances?

Two games in, the jury is still out on that one.

Two months ago, McGrady’s return looked like a ray of hope amidst the doldrums of an injury that ended Yao Ming’s season before it began. In what looked like a year for the Rockets to compete for a good lottery pick, not a good record, the return of an oft-ailing superstar sounded like basketball gold. MacGracy would have had time to work his way back into the lineup or, failing that, to show to best effect so Houston could move him either in a trade now or a sign-and-trade at the start of next season.

Preseason Power Rankings from ESPN and NBA.com had the Rockets well out of the playoffs, #20 and #18 respectively. Sad, for a team that performed so well the year before and had been built so intelligently – but tolerable, because it was an opportunity to build for the upcoming year.

A great situation for T-Mac’s return seemed like a foregone conclusion.

But that’s why the play the games.

The remaining Rockets, along with coach Rick Adelman, have stepped up their game. Undersized and, by conventional metrics, under-talented, they have competed with the best teams in the NBA by playing smart, hard-nosed basketball. It has put a team many were ready to write off squarely in the middle of the hunt (15^th in both offensive and defensive efficiency, according to NBA.com).

Can it be a shame when a gritty team that plays the right way out-works, out-thinks and out-grinds its way into playoff contention?

For the Rockets, it just might be.

Their original season prognosis was: lose, work McGrady back, trade him for value or get value from him, draft well and match the T-Mac returns and a promising rookie with a rested and healthy Yao Ming. The biggest danger there? Management uncharacteristically jumping the gun on coach Rick Adelman, or the players tuning him out. (In fairness, Adelman is a great coach and this was a real risk – less so with the Rockets than with most franchises, though.)

Now, though, Houston will probably finish in the middle of the pack, with no time to work McGrady back into playing shape for either use or shopping, and receive only a mid-tier draft pick for their troubles.

The upside, of course, is that a Rockets team that always knew how to win will know it better than ever did – but when you’re already playing just about the smartest basketball in the game just to hang around, is there really room for improvement?

Thank you, Atlanta Hawks, for your easy win over Memphis!!

And at least Charlotte made a good run in the 4th to come back at push the spread for me.

You know it wasn’t a good day when you’re happy about a push.

Detroit, Houston, and Sacramento all blew good leads against their spreads to make me go from being 4-0-1 on the day to 1-2-2.

Detroit squandered away a 17 point lead to lose by 7 points, 2 points under their +5 spread.

Houston had the spread +8.5 point spread in their grasp with just 1 minute left.  But being down 6 points, they decided to play the foul game and gave up 4 points within the final minute.

The Kings had a nice 12 point lead late in the 4th quarter but ended up being outscored by the Wizards 29-23 in the 4th to push.

I guess it could have been worse. The two pushes could have been tipped into 2 losses and I would have been 1-4 on the day.  Instead, I was only down 1 unit.

My 6 Star games went 1-1-1, while my 4 star games went 0-1-1, and my 3 star games (which I didn’t play) went 1-1-0.

I should have some decent plays for tomorrow.  Here’s a hint in case you don’t come back tomorrow: I’m liking the Suns +3, and New York -2.5 right now. I also like New York under 198.5, and possibly Orlando over 201.  I’m not as sure about that last one though. I’ll write more about them tomorrow.

Also, I’m liking the Colts -4 for tomorrow’s NFL game. I’ll try to write more on that tomorrow too though.

As for my hockey picks today, I found out why I’ve been hesitant to play them. They went 2-5 and -4.5 units, knocking me down to 22-14 and +2.84.  It may have just been one of those days (indeed 4 out of the 5 plays on favorites were upsets), but it also tells me the system needs work and probably shouldn’t be calling 7 games a day.  I’ll continue to work on it as I strive for excellence in all sports.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep sticking to the NBA mostly.

Let me say right off the bat, though, I’m NOT as confident in the 6 star plays as you may think.  2 of the teams are playing in back-to-back games (although Houston is 4-1 in back-to-back games) and the third is a pretty big spread. I’m still playing all of them but just one unit for everything until I can really see how strong 6 star games are. Also, 2 of the plays are only 3 stars so I’m not going to play them.  I’ll put them up still though. One more note, I would NOT recommend parlaying any of these tonight.

6 STAR PLAYS:

ATL -9.5 (V MEM)

SAC -3 (V WAS)

HOU +8.5 (V DEN)

I have to make these quick but here they are.

Memphis is 5-8 on the road, going against Atlanta’s 9-3 home record.  The Hawks are 17-6 this year ATS, including 5-1 in December. After scoring 105 points in the previous game, Memphis is only 4-7, while Atlanta is 8-4 this year.  Atlanta leads the series at 3-0 overall during the last 3 seasons, and 9-3 since 1996 when playing at home.

Sacramento is 15-7 ATS this year, including a 5-0 record as the favorite.  The Wizards are 6-15 this year with a 5-8 underdog record.  Even though this is a back-to-back game for the Kings, they’re 2-3 on the season in that situation, which isn’t bad enough to scare me off a 6 Star game.  The other worrying stat, however, is the Wizards are 2-0 in Sacramento the last 3 seasons. But again I’m sticking with the Kings as they are 10-1 against teams with a losing record and 11-2 against teams with poor defense.  Washington is 2-7 against losing teams, and 1-5 against poor defensive teams.

Houston is also playing back-to-back but they are 4-1 this year in that situation. They are 15-9 overall this year, compared to Denver’s 13-12 record.  The worrying spot here is that Denver is  21-9 over the last 3 seasons as a home favorite between 6.5 and 9 points, and 2-1 this year.  However, they are only 11-11 this year as a favorite, while Houston is 9-2 as an underdog.  The Rockets are also 6-1 this season against NW division opponents. The series is tied 2-2 in Denver over the last 3 seasons, but Houston leads the series in Denver at 15-9 since 1996.

4 STARS:

DET +5 (V NO)

CHA +3 (V IND)

I like both of these picks, but I’d like them even more if Detroit wasn’t 2-4 in BTB games this year.  Detroit is, however, 14-9 overall and 5-1 in December, compared to New Orleans’ 10-13 record and 2-4 in December. December seems to be Detroit’s month as they are 27-10 in the last 3 years. The Hornets are only 3-7 as the favorite and 2-7 against teams with a losing record. Detroit is 7-4 against poor defensive teams. They’re also 3-1 after allowing 105 points, while New Orleans is 0-2 after a division game. Detroit has beaten the spread 2 times in 2 games (2-0) in New Orleans the last 3 seasons, and they lead the series 14-7 since 1996 in New Orleans.

Charlotte is 14-9 this season, while Indiana is only 9-13.  The Bobcats are 8-2 against poor defensive teams While the Pacers are 5-2 as a favorite and the Bobcats are 9-7 as the underdog, the Bobcats have an impressive 8-1 record since 1996 against the Pacers at Indiana, and are 3-1 in the last 3 seasons.

3 STARS (NO PLAY):

MIL +5.5 (V LAL)

OKC +2 (V DAL)

I didn’t even bother looking up stats for these as I have enough plays already so I’m not playing these weaker ones.

Free Sports Betting Picks for Tuesday in the NBA

Don’t forget that the bowl games start next week and there is still time to get into the best contest if you want a chance at winning some cash! ONLY a few spots are left!

2009 Regaw World: $2,500 Prize Contest – Bowl Games Contest

The top ten places will get paid out $2500 and first place will get $1000! Right now there are only 17 people in the contest so now is the time to join. You have to signup before the first game and make sure to read all the details and get a free$50 for just signing up to play! The contest is hosted by BetMania.com sign up and get a 100% bonus!

Free pick in the NBA tonight

The Pistons take on the Houston Rockets tonight at 8:00. The Rockets have had a tough schedule in fact it is so tough it has led to the complaints of the head coach and the front office. It won’t get any easier when they face off against the Pistons. The Pistons are well rested heading into this game. The Rockets are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite and 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 vs. NBA Central. The Pistons are 11-4-1 ATS in the last 16 meetings and 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 games playing on 2 days rest. Take the Pistons and the points tonight.

Pistons +5

Looking for some great sportsbooks? I have two to sign up with right here and get top bonuses as you sign up with some of the best books in the business! Sign up today and get the best! Click a banner and sign up now!

“Rocket ignition system”

Boston, Mass. – In a stairwell in the Boston Globe’s office on Morrissey Blvd.

December 13, 2009

Taken by John Forrester

(flickr/johnsforrester/all rights reserved)

Each cohuetero has their own style of launching. Most pull their hand up and back towards their body as the rocket launches; it looks like they are throwing the rockets, but they aren’t; they are just getting their hand out of the way of the sparks. This guy was cool. He’d just hold his hand there and the rockets would liftoff; he wouldn’t even flinch. It was easier getting my timing right with him.

I’m fascinated by these cohuetes; I have hundreds of shots just from this day. I have thousands altogether. I guess I’m a pyrotechnic fool. Someday soon I’ll upload the video of me launching some cohuetes at my birthday party.

I had my ears stuffed with cotton and so I was in amongst the cohueteros as they launched the rockets.

There are decisions to be made taking this kind of photo. When to catch the rocket: in the hand, just leaving the hand or zooming away. With this last picture I tried to pan up and follow the rocket so that everything is blurred except the rocket. Meh, not all attempts are successful.

This is from the 11th, the next to last day of Guadalupe. After the half mile long line of bombs finishes exploding the cohueteros gather at the side of the church and launch a few thousand rockets (cohuetes). This guy had been making sure all of the bombs went off and he then started to hand the rockets out to the cohueteros.

Jack was in control

I’m starting to really, really like Jarrett Jack as a starting point guard. Don’t get me wrong — I still like Jose Calderon, but at this point I’m pretty much down for whatever, as long as the Raptors win some games. They did just that this afternoon, making quick work of an emotional Trevor Ariza and the Rockets, beating them 101-88 at the ACC.

With Calderon sidelined indefinitely, Jack made his fourth consecutive start, scoring 17 points and adding eight boards and eight assists. Toronto jumped all over Houston early, outscoring them 32-17 in the first and carrying a double-digit lead much of the game, frustrating Ariza (who also went 0-of-9) to the point where he attempted to take poor little DeMar DeRozan’s head off with an errant elbow following a steal in the third quarter. It was a dick move, and with apologies to DeRozan, I almost wish it connected so Ariza could be locked away for a fair amount of time. Here’s hoping the commish and friends still find reason enough for a suspension.

Hedo Turkoglu was aggressive early and scored a season-high 23, making a couple key shots in the fourth as well after Houston cut it to a single-digit lead. Chris Bosh also played well, finishing with 27 on 11-of-19. Sonny Weems stepped into the sixth man role, scoring 11 and more importantly taking the minutes of disgraced backup Antoine Wright, who likely still feels as though he’s a premiere NBA small forward despite the demotion. Sorry to say, but you weren’t missed, you chucker.

This win slightly softens the blow from Friday’s romp at the hands of the Hawks, plus makes it four of six overall and improves the Raptors to 11-15 on the season. They’re headed to South Florida for a date with the Heat Tuesday, followed by Superman and the Magic in Orlando the following night.

Is a 12:30 tip too early for Hedo Turkoglu

The Houston Rockets — now that’s a team that Raps could take a page from. Beset by injuries seemingly every season, they always seem to find a way to string it together and field a pretty, pretty, pretty good team. This year, with T-Mac and Yao Ming sidelined, they’ve gotten off to a 13-9 start behind newcomer Trevor Ariza, point guard Aaron Brooks and a handful of unheralded big men. They’re in Toronto to face our boys this afternoon at the ACC – check in at Raptors Republic for all the coverage you could ever ask for.

Ariza, signed to replace Ron Artest over the summer, leads Houston in scoring (17.7) and has become one of the league’s top steal threats with big minutes. Brooks, who stepped in after the Rafer Alston dump at the deadline last season, is also looking like a competent starter in this league, while Luis Scola, Carl Landry and free-throw shooter extraordinaire Chuck Hayes have all helped carry Ming’s load. If McGrady ever gets healthy, the Rockets could sneak up on someone in the Western Conference, much like they did two years ago when they ran off 22 straight without their Chinese big man.

As for the Raps, Jose Calderon isn’t likely to dress after aggravating a hip injury in Friday’s loss to Atlanta, meaning Jarrett Jack will again be asked to carry a big load. Of course, there’s more to winning than that — Andrea Bargnani will have to rebound and defend, Hedo Turkoglu will have had to have gotten out of bed in time for the early tip and Chris Bosh will need to play big, which should be a given since he seems to against every team other than the Hawks.

This one gets underway at 12:30 — in fact, I’m heading down to watch it riiiiight…NOW!

I wanted to wait until the morning so I could get a better look at all the games but I realized I might end up sleeping in past the start of the first game so I wanted to quickly post that pick:

HOUSTON -1.5 (VS TORONTO)

Very briefly: Toronto is 0-2 this year when they are the home underdog of 3 points or fewer, 3-12 in the last 3 seasons. 2-7 versus good offensive teams, and 3-8 against teams with a winning record. They’re 4-10 after allowing 105 points or more and 2-6 after a loss by 10 or more points. Houston is 9-4 in road games, 3-1 in road games with a total between 200 and 204.5.  They’re 3-0 in non-conference games and 4-1 after 3 or more consecutive unders.

I’ll have more picks tomorrow but this should be a good one to start your day.

Marvin Williams and the Hawks jumped all over the Raps again

So much for revenge, or at least letting the Atlanta Hawks know we’re not the biggest pushovers in the NBA. Nine days after getting pounded 146-115 in Atlanta, the Raps were back at in on their home court against the Hawks last night, this time falling to the tune of 111-89. Yeah, so much for that tidy little three-game win streak we were all excited about.

Sure, the Hawks are a good team, but this is the type of game you have to take on your home court. The Raptors did it against the LeBrons in the opener, but haven’t looked like much of a contender in games against Orlando, Phoenix and now the Hawks. Oh well, I guess it’s because they’re not a contender. Looks like we have a .500 team at best on our hands, and maybe I can only blame myself for expecting more.

Chris Bosh outdid his two-point effort from the last meeting with Atlanta, but his 14 points and 10 boards were way below what we’ve come to expect and what we need to win. Jose Calderon came off the bench after missing two games with a hip flexor, then left at halftime after re-aggravating it (seems familiar, hey?). All in all, a shitty night.

Andrea Bargnani returned after missing Wednesday’s game with an ankle injury and led the Raps with 17 points, chipping in a career-best three boards to boot. Hedo Turkoglu had a nice all-around line (12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists) but didn’t really do anything to give us a shot at winning. Thanks for hitting that one big shot in Washington though, Hedo.

Now losers of two straight, Toronto is home to face a surprisingly solid Houston team sans T-Mac and Mr. Ming on Sunday.

Houston Rockets Salaries

Contracts above $5 million

• Yao Ming – $17.69 million
• Shane Battier – $7.43 million
• Trevor Ariza – $6.32 million

Yao Ming and Shane Battier will both be entering the final year of their respective contracts. Ariza is on the books for four more seasons.

These three players total $31.44 million.

Rest Of Team’s Salaries

• David Andersen – $2.5 million
• Aaron Brooks – $2.02 million
• Chase Budinger – $780k
• Jermaine Taylor – $780k

David Andersen and Aaron Brooks will be entering the final season of their deals. Budinger and Taylor possibly have three more years (non-guaranteed + team option on final two seasons).

Those contracts amount to $6.08 million and take the Rockets total up to $37.52 million.

Other Costs

• Draft Picks — The Rockets will have a late lottery pick to mid first round pick. Let’s assume late lottery (#12-#14). That comes with a cap hold of $1.47 to $1.63 million.
• Team Option — Carl Landry and Chuck Hayes both have team options on their contracts for the 2010/11 season. Their contracts are worth $3 million and $2.33 million respectively.
• Non-Guaranteed Contracts — Joey Dorsey has a non-guaranteed contract worth $950k.
• Open Roster Spots — The Rockets will have a minimum roster charge of $475k and a maximum of $1.9 million should they choose to part ways with Hayes + Landry + Dorsey.

Okay, so that gives the Rockets between $3.37 to $6.92 million in additional salaries. Thus, two different projections:

1. Minimum Team Salary — decline team options to Hayes + Landry + waive Dorsey — $40.89 to $40.15 million
2. Keep Talent — $44.29 to $44.44 million

The Cap

The league sent out a memo at the beginning of free agency this year citing these numbers as possible cap figures for 2010

The NBA’s ballyhooed free-agent summer of 2010 might have quietly taken another hit late Tuesday night.

In a memo announcing next season’s salary cap and luxury-tax threshold, sent out shortly before the league’s annual July moratorium on signings and trades was lifted at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, NBA teams also received tentative projections from the league warning that the cap is estimated to drop to somewhere between $50.4 million and $53.6 million for the 2010-11 season.

2010 Cap Space

So, the Rockets have … in cap space

1. Minimum salary outlook — $10.25 to $12.7 million in cap space
2. Keep talent — $6-to-$9.3 million in cap space

Rockets Free Agency Options

There’s two main streams of thought here for the Rockets

#1 — Maximize their cap space and enter free agency looking to acquire another elite talent to replace Tracy McGrady.

#2 — Keep their talent, consequently limit their cap space, then look to retain their key free agents + spend their MLE.

Key Free Agents

• Luis Scola — Will command at least the MLE in the open market. Talent wise he’s worth around $10 million per annum but due to his age + low scoring ways he’s unlikely to garner that type of attention. A contract in the $7-8 million range looks possible.
• Kyle Lowry — A contract worth around $3 million would be good business. A contract up around the MLE would be bad business.
• Tracy McGrady — Too early to say whether he should be in the Rockets plans. Depends on what he’s capable of and that will decide how much value he has in free agency.

If the Rockets were to retain Scola + Lowry for $11-12 million that would take the Rockets payroll to $55-56 million. However, at that stage, given their trade assets + lack of cap flexibility + lack of high draft picks it’s incredibly difficult to see where Houston finds another elite talent to put alongside Yao Ming.

Overall

Maximizing Houston’s cap flexibility for this summer is a painful episode that will cost them serious talent (Scola, Lowry, Landry, Hayes + maybe Battier) but it looks like their best bet over the medium-to-long term.

Acquiring an elite talent this summer and replacing those key role players is an easier proposition than keeping those key role players and looking to acquire an elite talent down the road.

Houston has hard decisions + uncertain times ahead of them.