i have a feeling that after the eastern conference semifinals are over, either i'm gonna be HATING jerm, or he's gonna be HATING me... and our respective teams... oh yeah, eugene's also a miller fan... so, depending on what happens, i might be garnering some hate towards him, or vise versa.

such is living with a reggie miller fan(i'm not calling him a pacers fan, as the only reason he likes the pacers is because of miller), i almost inwardly look down upon jerm, because it almost seems like he can't really appreciate why the pacers are so good; i would mind jerm being a pacers fan less if he could really appreciate why the pacers are so good. not that you don't have your favorite players, but c'mon now...

but he doesn't, it's always "oh, reggie miller's so good! blah, blah..." yeah, so? kobe's really good. do you see what's going on in LA? lebron's REALLY good, do you see what's going on in cleveland? kg's so good, do you see what's going on in minnesota? miller has done a great job keeping the pacers afloat, but i don't think he's the sole reason the pacers have surprised so many this year...

but aside from the laudatory attitude towards miller, there's the history of the brawl and last year...

yeah, it's pretty much the kings and lakers of the east... i've always believed that... (they carry all the drama around and against each other... well, the fans do; i know sheed and j'o are very close friends...) the difference is both teams try to play the game the right way...(contrast that to the kings can't play d, and lakers have always leaned too hard upon their shaq and kobe) just the fact that the pacers are in the 2nd round without artest and j'o and stephen for most of the season shows a lot about the depth, the way they play the game on both ends, and how they don't lean too hard on their superstars... and reggie miller and rick charlisle both should be given a lot of credit for that(i'd say the coach more than miller). and the word superstar isn't even in the pistons' vocabulary; who's the pistons' best player? everybody... ben goes out... pistons start losing... rip goes out, pistons start losing... brown goes out, pistons start losing... billups goes out, pistons start losing.

so, all the hate aside, it's supposed to be a good matchup... pistons lost their bench, but pacers lost their artest... it's still an advantage to the pistons, b/c of my main man, tayshaun prince... let's see if pacers figure out a way to stop him. or rip :D

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i've come to realize that sacrifice is a test of faith... much like how abraham was tested... the thought came to me during sunday's message... how much you give to the lord your god, this very moment, i think really determines how much you believe in god to fulfill his promise of "give, and ye shall receive." or his commandment that you need to present the best to your god. why's it that every christian always says the same stuff in college; "oh, let me settle down my life, and THEN i'll give everything." pastor danny said that all those friends of his who were pre-med who said that have yet to show it.

and we're not just talking about money... time is an issue too.

and this is difficult to swallow... it is for me... you're asking me to not put the time i spend with god on the backburner this quarter, despite me having to take 5 classes, all of them being science classes. but it tests my faith. it should.