me: i've seen a bunch of homeless ppl around davis
grace: oh
grace: i see a few here
me: there's a lotta ppl who go up to me and ask if i can spare some change
grace: but it's like they seem to disappear over night
me: heh
grace: it' slike the city takes them away cus they're taint'g la jolla er something
grace: la jolla = rich yuppies
me: heh
grace: u give em change?
me: sure, why not
me: sometimes a dollar if i'm extremely generous
me: once i even heard out one of them to see what his problem was
grace: oh yeah
grace: i've always wanted to sit down n talk to em
grace: but i don't seem them n e more
grace: oh there's this one guy in chinatown by my dentist office
grace: i saw him last yr
grace: n this yr again
grace: he always has a pet pigeon
me: i see
grace: this pigeon sits on his shoulder
grace: or around him
grace: n he feeds it n such
me: heh
grace: very strange eh
me: yea
me: most of the guys i've met usually have some hardships
me: one guy told me he had some shoulder pain or something
me: but then the cops took away his medication because his name rubbed off the prescription bottle
grace: =me: yea
grace: how he suppose to get his medicine?
me: shoot, i dunno
grace: SOMEONE HAS GOT TO GO N GET IT FOR HIM =(
grace: yeeea.. it's things like that .. that make me wonder why i'm doing cs and expecting to work at some office cubicle.. wen so many ppl out there need something/someone
me: it's true
me: not every job solves every problem in the world
me: and even when you've taken care of others, you still have yourself to feed
grace: yeaa
grace: duno wut i gonna do
grace: i feel like getting a teaching credential too. hehe
grace: but then.. i kinda wanna jus teach lil kids
grace: but then... i kinda wanna program..
grace: o boy. i guess i can teach programming to little kids?
grace: yeah
grace: someone's gotta support me if i ain't making money
me: yeap
me: funny thing; my sister in law also teaches 3rd graders
grace: she likes?
me: yea, i'd say
me: jerm's trying to go for teaching too
me: and while i'm not too sure, maybe laura's also considering teaching
grace: lol
grace: i'm thinking towards daycare too
me: i see

i've realized i've met a LOT of homeless ppl when i've gotten around davis counting this school year and last year. a lotta ppl just wandering around who ask me if i can spare some change. sometimes, if i'm generous, i give them a dollar, not just whatever coins i have in my pocket. i usually never refuse them.

long story short, because i don't feel like typing too much, i do it cause God commands me to. i say this, cause OF COURSE it's probable that a couple of those guys try to act poor to mooch off of others. but i'm less concerned about whether they are genuine, compared whether i AM genuine. whether i truly care for them. cause that's WHAT WOULD JESUS DO

and another thing; when you do encounter poor homeless men, and give them something, don't just give them something and shoo them away; ask them what their hardships are. ask them how their day went. i had one guy ask me for stuff.(i think i gave him a dollar) then he proceeded to tell me his hardship. i was touched. i truly felt like praying for the poor guy. so i am considering that whenever i meet ppl who ask me for change now; asking them how their day went. it's a start. to show i truly care, and am not just another person.

it's just one demonstration of the discipline of submission :D one more step to showing you truly love God.

you realize in the western conf of the nba a total power shift could occur to bring the power to... texas? imagine that kobe and shaq get traded to some texas teams; your future top western teams would include:
dallas: shaq, finley, dirk?
houston: tmac, yao
san antonio: kobe, duncan

now if this turns out to be the case, i like san antonio's chances. i still like houston cause of yao, but i'm still SLIGHTLY bitter that francis had to go; i think i like orlando more than the rockets now.

comment that summed up the nba 2k4 finals:
after anybody who thought that the detroit pistons couldn't recover from that wrenching defeat the other night(game 2), just take a look at the score
-al michaels, abc sports

Verizon Recalls Exploding Cell Phone Batteries

more bad news for you cell phone users... hey! not only can you lower your sperm count with these babies, but now you can permanently burn your crotch off with these technological beauties! but sorry, we'll have to charge you for roaming if you're crotch is on fire and you're forced to call the local police on a cell that's not in the designated area :D
(at&t users, rejoice that your crotch won't catch fire :D)

maria sharapova says she's not trying to become like anna kornakova, but she's into modelling as well :D lol... it's kinda funny watching her play tennis; she screams everytime she hits the ball; i might even stretch it and say she sometimes groans when she does.
to be honest, i think the rain delays and stuff totally changed the match between devenport and sharapova; wimbledon seriously needs to do something to get rid of the rain delays; i tried to audioblog an entry on this, but it looks like it'll take a while before it gets online. basically, tennis seems to be only one of the few sports which actually stops play due to a rain delay, and more specifically, wimbledon; most other sports just play through it. so either teach the players to do that, or install a retractable roof. because it is really annoying for the fans and the players.

(i'm back in cupertino for july btw)
(pps: audioblogger's cool, but it loads so slowly; i've already posted 3-4x since yesterday, and look; only 1 post so far)

Mail and Guardian Online: Cellphones cut sperm count, says report

we're doomed... forget viagra... we need something else...

then again, living in the city as opposed to the country probably also reduces your sperm count...

Martina loses in 2nd round

been keeping up w/wimbledon? martina is a FORTY-SEVEN year old female tennis vet, who played in wimbledon just cause she could... while she's not as agile as she used to be, it was fun to watch her exercise her experience over her opponents and take them down using brain over strength... sadly, you can only get so far...

venus is also out, due to a contraversial call... but serena's still in... when it comes to women's tennis though, i like jennifer capriati; excellant return, very good strokes. her defense against serves is very formidable.

on the men's side, a casual fan HAS to love andy roddick; prob my fave american tennis player. i just love watching him blow ppl apart with his aces; he wasn't as dominant as he was in the us open, concerning his aces, but hey, no 4 in the world doesn't count for nothing; uberdweeb, if you're reading this, roddick's 1st opponent at wimbledon was a taiwanese guy; wang something... don't worry, that kid's still young; got a while to go; i would've rooted for him, but cmon, it's roddick. roddick btw, got 18 aces against him. it's almost like a bday present!(i think wang was 18) i could go on and on about how good roddick's aces are... the really good ones are where the opponent doesn't even MOVE... the serves of those are hecka fast and hit RIGHT on the line that it's rediculous. you watch, and go, huh? roddick already won another game? the opponent didn't even move!

shaq going to dallas is kinda ok w/me... i hate dallas, but they aren't gaining anything TOO big, longterm that way. and shaq fits in with his defensive weaknesses :D the lakers won't be as strong... dallas would IMO be stronger though, with two good big men. that's assuming dallas is not dumb enough to dump dirk for shaq. i'd just like to see a year where the lakers lack kobe and shaq, or have kobe, but completely suck, but that clippers are contenders, or even where both teams suck... would like to see how socal ppl actually feel... i wondered why i've heard kobe possibly going to san ant a bit... is that one of his potential places he wants to go?

assuming dwight howard lives up to his promise, i could be liking the magic soon; got the core rockets group(francis!) and pretty much just subbed howard for yao... i just hope they emphasize the d. though you could say the trade was 50-50, i still disliked that they broke up the rockets; i love francis and yao.

how often have you fretted so much about what you were doing, have done, and were going to do that you could not go to sleep peaceably for a night? frustrating... i bet...

USATODAY.com - Charges considered in death of Iraqi general

how can we expect other countries, and terrorist organizations to treat us with respect if we can't do the same? this is just one big cycle over and over; it happened during the cold war; we'd find whoever would fight against the communist force, then leave them to their fate. and yet, now, instead of learning our mistakes, we repeat them yet again.

we also failed to learn from our mistakes after wwII, when many nisei were placed in internment camps; after 9.11, many indians in the us simply "disappeared" back to their own countries. nobody learns from the 1st mistake.

the weather's above average hot anyway you see it; it's still hotter up here in hell :D 

I'm bored... so i decided to show you guys just how friggin hot davis is compared to the bay area; here is a trimmed snapshot of the weather in cupertino on friday; notice the moderate high; could be hot, but i guess only during noontime 


now, in comparison, here's the davis weather... yes... take noontime in the bay area and extend that over an 8 hr period and add 10 degrees, more or less... voila; you're in hell. 

MAN, does my voice crack up under all sorts of weird pressure... that said, like the recording suggested, i LEGALLY dl'd one song; i still have 1 credit, which i can use for another song, or get a new ringtone(7-eleven enables you to choose either one). it does seem like everyone's getting into the free mp3 thing; first it was pepsi if i recalled from the super bowl, then mickeydee's got into the mix, now 7-eleven... azn's dream, would be tapioca express gets into the mix :D buy a no. one, get a free jay mp3 dl :D

that said, i dl'd mark schultz - you are a child of mine; i've loved hearing the song everytime it comes on the air. it ain't rock, but hey, my tastes in music aren't limited to rock :D mark's lyrics in general from any of his songs tend to sing from God's perspective, not ours; think of "i have been there." here are the lyrics. i would've dl'd "casting crowns - who am i," but i liked the air1 mix, the one they have on the radio, not the album's version; they make the electric guitar fills a lot more hearable, and it gives the song a bit more upbeatness to it. ah well; this song is equally good.

I’ve been hearing voices
Telling me that I could
Never be what I wanna be
They’re binding me with lies
Haunting me at night
And saying there’s nothing to believe
Somewhere in the quietness
When I’m overcome with loneliness
I hear You call my name
And like a father You are near
And as I listen I can hear You say

chorus:
You are a child of Mine
Born of My own design
And you bear the heart of life
No matter where you go
Oh, you will always know
You have been made free in Christ
You are a child of Mine

And so I listen as You tell me who I am
And who it is I’m gonna be
And I hang on every word
Knowing I have heard
I am Yours and I am free
But when I am alone at night
That is when I hear the lie
You’ll never be enough
And though I’m giving into fear
If I listen I can hear You say

chorus

I am calling…
I am calling…
I am calling…

chorus (2x)

ESPN.com - NBA - Glove in hand: Payton opts to stay with Lakers

huh? considering the fact that he didn't fit in, he still wants to give this a try? well, maybe the fact that shaq's leaving's giving him more oppurtunities to feel better again.

like sam said; there's a HUGE possibility that about 1 yr from now, the laker bandwagon will... GO TO THE CLIPPER BANDWAGON; clippers are a good team, but they've really not being taken notice; just watch... geez, i hope that doesn't happen; socal ppl will suddenly go, "go clippers," but we know there wasn't such thing as a hardcore clipper fan in the first place... a huge lol waiting to happen from the norcal ppl... just glad i'm a warriors fan first and foremost, THEN a kings fan... just in case we ever hit the big time.

also, i love the possibility of tmac and yao ming, but i do like francis, and i really loved the chemistry he had w/yao and the rockets; hope he gets good success in orlando, cause he really didn't wanna go there in the first place. the sad part is though, as much as the nba is entertainment, it is also a business. things like that happen. shaq COULD go to orlando though, so factor that in... although, if he does, i'm not too sure francis would remain in orlando, but i don't want him to become a laker. the possibility of shaq+francis+okafur/howard is there though...

i also heard talk that shaq COULD go to dallas... i hope that DOES NOT happen... don't give me another reason to hate the already hated-on-my-part mavs...

my baked salmon w/miso didn't turn out THAT well; i probably didn't coat enough of the stuff on, cause the fish tasted SOMEWHAT salty; ie not enough brown sugar. was my 1st time though, in all respects. and the salmon steak i bought WAS pretty huge...

haha... check this out... i'm trying audioblogger.com... now i can record anytime for free from my phone, to here.

oh yea; go watch "best damn sports show period" on tuesday; mike dunleavy from norcal's favorite team, gsw's gonna be a guest

(gilbert arenas is also gonna be a guest on wed, but since he's gone, we all don't care bout him no more)

wow... are the lakers done(at least for a while, til the hollywood stars start chipping money in again?)

-kobe bryant's now an unrestricted free agent... i think he really wants to leave now... well, let's make one thing clear; i don't think he'll want to play for shaq; at the very least LA is going to lose one of its superstars.
-shaq will only play for phil jackson, at least that's what he says
-phil jackson is going to leave(therefore, shaq is going to go, by that logic)
-payton wants to leave, cause he doesn't fit into the role player thing, OR, he sucks now; really, so either way LA doesn't have it good w/him; the playoffs(didn't even have to be the finals) showed that he is NOT even a decent player now; i'd rather have george or fisher be a pg, or luke walton.
-malone is a free agent; i'd say he helps glue LA together, but injuries have been a factor in him deciding whether to retire; for him it's either stay or retire.

heh heh... if you're nor cal... you gotta love this... LA's gotta start over the hard way, like most other teams... like the pistons :D not like anyone in LA's listening... they prob think they can just buy talent again... (don't feel bad, LA; you have a chance to get tmac; he should be a good starting ground...) you gotta love the pistons success story... unless if you hate D, only love flashy offense, and only love superstars and scoring(in which i say to you, "your mentality is a disgrace to bball; pick up another sport")

pistons weren't even favored to win the nba championship this year...

poll

i'll be honest though... i thought pistons were (hopefully) going to come out of the east, and thought the spurs were going to win it all... i was wrong... 1 for 2. however i did think the pistons had a good chance of winning against the lakers IF THEY TRIED; guess what; they did. in fact, they tried TOO HARD. 2 of 3.

maybe next year ppl won't hate on the pistons... i doubt it. (that said, i think pistons need to win a 2nd title again, to really show the hard-nosed that they weren't a fluke) ppl still think a superstar can take over. i bet everyone's going, "but LA had no chemistry... a superstar plus role players and chemistry... now THAT'S a winner!" really? all LA really had to do was give the ball to shaq on offense. a soap opera doesn't really take away from the game... they were obviously hating each other before they even got to the finals, but they did well... please, stop w/the nonsense. did you see game 5? they did just that... give it to shaq. did they win? no, because most possessions in game 5 looked more or less like this:

-give the ball to shaq
-shaq hook shots, misses
-ben wallace rips down the rebound(if this guy doesn't convince you to do a hops program just to rebound better, i don't know what will; seeing him work on the defensive end is a JOY)
-fast break, leading to either 2 or 3 pts from ANYBODY(stats show all starters for pistons were in double figures; at one point ben wallace was FIVE FOR FIVE)

btw, what's up with the saying of sports fans going, "my won"? or "yea, they beat my ?" the thing is, ppl always have a favorite team. for me, it's gotta be the warriors, pistons, kings and spurs, in that order. close 5 and 6 are twolves and rockets. however, i don't think i should be allowed to say "my warriors won," or "i hope my warriors get a good draft pick next season;" did i DO anything for that team? did damp call me up last night and say "gjob on that low post move?" no; 12 black guys(or ppl who act like they are) who i have never met in my life won the game, not me. so really, everybody should stop the nonsense of using the term, "my ." call them your favorite team, call them the team that you root for, do whatever you want to show that they're your FAVORITE team, but until you own them, or do something for them, don't call them YOUR team.

hey, i just dl'd "hello;" xanga ppl aren't the only ones who can upload pics to their site; blogger enables you to as well, so i'm trying a test run; this is a photo of my bro w/the guys from "the violet burning," his favorite christian rock band.
Posted by Hello

joe: hey dude
me: hey
joe: how bout them lackers?
joe: hahaha
me: haha
me: so you watched the finals too?
joe: i think i'll buy a pistons jersey and wear it around south central
joe: nope
me: dude... all pistons
joe: but did see the news highlights here
joe: haha
me: every one thought lakers in 6
joe: and i have conference calls w/a coworker in detroit
joe: so i get my updates
joe: i can't stand them stinkin lakers
me: but even pistons in game 2 were pretty close, until kobe launched the 3 ball
me: haha
me: but game 3, was all pistons
me: game 5, pistons actually won by OUTSCORING the lakers
me: they got to 100 :-)
me: then they brought out darko :-)
me: dude, if you wanna buy pistons stuff, you should buy this: http://palacelockerroomstore.com/products/urinal-screen.html
me: i showed it to jon and sam, and they started laughing
joe: haha...i've seen it before
joe: it's great
joe: they should show a photo of shaq or something
joe: it's like peein on shaq
joe: hhaha
me: haha
me: that'd be awesome

my top 10 list you rooted for the pistons because you're a pistons fan, NOT an anti-laker fan(in rough order)(i wrote this cause it just seemed like a lotta fans in norcal rooting against the lakers were anti-laker fans, NOT piston fans who really loved their team):

10. you would've not cared about the finals in the same way if the nets or pacers represented the east
9. you rooted for the pistons BEFORE they got to finals, before your precious insert-your-western-team-here team got beaten in the playoffs
8. you love d over offense anyday, the way the wallaces and prince get up in your face and send that pathetic excuse of a shot out into the crowd
7. you LOVE the fro, and think the face mask is now the next best thing in nba wear(next to the all-classic elbow-band and headband)
6. ben wallace w/the rebound, ben wallace w/the rebound, ben wallace w/the rebound, shaq w/th-no wait, ben wallace w/the rebound... (and you wish you could rebound like him too)
5. you thought the best play of round 2 playoffs was billups sinking that put-up-that-prayer 3, not fisher's 0.4 miracle
4. you LOVE all of tayshaun prince's 84 in wingspan, 6-9 ht, and went "DAAAAAMN!" when he did his thing on miller game 2
3. you knew pistons stood a chance before the finals even started(or at least, made some prediction like "pistons in 5" after seeing game 1)
2. you shouted, "bring out darko!" when 5 min were left in game 5, and started cheering, "go darko!" whenever he got the ball
1. you think pistons have a pretty good chance to repeat 2k4-2k5.

i think #1 pretty much sums it up IMO; a lotta ppl thought that what the pistons did was incredible, and YET, about 80% who replied to the online polls don't think pistons will repeat come next season. ppl STILL don't respect them.

DEEEEEE-troit BAAAAAAA-sket-BAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!!

final score: 100 to 87.

were it not for the game 2 miracle by kobe, this would have been a sweep.

larry brown, i am happy for you.

ben wallace, you are the man. you had to do an incredible job of guarding shaq, and while that's like an exercise in futility, that was a full-out heartfelt workout that you gave... and even after that, you still had the energy to fight for every single rebound and drain a couple of shots.

prince, you did an incredible job on kobe, and for that, i commend you. plus, you had some nice wheeling and dealing for game 5; too bad you didn't make that layup when you were fouled, or it would've been SWEET

billups... no comment... he was the offensive backbone of this team. the fact that rip worked alongside of him instead of demanding more minutes meant they got even more done.

in fact, i love all you pistons. and let's not forget darko!

nba.com, post up some videos of big ben's putbacks and his block on shaq plz!

and laker fans, stop taking the pistons for granted now. because tonight has shown that defense does indeed win championships, and close teamwork is always gold over individual talent. it wasn't about what the lakers didn't do, it was about what the pistons did do. and btw, my remark about feeding shaq the ball=success? apparently, i was proven wrong; shaq was definitely fed the ball, but ben and sheed proved too much to him. he couldn't make a lotta shots.

team basketball, with the desire to hustle and be aggressive, and to play with all your heart will always win over talent. we are seeing it now.

i'm gonna repeat what i said to sam, for the entire www viewers to see, after the pistons won game 1 vs la:

"PISTONS IN SIX GAMES OR LESS"

looks like unless la actually plays with character and are willing to give it to shaq on all their possessions, the lakers won't be able to keep the series alive past tuesday.

oh yea, you can buy this for all the ppl in socal if you want(best item i've ever seen; must see):

Beat LA urinal

i love the detroit pistons... game 3 showed why; it's like tom tolbert said, "if it keeps going like this, and they lose the finals, we'll be saying what the pistons did wrong, instead of the lakers"... they are more than a capable team... who says defense doesn't win games? 88-68... haha what's kinda funny is when the game ended, the tv programmers got it wrong, and the score read pistons-68, lakers-88.

i wonder at times why i hate the lakers so much; part of it has to do with the fact that i'm norcal, but i think a lot of it has to do with the fans; a LOT of them are bandwagon fans; you may notice that whenever the lakers make the finals, suddenly EVERYBODY'S a laker fan(it gets more severe when you're in socal, according to sam)... as if the only teams they back are the ones which can win... which is why you see so little socal ppl as clipper fans... why? i think it's obvious. (don't mistake me; i don't think there's anything wrong with a team that wins, but if you're socal, where's the love for that other team you've got? i've got mine for my underdogs...)

and it occurred to me... i wonder at times if that's what God hates as well; "bandwagon fans" i have a feeling that many ppl support religion as a bandwagon fan; they want whatever gives them the wins, whatever looks like it's gonna win. and in most cases, that seems to be themselves. the israelites were like that; they worshipped whatever country's idol seemed to have the greatest success; for instance, at one time, they worshipped the assyrian god because it was the military beast at the time. they wanted the easy way out; this is human tendency.

but the truth, is that God wants followers who stick through the loses as well as the wins. he hates ppl who support him just because of what he gives them, because in a way, that's just loving the gifts he gives you. he wants you to love HIM. THAT'S true love. that is worth more than gold. he in a lotta cases, wants you to love him the same way he loves you; sacrificing everything, overlooking everything you are made of, but your heart for him. i wouldn't be surprised in comparing loving God to being a warriors fan(:D); notice how few warrior fans there are? because a lotta ppl simply don't want to support a team that sucks. (side note; i remember playing ea live 2k4 at my small group leader's house, and both of us were playing on the same team, so i decided we'd go w/warriors against clippers; some other guy remarked, "dude, that's like playing blind") but that's true christianity for you. and when you wait around long enough, they'll pull the occasional win out; ditto w/God; stick around enough, and he'll give the blessing to you.

on wed, i had some arcade fun w/some of the christians from my church... absolutely reamed them playing tekken 3. i used to be able to use heihachi, but i scrapped him, as playing with jin kinda screwed him up for me. now my main characters of interest are jin, nina and law. it's kinda funny when you play fighting games against me; if i absolutely ream you 1st round and notice you don't poke right, etc(basically are dead meat), i start playing lenient 2nd round, except i'm not good at disguising it while looking challenging, so it looks like i'm just walking forward into attacks. without attacking. but yeah; i love standing jab into throw, and standing jab into juggle starter.

do you like my comparison of christianity and bball? hit me up...

this is what ben wallace said to stuart scott after game 1(paraphrased cause i don't know exactly what he said):

scott: y'kno, a lotta ppl would think that an afro would be less aerodynamic, because the wind in the hair would slow you down

ben: well now, when i start running, the wind starts getting in that afro, and starts lifting me off the ground a bit, and i start jumping higher and get off the ground better

scott: so it's not about the game anymore, it's about afros and cornrows

ben: exactly

(HAHAHAHA)

i don't wanna brag too much, cause game 2's equally important, but...

NOW WILL YOU LAKER FANS TAKE THE PISTONS SERIOUSLY?

haha... this is only my 1st blog of the week... lesse here...

GO PISTONS! :D yeap, who's on top of the east? :D i love this... the pistons were doubted so much i think, but they're a lot more talented cast than ppl think... games were painful to watch as they matched up against the pacers(i rethought what i said about good defense; true the games were marked with a defensive mindset, but there's no excuse for wide-open jumpers that whiff or miss completely), but in the end they're the beast of the east. take that david letterman! they also fought hard and came back against the nets to everyone's surprise to win it. i love the pistons, truly my favorite team of the east. me and sam, jon, fred(one of my apt roommates) are prob the only true pistons fans rooting in the finals now... the rest are just laker haters :D oh yea, the whole sec of motown.

now, when it comes to matching up against the lakers, i won't lie, it's gonna be hard for the pistons, much harder for them than the lakers, but i truly believe they can top them if they tried. i think the main factor offensively's gonna come from billups; rip and kobe sorta break even, fisher and prince slight wt advantage to fisher, rasheed on malone i wanna say rasheed, but malone has been effective on kg and duncan, and shaq on ben i love ben, but we all know what happens there, as ben will have to call a double for this. billups needs to have a hot hand right from the get go if they want any chance to win... and then later in the series when jackson adjusts for a double on billups everytime, you have to get the team involved... and i've just tackled the starters; chances are that okur, one of the taller guys on the pistons will have to take the fouls for the hack-a-shaq.

weird... in the french open so many americans got knocked out... now there's virtually NONE... the last one i think to get knocked out was that beast jennifer capriati... the clay surface does something to them i guess... clay, if you haven't figured it out, is different from other tennis surfaces... the balls bounce higher, so you have to grind longer to earn your points... endurance is key, and so that could explain the surprise of roddick going out early(although he was weak from food poisoning or something?)... i remember my bro saying how michael chang was a beast at the french open though when he was still around... he simply outran and outendured everyone on the court, since the balls bounced so high.

i'll end with this art i found from someone at my church, cut and pasted from his site:

On a mission from God

By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com

It would seem like the bedroom of any other high school hoops star. Basketball shoes strewn about the room. A game jersey left where it was dropped. Posters of Michael Jordan and Julius Erving, two gods of the hardcourt, on the wall.

Seemingly, a typical room of a typical hoops junky.

If not for the hand-crafted wooden cross over the bed.

If not for the framed copy of the Ten Commandments that hangs beside it.

If not for the crude drawing of the NBA logo with a cross affixed over the heart of Jerry West's silhouette, the exclamation to Dwight Howard's own personal commandments, handwritten on notebook paper.

Howard, indeed, is not a typical teenager. He's this year's LeBron James, a 6-foot-10 power forward with the game that could make him the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, but with an evangelistic spirit that he hopes will "raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world."

The NBA arena, as is his want, will be his pulpit after he declared for the draft on Wednesday.

NBA scouts are believers in his game. But will NBA fans buy his message?

"I want to be able to speak to non-Christians so that I can get them saved or change their lives around," Howard said before last week's Roundball Classic in Chicago. He then flaunted his God-given skill, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the first of a series of all-star games that the nation's top high school players use to showcase their court skills.

Howard, named both the Naismith and McDonald's national high school player of the year, is used to talking about his faith. He has attended Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy since kindergarten and his high school basketball coach, Courtney Brooks, is also a Bible teacher who quotes scripture before every game. His favorite song is a gospel hymn, "Praise is What I Do." And when someone asks for his autograph, Howard writes "God bless" alongside his signature, so that he can "let people know that everything that they've gotten is because of God."

While it has often been speculated that highly paid endorsers like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have been hushed about their personal opinions by the multinational companies that pay them handsomely to pitch products, Howard said he has no intentions of giving up his goal of spreading the Gospel.

And if it's God's will, he says, then the riches will follow.

"I think I can make as much money or even more than LeBron. But it will be up to God for that to happen," Howard said. "If he wants me to market myself, then I'll do it. I'm not trying to give glory for myself. I'm trying to give glory for Him."

It may take divine intervention for this year's preps-to-pros phenom to make anywhere near the kind of off-the-court money that LeBron makes as a rookie with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That may have as much to do with the fact that James continues to command the media spotlight and among sports' richest endorsement deals, totaling an estimated $135 million. But perhaps more to the point, sports marketing experts are divided over whether Howard's message of faith will be a hard sell for companies looking for a player to pitch their products, no matter the wholesomeness of his religious convictions.

"This is the first time an athlete will be able to overcome what (former San Antonio Spurs center David Robinson) couldn't do," said Sonny Vaccaro, the Reebok executive who has been running the Roundball Classic for the past 40 years. "David was a leader in the crusade of being religious and being a great athlete, but Dwight's plan could work because we're in an era of niche marketing. He's taking a stand saying, 'I'm going to do this and some company is going to buy into it,' and that fact is that these companies have millions and billions of dollars to brand Dwight as their hero.

"If he's as good as I think he will be, he'll be the perfect role model for this segment of the population."

Others aren't so sure.

"Dwight's religious appeal is amplified by the fact that the majority of this country can relate to what he practices, but it would be a mistake to use his celebrity as a bullhorn for his personal beliefs," said Scott Becher, president of Sports & Sponsorships, a sports marketing firm.

"There are some people who are disgusted at a guy like (St. Louis Rams quarterback) Kurt Warner, who after winning the Super Bowl gives glory to Jesus Christ," said Mike Rohrbach, the long-time chaplain for the Seattle SuperSonics who also directs Run to Win Outreach, a youth sports ministry. "They think, 'I don't need to hear about religion when I'm watching the game.' "

Certainly, Howard will hardly be the lone evangelist in the league, as religion and sports seem to go hand and hand for a growing number of players. Each NBA team has a volunteer chaplain who leads non-denominational services before games, and players commonly reference "God," "Christ" or the "Lord" during postgame press conferences.

About 50 percent of the league's players attend at least one service during the season and seemingly every team has a player who considers himself a devout Christian, said former ABA and NBA guard Claude Terry, executive vice president of the Pro Basketball Fellowship, which oversees the NBA teams' chaplains.

"I would hope that Dwight's beliefs wouldn't hurt his chances to market products," Terry said. "I would think that marketers would want to embrace someone with such values. At the same time, I can understand that we live in an age where people are supposed to be tolerant of the choices others make and it could be interpreted that he is imposing his beliefs on them."

In an era in which even a player's image that was as squeaky clean as Kobe Bryant's could be tarnished in mere moments and companies aligned with that player could be faced with the fallout, Howard's profession of Christian ethics could help ease the fears of company officials who have grown weary of their risky alliance with athletes.

"Companies will welcome the good guys," said Dwight Howard Sr., a Georgia state trooper who moonlights as the athletic director for his son's school. "There will be a market for guys who stand by their religious principles."

The topic of religion has heated up off the court in recent weeks. "The Passion of the Christ," a Mel Gibson movie about the final hours of Jesus' life, has generated controversy and almost $300 million at the box office since its Feb. 25 release. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is hearing the case brought by a California man who challenges that the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. The use of the phrase often recited by schoolchildren has tied up courts for more than a decade.

Though more than 75 percent of Americans (160 million) call themselves Christians, high-profile athletes who have professed their faith often have struggled to land endorsement deals. Warner was one of the exceptions, signing more than $1 million in endorsement deals for two consecutive years in 1999 and 2000.

"The choice to talk about faith both helps and hurts in the endorsement world," said Rob Lefko, vice president of marketing for Priority Sports, who negotiated deals for Warner. "There are speaking circuits and companies run by Christian individuals or groups who find that athlete more attractive. And there are also companies who are hoping to appeal to the broadest possible group of people who think the stance on religion is exclusionary."

Howard said he realizes that religion hasn't always been seen as a selling point, having observed one of his role models, Robinson, struggle with airing his religious convictions publicly. Despite playing a major role in two NBA championships in a five-year period, Robinson did not score a slew of national commercials. A host of reasons could have contributed, including a lack of flash on the court, the size of the San Antonio market, as well as his clear religious preference.

"The more mainstream a product is, the more officials at most Fortune 500 companies have an increased sensitivity toward athletes using religion in their off-the-court message," said David Schwab, director of strategic marketing and media for Octagon, which represents many athletes who have been openly religious, including Robinson, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser and recently retired tennis player Michael Chang.

"It's clearly about the green when you are talking endorsements," said Carey Casey, president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. "There is a system that has been followed in the past by athletes when they sign with companies to tone down some of their individuality. Dwight might need to abide by those rules if he wants to maximize his earning potential, but that doesn't mean he still can't dream about talking freely about his faith and signing big deals."

Howard's marketability might also be hindered by two factors -- relative lack of national exposure and lack of what marketers call "Street Cred," the ability to appeal to urban youth who spend their disposable income on athletic shoes and apparel.

Before James was drafted, two of his high school team's games were televised by ESPN, he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, and he was on his way to becoming a household name. Howard played a game on ESPN, but he's still far from being known on a national level.

As far as his appeal to the urban culture, Howard is not exactly a great fit. Unlike James, who drives a luxury SUV, Howard is intent on keeping his 1984 Crown Victoria his father bought him for $900. Howard's favorite movie? "Finding Nemo." And he freely quotes lines from his favorite characters, Marlin and Dori.

"I know I haven't grown up on the streets and I don't have that bad-guy image like Allen Iverson," Howard said. "My message is different, and I still feel that I can touch a lot of different people."

Vaccaro, for one, believes that Howard can do just that.

"The cold reality is that there is only so much room for the lionized one and LeBron's the man," Vaccaro said. "But Dwight will be fine making his dollar in his niche and people will be very supportive of him and his beliefs."