Mother Nature to the Gulf Coast: F*ck Y'all

So I figured I might as well chime in with some non-basketball posts myself. Its difficult to do something like that on a basketball blog since you never know how readers will respond, but I think the latest posts by Hursty and DP definitely appeal to the average person and were good reads, so props to the both of you.

The last couple of weeks pretty much has been all about Hurricane preparation and tracking for us folks around the Gulf Coast. I can't stress enough how tiresome it is to hear this next new storm could possibly/maybe/perhaps/ throw a mean roundhouse kick at your city. Obviously it is a good thing that we have technology that allows us to prepare in advance and prevent deaths/injuries/damage, but it's definitely stressful to wonder when the big one will come. Let me also say that I understand how serious natural disasters are and I definitely am aware of the numerous lives that have been taken or destroyed over the years. It definitely is a sad thing, but I myself have never been directly affected by natural disaster. I've lived most of my life in Houston (with a short stint in Mexico City as a young'n) and our ground doesn't move or erupt like in Cali or Hawaii. Hurricanes seem to avoid NASA like the Gasol brothers avoid Supercuts. The last time I saw snow, Houston didn't have any major sport championships and the Heat were an expansion team. The closest I've come to a disaster was in the Mexico City earthquake of '85 when I was visting the city as a 2 year old. Over 10,000 dead, 30,000 injured, but luckily my family and I were no more than shaken up. I guess being in the middle of it is as direct as it gets, but given that I was so young I can't remember it at all, so it's as if it never happened.



So what is this all about? Basically I'm fascinated by natural disasters. Especially tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and quakes. Although i'm fully aware of how infamous many of these are, I can't help but admire nature's power. Our world is so caught up in the latest gadget or technological breakthrough that they often take the most basic things for granted, such as nature. Even something like television was brain-boggling for many at one point, and even that is now reduced to simplicity. C'mon people, its a BOX! With people INSIDE!! Who come in through what is basically a string! Crazy, I know. Things can seriously be amazing though when you strip it down to the basics. A little baby growing into a 7'6" man? The human body adapting to temperature, hunger, light, and infection? The human body is more amazing to me than natural disasters though. Its amazing how it can heal and grow, adapt, mold itself into different shapes and sizes. Its the greatest invention ever, but many would argue that's the computer/internet, but when is the last time your computer spit out a virus on its own? Or the last time your laptop kept storing energy after the battery was full? Way off track now, but back to the hurricanes.

Ever wondered what it is like have hurricane winds slap you in the face? What it is like to have a huge twister of air looking down on you? I sure have. I would be lying if I said I wasn't secretly hoping a twister would form in my backyard or that a hurricane would drive by my house. Its nuts, i know, but I can't help it. I can't help, but take a look outside when the sky turns black, lightning flashes, and I hear Kevin Durant. (Hey maybe it is a scary name afterall!). I love that weather and can't help but run towards it when others run away. (Ok, maybe not). Technology is usually created for a reason and by man. Natural disasters are not. Yes, there's that global warming thing and yes there are technical explanations as to how these things form and happen, but its still not under our control. These are one of the few things still around (besides the ground) from way the hell back when Raptors weren't soft. (sorry, that should be ex-Raptors).

As amazing as they can be, they can also scare the shit out of yo, no doubt. Like I wrote earlier, lately hurricanes has been on everyone's minds around here. So last night, around 4 AM, i'm asleep. All of a sudden I hear a noise similar to rain drops being smacked into the windows, but a lot louder. The first thought that popped into my head was "those damn meteorologists f*cked up and Ike is knocking on my window". Paranoia is a bitch, huh? Hurricane Ike was easily 3 days away from landfall before i went to bed and yet there I was thinking he fast-breaked into the city in a few hours. So as much as I would like to experience one of these monsters, you know when it gets down to crunch time you're gonna fold like Nick Anderson at the stripe. I remember 3 yrs ago prior to Hurricane Rita I was anticipating landfall in H-town as a category 5 storm. Sounded exciting. At least until the path was all but confirmed and it set in that everything you've ever worked for might disappear. Luckily, Rita weakend and took a turn, but it definitely sucked the excitement right out of me. As of right now Hurricane Ike is still predicted to hit just south of Houston, near Matagorda Bay. However, its still expected to hit a curve northward and when it does depends on something going one way, something else going another, and whether Kobe gets surgery or not. We're still expected to see weak Category 1 windspeeds because of the outer bands and the chances of it coming straight at us are as good as a Yao Ming making a 3. Let's hope Ike didn't watch the Olympics. For some reason I have a feeling its going to shift north and come right at us. Either way, you can bet I'll definitely be taking a stroll outside sometime during the storm to check it out, while staying as safe as possible. And no I never figured out what the hell that noise was, the sky was clear, no rain no wind, but definitely scared me initially.. OKC Rain Drops?


Update: The storm DID shift north after the last update...not by much, but since last night its slowly creeping our way more and more. At least its not taking aim at NO this time, those folks haave had more than enough to last them decades...