The Daily News

1  The Warriors have the record. Look at this: 73-9.

2   No other team can claim that record. I'd say "...and probably never will..." but at this juncture, that's simply not true.

3   Thoughts Jotted Down: Listen: 73-9. Steph: 400 + Curry does it! The place went ballistic mid-game. His follow-up off the glass was a thing of beauty, but with Steph, what ain't? And then the very next splash. A clinic.

4   They forced all the other teams to perform to their level all season. Many tried. 

5  SO! Back to the business at hand! Congrats once more to the entire Warriors' organization, to their fans, and to the most-wonderful Dub Nation. 

6  Moving Back, Part One (a note I jotted down when Steph belly-flopped):  Ouch. That belly-flop took my breath away. Steph flopped straight-out mid 3rd. 

7  Anyway, we've lots more to enjoy. Steph, you are one-of-a kind, lad. The entire world admires you, pretty sure. What a season, and what a player! 

8  Whew. On a personal note, a part of me wishes Coach Kerr had allowed you play to the end. I understand why he didn't. Why risk injury? Here comes the great unspoken answer: because you and Kobe were in a dynamically tacit battle. All the acting in the world couldn't disguise that, nor your slight disappointment at the end of the game. 

Here is a definition from the Oxford American Dictionary. It goes out to everyone reading this, and it is one of my favorite words: 

tacit |ˈtasət|

adjective

understood or implied without being stated: your silence may be taken to mean tacit agreement.

  So take it home Steph, and the Warriors. You rocked everyone's world, and captured the world's imagination. Now go do it again! That's what champions do! And don't allow that one thing to be an Achilles' heel. Some loudmouth will harrass you. Use your grace, shake it off, and bring home another championship. Eyes on the prize. 

9  Speaking of Whom, Part One: Not lost in any of this was Kobe, and his impressive 60-point finale. At the wise old age of 37 yet. 

10  Laker fans be like, "Un-retire and play selfish basketball!"

11  That feat is almost as incomprehensible as the Warriors' 73-9 record, or Steph's 400.

12  It begs the question, Sir Kobe. Why stop now?

13  Allow me to enlighten, since I am such an enlightened kinda guy. You can tell outwardly by my ability to dress in style. It's not even 8 a.m. and already I am in my finest pair of tattered cargos, beat-up T-shirt, and socks cut off at the top so they don't turn my feet purple. And when I go out, I put those socks beautifully into a pair of Tevas. Retirement becomes me. So listen here:

14  Once the thought of retiring strikes you, AND you have the means, method, and mode to get there, you just go with it.

15  For me, it came at the exact right time. Possibly a year too late.

16  Kobe should adjust pretty easily. The guy has style. Next year, we'll probably be on talk shows together, both sporting our cargos, beat-up T's, and cut-off socks.

17  Congrats to Kobe. You have what people might call a distinguished career. The fans have short memories. Enjoy your retirement while it is still fresh in their minds. 

18   Take care. 

19  Moving On, Part One: After all the hype morphed into talking heads last night, I changed the TV over to TCM.

20  They had F.W. Murnau's Faust on.

21  It failed on all levels. Here I was coming down from an evening of GREAT basketball, and the last thing I wanted to watch was Faust. 

22  TCM often serves as my late-night go-to . 

23  And with all due respect, Faust is considered a monumental film. I think.

24  I channel surfed with no prompting, and wound up catching one of my all-time favorite Rock 'N' Roll films, La Bamba. 

25  I enjoy nearly any film about music, but La Bamba always worked for me. Directed by Luis Valdez, the film catches rock music, but it also brings in family, history, love, anger, and the nightmare of Ritchie Valens', Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper falling out of the sky at the end. 

26  I loved the acting, the dust, the dreaminess, and everything about the film. 

"Here's a bit of a rattlesnake!"

27  Lou Diamond Phillips completely tears it up as Valens. He became a mini-rock star to a lot of us who enjoyed and continue to enjoy that film over the years. 

28  Esai Morales as Bob Morales, Ritchie's half-brother, does an incredibly brilliant acting performance, as well as the absolute angst of a guy trying to get a life going while his brother experiences huge success. He plays a tortured soul who also has talent as an artist. His performance as Bob is up there with some of the finest acting in the history of film. Morales went on to a distinguished career, as well as an activist for several causes. 

  He once deemed himself an "actorvist." I always love the fight scene when Phillips cold-cocks him. The final holler of "Ritchie!" inevitably ends with laughter, and is a bit of a cringe, but will always make people laugh. It remains a classic performance. 

29  Rosanna DeSoto as Connie Valenzuela, Ritchie's mother, knocked me out when I first saw the film. Nobody better. Perfect performance by a talented actress. 

30  I also loved that the film was pure San Jose. DeSoto was born in San Jose. Her parents immigrated from Michoacan. She picked fruit in the fields, got a double degree at San Jose State, and went on to a successful career as an actress. Her performance in La Bamba remains one of my favorite by any actress.

31  La Bamba brought it all, with music by Los Lobos, a band we all have seen and enjoyed at one time or other. 

32   Over the years I got to jam with several musicians who enjoyed Valens' music. It was always fun to jam those tunes, interspersed with Buddy Holly tunes. 

33  And it always brought a richness. 

34  That was how I ended the night last night, rockin' along with La Bamba. 

35  The plane crash.

36  I leave that one on the field. 

37  Personal. 

38  Loved the Los Lobos scene, complete with a harp player, and doing a rootsy version of La Bamba. You blink and you miss that scene, but I loved it.

39  I'd take it further, but I got interrupted by a Kit Kat commercial. 

40  Hey, happens.

41  I'm also exhausted once again. Long day, but wonderful. I got some gardening done at home, and enjoyed having the babies over. 

42  So. 

43  Lateness crept up last night. 

44  But it was a good sort of lateness.

45  And it ended with an iconic rock film.

46  I walked a ton last night as well, during the game. That tires me out, but it has worked for over two months. Last night I got my daily walking average back up to 5.97 miles per day. Easy for many out there, astonishing to me. I got it to 6 miles just before midnight.

47  I need to sleep. The rattlesnake scene came on, so I'm going to finish this film, so I'll be back with much more tomorrow, and the next day, and so on. 

48  Meanwhile, you have a GREAT day.

49  I'm going to get spiritual, and then sleep.

50  See you again.

51  Peace.

~H~

fin.