NYC Edition: Don't Ask for More Condiments--It's Rude

The savory smell of hot dogs can be found on nearly every street corner in New York City. But a man who has been selling the food for fifteen years has some problems with people in the city.

“Hot dog? What you like inside?” Alex asks with a defined Greek accent to a customer.

He stands on the corner of 33rd and Broadway with a camouflage hat covering his dark black hair tinged with slivers of gray, a brown unbuttoned bomber jacket over his white v-neck tee shirt. With a small cross on a black cord necklace a man stands to make a living. He does not like to be named, but he calls himself Alex Zero.

Alex has been working selling hot dogs, on the same street—for fifteen years. After coming from Brazil he started his job as just another person trying to make a living with a cart on a street corner.

But he has had some setbacks and he doesn’t like what the city is starting to become. “The city sucks,” he says adamantly. Since he arrived in the city he feels like the city has changed a lot. Alex speaks of how New Jersey was a great place with friendly people, but New York is not a place where he is fond of anymore.

Experiences have shaped his attitude toward the city. Alex talks about how black people have given him the most difficulties during his fifteen years of work. “I’m not discriminating but they just give me a hard time.”

A black woman who had just left his stand proved to be his most recent difficulty. He says that she kept asking him for more additions to her hot dog—he tells her “I will have to charge you,” but the woman replied with a haughty, “I don’t care.”

With his blue rubber glove still on his right hand, Alex dove into the problems he has with the rudeness of his customers. He says that the people are “sometimes very rude.”

The rushes of New Yorkers come to get a simple meal of a hot dog or shish kebab from his stand during the noon hour but rude customers present problems. Alex talks about how if he gets a rude customer he starts to loose business because they keep complaining about the portions of condiments. “I give them all the normal amount but they want more everything.”

Alex has a business to run but if people keep up their ever increasing “outside attitude” the man will soon be fed up completely.

Attitude is something that tells about how a person lives—and Alex has a great one. “You have to stay clean and nice with the people.” While interacting with customers he is cheerful, he gives big smiles, and he asks how people are doing.

With such a good attitude, even when people are becoming more rude by the week, the hot dog salesman by the name of Alex Zero give even more depth to a city that an infinite amount.

NYC Edition: From Bryant Park

Bryant Park is calm at night. The lights of the surrounding skyscrapers keep the darkness out of the park. The scattered chairs are filled with people. Couples in intimate conversation, two girls taking pictures on the perfectly green grass, a flutist playing a sweet melody, and a man sitting next to the fountain engaged in reading his bible. The man with the Bible is named Wilmer Hernandez.

Hernandez is not a man who is fluent in English. His sentences are slightly jumbled, he struggles to find the right words in English to articulate what he is trying to say.

But one thing he is able to articulate, one thing he is sure of, is that "God is real."

He is a newcomer to the city. Hernandez has only been in New York City for three years working in a local restaurant. After living in El Salvador for 19 years of his life he came to Long Island, and shortly moved to the Big Apple when he was 24. "It's a good city," he says.

The most important thing to Hernandez however is God. While looking thoughtfully at his Bible he tells me, "I'm a Christian--I feel good because of God." His jumbled and soft spoken voice get lost in the sound of the lighted founded he is sitting next to but he keeps saying that God is what makes him happy and that God is good.

After asking Hernandez about how he came to be in New York he says "it's a long story," and that it is too difficult for him to tell because of his struggles with the English language. He struggles with trying to answer questions fidgeting in his chair, but he wants to be able to tell his story.

New York City is a place that contains the kinds of people who have depth, character, and are full of personality. People like Wilmer Hernandez have stories that the world needs to hear.

NBA Playoffs: What's Happening

The Playoffs are a place where anything and everything can happen--and it usually does. There are fights, there are questionable calls, and there are multiple teams who just seem like no matter where they shoot from the ball just goes in.

During the second round there have been some troubles as of late.

In the same night there were two separate altercations that led to one game suspensions for Lakers' Guard Derek Fisher, and Orlando's Point Guard Rafer Alston.

Fisher decided that when Louis Scola of the Houston Rockets came to set up for a screen that he needed to be knocked over. Fisher lowered his shoulder into Scola and leveled him straight to the ground. This resulted in a flagrant two foul--and immediate ejection for Fisher. The league decided to also suspend him for Friday's game three.

Alston did not particularly enjoy the way that Boston Celtics' Guard Eddie House just seemed to be throwing up three pointers right and left--and making them. Alston gave House a tap, that was slightly harder than a normal tap, to the back of the head. House reacted in usual fashion and the two ended up face to face having a little talk. Alston was not ejected from the game but he was given a suspension for game three against the Celtics.

Ron Artest, Houston Rockets Guard, has also been having problems playing the against the Lakers. Numerous times he was being elbowed and having his hands thrown off by Lakers' Guard Kobe Bryant. In an Interview with Artest he said that he was just playing "basic defense," but Bryant kept hitting Artest's arm. Artest went and complained to the refs multiple times, but it was to no avail. Finally Bryant threw an elbow towards Artest's neck and Artest had his last straw. He complained one more time to the refs and when they refused to do anything, he went back over to Bryant and said "You're hitting the young guy." This outburst led to Artest's ejection from the game.

The Playoffs just keep heating up as they progress. Players will continue to get frustrated. But the Playoffs are the place to stay calm and collected.

NBA Playoffs Review: After the 1st Games

The Boston Celtics showed that without Kevin Garnett they are not the same team that won the Championship last year. With their 105-103 overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, they need to play their hearts out in tonight's game. Which is exactly what they did. The Celtics won in a back and forth drama 118-115 from a last second shot three pointer made by Ray Allen.

The San Antonio Spurs are showing their age. Their 105-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks made them realize that their stars are loosing their steam. Tim Duncan's knees have been questionable for most of the season, while Manu Ginobli has been in and out of the starting line-up due to numerous injuries. If the Spurs want to stay on top they need to make sure Duncan doesn't get knocked around, and keep Tony Parker playing strong.

The Detroit Pistons showed that they too are not the same team that has made it to the Eastern Conference finals numerous times. Their 102-84 loss said that they could not keep up with the strength and speed of Lebron James and his Cavaliers. It honestly will take a miracle for the Pistons to pull off an upset against the number 1 seeded Cavs.

The 76'ers proved that they earned their spot in the playoffs by beating the Orlando Magic with a last second shot made by Andre Igoudala. The 100-98 defeat of Dwight Howard and his team was a shock to most fans. But Howard and his team have more than enough talent to win out the series. The 76'ers however, look like they won't let the Magic win easy.

The Los Angeles Lakers's domination of the Utah Jazz was not unexpected. There seems like there will be no trouble at all for the Lakers through the entire series. Don't expect an upset from this one.

Even with Chris Paul, the New Orleans Hornets got stomped on by Chauncy Billups and his Denver Nuggets. With Billups hitting 8 three-pointers, the Nuggets won easily 113-84. The Hornets look to pull off a win at home tomorrow but Denver looks too strong for the smaller New Orleans team.

Miami discovered that Atlanta is a much better team than most people expected. The Heat's 90-64 loss gave them a touch of reality--in the playoffs amazing actually does happen. Dwayne Wade and his team need to step up in the next game and play like they deserve to be in the playoffs.

Lastly, the Houston Rockets and Yao Ming, showed the young Portland Trailblazers team that it takes more than a young team to win. The Trailblazers lost 108-81. Brandon Roy and his Portland team need to step up their fast paced game and make sure that the giant named Yao doesn't have time to get into position.

The NBA playoffs is where anything can happen. The Miami, Orlando, and Boston losses show that the East might have some surprises in store.

Feel free to post comments and thoughts

Verejao Has Andersons of Steel

During Sunday's game Cleveland Cavaliers forward, Anderson Varejao, received an elbow to his nether-regions from Boston Celtics guard, Ray Allen.



The tussle came after Celtics guard, Paul Pierce, took his second free throw. Varejao stepped in front of Allen into the lane, making a clean box out--except for hooking onto Allen's left arm. Varejao then proceeded to use Allen's arm to throw him down to the ground. Allen retaliated by throwing back his right elbow, which happened to run into Varejao's groin.

Both players were given technical fouls for their antics.

The most amazing part of the altercation however, is that the blow to Varejao's jewels didn't even bend him over! It looked as though Allen got a straight shot to where it counts but Varejao didn't even flinch. Even if he was screaming inside of his head, biting his lip, crossing his toes over each other, and flexing every muscle in his body to keep it from hurting, there is no way a man should still be standing from that kind of hit.

Both players made poor choices in acting out towards one another. Allen did not need to throw an elbow after being thrown to the ground. Players get hit hard every game--this was no unusual occurrence. It's stupid to let even an intentional action get a rise out of emotions during a professional game. Varejao also acted out in an unneeded way by throwing Allen to the ground when there was no need or grounds to do so.

The Cavs were up by 23 points after Pierce made his free-throws. Varejao didn't even have a reason to be frustrated. Sure the Celtics were getting frustrated but there was no need to let emotions run wild in a mostly meaningless game.

Both players acted unprofessional. But it looks as though Anderson Varejao has a steel plated groin.

Feel free to post comments below.

The All-Mighty Draft

Is leaving college early really the best choice for young athletes? Or is it always going to be beneficial to stay an extra year?

The NBA and NFL drafts are some of the most sought after option for college players. Individual players try to reach for their peak playing ability for being in a college setting. But do the athletes have the power to reach their highest level of playing before their college career is over? Or is that last year something that will be always beneficial?

In the case of USC's Mark Sanchez, his decision to leave school after his Junior year was criticized by the masses, including his own coach Pete Carroll. Carroll said in an Los Angeles Times blog "One more year of running a team is almost priceless, so he lost the chance to fully prepare himself and become the very best he could be before going to the NFL."

If such a prominent coach in the college football realm said "one more year of running a team is almost priceless," then why are athletes in such a hurry to get into the pros?

The same case as Sanchez is happening with Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, except Griffin is only a Sophomore. Griffin's coach, Jeff Capel however, did not see the same problem as Carroll did with Sanchez. Capel said in a Yahoo Sports article "this is the right decision. In my mind, it's a no-brainer."

Griffin is a 6'10 251 pound forward who averaged 22.7 points alongside 14.4 rebounds. But Griffin will have the same problems matching up to the pros in the NBA as Sanchez will in the NFL. With players like Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett as possible match-ups for Griffin, he will have his work cut out for him.

There is one thing however, that the draft can do for college players--money. Playing in college offers the opportunity to enter the draft for a position on a professional team. Professional teams mean money, and even more money to number one draft picks.

It seems as though college athletes are getting more impatient as the years continue. Players are leaving after their sophomore year if they have a great collegiate season. Money is a very tempting thing and when agents are involved, who knows how much of the information about entering the draft is given to the players.

There is no way that staying the entirety of a college career can hurt a players chances in the pros. They get more experience and they are able to sharpen their skills even further. By going into the pros early, they are going to lack maturity and possibly the skills needed to compete with people who have been playing at the highest level for years.

Feel free to post comments below

Altidore Keeps U.S. at No. 1 for World Cup Qualifying

Jozy Altidore's three goals helped the U.S. Men's Soccer Team defeat Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 to show America they are the team for us to cheer for.

Over the weekend the U.S. soccer team nearly lost to El Salvador, a team that has not qualified for the World Cup since 1982. 82nd ranked, El Salvador was in control of the entire field for the first 60 minutes of playing time. The U.S. came back in the final 30 minutes to squeak out a 2-2 tie.

The previous game against El Salvador gave the team a much needed taste of reality. Coach Bob Bradley's team needed to see that even though they are the dominant team in the region, there is no room for slack.

However, the team that showed up to play tonight, against Trinidad and Tobago, proved their talent. The 19 year-old Jozy Altidore, scored a hat trick putting in all three of the United States goals.

Landon Donovan played to his full potential again, providing all three of Altidore's assists. If Donovan can keep his game consistent he is a beautifully talented player. It seems like his playing overseas on the German club, Bayern Munich, has kept his skills strong. But the U.S. will need Donovan to play consistently well in order to fully utilize him.

With this win, the United States was able to retain their number one spot in the final round of their grouping, with seven points. The top two teams of the group will play one another, with the U.S. playing in Costa Rica on June 3rd.

After the game against Costa Rica, the United States team will come back home to Chicago. Their game against Honduras at Solider Field will be their last game before they make the flight to South Africa for the FIFA Confederations Cup, the pre-World Cup tournament.

The United States has played well in most of their qualifying matches thus far. If they are able to keep the veterans like Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Frankie Hedjuk in the game making touches on the ball, and keep the young guns; Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Sacha Kljestan, and Jose Francisco Torres, playing strong and collected, the U.S. team should do better than past years in the FIFA Tournament.

Although as fans we don't expect them to make it to the final game or have decisive wins against the big boys of World Cup, the strength of the new young players, combined with the talent of the veterans give the team a good chance of making a run at some of the more dominant teams of the tournament. This is our team!

Feel free to leave comments about what you think regarding the World Cup and how the U.S. team is doing.

A-Rod Likes Himself More Than 'Roids

Alex Rodriguez posed for some questionable photos for a cover shoot for Details Magazine.

Why would the superstar take such glamorous pictures? There seems to be no real reason for the Yankee slugger to embarrass himself even more than he already has with all of the steroid accusations coming out.

The article in Detail Magazine was confusing as to whether or not it was fact or fiction. Apparently, the day before he came to the people at Detail magazine, he was being questioned in a gym by a Sports Illustrated reporter about his positive steroid testing.

But in the Detail article, Rodriguez seemed as though he was just as concerned about his statement of liking a particular Madonna song.

The article is more or less just an extended lunch interview with Rodriguez. He talks about his occasional subway rides to Yankee stadium for night games and also his relationship with the pop icon, Madonna.

It recaps A-Rod's press conference before spring training began and how his confession was typical and "isn't terribly convincing."

But why take pictures posing in front of a mirror for a simple article that is supposed to be about "the confessions of a damned Yankee."

Maybe Rodriguez is trying to make it seem like he's just another person. Maybe he is tying to show that he is no different from the rest of us and he can be tempted by power and money just as easily as an average person.

Or maybe he is just trying to get all the heat from the public away from his steroid usage. This would seem like something likely, considering how Public Relations agents of sports stars work these days.



The pictures are both revealing, and frankly a little disturbing. After all of the allegations against A-Rod, the public doesn't seem as though they are his biggest fans anymore, which doesn't leave the superstar with many people gawking over him looking at himself.

Photographs are one thing, but posing on a mattress with no sheets, in what looks like a warehouse, in front of a mirror leave people wondering...what the heck are you thinking A-Rod?

Too Much Rim

New York Knicks forward, Al Harrington decided, for a second time, to get a little too high grabbing the rim with a dunk over L.A. Clippers forward, Al Thorton.



With only 27.9 seconds left in the game against the Clippers, Harrington made a baseline spin towards the hoop for a great dunk to put the score at 127-124. The problem was that he was then called for a technical foul after he pulled his legs up to nearly the backboard.

This however was not Harrington's first time above the rim. In a previous game against the exact same team, with the score at 108-107, the Knicks lead, and only 25 seconds left on the clock, Harrington made a huge dunk, swung his feet up, and slapped the backboard with his hand. The exact same play...twice.


Coach Mike D'Antoni was not thrilled to say the least. In a Newsday.com article D'Antoni responded to Harrington's second launch into space saying, ""He thought somebody was under him, I don't know. I don't have an answer for you."

Harrington said multiple times in a postgame interview exactly what he told his coach. "Al Thornton walked underneath me and I let go of the rim." The hang was a little longer than necessary for someone to walk underneath, but Thorton was in the general vacinity.

Unfortunately for the Knicks, after the chin-up dunk, the Clippers tied the game at 127 when Eric Gordon made the technical, followed by Zac Randolph's two free-throws. The Clippers would go on to win in overtime 140-135.

2 technicals, 2 exact dunks, the same 2 teams, 2 losses for the Knicks.

All but Arizona

There isn't a single team under a number five seed in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, except Arizona University.

The list thus far is comprised the number one seeds: North Carolina, Louisville, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh. The number two seeds: Michigan State, Memphis, Duke and Oklahoma. The Number three seeds: Kansas, Missouri, Villanova and Syracuse. The fourth and fifth seeds: Purdue, Xavier and Gonzaga. Arizona, is a twelve seed.

How did a team seeded seven spots lower than the next closest team keep from being eliminated?

The answer is Chase Budinger and Nic Wise. In Arizona's first round game against Utah, Wise scored 29 points, the team high, and making seven of seven free throws. Budinger added a significant contribution with 20 points, 6 assists, and 8 rebounds. Arizona won decisively 84-71.

In the second round game against Cleveland State, Arizona had yet another decisive win. The score was 71-57. Budinger helped out with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Wise yet again let the team by scoring 21 points, dishing 5 assists and grabbing 5 rebounds.

Although these two individuals have helped bring the team to a coveted Sweet-Sixteen spot in the tournament, the chances of winning their next game seem unlikely. They are lined up to play the number one seed: Louisville. But from the looks of Louisville's last game there might be a slight glimmer of hope for Arizona.

Louisville's first game against number 16 seed: Morehead, was an easy 74-54 win for the Louisville Cardinals. However, the second game is where Arizona could find their comfort and confidence. The Cardinals played number nine seed: Sienna. Even with Terrance Williams, Louisville's top performer for both games, scoring 24 points, and 15 rebounds, the Cardinals only managed to squeak by a 79-72 victory.

With Louisville getting by with a close win to a number nine seeded team, Arizona is looking for the upset and upsets during March Madness are definitely not unexpected especially since Arizona has eight previous NCAA Championships under their belts. Keep on the look-out for Arizona.

Iverson: A Help or Hinderance?

Has the super-star A.I. been helping the Pistons since his arrival in Motor City? Stats show otherwise.

Throughout his career A.I. has averaged between 25 and 27 points per game according to Yahoo's career stats. His two previous full seasons with the Denver Nuggets provided him with 24.8 points per game (2006-2007) and 26.4 ppg (2007-2008). Iverson was also averaging 7.2 assists in each of those seasons.

However, since his trade to in November 2008 to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncy Billups and Antonio McDysse his influence on games has decreased. Pistons president Joe Dumars thought the trade would bring Detroit a player who could take the clutch shots and keep the points flowing at a steady pace. Dumars' choice seems to have been his first bad trade decision.

A.I. has averaged only 18 points, 1.7 steals, and 5 assists per game. From his previous years this is a 8.4 point decrease and a 2.2 decrease in assists. Although his field goal and free throw percentages remain unchanged since previous seasons at 42.5 FG% and 78.1 FT%, his contribution isn't more significant than Billups.

Billups averaged about 17 points a game and 6 assists; while holding nearly 88 percent free-throw shooting and about 41 percent field goal percentage. These stats are not much more significant than Iverson's since the trade.

Richard Hamilton, one of Detroits go-to scorers has now had to share points with Iverson; which is part of the decrese in A.I.'s point contribution. With all of the scoring options Detroit has available to them: Tayshaun Prince, Richarm Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey, and Rasheed Wallace, Iverson has yet to take over a game.

Yes, the trade brought Detroit a 12 time all-star game player, but the help has not been as signigicant as Joe Dumars Pistons president had hoped. A.I. still makes his contributions to the team with 10 games scoring 25+ points. But since his injured back from which he has missed 12 games since February 27, 2009, Iverson has not been a key factor.