Well, it's a little past midnight here right now, meaning that about eight hours later from now, I'll be heading down to O'Hare to fly out to California. It's already been a week since my last final exam and it feels like I've been out of school for a month. In case you're a member of a union I'm a part of and you're wondering where I have been lately, I've just been relaxing and getting ready for this trip. I'll be gone for three weeks, so don't expect me to be on anytime soon. Heck, I might just decide to leave or just become inactive for most of the unions I'm in. Well, that's all I have to say. By the way, I'm excited for the NBA Finals (Cavs vs. Spurs), Halo 3, which I just read the updates on Bungie.net, and Forza Motorsport 2, which is really tempting me to buy an Xbox 360. Yes, it seems like something random to mention, but they're just things that I've been looking forward to these past few days.

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And the Bulls’ season is offically over. Chicago just minutes ago lost Game 6 95-85. The Pistons now move onto the Eastern Conference finals for the 5th straight year. The Bulls put up a good fight, but they just couldn’t win. P.J. Brown had a superb 1st half, scoring 20 points, which tied a playoff career high. Yet he failed to score again and ended up being Chicago’s leading scorer. One key factor that caused the Bulls’ demise was the performance of the starting guards, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon. These two are key players to the Bulls, yet only scored 30 points together. Another would be the free-throw shooting. They had 35 attempts, but only made24, shooting 68.6%.

The good news is that this Bulls team is still very young and it has a lot of years left in it. We can only hope that John Paxon can gather more great players to the team and that the current players will improve. This is the first time that many of the Bulls have been to the 2nd round of the playoffs. Coming from a series that they were trailing 0-3, they were able to make this series really look like a playoff series. They were put up against the best team in the East, who were much older and experienced. After watching the games they played against Detroit, I have high hopes for the Bulls. Maybe next year, we will see both teams meet once again, this time in a more appropriate setting – the Eastern Conference finals.

The Bulls are back in this series against the Detroit Pistons. They were able to avoid elimination Sunday, entering Game 4 with Detroit leading the series 3-0. With a strong 1st and 3rd quarter, Chicago won 102-87. Luol Deng led the Bulls with 25 points, along with Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich knocking down 19 each.

Back at the Palace of Auburn Hills tonight, started out and finished off strong. Like in Game 4, the Bulls were looking like the team they were during the regular season, unlike Games 1, 2, and 3. Tonight, Ben Gordon had a hot hand and scored 28 points, with Luol Deng contributing 20 points as well. Chicago opened up with an extremely high field goal percentage of 72%, later moving down to the 60s, and ultimately to 57.3% after some bad shots from the bench in the final minutes of the game. While they weren’t able to get more rebounds than the Pistons, Chicago had 13 fast break points. They made 10 of 16 3-pointers. Not one Piston scored over 20 points. Final score was 108-92.

Throughout the game, I was completely worried. The Bulls never trailed the entire game and had large leads nearly the entire time, but Detroit can come back quickly, as seen in Game 3. The Bulls had a huge lead in the 3rd quarter, but ended up blowing it, losing 81-74. With a needed win tonight, the Bulls will take Game 6 to Chicago on Thursday, May 17. It will be broadcasted on ESPN. The time is still to be determined. The pressure continues to stay on Chicago. While they are a good home team, having the best home record in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons are a good road team, having the best road record in the East. In fact, they were the only team in the East to have a winning road record. The intensity that I’ve been feeling since Game 1 continues.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Though his has nothing to do with the Bulls, I thought that it was worth noting that yesterday, Daisuke Matsuzaka, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, pitched his first complete game against the 2nd place (In the American League) Detroit Tigers. His ERA dropped from 4.80 to 4.17. He allowed only 6 hits and a run, gave no walks, and threw 5 strikeouts. Matsuzaka improved to 5-2.

For those of you who didn’t know, I am in fact a Boston Red Sox fan. While I am a recent fan, I became one long before they became the (current) number 1 team in the league. I officially became a Red Sox fan on December 14, 2006, when they signed Matsuzaka to a six year deal. So yes, he is the reason why I am a Red Sox fan. But of course, I am still a Chicago Cubs or White Sox fan as well. Though the team that has my loyalty has yet to be decided. I told myself that I would wait to see who reached 20 wins first, but I decided to wait and see who will win the Crosstown series this year instead. It will decide which team I’ll be a fan of.

Today, the press was allowed to access the Halo 3 beta five days earlier than the other players eagerly waiting to get their hands on some action. As a result, GameSpot is currently holding a live gameplay marathon for it. And here I am posting my impressions and thoughts on it.

First Match
The first match GameSpot editors Jeff Gerstmann, Ryan McDonald, and Aaron Thomas (with Brad Shoemaker and Ryan Davis spectating) played took place in High Ground. Game type was Crazy King. Once the match started, I was immediately was impressed with the graphics. Because of the size of the media player, it’s hard to fully take in the beauty, but despite this, the game was looking great. This is still the Beta, which means that there’s still time for improvement in all aspects of the game. One thing that is notable is the HUD. It’s slightly curved, sort of how it was in Metroid Prime, and gives the impression that you’re actually looking through a helmet or a visor.

Weapons seen in the match were the Assault Rifle, the starting weapon, the Plasma Pistol, Brute Spiker, Sniper Rifle, and possibly a few more that aren’t coming to mind at the moment. The Assault Rifle seems to be coming back with a vengeance, looking better than ever. It seems to pack quite a punch. It seems to be one of the weapons I’m really looking forward to use. I didn’t manage to see the Plasma Piston charged up and shot, so I don’t know whether or not it locks on, an issue that many players had with Halo 2. The Brute Spiker seems to be like a nail gun and sub machine gun according to Jeff, the latter later being noted by Jason Ocampo.

The only vehicle present was the Mongoose. It looks to be pretty fast, somewhat like a mini-Warthog. With it being smaller, it’s able to turn further and faster. Its size allows the player to drive even through buildings.

One of the new features in Halo 3 is equipment. Taking the function of the X button, pressing it allows you to deploy equipment picked up. The ones seen in this match were the bubble shield and the portable gravity lift. They’re just what they sound like. The bubble shield creates a small, bubble-like dome around you that anyone can walk in and out of, but stops shots, grenades, and explosions from passing through it, whether they come from inside or out. The portable gravity lift greats a gravity lift wherever it is dropped. Of course, to balance the gameplay, there will be very little on the map at a time. They act like any other weapon or grenade, where if your enemy is holding it, you’ll be able to pick it up when they die.

Second Match
This match took place in Snow Bound. Once again, the graphics were looking really impressive. The sniper rifle was used a little more often. Another weapon introduced was the shotgun, which was also in previous games. It seems to be pretty powerful. The newest grenade, the Spike Grenade, was seen. When thrown, it acts like the Plasma Grenade where it sticks once it comes in contact in something, and when it goes off, it launches many spikes around. The entrances have a shield that can block shots and explosions, just like the bubble shield. Other than that, nothing new was really seen. Just a lot of good-looking multiplayer action.

Third Match
The third match took place in the final map available in the beta: Valhalla. The level’s environment is like the second level of the first game, where the Master Chief first arrives on Halo. Like the previous levels, graphics are looking really good. This level contained water, and the effects are looking nice. Valhalla features the man cannon in the large structure. The man cannon is like a powerful portable gravity lift that launches you forward into the battlefield. The level looks to be very large, most likely the largest of the three available levels.

Fourth Match
The GameSpot editors returned to Valhalla once again. I wasn’t paying much attention to the third match, as I was typing the beginning of this, so some elements that may have been shown in the previous match may be mentioned here. Anyway, Jeff picked up a portable turret, which switches your view to third person. Although he was quickly killed, so we didn’t see any turret action.

Though this isn’t very notable, the editors decided to hop into a Mongoose and launch off the man cannon. To their surprise, it worked, and they ended up getting some distance. Something notable about the Mongoose is that you can have a partner hop onto the back, something first seen in this match. You won’t be able to shoot your weapon while driving it, along with the fact that the Mongoose doesn’t have any weapons, but if you’re riding on the back of it, you’ll be able to use yours. The Warthog was seen riding around, but I didn’t catch any action.

Player customization was seen. The emblems and backgrounds seem to be the same from Halo 2, but the colors have somewhat a larger variety. It has the same basic colors from before, but there is now a lighter and darker variant of each.

One of the editors finally picked up a Spartan Laser, which is a laser mounted on your shoulder, like a rocket, that shoots a powerful blast. It has a wide range, but it takes about two or three seconds to charge it up before you can fire. Also, you’ll want to be careful when using this weapon, for the shot fires straight across immediately, so you’ll need very good aim when firing at a mobile enemy.

Intermission
While waiting for the next match, the editors decided to show off the video feature. In Halo 3, you’ll be able to record your matches, which will be seen from your perspective. You’re given basic controls such as pause, fast forward, etc. You’ll also be able to share your videos with others.

Fifth Match
The match takes place in High Ground again, this time Team Crazy King. It was a quick match, nothing new. I did see the SMG picked up for the first time, but the match ended before it could be used.

Sixth Match
Once again in Snowbound, there seems to be a lot of action in this match. I’m seeing quite a number of Spartan Lasers being shot around. Nothing new is going on, so I might as well take the time to describe this level. As the name implies, it’s a snow-based level. A few small hills lay between two structures. These structures have ramps leading up to the top, which is just a flat platform. You can also go down into the structure to the lower level, which just seems to be a pillar in the middle in a circular room. Like noted before, there’s an entrance that has a protective shield.

Seeing how there’s nothing more to say, I decided to end my coverage here. Also, during the sixth match, the camera switched to the match where only one of the GameSpot editors was playing, so I ended up being confused. (Two editors play split-screen on one console, while another editor plays alone) Final words: the beta is looking really solid. Impressive graphics, which I just can’t emphasize any more, and fun, balanced (from what I could tell) gameplay like in Halo 2. I’m convinced that Halo 3 will not disappoint when it comes out towards the end of the year, and it can only improve as the days pass by. I love what I’m seeing and I can’t wait to play. Hopefully I’ll have an Xbox 360 by the end of the year. Anyway, back to watching the beta marathon.

The Bulls just lost Game 2 to the Detroit Pistons with a score of 87-108. Detroit leads the series 2-0 as they also slaughtered the Bulls in Game 1 last Saturday with a score of 69-95. Things are not looking good in this series. At first I expected Chicago to win the series in 6 games, winning Games 2, 3, 4, and 6. Looks like that won’t be happening. After seeing how Game 1 was played, I expect Chicago to win in 7, winning all three games at home and one game in Detroit.

Right now, I’m just speechless on how much better the Pistons were than the Bulls. I always thought that the Bulls could hold their own against Detroit, with the scores of the games being close. So far, Chicago has been completely outplayed. Ben Gordon and the rest of the team are having difficulty matching up against the Pistons. Not only that, but key players Gordon and Luol Deng are just now performing as well as they have against Miami. Gordon scored only 7 and 13 in Games 1 and 2 respectively, while Deng scored only 18 and 16 respectively. In Game 1, Gordon, P.J. Brown, and Kirk Hinrich all got into early foul trouble in the 1st quarter, each with 2 fouls.

Game 2 was just completely depressing and aggravating. I had some hope left when the Bulls brought the Pistons’ lead back to 13, but that quickly turned around back into an 18 point lead, leading to 21 point loss. Let’s hope the Bulls can execute back in the United Center. Game 3 is on May 10, 2:30 CST on ESPN.