My year-end lists

Things that are funny in their own special way:

--Heckler to Damon Jones about 15 seconds after he got into the game at the Meadowlands: "Hey Damon, why haven't you shot yet?"

--News-Herald Cavs beat writer Bob Finnan to six-year-old child in hotel lobby as she ran to tell her father that her older sister was sitting on her suitcase, apparently a no-no: "Nobody likes a tattle-tale."

--Mike Brown on Detroit Pistons:  "Their starting five is probably the best-ever."

--LeBron James on how he was first called for a "backdown violation" and then a 7.8-second eight-second call in separate games against the Nets this year:   "I guess I better re-read the rules."

--Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the favorite feature of his house: "The beer tap in my basement, my wife never knows how much I've had."

Things that are tragic in their own special way:

--For just the second time in 36 years, the Cavs are playing on New Year's Eve, forcing beat writers to work.

--Beyonce didn't show up for the Cavs-Nets game.

--I was informed Beacon Journal Christmas bonus wasn't lost in the mail, it was never issued.

--Rob Schneider showed up at Quicken Loans Arena and was treated like an A-list celeb last week.

--That the last five people who have commented to me about my blog all mentioned Alan Tucker.

Things that are weird in their own special way:

--Mike Brown has a cup that he spits into all game long.

--CORRECTION!!! Donyell Marshall sometimes cries at movies, which he never did before his daughter was born but now he has a new set of emotions.  I didn't mean to imply he cried at the all the time.

--The way LeBron James drinks Gatorade and Aquafina but tapes the bottles so Coke won't see.

--Martynas Andruiskevicius is a teen idol in Lithuania, or so I've been told.

--Zendon Hamilton.

For complete LeBron turns 21 coverage, check out the Cavs toasts, his top career moments, and Tom Reed's column.