Citibank Nearly Screwed Me Over, Hours Wasted For Little Utility, And Some NBA Draft Thoughts

- Citibank notified me, about a month ago, that they were upgrading my existing Citibank Dividend Platinum Select (1% cash back, 2% at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, convenience stores, and utilities including cable) to a Citi Dividend World MasterCard (same as above, but with Retail Purchase Protection, Extended Warranty, and Price Protection). To do this, they had to close my existing account and issue a new card, with a new account number.

That was all fine and dandy, but they closed my account on the same day that my cell phone bill was to be auto-paid! Fortunately, I found that out early enough in the day to make a payment with another credit card.

Worse, Citi told me that I would get a new card within two weeks of the closure of the old account. Two weeks passed, and I got a package in the mail from Citibank. It was my "welcome kit," containing a ton of documentation, but no credit card! It turns out, the welcome kit said that I would be getting my card in another week or so! Of course, I find this out one day before my cable bill was to be auto-paid.

Thanks, Citibank.

- So the NBA Draft was held yesterday, and there are some clear winners, as well as clear losers. Since I'm in a bit of a food coma--Korean BBQ, again--here are my quick thoughts about the draft results.

• Even though I predicted it a couple of days ago, I was a bit surprised that Atlanta took Horford and Law at #3 and #11, respectively. That being said, I don't blame Atlanta for not trading these two picks for Amare Stoudemire, as rumored. I'd take my chances with Horford, who should be a double-double machine, and Law, who should be the Hawks' starting PG for years to come.
• Boston, what were you thinking? You'd rather have a 32-year-old, injury prone shooting guard (even if it IS Ray Allen) than the #5 pick (Brewer? Noah? Yi?)? Yeah, you got Seattle to take Wally off your hands, but you also threw in Delonte West?!? At least you guys also got Glen Davis, right?
• I like the Zach Randolph trade...for Portland. They needed to clear the logjam up front, they got rid of a locker room cancer in the process, and they got Channing Frye as well! Yeah, they had to take on Steve "Chemistry Killer" Francis as well, but they could just buy out his deal. Meanwhile, I thought Isiah was done taking on bad contracts and poisonous (to a team's chemistry) players.
• The Jason Richardson to Charlotte deal is great for Golden State. I thought it was terrible at first, but the more I thought about it, the more impressed I was by the deal. They get an interesting prospect in Brandan Wright, they no longer have to (over)pay for Jason Richardson, and they get a $10 million trade exception! Could a KG-to-GS deal be in the works? Not likely, but one can dream, right? Meanwhile, at least Charlotte now has a big time player on their roster otherwise filled with young players.
• I can't believe the Clippers got Al Thornton. I can't believe Julian Wright fell all the way to New Orleans.
• I can't believe Aaron Afflalo actually got drafted in the first round. Same with Alando Tucker.
• I can't believe Gabe Pruitt, Marcus Williams, Nick Fazekas, and Glen Davis dropped into the second round. I also can't believe some GM didn't pick Josh McRoberts in the first round.

Of course, the really BIG draft story is the Los Angeles Lakers! They got a superstar guard in the making, a superstar Chinese player, and Gasol!

(OK, so that superstar guard in the making is years away from doing anything, AND he can't shoot. In addition, the Chinese player is NOT Yi, and the Gasol is Pau's younger, fatter brother, Marc.)

How has Kobe not issued a YouTube-exclusive video, totally trashing the entire Laker organization? Why didn't the Lakers take a flyer on Jason Smith in the first round? How about Chris Richard out of Florida instead of Sun Yue? And Marc Gasol? They might as well have gone for Aaron Gray.

The Lakers better hurry and trade Kobe, or they're only going to get 30 cents on the dollar in any Kobe trade.

More draft thoughts to come later, as they come to me. Damn food coma.

That's all for today.