4/30/2014

"The Donald" (and it's not Trump)

Outside of imagining a Don Draper - Roger Sterling character MERGE... the "Donald Sterling" name has had a shitty brand name since I've ever known his name.  The audience aware of this prior to last week was limited to NBA junkies.  Now the whole world knows his name and it's shitty brand correlation. 

The events of this past week are historic -- but the desire for the NBA to get rid of Donald Sterling is historic as well... He's a billionaire, a shrewd asshole, and it appears a horrible racist. 

Follow me here ... I've been the Commissioner of a fantasy football league called The BigTime going on 15 years.  There have been some additions and subtractions over the years - but not many.  The owners are a mix-mash of social friends with it's own set of cliques.  As Commissioner, it's my job to bring it together.  The truth is that there's an individual or two that get on 80% of the league owners nerves at any point during the football season through antagonizing emails or complaining or whatever...  As commissioner, while this may annoy me at times too - I've never really considered kicking someone out of the league for being annoying.  Even if an owner crossed the line per se (went too far with trash talk, or was just generally a nuisance) it would probably take cheating or failing to pay or something like that to force me to kick them out. (FWIW - I'd never let a racist into the league in the first place so I wouldn't have to kick one out) Furthermore.... If someone acted up - there would be at least one or two owners to come to that individuals defense....

This brings us back to Donald Sterling..... I haven't heard a single voice of defense for Donald Sterling.  It seems as if NO ONE cares if he's banned - and even more - that they're excited to see him go... That's the price he pays for being an asshole all of those years I suppose. 

I obviously think the racist comments are disgusting and intolerable - period.  I get the feeling, though, that this is mostly a GREAT reason to do what the NBA has wanted to do for a really long time. 

He's being kicked out of a billionaire's club and I don't imagine it's going to be a quiet exit. Donald Sterling is 80 years old - and it seems like he doesn't give a crap about anything (especially his personal "brand").  

I'm looking forward to the day we don't talk about Donald Sterling, but thought I'd take the opportunity to document my thoughts.



4/15/2014

Announcing My Retirement From Basketball

Since I was 5 years old - I've loved the game of basketball.  It was my fathers favorite sport and at the time we lived in Los Angeles - it was 1982 - APPEX of SHOWTIME.  We went to games and I fell in love.  My father (who played college basketball) loved it too.  I was into almost all sports but basketball was the only one I cared about watching at such a young age and I played it whenever I could. 

I went to summer camp at age 9.  I still remember my father telling my to-be counselor at the time (who turned out wasn't even my counselor) to help me strengthen my left hand dribbling...  I thrived those first few years at camp - and even my friends will tell you that my prime basketball playing days were when I was 11 or 12.  I was the "go-to" player as an 11 year old. As the years went on - I found my role as a "high-IQ player" who understood the game, hustled, rebounded, played solid defense, was a good passer, but horrific outside shooter and even worse foul shooter.  As I approach 40 ... that's still my game.  People say they enjoy playing with me because: 1) I'm not a liability on defense, 2) I do the little things, 3) I don't care if I shoot the ball a single time in a game.

I still love the game of basketball and I very much enjoy playing.  I'm not someone who needs to win every game I play - but moreso just enjoy the run...Until recently when I felt like after I played I was just relieved when I escaped a game without injury.  About a year ago I got plantar fasciitis, which is basically extreme heel pain and there isn't a nea-term fix to it that I'm aware of.  I've taken 2 cortisone shots - and neither had any effect. The last 3 times I've played, I literally have trouble walking for 3 days - it sucks.  It's made playing hoops just not worth it.

So - until further progress on this front - I'm going to refrain from playing basketball for the time being.  I'm calling it a "retirement" because that's more dramatic, but I'll need to find a light-weight activity that I enjoy more than running... 

Thanks to mainly my Wah-Nee alum for keeping me active in regular hoop run cadence.  Here's hoping my retirement doesn't stay permanent.