I have bone to pick with the powers that be behind some of the moves made yesterday in the NBA. It has been very hard for me to remain true to my team, the Houston Rockets these past few years. No it is not because of the losses, or the no Championships since 1995; no my pain extends beyond that. Yesterday the Rockets traded away Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks.
Let me start with Brooks. This is the man who kept the team together and gave them a real chance of beating the Lakers in the playoffs a few years ago and took them to a game 7. Yes, he's been hurt this year, but that is no reason to trade him away when he's in his prime and can still get you to where you need to go.
The real problem is Shane Battier. He does so much more than score, he's a tremendous defender, great passer, and is one of the smartest players in the game. The man went to Duke for crying out loud and won a national championship. He is one of the most underrated players in the league and he deserved better.
Can I address the real issue which is management and coaching? This is where my struggles to remain loyal have come into play. Rudy Tomjonovich, the Coach during their back to back championship runs, is the man I want back at the helm. I know he's battling cancer and is enjoying retirement, but the legacy he left behind of a team who played with heart has been replaced by men who don't know what they have and can't get the best of what they have.
Jeff Van Gundy was just the beginning. He had very little to no success getting the Knicks to a championship. Yes, he got them to the Finals in 1999, in a strike shortened season, but they lost the Spurs and rookie Tim Duncan. When he took over the coaching responsibilities, the team lost focus, respect, admiration, and a lot of games. He resigned rather than being fired for lack of productivity.
Then there is current coach Rick Adelman. I have no respect for this man as a coach. I'm sorry. I find him to be a whiner and a complainer, I find that his players don't really respect him, and I don't believe he knows the best way to get the best from the people who play for him. Look at the 1992 Portland Trailblazers who lost to the Bulls in six games. They were up 14 in the fourth qtr of Game 6 and the Bulls came back and won their second consecutive title. If you watch the game as much as I have, you will see a guy who blamed officials, blamed players, but no one blamed him for having the wrong guys on the floor at the wrong time. Then there was the 2001 Western Conference Finals where he allowed the Lakers to beat the Kings and go on to win 3 championships. The man doesn't know how to succeed. His teams don't play with heart. That is what is needed, and that is what he allowed the Rockets to trade away.
The organization is the next bone I want to pick. They make bad decisions for even worse reasons. They allowed one of the greatest big men to ever play the game, Hakeem Olajuwon, to leave the organization after 17 seasons with the team to go to Toronto where he was rarely used, and eventually retired. He retired as a Raptor, not a Rocket like he should have been.
The man had heart, and his team played with heart. The organization used to have heart and it's hard to remain loyal. When people ask me who I like, or who is my favorite team, I was proud to shout, the Houston Rockets... I still say it, but I don't say it like I used to. I don't shout it, but rather I say it with regret.
Stop making lame decisions! Recapture your heart, and being in the talent and the leadership that will keep your fans loyal and reward them for their devotion. You owe us that.
Until next time
P
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Wasted
A few weeks ago I had a day off. I had a day where I literally had nothing to do; Monday was non-school, non-basketball day for me. It was a wonderful day off from the chaos that has been my life these last few weeks with games almost every other day and subbing almost four days a week since January. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the work, love the sport, and love the rewards, but when I got a day off, I took advantage of it. Not in the way that you might think though, some of you may call this a wasted day, but others, well, you might admire what I did. Just before the Christmas break, I injured my back which resulted in me going to a chiropractor and getting fixed three times a week. I am on orders not to engage in anything to strenuous so as not to undue the work being done. I bring this up so that you understand why I did what I did.
My wife and I have a Nintendo Wii, and on this amazing device is our Netflix. SHE got me hooked on this by the way, so if there is anyone to blame it is her.
I was flipping through the vast array of old movies and tv shows to watch when I came across a show I had never heard of before, and is no longer on. The show was called Hidden Palms. Written by Kevin Williamson, the writer of Dawson’s Creek, the Scream movies, and other teenage TV dramas. I read the description for the pilot and thought, what the heck, I’ll give the first episode a try.
By the end of the day, I had watched 8 episodes, the entire first season, and well, the entire series of the show, which lasted only 8 shows. To say it was addicting is putting it mildly. Here is the premise:
Johnny Miller, a studious and level headed high school junior, witnesses his father’s suicide and spirals downward into a world of drugs and alcohol. He goes to rehab and 6 months later, the show begins… His mother, remarries the father’s business partner and moves to Palm Springs in the summer in a lavish and almost perfect community where luxury and wealth run rampant. There, Johnny meets next door neighbor and community jerk, Cliff Wyatt. The kid who gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Across the street is Liza, the pretty quiet girl who spends her days in the garage conducting experiments in hopes that one day she will work in pharmaceuticals. Then there’s Gretta Matthews, the hottie with secrets. She’s also independent being that her mother passed away from leukemia when she was nine and her father is a high priced attorney who is never around. Johnny learns that the house his family has moved into has a secret. The teenage boy who lived in the room, Eddie, committed suicide, in the very room that Johnny sleeps in every night. WOW, like Johnny needs this over his head. Over the course of the show, Johnny learns that Eddie was best friends with Cliff, dated Gretta and was secret bff to Liza. Secrets become uncovered with each show and we learn that it wasn’t suicide but murder. Johnny tries to find out who killed Eddie and why.
I don’t want to give anything about plot away, but let me tell you, riveting. I wanted to see a season 2. I wanted to know what happened next. I wanted to see the next phase of this show.
Now, yes, it has its flaws, has its problems. Parents are drunk and arguing all the time, kids have not boundaries and no morals, and don’t even get me started with the dress code. This is Palm Springs, in the SUMMER. I’ve been there during this time, and at no point in time would anyone be caught outside in black shorts or pants, a black t-shirt, and a HOODIE…. A HOODIE! Come on. You would spend the entire time in an air conditioned home and rarely go for a swim because you would get sunburn quickly. Not here, they golf, the wear lots of clothes, they bundle up when they go to sleep, it’s ridiculous. However, the stories grab you, and they keep you coming back.
I regret nothing about watching this show. Yes, you might think it was a wasted day, but I didn’t. My wife thinks otherwise, and she and I joke about it, but I am glad I did it. Now, I am back at work, back at school, and I am a happy man. I highly recommend that if you have a day like I did, take advantage of it. There is nothing wrong with relaxation. You may call it wasted, but I call it fun. I think life needs to have more fun in it. Don’t you?
Until next time
P
My wife and I have a Nintendo Wii, and on this amazing device is our Netflix. SHE got me hooked on this by the way, so if there is anyone to blame it is her.
I was flipping through the vast array of old movies and tv shows to watch when I came across a show I had never heard of before, and is no longer on. The show was called Hidden Palms. Written by Kevin Williamson, the writer of Dawson’s Creek, the Scream movies, and other teenage TV dramas. I read the description for the pilot and thought, what the heck, I’ll give the first episode a try.
By the end of the day, I had watched 8 episodes, the entire first season, and well, the entire series of the show, which lasted only 8 shows. To say it was addicting is putting it mildly. Here is the premise:
Johnny Miller, a studious and level headed high school junior, witnesses his father’s suicide and spirals downward into a world of drugs and alcohol. He goes to rehab and 6 months later, the show begins… His mother, remarries the father’s business partner and moves to Palm Springs in the summer in a lavish and almost perfect community where luxury and wealth run rampant. There, Johnny meets next door neighbor and community jerk, Cliff Wyatt. The kid who gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Across the street is Liza, the pretty quiet girl who spends her days in the garage conducting experiments in hopes that one day she will work in pharmaceuticals. Then there’s Gretta Matthews, the hottie with secrets. She’s also independent being that her mother passed away from leukemia when she was nine and her father is a high priced attorney who is never around. Johnny learns that the house his family has moved into has a secret. The teenage boy who lived in the room, Eddie, committed suicide, in the very room that Johnny sleeps in every night. WOW, like Johnny needs this over his head. Over the course of the show, Johnny learns that Eddie was best friends with Cliff, dated Gretta and was secret bff to Liza. Secrets become uncovered with each show and we learn that it wasn’t suicide but murder. Johnny tries to find out who killed Eddie and why.
I don’t want to give anything about plot away, but let me tell you, riveting. I wanted to see a season 2. I wanted to know what happened next. I wanted to see the next phase of this show.
Now, yes, it has its flaws, has its problems. Parents are drunk and arguing all the time, kids have not boundaries and no morals, and don’t even get me started with the dress code. This is Palm Springs, in the SUMMER. I’ve been there during this time, and at no point in time would anyone be caught outside in black shorts or pants, a black t-shirt, and a HOODIE…. A HOODIE! Come on. You would spend the entire time in an air conditioned home and rarely go for a swim because you would get sunburn quickly. Not here, they golf, the wear lots of clothes, they bundle up when they go to sleep, it’s ridiculous. However, the stories grab you, and they keep you coming back.
I regret nothing about watching this show. Yes, you might think it was a wasted day, but I didn’t. My wife thinks otherwise, and she and I joke about it, but I am glad I did it. Now, I am back at work, back at school, and I am a happy man. I highly recommend that if you have a day like I did, take advantage of it. There is nothing wrong with relaxation. You may call it wasted, but I call it fun. I think life needs to have more fun in it. Don’t you?
Until next time
P
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