ROLE MODELS

We all look up to them and especially when we are young. The onslaught of media in today’s culture no longer allows us to just glorify our favorite athletes; we must now magnify…

To win an NBA Championship you need a lot to go your way and all the clichés to be true. But as we know now; even the greatest need help. The role player has become the key to success but it is when success comes that the role player goes.

Basketball has become a sport of individuals and isolation. Media seeks out this glory of victory; the dunks, the 3 ball and the block. They don’t care about the extra pass; the pick and roll, the close out or the block out. They overlook the right pass with the no look. As if they were to look; they would realize the game is still fundamentally fundamental.

The role player still proves this. A team with out role players will lack in some fundamental area and a good team will exploit it. A role player will have his niche, his specialty, his position on the team.

The San Antonio Spurs; what can you say that hasn’t all ready been said. The core has been together for 13 years and are the epitome of team, a team and team basketball. A team consisted of players who know their role.

It’s ironic in a time where media likes to magnify individuals but they won’t do the same about a team. If they would; they’d find a team with foreigners playing traditional American basketball. What happens with a team made entirely of role players. All I know is they are positioned for success…

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

ARE YOU CUBAN

You are walking down the street by yourself; you notice a shady character on the sidewalk, so you cross the street…

It’s not red or yellow but black and white that is the most common color scheme for warning in the animal kingdom. For those who don’t see color; see contrast and for those, life is literally a black and white question.

Though we are not color blind; we employee the same tactics as we too are a part of this kingdom of animals. Though Red and Yellow are used in the entire kingdom it is when a warning escalates to danger when we go to black and white. And there is a standard symbol used in all cultures for danger. What color is the Skull & Crossbones...

I am not telling you that you should be or shouldn’t be racist; I am telling you why you are. Mark Cuban answered the question; he just proposed the wrong question. It doesn’t matter if it’s race, religion, sexual orientation or gender it is the contrast that arouses your senses. That shady character on the sidewalk; what shade was he?

STRANGER DANGER

SOCIAL STUDIES

 The Kegger; it gets a lot of different names but we all had those high school parties. It is either in the woods or someone’s house; while the parents are out. But it all ends the same; cops, running, driving, Darwin’s Theory…

If you are a kid of the 90’s; you remember POGS because you probably still have them. As fast as they merged on to the scene; they crashed. What was really unique about POGS is they had no apparent value. You created the value purely with your interest as they were worth mere pennies.

 

If you are a boy and a fan of sport; you too, still have a collection of Trading Cards. Shoe Boxes, Binders, Protective Sleeves; how ever you stored them, you knew exactly where each card was. You knew your Portfolio from the inside out and you would eagerly check every week for the market price.

I learned in school that policy can control the market and true value is greater than perceived. I learned how to manage a book of business; the art of the sell, the details of a trade, how to manage conflict and risk. Why not test the market when you have nothing to lose.

In Germany; the Keggers happen during elementary school as the parents know you are closer to playing with hot wheels than getting behind the wheel. I didn’t learn about history, psychology, poly sci, economics or business in the class room; I learned it at recess.  

RECESSION PROOF

STORY PROBLEM

We all did it; we all asked it, it was our standard way of deviating. What are the odds of us using this in real life…

As much as we like to think we-don’t care about what other people think; at some level we do, at some level we have to. You need to know where you stand. Have you ever been offended? You weren’t. You were probably just put in to place; repositioned. We are creatures of habit; we like stability, including our place in line. Do you care what people think or say; or do you think you have to care.

Arithmetic; then Algebra, Geometry and finally Calculus. It wasn’t until I was in college that I had the opportunity to study Statistics. Why isn’t statistics the foundation of math. Aren’t all life choices based on the understanding of chance and probability?

People in today’s society are becoming too easily offended. If I would have taken statistics; I would have been able to answer that question in math class. Why do you care what the average person thinks; the odds are, they are the root of the problem.

MEAN PEOPLE

COURTSHIP

Your first love; was love at first sight. Is it still; or have you not asked enough questions. Is it a perfect match or is it as they say; opposites attract….

Is the Selfie for self reflection or self propaganda. If you look at yourself everyday you won’t notice any changes but if you look far enough back you will see the truth. Social Media has changed our lives forever and in result; sport. It is easy to see the benefit that it has provided but will this be the NBA’s Kodak Moment.

If you have ever fell in love; you know, as you can recall it all. For me it was love at first sight. The beginning of the 90’s was the changing of the guard in the NBA; the game would become physical and rivalry would get it’s definition.

As we look in the mirror; the NBA has come full social circle and I ask is this love or was that lust. I may not believe in love at first sight but I do believe; opposites attract.

PHYSICAL ATTRACTION

IT'S DEFECTIVE

Every October we celebrate Columbus Day and his discovering of the New World. It wasn’t North America or South America that he first exploited; it was Cuba…

A priest, a boxer, a ball player and a call girl all get on a boat…

This isn’t a joke. Though the story of Yasiel Puig isn’t a new tale; as Cuban’s have been defecting from their home land for decades, it is just now becoming main stream and that is the joke. Like him or hate him; the story of Yasiel Puig and his journey is so far fetched, Hollywood wouldn’t even been able to conceive it.

[YAHOO STORY: YASIEL PUIG AND THE US COAST GUARD]

[LA MAGAZINE STORY: YASIEL PUIG- ESCAPE FROM CUBA]

[ESPN STORY: YASIEL PUIG-NO ONE WALKS OFF THE ISLAND]

Coming This Fall: A story for a generation; about a liberation, a story of inspiration. Communism, Corruption, Drug Cartels, FBI’s Most Wanted, Big Business. With only the currency of potential; he would risk his life with his life. A story about a boy who wouldn’t stop running down his dream and sometimes the only way to reach home; is to leave it. 

The father of the sex and slave trade comes to mind when we reserve for Columbus Day; as sometimes, it’s the defects that outshine. Yasiel Puig came sprinting on to the scene to have one of the best debuts in baseball history. He would steal the imagination of a nation; that he now can call home. Who knows how the story will end; as we are just now learning how it began, and the only thing that will make this story better; is if we can celebrate it in October.

HOME RUN 

THE WEEKEND

THE WEEKEND

A weekend; where a boy can become a man and man can be a boy

A weekend; of indulgence; mostly of laughter and the nectar of the gods

A weekend; of getting away but always becoming closer

A weekend; where the same stories will be told year after year

A weekend; where Tall Tales and Blue Falcons will live on in infamy

A weekend; in remembrance of those who no longer can join us

A weekend; in which friends and family long await their invitation

A weekend: where Christmas itself can’t rise to this Valley

A weekend; if we are lucky we might even get to throw some lead

A weekend that is so perfect that nostalgia can’t even add to the euphoria.

RAT SHOOTIN'