I just finished watching Game 4 of the Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs game. I am disgusted right now having just watched bad officiating and great acting take over a competitive game and ultimately give the game to the Spurs. I don’t have too much to say other than I think that the team of Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili make up the most despicable duo in team sports. Below is an excerpt from an article by Bill Simmons on espn.com that I read not too long ago that echoes of my feelings about fouls in the NBA:
“The single most disgusting NBA development of the past few years? The flopping... Slowly, regretfully, inexplicably, the sport is morphing into soccer --I blame the influx of European players for this trend because flopping has always been an acceptable part of soccer; they grew up watching that crap and understood that it could work in basketball as well, especially if you have a group of largely incompetent referees calling the action. So it started a few years ago, it's gotten worse and worse, and now, it's affecting the overall competitiveness of these games.
Here's the problem: Because we don't have any anti-flopping rules, it behooves defenders to fall backward every time a low-post player lowers his shoulder, and it behooves them to slide under airborne players and plant their feet for a charge (even if they might end up breaking the guy's neck in the process). Not to keep bringing up the pickup basketball analogy, but geez ... can you imagine if somebody pulled this crap during a game among friends? The prevailing reactions would be, "What the hell are you doing?" and "If you do that again, I'm gonna sock you." But because the NBA refuses to do anything about the flopping, it's evolved into a savvy defensive maneuver. For instance, if you're Barnes and you're giving up 50 pounds to Boozer on the low post, there's only two ways you're stopping him: Go for a strip if he puts the ball on the ground, or jump backward if he's dumb enough to lower his shoulder as he's turning around. Those are your two options.
Is that basketball? Hell, no! In fact, when I was a little kid -- and I swear to God, this happened -- a guard named Mike Newlin flopped to draw a charge from the great Dave Cowens, a fiery Hall of Famer who played with a remarkable level of passion and fury, to the degree that he burned himself out after 7-8 years. Completely and utterly outraged that Newlin committed such a phony act of sportsmanship, Cowens berated the ref who made the call, yelled at him some more, then started running back on defense when he noticed Newlin dribbling up the court. Now, our seats were at midcourt, so this happened right in front of us and nearly caused me to pee my pants -- as Cowens was running, he snapped and suddenly charged Newlin like a free safety, bodychecked him at full speed (much, MUCH harder than Horry's foul on Nash) and sent poor Newlin careening into the press table at about 35 mph. Then he turned to the same ref and screamed ...
"NOW THAT'S A F------- FOUL!"
Did Cowens get kicked out of the game? Of course. But there's a moral to the story. Once upon a time, these guys had a code of honor. They played hard, respected the game, defended their teammates, and if anyone stepped out of line, there was always someone that would take care of them -- whether it was another player, a referee, a coach or whatever. When fights or altercations happened, they were considered natural side effects of a physical sport. When two players talked smack, it was considered a good thing, a sign that the game was heating up, that we were potentially headed for a more competitive place.”
After tonight it makes me not want to watch what I saw on TV. That is not competition, it’s acting. Unfortunately it is making my transition back to following professional basketball very difficult because it devalues true play and removes the sense that a fair game is being called by the officials. I do not respect the San Antonio Spurs AT ALL for the accolades that they have been rewarded. They do not deserve to be in the Western Conference Finals since they instigated a brawl that resulted in a bogus suspension to two of the Suns players. They play dirty, ugly, cheap basketball. For those that argue “but they win” enjoy your nap if they meet Detroit in the finals… it will be as boring as the Mayweather/ De La Hoya fight…
I encourage you to read the whole article, it’s quite interesting… http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070516&sportCat=nba
Monday, May 28, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
I'm Back Baby...
I am back to the blog because I have been schooled... The past few days I have been reading some random blogs that I have come across and I felt a twinge of guilt for denying the world my wit and charisma through writing (By the way, my therapy to rid myself of arrogance has stalled itself). Regardless I want to step it up a little and write more.
Life is good. I mean it, it’s good. Of course I miss my children every waking moment but I have learned to live with that and instead of letting the sorrow consume me I look forward to the times when I will see them next. Things with Amie are good, the weather is gorgeous, the Jazz are in the Western Conference Finals, Business is good, I have started venturing in a different direction of the mortgage industry incorporating more the side of real estate investing for my clients and I feel a great anticipation for the future. I have continued my mediation and it has helped me to work through some of the issues that I have with my “programming.” We got a new puppy and rid of the old one. Life is good. I do feel however the need to share about something that is helping me to have life be so good. Let me explain:
I have been reading some very interesting books lately. One of them is called “Thresholds of the Mind” by Bill Harris. A number of years ago he started an organization called the Centerpointe Research Institute. He has devoted a great deal of his time and resources to studying brain wave patterns to learn how they are connected to what we deem our reality. His book speaks in droves about the manner in which we can become aware of what are subconscious mind is doing and how it affects our conscious existence. His big push is towards full awareness of what and why we do things and then once that perspective is made how to change it. In his book he refers to what he calls our “internal map of reality.” Our internal map of reality is what we have subconsciously created as our reality; the manner in which we react to life, the expectations we have from each situation and the way that our minds see our lives. This map evolves daily as new experiences pile up and we continue on living. The foundation of what we see was started from our infancy and continues as we add experience that molds our perception. What I have been learning is that most of what holds people back from true happiness and achieving whatever they want is their own boundaries. They do not see in their own IMR that they can live outside of what they already know; meaning if I have always been sad, poor, fat, depressed, sick, angry, down trodden, sin laden, then my life will continue that way with brief reprieves continuing in the same fashion. They don’t feel safe in drastically changing how they think and resist that change because it initially doesn’t let them feel the safety associated with how the think right now. The study of brainwaves has shown that there are ways to manipulate through mediation your brainwaves to help you to be aware of the self destructive behaviors that you manifest and then to do away with them. This gives you the foresight to work through the things that are not giving you what you truly want. Ultimately behaviors and thoughts that are not healthy or self serving fall away as our awareness of their poison is increased.
He gave a great example that illustrated the difference of how people think and how it affects the outlook of each person differently. He first off started by explaining the difference between a response and a trigger. Responses are what happen regardless of our interpretation of life, a trigger is the manner that we handle it. For example; if you were soaked with water the response would be that they would both be wet. The experience of getting soaked could be a trigger that would cause any number of reactions from refreshment, to anger, to anxiety to worry etc. The water itself did not cause you to be angry; the water caused you to be wet. The water was a trigger to your anger, not the cause. When you apply that example to life you can see that often times the wrong things get blamed for our unhappiness/lack of success when they were a trigger to a behavior and not the reason. The reason you may be upset for getting wet was that you don’t want to have to change your clothing; OR the reason the water was refreshing is because you were hot. The water itself made you wet, THAT’S IT, and everything else was your own doing. Most of the times are lives are a result of our conditioned triggers, not the actual responses to what we go through. In my own life as I have decided to take responsibility of how I feel and think I have realized that I have held myself back blaming others for things to which all along I had control over. Tie this back into the meditation, that quiet time alone allows me to come correct with myself and make a new reality; one where I am happy, successful and excellent in all I do. I believe that this is one of the important characteristics of the gift of agency and one that is often overlooked; we can always choose our fate. There is no one who can deny us our God given blessings other than ourselves as we sabotage happiness and success. That has helped me tremendously in my personal and spiritual growth and is helping me to overcome some challenges I thought were insurmountable. My career is better for it, so is the relationship with my wife and children and ultimately my Heavenly Father.
I will write more but the gist of what I am writing about is that taking responsibility for your own happiness is a quality that is long overdue in our lives. Make it happen…
Life is good. I mean it, it’s good. Of course I miss my children every waking moment but I have learned to live with that and instead of letting the sorrow consume me I look forward to the times when I will see them next. Things with Amie are good, the weather is gorgeous, the Jazz are in the Western Conference Finals, Business is good, I have started venturing in a different direction of the mortgage industry incorporating more the side of real estate investing for my clients and I feel a great anticipation for the future. I have continued my mediation and it has helped me to work through some of the issues that I have with my “programming.” We got a new puppy and rid of the old one. Life is good. I do feel however the need to share about something that is helping me to have life be so good. Let me explain:
I have been reading some very interesting books lately. One of them is called “Thresholds of the Mind” by Bill Harris. A number of years ago he started an organization called the Centerpointe Research Institute. He has devoted a great deal of his time and resources to studying brain wave patterns to learn how they are connected to what we deem our reality. His book speaks in droves about the manner in which we can become aware of what are subconscious mind is doing and how it affects our conscious existence. His big push is towards full awareness of what and why we do things and then once that perspective is made how to change it. In his book he refers to what he calls our “internal map of reality.” Our internal map of reality is what we have subconsciously created as our reality; the manner in which we react to life, the expectations we have from each situation and the way that our minds see our lives. This map evolves daily as new experiences pile up and we continue on living. The foundation of what we see was started from our infancy and continues as we add experience that molds our perception. What I have been learning is that most of what holds people back from true happiness and achieving whatever they want is their own boundaries. They do not see in their own IMR that they can live outside of what they already know; meaning if I have always been sad, poor, fat, depressed, sick, angry, down trodden, sin laden, then my life will continue that way with brief reprieves continuing in the same fashion. They don’t feel safe in drastically changing how they think and resist that change because it initially doesn’t let them feel the safety associated with how the think right now. The study of brainwaves has shown that there are ways to manipulate through mediation your brainwaves to help you to be aware of the self destructive behaviors that you manifest and then to do away with them. This gives you the foresight to work through the things that are not giving you what you truly want. Ultimately behaviors and thoughts that are not healthy or self serving fall away as our awareness of their poison is increased.
He gave a great example that illustrated the difference of how people think and how it affects the outlook of each person differently. He first off started by explaining the difference between a response and a trigger. Responses are what happen regardless of our interpretation of life, a trigger is the manner that we handle it. For example; if you were soaked with water the response would be that they would both be wet. The experience of getting soaked could be a trigger that would cause any number of reactions from refreshment, to anger, to anxiety to worry etc. The water itself did not cause you to be angry; the water caused you to be wet. The water was a trigger to your anger, not the cause. When you apply that example to life you can see that often times the wrong things get blamed for our unhappiness/lack of success when they were a trigger to a behavior and not the reason. The reason you may be upset for getting wet was that you don’t want to have to change your clothing; OR the reason the water was refreshing is because you were hot. The water itself made you wet, THAT’S IT, and everything else was your own doing. Most of the times are lives are a result of our conditioned triggers, not the actual responses to what we go through. In my own life as I have decided to take responsibility of how I feel and think I have realized that I have held myself back blaming others for things to which all along I had control over. Tie this back into the meditation, that quiet time alone allows me to come correct with myself and make a new reality; one where I am happy, successful and excellent in all I do. I believe that this is one of the important characteristics of the gift of agency and one that is often overlooked; we can always choose our fate. There is no one who can deny us our God given blessings other than ourselves as we sabotage happiness and success. That has helped me tremendously in my personal and spiritual growth and is helping me to overcome some challenges I thought were insurmountable. My career is better for it, so is the relationship with my wife and children and ultimately my Heavenly Father.
I will write more but the gist of what I am writing about is that taking responsibility for your own happiness is a quality that is long overdue in our lives. Make it happen…
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