Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tuesday Ramblings - Set Up For Failure

Maybe I should take it as a sign about the people that live in my apartment building. Or maybe like that ridiculous movie coming out “Hot Tub Time Machine” my elevator is a portal into “Crazy World.” Either way, I should know that when I enter my elevator with other people, it’s set up for failure. I’ve written in the past about the crazy old lady who didn’t want her cat to make any friends or hear that it was on its way to be put to sleep. I’ve also shared the elevator with a guy in a full “American Ganster” fur coat & hat – head to toe fur. Well yesterday I ran across another interesting person in the elevator. As I enter the building and head to the elevator, the slightly older woman (probably late 50’s?) is at the elevator already. I’m generally the type of person that doesn’t talk to strangers in the elevator other than a head nod with a smile and a slightly audible “hi” at most. Well this lady is looking at me and it’s obvious she wants to talk or at least say something. So what are my options? I’m trapped in the elevator with her and I can only stare down for so long while her look is burning a hole in the side of my head. So I look up and casually mention something about the weather warming up. And then the craziness begins………..she starts in on how it’s the brightness, not the temperature that makes her happy every morning. She can handle cold weather if it’s bright out and the sun is shining. It just makes her feel better and she’s a happier person and her bird sings prettier when the sun is out, and on and on. I immediately regret my decision to make an innocent comment about the weather. Thankfully we get to her floor, and she steps out and the door finally closed. All I could think to myself was, “Well, that’s what you get for talking to people in the ‘Portal to Crazy’ elevator.”

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People continue to talk about whether the NHL will be able to parlay the success and interest in Olympic hockey into an increase in fans for the sport. It won’t. Unfortunately for the hockey players, while the other Olympic heroes like Lindsey Vonn (debatable, but she has good management), the figure skating guy – Evan something? – and the others are all on the talk show tour for the next week and securing endorsement deals, the hockey players are right back to work. Ryan Miller doesn’t have a chance to sit down with Jay Leno or Jimmy Kimmel and wear a Canadian tuxedo, or a mounty costume to settle a bet. He has to get ready for a rematch with Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins tonight. The NHL is using the Olympic success to set itself up for disappointment.

In addition, it wasn’t the hockey that drew us in. If it was the US versus Canada in the curling gold medal match, the ratings would have been similar. It was the border battle in an event where they were on the field/ice/court at the same time (unlike skiing, bobsledding, skating, etc) in a sport that is among the competitors – along with NASCAR, soccer and golf – for the #4 sport in America. We were watching for national pride and rivalry, and not for hockey. Just like we are going to watch the newest Dancing With The Stars because of Erin Andrews, not because of the dancing. And Andrews appears to be the favorite to win considering she was a dancer in college – not a pole dancer, sorry – and she’s up against people like Pam Anderson, Chad Ochocinco and Buzz Aldrin. Yes, the 80-something year old Buzz Aldrin. I hope they have a defibrillator on set.

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Michael Jordan is in the process of finalizing his majority ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats. Should the people of Charlotte be excited or fearful? I think Jordan is setting the Bobcats up for continued disappointment. After cementing his place as the greatest player to ever live during his time with the Chicago Bulls, his post-Bulls career has been…well…basically a clusterf#ck. He returned to play with the Wizards when it was obvious his skills had withered and his body didn’t have the burst he needed. He then moved on to the Wizard’s director of player personnel, where he drafted Kwame Brown with the first pick and five years later took Adam Morrison with the third pick. He was fired and bought a part of the Bobcats. He brought in his friend Rod Higgins as the GM, and hired fellow Tar Heel Larry Brown as the head coach. He was regularly accused of being absent from the team and having a lack of interest. And now he’s taking a majority owner position?

Does Jordan really want to be involved in basketball or does he just not know what else to do? He has enough money and freedom to live on an island and never have another worry in the world. It seems like MJ wants to get away from the game, but that competitive nature and fire that drove him to be the best ever flares up every once and a while and he finds a way to get back into the game. Then once he’s there, he realizes why he left and doesn’t have the dedication to go through with it.

It’s a strange place for Jordan to be – unlikely to succeed. Look at past stars that went on to the front office and it is littered with failure: Wes Unseld, Elgin Baylor and Isiah Thomas. Brooklyn Decker is a great swimsuit model. Does that mean she can act? We’re going to find out as she has been cast in her first movie.

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Syracuse ascended to the #1 ranking this week for the first time since the 1989-90 season. In that season, they had Derrick Coleman, Sherman Doughlas & Billy Owens but the top ranking was just a set up for failure in the tournament against Willie Burton and Minnesota. Consider this a teaser for tomorrow’s article……it will be a Wednesday Ranking for college basketball linking in 1990. 1990 was the year when mall hair was in, Quantum Leap was a top television show, Kathy Bates won an Oscar for best actress in Misery, and the Dow was at 2,600.

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