Wednesday, June 16, 2004
EVERYBODY GOT WHAT THEY WANTED
So now that the Lakers have been vanquished in the NBA finals, everybody has come crawling out of the woodwork proclaiming the Pistons victory as an additional victory of "teamwork over individualism" as it says here in today's New Republic.
First of all, I thought TNR was a political rag. What's the matter, not enough on the campaign trail to chew over? Secondly, the Lakers got beat, so what? So they have a crappy disappointing team? Good god people, this is the FINALS! What the Rockets, Spurs, Timberwolves, Mavericks, Pacers and Kings wouldn't give to have been there. So the Lakers ran out of gas, so what? They're still a great team. I don't know if they have the capability to bounce back. We'll see. That's the excitement of it all. You never quite know what the hell is going to happen.
You know, the NY Yankees haven't won a world championship since 2000 and they've been defeated in the World Series two times running, last year by the similarly unheralded Florida Marlins. But you don't hear anybody dismissing the Yankees chances this year, or any year for that matter.
And, really, considering that the Marlins, and the Anaheim Angels the year before, and the Tampa Bay Bucs the year before, and almost the Carolina Panthers this year, and almost the Mighty Ducks last year, should I go on?, have all been scrappy teams that have gone all the way or almost, is it really all that surprising the Pistons won? I mean, good for them! This year they are the champions. They deserved it. Scrappy teams do that, sometimes they make good, and it seems in all sports this has been happening with increasing regularity.
And, anyhow, for all the people who point to acquiring Malone and Payton as some kind of fiendish plot to keep the Lakers on top of the heap for eternity, it should be pointed out that if the Pistons hadn't stolen Rasheed Wallace from Portland at mid-season they wouldn't have been in this position in the first place. I don't hear anyone boo-hooing about the Pistons doing this.
So the Lakers came up a little short this year, so what? They'll be back, and they'll still be my team and I will still root for them and I bet you that next year will find them on top of the heap as usual, Laker haters notwithstanding. Yeesh, get a life.
So now that the Lakers have been vanquished in the NBA finals, everybody has come crawling out of the woodwork proclaiming the Pistons victory as an additional victory of "teamwork over individualism" as it says here in today's New Republic.
First of all, I thought TNR was a political rag. What's the matter, not enough on the campaign trail to chew over? Secondly, the Lakers got beat, so what? So they have a crappy disappointing team? Good god people, this is the FINALS! What the Rockets, Spurs, Timberwolves, Mavericks, Pacers and Kings wouldn't give to have been there. So the Lakers ran out of gas, so what? They're still a great team. I don't know if they have the capability to bounce back. We'll see. That's the excitement of it all. You never quite know what the hell is going to happen.
You know, the NY Yankees haven't won a world championship since 2000 and they've been defeated in the World Series two times running, last year by the similarly unheralded Florida Marlins. But you don't hear anybody dismissing the Yankees chances this year, or any year for that matter.
And, really, considering that the Marlins, and the Anaheim Angels the year before, and the Tampa Bay Bucs the year before, and almost the Carolina Panthers this year, and almost the Mighty Ducks last year, should I go on?, have all been scrappy teams that have gone all the way or almost, is it really all that surprising the Pistons won? I mean, good for them! This year they are the champions. They deserved it. Scrappy teams do that, sometimes they make good, and it seems in all sports this has been happening with increasing regularity.
And, anyhow, for all the people who point to acquiring Malone and Payton as some kind of fiendish plot to keep the Lakers on top of the heap for eternity, it should be pointed out that if the Pistons hadn't stolen Rasheed Wallace from Portland at mid-season they wouldn't have been in this position in the first place. I don't hear anyone boo-hooing about the Pistons doing this.
So the Lakers came up a little short this year, so what? They'll be back, and they'll still be my team and I will still root for them and I bet you that next year will find them on top of the heap as usual, Laker haters notwithstanding. Yeesh, get a life.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
I'M BACK!
I been gone for a while. I was, uh, mowing the lawn. Yeah, that's the ticket!
Well, several months have passed and I'm still not a household name. I've been writing mostly incendiary band commentary for months now and I've boxed myself into a corner because I have nowhere to discuss my most personal thoughts.
For instance, it may be interesting for most people to know that I am, in fact, going completely out of my mind at present. It's true. I mean, I've always been pretty much nutso but in the last few months this somewhat comfortable madness has given way to an obsession almost unprecedented in my life. And I'm feeling pinched financially, which is saying something, because I've always been sorta broke. Now I feel like I'm one step away from being homeless broke and it's all because I refuse to give up the ghost on the whole art/music thing. It's made me incredibly lazy. I almost had a job last spring but that didn't happen.
Then things just started happening. Like my cat, Kitty, I had to take her to the vet so she could get all of her teeth pulled out. Poor thing, but she's doing way better now. Then the other day, as I was munching on a pretzel on the bus, I felt something hard inside my mouth and it turns out it was part of my own tooth, one of the back ones. It wasn't a filling or a crown or anything, just part of a tooth. I don't have a toothache and I can still eat all kinds of food, but you know that an expensive and mandatory visit to the dentist is waiting for me at the end of all this.
Guess I shouldn't have been eating on the bus.
Got my electricity shut off one day this month too, but we got it back on before the food spoiled.
What else can I whine about? Well, plenty, but I'll save it for next time!
I been gone for a while. I was, uh, mowing the lawn. Yeah, that's the ticket!
Well, several months have passed and I'm still not a household name. I've been writing mostly incendiary band commentary for months now and I've boxed myself into a corner because I have nowhere to discuss my most personal thoughts.
For instance, it may be interesting for most people to know that I am, in fact, going completely out of my mind at present. It's true. I mean, I've always been pretty much nutso but in the last few months this somewhat comfortable madness has given way to an obsession almost unprecedented in my life. And I'm feeling pinched financially, which is saying something, because I've always been sorta broke. Now I feel like I'm one step away from being homeless broke and it's all because I refuse to give up the ghost on the whole art/music thing. It's made me incredibly lazy. I almost had a job last spring but that didn't happen.
Then things just started happening. Like my cat, Kitty, I had to take her to the vet so she could get all of her teeth pulled out. Poor thing, but she's doing way better now. Then the other day, as I was munching on a pretzel on the bus, I felt something hard inside my mouth and it turns out it was part of my own tooth, one of the back ones. It wasn't a filling or a crown or anything, just part of a tooth. I don't have a toothache and I can still eat all kinds of food, but you know that an expensive and mandatory visit to the dentist is waiting for me at the end of all this.
Guess I shouldn't have been eating on the bus.
Got my electricity shut off one day this month too, but we got it back on before the food spoiled.
What else can I whine about? Well, plenty, but I'll save it for next time!
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