Basketball's Howard Roark

NBA, NHL or NFL?

2008-05-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

I received this in my inbox. Generally I tire of these forwards, but the end of this one upset me so I figured I'd post it...

NBA, NHL, OR NFL?

36 have been accused of spousal abuse

7 have been arrested for fraud

19 have been accused of writing bad checks

117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses

3 have done time for assault

71, repeat 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit

14 have been arrested on drug-related charges

8 have been arrested for shoplifting

21 currently are defendants in lawsuits
and

84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is?
NBA, NHL or NFL ?

Give up yet? . . .
Scroll down,

NONE,
it's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group of idiots that crank out hundreds of new laws each yeardesigned to keep the rest of us in line.

You gotta pass this one on!

AND THEY JUST VOTED THEMSELVES A $15,000 PER MONTH PENSION FOR LIFE AFTER SERVING ONLY ONE TERM IN CONGRESS !!!

I dislike politicians because they are so insincere. They act as if they have a noble cause and they represent the working class, but they make gross amounts of money during and after their terms. The dollar is at an all-time low and gas costs $4.09 a gallon in San Diego and now each Congressmen gets $15,000/month for life. No wonder our economy sucks. Talk about a drain on the system. So much for serving the country.

What's the point of business?

2008-05-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Clearly, I do not understand business and have no formal business training. However, I clicked on an article about Yahoo and read this:

"Clearly there's frustration," said Darren Chervitz, co-manager of the Jacob Internet Fund, which owns Yahoo stock. "I am not even sure if Yahoo cares about its shareholders because they didn't show much regard for shareholders' best interests in this process."

I did not know the entire point of developing a business was to care about shareholder interest. I prefer Amazon's Jeff Bezos' outlook in an interview with Business Week:

Q: But don't you have an obligation to keep the stock from sinking?A: We don't claim that our long-term approach is the right approach. We just claim it's ours. Our approach has been to be as clear as we can be about what kind of company we are and let investors choose.

Novel. Build your company and allow those who like it or believe in it invest, rather than running a company for investors. I also liked one comment Bezos made about innovation:

I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you're going to innovate. That's actually a serious point. If you're going to do something that's never been done before—which is basically what innovation is—people are going to misunderstand it just because it's new.

Considering that I have seen posts criticizing Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development as both pro-AAU and anti-AAU (for what it's worth, AAU felt it was anti-AAU), I understand being misunderstood.

Movies

2008-05-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

In the last two weeks, I saw Lions for Lambs on a flight and The Visitor in the theatre. I really liked both movies.

My favorite part of the movies was that they ended. Aristotle wrote in Poetics that a story has a beginning, middle and an end. Unfortunately, most mainstream movies do not end. They drag on and tie-up loose bits or provide a more "satisfying" conclusion.

Lions for Lambs and The Visitor ended on time. Each had a well-crafted beginning, middle and end. They did not continue for the same of adding minutes to the running time or a more cheerful conclusion.

In many cases, American movies continue past their ending because the consumer equates quantity with value. Since the price is the same, do we see a one-hour movie or a 100-minute movie? Often, the longer movie wins; however, what if the shorter movie provides a higher quality story with no extra filling, while the longer movie adds a bunch of filler to extend the running time? I would rather see a one-hour well-made film than a 100-movie with dead spots, but many consumers disagree.

And, this affects numerous products, not just movies. Too often, we value quantity over quality, so we get bigger, longer, heavier products with less quality. We buy the 96-ounce Big Gulp not because we want 96-ounces of pop, but because it is a bigger value.

Costco and other supper retailers have changed our perception of value. Value is getting what you want, not getting the absolute most for the lowest price. A fine steak costs more than ground beef. If I can get three times as much ground beef as steak for the same price, we feel it is a value. However, if I really want a steak, and it is fairly priced, is settling for more of a cheaper product really value?

Meetings and Bureaucracy

2008-05-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

I exchanged emails with a parent frustratedwith her daughter's school which asks for certain requirements from its students, but then makes it near impossible to complete the requirements by doing something original.

I echoed her frustration with my personal frustrations from my employment history. When I worked for a non-profit, we wasted oodles of time and money. It depressed me to the point that I quit a job that paid me far more than I deserved to do far less than needed to be done.

I drove two hours from my office to the headquarters for meetings (more in traffic), as did many of the other managers. In the meetings, we accomplished virtually nothing. Everyone just talked a little, we offered an idea or two that would be tabled for another time, the V.P. gave us instructions and we left. Because my office was technically three hours away, I could get a hotel room and leave the next day. So, I spent a 9-hour day and accomplished nothing plus drove a couple hundred miles ad spentthe night in a hotel. These meetings had to cost several thousand dollars in man power and expenses and never accomplished anything.

I do not mind work, but I do not like jobs. I figure I spend more time working than many people with "real" jobs and would probably pay the resnt easier if I took a "real" job, dressed in a suit and attended meetings. I just can't do it. I can't bite my tongue sitting around while people who can't figure things out try to figure things out.

I was fired from a camp one summer because I refused to attend the meetings in the morning. I stayed on the court and worked with a player for an extra half-hour. The first couple days, I attended the meetings. The leader passed out the schedule. Thn, he read the schedule out loud to us. I told him that I was literate and did not need my hand held and I could better use my time to help players get better, which, I suppose, is the reason kids go to camp. He told me I was wrong, that the meetings were important and if I thought otherwise I could leave. I thought otherwise. I do not like to associate with people who steal money legally while wasting time. The camp made no efforts to help the players, lied on their brochures, etc. They are, as for as I know, out of business now. They felt their morning get togethers were the coaches BS'd with each other were more important than helping players. I couldn't take it.

Fast Company has an interesing article this month which says that the way to "go green" is to reduce the work week by a day. I argue thatpeople I know with "jobs" waste a majority of their working time anyway, so I see no problem. My friend told me there is a business rule that basically says that if you have 40 hours to work, you'll create 40 hours of work. he used this to justify college coaching as a full-time job, which I have a hard time believing. So, if people knew they hd a 32-hour work week, they could accomplsih the same work, they'd just do it more efficiently.

South Africa

2008-04-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

I went to the UCLA Festival of Books today and one of the sponsors was the South African Tourism Board. I went by their booth.

I have been to South Africa twice. Cape Town is my favorite city in the world. This is a picture of me after hiking to the top of Lion's Head in the middle of Cape Town.

So, at the booth, there was not a single picture, word, document or otherwise which showed anything but lions and safaris. I have been to South Africa twice and I have not seen a lion or been on a safari (our van was chased by an ostrich, however).

I don't know why, but the booth offended me, as someone who loves the people and the vibe of South Africa. It was like the people and the cities did not even matter and the country only served as a gateway to a giant zoo.

Just...

2008-04-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

I visited an old friends the other day, but he dropped the "J" word in our conversation.

Why don't you "just" do...It seems my lifestyle and career ambitions are difficult for many to stomach and they would prefer to see someone settle for a career path with more security and fewer challenges, opportunities and fun.

Why? I'm not saying my way of life is better than any other or that it is for everyone. But, personally, I have a hard time rationalizing "just" doing anything. Besides maybe sleeping, people spend more time working than doing anything else. If your job takes up that much time, why would you not want to do something which motivates, inspires and challenges you?

I understand family obligations, saving for retirement and making prudent financial decisions. But, I don't understand sacrificing years 30-60 to live the good life from 60-death. I am of the "4-hour workweek" crowd that aims to live the good life throughout, mixing mini-retirements (a nice way of saving time of unemployment for me) with steady employment (usually with professional basketball clubs in Europe).

I have a friend who was recently laid off and even though he has a couple months severance, he is paranoid about finding a job. He has two projects that he has tried to pursue hile working for the last two years, one a business and the other a movie script. I tried to get him to go for one or both during the time his severance covers, but he is so worried about finding a job that he won't even try.

My dad said to me a couple years ago that jobs won't find you, you have to apply. But, nearly every job I have had in the last five years has found me or I have created on my own. I use my time of unemployment to lay the groundwork for something new. I used to spend entire days looking for jobs and it was fruitless. Now, I don't really look, but instead try to create different revenue streams. I don't "just" want to take a job. I want to pursue things that interest and challenge me.

I have four businesses in various stages of development, a re-write of a book and am writing a documentary. I trust that these will bring in more income than spending my time looking for a job. I could be wrong and I could end up poor or working until I die while my friends enjoy the fruits of their retirement packages. Who knows? But, at least I do things my way rather than giving into the J (Just) word.

Read and React Clinic

2008-04-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I am speaking to coaches in Montreal, Canada. Day 1 is for the coaches of players aged 9 to 14 and Day 2 is for coaches of players aged 15 to 21. I have never been to Canada and hear Montreal is a great city, so I am looking forward to the opportunity. If you're in the area, the information for the clinic can be found here.

EDIT: Clinic was great and Montreal is a great city.

Basketball Books

2008-01-24T11:56:00.000-08:00

Available through Lulu Press.

UCLA: Champions Made Here

2007-03-01T15:07:00.000-08:00

Andre Agassi: Living Legend

2005-09-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

If you aren't watching tennis this week, you are missing a seriously unbelievable tournament. I never liked tennis until a couple years ago; only started playing because it gave me something to do on dates with my girlfriend. Now, I love the game. And, Andre Agassi is probably my favorite athlete ever.

In a game dominated by tough serving, he survives as a returner. He outplays players 10 years his junior and moves around the court like a jack rabbit.

And, for anyone looking for basketball cross training, tennis might be the best possible sport to use. The lateral movement, quick starts and stops, crossover steps, etc. are very similar to those in basketball.

Today may go down as one of the greatest days in American tennis history (well, on the men's side). Robby Genepri won a five set thriller against Guillermo Coria; both players hit unbelievable shots and returned everything. Rallies that seemed over continued for three or four more shots. In the evening, Agassi defeated James Blake in an epic battle that ended in a fifth set tiebreak. Again, both players simply got to balls that were ungettable and hit improbable winners. Even in defeat, Blake smiled, knowing Agassi had pushed him to his best.

In this sense, these matches truly defined competition, which derives from Latin roots which mean "to seek together." In these matches, the competition between Ginepri/Coria and Agassi/Blake truly brought out the best in each player, as competition originally intended.

Ginepri plays Agassi on Saturday. I highly recommend it.