"Good teams win. Bad teams have meetings. We are at the point where we are having a lot of meetings." -Ozzie Guillen, last week
Mike Maddux when asked about his career as a "journeyman" pitcher: "Journeyman? How about competitor."
Late Sunday morning, I officially fired myself from John Curran, Inc. Those of you who know me, know that I fire myself frequently, if not weekly. I am in constant search of trying to re-invent the way I do things in order to become a better, happier, more productive person. This firing is a little more severe than most of them. I am failing in pretty much every area of my life, and have been for the whole summer. So this firing comes at a good time. It is a good chance to take a step back, and start creating some opportunities to do better. It's June 15th, and I have a lot to get done.
I have had some time to think and the itch to get into coaching at a high level has really began to build in my mind. I have a lot of interests. I have a lot of passion for a variety of things. I want to do and experience a lot of different areas of this life. But I think more than anything, I have an ability and expertise to think about the games of football and basketball and teach them in a unique way. And I think the passion that I practiced and played and thought with with for many, many years of my life can be a positive thing for me to impart on others.
It's a really hard thing to do, to look yourself in the mirror and answer the question: what do I want to get up and do everyday for the rest of my life? It is something that I think most of us battle with everyday. It's hard. But it's fucking 2009. You should be able to find something that you love and have passion for. And you should do it. End of story. It takes patience and passion. And if for one second, your passion wavers; it's over. But I think more than anything, it's about working hard and having patience. And I'm currently working towards both. And I urge all of you who read this, to continue to discover what you love, and work your ass off to try to accomplish the things you want to do, whether its a weekly goal, a summer goal or the foundation of a lifelong career.
The Hangover
The Hangover was fucking awesome right? I mean, whether it surpassed your expectations, or fell below your expectations, it's pretty fuckin' pointless to debate it. It was classic. I laughed my ass off. It was well done. Bradley Cooper, who would have thought? Surprisingly strong. Zach Gallafanakis was great. Surprising you haven't seen more of him. From what I know about him, I think he enjoys the role of "yea, I'm funny as hell, but I'm not really gonna sell out and do stupid movies, I'm just gonna kinda lay low and be really funny, and if you see me do stand-up or know me, then that's great" The great Ed Helms, or Andy Bernard from The Office played a nice role. It was a fun movie. I'm not gonna critique it because it would take too long. But if you wanna sit down and have a couple beers, we can go over it. How does that movie go if Vince Vaughn was Phil, Will Ferrell was Allen, Ben Stiller was Stu, and Luke Wilson was Doug? Just a thought.
The Duel Finale
My buddy Danny is a major proponent of MTV's Real World Road Rules The Duel. So the culmination of "The Duel 2" marked another great moment in TV history. The Duel and everything that is involved in that social experiment would take more than a night and a couple beers to go over. This show is really one of the petri dish's of modern time. So much going on. You have 28 terrible, terrible people all living in one house, playing some of the stupidest games ever. Betrayals. Hookups. Stupidity. Getting blackout drunk every night. Hookups. It's a ridiculous proposition. But it works. And in the the end, Evan and Rachel came out on top after a grueling 3 hour hike up and down New Zealand to take home $100, 000 each pre-tax. This is enjoyable to watch. I think for me at least, it reaffirms that yes, I am a good person. And no matter how bad things get, it could be worse, I could be Brad from Real World San Diego. My favorite part of the season, for all of you who might catch it on a marathon re-run, is when Evan goes on a minute and a half soliloquy about "how this show is all he has." It's classic.
Shaq to the Cavs
I wrote about this at the trade deadline. I thought the Cavs should have done what they needed to do to bring in Shaq in February, to prepare for a stretch run to the NBA Finals. I thought if they would have brought the Diesel in, that it would have been a done deal. With the way our perimeter was playing at the time, having a guy like Shaq for May and June would have been great. He could have created some resistance from what we then thought would be KG and then later Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. But they just couldn't part ways with Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic and JJ Hickson.
This week there has been some buzz about putting the negotiations back on the table, and bringing in Shaq to try to get us over the hump in the East. They should be talking about things like that. It's June. It's their fucking job. For me, I like it, but most of me thinks it a "day late and a dollar short" proposition. I don't think, after watching the Magic just dismantle from every angle, that an aging center, albeit a top 5 center of all time, is gonna be the answer to our problems. We need better players. We need more talented players. We need guys who are gonna play well in the playoffs for us. And why slow down? I mean, whether you love or hate Charles Barkley, he's been consistent in his analysis of "I think the Cavs need to speed up and play faster." He's been saying that for 4 years. Shaq makes you way slower. Way slower. So there is an issue there. I dunno. I loved it in February. But that was lifetimes ago. I liked it when I saw on the bottom line the other day. But there is definitely some negatives that come with bringing in an old overpaid, slow player, who is gonna demand a lot of touches and slow the game down to a standstill. I have turned my brain off with the Cavs for a little bit. I haven't given what they are gonna do this offseason much thought. It will heat up again as we approach free agency in early and mid July. I only have one guy who I would like to bring in on my mind right now: "Captain Jack." AKA Stephen Jackson. I would die to have that guy on the Cavs. Especially with how close we are right now to really win a title. I want a mean, mean person who takes the game very seriously and isn't afraid to take a suspension at any given moment. He knows how to play and the game means a lot to him. He plays to put food on the table for his family. Let's not forget that this guy is crazy good, and can really shoot the ball from 3. He seems to have the balls to make a clutch 3 in the playoffs. He did it for the Spurs on a championship team. In fantasy terms, you see this guy a couple times a week go for 29, 9, 9,2. He can be machine like offensively. He gets streaky. But lets also not forget that aside from being crazy good, he is also CRAZY!
Leo
Lastly, Leonardo Dicaprio dumped his model girlfriend Bar Rafaeli last week. Really gotta feel for the guy. Guy has had some bad luck with women. The last two girlfriends he has sent packing have been Gisele and Bar. I am putting the over under on July 15 before he is banging Megan Fox. Is there a Vegas line for that? Cause I bet the line on that bet is 1:2 by now. Megan Fox goes into this huge diatribe in GQ about how she'll only date older men. And like clockwork, LD drops one of the hottest chicks on the planet. The stars are aligning Megan. What a world!
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