The deep freeze continues here in the Midwest. Seems like its never going to end. You can completely understand why people live out West and hate the cold. There is literally nothing fun about 8 degrees and clouds. I've got a few briefs comments on various subjects today.
1. By now, I'm sure you have heard the comments by Senator Joe Biden regarding Barack Obama. Earlier this week, Biden announced he was going to run for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008, something he had been denying for months. I actually like Biden and his views. But he might as well drop out now. He made a classic mistake and put his foot in his mouth with this comment about Obama running for President: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Now I think I understand what he was saying, but out of context, it looks so bad. In speaking about this with a well respected NBA GM over email, he said there is nothing worse than going to the "articulate card" to describe a Black man. Ever heard a white guy described as "well-spoken?" In the meantime, Biden has tried to cover himself, but its to no avail. All you have to do is do a little digging and you can find another classic Biden quote from last summer when he told an Indian-American man "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent." Yikes. Not only has he shot himself in the foot, he essentially killed his own nomination chances in his first day.
2. From the "athletes who don't know ho good they have it" file: Chicago Bulls Rookie Forward Tyrus Thomas was asked to participate in next weekend Slam Dunk contest at NBA All star weekend in Las Vegas. So to start off, he gets a free trip to Vegas. He was the #2 pick in the draft so he has a guaranteed $12-$15 million coming to him no matter what comes of his NBA career. He gets a minimum of $16,500 just for participating in the Dunk Contest. Thomas was quoted in Tuesday's editions of the Chicago Tribune as saying: "I'm just going to go out there, get my check and call it a day." When asked if being around some of the game's greats could be beneficial for a rookie, he responded, "I'm just into the free money. That's it. I'll just do whatever when I get out there." Talk about another case of a selfish, spoiled brat NBA player who doesn't know how good he has it. Since Thomas' comments hit the papers, the media both national and local has jumped all over him. The local Bulls beat reporters have all come out of the woodwork talking about how aloof he is towards the press and how immature he is. Check out this doozy from the Daily Southtown: On several occasions in the locker room this season, I have seen or heard Thomas mimic the media while embarrassed teammates roll their eyes. Along those lines, ex-Bulls star Scottie Pippen recently told me that the kid had a long, long way to go to become a mature professional.
Several times Bulls head coach Scott Skiles has mentioned that Thomas leaves something to be desired in the way of stamina and practice habits. Don't be surprised. This is the same guy who begged out of a pre-draft workout at the Berto Center because of a tummy ache.
Then there was this doozy while Thomas was in New York to attend a pre-draft function last spring.
It seems that Thomas and a few league executives cabbed it to a hotel. Upon their arrival, Thomas actually expected them to take care of his luggage.
"The league execs couldn't believe it," the source said. "They were like, 'You expect us to do what? Take your own (darn) bags.' The guy turned off a lot of people even before he played a game."
This gives even more credence to Charles Barkley's famous "I am not a role model" statement from years back. Sir Charles is right. Athletes, especially brats like Thomas, should not be looked upon as role models to America's youth. I used to not care one bit about this kind of stuff, but now that I am about to be a dad, I look at guys like Terrell Owens, Thomas, etc as nothing more than clowns.
3. When I grew up, I was a pretty good athlete. Then college hit and I traded in jump shots for bong hits. All of a sudden I became lazy. I still played occasional pickup hoops games and post college I played softball. I cannot believe I let myself get so lazy and out of shape. So in the meantime, I have picked back up playing tennis. While I really enjoying playing now, I find myself right back being as competitive as I always was. Sure, this is ok. But last night I played tennis with my mom and found myself a little too excited about beating a 60 year old woman in tennis 6-3, 6-1. My mom is pretty good and we have solid rally's. I'm starting to round back into my old form. Never thought I would love playing tennis this much again. I quit as a Junior in high school and didn't pick up a racket again until two summers ago when we were back up at Robin Hood, my overnight camp.
4. Man, has life changed. I just finished on the phone with my life insurance agent, the great Ryan Novak himself, and finalized my plan. I met with a financial planner to invest my rollover 401K money from my old job which had been sitting doing nothing for a few years and discussed opening up a 529 plan for our child's college money. Its becoming clearer and clearer that life is no longer about just me, its about my child first. I totally get it and its important to have everything in order, especially before the big day comes. But its just amazing to think about where I was in life 10 years ago. A couple of weeks ago when my friends went back to Lawrence for the weekend, Sean, Nancy, Buatch, and Sara went into our old Freshman year dorm, Naismith Hall. Sean ended up going into his old room and he couldn't believe how small it was. When the girls who lived there asked him when he lived there, he said "1994." That was 13 years ago! Talk about depressing.
5. I got my new license plates in the mail the other day...no, they didn't say "ASSMAN" like Kramer's did, but they are pretty legit. Check out the photo.
1. By now, I'm sure you have heard the comments by Senator Joe Biden regarding Barack Obama. Earlier this week, Biden announced he was going to run for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008, something he had been denying for months. I actually like Biden and his views. But he might as well drop out now. He made a classic mistake and put his foot in his mouth with this comment about Obama running for President: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Now I think I understand what he was saying, but out of context, it looks so bad. In speaking about this with a well respected NBA GM over email, he said there is nothing worse than going to the "articulate card" to describe a Black man. Ever heard a white guy described as "well-spoken?" In the meantime, Biden has tried to cover himself, but its to no avail. All you have to do is do a little digging and you can find another classic Biden quote from last summer when he told an Indian-American man "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent." Yikes. Not only has he shot himself in the foot, he essentially killed his own nomination chances in his first day.
2. From the "athletes who don't know ho good they have it" file: Chicago Bulls Rookie Forward Tyrus Thomas was asked to participate in next weekend Slam Dunk contest at NBA All star weekend in Las Vegas. So to start off, he gets a free trip to Vegas. He was the #2 pick in the draft so he has a guaranteed $12-$15 million coming to him no matter what comes of his NBA career. He gets a minimum of $16,500 just for participating in the Dunk Contest. Thomas was quoted in Tuesday's editions of the Chicago Tribune as saying: "I'm just going to go out there, get my check and call it a day." When asked if being around some of the game's greats could be beneficial for a rookie, he responded, "I'm just into the free money. That's it. I'll just do whatever when I get out there." Talk about another case of a selfish, spoiled brat NBA player who doesn't know how good he has it. Since Thomas' comments hit the papers, the media both national and local has jumped all over him. The local Bulls beat reporters have all come out of the woodwork talking about how aloof he is towards the press and how immature he is. Check out this doozy from the Daily Southtown: On several occasions in the locker room this season, I have seen or heard Thomas mimic the media while embarrassed teammates roll their eyes. Along those lines, ex-Bulls star Scottie Pippen recently told me that the kid had a long, long way to go to become a mature professional.
Several times Bulls head coach Scott Skiles has mentioned that Thomas leaves something to be desired in the way of stamina and practice habits. Don't be surprised. This is the same guy who begged out of a pre-draft workout at the Berto Center because of a tummy ache.
Then there was this doozy while Thomas was in New York to attend a pre-draft function last spring.
It seems that Thomas and a few league executives cabbed it to a hotel. Upon their arrival, Thomas actually expected them to take care of his luggage.
"The league execs couldn't believe it," the source said. "They were like, 'You expect us to do what? Take your own (darn) bags.' The guy turned off a lot of people even before he played a game."
This gives even more credence to Charles Barkley's famous "I am not a role model" statement from years back. Sir Charles is right. Athletes, especially brats like Thomas, should not be looked upon as role models to America's youth. I used to not care one bit about this kind of stuff, but now that I am about to be a dad, I look at guys like Terrell Owens, Thomas, etc as nothing more than clowns.
3. When I grew up, I was a pretty good athlete. Then college hit and I traded in jump shots for bong hits. All of a sudden I became lazy. I still played occasional pickup hoops games and post college I played softball. I cannot believe I let myself get so lazy and out of shape. So in the meantime, I have picked back up playing tennis. While I really enjoying playing now, I find myself right back being as competitive as I always was. Sure, this is ok. But last night I played tennis with my mom and found myself a little too excited about beating a 60 year old woman in tennis 6-3, 6-1. My mom is pretty good and we have solid rally's. I'm starting to round back into my old form. Never thought I would love playing tennis this much again. I quit as a Junior in high school and didn't pick up a racket again until two summers ago when we were back up at Robin Hood, my overnight camp.
4. Man, has life changed. I just finished on the phone with my life insurance agent, the great Ryan Novak himself, and finalized my plan. I met with a financial planner to invest my rollover 401K money from my old job which had been sitting doing nothing for a few years and discussed opening up a 529 plan for our child's college money. Its becoming clearer and clearer that life is no longer about just me, its about my child first. I totally get it and its important to have everything in order, especially before the big day comes. But its just amazing to think about where I was in life 10 years ago. A couple of weeks ago when my friends went back to Lawrence for the weekend, Sean, Nancy, Buatch, and Sara went into our old Freshman year dorm, Naismith Hall. Sean ended up going into his old room and he couldn't believe how small it was. When the girls who lived there asked him when he lived there, he said "1994." That was 13 years ago! Talk about depressing.
5. I got my new license plates in the mail the other day...no, they didn't say "ASSMAN" like Kramer's did, but they are pretty legit. Check out the photo.
6. What's with these new wave of celebs who are famous just for beig famous. Paris Hilton is the originator of this, but who are these other people and when can they just leave us alone. Who is Kim Kardashian? Ok she's hot, her dad was one of OJ's lawyers, and she has a sex tape coming out, but why do I know all of this stuff about her? Cisco Adler? I'll give you a million dollars if you can tell me why this guy is famous? Other than being in some lame band his claim to fame is being Mr. Mischa Barton, late of The O.C. and doesn't seem to be doing anything other than shopping on Robertson. Nicole Richie? I've had enough of her and her eating disorders. What about Brandon Davis? Who is low class loser? He literally is a nobody, yet is always around the tabloid news. For more on these losers, I've got to prop up one of my favorite celeb sites Bricks and Stones. Its a great site.
Song of the Day: "Keep it Moving by A Tribe Called Quest
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