Too Small? Maybe

Chris Palmer of ESPN has brought up the question that Team USA might be too small. You would think with guys like Lebron James 6'8'' 250lbs, Kevin Durant 6'9'' 235lbs, and Carmelo 6'8'' 230lbs, all playing a mix of small forward, shooting guard, and power forward the team would be considered enormous.

The problem is with the actual power forwards and centers on the team. Tyson Chandler measures out 7'1'' 240lbs, Kevin Love is 6'10''260lbs, and Anthony Davis (who I didn't even know of before this) is 6'10'' 220lbs. The team drops off sharply after that. If you look at what could have been it starts to become more apparent for what we are lacking.

The team could have included a few of the following big guys:
 Amare Stoudamire 6'11'' 260
Dwight Howard 6'11'' 265
Andrew Bynum 7'0'' 285
Tim Duncan 6'11'' 255
Roy Hibbert 7'2'' 265
Lamarcus Aldridge 6'11'' 240
Blake Griffin 6'11'' 251

 I am not saying that defensive player of the year Tyson Chandler is not deserving, but considering the level of talent at the other 4 positions, talent at the bigs drops off a cliff. With respect to most of the teams in the tournament the US will not need these big guys. Lebron, Durant, and Carmelo will be able to rebound and and play defense on enough Centers and PF from other countries to win. BUT, and this is a big BUT, if they run into a healthy Spain, they may be in for a long night. Spain cannot keep up with the USA at the PG, SG, or SF positions. The US has the best set of players at those positions ever assembled, but at the PF and C positions the USA is at a stark disadvantage. Pau and his brother are too big, too long, and too skilled for the US players. Tyson Chandler will get in foul trouble, probably early. This puts Lebron/Durant/Melo gaurding Gasol while Love will be tasked with defending the much larger Marc Gasol. Thats just at the defensive end, on the offensive end, they will have to deal with potentially three big men in the paint and Serge Ibaka the leading shot blocker in front of the rim (given in international play you can play zone). I think this is a tough match up for the US if they can't get stops and get out in transition. Durant and Deron Williams will need to hit threes, while Lebron and Kobe make plays.

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OKC and Miami

What an NBA finals, it has been a back and forth series so far.  Miami stole game two, barely hung on last night.  Lebron has been having, statistically, good performances. Durant is exactly what we thought he was going to be, and by that I mean a scoring machine.  The only things that seem to slow Durant down are Russell Westbrook and the officials.

Not to harp on officials, as I used to be one, but there is no other person in professional sports that can push an agenda quite like an NBA official.  They have complete freedom to bend, the already gumby like, rules to their liking, and no one is better at this than Joey Crawford.  If you don't believe me, maybe you remember this:

  

Mr. Crawford isn't wrong in how he implements the rules, just as a cop that gives you a ticket for 1 MPH over the speed limit isn't technically wrong.  He is wrong however in how his calls give direct advantage to another team.  The beauty of an 82 game season is that Lebron and Durant see a multitude of referee's over the entire season.  Some will give Lebron and Wade those ticky tack fouls that send them parading to the line, some however will not, but over an entire season it averages out.  However, in the Finals it can give a team a dramatic advantage over another and sustain that advantage forcing the team to make adjustments.

Watching the series, so far two things have become incredibly apparent:

1) Russell needs to get his in transition or when he has a match-up advantage.  He is not good functioning in the half-court offense and keeps the ball out of Durant's hands.  The Thunder also need to do a better job of forcing it to Durant when the offense is set, this forces Lebron to play defense on Durant, and honestly he can't keep getting away with what he has been.

That leads me to my second point.

2) The officiating needs to get better.  Its the true sign of a homer when you start complaining about the officials, but the Thunder are being forced out of their game because they DO NOT get calls when they drive the lane, and the Heat DO get calls when they drive the lane.  This changes everything, because now your shot blockers are pointless because breathing on Wade or James is an automatic foul.

I suggest that the NBA needs to rotate officials during the Finals, because otherwise it can give one team or another a distinct advantage over the course of the series.


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The Elephant in the Corner

After reading the morning shift on one of my favorite blog sites Jalopnik, I was startled by a piece of information.  "The median family net worth in the United States is down to the levels of the 1990s."  Well that sucks.  I am not very surprised considering we are in the middle (or beginning) of a recession, and there has not been any good news about the global economy in years.  But, this does point out a major problem I see in the economic future.  


I'll start by explaining that this is all the Baby Boomers faults.  They decided that having 10 children was a great idea, and it can be when you are trying to grow a work force, but other generations pay the price.  Namely, my generation.  We are one of the upcoming generations that will pay into social security but we won't see a dime of it.  Basically we are paying to take care of other people on the vague promise that one day someone will take care of us.  Well they won't. 


What problem does this cause?  Well first of all, we are in lean times, which means wages are down but prices are up on almost everything but houses.  That combined with the fact that we have to start thinking about retirement at a much earlier age, and we have to pay into social security means that our wages are garnished even further.  Don't get me wrong I believe that planning for retirement early is great and a lot of our older generations would have been better served to plan early.  But, wage matching programs are more of a hindrance than a help.  Just pay me my damn money, don't fool me into thinking that I'm getting a bonus by differing 5% of paycheck so that you'll match some of it according to some mathematical equation that involves Sine and Cosine. 


What has happened is that more wages are being differed until later, and more wages are being taken out earlier.  This reduces the amount of take home income a person has.  It also reduces the amount of investments that a person can make.


We are heading towards an inevitable dead end.  Student loans will eventually bust as older people are working longer thus there are less jobs.  Everything is becoming more expensive, including groceries, gas, bills, etc. reducing the amount of available income.  The housing market is royally fucked because the only ones that can afford to buy are investors keeping good homes out of hard working peoples hands.


I don't know what the solution to the problem is, but I do know that there are far more problems than people are alluding to. Maybe instead of businesses and the government trying to reduce salaries, maybe they should try to increase them and quit bitching about how the budget sucks and no one wants to work (in fact no one does want to work for peanuts).  

How to Prevent Future T.O.'s

Recently it came out that T.O. (Terrel Owens) is broke.  Not, I can't save for retirement broke, we are talking broke broke.  As in, I no longer have the 30 million that I earned broke.

He's not the first athlete to have this happen to him.  I mean it's prevalent in boxing, but it's also prevalent in the NFL, and honestly it shouldn't be that big of a problem.  The league minimum is over $300,000, thats more than most doctors make in a year, but somehow the players that make 10 million a year keep ending up poor half a decade after they retire.

I know that the league covers money management in rookie camps and the players agents are supposed to help when it comes to financial planning.  But, try telling a person with a god complex that they can't spend their money on that Ferrari because they are one knee injury away from losing their house. It won't go over well.  These are kids straight out of school (that they didn't even attend class at), and you expect them to be financially sound when you hand them millions.

I propose that the league differs 40% of a players paycheck until after they have retired for 5 years.  This would do two things.  One, it would reduce the amount of money that players are given initially, forcing them to adhere to a more stringent budget (ya because 3 million is so much different than 6 million).  It would also give players a fall back after they have retired.  For most players, it takes them about five years to wind down from the lavish lifestyle they were used to.  Differing 40% of their money gives them a nest egg that they can dip into after they have fallen out.

It also gives players incentive to retire, instead of sticking around late in their careers trying to make up the extra money they lost.  It gives them a way out, something to look forward to after they retire.  I think we would see far fewer players stick around and get hurt.



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New Rubbers

Eventually a car will need new tires no matter how you drive. In my case I was able to stretch these P Zeros to 28000 safely. Next ones are Firestone Firehawks. Let's light the fires and kick the tires baby.

Sharpening The Saw

Working in any industry can have any multitude of effects on your skills in your chosen field.  Some jobs hone your skills to the point that you are capable of doing that one task better than anyone else.  Some jobs expand on your skill set, giving you more tools in your toolbox of knowledge.

Then there are some jobs that take your tools away from you, giving you an entirely new set of tools.  This can make you uncomfortable with your tasking, it can make you bored with your new job, or it can give you a new challenge that you had not yet faced.

I have experienced the whole spectrum.  I have had jobs that challenged me from my work ethic to just my ethics.  But, the job that gave me the most satisfaction was the job that I had the most problems with.

The company I worked for was cutting employee benefits while demanding that the employees work "extra" hours (off the books).  The selling points were either "you're lucky to have a job" or "you won't get promoted if you don't play the game."  Both of which did not sit well with me, and is part of the reason that I left and accepted a job elsewhere.

The job was the best job that I have ever had though, and here are the reasons:

1. It demanded that I learn new skills, AND apply them daily. 
2. It challenged my belief system.
3. It contained some manual labor. 
4. The responsibilities of the job were very apparent. 
5. It meant working on exciting stuff. 

Those just happen to be my five keys to an enjoyable job.  I didn't even know that number 2 was in my best interest or would make a job more enjoyable, but they all help.

Number 1 meant that I was constantly challenged.  I cannot be happy in a job that doesn't challenge who I am and demand that I get better.  

Number 3 (we'll get to number 2 in a minute) meant I got out of the office and got sweaty.  This may not be a key for everyone, but I grew up in an oil field town so manual labor is just part of the daily grind.  Theodore Roosevelt said:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

I can't even try to put it better.

Number 4 is key to someone that like responsibility and strives to achieve.  The job had military planes, foreign planes, projectiles, and protesters.  When people protest your job, you are either doing something wrong or right but either way its important.  Having a job that requires you to be accountable means that you feel like the work you are doing is meaningful.  That can be the difference in a 40 year grind or a life of happiness. 

Number 5 should be a key for everyone.  I worked in airplane hangers that could house Air Force One.  I worked on things that required me one up the Mythbusters.  I was never not excited to go into work, even if it meant a 60 hour week.  I loved it. 

Number 2 was the most shocking to me, and was not apparent until after I left.  When a job challenges your beliefs it gives you a reason to complain, but more so it gives you a reason to be invested in your lively hood.  Being able to complain about something meaningful means your not just a whiny little bitch but someone that is informed and cares.  It gives you purpose at your job, and if gives you a sense of "fight the power."  Even if someday you might be that power, you feel like you can makes changes. 

If you are not happy in your current job, take a look at my keys to a good job.  Maybe you can borrow a few of them and make yourself happy. 

The Best Idea I Have Ever Had

Women absolutely love shopping. So when I met my fiancée shopping was a past time that I had to adopt. She knew when sales were, what was going on sale, for how much, and how quickly it would sell out.

Initially I would drag myself out to the stores and suffer through the shopping experience, but after 100 shopping trips or so I just couldn't take it anymore. Spending that much money that consistently was just tough to watch.

One day I realized that she had skill that almost all women posses but she was so much better at applying them. So the idea I had was to buy and sell clothes on eBay. The realization that most if the country lives in places without huge malls or name brand clothes gives you a huge client base.

Now she shops just as much as she did before, but she is making money doing it. I'm not talking quit your job money, well not yet, but enough that a friend and her are opening a shop.

There was also the added benefit of her spending less on her own clothes.
Now that she gets the satisfaction of shopping and spending out of the way, she has spent far less on her own clothes.

All in all, we have reduced her monthly bills by $150, and increased the amount she makes a month by $300. For someone that makes $1100 a month that is a big deal. Especially when you count the reduction in shopping.

Now if only it was this easy for everyone. My advice would be to look at what you spend the most time doing, because time is money. Turning a hobby into money is actually a great way to achieve your goals. It fulfills you and it pays or itself.