Today is the last day of my stint between jobs. Specifically, Day 9 of the nine work days I had off, a relatively paltry figure but a welcome respite all the same. It's the longest vacation of any kind that I have had since Ora and I went to South America in 2002. I would say parenting is more taxing than the Inca Trail and relaxation is more remote than the Galapagos, but I am not complaining.
Some observations on my time off:
I have two full-time jobs. It was nice not to be in an office all day, but parenting obligations kept me busy. The time went by very quickly and most of my days got carved up by shopping, pickup, car issues, etc. Thanksgiving and Hanukkah are always a very busy time of year, and there were a lot of errands to be run. Plus we had people over for dinner three straight nights, which was very fun but also a lot of work. So I was jobless but not carefree. That meant I didn't go away for an extended trip, didn't stay out late at night, didn't take cooking classes or spend all day on an Arrested Development marathon. This break was neither unpleasant nor decadent. It was...not bad. And I am grateful to have a new job to look forward to. But the dilemma of trying to be a responsible parent and indulging oneself at the same time proved beyond my capacity. I think it will get easier in about twelve years, fifteen tops.
Blogs are better when they have a consistent theme. Sometimes I like to write about sports and sometimes I don't, AND THAT'S OKAY. However, I have come to the conclusion that a blog that sticks to one field just makes more sense, unless having a polymath's scope of topics and information is the selling point of one's blog. And not that I am trying to sell anything, but some people tell me "oh I saw you posted on your blog but then the first line was about basketball so I tuned out." The best solution I have concocted is to start a second, all-sports blog with a different name, since General Rodetsky was not known for his athletic exploits. I need a good blog name. Anyone who submits a suggestion will win an autographed copy of my food coop receipt from Sunday morning. If I use your suggestion as the new blog title, you will win $1 million. Guaranteed.
I can't wait to win the lottery. The things I like most: writing, sports, cooking, wine/foodie stuff, reading, movies. I would never lack for things to keep my attention if I didn't have to work.
I still suck at the piano. Turns out it takes more than a few weeks to become a good pianist, or even a barely competent one. I have had offers of free lessons from two masters of the (ebony and) ivory, and hope to take them up on it one day soon.
Our apartment is still a partial mess. DO NOT LOOK IN THE BEDROOM! THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE IN THE BEDROOM! We would need ten Martha Stewarts working round the clock for two weeks just to make a dent. I decided it would be easier to go through sensory deprivation training so I no longer notice the clutter.
People have much bigger problems than I do. Unemployment and depression are the two biggies. Life is hard. The end of the year holiday cheer can be a huge bummer for a lot of people. On a personal level, I hope all my friends find what they need in 2011.
On a national level, I hope President Obama finds what he needs: backbone. If Frank Rich is to be trusted, and I believe that Frank Rich should always be trusted, Obama is about to extend the Bush tax cuts, which means Obama saved $5 billion taking away the annual raise for federal workers but gave away $80 billion annually in the tax cuts. In fact, today's headline on Yahoo indicates that "Obama prefers a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts because one year would mean a similar debate in six months, and a three-year extension would lose support from liberals." The extension is being framed as the only way the Republicans can be convinced to extend unemployment benefits for another year.
Here's one option that isn't mentioned in the article: the zero-year extension.
I am starting to think that President Obama and the Senate Democrats really are part of the problem. I am trying with all my might to support Obama with the same conviction I had two years ago. But he seems totally unable or unwilling to fight the bad guys, to stand up for what he said he believes in. It's pretty damn depressing. Extending tax cuts to the rich while unemployment hovers near 10 percent. Our United States Government: Brought to you by: Con-Agra Foods! Halliburton! Merck! And by, the Chinese Government, co-sponsors of the National Deficit. For all your deficit needs, order Chinese!
I like Brooklyn. I really do. I like walking places. I like not having to maintain a house, avoiding traffic, avoiding Republicans, avoiding the Olive Garden, avoiding two cars and raking leaves. I like the people we know here, the stimulation of urban life for my kids, for me. I like that Brooklyn is not as crowded or expensive as Manhattan. And with global warming and the aforementioned spineless dithering of our supposed progressive leader, in 10-15 years we'll probably have 70 degrees year round. Take that, current tropical zones!
I don't like shaving. But I never keep the beard, and this time is no exception. Always fun while it lasts.
And now it's time to get back to the daily grind. It's almost like I never left.
December 06, 2010
December 02, 2010
Cardinal Sin?
Earlier this week Derek Anderson ripped into a reporter for questioning why he was "laughing" on the sidelines, as the reporter put it, while Arizona was down by 18 points to the San Francisco 49ers in a Monday Night Football game. Not surprisingly, everyone who follows sports has a strong opinion about what transpired, including Magic Johnson. It seemed like only Dwight Howard was able to find some humor in the situation.
Following along with the latest sports media "controversy" is like eating at McDonald's or watching "The Kardashians". You know it's wrong, you know it's bad for you, but sometimes you just can't help it. I'm going to take the bait this time around because I don't think anybody has expressed what is really wrong about the "controversy." Let's first address what happened.
The video clip in question shows Anderson smiling in response to something his teammate, Deuce Lutui, said to him on the sideline. Smiling is not laughing. If smiling were laughing then Dane Cook would be a funny as Louis C.K.
We later learned that Lutui said something to cheer up Anderson, who was in the midst of an embarrassing performance in front of a national audience. I watched some of the game and it is safe to say that Derek Anderson will not be in Hawaii in January. He was inaccurate, made poor reads, just didn't seem capable of running the offense of a winning football team. One need look no further than the drop off in Larry Fitzgerald's stats this year to discern that Anderson is a mediocre quarterback.
Lutui was acting like a good teammate should, bolstering Anderson's spirits when he was probably just about ready to hang up his helmet for the night. Anderson smiled back. What should he have done, told Lutui to piss off?
Apparently, a lot of people started tweeting and commenting about how awful it was that Anderson was laughing while the Cardinals were losing. Again, he was Dane Cookin' it, not laughing. But the "public outcry" was enough pretense for the reporter to question Anderson about the exchange. In interviews since the incident, the reporter has said he never intended to upset Anderson. But the reporter referred to SmileGate as "a big problem with this team." It was an inflammatory take on the situation where he could have just as easily asked "Hey Derek, the cameras caught you laughing, I mean smiling on the sidelines, what was it you were laughing about, I mean smiling about?"
So yeah, Anderson should have just answered the question, shouldn't have lost his temper. However, the reporter should have asked his question in a more professional way. He made Anderson look even worse than he already had looked on the field, and that's saying something. If I were Anderson I would have walked out too. The fact that media jackals like Colin Cowherd have come to the reporter's defense only emboldens my take on the CONTROVERSY, I mean "controversy."
And now we come to the issue that I think has been overlooked. Let's say Derek Anderson was laughing, and let's say Deuce Lutui had just told him the one about the priest, the rabbi and Michael Jackson in the airplane, or even said "man, we SUCK. I mean the Niners are killing us, and THEY suck! Who at ESPN decided it would be a good idea to show two 4-7 teams on national television? Kurt Warner isn't playing anymore! Neither is Joe Montana! The NFC West has become the Screech of football divisions. What did they expect? We S-T-I-N-K, am I right Derek my man?" At which point Derek started guffawing and slapping his leg like he was Arsenio Hall.
Let's just say that's what had happened.
All that would tell me is that Derek Anderson and Deuce Lutui have that certain something, that special one in a million quality that is all too uncommon in our modern age, what's it called again? Oh yes:
Perspective.
I remember when I was a kid back in the 70's, my Scholastic Books order always included book titles like "The Wild and Wacky Side of Football," "Crazy Bastards from the NBA," or "Funny Sports Quotes from Old White Men Who Were Probably Half in the Bag at the Time." The precise titles escape me. But I used to love those books, and this was back when the only sports information you received about teams and athletes outside of your metropolitan area was in Sports Illustrated, so these books were priceless tales about the world of professional sports and all the funny, zany and memorable things that transpire when a bunch of grown men band together and spend inordinate amounts of time with each other working toward a common goal.
It brought sports to life for me. Crazy nuts like Kenny Stabler, Ted Hendricks (really the entire 1970's Oakland Raiders team); Rollie Fingers and Dan Quisenberry in baseball, e.g.; Daryl Dawkins, World B. Free and Charles Barkley in basketball; They had personality, humor, individuality, emotions. Fine by me, as long as they played their asses off when it mattered.
I want the athletes who play for my favorite teams to play their hearts out. I want them to care if they win or lose. I don't need them to be stone-faced robots, or even worse, phonies. Life is funny sometimes. Humor helps in good times and bad. A mildly humorous exchange is not the Cardinals' "big problem." Their big problem is a lack of talent. The fact that Ken Whisenhunt, the Cardinals coach and most definitely an old-school guy, found nothing wrong with the Anderson-Lutui exchange ought to tell people all they need to know.
The people who have been calling for the Cardinals to waive Derek Anderson because he smiled on the sidelines during a loss are the ones who need to rethink their mental game, or lack thereof.
Following along with the latest sports media "controversy" is like eating at McDonald's or watching "The Kardashians". You know it's wrong, you know it's bad for you, but sometimes you just can't help it. I'm going to take the bait this time around because I don't think anybody has expressed what is really wrong about the "controversy." Let's first address what happened.
The video clip in question shows Anderson smiling in response to something his teammate, Deuce Lutui, said to him on the sideline. Smiling is not laughing. If smiling were laughing then Dane Cook would be a funny as Louis C.K.
We later learned that Lutui said something to cheer up Anderson, who was in the midst of an embarrassing performance in front of a national audience. I watched some of the game and it is safe to say that Derek Anderson will not be in Hawaii in January. He was inaccurate, made poor reads, just didn't seem capable of running the offense of a winning football team. One need look no further than the drop off in Larry Fitzgerald's stats this year to discern that Anderson is a mediocre quarterback.
Lutui was acting like a good teammate should, bolstering Anderson's spirits when he was probably just about ready to hang up his helmet for the night. Anderson smiled back. What should he have done, told Lutui to piss off?
Apparently, a lot of people started tweeting and commenting about how awful it was that Anderson was laughing while the Cardinals were losing. Again, he was Dane Cookin' it, not laughing. But the "public outcry" was enough pretense for the reporter to question Anderson about the exchange. In interviews since the incident, the reporter has said he never intended to upset Anderson. But the reporter referred to SmileGate as "a big problem with this team." It was an inflammatory take on the situation where he could have just as easily asked "Hey Derek, the cameras caught you laughing, I mean smiling on the sidelines, what was it you were laughing about, I mean smiling about?"
So yeah, Anderson should have just answered the question, shouldn't have lost his temper. However, the reporter should have asked his question in a more professional way. He made Anderson look even worse than he already had looked on the field, and that's saying something. If I were Anderson I would have walked out too. The fact that media jackals like Colin Cowherd have come to the reporter's defense only emboldens my take on the CONTROVERSY, I mean "controversy."
And now we come to the issue that I think has been overlooked. Let's say Derek Anderson was laughing, and let's say Deuce Lutui had just told him the one about the priest, the rabbi and Michael Jackson in the airplane, or even said "man, we SUCK. I mean the Niners are killing us, and THEY suck! Who at ESPN decided it would be a good idea to show two 4-7 teams on national television? Kurt Warner isn't playing anymore! Neither is Joe Montana! The NFC West has become the Screech of football divisions. What did they expect? We S-T-I-N-K, am I right Derek my man?" At which point Derek started guffawing and slapping his leg like he was Arsenio Hall.
Let's just say that's what had happened.
All that would tell me is that Derek Anderson and Deuce Lutui have that certain something, that special one in a million quality that is all too uncommon in our modern age, what's it called again? Oh yes:
Perspective.
I remember when I was a kid back in the 70's, my Scholastic Books order always included book titles like "The Wild and Wacky Side of Football," "Crazy Bastards from the NBA," or "Funny Sports Quotes from Old White Men Who Were Probably Half in the Bag at the Time." The precise titles escape me. But I used to love those books, and this was back when the only sports information you received about teams and athletes outside of your metropolitan area was in Sports Illustrated, so these books were priceless tales about the world of professional sports and all the funny, zany and memorable things that transpire when a bunch of grown men band together and spend inordinate amounts of time with each other working toward a common goal.
It brought sports to life for me. Crazy nuts like Kenny Stabler, Ted Hendricks (really the entire 1970's Oakland Raiders team); Rollie Fingers and Dan Quisenberry in baseball, e.g.; Daryl Dawkins, World B. Free and Charles Barkley in basketball; They had personality, humor, individuality, emotions. Fine by me, as long as they played their asses off when it mattered.
I want the athletes who play for my favorite teams to play their hearts out. I want them to care if they win or lose. I don't need them to be stone-faced robots, or even worse, phonies. Life is funny sometimes. Humor helps in good times and bad. A mildly humorous exchange is not the Cardinals' "big problem." Their big problem is a lack of talent. The fact that Ken Whisenhunt, the Cardinals coach and most definitely an old-school guy, found nothing wrong with the Anderson-Lutui exchange ought to tell people all they need to know.
The people who have been calling for the Cardinals to waive Derek Anderson because he smiled on the sidelines during a loss are the ones who need to rethink their mental game, or lack thereof.
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