Passing Thoughts on Some “B” Topics
Bible-A highly edited human compilation of selected middle eastern stories, which is promoted as the inspired guidance of a divine supernatural creator.
Birds-Airplanes can only wish.
Blacks-One of many names given to people with African ancestry. The struggle to find a comfortable name for these people is one of the legacies of slavery.
Blake-The surname 15 or 20 relatives and I bear is not hereditary. It was assumed from a step-grandfather. The abandoned hereditary name is Thompson
Blogs-A mixed blag. Some blah and some blam.
Bonds-Not the ballooned ballplayer, but one of many methods by which rich people enhance their wealth at the expense of those who cannot pay as they go.
Books-Rent the first Fahrenheit - 451, to see an attempt at a world without books. Computers and the Internet are great, but e-books should not endanger real ones. I never use my computer in the bathroom.
Boondoggles-Leather craft decorations wholesomely made by cowboys and boy scouts. When made by the unemployed for pay during the Depression, these items became an unwholesome name for government waste. Better to put the unemployed on the street corner selling something edible or useful, like apples and pencils.
Borrowing-The Bard had Polonius give much good advice in Hamlet, including “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
Bread-I bake my own, except for sourdough, which I may try to make one day.
Buddha-As good as Jesus, with even more practical advice and without the cryptic supernatural stuff.
Bushes-Shrubs and lousy Presidents.
Business-A way to make money by working and often by putting other people to work. Unfortunately, the quality of the work and the success of the business are not always correlated.
posted by Tom Blake | 5:03 PM
5 Comments:
Basketball: how about those Phoenix Suns! Steve Nash, twice named MVP! Besides being a good team to watch, I like the Suns because they purge all the wife beaters, murderers, and rapists.
John from Phoenix
I have been following the NBA playoffs. The teams I like are all from the West - San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix. I root against Kobe Bryant and was glad to see the Lakers fall. One of the two Texas teams will be eliminating the other and I expect Phoenix is my choice over either Texas team. I love the way Steve Nash plays and I too prefer players without rap sheets.
I too am very happy the Lakers and Kobe's season is over!!! I'm pulling for Phoenix.
~Rake
A much as I hate Kobe and as much as it pains me to say, I do have to mention that there is no way in holy hell that Steve Nash was this year's MVP.
Kobe had far better numbers and played a far more important role on his team.
If the MVP is about offensive numbers, Kobe wins.
If the MVP is about defensive numbers, Kobe wins.
If the MVP is about overall numbers, Kobe wins.
If the MVP is about being the best player on your team, Kobe wins.
If the MVP is about having the biggest impact on your team, Kobe wins.
Think of it this way, if you removed both Kobe and Nash from their teams for the entire season what would the effect be? I think it's clear that the Lakers would have been dead in the water without Kobe while the Suns would not have been affected in such a drastic way.
Also, if it wasn't Kobe, there are other players who had better seasons than Nash as well. Nowitzki and LeBron had far better years.
If Nash’s numbers, 18.8 points, 10.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds, are really MVP numbers, then Jason Kidd should have won about three MVP’s in a row a few years back – and he knew how to play defense.
While I like Steve Nash, admire his work ethic and think he is a great offensive player, he was not even close to being this year’s MVP.
I think we can add another IF to my list above:
If the MVP is about being a likable and scrappy white with average numbers, Nash wins.
I think you are probably right about Nash. In fact, Shawn Marion may be more valuable to the Suns than Steve - there is no one else on the team that can begin to do all the things Marion does and they pay Marion more.
I don’t know that there are specific criteria designated for choosing the MVP. You suggest some objective ones. There are also subjective ones like making all the other players on your team play better individually and making them want to play better as a team. Guys like Kobe have the opposite effect on their team. The Lakers won Championships with Kobe and Shaq. Kobe drove Shaq and even the coach away from the team. I would not be surprised if Kobe is never on an NBA championship team again, because so many great players would not want to play with him and a team of players willing to just bask in his glow is not a winner.
Charles Barkley hit the nail on the head when he said Kobe played selfishly in the last two Laker losses. In the first one he was a selfish ball-hogging gunner. In the second, when the only possible way for the Lakers to get back into the game was for Kobe to gun, he passed the ball to other Lakers instead, as Barkley said, to show that they were not capable of winning without him shooting. Kobe then embarked on a text messaging challenge to Charles, who stood his ground. Kobe is supposed to be interviewed on TNT tonight, so it will be interesting to see the dynamics between him and Barkley.
The negative approach to determining the MVP is interesting - what if the player were not on the team. If the player is out due to injuries, then surely the team would suffer - but sometimes the other players rise to the occasion. If the player is traded, then you have to factor in who was received in trade. What if Nash was traded for Kobe? I argue the Lakers would be a better team and the Suns a worse one.
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