NBA or WNBA? (Not Another Sexist blog post)

When I say NBA multiple names come to mind: 

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Isaiah Thomas, and my personal favorite Reggie Miller.  

I can go on and on and rattle off the names of greats that have come and gone through the National Basketball Association more commonly referred to as the NBA.  There are so many legends in this sport alone that it can make a sports enthusiast giddy with excitement just thinking about the flashy dunks, beautiful passes and clutch 3-pointers from down town.  

Rebecca Lobo taking it to the hoop

Now I know what you're thinking... you're thinking I'm going to say that I can't name a single WNBA player worth their salt and you'd be wrong!  Completely wrong.  

Ladies, a shout out to you... some of you can ball.  Like seriously ball with the skill and precision of any of the greats I mentioned previously.  Greats like Diana Turasi, Rebecca Lobo, and Cynthia Cooper are just some of the stars in the WNBA that could most likely take good old MJ to school (Those names were non-google aided by the way).  Actually I wouldn't mind seeing the ladies go toe to toe with the guys in a good game of one on one.  

Reggie Miller, most likely taking a 3-pointer
from another area code.  Of course he'll make it...
he always does

You know... Pandora had a box a lot like this but I'm going to open it anyway.  I want to know what would happen if the NBA and the WNBA were integrated?  Yes you heard me, have both women and men on the same court side by side, teammates.  Sounds crazy?  Perhaps...

Ok, so the differences between women and men are obviously huge just in the way they're built alone.  And I can hear you saying it now.  "But Josh!  Women aren't as physically built as the men, they'd get hurt playing with them."  Or some might take this angle "Josh you're crazy it would never work, nobody would go for that... just leave things alone."  

Nate Robinson (left) at 5'9" next to
Shaquille O'Neal (right) 7'1"

I ask why can't it work?  If it's an issue of the physical differences there are small guys all over the league.  Need I bring up Mr. Nate Robinson?  For those of you who don't follow basketball, Nate Robinson currently plays for the New York Knicks.  What's so unique about Nate?  Well he's one of the shortest players in the league standing just 5'9" and weighing in at 180 lbs.  For reference, I also happen to be 5'9" (ok more like 5' 8.5"... I'm not ashamed) and weigh just 145 lbs.  

Don't feel sorry for Nate though, he's a formidable force on the basketball court averaging 11.2 points per game (ppg) and 4.5 assists per game (APG).  Hardly helpless if you ask me.  There have been other such examples like Spud Webb, most famous for his work on the Atlanta Hawks stood a tiny 5'7" and who could forget tiny little Muggsy Bogues?  Best remembered for his role on the Charlotte Hornets (Currently the New Orleans Hornets)  Standing at just 5'3" tall!  These pint sized ballers have (And had) great careers despite their physical limitations.  

So why bother doing this? Well for one I think it would add the "history" factor that I believe WNBA lacks in it's brief 15 year history, it would also give exposure to some of the league's brightest stars.  But that's just my opinion...

I want to know what you think.. so here are the questions:

Do you think the WNBA and the NBA should be integrated?  Why or why not?  

Are you really a Hockey fan and not care about basketball?  

Why does everything rotate counterclockwise?!  (Seriously it does, try flushing your toilet and watch which way the water flows)

Disclaimer:  When responding be respectful, lets not offend ladies or gentlemen commenting on this blog.  Thanks!  

Kiss Rhyming Goodbye: Non-Rhyming = Angry Rant?

Consider this poem that I'm going to make up off the top of my head.

I think rhyming can be cheesy.

-- If they're supposed to have the best pizza...
why do they keep changing their recipe?

like a pizza that's greasy
It comes from Domino's
Yellow like cheerios
Just under five bucks
but I think it kinda sucks.

Ok awful right?  Now consider this poem I'm going to make up with even less thought put into it.

Domino's pizza sucks
because it does
I hate it because its so greasy
and you never get enough cheese
it's just under five bucks
I hate it.

(Special thanks to Dominoes Pizza for being a good sport.  Seriously I love you... well maybe not "Love" but I don't hate you.)

Equally awful, I highly doubt either one of these guys would win an award in a poetry contest.  But hey the second one doesn't rhyme so the author must have taken more thought and have some profound deepness to his/her words right?

I've noticed in the world of poetry there seems to be this... higher esteem put on poetry that doesn't rhyme.  I've submitted my work to contest and I constantly see the disclaimer "NO RHYMING POETRY" my question is... why?  Can a writer be just as profound and skilled in rhyming as one who does not?

Months later I see the winning entry in this contest that I've been barred from and it's like some 500 line rant with an "F" bomb or two in it with no attention paid to structure and a meaning so abstract that it's impossible to grasp why the poet is so angry or what he/she is even angry about in the first place.

Don't misunderstand me.  I appreciate all poets and their unique writing styles.  I enjoy reading work that's vastly different from my own and have even written non-rhyming pieces myself.  But personally I enjoy bringing a sense of order or rhythm to my poetry and I blame the engineer in me for demanding this out of my work... but I don't see rhyming as the devil.

Sure rhyming can bring along some cheesy lines... (Who rhymes cheesy with greasy anyway?) but if the writer is crafty enough it can make for some pretty profound and clever works of art.

So here's the question:  When it comes to Non-Rhyming poetry what keeps it from being just an angry rant?  

Question 2:  Why do people seem to look down upon rhyming in poetry?  


Feel free to deviate from these questions.

Also feel free to share your Domino's horror stories... (Just kidding Domino's!  Seriously your pizza isn't half bad!)  = )

The business of being... Homeless?

I saw this sign today, I had to stop and take a pic.

Look at this thing, it looks as if a college art student were advertising in a faux product showing.

This colorful work of art belonged to a man who was homeless... or so I assumed just by his appearance.  I have a friend who says, you can't judge a book by it's cover but you can get a pretty d*mn good idea.

I stop and say... "Well this is an elaborate homeless sign sir."  And he laughs, I asked him if I could take a picture of it and gave him $2.00 for his time... it just felt like the right thing to do.

As I walked away I realized something.  This man just advertised, got me to stop, inquiring about his sign and he made a sale.  My next thought was... well what did he sell?  And that's what I realized... he sold himself, his condition, his entire being was his product and this was his advertisement.

Time out here, I'm not saying he is scamming people, he looked for all intensive purposes homeless, and I could tell his condition was very real.  He was probably somebody who had gotten laid off and fell on hard times... poor guy.  However he learned to survive and adapt to his new life on the streets by collecting money from curious on lookers who would see his sign and say... Hmm what's this about?   So how is that different from what Walmart does?  Or what Microsoft does?  All have widgets they want to sell and they advertise using fancy commercials designed to peak your interest and say... hmm what's that all about?

Is there a secret code amongst the homeless in terms of how to advertise?  Is there a formula one can follow to be the most successful?  This sounds crazy but I guess what I'm really asking:  Is there a true business model for being a successful hobo?

Life's Random Encounters...

Witness if you will the little guy at the left.  Why is he (or she don't want to discriminate) significant?

Well I was at work, stressing  and thinking about how miserably horrible my day at the office was going and I saw him (or her, easy there ladies I'm not sexist) sitting on the steps outside my work place.

What was it doing there?  Not moving, not afraid of all the "ooohs" and "Ahhs" and the "Look how cute it is!" that was hovering around it's tiny little head.  Just sitting, in that pose taking it all in.  Ok realistically it might have strayed from it's mother who knows and who cares look how cute he is!!

Let me get to the point before I lose you.  I had lunch with a friend today and he said he had the most interesting encounter.  He's single, about 24 years of age and he's one of those real artsy type guys who seems to be good at everything and is completely open and honest about feelings and all that gushy stuff that I don't are about.  He went to a restaurant for... well lunch (Can a guy have 2 lunches?  What's wrong with that?) and he saw this woman sitting there alone.  With guts of steel he invites her to sit next to him and she complies and they hit it off.  Just like that, random encounter which might lead to something more.  We don't know this of course but stay tuned folks... and believe me I'll keep you updated.

The point is... life seems to be a bunch of random encounters, random chances that if we sieze them can become our greatest adventure.  For instance... Mr Albert Einstein (You know Mr. E = MC hammer himself) worked at a post office for a while, no doubt dreaming of things that you and I wouldn't understand if we sat in a Relativity class for 1000 years.  Maybe you're that smart but I for one am not!  But here's what terrifies me.  What if he had not taken his chance?  What if he said... "well... let me just sit on this thing, nobody will listen anyway"  Does it terrify you when you think about how different the world would be today had he made this decision?  Think about it.  If one man, Mr. Einstein, had sat on his gift and had not taken a chance you probably wouldn't be reading this blog right now.  So much of our technology is based on his theories of relativity.

The Bottom Line:  Random encounters make up the world.  You'll know when they happen, you'll feel them; those moments in which your heart says "Go for it" but you'll feel this little lump of fear inside called your brain say "Meh... maybe I shouldn't."  Word of advice... do it!  You just never know what will come out of it.  As long as it's a good thing for you, don't be afraid to take the chance.

...and yes I got all that from looking at a miniature squirrel.  I'm a lunatic I know.  = )