QOTD 9.2.10

“What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.” – Sun-tzu

QOTD 8.24.10

“The ability to gain victory by changing and adapting to the opponent is called genius.” – Sun-tzu

QOTD 8.21.10

“Show me a gracious loser, and I will show you a busboy.” – Woody Hayes

Book Review: Red And Me

This is a review from my Favorite Books list; the link from which will be also on the Books Page.

***

“The team game was the game I wanted to play.”

Bill Russell is the Ultimate Winner in any professional team sport. Russell won 11 NBA championships with the Boston Celtics in 13 seasons. Bill Russell was not a big-time scorer of highlights-type of player, however (and there was no ESPN in the 60s anyhow). He was all about 2 things: 1) The Team 2) Winning.

Red And Me gives the reader a deep look into Russell’s relationship with his late coach and friend Red Auerbach. If you’re into Russell or Red or the Boston Celtics, read this book.

That pretty much sums it up.

Dead Debate

Two things I know that young, Black men like to debate are 1) rap music and 2) sports.

At least with sports we can back up our arguments with factual, solid evidence: wins, championships, statistics.

Sports has a concrete ending — winner and loser. Every game/match has a winner. 75% of the discussion is already decided because of this fact.

With rap, the only real stat is record sales, which we all agree does not have a linear relationship with ability. Music is a art form, to be judged by the beholder. There really is nothing objective about a song or an album. Love it or loathe it, you are exactly right.

Which is why i have an aversion to debating rap, and avoid it at all costs. That is all.

Not Like Mike

It is an exercise in futility to compare any basketball player to Michael Jordan, but we always do it when something noteworthy happens with one of our current superstars.

MJ is seen by most of us, with our revisionist history, as perfect, so it’s a no-win for any player as soon as the comparison is even thought of. You lose a playoff series or a big game, MJ wouldn’t have lost that. You pass the ball, MJ wouldn’t have passed it. You finally win once you have better teammates, you’re not MJ — he would’ve did it alone.

Mike Jordan is my all-time favorite NBA player, so I have no negative MJ anecdotes to bring his legacy down to earth just for argument’s sake. I do know, however, that comparing yourself — or anyone else — to another person is the easiest way to stay unhappy with what you have or who you (or they) are.

Let’s just appreciate the current stars for what they do and who they are — and who they aren’t.

QOTD 7.5.10

“The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.” – Martina Navratilova

QOTD 6.22.10

“Many amateur golfers think they need expensive clubs. But it’s the swing that matters, not the club. Give Tiger Woods a set of cheap clubs and he’ll still destroy you.” – Tim Ferriss

QOTD 6.15.10

“[The trophy] must represent not only your victory but everyone else’s defeat.” – Robert Greene

QOTD 6.12.10

“The only way you can be remembered in this world IS to win.” Michael Jordan

QOTD 6.10.10

“It’s easy to be #1 when you have no competition.” – Michael Moore

QOTD 5.30.10

“The meek shall inherit the Earth, but they won’t get the ball.” – Charles Barkley

QOTD 5.28.10

“If we’re going to be the best, we’ve gotta beat the best. And the only way to beat ‘em is to put them on the schedule and play ‘em.” – Dru Joyce

Haiku IX

Double-digit seed played great.

Bracket? Staright busted.

NC Double A Tournament.

QOTD 3.18.10

“Wherever there is competition, there’s victory.” – Aristotle

Beating The Crowd

0:04 fuckin’ seconds.

As my Twitter followers already know, I ran the SobeFit Magazine 5K last Sunday in South Beach. It was my first ever distance, or official race of any kind for that matter. Knowing that a 5K race is 3.12 miles, I knew I could finish in the Top 100 of a 1,600-person field. My usual sand run on the beach is longer than that, and race-day adrenaline would kick in when it mattered.

I had three goals for race day:

1. Finish in the Top 10 in my age group (25-29 yrs).
2. Finish in under 20:00 minutes.
3. Experience the thrill of catching a bunch of people from behind throughout the race, and not be passed by anyone myself.

As we (we meaning, the 1,600 runners/ walkers participating) approached the starting line, I noticed  bunch of serious- looking runners moving to the very front of the pack in anticipation of the starting horn. I found a spot on the edge of the pack about 50 feet back, right on the sidewalk.

The horn went off and and off we went. Now, no one’s official race time begins until they cross the actual starting line (everyone had electronic tags on their shoes), so I slowly jogged towards it. When I crossed it and was “on the clock,” I, literally, ran into an unforeseen obstacle: though I knew I would be easily passing about 150 or so folks in front of me, going around all those people in a space the width of Ocean Drive is a task. Especially when the last thing I wanted at the moment was to bump into anyone or knock down a 40-year-old woman or some 16-year-old kid. I estimate the ensuing gauntlet cost me 30-45 seconds. (Look at these for an idea of having that many people running at the same time)

I knew there would be a handful of about 30 runners who do these runs religiously and would dust everybody off; and I mentally had myself placed at the next tier. So when we hit the halfway mark at 19th & Washington and I saw a couple of long-legged chicks and (*stereotype alert!!!*) African-looking dudes already heading back towards 14th street, my expectations were aligned with reality.

Finish- line shot. Who is this fool standing in the middle of my shot???

So I chugged along, getting into that mental physical exertion zone in which you don’t even feel anything anymore. I knew my knees were not on good terms with concrete before even deciding to do the race (which is why I rarely play basketball outside or run on pavement), but I was at the point where the only thing I was conscious of was the next person I needed to hunt down and pass, and the steadiness of my breath.

The course had us hang a left at 14th street and then a right on Ocean, with the finish line at 8th & Ocean. Here I made my second mistake (the first being, not going to the front for the starting horn): I started my finishing kick (that last burst of energy to close it out) too early, and my kick was over by 11th street with 3 blocks to go. I passed 4 people during my kick, though (most priceless: the surprise/ ‘I knew it’ looks they registered when this dude in 3XL basketball shorts passed them). One really stubborn girl passed me back around 9th street. She eased up, however, in the last 60 feet or so, and I caught her ass at the finish line (not that it really mattered in the big picture; her time was determined by when she had actually passed the start line, as was mine — just the principle of it all).

Results were posted and I came in… 36th overall. 19:13, a pace of 6:11/ mile. 5th in my age group. Then the part that killed me: The top 3 in each group got called up to the stage, presented with an additional medal, and posed for photos with Marta Montenegro (EIC of SobeFit Mag). I missed a stage appearance by 0:04 fuckin’ seconds.

Despite that disappointment, I had reached all of my goals and didn’t even feel tired or sore afterwards (false alarm — sore quads Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday). SobeFit had a good finish-line photo of me (and another right after i crossed the line), but they are charging people (?!?!) for their photos. $14.95-$75.95 for a photo of yourself finishing a race we all paid $25 to enter. Ridiculous.

Overall I had a great experience doing something new, and I will be  doing more 5Ks this year and beyond with the lessons learned in this one driving me forward. All I gotta do is remember 3 words:

0:04 fuckin’ seconds.

QOTD 12.16.09

“You cannot accept in victory, what you won’t accept in defeat.” – Jeff Van Gundy

Haiku VII

Bust in stores early,
That new toy everyone wants!
Christmas time, people!

Sheesh!

As a player, not much in the form of basketball video makes me go “WOW!”, but… This dude Guy Dupay has the craziest bounce of anyone I have ever seen at his size. Look at these dunks!

Book Review: The 22 Immutable Laws Of Marketing

This is a review from my Favorite Books list; the link from which will be also on the Books Page.

***

“When a company makes a mistake today, footprints quickly show up on its back as competition runs off with its business.”

Though this book was published in the 1980s , all of these laws, in my humble opinion, still apply to business and marketing today. A short book with amusing stories and cautionary tales, anybody involved in the marketing f any product needs to run down this 22-point checklist before they put a dollar behind that product.