Opinions are like…

When you’re single, it seems that literally everyone wants to give you advice on how to remedy this situation.  The one constant that you’ll hear from both the single and coupled alike is this:

“If you stop looking, that’s when you’ll find someone.”

In other words, if you simply accept your singleness, it will almost immediately end according to these people.  I call bullshit.  This, to me, is like the saying “it’s always in the last place you look.”  Of course it is!  If I’m looking for my cars keys and I find them behind the desk, I’m not going to keep looking for them.  I won’t walk all over my house thinking “I know my keys are in my hand right now, I see them there, I feel them there, but I better be safe and keep looking.”  That’s why everything you find was in the last place you looked.  You found it.  The next time someone says that to you, you have my permission to slap them and call them a dumbass.

Back to the B.S. advice above.  Everyone will tell you that they met their significant other as soon as they simply quit looking for them.  They will say that they simply didn’t care if they were in a relationship or not, and then this wonderful human came along and swept them off their feet.  To me, if you really didn’t care, you would’ve told this person that you weren’t interested in a relationship at the moment, but if they wouldn’t mind hanging out for a month or two, maybe it’ll go somewhere.  But you didn’t say that.  You immediately exchanged numbers or whatever.  So it’s not that you stopped looking, you just told yourself you did and most likely you did that well after you started dating this person.

In other words, I see through your lies.

Another year down…

I don’t usually write (actually I could stop right there) about myself, but I’m feeling introspective lately. My birthday is rapidly approaching and while that’s not a bad thing, the fact is after I turned 21, I stopped caring. It occurred to me that after you turn 21, the only “milestone birthdays” are 30, 40, 50, etc. which really only serve to remind you that you are indeed officially old. That depresses me. Also, I don’t really like calling attention to myself and that’s basically what birthdays do. It’s supposed to be a day where you walk around and say “look at me!” and everyone does. But, like I said, I’m not really comfortable with that. So I’m not a big birthday guy.

Now, a quick confession. I have been single for (gulp!) six years. Yes, there have been a few dates, but really nothing solid or meaningful. I try very hard not to let this get to me, but this seems to be the one aspect of my life that people want to use to define me. Now there are a myriad of other things one could pick. As I’ve stated on here, I’m a radio dork. I’m not yet 30 and am losing my hair. I have a bit of a gut (not fat per say, but a gut none the less…I’m working on getting rid of it). I like to think I’m rather funny. Any of these would be understandable traits to use when characterizing me, but without fail people always go to the single thing first. And they like to point out to me that I’m single, as if I would forget. Anyways, when my last meaningful relationship ended six years ago, it did not end well. She hurt me as deeply as any person ever has, and I readily admit it took quite a while to get over. But I am over it now. Seriously it’s been six years, if I wasn’t that would be pretty sad don’t you think?

So once a friend who was trying to be nice (I think) while chatting about my never-ending singleness asked if I ever miss my ex. I responded with “no, never.” And I don’t.

Except I do.

Lately, as my birthday has drawn closer, I’ve found myself missing her quite a bit. I think I finally know why. For being a rather selfish person, she went out of her way to make me feel special on my birthday. She was notorious for buying me many gifts, most being somewhat expensive. She would use the opportunity to remake my wardrobe of course, but she also would buy things that I would enjoy and were meaningful to me. She did this with very little money, so in truth, while the gifts were nice, the sentiment actually held more meaning to me. But it was more than material. She would cook (or attempt to anyways) for me, and always made sure that we had absolutely mind blowing sex (sorry to be graphic, but you have to admit that really, that’s what we all want on our birthday). Yes, I miss all those things, but I think what I miss more than all of that is just having someone to share the day with. Someone who went way out of her way to make me feel special that day. It was nice.

So now I inch closer to 30 and find myself with questions. Will I meet the fabled “special someone”? Will I ever make the kind of money that would allow me to not have to worry about money anymore? Will I have children someday? Will I ever own the house with the white picket fence and the dogs? Will the Bulls win another NBA title in my lifetime? (I don’t feel particularly good about that one)

I don’t know. But the promise I have made and the gift I’m giving myself this year is that I’m going to stop worrying about it. I’m going to wake up in a few days and I’ll be that much closer to the dreaded 30, but instead of focusing on my impending ticket to the retirement home (yeah, like I’ll be able to retire), I will pause for a moment to remember her and how she made me feel for several years on my birthday. I’ll then resume not thinking about her because she ended up being not very nice.

Where I go from there…well that’s the real fun isn’t it?

Let’s Pretend…

Last week I read a blog post where someone listed his all time NBA draft. If I could find it again, I’d link to it, but I can’t and I spent at least 45 minutes looking for it. His draft was interesting to say the least. Of what I can remember, his top 3 went:

1. Magic Johnson
2. Larry Bird
3. Michael Jordan

Bill Russell wasn’t even in the top 10. It sparked much debate and it made me think about how mine would shake out, so here it goes…

1. Michael Jordan. I’ll admit, I’m biased. I often refer to Jordan as either The Great One or God. But remember this, he is often called the greatest who ever played for a reason. Often overlooked because of his scoring was his superb defense. Oh and there’s the 6 rings which would probably be 8 if he hadn’t retired after the tragic death of his father.

2. Larry Bird. The Basketball Jesus himself. Bird was, like Jordan, hyper competitive. He simply hated to lose and no one, maybe not even Jordan, was as clutch as Bird was.

3. Magic Johnson. In football, if you ask me what position you build around, I’d say Quarterback. In basketball, I’d tell you Point Guard. So of course we don’t have a PG appear on the list until the 3rd spot. That said, Magic saw passing lanes that no one, I mean NO ONE else saw, and why wouldn’t you take a guy who can play literally every spot on the floor as he proved when he played Center after Kareem got hurt.

4. Oscar Robertson. This is where I start to have internal debates. However, the only player to ever AVERAGE a triple-double should be a top 5 pick.

5. “Pistol” Pete Maravich. A guy who should always be in the conversation for “Best Who Ever Played” but he isn’t. The reason why is simple, he was on bad teams before free agency existed. However, go to YouTube and look for the footage of the game against the Knicks when he dropped 68 points. He fouls out and even the Knicks players shake their head because they wanted to see what else he would do.

6. Bill Russell. The debate between Wilt and Russell will be eternal, but to me, you take the guy with more rings.

7. Wilt Chamberlain. You get the only guy to score 100 pts. in a game at the 7 spot, you’ve done alright for yourself.

8. LeBron James. Yes he doesn’t have a ring, but does anyone really think he won’t get one? He’ll win at least one MVP award (probably this year) and he’s just flat out dominant. Next year, he might be higher on this list.

9. Shaq. First of all, the man only needs one name. That’s gotta count for something. Remember, he’s two Nick Anderson free throws away from having 5 rings. In his prime, he was an absolute force of nature.

10. Julius Erving. I originally wrote Charles Barkley here. Then I thought about Jerry West. Then Kobe. Then Cousy, Walton, Stockton, Karl Malone, Isiah, Moses Malone, hell I even gave some thought to Sean Kemp and Gary Payton. My point is I gave this position a lot of though, but ultimately, I went with Dr. J. He was Jordan before Jordan. He flew, he dominated, he had one of the greatest Afro’s I’ve ever seen.

The rest of the draft goes like this…

11. Kobe
12. Barkley
13. Kareem
14. Isiah Thomas
15. Bob Cousy
16. Jerry West
17. Bill Walton
18. Hakeem Olajuwon
19. Scottie Pippen
20. Clyde Drexler
21. Earl Monroe
22. Walt Frazier
23. Willis Reed
24. Patrick Ewing
25. Karl Malone
26. Dwayne Wade (yep, I’m serious)
27. John Stockton
28. Chris Paul
29. George Mikan
30. Deron Williams (that one’s straight bias from me…hey at least I admit it)

There it is. My list for right now. In a week I might call myself stupid and re-do the whole thing.

Feel free to leave your thoughts.

I Ramble Therefor I’m Stupid

Ok, I’m warning you right now, this is pretty much just going to be me rambling.

First off, I saw a guy walking on campus today.  He was wearing a black trench coat and black hat (like the ones they wore in the 1950’s).  In fact, I think everything he was wearing was black.  Following closely was, I assume, his girlfriend wearing…you guessed it…all black.  I thought about this for a moment while I waited for the light to turn green, not because I find those kids scary like they’re going to shoot up a school or something, but because I find them very funny.  See, I assume they dress like that because in their mind, they’re rebelling against what they think we want them to be.  They don’t wear Abercrombie & Fitch clothes, don’t gel their hair, don’t listen to “mainstream” music.  I got news for you guys, you’re not rebelling against anything.  You consider yourself to be above us because you’re not caught up in material things, yet I question, how long did it take you to pick out that coat?  That hat?  How much money did you spend on your all black ensemble?  I’ll bet anything you spent more money and time crafting that look than I did on the outfit I’m wearing today, yet you would consider me to be another sheep.  Just food for thought.

Up until recently I thought that I would be fine with either Clinton or Obama winning the primary.  For the uninitiated, I’m an Obama guy and not just because I’m from Illinois.  I think he can do the most good for this country.  I must say though that recently I’ve been very disappointed with Hilary Clinton.  She’s almost constantly bringing up Obama’s connection with Reverend Jeremiah Wright who has said some fairly controversial things.  In the last debate which was watched by almost no one, she even made an attempt to connect Mr. Obama with Louis Farrakhan under the old six degrees of separation game.  But let me quote the great Stephen Colbert when he was discussing this: “if Obama is supported by Ted Kennedy, who is Catholic, and the Catholic Church is led by a Pope who was in the Hitler Youth, that can mean only one thing: OBAMA LOVES HITLER!”  Quick side note: I’m not Catholic, but I think the current Pope is capable of doing some great things and I’m a fan, but truth is truth…end side note.  What Mrs. Clinton has failed to mention is that after the Monica Lewinski scandal, whom did the Clintons bring to the White House for “spiritual counseling?”  Why, it was the Reverend Jeremiah Wright!  Interesting.  I give Obama credit for not bringing that in to the rhetoric yet.  Again, I don’t particularly dislike Hilary, I’m just disappointed in her lately.

NBA playoffs are going on, and if you like basketball, watch.  Seriously.  There’s some really good ball going on.  The Western Conference is just ridiculously good and there’s some really good series going on in the East.  Here’s my predictions:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Lakers over Nuggets in 4

Jazz over Rockets in 6

Hornets over Mavs in 7 (this one could be a whole bunch of fun)

Suns over Spurs in 7 (again, could be a TON of fun to watch)

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Celtics over Hawks in 4 (I actually like Atlanta, but they’re vastly overmatched here)

Pistons over 76ers in 5 (I like the Sixers too, but I don’t think they’ll steal another one from Detroit, I think Detroit took them too lightly over the weekend)

Magic over Raptors in 6 (could go the other way if Chris Bosh can figure out how to contain Dwight Howard…which I’m not actually sure is possible)

Cavs over Wizards in 7 (Normally I’d say that Cleveland would win in 5 because I think LeBron can beat this team by himself, but Butler and Arenas are just ridiculously good and Washington believes in themselves)

I like the Pistons over the Celtics in the East, although I could easily see Boston winning.  I actually like Boston, but Detroit’s just too good and they have a big 4 where Boston only has a big 3, so you do the math.

The West is insanely difficult to pick, but I’m going to take the Lakers over the Suns in a fantastic 7 game series.  And even though it pains me greatly because I really hate Kobe, I think that the Lakers will be the champs, especially if Andrew Bynum gets healthy.  Don’t count Detroit out though, they’re physical enough to beat L.A. down and win.  That said though, this is the first time in quite a while where I just have no clue who’s going to win it all.  Should be fun.

NFL draft is this weekend, Jake Long will be the #1 pick.  I’m a firm believer that EVERYTHING in football begins and ends up front.  Left tackle is a notoriously hard position to fill and if there’s a potential franchise LT out there, take him.  Jake Long is that good.  I really like Chris Long (not related to Jake) but I think he goes #2 to St. Louis who need defensive help.  Matt Ryan goes 3 to Atlanta who desperately need a QB and McFadden goes 4 to the Raiders who desperately need everything.  After that, I have no clue.  I just hope my Bears take either an offensive lineman or Rashard Mendenhall at 14.

Baseball’s underway.  My White Sox are in 1st (awesome).  Today on The Score they asked “what’re you most concerned about with both teams (Cubs and Sox…both currently in first)?”  With my Sox, it’s still the bullpen.  Last year we started out on fire (David Aardsma didn’t give up a run until May, then he gave up a bunch), but then the pen fell apart.  The good news is that the lineup is hitting much better than all of last year and Danks and Floyd have been really good.  Jose Contreras still scares me.  I think we’ll need to address that sooner rather than later.  For the Cubs, I’d be concerned about a couple of things.  First off would be Alfonso Soriano.  I thought that they gave him too much money and too many years because he’s older than you think, but this injury is the latest in what’s becoming a long line of them and he may just be too far on the backside of his career to be the player the Cubs thought he’d be.  Kerry Wood concerns me too.  Shockingly, he’s spent 4.5 of his 10 year career on the DL.  Not good.  I’d be mighty worried about the starting pitching too.  Dempster’s been great, Zambrano’s Zambrano, but Lily is currently sporting a 9.16 ERA.  Now that will come down, but I doubt he gets much below 4, which isn’t real good.  I also doubt he wins more than 12 games.  Rich Hill has a much better 3.86 ERA, but just got his first win yesterday.  There’s some cause for concern there.

I can’t wait for Iron Man and The Dark Knight.  I don’t care what you think of me for that.

Finally, I ask a simple question.  If you are a woman, would you stay with a guy for 12 years despite the fact that he clearly has no intention of ever marrying you and treats you generally like a second class citizen?  I sincerely hope you said no.  Someone that I happen to be crazy about is doing just that and it makes absolutely no sense to me.  I’m not going to say I think I’m the greatest catch a woman could get, but I certainly treat women better than that and yet I’ve been single for 5 years and counting.  I’m telling you, there’s no justice in life.

I’m back

I’ve been ridiculously bad about posting lately, and for the roughly 4 people that read this, I apologize.  Work has been hectic and I’ve been training for a 5K run that happens in about a month.  Turns out I’m really not physically built for running.  I run flat footed and it caused a nasty case of shin splints.  My knees get more creaky with each day and now, for some reason, my left hip hurts.  Running, while incredibly effective, hurts.  Regardless, I’m determined to run this race.  I think once it’s over I’ll cut back my running schedule to no more than 4 times per week.  I think once it warms up and they open the pool at my apartment complex, I’ll switch to primarily swimming since there’s no impact on your joints at all when you swim.  Until then, I’ll continue to pack myself in ice on a nightly basis.

On to more important matters… this should make you sick to your stomach.  Yes, the idiotic record industry is at it again.  I have never once in my life been a customer of DirecTV.  Now let’s say that someone figured out how to pirate their satellite signal (who knows, someone may already have), and let’s say that this technology used to steal their signal became fairly wide spread among tech savvy people.  Then, DirecTV understandably says “enough” and finds ways to crack down on people stealing their signal and virtually stamp out pirating their signal.  However, let’s pretend that at the same time, DirecTV’s business model becomes obsolete yet they refuse to change it.  So now they’re losing money and they need to blame something.  Thus they blame the people who pirated their signal, yet their profits don’t increase.  So they decide that everyone must be guilty of this horrible crime against them and get the government to pass a tax that everyone has to pay.  How is it fair that I, who never used their services legally or otherwise, would have to pay that tax?

It isn’t.  So, if people like my parents, grandparents, and countless others who never even knew what Napster was are forced to pay a tax for people downloading music illegally, again I ask, how is that fair?

Hello world!

Welcome.  If you’re here, you most likely either know me or stumbled on to this by mistake.  What you’ll find here is basically stuff that’s on my mind at any given moment.  I fancy myself a half-decent writer, and frankly “author” was one of the things I listed when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up (by the way, if I ever grow up, I’ll let you know).

More than likely, things here will center around my two biggest passions in life, sports and radio.  If you’re not interested in either…sorry.  I’m sure that I’ll dip my toe in the political waters, and after that I suppose we’ll just see what falls out of my head. 

Simply put, I’m doing this to put my thoughts somewhere.  I have a lot of stuff bouncing around my brain and I type faster than I write with a pen and paper, so this is easier for me.  Enjoy.