"Kingdom Come"

In the last week or so since my last post, I noticed several things. And rather than wait and give each topic a full write-up, I thought I’d mix it up a little. I’ve done this in the past, but I don’t do it as often I should, maybe. According to Wikipedia, 'blog' is a commentary on a particular subject. As I’ve written before, I’m not one to go with the popular opinion. I don’t buy into LeBron being the next “larger-than-life” superstar in the League. I don’t believe in the Global Warming hype. And I certainly don’t accept the fact that blogs have to be about one certain subject. I’ve got too much going on in my head to do that. So without further ado, off we go…

- There’s an organization based out of Asheville, NC called “Five Day Weekend.” The M.O. of this group is as simple as the name sounds – establish a two-day work week. Their argument is that people would be more productive in a two-day work week. They offer the explanation that generally, people only put in two good days of work per week anyways, so they might as well take the other three off. On their website (www.fivedayweekend.org/aboutus.cfm) they offer very formidable statistics, but they jump off the deep end when attempting to institute this proposition. Sure, Americans may waste vacation days, and yes, European workers are given far more vacation time per year than the average American, but why not introduce the suggestion of getting equal vacation time as our European counterparts instead of suggesting working only a third of the year?

Did I mention that the founder of this organization is an actor and a writer, and he only has to work two days a week because his pay scale is so much greater than the average American?

And what company is going to offer to pay their employees 250% more to work 60% less per week? Everywhere I’ve worked, I found it difficult to make $10/hour working 40 hours a week, doing the work of two people. I don’t believe employers are going to buy into the “opportunity” to increase expenses for a “potential.”

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- I understand that the Mavericks pulled it out last night to bring the series to 3-2, but can you imagine the ramifications of a series loss to the Warriors? The Mavs were two wins from the Larry O’Brien trophy last summer, and they won 67 games this year to boot. They’re one loss away from spending the rest of the summer at home.

That’s the funny thing about the NBA. It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you don’t match-up well against an opponent, you’re done. I said it at the beginning of this series – “I’m scared for the Mavs.” They don’t match-up. Small guards (Mavs) have no chance against bigger, more physical guards (Warriors). And the reigning “Coach of the Year” award winner isn’t supposed to play down to his opponent. Through 82 regular season games, Avery Johnson had all the answers. He had the right line-up on the floor seemingly every night. But for Game 1 of the series he plays down to his opponent and starts two point guards, two small forwards and Dirk against the Warriors. Dumb.

If the Mavericks do lose in this first round – mark down the date of this blog – I’m predicting a total MCM – Mark Cuban Meltdown. Cuban hates to lose. In the event they do lose the series (or fail to reach the Finals, no less) expect Cuban to drastically change the roster and coaching staff. He’ll call KG, Jermaine O’Neal, Vinsanity, and Chauncey to see about their desire to come to Dallas. Shoot, he’d call Dr. J, Jordan, Magic, and Larry Legend if he’d thought it’d help. Just know that I’ve said it. MCM.

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- Here’s a taste of some of the music I’ve been listening to lately…

:: “Call Me Irresponsible” by Michael Bublé – Absolutely incredible album.
:: “Southern Weather” by The Almost – Aaron Gillespie’s side project. Think Underoath without the screaming tendencies. Great album.
:: “The Yearbook” by KJ-52 – forget for a second that it’s Christian Rap, and listen to his words. While you’re at it, check out a track from one of his earlier albums titled ‘Dear Slim.’ Good stuff.

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- Michael Vick is in hot water… AGAIN! I can’t say that I’m shocked though. I’d be more surprised to go two weeks without hearing his name in the news. In the past year alone, he’s been involved in incident after incident. He’s been in pictures on MySpace smoking blunts with minors, he’s been caught up in the Water Bottle Scandal, he’s posed as Ron Mexico and allegedly gave a woman an STD, he “missed” a flight to D.C. for an appearance to sway lobbyists to increase funding for after-school programs, and now this.

Vick owns a home in Virginia and some of his family occupies the residence. Recent reports out of VA say that illegal dog-fighting rings and possible drug-trafficking have been held on the property. Allegedly, Vick has participated in the breeding of Pit Bulls for the specific purpose of fighting. Investigators have also seized illegal ammunition, impounded 70 dogs, and truckloads of equipment used to train fighting dogs – whips, chains, treadmills, injectable drugs, and more. While Vick denies the allegations, two news stations in VA have stated that they have eyewitness accounts of Vick being in town and at the home in recent weeks, prior to the investigation.

As for me, I’m done with Vick. I don’t care how good an athlete he is, or how much revenue he brings this city, I’m done. He’s proven time and time again that he’s not worthy of the hype, he’s not the model citizen he claims to be, and I’m through with the antics. Dog fighting? Drug trafficking? At this point, I don’t care if he was involved at all. The fact that this is yet another incident attached to his name is enough for me to give him the boot.

Here’s to the Joey Harrington era in Atlanta.