Think about it. In an article posted to ESPN.com right before “The Decision,” Bill Simmons wrote the following in regard to who he considers an NBA “superstar”:

[O]nly LeBron, Wade, Howard, Durant and Kobe qualify. There’s a level just a shade below (the Almost-But-Not-Quite-Superstar) with Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Carmelo Anthony, Brandon Roy, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. (Note: I think Derrick Rose gets there next season.)

Now, let me ask you the following question: Which one of those teams were in a position to sign a max guy to complement their current superstar?  The Cavs, Magic, Lakers, Mavs, Nuggets, Blazers, Hornets, and Jazz were not financially able to.  The Suns could have, but their owner is a notorious spendthrift and they passed on Amar’e, arguably the 3rd or 4th best free agent available after LeBron and Wade.  The Bulls were only in this position because Rose and Noah are still young and playing under their rookie contracts, plus they basically gave away Kirk Hinrich.  So, if we count the Rose and the Bulls in this equation, that leaves us with exactly two teams with an NBA superstar in a position to sign ONE max free agent to complement their current superstar: the Bulls and the Heat.

Now, I am going to disqualify the Bulls because Rose has only been in the league for two seasons, so the Bulls haven’t even had a chance to realize how special he is and try to build around him.  What I am getting at here is all of the teams listed above have been trying like mad to build up their rosters AROUND their superstars.  What the heck has Miami been doing since 2008?  Why haven’t they been trying like mad to build around their superstar, Dwyane Wade, a player who already has a ring and an NBA Finals MVP under his belt? I mention 2008 because that is when this little nugget was published in Simmons’ column (mentioned again in the previously linked column):

And yes, I totally subscribe to the “LeBron, Wade and Bosh agreed in China that they’d sign with the Knicks in two years” conspiracy theory even though there’s no evidence to support it.

So what have they been doing? Check out the Heat’s rosters in 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10.  Blech, and I thought the Cavs did a poor job surrounding LeBron with talent.  Here’s the rub, Miami isn’t run by Dan Gilbert and Danny Ferry.  They’re run by Pat Riley, a man who has won multiple NBA titles and knows how to build a championship caliber team.  So here’s my ultimate question: Why did a team with one of the 3 best players in the NBA have only 1 person officially on their roster (Mario Chalmers) when LeBron James made his announcement on Thursday night?  Is this not a negligent way to run an organization?  What if the Heat struck out?  When you have a player like Wade shouldn’t you be trying to win every single year?  Some will point in the Knicks direction as evidence that, perhaps, Riley’s gamble wasn’t so bold after all.  Well, that would be ignoring context.  The Knicks were in salary cap hell and had no assets to speak of having either traded away their draft picks or blowing the picks by making bad choices.  The Knicks essentially had no choice but to blow things up and start over.  So why not have the gutting of the franchise culminate with the greatest free agent class in NBA history?  If you strike out on LeBron you’re bound to get someone else to build around and then you will still have cap flexibility to make trades and make other moves to improve the team (and this is exactly what they have done.)

Ultimately, I can’t quite make heads or tails of what Miami has been doing the past three seasons.  The Heat had the good fortune of having Dwyane Wade and the number 2 pick of the 2008 draft (Michael Beasley) on their roster and their best they could do was acquire a washed up Jermaine O’Neal to complement them? Again, this isn’t a team run by Isaiah Thomas. Pat Riley knows what he’s doing. Check out the following articles about Miami’s 2009 offseason (or lack thereof) here, here, and here.  Of course Riley’s prudence has paid off and now he looks like a genius.  However, I can’t seem to shake this bad taste in my mouth.  Of course it was wise to save cap space in 2009 to make a run at Bosh in 2010, but how come they were in a position to sign all 3?  The bottom line: the Knicks were openly tanking and trying to create as much cap space as possible for the summer of 2010 and even they didn’t have enough cap space to fit all 3 players (even if they all agreed to the take less like they did in Miami.)  So how come a team with DWYANE WADE was in a position where they were able to sign not 1, but 2 players to such massive contracts?

The only conclusion I can come to is this thing was in the bag the whole time and we bought the charade hook, line, and sinker. How come Chris Bosh didn’t jump at the opportunity to go to Houston and play alongside Yao and Kevin Martin for max money? This was a situation that would have benefited both himself and the Raptors, since the reports indicated Houston was offering an attractive group of players for Bosh’s services.  Bosh, a Texas native, would have been able to play his natural position, power forward, close to home, for a lot of cash, and be THE MAN while surrounded by a very strong team with a brilliant GM.

How come the self proclaimed “King” James didn’t jump at the opportunity to go to New York and form the most explosive pick and roll combo in league history with Amar’e Stoudemire (not to mention Danilo Gallinari lighting it up from beyond the arc) and flirt with averaging a triple double for an entire season in Mike D’Antoni’s offense? As Simmons stated in the aforementioned 2008 article:

If he moves to New York, that becomes the biggest sports story of that year. And for all the Global Icon things he wants to accomplish — clothing lines, production companies, sponsors, etc. — he needs to be in New York or L.A on a daily basis. Those are the two cities in which Global Icon stuff happens.

Or, if James was truly consumed with winning rings, he could have jumped to the Bulls, made more money, played in a big city, and formed a devastating team with Noah, Boozer, and Rose.

Now that I look at the facts in black and white, nothing makes sense.  Bosh kept telling saying how he wanted the max via a sign and trade and that he wanted to play his natural position (power forward) and play for a winner.  LeBron couldn’t stop talking about his goal to be a global icon and a billionaire.  Coming full circle, we have the Heat, who have been seemingly treading water for three seasons of Dwyane Wade’s career rather than trying to build a team around a player who has proven he can be the focal point of a championship team, inexplicably having enough cap space to sign 3 players to massive contracts when a franchise that was openly trying to clear the decks only had room for 2.

Obviously, I am merely a hobbyist with no sources and no proof beyond logic and deduction. I have tried to tap into my inner Sherlock Holmes to make sense of what has transpired. I can buy LeBron, Wade, and Bosh becoming buddy-buddy during the Olympics and forming some pact, ala My Girl, to play together on an NBA team.  However, this isn’t something you stumble upon by happenstance some random offseason.  The mechanics of such a plan needs to be worked out.  After all, these guys still want to get paid, and paid they got. This isn’t chump change, folks, especially when you consider that Florida doesn’t have any state income tax. Also, since LeBron and Bosh will be taking up residency in Miami, they won’t get taxed on their endorsement deals either. Hmmm…

So you mean to tell me that the Miami Heat, a team that has a legit NBA superstar in Dwyane Wade, a team that has Pat Riley (*cough*tampering*cough*) as its team president, a team that plays in a state without a state income tax, had the foresight and the gumption to essentially tread water during at least two seasons of Dwyane Wade’s prime to have a “shot” at Chris Bosh? Then, not only were they able to acquire Bosh, but they were also able to convince LeBron James, the reigning two-time MVP to abandon his home state and a team that has won 60+ games in back to back seasons, to eschew his ambitions to become a global icon and billionaire (New York), and to pass up an opportunity to make more money while playing for a team that would have been similarly situated to win multiple titles (Chicago) to go take less money and play with them in Miami? Seriously? Pat Riley was that confident that he would be able to pull this off that he would gamble with precious prime seasons of Dwyane Wade’s career? Sorry, I’m not buying it.

What we witnessed (pun unintended) was unprecedented. Never before have 3 players of this caliber joined forces at such an early juncture in their careers in the name of winning titles. It seems that James, Wade, and Bosh are special individuals who have a special friendship and are willing to leave millions on the table to spend their 20s playing basketball together in a beautiful city. That’s great, but it only explains the “Why?” It does not explain the “How?” As in, how is it possible that a franchise that boasted one of the best players in the NBA was able to afford not just one, but two additional players at a reduced, but still massive price?

Whether or not this little get together where all of the big name NBA free agents got together to discuss their futures actually happened, we do know that they are friends and they do talk.  We also know that these guys are highly competitive individuals and businessmen.  This is why the speculation that this summit or the discussions revolved around notion that LeBron, Wade, and Bosh were going to team up in Miami to form a Dream Team makes no sense.  Why is that?  Well, let’s look at the facts and then add a pinch of conspiracy theory.

First and foremost, when it comes to professional sports, always remember what Wu-Tang preached: Cash Rules Everything Around Me (C.R.E.A.M.) Just follow the money, baby.  There was no way Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay leave their teams if their respective franchises offered them the max, and it seems like this is exactly what is going to happen.  This reason #1 why I doubt a Bron-Wade-Bosh team-up happens.  I think Bosh knows he can get the “uber-max” via sign and trade and there were rumors last week that this is how Bosh would end up Miami.  This means both Bosh and Wade would be earning more money than LeBron.  Do you really think King James is going to go to a franchise where: A) He won’t be the alpha-dog (Miami is Wade’s town) and B) TWO players are making more cash than him, the reigning two-time MVP?  I don’t think so.  This is also why I don’t think Bron and Bosh is happening in Chicago.  I cannot see a scenario where LeBron isn’t the highest paid player on his team (or co-highest – FORESHADOWING!)  In sum, I can’t see these three teaming up because LeBron and Wade are too competitive to share the limelight and both want money, power, and respect.  Sure, they could acquire all of these things together, but who knows how the public will view their individual legacies if they decide to go down this path.  When you operate on the level of LeBron and Dywane Wade, you don’t want to share with anybody.

This is why I think the conspiracy theorists have it all wrong.  These “summits” and discussions aren’t to form some unstoppable “Voltron” of a team.  Think about it.  When was the NBA at it’s apex?  If you’re thinking to yourself: “MJ’s Bulls” then you’re wrong.  The most exciting time in the league was when Magic’s Lakers and Bird’s Celtics would battle for titles and they had the greatest rivalry in sports history.  LeBron and Wade love this game and they’re businessmen too.  They know there is a more exciting option than them forming an alliance with Chris Bosh.  Instead of them all teaming up together and dominating the league, Wade teams up with Bosh, LeBron teams up with Ama’re and then they battle it out every year to see who wins the championship.  Seriously, what would be more fun and exciting than this?  What would be better than a modern day Magic vs. Bird rivalry with Ama’re and Bosh as the All Star complementary players?

Think about it.  I’m sure a Heat team featuring LeBron, Wade, and Bosh would get crazy ratings the first time they made the finals.  The excitement might even be there the second time around.  But think of how we chew teams up and spit them out these days.  We got sick of the Shaq-Kobe Lakers, people despise the Patriots now (ditto the Red Sox,) and the Yankees have been hated for an eternity.  Jordan’s Bulls might be the only exception, but you know what?  We need to stop bringing Jordan up.  Jordan was an aberration.  There will never be a player and an individual quite like Jordan.  For whatever reason, no one ever got sick of Jordan the same way they get sick of most athletes that dominate their sport.  However, think of how exciting it would be to see LeBron and Wade have a showdown in the Eastern Conference finals every year to see who gets to play Kobe/Melo for the title.  While we may get sick of dynasties, we LOVE our rivalries.  Lakers-Celtics; Cowboyws-49ers; Knicks-Heat; Yankees-Red Sox; North Carolina-Duke; etc., etc.  Heck, the Knicks-Pacers rivalry got a 30 for 30 documentary and the Knicks-Heat rivalry was must see TV and I wouldn’t consider any of those team pretty to watch.  For all of you locked into the World Cup right now, the beautiful game it was not.

There you have it.  This is what has to happen.  LeBron and Wade know what’s up.  They don’t want to share the glory.  They know how to make money.  They know what will get ratings and exposure for the league.  Folks, we’re about to enter an NBA golden age.  LeBron and the big man of his choice vs. Wade and the big man of his choice.  Personally, I’m excited to see which duo can bring a team together and make get the most out of their teammates because, after all, it is a 5 on 5 game.  However, in the center ring will be LeBron and Wade, duking it out for all the money, power, and respect.  And the only way to do so is to win titles.  May the best man win.

Our President has called on each of us to serve our communities.  In that spirit, I think it’s important to recognize one of the most unique and successful entirely student-run efforts in history - the Penn State Dance Marathon.

I am a Penn State graduate, class of 2006.  As much as I am a Penn State alumnus, perhaps it’s more important  to me that I’m a Dance Marathon (or “THON”) alumnus.  I know that when people think Penn State, the first things they think about are football, Joe Paterno, and white helmets.  But Penn State has one of the most wonderful and selfless events in the world taking place on its campus, and has acted as a model for dozens of other school’s programs around the world.

THON is year long fundraising drive that culminates in a 46 hour no sitting and no sleeping marathon to benefit the Four Diamonds Fund, which raises money to help families struggling with pediatric cancer.  Since it began in 1977, THON has raised over $60 million to help families in need.  In the process, it has shifted sites on campus, beginning with the small gymnasium in the White Building.  But as the popularity of volunteering, dancing, and observing began to increase, the venue had to move to the near 8000 seat Rec Hall, the old basketball and current volleyball arena.

Now, THON is so popular on campus with students, parents, and faculty that Rec Hall became far too crowded.  So my year, we said goodbye at Rec Hall’s final dance by raising a record $4,214,748.18!  Of course, when THON moved to the 16,000 seat Bryce Jordan Center world class arena in 2007, they raised over $5 million.  Last year, even as the economy spiraled downward, THON raised over $7 million. Can they break the elusive $8 million mark?

But the big questions remain – how is THON so popular on campus? And why no sleeping and no sitting for 46 hours?

15,000 students participate each year because THON gives us hope.  It gives us courage and strength knowing that these little kids, as young as a year old, can struggle against a disease that’s larger than they are and come out on top.  15,000 students per year take time out of their busy schedules of classes, relationships, parties and sports to come together and run everything from the website and the live webcast, to the pre-THON galas and hospital visits, to the events that occur to entertain the dancers and kids during THON itself.

Being a THON dancer is special.  Only 700 are selected to dance, and almost no one ever stops.  But why?

At first, everyone wants to dance for themselves, even if they say otherwise. They want to see if they can do the impossible.  They want to stand out amongst their peers.  Then, around hour 8, your feet begin to swell.  By hour 16, your legs begin to burn.  By hour 24, your back aches, your knees are buckling, and you’re leaning on your friends and family for support in the final day ahead.  You just keep dancing.

By hour 36, you’re so tired and drained that the pain in your body has made you essentially numb.  And then you look around at the 3 year old boy sporting a bald head from months or years of chemotherapy.  He’s running around at 11 PM with a squirt gun, having the time of his life with his “big friends.”  He smiles, maybe for the first time in months.  And you smile and hold your head up higher.  Because all this time, you thought THON was about you.  But at that moment, you’re quite aware that it was never about you to begin with.

THON is for the kids.  It’s for kids that deal with that kind of pain on a round the clock daily basis.  What’s 46 or 48 hours to us?  They’re braver and bolder than we’ll ever be.  That’s why we dance.  When we find a cure, we’ll dance for joy.  Until then, we dance for life.

The truth is, there’s nothing more important for me to write about than this.  Please take a minute out of your day and check out the website and the history of Penn State Dance Marathon.  Donate if you can spare it, or check out your local university’s own dance marathon.  I know for certain that they exist at Florida, Iowa, Rutgers and NC State.

FTK,

Adam

There.  I said it.  And I’m not ashamed of it.

Sports Illustrated‘s Don Banks, author of the “Inside the NFL” column, has Tim Tebow locked in with the Arizona Cardinals at selection 26 -

“This one is pure projection on my behalf, but hear me out: Tebow’s rough week at the Senior Bowl notwithstanding, it’s only going to take one team to fall in love with him to make him a low first-rounder. Why the Cardinals? If Kurt Warner retires Friday as expected, does anyone think Arizona has 100 percent confidence in Matt Leinart at this point? And we already know Ken Whisenhunt doesn’t mind playing two QBs in the same game, because he did it with Warner and Leinart in 2007. As rough as things were for the Cardinals defense in the playoffs, that side of the ball probably should get first-round attention. But for now, we’re sliding our Tebow chips to Arizona’s square.”

Kurt Warner has retired today as of 2 P.M.  Matt Leinart is most likely not the answer at quarterback for Coach Whisenhunt and staff, according to ESPN’s NFC West blogger Mike Sando.  The Cardinals have had incredible success the past two years with Warner at quarterback.  They will not be selecting high enough in the first round to take either of the two consensus top pro prospects, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma (shoulder injury inspection notwithstanding) or Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame.  With that in mind, why not take a chance on perhaps the best college football player in modern history?

How about these reasons?

“I actually don’t think he’s that hard to evaluate at all,’’ said a high-ranking college scout for an NFC team. “To me, he’s just not a very good quarterback prospect. Now, if you want to rework his mechanics, his release, try to improve his accuracy, then you see a guy with this big frame that can throw. He’s a big-time project, no doubt.’’ (emphasis added)

“‘He can’t play quarterback in the NFL, I’m convinced of it,’’ ESPN director of college scouting Todd McShay said. ‘From his delivery to his footwork to his accuracy, you have to absolutely strip him down and build him back up. And it’s too late.’”

Tim Tebow is everything that people say he is.  He is a good person who leans on his faith. He is a record setting college football player. He is one of the greatest leaders to ever step on to a college football field. He’s a wonderful person, and while the media may have overexposed him to the point of backlash, I still respect and admire him.

But the NFL needs more than intangibles and brute strength.  Tim Tebow doesn’t just need work on his delivery, footwork, and accuracy.  At 22, this is nearly impossible.  It should’ve been done already.  The fact that it hasn’t leaves him in the dust of prospects whose skill sets just translate better at the pro level.

Tebow is a relatively accurate passer, but doesn’t throw a tight spiral and winds up as if he’s throwing a fastball. That gives NFL defenses, who are flat out faster and better at reading plays, far too much time to figure out where the ball is going.  He’s only run an offense consistently from the shotgun, which means he has to work on both the exchange with the center and on his 3-, 5-, and 7-step drop footwork.  And because Urban Meyer’s truly innovative and exciting run-based spread-option only requires the quarterback to read half of the field on designed pass plays, it means that Tebow has to learn entirely how to read a defense on the fly and adjust.  This is next to impossible.

Surprisingly enough, the biggest flaw that Tebow has as a pro prospect in my eyes is something that people rave about.  At 6’2, 245 pounds, he’s a tremendous athlete and a real threat in the running game….at the college level.  Any pro football analyst who is high on Tebow often mentions his running ability and then inevitably references players like Vince Young, Michael Vick, Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb, and Kordell Stewart.

These are entirely inapt comparisons.  For one, except for McNabb and Cunningham, every single one of those players has had real issues adjusting to the NFL.  But beyond that, each of those runners was incredibly smooth and evasive, relying on their speed and moves in the open field to gain yardage.

I don’t think I have to tell anyone who watches college football that that’s not Tim Tebow’s preferred style of running.  Tebow is a bulldozer who would certainly rather run over than around you.  That works in college at QB because he’s bigger and tougher than everyone else.  But when linebackers in the NFL run 4.5 40s and routinely weigh over 250 pounds, that causes real problems for a player with his unique style.

There is room on a roster in the league somewhere for Tim Tebow, particularly teams that run “Wildcat” sets often.  He can be a terrific short-yardage and goal line back.  He is a threat to throw when he touches the ball.  He could be very good on special teams.  In short, he’s Brad Smith – the Missouri QB-turned-WR for the Jets who runs a few plays per game out of their “TigerCat” set.

Brad Smith was a 4th round selection.

Teams simply cannot afford to spend a first round pick on a player who is essentially a 3- to 5-year project.  Two years into his career, people already call Vernon Gholston a bust (full disclosure: I’m one of them).  First round picks should provide almost immediate contributions to your team – if not the first year then they must show substantial growth in the second.  You can find guys who will contribute to an NFL roster just like Tebow will anywhere after the 3rd round.  Why bother using a 1st on them?

Former NBA basketball player (and I use that term rather loosely) Paul Shirley recently penned a long and elegantly written statement on the plight of the Haitian people. Unfortunately for Mr. Shirley, “long” and “elegant” are not synonyms for “knowledgeable” and “insightful.”  If nothing else, it would have behooved Mr. Shirley to have done some research into his assumptions before foisting his nonsense on the rest of us.

The bitingly humorous take on Mr. Shirley’s work has already been done (and done extremely well) by the Kissing Suzy Kolber blog.  I will, as I’m sure you’ve guessed already, be taking a wholly different approach (albeit rather long) to the matter.  For the record, I do not and could not disagree with respect to the idea that money donated to the Haitian disaster relief effort should be distributed and utilized in a way that rebuilds the impoverished nation with an eye toward protection from major natural disasters such as last week’s earthquake that has claimed at least 150,000 lives. That is, I believe, generally incontestable. Dialogue is important, especially when the amount of money that has been donated is inevitably billions of dollars.  We need to be sure that relief goes both directly to people and insures against future catastrophe.

That being said, while Mr. Shirley’s piece may make some academically and philosophically interesting points about self-sufficiency and aid, it is also fundamentally wrong in several respects, which undermines his credibility on the subject.

Take, for example, his comments on the homeless at the beginning of the post:

“I haven’t donated to the Haitian relief effort for the same reason that I don’t give money to homeless men on the street. Based on past experiences, I don’t think the guy with the sign that reads “Need You’re Help” is going to do anything constructive with the dollar I might give him.”

None of us gives to every homeless person on the street.  If you live in a large city such as New York, it’s impossible without making yourself destitute.  Of course, it would be interesting to see how much “past experience” that Mr. Shirley has with homeless men and women.  I think it’s relevant to note that a study published in July 2009 by the National Coalition for the Homeless reports that 25% (apparently a conservative estimate) of the homeless population is severely mentally ill, compared with only 6% of the American population at large. Mental illness is also the third largest cause of homelessness for single adults.  This figure alone can tell you that many homeless people are not useless, drunk, or lazy. In fact, many are seriously ill.  With that in mind, doesn’t it seems possible that the dollar Mr. Shirley might give to a homeless person might just be used to buy food, or a cup of coffee, or something to shelter him from the elements?  And shouldn’t that give Mr. Shirley some pause before making a flippant, thoughtless comment about a homeless person’s perceived use of a dollar?

“Very few have said, written, or even intimated the slightest admonishment of Haiti, the country, for putting itself into a position where so many would be killed by an earthquake. I can’t help but wonder why questions have not been raised in the face of this outpouring of support. Questions like this one: Shouldn’t much of the responsibility for the disaster lie with the victims of that disaster?”

Of course, Mr. Shirley is sure to note that, unlike Pat Robertson, he doesn’t blame the Haitians themselves for the actual earthquake that leveled their entire nation.  Instead, Mr. Shirley would just like to note that Haitians should not be building “flimsy shanty- and shack-towns.”  This, he reasons, is one of the primary causes of the devastation and should have been dealt with years ago.

Mr. Shirley is correct in his assessment that Haiti lacks the infrastructure to deal with disaster; it is easy for towns such as the ones he has depicted to be swept away by large tropical storms or collapse under the shifting of tectonic plates.  Ideally, it would have been a great idea for Haiti to build really nice houses in really nice communities.  Unfortunately, Haiti, as Mr. Shirley acknowledges, is “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty” (many thanks to the CIA World Factbook). Haiti is the 146th largest country in the world, with a total area of 10,710 square miles.  It is not rich in natural resources, and “two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country’s widespread deforestation” (again the CIA World Factbook)

Of course, perhaps this could all change if only the people would rise up against their corrupt government and install leadership that would bring them to the forefront of technological and political innovation.  After all, according to Mr. Shirley,

“Ultimately, the people in a country have control over their government. One could argue that in totalitarian regimes, they do not have much control, but in the end, it is their government. And therefore, their responsibility. If the government is not doing enough for the people, it is the people’s responsibility to change the government. Not the other way around.”

Before staking such a claim, most people might think to at least attempt to use the world’s most popular research tool to find out about Haitian political culture (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=2004+haitian+rebellion).  In fact, the Haitian people have been “changing their government” since the Haitian Revolution declared independence on January 1, 1804.  Since the 1980s, Haiti has had new constitutions, military governments, elected presidents, different prime ministers, and a coup d’etat in 2004 that removed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power. Only recently has the calm subsided enough that in 2006, Rene Preval was elected president.  In other words, Mr. Shirley, the Haitian people have had demonstrable difficulties in finding a government that works.  It is not, however, for lack of effort.

Apparently, Mr. Shirley doesn’t blame merely Haitians for their natural disasters.

“After the tsunami of 2004, the citizens of the world wailed and donated and volunteered for cleanup, rarely asking the important – and, I think, obvious – question: What were all those people doing there in the first place? Just as important: If they move back to a place near the ocean that had just been destroyed by a giant wave, shouldn’t our instinct be to say, “Go ahead if you want, but you’re on your own now.”?

We did the same after Hurricane Katrina. We were quick to vilify humans who were too slow to respond to the needs of victims, forgetting that the victims had built and maintained a major city below sea level in a known target zone for hurricanes. Our response: Make the same mistake again. Rebuild a doomed city, putting aside logic as we did.” (emphasis added)

For a moment, let’s put aside the issue of why people live in the places they do.  Instead, I’d rather tackle Mr. Shirley’s comments on Hurricane Katrina, which is the largest natural disaster in the history of the United States.  I was unaware that the victims of a Category 5 hurricane were responsible for their own demise because they built and maintained a major city below sea level in a known target zone for hurricanes.  Of course, it would be prudent to note here that cities that are prone to natural disasters usually have several tactics to mitigate damage.  New Orleans relied on two plans in order to protect it’s citizens from a Category 5 storm.  Mandatory evacuation ordered by Mayor Ray Nagin eventually moved 80% of the population out of harm’s way.

The reason New Orleans was so devastated after Hurricane Katrina was not because it was below sea level (scroll down to North America) or because it was a known target zone for hurricanes.  It was because, “[d]ue to poorly designed levees and the worst civil engineering failure in United States history, most of the city experienced flooding similar to a direct hit.” In fact, “[t]here were over 50 failures of the levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans, Louisiana, and nearby St. Bernard Parish during Hurricane Katrina. The levee and flood wall failures caused flooding in 85% of New Orleans and 100% of St. Bernard. Millions of gallons of water spilled into vast areas of New Orleans, flooding thousands of homes and businesses with 10 feet or more of water.”

So yes, Mr. Shirley.  We vilify not random people, but political and governmental leaders who were responsible for not only failing to respond to the needs of the victims, but for failing to foresee that these structural problems that are not the responsibility of the average citizen but of the federal and state government, were not dealt with in a timely manner.  We castigate these leaders because they did nothing, even in the face of evidence to the contrary -

“In the event of a slow-moving Category 4 or Category 5 hurricane (with winds up to or exceeding 155 miles per hour), it’s possible that only those crow’s nests would remain above the water level. Such a storm, plowing over the lake, could generate a 20-foot surge that would easily overwhelm the levees of New Orleans, which only protect against a hybrid Category 2 or Category 3 storm (with winds up to about 110 miles per hour and a storm surge up to 12 feet). Soon the geographical “bowl” of the Crescent City would fill up with the waters of the lake, leaving those unable to evacuate with little option but to cluster on rooftops — terrain they would have to share with hungry rats, fire ants, nutria, snakes, and perhaps alligators. The water itself would become a festering stew of sewage, gasoline, refinery chemicals, and debris.”

- Chris Mooney, The American Prospect, May 23, 2005 (emphasis added)

Mr. Shirley also takes the time to let us know about the personal responsibility of the earthquake victims -

“A Haitian woman, days after the earthquake:

“We need so much. Food, clothes, we need everything. I don’t know whose responsibility it is, but they need to give us something soon,” said Sophia Eltime, a mother of two who has been living under a bed sheet with seven members of her extended family. (From an AP report.)

Obviously, a set of circumstances such as the one in which Ms. Eltime was living is a heart-wrenching one. And for that, anyone would be sympathetic.  Until she says, “I don’t know whose responsibility it is.” I don’t know whose responsibility it is, either.  What I do know is that it is not the responsibility of the outside world to provide help. It’s nice if we do, but it is not a requirement, especially when people choose to influence their own existences negatively, whether by having too many children when they can’t afford them or by failing to recognize that living in a concrete bunker might not be the best way to protect one’s family, whether an earthquake happens or not.

Ms. Eltime’s reaction helps define what is the crux of my problem with the reaction to this and to other humanitarian crises. I recoil at the notion that I’m SUPPOSED to do something.”

First of all, I recoil at the notion that an established media presence such as Mr. Shirley would cherry pick a quote from one news report and use it to broad-brush an entire nation. But aside from that, I cannot believe I have to point out that this woman is living with seven members of her extended family under a bedsheet.  This is a verifiable fact from a reputable news organization, and the rest of us are supposed to be concerned with discomfort you feel with perceived expectations placed upon you?

Mr. Shirley, you have been blessed to be born and raised in a prosperous country. You are lucky enough to have grown to be 6’10 with enough athletic ability to allow you to have traveled around the world. You have secured some modicum of fame for yourself. For that I commend you.  But your attempts to rationalize your opinions on charitable giving with facts are woefully under-researched, underdeveloped, and under thought. Your version of “logic” (read as: tough love) could be interesting in an academic sense if it didn’t mean the suffering of millions upon millions of people.

You write early in your piece that we have moved on from caveman times.  ”We are more civilized now.”  Civilized people do not merely point and scold at the epic misfortune of others.  There will be a time and place in the future to address concerns about infrastructure building, education and protection.  A week after one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of the century is not this time.  We’re still clearing the debris and finding the bodies. So with all due respect, Mr. Shirley, grab a shovel and help, or keep your mouth shut.

“I ask this particularly of the young people who watch. Please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

- Conan O’Brien, 1/22/10

As a full-throated supporter and card carrying member of Team Conan, I wholeheartedly endorse this sentiment (with many thanks from Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post).

Today officially marks my 26th birthday.  26 is somewhat strange. It’s not a particularly noteworthy number.  I’ve been able to drive a car (17), vote (18), and drink (21) for more than several years now.  25 is a milestone birthday, one of those that you’ll theoretically look back on one day when your kids ask you what your 20s were like.  It was a good year.

26 is rather unremarkable to most people, but I’ve put some thought into it throughout the past several days.  On reflection, it turns out that 26 is a crossroads for me.  It means the end of my formal education, the beginning of my career, and a commitment to the city that I spent an entire childhood admiring.  For me, 26 is the end of some things and the beginning of many more.

Professionally and scholastically, I have been remarkably blessed. I have spent three years of my life at an institution that has provided unparalleled guidance and support.  I have been the beneficiary of brilliant professors whose instruction has given me the tools to succeed not only in the legal industry, but in any line of work.  And I have worked hard enough and been lucky enough to land a job in a difficult economy in a growing field of the law.

I realize the opportunity that I have been given in September could be ripped away from me at any time.  Economies collapse, jobs are lost, relationships don’t always go smoothly.  Mr. O’Brien certainly understands that better than anyone.  ”I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know,” he said.  ”And if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.”

Being in the right place at the right time with the right type of luck can get you everything you’ve ever wanted, but it can all be taken away in an instant.  No one in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get.  But I’ve worked hard, and I’ve been kind.  I believe in the good in people, and I believe that amazing things will happen.  It only took an embattled comedian for me to be able to put it into words.

Now, I have no way of knowing whether or not Jay Leno is a bad dude.  For all I know he may be, but whether he is or isn’t a good guy is irrelevant.  The reason?  Because JAY LENO GOT SCREWED FIRST.

Think about it.  The guy hosted the #1 late night talk show for years and NBC was all set to push him out the door for Conan.  But when the time came for Conan to take over the tonight show, NBC got cold feet (and rightfully so.)  Mark Cuban actually blogged about why we should be applauding NBC for taking a risk and giving Leno a shot at 10pm and I agree with him 100%.

So while I was sad to see Conan kicked off The Tonight Show after only 7 months (I do believe he would have eventually figured it out and got better ratings), the facts are clear as day: Leno dominated that time slot for years and Conan was struggling mightily.  Of course Conan supporters will point to mitigating factors and they do have a point.  But you can’t argue with the stats and the stats say Leno gets the eyeballs.  Conan supporters also point to Leno’s 2004 statements regarding his passing the torch to Conan and retiring.  Well, what did you expect him to say!?  NBC was putting Jay in a retirement home so they could move in their hot new girlfriend.  He really had no choice.

This brings me back to my ultimate point.  Whether you love Jay Leno or hate Jay Leno, you cannot deny that the guy was screwed.  If you or I were in his position, we would be pretty pissed that our employer would fire us after years and years of finishing ahead of our competition.  So please, don’t leave comments discussing the merits of Jay Leno the comedian.  That’s not the point here.  The point here is that Jay Leno got the shaft long before Conan, yet somehow no one mentions this.

So instead of recapping a game that everyone either watched in its entirety, watched in part, or saw the highlights, I am going to take the time to address a few storylines that I am sure the media will be beating us over the head with today and tomorrow.

The referees did not cost the Vikings this game (re: the phantom pass interference on David Thomas.)

No one player lost the Vikings this game (i.e., Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, etc.)

A coin toss did not lose the Vikings this game.

And the overtime rules are just fine, thank you.

Here’s the deal: when I played football in high school we were forbidden from complaining about the referees or for worrying about things that were out of our control.  I was always taught that if you allowed a game to be decided by the refs or something like a coin toss, then that’s on you.  The Vikings had 60+ minutes to take care of business and they didn’t get it done.  In fact, it was remarkable that this game even made it to overtime considering they turned the ball over 5 times.  Refs will make bad calls.  Weird plays happen.  But, if you take care of business and even if the refs make a bad call, you should still end up on the winning side.

Further, to place the blame for a loss on a single play or a coin flip is ridiculous and diminishes the hundreds of other plays that happened over the course of a game.  Of course any single play can swing the outcome of a tightly contested match, but to try and play this game of isolating THE play that swung the game is a fool’s errand and misses the point.  Football is a team game and there will be many plays during the course of the game that do not go your way.  Good teams minimize the bad plays against them and exploit the other team’s breakdowns.

As for the overtime rule, I love the NFL’s overtime rule.  As a Packers’ fan I know first hand that winning the toss in OT does not guarantee victory or defeat (see Al Harris picking off Matt Hasselbeck, Corey Webster picking off Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers being “picked off” by the Cardinals in the first round this year.)  Further, defense and special teams are part of the game!  How about the Vikings make a play on special teams and not let Pierre Thomas return the overtime kickoff to the Saints’ 40?  How about the defense step up and make a play?  The trend over the last few years in the NFL has been to glorify offense and short change defense and special teams.  I think this is a travesty and this is why I love the NFL overtime rule: it emphasizes all three phases of the game.

Additionally, as I alluded to earlier, to claim that a coin flip decided the game totally diminishes the 60 minutes of football that preceded overtime.  There were plenty of opportunities for either team to handle their business in regulation.  Heck, if Favre had just tucked the ball and ran with it, chances are Ryan Longwell nails a 50 yarder for the win.  Games between teams as evenly matched as the Vikings and Saints are essentially sudden death matches anyway, with the team who has the ball last usually the one who wins.  In  fact, announcers say this all the time.  So why does everyone lose their minds over the overtime rules.  Isn’t it essentially luck that determines who ends up with the ball last in regulation of these types of contests?

Well now I am ranting so I’ll wrap this baby up.  My ultimate point is that no single play or event determines the outcome of a football game.  That might be the storyline the next day, but it’s false.  Plays count just as much in the first quarter as they do in the 4th quarter or in overtime.  The Vikings have no one to blame but themselves, as a TEAM, the same way my Packers had no one  to blame but themselves for spotting the Cardinals a 14 point lead in the first round.  To claim otherwise totally diminishes what else happened during the game.

In retrospect, that the J-E-T-S would go on to lose this game was obvious at about with two minutes and eleven seconds left in the first half.  That’s when, after the Jets forced a turnover and took a totally improbable 17-6 lead, the real Peyton Manning took the field.

Peyton Manning has engineered drives in the last two minutes of the half this year and come away with 77 points.  For some perspective, writes Paul Kuharsky for ESPN.com, that’s as many points as the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Rams have scored in a half this season.  That statistic isn’t just a league leader – it’s flat out exceptional.  When the pressure’s on, Peyton Manning delivers.  So color me as less than surprised when he picks apart the best defense in the league on a drive that took less than a full minute.  58 seconds after getting the ball, Austin Collie was in the end zone, the dome was shaking, and a Jets fan sitting on the couch could only sigh as they ran a few meaningless plays to get them into the half. Deflated barely does justice to the feeling of watching Peyton Manning have his way with your team.

Still, even coming out of the half, you had to feel relatively good as a Jets fan. Up by 4 on the road in the AFC Championship game with the best defense in football and a running game that exhausted opposing defenses.  A few long drives, playing field position and another score could’ve locked this game up.  That good feeling was put to rest when Shonn Greene, one of three breakout stars this post-season for the Jets and the team’s most dominant rusher, went out with a rib injury.  Thomas Jones is a solid runner who had an excellent year (1402 yards, 14 TD), but he’s been shy of contact during the playoffs and has a tendency to dance instead of just hitting the hole.  Greene gets yards after contact and is a pure North-South runner, which is exactly what was needed in the second half in order to keep drives alive.  With only a semi-healthy Jones, the Jets rushed for a paltry 86 yards (averaging only 3.0 yards per carry) and couldn’t sustain drives against a team that suddenly developed a killer instinct with the last drive in first half.

But there are no excuses, really. The Colts were the better team in the regular season and the better team now because they have the best player in football lining up under center. There’s a reason why QB17 is terrific – when the chips are in and everything is on the line, Peyton Manning drops the hammer.  It wasn’t a skill that he was born with, but one he developed over time. If Mark Sanchez can be 50% of the QB that Manning is right now, he’ll have had a heck of a career.

Jets fans have a lot to look forward to now. They have a rookie running back who has looked like the league’s next breakout rusher, a rookie head coach who instills confidence in his team with every word and enjoys the spotlight afforded to him by New York, and a rookie QB who is so excited to play the game that he looks like Shelley Duncan in the Yankee dugout.  They have the league’s best defensive player and a defensive team that lacks a pass rushing star but plays well together.  The Colts had too many weapons today, but the core of the Jets makes the future look bright.  Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts on a fine regular season and AFC Championship.  The game against New Orleans in Miami in two weeks should be exceptional.

I am also a 26-year-old law student at New York Law School.  Born and raised in Staten Island, NY and a Bernard M. Baruch College graduate, I have spent my entire life living, working, playing, and going to school in NYC.  So of course I will be moving to Los Angeles in May after I graduate.  My decision to move out to LA with my girlfriend of six years came as a shock to many, but we both want to work in the entertainment industry (me as a lawyer/agent and her as an actress) so it just made sense.  You’ll see that my pop culture interests lean heavily towards film and television which makes my desire to work in entertainment law and my move to LA a natural fit.  In addition to movies and TV, I was an English Lit major and am an avid reader.  I read anything from the classics to books on legal philosophy to comic books (aka graphic novels.)  Yup, I’m sort of a comic book nerd (used to buy single issues but have transitioned to trade-waiting – comic book aficionados will understand what this means.)

Of course, I am also a huge sports nut.  My allegiances are as follows: New York Mets, Green Bay Packers, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, and Real Madrid.  I suppose I have natural biases when it comes to these teams, I like to believe that I am able set my biases aside and provide honest sports commentary.  My favorite sport is easily baseball but football isn’t far behind (played in high school – Back-2-Back CHSAA Varsity Champs!) I also follow the NBA fairly closely these days after my brother and a high school buddy of mine helped me re-discover my love for the NBA.  I don’t really follow the NHL other than the Rangers, but I will confess that my Ranger fandom has been subpar due to the time crunch of law school.  My Real Madrid fandom essentially parallels my Rangers fandom (can’t wait for the World Cup in 2010 though!)  I dip my toe into MMA (specifically UFC), boxing, and golf from time to time, I usually tune into the Summer and Winter Olympics when they come around, and I even glance at the X-Games if I am aware that it’s that time of the year.  So I guess you could say that I am a sports-man of all seasons.  Unfortunately, I am not a big college sports guy.  It’s just not my thing – chalk it up to going to a city school in Manhattan. However, I will tune in for March Madness and any Bowl Games that seem to be generating some buzz.

So there you have it – pretty much anything and everything is open for discussion, debate, and analysis.  Enjoy.