Sports Guy as Bucks GM?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3267445

Note: I promise to actually figure out how to link this without putting the actual URL in...I promise.

Now, Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, jokingly mentioned earlier that he should be the Milwaukee Bucks GM. While this is a joke, so is Larry Harris. This article talks about why it would be a good idea for this to happen. While I don't agree with the point (and it's a joke, so you know, whatever), there are some truths that needed to be pointed out. I will get to them in a minute.

I have been a Bucks fan since I can remember watching sports. When I started paying attention to sports, the Brewers were two years removed from their only World Series run, but due to injuries, had a bad year. Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers were in a string of 8-8 seasons, good enough to tease us with potential playoff berths, but not actually good enough to get there. I remember the scenarios: "The Packers can get in the playoffs if they beat Tampa Bay by 35, the Redskins, Saints, Eagles, Broncos, and Bills all win, and if the Bills somehow manage to win the game in Omaha, the Packers only need Minnesota and Chicago to lose to get in." At the same time, the Bucks were in a string of 7 straight division titles. This was 1984. So, the Bucks were really the only thing resembling a good sports team in Wisconsin. I remain convinced that they could have won a title or two in the 80s if it wasn't for them running into unbelievable 76ers and Celtics teams.

But, after that run, they slowly regressed. The first Bucks game I attended was the 1990-1991 regular season finale against the Indiana Pacers. Even though the Bucks won, you could see a changing of the guard. Indiana was on the way up, Milwaukee on the way down.

The Bucks became a joke of a franchise, and save for the 2000-2001 run to the Eastern Conference finals (where they lost to the Sixers....grrrrr), they have become largely irrelevant in the Wisconsin sports scene. This is a damn shame. And the thing is, no one cares!! Right now, Senator Herb Kohl (who kept the team in Milwaukee, so kudos to him) is holding onto a team he probably doesn't want anymore, and he has a GM that has proven to be largely incompetent (although it took quite the sack to draft Yi given his handlers specifically said he would not play in Milwaukee...or Minnesota, for that matter). I am sorry, but Larry Harris has got to go. The Bucks need a real basketball mind. And, if Bill Simmons wants the job, he can have it, especially if the other option is Larry Harris. Something needs to change, because a big day of reckoning is coming. The Bradley Center, a wonderful gift of Jane Pettit to the city (although the idea was to get the NHL to come to Wisconsin), is outdated. It doesn't look that way, as it's a beautiful facility, but it is outdated. Pretty soon, it's going to be time to build a new arena. And, no one is giving another arena to the city. So, if the Bucks want that new arena to be built, they need to have the general public backing them. And, the way to do it is putting a good product on the court. If they don't, an apathetic fan base will watch as some other city chases them. Don't think it can happen? The Sonics are about to leave Seattle!!! SEATTLE!!!! If anything, Seattle ought to be a 4-sport market. Instead, they will soon lose the only team to win them a championship. I don't want this to happen to Milwaukee.

Stinger rant #1

Well, I have this space, and sometimes I will try to have reasoned commentary on what's happening in the world. Other times, I will enter the complaint department. Most of the time, it is admittedly petty crap that bugs me that I will rant about. Here is the first one.

I live near downtown Minneapolis, and work downtown, so I walk to work. Most times, this involves walking through the extensive skyway system. Sometimes, the skyways crossing streets are pretty open, meaning they are free-flowing. However, other times, there are doors interrupting. Here is what bugs me to no end: healthy people using the handicap button so that doors open automatically. Come on people, is it that hard to open a door? Are you that important that all doors ought to open for you without your help? I am so sick of these people who use this button when they are healthy!! I have ranted about this to people before, and many times they offer exceptions like, "What if my hands are full?" Frankly, I have no sympathy. Drop your bag, push or pull the door open, pick up your bag, and walk through!! It's that simple. If you are able-bodied, you can open a door! These buttons are for people who CAN'T open doors by themselves. You know, the handicapped. Hence, the symbol on the button.

I have a standing offer to anyone who feels they have to use that button. I will happily cripple you however you would like so that you HAVE to use it. Otherwise, open the door (and, if people are behind you, maybe you can even hold it for them...you know, common courtesy). However, I imagine this will be something that I will just have to put up with because a lot of people, especially downtown workers, are self-important people who truly believe the rest of us are here to serve them.

Thank you.

The future, by the Strib

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/15872952.html

Once again, the Star Tribune tries to look into the future, and once again, they confirm for me that they have a vision of the future that smacks against reality. This paragraph bugs me:

"Cars would be smaller, too, seating only one or two people. "Think of it as a Personal Transportation Vehicle, not a car," Barker said. Every home would have at least one such vehicle, he said. If additional space were needed for cargo or passengers, you could add a power-assisted module that you might rent for such a purpose. Markus took the idea a step further by conjecturing that homeowners could all have small cars but belong to a co-op where they share the use of larger vehicles for recreational trips or when they need to carry more passengers or cargo."

I seem to recall an article awhile back in the Strib where housing of the future was discussed, and they talked about having a co-op for cars. My question is, why on Earth does anyone think these sorts of co-ops will ever happen? In the future we will be sharing cars, or at least sharing "modules" when we have to cart the kids around? Are you kidding?!! I sure am glad the hippie ethos hasn't completely died yet. It's such an easy thing to rip on, mostly because it goes against self-interest. My belief, one which I will be talking about a lot on this blog, is that people and entities act in their own self-interest. Even charitable acts can be construed in this manner. And, people voluntarily giving up full-size vehicles goes against their own self-interest, especially if they have families. Oh, one other thing:

"Those are some of the ideas put forth by St. Paul futurist Joel Barker..."

So here's my question. How does one become a "futurist?" Is there a degree program for that? Did I miss out on this when I was at the U? I mean, if I say that in 25 years, most of the things presented in this article will not happen, does that make me a futurist? Or, am I not qualified to be a futurist, and therefore cannot challenge the assertions made in this article?

Baseball begins

So pitchers and catchers are starting to report for Spring Training. After the offseason baseball has had, what with the Mitchell report and Roger Clemens trying to clear his name; and with Andy Pettitte copping to taking some HGH, getting back to the game will be interesting. Now, I am a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. I like the Minnesota Twins as well, but the Brewers are #1 for me. And, for a change, they actually have a shot to be #1 in the NL Central. The free-spending Cubs will have a lot to say about that, but for now I want to talk Brewers. They signed Eric Gagne to a one-year deal just before the aforementioned Mitchell report dropped. Honestly, I was not a big fan of that signing, although the fact that it's a one-year deal helps a bit. Gagne's production has been dropping, and it was clear that he is not the pitcher he was with the Dodgers. But, I know the Brewers had to do something after letting Cordero go to the Reds. Still, the Brewers, even through their long stretch of bad baseball, have always had good closers. You think they wouldn't have needed to sign someone like Gagne.

They also signed Mike Cameron. This move makes some sense in that it allows Bill Hall to move to 3rd and for Ryan Braun to move to left. Hopefully hiding Braun in left will make his bad defensive play less of an issue. But, Cameron is suspended for the first 25 games. So, it will be interesting to see what Ned Yost does there. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel seems to think Tony Gwynn Jr. will get a longer look in center.

Jason Kendall is also a Brewer now. I would have been a lot more excited about this a few years ago, when Kendall was one of the most feared catchers in the league. But, being that there are not a lot of good catchers out there (not everyone can have Joe Mauer), this is probably not a bad pickup.

Overall, I am not sure the Brewers are better than they were last year. But, I don't think they are worse. Last year, a lot of people in Wisconsin were disappointed the Brewers didn't win the NL Central. I was too, but I was also happy with their 83-79 record. It was nice to see winning baseball can be played in Milwaukee. But in 2008, unless the Cubs really are on their once-a-century magical ride to a World Series victory, I will be disappointed if the Brewers don't win the division this year, or at the very least get in as a wild card. St. Louis is rebuilding, Pittsburgh is perpetually rebuilding, Cincinnati is a year away I think. I am not sure about Houston just yet, but I don't exactly fear them based on what I do know.

I will probably have more to say about the Brewers soon. Really, I just want to get to Miller Park again this year.

As for the Twins, I have to gather my thoughts a bit on them. All I know at this point is that I have a ticket to the opener against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Orange County, Southern California, California. And, they better hope Francisco Liriano picks up where he left off. If he comes back and pitches well, that softens the blow taken when Johan Santana was traded to the Mets (that steamed my clams a bit...I wanted Santana to stay in the AL).

So here's the 450,000,000,001st blog - Intro

Hello, cruel world! Because I like jumping onto trends that have pretty much played themselves out, I decided to start my own blog. This will be an interesting exercise to see if this becomes anything. Of course, that would require me to write interesting content. I make no guarantees that this will happen. I also make no guarantees that I will post much, at least not initially. Writing is something I like to do, but it's also something that takes discipline, of which I have little. Case in point...I started writing this because I am delaying going to work out. So, we'll see. When I do write, I will write about sports, music, politics, amongst other things. I have a quirky interest in cities and population trends, which I imagine normal people couldn't care a whit about. There will be a Midwestern regional bias in my writing. I take interest in two states' affairs in particular, Minnesota and Wisconsin; because I am from Wisconsin and live in Minnesota, and they have shaped my worldview. Politically, I lean right but definitely have a few left-leaning beliefs as well. Sports wise, my belief is as follows: "Packers, Badgers, Brewers, Bucks; every other state's teams suck." OK, that isn't entirely true. I was spurned at the altar by UW-Madison, so I consorted with the enemy. I am a proud pesky Gopher. Rah-rah-rah for Ski-U-Mah!! It doesn't matter that we suck at everything in sports. And, really the only team in Minnesota I don't like is the Vikings.

Oh, a quick warning: I like to think I am funny. Whether or not I am is subject to debate. So, I apologize in advance for all dumb attempts at humor, including ones made in this post.

By the way, Stinger is what I was dubbed a few years ago when I was in Las Vegas for my brother's bachelor party. I also sometimes comment on a different brother's blog (mrdilettante.blogspot.com) under that name. So, in addition to Stinger being my Vegas name, it's my blog's name too. But, my mom (or dad, I am not sure) named me Michael. I go by Mike. Or Mikey (only a select few can call me Mikey), or Michael (if you are a relative or a stoner). I am the youngest of six kids in my family.

So, here goes. Because what the world really needs is one more blowhard who thinks people need to know his opinion.