Thoughts about the NBA???

Really, why? Well it was on my mind! I also typed it on my new iPad with a Journal App that I fell in love with, so there. By the way, yes, still on blogspot with every good intention of moving to WordPress. I am thinking next weekend, its a long Holiday one and I don't have my kids, I'll be in New York, alone and mostly bored, not that anyone pays attention...

I am really disappointed in the NBA. I used to be a very big fan as a kid. I look back at the early 80's and I wonder if I am just being nostalgic or is there something to it. The night before last I was watching the Flyers hockey game and in-between periods I switched over and the NBA Draft Lottery was on, that's what initially got me thinking about the topic...

Anyway, I watched and sat there comparing it to the NFL which seems to do everything right when it comes to drafts and dealing with college players. On the flip side you have the NBA; their silly one and done college rule and this 'lottery' that is staged to determine who gets the first pick through the 14th, I think. This should be exciting stuff!!!! It's what can shape a future franchise right? Not so fast my friends --- not only is drafting NBA talent a hit and miss, moving target but thanks to stupid contracts and salary restrictions it is downright convoluted. On top of that, I really no longer understand what it takes to be an NBA player and I have to tell you, I love the college game and think I am fairly knowledgeable, but I look at the mock drafts put up by experts and I scratch my head...I know maybe 10 names from the college game and I really wonder what their impact is going to be. The overall #1 seems to be John Wall, a skinny 19 year old kid that played one year at Kentucky, because quite frankly, he had too. Now I am not knocking the kids' talent but I don't think he is NBA ready and I don't necessarily mean from a skills standpoint, though I think the top 10 point guards in the game will eat him for lunch for the next two years. What I see is an immature, self absorbed, talent laden kid that will never reach his max potential because he will no longer be 'taught' the game of basketball. All of that is sort of off topic but because year after year this same thing happens, it has made the NBA an inferior product. David Stern, the NBA Commissioner, can stick his head in the sand and point to TV ratings all day long but I see empty buildings and complete apathy about the future. You, Mr. Stern, got very lucky with an influx of talent in the Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul class. Enjoy it now because I don't see the future staying 'rosy'.

Watch your older brother, the NFL, and learn; you can market the player but at the end of the day it is the team that matters. Fans will always appreciate great talent but we fall in love with teams, winning and enthusiasm. When you hand 19 year olds $40 million without any track record of success you are creating an atmosphere of individualship and greed. Coaches are not respected in the same way as they were before and veterans are seen as has beens that should just go away. And fans? Do they even know we are there? Just ask Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks, but that is a whole different rant!

I am glad my 76ers are no longer relevant or this would all frustrate me so much more and there is an indictment in itself. I look longingly at my Dr. J jersey, the 1983 championship banner and my Moses Malone '4,4,4 Sixers' shirt with longing and passion, for another time and another era, but no longer for basketball...

I'm excited about the iPad but I'm not quite sure why

So, I am a 'gadget' guy. Mind you I'm not the geeky gadget that actually knows the internal guts of a device and why it works but I am the gadget guy that needs to have the latest toy to play with.

Yesterday, I saw on my company's internal 'twitter like too' called Yammer that the Apple version if the 'Kindle' was being launched. Now, of all the cool gadgety items out there I have held off on the Kindle; partly because I love books and I am resistant to give up the tangible feeling of turning a page, partly because I keep thinking there might be something better (Apple - cough cough) and partly because I was hoping someone would actually buy one for me (apparently I have SUCKER written on my forehead - LOL).

So, out comes the iPad, Apple's version of the eBook and I have to tell you, 24 hours later I am pretty torn. First, the name is just absolutely horrific. I mean, if MadTV is going to spoof you 4 years ago with the name of a product and then you actually use that name...really...someone should be fired. By the way, see the spoof here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjU0K8QPhs&feature=youtube_gdata. Secondly, I'm not exactly sure what this thing really is and is it trying to be too much. Granted, I like the idea of 'more' but essentially do I need more? I have a MacBook (the laptop), I have two iPods that rarely get used, because I also have an iPhone...the iPad seems to be the iTouch on steroids with the added bonus of being an eBook as well. While I think that is great I don't know if the end justifies the means. From a fiscal standpoint, in year ONE you will be in for roughly $1,000 and that is before you even buy a single book or app.

At the end of the day, I'll probably find a way to justify that I 'need' one, whether it be because of my travel schedule dictates that I have to have it or my iTouch miraculously gets 'lost' :-)

In the meantime I do hope Apple looks at some tweaks besides the naming function. Moat specifically their decision to not incorporate FLASH into the development. I know they don't love it but FLASH is the industry standard for video delivery and any mobile that device that can not incorporate it will always be lacking.

Just my two cents

PS - I am happy to be back blogging again and I am actually looking forward to using this 'forum' to discuss new and cutting edge work we are doing at Definition 6 (www.definition6.com)