So, I haven't really posted anything since I moved to DC. I have a plethora of excuses, but because no one reads this, I will refrain from mentioning any of them.

When I started this "blog" (I really do hate that term) it was meant to focus mostly on the world of sports, with the occasional stretch to politics, or social commentary. I have done my best to leave my personal life on the periphery because this isn't a diary, and if it was I wouldn't post it online.

Since I moved to the DC Metro area (Rockville, MD to be specific) I have gotten myself involved in local sports to an extent. In early November I was hired as an assitant basketball coach for the M.J. Berman Hebrew Academy, a small orthodox Hebrew school. We compete in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference against a mixture of other religion-based private schools. We cannot compete in weekend tournaments because the shabot begins Friday at sundown and goes to sundown on Saturday. All our players are required to wear a keepa (headcovering) at all times, though few want to.

We are currently 6-3. Many of our games are much closer than we should be. We have one player with previous varsity experience, and a few players who had never played organized basketball before in their lives. Our tallest player is 6'1". Our point guard has had 3 games with 8+ turnovers. Our best shooter was out for a month with a sprained ankle.

The kids on the team are totally different from any one I have ever played with. For the most part, I like all the kids. They were generally well intentioned, though they'll pick on you if they can. They don't practice very hard, there are at least 50 possible explainations for this, none of which I'm sure about. They also don't always play hard. For the most part they just don't "get it."

My intention is to "chronicle" the rest of our season to some detail here. The challenge will be remembering. Time will tell how I do.

NBA Dress Code

I am a huge fan of the new NBA dress code. The code requires the players to wear business casual clothing while on the job. Welcome to reality. It is about time that a professional sports league begins to hold its players accountable as professionals. No one can show up at work wearing the crap that NBA players wear and expect to be taken seriously. They look like punks off the street. Or in Steve Nash's case, off the beach or maybe skatepark, whatever.

There have been claims of racism against the NBA for attacing the style of young black men. Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers, in particular, doesn't have a problem with the dress, but he does not want to let go of his bling, and feels that it is a racist policy to say he cannot wear a large chain around his neck. His form of protest is to look completely ridiculous while wearing four large diamond encrusted chains around his neck. Once again, no one will take him seriously.

Raja Bell of the Phoenix Suns made a statment that goes a long way to prove that NBA players are generally clueless. He said, “We don’t really sell to big business, we sell to kids and people who are into the NBA hip-hop world. They may be marketing to the wrong people with this.” Hip-hop people around the world might associate with NBA players the most, but the NBA itself is a perfect example of a huge corporation filled with old rich men that are totally disinterested and generally offended by "hip hop" culture. How many do-rag, bling, baggy jeans wearing CEO's are pouring millions of dollars into the NBA? On the other hand how many NBA luxury boxes are filled with old rich people? When you get the answer to that, you have your answer to whether or not this is racially motivated.
It's pure economics.
Don't alienate the people who pay your bills.