Sunday, June 21, 2009

10 Things I Learned This Week


1. No Point in Complaining
I bitch about a lot of things. I bitch about work, I bitch about the shitty job other people do at work and I bitch about just about anything that makes me mad on a given day. I've come to realize that there is absolutely no point. Nothing changes - work is still just okay, nobody makes the slackers work any harder and the rest of the headaches and frustrations aren't going to change because I want them to. So from here on out, Spencer Kyte is now 50% less bitchy!

2. Off to Staples We Go
The weekly groceries run into Cranbrook will have an additional stop on the itinerary today. I need to hit Staples and get them to print several copies of my book proposal. Yes, I'm done and moving to the next step. I can't actually tell you how nervous -slash - excited this makes me. Think positive thoughts.


3. Clay Guida is My New Favorite Fighter
First, he took a massive headkick and pretty much bounced right back up. Then, he took some nasty elbows while in Diego Sanchez' guard and stayed there. At the end of the fight, dude was bouncing around like he could go two more rounds (which would have been awesome). Add the crazy caveman hair and you have one fun fighter to watch, win or lose.

4. Kobe > Shaq
Yeah, I said it and I challenge anyone who disagrees to a debate on the subject in the comments section. Shaq hasn't won anything without a strong #2; he had Kobe riding shotgun in the City of Angels and Flash leading the way in Miaimi. While Pau Gasol is nice, Kobe did most of this on his own and that puts him ahead of the big fella. One last thing: Kobe is one of the Top 5 ever. EVER.

5. Mainstream Sports Media is Ridiculous
I know you can't always be talking about the tough stuff, but how so much time can be spent discussing steroids in baseball and the US Open while the Donte Stallworth situation got one day of play is beyond me. Yes, we need diversions in life and sports certainly provides that break from the bad, but if you'll talk about Sammy Sosa testing positive six years ago for an entire week, why not address something that actually matters for more than 10 minutes?

6. You Need to See Taken
Watched this during the week with the wife and man was it awesome. All kinds of good here. I loved that Liam Neeson was the lead and not some hulked up, macho doofus and I loved that everything that his character did exactly what you would have expected him to do, right down to... I won't spoil it for you, but lemme just say that it was nice to see a movie that stayed true to the way things would actually go from start to finish.

7. Some People are Awful Defensive
Earlier in the week, I left a message on a friend's Facebook wall reminding her that in comparison to Toronto, Kimberley sucks. A couple of my bosses at work took exception to that and busted my balls about it the next time they saw me, with one telling me to move already if I hate it so much. Scenery and nature are great, but the fact that my shopping choices are WalMart or Superstore is all I need to say. I never thought the day would come when I was dying to go to Old Navy and American Eagle!

8. A Lot of Adult Dating Sites are Twittering!
As I've mentioned before, I tweet and each time I sign on, I check to see who is following me. Generally speaking, if you're following me, I'll follow you, simple as that. The exception to that rule are the countless Adult Dating Sites that pop up in my list for a couple days before the Twitter Police remove their accounts. Nothing like being excited to have another person follow my work only to find out it's some Spam-alicious "find a friend in your town tonight" site...

9. Gotta Love Mothers...
I was talking to mine yesterday and mentioned that I once again have a mohawk. Not a ultra-big, dyed pink, punk rock rules mohawk, more of a faux-hawk really, as I still have hair on both sides and it's maybe an inch when spiked. Anyway, as soon as the words came out of my mouth it was like I was 14 again. "Spencer, what are you doing? Why would you do something like that?" and on and on about making smart choices and all the things parents tell their kids... when they're actually children. That being said, I wouldn't change her for the world!

10. This is Getting Harder and Harder Each Week
Honestly, I don't know if I learn 10 things that are worth writing about every week. Maybe we'll cut it down to seven starting next week... or five... or just do something else entirely... have to see.

3 comments:

Drunk Raptors Fan said...

Defining someone's basketball talent by something as esoteric as "championships won with or without a strong #2" is, to put it mildly, fucking stupid.

Jordan never won a title without Pippen, so does that mean that Kobe is better than Jordan as well? Or does Pippen only qualify as, say, a "solid" #2? If that's the case, please enlighten me, because I am unfamiliar with exactly what stats the NBA uses to officially quantify someone as a "strong" player.

Shaq and Kobe play entirely different positions as well, so I'm not sure it's even a valid comparison with, you know, actual stats to back it up.

Moron.

E. Spencer Kyte said...

WOW!

No one is better than Michael Jordan. Even if Jordan didn't have Pippen, he would have won championships; he just so happened to have another of the 50 Greatest Players ever riding shotgun.

Pau Gasol is no Scottie Pippen and in my books, he's not the same caliber player as Dwyane Wade. Gasol's "nice" - good all-around game, high IQ, but would never win anything solo. Wade will or at the very least could.

As for Kobe and Shaq - check the stats yourself. Kobe is a much more complete all-around player than The Big Fella with a better scoring average, more assists and steals.

Beyond that, Shaq has not won anything without a truly great player beside him and Kobe now has, which is what I said in the first place.

Disagree with me all you want, but maybe next time you lay off the sauce and make a better argument of your own.

Drunk Raptors Fan said...

You never addressed my argument. Of course Jordan is better than Kobe. However, your logic of "Kobe is better than Shaq, because Kobe has won a title without a legitimate #2" could also be said about Jordan, as he never won a title without a legitimate #2 either.

I'm not saying that's the case, I'm just saying "never won a title without a strong #2 player" is a piss poor measure of a player's talent.

You get into stats later on, which, if you're going to make an argument that Player X is better than Player Y is really where you should have started the conversation. Kobe has more assists and steals, Shaq has more rebounds and blocks. Kobe may have scored more points, but Shaq's FG% is much, much higher.

You know why all of that is? Because Shaq is a center and Kobe is a guard and they're asked to do completely different things on the court. They're both immensely talented players at their respective positions, but pitting them against each other is a nearly impossible exercise that people like you give in to only because of some ESPN/TMZ fueled feud.

Way to think for yourself and not be a product of the hype.