Advent season

Basketball Jones

Thanksgiving break has afforded me the opportunity to watch some of the Chicago Bulls films from the championship years. What made those six championships to memorable was not simply Michael Jordan, but also cohesive the entire team was. Take the two stars, Scottie and Michael, for example. I can't recall a time where the two publicly feuded (at least to the extent that we see players today do so). This isn't necessarily meant to be a dig on Kobe and Shaq but I can't recall another modern basketball dynasty that involved two star players who were on the same page (though I was a big fan of the David Robinson/Tim Duncan duo for those couple years). Plus, I can't recall such a memorable set of role players. Take Dennis Rodman. Yeah, he had the colorful hair and tattoos and even kicked a cameraman in the groin but, dude, who else can say that they've crushed Bob Costas!



As for this season, when I haven't been gushing over Derrick Rose, I've been admiring the team effort of the San Antonio Spurs. I was able to watch a couple of their games when Ginobili and Parker were out and, though it was pretty vanilla in terms of offense, the team game was solid. Plus, they have managed to find another potential stud in guard George Hill (and Roger Mason) who could really be something special. Props to Coach Popovich for assembling what normally would seem to be a bunch of no-name players to surround the trio of stars. I've always been a fan of the Spurs brand of play, boring as it may seem to fans.

Some memorable Bulls moments:

Sharing the spotlight with the short, white, role-player. I was at a church retreat and there was a bunch of us huddled around the radio (since we had no TV) listening to this game.



The flu game 1997 Finals. Unforgettable image: Jordan collapsing into Pippen's arms after hitting a three-pointer to seal the Jazz's fate...serious brotherhood. This NBA 2k9 rendition is pretty much spot on.



The Last Shot/Shove/Game Winner

Whatever you want to call it, everything about this was pure art. Even the graceful shove of Bryan Russell (poor guy never had a chance!) simply becomes part of the final image along with Jordan holding and posing for the follow through. As far as I'm concerned, Jordan's career ends here and his stint with the Wizards never happened.



And who could forget this gem!

Following the news

They say that M1 year leaves little in terms of having a life, but I find that there is still time to do plenty of other things as well, even at the expense of studying. One of things that I find myself doing more than I ever did in undergrad is following the news. Ever since the election, pretty much every headline story concerns the economic situation both domestically and abroad. There's so much talk of people that are looking simply to survive, to make ends meet financially (and I would suppose emotionally as well too). It reminds me that most of humanity would be content to have a job and make a living doing it--and that's commendable. Whatever discussion of finding the "right" career seems to be secondary to the overriding need to have food to eat and a place to sleep. The hyper-practicality for which ABCs chide their parents bears some of this wisdom.

Having the opportunity to do what one wants is a privilege and the ability to make ends meet is a blessing. Furthermore, having the chance to safely wallow in uncertainty is just as much a gift that not everyone can enjoy.