THIS & THAT #32

THAT'S THE WAY
THE BALL BOUNCES

BASKETBALL Narishkeyt

While the NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors, are an exuberant group, under the astute leadership of coach Steve Kerr, they mainly act like menschen.

 

This is unlike the Detroit Pistons of 1989 and 1990, also a championship team. However, they were known as “The Bad Boys” for their roughhouse play and very physically ferocious fouling, specially by 6’11” Bill Lambeer.

The Warriors newly acquired 6’7” forward Nick Young enjoyed entertaining himself, and had an undeniable swagger that he loved to display. In the opening game of the 2017-18 season against the Houston Rockets, Young made six of seven shots beyond the three-point circle, while amassing a total of twenty-three points.

After each three-pointer made, he reacted with a “Swaggy 3” celebration, holding out three fingers on each hand as he swaggered down the floor. The fans shouted back “Swaggy P,” in encouragement.

Perhaps Young needs to show a bit more swag since that October 17^th game, for his twenty-three point scoring average after one game, has drastically shrunken to 5.6 points after twelve games.

ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BAY

MONEY IS THE ROOT

When the Warriors won the 2016-17 NBA Championship, many fanatics (fans) had been patiently rooting for them for years. As an Oakland-based team, they had experienced the mismanagement of sports teams by Oakland’s various government entities. Those entities have helped to give incentives for their teams to seek better venues elsewhere.

The Oakland Raiders professional football team is moving to Las Vegas. The Oakland Athletics professional baseball team is looking to build a new stadium somewhere, and leave the failing Oakland Coliseum, built in 1966. Unfortunately the San Francisco Giants won’t release their territorial rights to the potentially lucrative Silicon Valley market, which was bestowed upon them by the powers that be.

 

The Golden State Warriors are following the dot.com billionaires, and within a few years will be leaving Oakland’s Oracle Arena, to seek their fortunes playing in San Francisco at the now being built Chase Center. They have been playing to loyal, sell-out crowds of 19,596 at Oracle for years, and will be moving within two seasons to the Chase, with 18,064 seats. Perhaps the ultra-wealthy co-owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber would rather wine and dine celebrities in San Francisco, than in Oakland, believing it’s a more impressive city. They purchased the Warriors in 2010 for a mere $450 million, and the team is currently valued at $2.6 billion.

After winning the basketball championship this year, a gigantic parade was held in Oakland, with an estimated one million in attendance. It was a feel-good, public relations event, but apparently the inept Oakland government entities and the Warriors were equally guilty in not agreeing to the “who pays for this?” After messy, ineffectual negotiations made through the media, the Warriors sent a check for $787,000 for this year’s title parade and rally.

 

I wager that the Golden State Warriors will once again become the San Francisco Warriors, which they were from 1962 to 1971. They played most of their home games at the start at the Cow Palace in Daly City, which sat 15,000 for basketball, and 11,089 for ice hockey.

The Cow Palace opened in 1941, and was originally called the California State Livestock Pavilion, and hosted the Grand National Livestock Expo, Horse Show and Rodeo. A local newspaper asked, “Why are we spending money on a palace for cows? Thus, “The Cow Palace.”

THE BEST NOVEMBER 

BAY AREA HEADLINE

What could be more important that a story with the headline, “Rapper Keak da Sneak drops new album,” Hope he didn’t break it.

As we all well know, Keak is really Oakland native Charles Williams, who was recently wounded multiple times and found in front of a shuttered 76 Gas Station.

When he was shot, a local paper noted the happening but guess he wasn’t that well known, for they misspelled his name as Keek.

He takes creative credit for coining the word ‘hyphy” in his 2006 hit single “Super Hyphy.” The somewhat reliable Wikipedia gives Keak the Sneak credit, and calls it Oakland slang for “hyperactive,” describing both the music and “the urban culture associated with that area.”

THIS & THAT #26

I May Drink to That

That 16-page section on June 18, described in THIS & THAT #25, also ran advertisements from two prominent exchanges, which have already devoted their artistic talent making memory-inducing, commemorative items including those on both Obama and Trump. The Bradford Exchange offered a Warriors limited edition,  “sculpted porcelain beer stein you’d be proud to own, for “four convenient installments of $32.49 each, or $129.99. Then, in small, almost unreadable type far below “Plus a total of $17.99 shipping and service.” This edition is limited to only 5,000 steins, and “The earliest orders receive coveted lowest edition numbers.”

Think I have waited too long to acquire a lower numbered stein, and that’s the severe price I have to pay for prolonged procrastinating.

Give the Winners a Trophy 

A few pages later, Bradford advertised a copy of the “2017 NBA FINALS CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY.” They say, “It’s a slam dunk” at just $99.99, but best order now since this “officially licensed collectible tribute is limited to 10,000 worldwide, so don’t wait to order.”

But don’t forget the $14.99 for shipping and service. Are there truly 10,000 people worldwide clamoring for this rare item?

A...They're Adorable

On page 15, is the darling of the collectibles, with a “Warriors Win!” headline, it should get many Warrior fans emotionally involved when they see two adorable five-year-olds less than 6-inches high, in fine bisque porcelain and labeled “Special Event Keepsake, cheers on the reigning NBA Champions!” This memento has “Together We’re A Winning Team!” on its base. This ties into the syrupy body copy in the advertisement, “From opening tip off to the final buzzer, you and your sweetie teamed up to cheer on your Golden State Warriors.”

This Hamilton Exchange piece of art is offered for “just four installments of $24.99,” plus $13 for shipping and service.

 Staying on Track

There are two more precious items offered including a 2017 NBA Finals Champions Express, including a model diesel locomotive, 14-piece track set, power pack, and speed controller, with “Strength In Numbers” printed on its side.  It’s available for only $79.99 from Bradford, plus $9.99 shipping and service.

UP IN THE AIR

There should be no doubt in your mind that the most-wanted remembrance will be the Warriors 2017 NBA Championship Levitating Basketball, a steal at $179.99, plus $21.99 shipping and handling. The Bradford Exchange offers the buyer a wonderful opportunity to “help keep the thrill going all year around,” and you can “show your loyalty and pride with this commemorative sculpture featuring a basketball that hovers and spins in mid-air.” They remind the potential buyer that “Time is of the essence,” since only 10,000 will be available.

As for me, since I never had a Lionel Train Set in my youth, I am seriously thinking of acquiring the Champions Express. First off, it’s the least expensive of all mementos for sale, and secondly I would be in charge of running it, if my wife allows me to do so.

She just reminded me that I already am the proud owner of free, bright yellow, XL size tee shirt with the words ALL GOLD EVERYTHING FINALS 2017 emblazoned in faded grey type on the front. You can find that story on THIS & THAT #24.

So why should I be greedy? Although owning a genuine Warriors choo-choo train would certainly impress my neighbor, however then I’d have to invite him in my home for the first time ever to view it in action, with me at the controls. Best to leave well enough alone for now, and just wear the XL tee shirt with pride as nightwear, or let it help fill my dresser drawer until next year’s season begins, which is less than six months away.

Time flies when you are a winner, not a whiner.

THIS & THAT #24

THE CHOICES YOU MAKE

A Two for One Offer

More than a month ago, we purchased tickets for the Django All-Stars gypsy jazz June 12^th performance at 7 PM, at the local Kuumbwa Jazz Center. What we didn’t know back then, was that it would be on the same night that the Golden State Warriors would be trying to clinch the National Basketball Association title against the Cleveland Cavaliers, in a game that would be televised beginning at 6:15 PM.

Since my enthusiasm for the Warriors had been waning primarily because of the infantile antics of their forward Draymond Green, I accepted the fact that I couldn’t attend both events.

Or could I?

We arrived at Kuumbwa around 6:20 PM, put our coats over two chairs, and then walked out the front door, turned left, and headed into the Poet and Patriot Pub some forty feet away. Bob, the pub’s heavy-set, 6’5” security man greeted us, and after we entered, we sat at a table near the door where a big-screen television set was tuned into the Warriors’ game. At 6:55 PM, with Cleveland leading by three points, we headed back to Kuumbwa for some jazz.

The jazz was not that enticing, and around 8 PM we quietly walked out between renditions. I suggested that since we were in downtown already let’s take a five-minute drive to the Kaiser Arena where the Santa Cruz Warriors play. I am on their mailing list and had received a notice that the arena would be open to Warrior fans. For $10 you could watch the game on a huge screen, and also receive a Warrior tee shirt. The moneys collected would be donated to the local Boys and Girls Clubs.

The game was already in the third quarter, so I convinced the two men guarding the door, that we should be allowed to enter at no cost, and they agreed. There were two hundred folding seats set up on the basketball floor, and about one-hundred-fifty fans were loudly enjoying the game. To the right was a table with Warriors merchandise, and I managed to talk the young lady in charge to give us a free tee shirt. Unfortunately the only ones available were bright yellow, XL size with the words ALL GOLD EVERYTHING FINALS 2017 emblazoned in faded grey type on the front. I had no idea what those words meant.

We sat in the second to the last row, and occasionally joined the raucous locals as they yelled and screamed whenever the Warriors scored, or the referees made a terrible call, or the 19,596 fans at the actual game at the Oracle Arena in Oakland jumped up from their seats.

One fan at the game might have remained seated for the entire game, regardless of the intensity of the action. He, or she, paid a record $133,000 including fees for two floor seats, that a loyal Warriors season-ticket holder had sold to them. You have to wonder if the price included two bright yellow tee shirts.

Another Two-for-One Dilemma

On April 1, 1985, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball championship was played between Georgetown and Villanova, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. Georgetown with a 30-3 won loss record, was heavily favored over Villanova, 25-10.

I was living in dreary, culturally void Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, teaching at Central Michigan University. The Jewish faculty had invited the controversial, Austrian born psychoanalyst Bruno Bettleheim to campus. The evening of the NCAA championships, there was a reception for him at a faculty member’s home, and now I seemingly had to choose between Bruno and basketball.

The 81-year-old Bettelheim had written several books, and I had just finished reading his “Children of the Dream,” on raising children on a kibbutz, and wanted to discuss parts of the book with him. But I couldn’t talk with him and watch basketball at the same time.

Or could I?

While a cadre of admiring professors gathered around him in the living room, I found a television set in the den and turned it on to the exciting game. I drifted from Bruno to basketball, slipping in and out of both rooms, and although I couldn’t engage in a meaningful conversation with the self-esteemed man, I did enjoy the basketball game that ended with Villanova upsetting Georgetown 66 to 64 before 23,124 avid fans.

It seems that when there is a clash between culture and basketball, if there is any chance to do so, I will choose to follow the bouncing ball.