The Real State of the Union: A War Story
We’ve tried to get away from talking politics here at Misunderestimated Again.
Really, there’s nothing positive or constructive to say about the state of affairs in this country. While this election cycle has reminded us just how much is left to be desired by our two major political parties, it has further exposed the media for not only enabling this sad scenario but being overtly complicit. The bipartisan media effort to ignore and/or marginalize Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul has been appalling and promote their own candidates has been shameless and transparent.
But watching the parliamentary charade that was Bush’s final State of the Union Address compels me to relay a story.
It’s not exactly a war story, and I’m thankful that this is as close as I’ll get to an actual war story, but this should illustrate the State of the Union better than the disingenuous speech Bush gave last night.
There’s no link and no names, so if you choose to believe that I made this up, that’s your prerogative. Here goes:
I’m having a drink in my neighborhood bar the other night when two active duty US Army soldiers walked in for a beer.
I begin chatting up one of the soldiers over a beer and asked him what he was doing in town.
“We are escorting a solider here. He’s kinda fucked up”
…he said, pointing to his head.
“Post traumatic stress disorder?” I asked?
“No. He fell off a 3rd story window on his head. But yeah he needs that [mental help] too. We’re bringing him to the VA hospital in Palo Alto to get fixed up”.
Shocked to hear that, I ask him what he meant.
“Well, he had tried to commit suicide before he fell off the building. So now he’s got all kinds of broken bones, pins in each hip, and his head is still a little scrambled and he can’t hear anything. We have to write things down to communicate with him.
But we’re bringing him to the VA hospital to get him fixed up. They told him he’s got to fulfill his contract.
I look at him incredulous. “No fuckin way” was, I think, as eloquently as I could put it at the time.
“For real. I asked the doctor if this was really going to work and he [the doctor] said ‘He’s going to run faster than he did before’”
Wow.
Just wow.
“Thank You, And Continued Good Sex in The Big East”
And he repeated it.
Just Shut Up, Gilbert
I’m a huge fan of Gilbert Arenas, both the basketball player and the person. He was one of my favorites even when he was just a 2nd round pick reserve guard for the Warriors.
For the same reason that I grew up admiring Charles Barkley, I like everything about Gilbertology. Arenas has no reservations about saying exactly what’s on his mind.
But in Gilbert’s most recent NBA.com blog entry, he really blew it.
Clearing Up My Contract
I want to get a six-year deal. I want to be a max player. If my team decides that they don’t want me here any more and they’re going to go in a different direction, then I got to look elsewhere. For me to look elsewhere, I want to go find a championship team who’s a championship contender. I’m going to have to take less money, but I’m willing to do that to win a ring. If my team doesn’t want me, then I’m going to another team and I’m going to take less money to go there.
So to Gilbert, it’s about ego over money OR championships.
If the Wizards don’t offer Gilbert a max contract he’d take less money to go elsewhere? Talk about selling your teammates down the river. The Wizards must hamstring themselves financially to keep him, but any other to-be-named franchise wouldn’t have to make the same commitment?
Gilbert, please think before opening your mouth (or using the keyboard as it were). You owe Ernie Grunfeld and your teammates an apology.
Wizards and Caron Butler Starting To Make Me Look Smart
Since my preseason prediction of 55 wins was not-so-subtly mocked, I think it’s only fair that I get my due after the Wiz kids swept a home-and-home series with the Boston Celtics.
Even though the Agent-Zero-less Wizards had already won in Dallas, these victories over Boston were signature, statement wins. The Wiz didn’t play particularly well offensively in either game, but they were tough, poised, smart and showed a ton of heart in closing out two victories in crunch time. What’s most shocking, is that they played lock-down defense at times.
Don’t look now, but the Wizards are now 14-7 with Antonio Daniels in the starting lineup. (I’m discounting the 3-4 record the Wizards compiled when both Arenas and Daniels were injured). That’s a 54 win pace on it’s own.
Surely the addition of Gilbert Arenas (and Etan Thomas) (and Antonio Daniels) (and Oleksiy Pecherov) would be worth an additional game or two over the course of a season. So it’s looking like my prediction was quite prescient.
But that’s not what I want to gloat about. As a blogger and more importantly, a fan, I’m more excited about my prediction that Ernie Grunfeld would win Executive of the Year. While it looks like that award will end up going to the Greg Oden-less-Trailblazers’ Kevin Pritchard, there is no question Grunfeld is right there in the running.
The Wizards franchise has never been in better shape.
It’s now clear that the Wizards have not one but two max-contract-worthy, franchise-type players in Arenas and the streaking Caron Butler. Butler not only outplayed Paul Pierce, but upstaged MVP frontrunner Kevin Garnett. Not many franchises can say they have two franchise players just about to enter the prime of their careers.
Antawn Jamison continues to improve in his veteran leader role, averaging 20 and 10 on his way to his 2nd all-star appearance, which makes it almost mind boggling that he’s supposed to be the 3rd wheel. The underrated Antonio Daniels is everything a coach wants in a point guard and floor general and there’s no mistaking why his teams consistently win. DeShawn Stevenson’s play is catching up to his mouth and Brendan Haywood has emerged as the second best center in the East.
With the exception of Jamison, who signed a max contract before he got to the Wizards, every player listed above is playing far above the value of their contract, a true testament to Grunfeld’s work in building the roster.
As is often said, “the best deals are often the ones you don’t make”, so it should be noted here that Grunfeld declined the opportunity to match deals offered to Larry Hughes and Jared Jeffries. To further illustrate Grunfeld’s mastery, Hughes and Jeffries will get a combined $18 million from the Cavs and Knicks respectively, while the Wizards will be paying Arenas and Butler about $20 million this season.
But in addition to the two franchise players entering the prime of their careers and four solid, smart veterans (which is to say nothing of the improving Roger Mason or the smart and steady Darius Songaila), Grunfeld has also loaded the roster with young talent. In Andray Blatche, Nick Young, Oleksiy Pecherov and Dominic McGuire the Wizards have a solid nucleus of young players on the verge of big things. Of course, all four are in varying stages of development, but Blatche and Young, in particular, show flashes of big things that might arive sooner rather than later.
Assuming that Grunfeld can keep this roster in tact for 2008-2009 (and the bet here is that he will), the Wizards will be a legit title contender for years to come.