This & That & My Cynicism

Eric & George
I don’t blame Eric Mangini for hiring his buddy (George Kokinis) to work as the Browns’ GM and to cover his back.

I have been on record that I would do the same under similar circumstances. If you have the opportunity to make such calls, hire your own people – individuals you are comfortable with.

I have no problem with what took place in terms of the GM hiring once Mangini was named head coach.

Mangini was as good a pick as any of the AVAILABLE candidates. He doesn’t thrill me, but I don’t dislike it either.

Now if Mike Shanahan shows up somewhere soon, I will be disappointed. Otherwise, a famous philosopher once said - it is what it is.

It’s still all about getting good players and those players being consistent performers.

Speaking of Mangini, the local media is not going to like this guy. He not only cut his football teeth under Bill Belichick, but learned media PR under him as well.

From here on out, I suggest the local scribes warm up to the nurses and doctors at the Cleveland Clinic if they want to find out which ankles are sprained and which bones are broken in Berea.

Stephen Marbury
The madness continues. I can’t remember when so much has been made of so little. Who cares what happens to one of the original poster children for selfish pro athletes.

Agent Zero
We implored the Washington Bullets not to sign Gilbert Arenas when his recent contract expired - stating he wasn’t a max player, he was too quirky for our taste and he was way too brittle to boot.

What has happened since?

Agent Zero – that’s for zero productivity - has missed a ton of time due to injury, again, and he recently stated it might not make sense for him to come back and play this season even if he gets a clean bill of health from the Bullets’ doctors since the team is not winning.

Nice.

Whoever owns that team and the individuals that makes the personnel decisions should be made to watch "The View" re-runs in dolby sound 24-7 as punishment.

Morons.

Super Bowl
So far so good - I have not seen once minute of any pre-Super Bowl related hype to date.

Cavaliers
Danny Ferry is getting kudos from the local & national media for FINALLY acquiring LJ a quality running-mate – Mo Williams.

Whatever.

Why did it take so long?

Now go get Shane Battier or a facsimile there of to complete the puzzle – a front court player with a high basketball IQ, who can defend multiple positions and knock down open looks.

Getting On Record
Back in November, we had a conversation with a couple media members who covered the Cavaliers for a living and told them Mo Williams was the best player 23 has ever played with in Cleveland, he was an all-star caliber player and this team was THE TEAM to beat this year in the NBA. They looked at me like I was from another planet.

This begs the question – did they think I was insane or were they simply not capable of realizing what I was seeing until it hit them, and everyone else, in the face, months later?

This question still bothers me today.

All this leads me to my next and final point – my growing cynicism.

Cynicism
I have noticed that I have become even more cynical than usual in my comments on the “candy store of life” known as sports.

The truth is what I am observing is boring me more and more with each passing day. It's all so predictable.

Some of the cynicism comes from my arrogance of knowledge, part of it comes from seeing the same mistakes being made over and over again by nearly billion $ enterprises (i.e. Agent Zero) and then there is the element of the media being part of the story (entertainment) instead of just reporting on it.

I will make an effort not be so cynical in the future, but this is a promise that will be hard to keep – especially when I see a lack of structural integrity within sports organizations (no patience, no loyalty etc…), more and more professional athletes who just don’t get it (fill in the blank with your favorite idiot) and media types who lack basic knowledge to be effective, are extremely vain and/or are too busy kissing up to the newsmakers rather than reporting what they see accurately.

My other alternative is not commenting on this stuff. I started doing this for my own therapeutic purposes several years ago, but that’s starting to wear off now.

I may just need to drink more instead of telling the Indians "Pronk" isn't worth the money, informing the Browns DA isn't the answer after after he made the Pro Bowl in 2007 and riding Danny's Ferry's back for years about getting James another all-star caliber player to compete with.