Kevin Pritchard and Looking Ahead

March 2005.  I was introduced to the idea of Kevin Pritchard.  He was the Player Personel Director for the Portland Trailblazers and he took over as interim coach to see basically who on the Blazers roster was worth keeping.  He basically discovered it was no one.  Without a "face of the franchise" he took on that role appearing on the talk radio, and turned an awful bunch of bad guys into a good bunch of good guys.  He quickly became the GM and has been known for his great drafts which in the past three years have brought in Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Sergio Rodriguez, Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, and Jerryd Bayless.  The big question is, he has been so active on draft night, in the very near future when they have built something that needs time to grow, will he be able to sit back and let it grow?

This brings me to ringing in the new year.  I rang it in with no plans last night, and stayed around here.  (In fact, I don't remember the last time I had new years plans...I am an odd one like that!)  I don't really like the new years resolutions.  One thing I have always done though is that I looked at where I wanted to be in a year.  One of those things like, in a year I will know more about my future because this is what I would be doing....  For example, last years was most likely something like, I will have a job and know where I am living in a year.  I did this all through school and I liked the thought of the progress I knew I would see in a year.  They were part goals, part being so sure it would happen (or that it was the only thing that COULD happen) that they were simply destinys.  Last night when trying to do this though, I was saddened because if I am the exact same place, working at the same place, having the same friends, living in the same place, in a year....I won't complain.  Obviously my goal is to improve on my job and get over this "first year teacher" label asap, but I don't have any big change I see as inevitable in the coming year.  This also doesn't mean I am not open to change.  I know there is a chance (although I have a hard time believing it) that 2009 could bring more change then 2008 did.

There is good to this possibly.  When I look back on 2008 so much of it was focused on career decisions.  I have been teaching this year, and last year was all preparing me to be a better teacher, or looking for a job (from Feb. through July)  Hopefully this year my year won't be so one-dimensional.  If I really wanted to reach out and be philosophical at this point, I could discuss my feelings on how spending a year after graduation at home helped me prepare for moving socially.  (I will keep that for another entry...if I get around to it).

Point is, maybe the good lies that I am to the point in my life where I can have more stability and I don't have to think of the big changes that inevitibly will happen in the coming year.  That doesn't mean change isn't on the way, but like Kevin Pritchard, I no longer have to make the change.  I can work on improving where I am now instead of looking off into the future.

Currently Mr Blue Sky see related

18 Things A Grown Man Should Never Have

2. A witty e-mail signature. Quotes and song lyrics should be heard during toasts and karaoke performances, respectively. Don't let your electronic correspondence become the digital version of a motivational poster.

No email signature

3. An empty refrigerator. Your larder should be amply stocked, your pantry provisioned. Always aim to be ready to create an on-the-fly, three-course dinner for her...along with breakfast in bed.

I am really close to this.  This is not good.  I could never have a enough for a three course dinner.

4. PlayStation thumb. When they're relaxing, grown men can behave like children. But if you devolve long enough to cause calluses or button-shaped bruises, you're assuredly missing out on life.

I haven't played my computer games for a while, but give me NBA LIVE 09 on my computer and that would instantly change.

5. A key chain with a bottle opener. This bauble is both a gauche reminder of your college days and proof that you don't know how to apply leverage using available, impromptu bottle openers: a lighter, the back end of a fork.

I don't have this.

6. A lucky shirt. Every shirt is lucky when worn by a man who knows that the harder he works the luckier he'll be.

I like what it says about this.  And, I don't have a lucky shirt.  I do have shirts though that as my students put it "will make the ladies holler"  (as if the ladies don't already holler at me)

7. An unstamped passport.

I don't have any passport, but I don't think that is what they were going for here?

8. Olympic dreams. Exceptions: curling and archery.

I have no Olympic dreams.

9. Less than $20 in his wallet. Fiduciary nudity is negligence. A real man should always carry a business card and enough dough to pick up coffee, bagels, and the Sunday paper without whipping out the plastic.

I am constantly guilty of this, and I am a teacher who does not have a business card.

10. A name for his penis. Even if it's a really clever name.

I do not have a name for my penis.  (I am sure you were all dying to know that)

11. Any beer that costs less than $20 a case. And no exception for the grand-slam 30-pack that crosses that price threshold.

I don't have any beer in my house currently.  No big suprise.

12. The need to quote The Big Lebowski/ Caddyshack/Superbad. Reciting someone else's lines reminds people that you haven't the wit to write your own.

I don't quote from these movies.  Now if the office was on this list, I would be guilty.

13. A futon. Sure, beds are for sleeping. But such a meager, slouchy spread has never, in the history of sex, inspired a woman to say, "Take me on your futon."

I don't have a futon.  I used to but sold it for like $40.  It was the most uncomfortable futon ever.

14. Code words for ugly women. Actually, code words for anything.

I don't speak in code.

15. A Nerf hoop in his living room. Keep the adolescent accoutrements where they belong: in the rec room or above the wastebasket in someone else's office.

Although this sounds like a lot of fun, I don't have this.

16. A secret handshake.

I wish I had someone to have a secret handshake with, but I don't have anyone to do that with.

17. Drinking glasses with logos. Especially those kitschy McDonald's Hamburglar ones.

I do have some from my apartment complex, but I never drink from them.

My Fave Five (basketball edition)