What's Next for the Cavs?

After I correctly called the fact that Lebron would come home. (I did. I wrote it down. I was right.) And put Kevin Love in Cleveland BEFORE Lebron made his announcement. (Wrote it on the same sheet of paper.) And after a crazy season culminating in an improbable run to the finals, I finally get to catch my breath and offer my next bit of future: "I told you so!"

First, (and I cannot state this strongly enough) both Lebron and Kevin Love will be playing for Cleveland next year. For all the people out there who think that Kevin Love will somehow take less money to play for a team that isn't as good..."Please, child, do I look stupid?" Kevin Love is NOT going to take less money (the Cavs can offer him more than anyone else) to play for a team that isn't as good (BTW: anyone remember that Golden State wanted Kevin Love, but they weren't willing to throw Klay Thompson in on the deal and wanted Minnesota to take Dramond Green instead? I think it worked out OK for everyone.)

So, now that we've established that the Big 3 Cavs aren't going anywhere, what are they going to do???

We are going to see a whole lot of matching!

I'm not talking about the game Memory. I'm talking about matching money for restricted free agents. Shumpert, Delly and Tristan are all Restricted free agents which the Cavs will retain by matching dollars. A few of the older guys will be gone (Perkins, Matrix, Haywood). Guys who are less old are still under contract (Mozgov, Anderson, Miller). So basically, that leaves J R Smith. He likes it in Cleveland. It reminds him of home. People are nice to him. The pressure isn't too high. He gets to be the 5th or 6th best player on a really good team. The Cavs will pay him at least 7 million per. Um... He's staying too. Duh!

The big question is whether the Cavs trade Haywood's wonky salary for a meaningful player. This could very easily happen and it would be a great move. I really don't know who they might get, but if they're going to go big into the luxury tax, then they might as well go all the way.

Incidentally, this is the year to do it! Next year is the last year of basketball as we financially know it. After this next season, the salary cap line will go up by over 20 million dollars. Factor in the fact that the players are going to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement after the following year because they got hosed on the last one, and it isn't inconceivable to see the salary cap double from where it is now in just two years!

What does this mean? It means the Cavs should OVERSPEND. The guys they're poised to bet long on are all on the right side of 30. J R Smith is the only one who's even 29. (Yes, Lebron is 30, but that isn't a bet. Lebron is as close to a sure thing as you can get in basketball.) So locking them all into long contracts is actually a really good idea given what's going to happen with the salary cap.

Bottom line: it doesn't guarantee a championship, but it does guarantee that the Cavs will be relevant for many years to come.

Cheers Cleveland! It feels like the summer of 1995 all over again!

LeBron Come Home!!!

I haven't written on this blog for an age, but recent events demand it.

Most of the hits on my blog have been to my several letters to LeBron. Well buckle up for another!

LeBron James is polarizing in Cleveland. People loved him, then they hated him, now they're falling all over themselves with the hope that he'll come back. I never hated. The proof is on my blog (old though it may be).

So how does this work for LeBron? Let's believe the reports that LeBron is deciding between just two places. Regardless of how many teams his agent met with, this thing is down to Miami and Cleveland---for good reasons. Miami is coming off 4 consecutive trips to the finals, returning is an estimable option. Cleveland is nearly home for LeBron---'nuff said.

Or is it?

Which team is actually better at this point? Which team has more assets? Which team offers the best chance to win next year? How about 5 years from now?

All valid questions, so let's break it down...

None of that matters...much.

You see, LeBron by himself makes any team a playoff team. He could sign with Philadelphia and they'd be a lock to make it to the second round of the playoffs. It wouldn't be just an outside chance. It would be a lock. This is the East we're talking about. Complimentary players are nice, and any team with LeBron will automatically attract decent players who want to win. Miami's been doing it for four years.

So why would LeBron return to Cleveland? Bottom line? He would do it be closer to home. That's it. I don't think his odds of winning a title are all that diminished in Cleveland, and they're probably a bit higher in three to four years.

He got to play with his buddies. He learned some great lessons about what it takes to win. He won two championships. He's the best player in the league. But all things end. The Miami Heat could be really good for another couple of years, no question. But age is going to catch up with all of them eventually.

So this is really LeBron's last chance to return to Cleveland strictly on his terms. He holds all the cards, and will have a huge say in what happens on all levels. I'd love to see that happen. I'd be dancing in the street!

Come home, LeBron!

Today the Emails Died

They started in November of 2010 purely by intentional accident. I was in the Stow Library, taking time away from my job to work on my novel. I’d written for a large part of the morning and was doing research on literary agencies in the afternoon. I sent a brief email to Paul Muller of the Aarau Literary Agency, and he was kind enough to respond.

From there, “email” took on a new meaning.

Paul and I began a correspondence in December of 2010 that at its high point would see us sending three to four emails a day. We talked about everything from books to philosophy to family to religion to cats and everything in between. We shared secrets, dreams and fears. We became the best of friends separated by 40 years and half a world—all built through email.

I still think it was a mistake to start conversing via MSN Messenger. Our correspondence via texting lacked the well-thought arguments and relevance that comes from taking time to craft an email with few holes.

In March of 2013, I finally got to meet Paul face-to-face. We spent a week together in Collingwood, Canada. Speaking of all the things that we had previously written and sharing meals and playing games. He enjoyed meeting my kids and my wife, and we genuinely had a wonderful time.

We had talked of so much during our week-long visit, that the emails were less frequent upon his return to Thailand. He was caught up in working on his next “big idea”, and I was caught up in the regular activities of life.

On May 10, 2013, Paul sent me an email decrying the treatment of a middle school teacher who was recently fired for having a part-time job as a swimsuit model. He saw it as an excellent example of the hypocrisy of the United States. His arguments were as familiar as an old pair of shoes and I could hear the tremor in his voice as he got his dander up…

That was the last email.

I found out today that Paul, my dear friend, has died.

Since I had seen him in person only once, and spoken to him directly only a handful of times, there isn’t much that will change in my daily life…but the emails are done. I’ve received so many that the flashing green light on my phone, telling me that I have a new email, is the thing I most closely associate with Paul. I loved seeing that flashing green light.

Now that light has gone. I’m so sad and my spirit is so much poorer for the loss, but I am vastly richer for knowing him, and I have the treasure of all those emails.

I love you, Paul. I miss you.

Healthcare Reform Upheld by the Supreme Court

This is a hotbed issue that needs a lot more understanding than is being pushed by the media and political groups.

Here's my take on the ruling:

It's interesting. Five of the judges interpreted the individual mandate as a "tax" which is the only constitutional rational for upholding the law. The legislative branch could have mitigated this issue if they would have instituted the individual mandate as a tax in the first place, but the negative fallout from creating a new "tax" would have effectively been political suicide for the proponents of the law. I personally think that the law as it is written is literally unconstitutional, but its spirit IS certainly constitutional. Tough job for the Supreme Court to view the law through the scope of the political landscape and come to a decision based on the "directive" of the law as opposed to the "nuanced language". Of course, this creates an ambiguity of interpretation on the judicial side. I'm abivalent on the decision because there's negative fallout either way.

Regardless, the healthcare issue needs to result in greater awareness of the consumer. Medical providers cannot simply charge whatever they want for services, or perform unnecessary services in order to create more revenue. Insurance companies cannot shortchange medical providers in order to keep rates low. Individuals cannot missuse the insurance companies and go to a medical provider everytime they or their children get a sniffle. The more aware the consumer becomes, the better the system will become. The dollars spent on medical services need to be real and palpable to the consumer in a marketplace where medical services are NOT provided by the federal government, as they are in many other countries around the world.

The US health services systems are generally considered to the be the best in the world. There is cost associated with that. It's necessary for the people of this nation to understand that cost. The perception that going to the doctor for care should be "free" is poisoning the free market system within which the healthcare services industry operates. If healthcare were provided as a function of government and paid for with tax dollars as is Medicare for our senior citizens, then the perception that healthcare is "free" would be acceptable and we'd all have to live with a decline in the quality of basic services as has been evidenced by the state of healthcare in countries like England, France and Canada, where a person might have to wait a week for a broken bone to be set in a cast.

Consumer education is key. If the consumer is aware of the dollars being spent, then the consumer can positively affect the financial situation for himself. This is most easily demonstrated when the doctor asks: "Do you have good insurance?" before writing a prescription. If the answer is "Yes", then the prescription is for a brand name drug that a pharmacuetical company is pushing with gifts to the doctor's office. If the answer is "No", then the presciption is for a generic drug that will likely cost less than $5 as the local grocery pharmacy. The difference is that the insurance company picks up the tab on the expensive drug, thus necessitating the rise of insurance premiums and we continue the cycle of rising costs.

The real solution to the problem: know the value of your medical service! Price shop. Be an educated consumer and start thinking about healthcare in the same way you think about other necessary expenses.

Why I Write Fantasy

I was recently pointed to an article talking about the reasons people write and read Fantasy: http://mythicscribes.com/inspiration/the-power-of-the-genre-why-write-fantasy/

While I agree with most of the ideas presented, there is an aspect of Fantasy (even separate from Science Fiction) that is unique to the genre.

I have found that Fantasy is more about the conceptualization of the human condition than it is about the potentiality. Even Science Fiction deals with real possibilities or the perception of real possibilities, whereas Fantasy is rooted in the impossible. It flexes the imagination as it spins us back into the myths that enchanted us as children and protected us when we lacked understanding.

Normal fiction and even some Science Fiction is definite, unitary and subservient to the laws which codify the human experience. Alter those laws and you give birth to a whole new possibility--an ideational structure that takes us beyond limitations.

The potential in Fantasy isn't to define or redefine, it's highest form is pure creation.

Fantasy lets us be god.

Good Friday Drama

I wrote a three-part drama sequence for my church's Good Friday service. It dramatized the confusion of Christ's followers over the events of Thursday evening and early Friday morning, the denials by Peter, and finally the sorrow of Judas and the attitude of the High Priest.

Jennifer Matas updated the drama into a modern-day setting and directed each of the three pieces. Other than some audio issues in the first scene, I thought it really went well.

Script:

Scene 1:

In hushed voices with street noises in the background. Every time F1 or F2 hears footsteps, s/he looks around furtively. It’s all very clandestine.

Friend 2: (Talking on a cell phone while glancing around):  Ok. Thanks. If you hear anything at all, at any time, call me right away. (Slaps phone shut.)

Friend 1: Hey. Have you seen Peter?

Friend 2: No… He must have followed them into the courtyard.

F1: If he’s not careful, they’ll arrest him too. What about Jesus? Did you get any news?

F2: I couldn’t get close enough. There were too many security guards. And the person I just talked to hoped I knew something. How could we know what’s going on?

F1: We should know…

F2: Say what?

F1: Jesus predicted exactly what was going to happen. And he told us! Don’t you remember when he talked about his blood and broken body? Then he told us to stay awake and pray? He was trying to prepare us for this very night!

F2: I remember. We all heard what he said. Matthew thought he was maybe taking a trip. It was confusing, but they wouldn’t… He can’t die, can he?

F1: He said he was leaving…that he was returning to his Father… What else could that mean?

F2: But he’s Christ! He’s supposed to save us! He can’t do that if he’s dead! You’ve seen the things he’s done. If he can walk on water, he has the power to beat this. Remember how he cruised through all those people who were trying to stone him? That situation was even worse!

F1: I remember that, but he was different tonight.

F2: OK, fine. But if he wasn’t sure of himself, then why did he fix that guy’s ear back in Gethsemane?

F1: That’s what he does! He heals people.

F2: Exactly. It points to the fact that he’s obviously God’s son. The Judge will see that. He’ll be fine, trust me.

F1: He did say that our sorrow would turn to joy. That he would be gone for a while, but then he’d return. You really think it’s that simple?

F2: Yeah. He’s Jesus. What could happen to him?

F1: You’re right. Hey…we better get out of here. Let’s go.

 Scene 2

(Scene is around a beat-up trash can with candles on top resembling a fire. Peter ambles over. They warm their hands over the flames. It’s obvious they do not know each other.)

Peter: You look tired.

Citizen 1: I’m exhausted. I should have been in bed hours ago, but Caiaphus hasn’t adjourned the meeting yet. It looks like it could go on all night.

Peter: Sooo…do you know what’s happening?

C1: The whole council is listening to testimony about this Jesus guy. I don’t understand why it can’t wait until morning.

P: Who are they bringing in? Who’s testifying?

C1: I didn’t recognize anyone... (with dawning awareness)  Wait… You were with him, weren’t you? I know I saw you with Jesus earlier today.

P: No way. Not me. I saw him for the first time this week. I don’t even know the guy.

C1: But you’re Galilean. You must know him!

P: There are a lot of people from Galilee here in town. I don’t know him, personally. I’m just…curious. People are saying he might be the Messiah?

C1: I’ve heard that too…

[Citizen 2 enters and warms himself by the fire.]

C1: Any new developments?

C 2: I hope he starts talking soon…for his own sake. He shouts, yells and overturns carts in the temple. He preaches so loudly people two cities away can hear. Now? He hardly says anything. It’s really disturbing to the Council.

P: He’s not defending himself?

C2: [shakes head] Not a word—silent as a lamb. He doesn’t even scream when they hit him.

P: They’re HITTING him?

C2: What’s it to you? Be glad it’s not you in there.

C1: [Points at Peter] Hey…he’s a Galilean, too. I think I saw him with Jesus.

P: I told you once already, I don’t know Jesus!

C2: Are you kidding? Oh…I recognize you! You sliced off my cousin’s ear in Gethsemane!

P: God strike me dead if I’m lying! I swear I was not at Gethsemane tonight. I didn’t cut anyone’s ear and I don’t know Jesus!

[The citizens look skeptical as a rooster crows. Peter hears the rooster, buries his face in his hands and runs.]

 Scene 3

(At the temple.)

Judas: No, you don’t understand; he’s innocent. How can you punish him when he didn’t commit a crime?

Priest: It’s out of your hands now, Judas. We appreciate the help, but there’s no more to be said or done.

J: But he’s innocent! I betrayed an innocent man!

P: Oh no; he’s not innocent—THAT much we know.

J: I can give testimony in his defense! I know others who can. We have the right to be heard…

P: Ha ha! We heard you and we heard him.  (Leans down, motions Judas over and loudly whispers each word) He thinks he’s God! He lied to you and to so many others; we have no need of your testimony.

J: (frantic): What about all the miracles? He healed the sick! He raised the dead. He cast out demons…No fraud would have that kind of power.

P: We’ve been over all this. It was some kind of occult power that allowed him to perform those miracles. Besides, your argument is flawed; if he really was God, how would we be able to convict him? It’s simple really.

J: Please, you have to listen to me… I’ve…sinned… Jesus is telling the truth. I’m finally telling the truth!

P: If you think you’ve sinned that is between you and God. It doesn’t change anything here. Be grateful for the money we paid you!

J: No! You can keep your money! I don’t want it!

P: Enough! What’s done is done. The money is yours. Today, Jesus pays for his crimes.

March Madness 2012

Every year I send a message to all my friends that prepares them for the coming of March Madness. It’s one part poetic, one part apocalyptic and 100% self-aggrandizing nonsense. In lieu of the same this year, I instead submit a top-ten list of the compiled excuses to leave work on these most epic of sporting days.

10. My child is staring in a play at school.

9. I have a dentist appointment to fill an abscessed tooth.

8. I have to renew my cell phone contract.

7. My nephew is training me in how to use Excel.

6. I’ll be on a long list of sales calls all day.

5. The transmission fell out of my wife’s car.

4. This is the Jewish holiday of Yomashana. You didn’t know I was Jewish?

3. The dog swallowed my son’s Beyblade.

2. The pipes burst in my basement.

And the number one reason for missing work to watch March Madness…

1. I’m getting a vasectomy—I’ll be out all week!