MJ 30 for 30

Watched that ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about Jordan's 1st retirement/season playing baseball. Bit of an MJ fluff piece, but makes two arguments in a pretty compelling manner.

1. MJ was not that bad in baseball. Okay, initially he was awful but he (not surprisingly) worked his ass off and improved through the season, capped by hitting .250 in the more competitive fall league that takes place after the season. The games shots (unless selectively edited) show visible improvement is his swing from 'skinny tall guy in a batting cage next to the mini-golf' to a serious looking swing. His one season took place at 32, and he didn't come back for another (according to the show, see below) because of the impending strike. Could jordan have made it in the major leagues? Probably not, but his season doesn't seem like nearly the joke it has been made out to be.

2. Jordan did not retire because he was unofficially suspended for gambling. I have never believed this, but that may be because I never even heard it until I was like 28. In the show they interview Sam Smith, who wrote the 'jordan is a dick' expose "The Jordan Rules." Seems like if anyone was willing and able to grind an axe on mj, it would be this guy, but he says he doesn't believe it and that there's no way anything could have stayed a secret in the NBA this long, and further that Stern was practically begging MJ to stay. They make a good point as well that a) his dad did die then and b) jordan was getting just a taste of what every celebrity/superstar gets now in terms of scrutiny (The Jordan Rules and people pulling hotel records to determine how late he'd been out gambling during the playoffs).

So anyway, it's worth watching, probably ups my overall opinion of MJ a little and reinforces my belief on the gambling thing. Would like to know how badly outnumbered I am in my wide-eyed belief that MJ really retired.

miscellany:

watched a couple low budget soderbergh flicks recently. bubble was pretty good. the girlfiend experience was pretty boring. most interesting thing about it is that i guess it was the spring board for that porn star to get a recurring gig on entourage. where she is pretty likeable.


speaking of entourage, i still watch it every week, but it's honestly just been "ok" the last couple seasons. however, the recent episode was an interesting turn. vince being a serious dick to E. this is kinda promsing, in terms of the "drama" of the show. speaking of the tv realm, finished up season 4 of friday night lights a few weeks ago. best season yet, by far. the changeover to east dillon was a great move. and a great finale. apparently only one more season to go, sadly. also just started watching breaking bad. very solid.


some of you may know that i started blowing up season tickets to UGA basketball last season with "truck" turner. well the next couple years are going to be interesting to watch. this year we lose nobody of consequence, bring back two all-conference level performers in thompkins and leslie, and that gerald robinson transfer should be an upgrade at point. we could contend for a conference title, no bullshit. and then next year...the dawgs bring in their first five star recruit in...i don't know, decades? ever?


lebron james is a huge douchebag.


sauce, you been foolin around on mescaline again? i'm just glad they got there before you did some unsavory acts with that dog.


has everybody seen "a prophet"? that one scene is pretty damn raw (if you've seen it, you know which one i'm talking about). great flick, the kind where i was watching it way too late on a weeknight but was too into it to even feel tired. joins shawshank and cool hand luke in the upper cannon of prison movies.

Pacific Northwest (some highlights)

1. Portland-Portland was easily our favorite part. It's a lot smaller, a lot more accessible (free streetcars) but has seemingly just as much going on as our other major destinations. It really does feel somewhat like a big version of Athens.

2. Portland Street Carts-Within walking distance of any downtown hotel one can venture to any of at least five (maybe more) street food clusters, small parking lots in which food venders back little carts into tiny spaces and dish out amazing food. Thai food tends to dominate percentage wise, with Mexican following but we tended to steer towards stuff we couldn't necessarily get(or haven't gotten) better versions of in Los Angeles or just stuff we absolutely couldn't believe we could find on the street in the USA: the schnitzelwich (a Czech sandwich made with either pork schnitzel or breaded eggplant, Korean tacos, Khao Man Gai (AKA Haianese Chicken Rice), truffle fries, and an amazing hamburger with 3-4 types of peppers. We never tried the vegan BBQ.

3. Portland Underground Tours-Wikipedia kinda spoiled for me afterwards by telling me there's actually no historical evidence for what they tell you but it was kinda cool, either way, to walk around under Old Town and get educated about the practice of "Shanghaiing."

4. The 24 Hour Church of Elvis-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade-Microbrews and pretty much every retro-arcade game you would want. My only complaints are no Spy Hunter and the fact they use the updated version of Gauntlet rather than the original.

6. The Pacific Ocean-We looked at the Stuff White People Like app on JC's iphone and booked a bed and breakfast on the ocean, and went to a farmer's market and ate locally grown foods.

7. The drive up the coast to Seattle-Astoria, OR (where they filmed Goonies) pictured

8. Japadog-Vancouver was nice, especially the few hours we spent biking around the city. Even more amazing than the bike ride was Japadog. The "hot dog renaissance" that's seeping across the country, I guess, has reached Vancouver as well. My favorite was the bratwurst with radish and green onion.

9. Back home-This past Saturday, in my only Entouragesque moment since moving here, I got to spend a few hours at Eddie Murphy's former mansion under the pretense of helping my friend with a magazine shoot. It's obviously pretty nice, with a large pool, a small arcade, a bowling alley, a grotto with inlaid hot tubs, a trampoline, and (my favorite) an aviary. Mr. Murphy actually stopped by for a few minutes with his bodyguard. As I was "working" I felt it would be a bit unprofessional to approach him for an autograph.

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