I was reminded of that dunk, and those words, earlier this week when I saw what Ja Morant tried to do against the Rockets earlier this week:
Morant had his doubters when he entered the NBA. An undeniably spectacular college player, the combination of his slight build and lower-tier competition led to skepticism. Eight games in (and this weekend's back to back game load management vacation), the doubters ain't chirping all that loud. Morant's playing faster than fast, scoring 18.9 points on 46.2% three-point shooting, and averaging 5.5 assists and 3.5 boards. He's also turning the ball over 4.5 times per game, perhaps an unavoidable consequence of a guy learning at top speed.Ja Morant almost killed himself. pic.twitter.com/wM7ZX0f1SH— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) November 5, 2019
If his game grows at this level as much as Marcus Thornton's did in college, Morant's audacious miss portends something special.
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Getting gas in town. Indian guy working takes my debit card, then tells me today is his tip day. WTF is that crap? Is that a thing? It’s bad for business, when you sell an undifferentiated product and there are competitors everywhere. Nobody wants a shakedown when they need gas.
Gas actually is differentiated. The former Gulf is under new management and they source the cheapest, most watery stuff they can get. I only buy Shell, they have detergents to help keep your engine clean. Sunoco is my backup.
I realize you know more about gas than I do, on multiple levels (professionally, suggestively, etc.) but stick with Shell. They don’t ask for tips.
Suggestively should be digestively.
It may be differentiated but it is still a commodity. While most local buyers will avoid a gas station that consistently sells shitty gas that makes your car perform poorly, gas stations remain price takers even with slightly differentiated products. If you jack up the price or offer crap service you are screwed no matter what additives you put in your gas as a branding strategy.
somebody’s gunning for the top of his business school class, and apparently it ain’t whitney.
I didn’t tip the guy.
In more exciting news, my 6th grader’s football team won their playoff game today. They remain undefeated (sorta, w/ a 6-0-2 record) and advanced to the Super Bowl for their league.
They fell behind 14-0 early, but put up 26 unanswered points to win. Team continues to benefit from having the son of Jets GM Joe Douglas. His kid had two 15+ yd catches, a bunch of tackles, a strip that a teammate recovered and an INT.
My kid, on the other hand, had 1 tackle playing CB and got trucked by a blocker
Z was right about the Bills and really should have picked the final score.
I said Browns 31-17. I should’ve gone for something frattier.
Walking dog. He drops quite the load in a freshly mowed front yard. Poop bag dispenser empty which is ny wife's doing. Probably. Not close to home either. Will let you know outcome later.
Been there, Danimal. Thankfully there are always leaves around. Suboptimal, but better than leaving a dookie.
a guy down the street from the scene hooked me up w a bag.
Spent all day in Orlando after last night at Gaylord and all afternoon yesterday in Orlando.
Really Dadded the shit out of this weekend. Took the young kid to a bunny rescue “meet/pet the bunnies” event. Played a bunch of games (pop a shot, skee ball, air hockey, ping pong) at the bar next store from said bunny event. Then went to the hotel so the 18 year old could celebrate her birthday. Brunch this morning followed by all afternoon at the Orlando Science Center. Then birthday dinner for my sisters husband and our oldest. Just got home at 7:45. I’m exhausted.
Rutgers getting 50.5 vs Ohio State next week. #newjerseystrong
The Suns covered and the Vikings money line was a winner. Thank you, gambling gods.
The internet says that Rutgers is coached by a man named Nunzio Campanile. Insert Jerzy joke here.
He's only temporary, Zman. Wait until we get Schiano back! And when we do, enjoy your taxes going up. Schiano somehow has leverage against the feeble college. He's demanding higher pay for assistants and better practice facilities. Clearly a priority for the 2nd most indebted state in the country.
Pete Alonso was a huge highlight to my sports viewing this year. Glad they gave him Rookie of the Year. Like that kid.
Schiano is the ultimate personification of then self important, overly serious, semi tyrannical football coach. That said, what he did at Rutgers was remarkable. Not sure he can recreate it now that he’s shown his stripes and failed at multiple stops but he’s better than anything else the state university of New Jersey can get.
Wouldn’t bend to his will and give him a blank checkbook but I might bend a bit if you, as an administration, give a damn about football.
One of my favorite MBA classes was Collaboration/Conflict/Negotiation. They taught a concept called BATNA - best alternative to a negotiated agreement. As an example, Urban Meyer has high BATNA. He could theoretically play hardball w/ Notre Dame b/c his alternative would be getting pursued by a dozen other high profile schools.
Greg Schiano has no BATNA. Without a Rutgers gig, he’s a defensive coordinator at a low level school. That’s what Rutgers needs to realize. Rutgers has BATNA and should be pragmatic.
You make a good point. I’d argue your example with Urban. Meyer has a shelf life and things generally end poorly when his expiration date hits.
As for Schiano, he can definitely be a DC at a decent school and he’s succeeded like no one else at Rutgers. Again, Rutgers has tried some other shit. If you, as a university, care about relative success in football then giving Schiano a practice facility is a better investment than the two head coach buyouts that youll pay over the next 5-6 years.
Schiano has little BATNA. Rutgers (if they care about football) has less.
Rutgers doesn’t care about sports. They enroll 9000-10,000 kids a year because the state is so heavily populated. They don’t need sports to get kids to matriculate or to get alums to donate. It’s weird but it’s been this way my whole life.
Rutgers becomes a full equity partner in Big Ten revenue distribution in the 202-2021 school year. So all that money comes into the school’s coffers, allowing them to make more expensive bad decisions.
They have started by doing things like extending basketball coach Steve Pikiell w/ a 3-yr, $8.85 MM deal. When you get a basketball coach who goes 44-54 overall (13-43 in conference), you have to lock him down.
I should not have eaten 20 buffalo wings last night.
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