Another Great Sports Interview

I don't know how many of you have already heard this, but this is a news story containing a portion of the press conference of Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach after his team lost to Texas A&M. This is the first time I've ever heard a coach blame this for his team losing.

Disclosure

This last weekend I had a run in that I thought I should share. Q was visiting on Saturday and since my son had friends over we holed up in his room to play video games and stay out of their way. They were watching anime in the front room and then playing Apples to Apples. The other kids left between 9:00 and 10:30, but Q and I stayed in the room playing games for a couple more hours. Finally we shut it off and while Q was talking with my wife I searched for my glasses so that I could take my contacts off.

I couldn't remember where I put them and thought that I had possibly left them in my car since I had taken them to work with me on Friday. I went outside to see if they were there only to find that someone had gotten into my car and was in the process of stealing from it. I exclaimed with a curse word and he stood up and looked at me for a second. Then he took off running. I hesitated for half a second and then I ran after him. I had left a little cash in my car and I really couldn't afford to lose it and I knew that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just let him run away.

I followed him around the corner at the end of my street and down the next street. I was hollering the whole time for someone to call the police in the hopes that someone would hear. By the time he had gotten four houses down the next street I had caught up to him. He didn't put up a fight and a neighbor on the street heard me and came out to help me restrain him and take him back so that we could call the cops. We stopped outside my house and I hollered in to my wife to call the police. Q came out and made sure that his vehicle hadn't been broken into as well, which it hadn't. The police came and did their thing and took him away.

There was no damage done to my car, as it had been unlocked at the time. I know better, but it's an old car and the lock on that side sticks. If I had been away from home I probably would have reached over and made sure it was locked. I guess I will now, regardless. The guy pleases with us not to call the cops, but really couldn't come up with any compelling arguments. He was obviously stoned or drunk or both. I got some information from the police and looked the guy up online. He's 21 and has been arrested several times before. Multiple drug charges and counts of burglary from homes and vehicles. He's already out on bail and I don't know the timeline for court or if I will even ever have to go. It looks like he's pled out before. I'm hoping that he's had enough of a history now that he'll be doing more time but realize that probably won't be the case.

Anyway the excitement has died down. The cops told me good job and seemed really pleased that I'd gone after him. They didn't advise me doing something like that again, but felt I did well noe the less. I thought I better let everyone know before they find out from someone else and ask why I didn't say anything.

One of My Favorite Sports Interviews

Sometimes I like to sit back and reflect on my favorite press conferences and interviews of all time. Some people get so full of themselves or are so caught up in the moment that they lose it. They say things that makes the casual observer says, "Woah this guy/girl has lost all touch with reality and what is expected of them" and we love it. The following is an excerpt from a press conference with NBA star Allen Iverson from 2006.


Reporter: "So you and coach Brown got caught up on Saturday about practice?"

Iverson: "If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game last it's my last but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that?
Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example and all that but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. (laughter from the media crowd) We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you've seen me play right, you've seen me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. (more laughter)

Reporter: "But it's an issue that your coach continues to raise?"

Iverson: "Hey I hear you, it's funny to me to, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice."

Reporter: "Is it possible that if you practiced, not you but you would make your teammates better?"

Iverson: "How in the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?


So there it is. Either by sheer hubris or by getting caught up in the moment, Allen Iverson makes no bones about the fact that he is too awesome to worry about things like practice and things he gets paid to do. The best part is that then you get geniuses like DJ Steve Porter who mix it with other interviews like Jim Mora's famous playoff speech and drunken Joe Namath to make a sick beat like this one.

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So there's lots to talk about and catch up on. My son's birthday, playing soccer with my new workplace, coaching my daughter's team, another exciting trip by Rod Ecstacy and Skip McBoner, the return of football, and much much more. So after much consideration I have decided to begin with events and lessons learned in the most valuable of places. The workplace bathroom.



As most of the free world probably knows I've been at my new employer now for for about four months. The first three and a half were really busy with lots of hiring and conducting training classes. The few weeks....not so much. We are officially into the slow time until Open Enrollment begins and then the beginning of next year. So....I've got some time to do some writing and appear busy at work to people passing by the office.



A new workplace means once again learning the lay of the land. Learning the movers, shakers, power brokers, politicians, and who all the people are that you can go to when you need to get stuff done but don't want everyone else to know that you have no idea howto do it. It also means learning which bathrooms are safe havens for when you need a few minutes of peace or are having the most uncomfortable and embarrassing of moments (quick note-this is almost never the bathroom closest to your office). The good thing about HR is that since you have contact with all departments, it's never that much of a surprise to see someone away from their desk. It is assumed that you are meeting with a manager from another department about some issue that you can't talk about.



The lower floor bathrooms are no good. For one, we have several visually impaired individuals who work on the first floor. This has led to uncomfortable exchanges, like when a blind person walks into the back of you while you are at the urinal. Not to mention, that as much as men are not the neatest in the bathroom I have come to learn that blind men are even messier. In addition the first floor bathrooms are too well traficked.



The second floor bathrooms are much less frequented and have better connectivity for my phone. Yes I toilet text. And yes I toilet surf on my Blackberry. Don't act like you don't. I don't need your judgement and false sainthood. The only problem has been the motion sensor automatic flush. They are hypersensitive and I have had instances where NUMEROUS flushes have taken place during one sitting. I've tried sitting still, but sometimes a song comes on the MUZAK and I have to dance. I finally discovered the technique of masking my presence to the sensor by placing a length of fresh toilet paper over the sensor before I sit down. Now I'm like the Predator. Undetectable.