After an extended absence, the King of Arguments returns with a little spring cleaning. The first part of his spring cleaning discusses the Chicago Bulls and Pittsburgh Penguins playoff exits, John Mayer's new album, and plans for the upcoming summer.
Yes it's been awhile, but the KOA is back in the saddle again (seriously, how many times have I said that?) and is on the search for redemption.
Unlike I'll Have Another, let's giddy up.
Chapter One: A Shortened Spring
It had the makings of one of the most memorable springs of my short 26-year career. The Chicago Bulls scratched and clawed their way to a 50-win season (in just 66 games mind you) which earned them the top seed for the NBA playoffs. The Pittsburgh Penguins revived Sidney Crosby from the dead and for the first time all year were completely healthy, just in time for the NHL playoffs. I was strapped in for what promised to be an exciting and lengthy playoff run for both.
That ride was over faster than the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point.
The Derrick Rose injury hurt (no pun intended). When he went down towards the end of the very first playoff game I hoped for the best. I tried to talk myself into thinking he might miss one game, two at the most, but that he'd ultimately be okay. He had to be. The Bulls were ready for the playoffs. They were ready for Miami. They were ready to reach the NBA Finals. With one mis-step, it all came to a sudden stop.
The timetable on Rose's return is somewhere between eight and twelve months. Depending on where it falls, that could have him coming back just in time to prep for the 2013 playoffs, or missing the year completely. The better question is what will Rose look back when he eventually comes back. ACL injuries are about as major as they come for NBA players, and the few that have survived them - Chris Paul and Mike Miller - had to re-develop their games to successfully complete the process. That being said, it wouldn't shock me at all if Rose has lost that explosiveness - to a certain degree - forever. Who really knows?
As for the Penguins, well they had no excuses. They promptly dropped the first three games against the Philadelphia Flyers before being officially dispatched in six. Marc-Andre Fleury was about as useful as the NFL Pro Bowl. To be completely honest, I'm having a difficult time even remembering the series. For one, it ended a couple months ago, and two, it was such a disappointing result I've buried it deep in my memory (right beside the '97 World Series and the Cleveland Browns).
The shortened spring did teach me a few valuable lessons. And by a few, I really mean one.
Championships are not easy and should never - ever - be taken for granted.
Chapter Two: Born and Raised
I've come a long way with music since my senior year of high school. At that time - against my mother's best wishes - I was listening heavily to rap music. It's all I purchased at the music store and all I wanted to listen to. It got so bad at one point that I actually bought an Afroman CD.
College mellowed me out tremendously, thanks in large part to Jerry's Baby Making Music. Every Wednesday night for the first two years of college, my good friend Jared Rosenberger would send me a couple different tracks that would be compiled onto a quarter-ending CD. J.B.M.M opened my eyes to bands like Keane, Jack Johnson, and The Kooks.
That's the funny thing about open eyes. They let you see clearer and with a greater understanding. It was with those open eyes that I found John Mayer.
Instead of seeing Mayer as a young pop-star who sang high-pitched love songs to teenage girls, I viewed Mayer as an artist ... and one of my favorites at that.
Armed with that brief background, it should come as no surprise that I was particularly giddy for John's new album to drop, Born and Raised. Going in, I had heard two tracks, "Shadow Days" and "Queen of California," both of which I absolutely loved. So after work I hurried over to Target and made my first CD purchase since ... well since Mayer's last album (Battle Studies).
It's been three weeks and I haven't stopped listening to it. It's that good.
What I love most about Born and Raised is the connectedness I feel with the lyrics. Even though Mayer is a little bit older than myself (nine years), I get this undeniable feeling we're going through a lot of the same things. We are both single. We've both made mistakes in our past relationships. We're both on the road to redemption. And that's why I'm so much in love with this album, because at its' very core it's an album chalk-full of redemption.
I've got a long way to go, but I've made tremendous strides from "Because I Got High."
Chapter Three: Summer Plans
Last summer - along with TV's Matt Barnes - I posted my favorite 100 movies of all-time. It was a grueling and daunting task, but one that was completely rewarding. With that in mind, we are both at it again in 2012, only this time we are going the TV route.
Starting in July, we will count down our 50 favorite television shows of all-time. The challenges are plentiful (weighing shows we watched as children vs. current shows), but it should provide even more insight into what makes us tick.
Speaking of television shows, I will also be involved in a LOST re-watch this summer. It's been more than two years since LOST ended and it's time I go back and take a second (read: fifth or sixth) look at how it all went down. Look for season-ending recaps as Barnes and I embark on this 121 episode journey.
The biggest thing to take away from this summer - which ties into the entire theme of this post - is to find redemption. My writing has taken a backseat these past few months. There are a plethora of possible excuses, but none of them would exist if I made writing a priority.
It's much easier said than done, and only time will tell if I can follow through.
"Cause when you're done with this world, you know the next is up to you. And his wife told his kids he was crazy, and his friends said he'd fail if he tried. But with a will to work hard, and a library card, he took a homemade, fan-blade, one-man submarine ride." - John Mayer, Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967.
The plan is to be back tomorrow with the second part of my spring cleaning where I will talk about my least favorite person on Earth and my least favorite sporting moment of recent memory.
Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."
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