#98 Commitment

I’m one of those people who has to be careful what he does because when I do do, I do it over the top. Commitment has never been my problem, so I have to curtail my activities on the involvement end. Don’t get involved and you don’t have to get committed.
A lot of organizing my life has been developing the ability to say no. But still, I figure if you’re going to do something, you ought to go all out. Lance Armstrong takes that maxim to the limit, and his multiple tour de forces in the Tour de France show what he can do, even if he is a little lopsided around the bicycle set.
So when it comes to the fashion amongst today’s young to get a piercing, I’m a little ambivalent. I don’t think any form of permanent mutilation is a good idea. Mutilation for fashion seems even more suspect (two words: parachute pants). Still, it’s not much of a philosophical leap from an earlobe ring to an eyebrow stud. So I say this with the appropriate misgivings. If you’re going to stick a stud in your nose, get a freaking big one. Those tiny ass little things don’t cut it. I saw one on this girl the other day and I thought, what the heck is that? It looked like a whitehead. Now that’s attractive. Piercing your booger factory is bad enough. Putting a teeny tiny stud in it that looks like a proto-pimple is ten times worse. I’m all for the age of technological wonder-alloys replacing body parts. But I don’t think the world is ready for an artificial zit.
And how about those Seattle SuperSonics? Did they commit to Nate McMillan? Apparently not. Nate is moving to Portland cause he got a better offer. Seattle says by offering him 30 million over the next five years he would have been one of the top paid five coaches in the NBA. Coaches don’t have a salary cap by the way. 30 mill seems like a lot. Still, just the day before, the Sonics signed Ray Allen back on for an 85 million contract over the next five years. Not to quibble or anything, but I would think the psychological dynamic of team discipline gets harder when the players make more than the coaches. I mean, next time Nate and Ray are standing next to each other at the salary urinal, which one of them do you think is going to win the paystub match? It’s pretty tough when the middle manager makes less than the widget maker. And the widget maker knows it.
Not that sports in this great land of ours have ever been a true reflection of life. I mean the situation in Seattle is all the more strange because the highest paid official in Washington state is not the Governor, whose responsibilities weigh heavy and whose thoughts and plans and actions affect deeply and on every level the cares, the concerns, and the quality of life of millions of state residents. No, the highest paid official in the state of Washington is the coach of the University of Washington Huskies. Makes you long for a different form of commitment doesn’t it? Lock me up Lord...
America, ya gotta love it.