Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Can Theo Epstein and Tom Ricketts Rebuild the Cubs? Lifelong Fan Lester Munson Talks Rebuilding

by Kent Sterling

Lester Munson is more likely to be right than almost anyone in the media.

The question of when the fruits of the Theo Epstein regime will begin to bear fruit is beginning to be asked somewhere other than kentsterling.com, and that’s a good thing. The pass Epstein has gotten based upon nothing more than his ability to deconstruct a team whose roster had been loaded with bloated contracts for mediocre players has expired.

All those contracts are gone now – although the Cubs are still on the hook for most of the final year of Alfonso Soriano’s ludicrous deal – having been replaced by players with no chance to compete in the National League Central. Meanwhile the ticket prices for Cubs games remained the third highest in baseball in 2013, according to fancostexperience.com.

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There are people in the media who watch, read, and listen to the media to figure out what they believe. ESPN legal Analyst Lester Munson is not among them. Munson is an original thinking attorney who has his own filters to determine crap from the real deal. More importantly, he’s a Chicagoan who has seen political and business gamesmanship up close for decades. I’m not sure that any man alive is smart enough to make Munson his fool, so when he joined us on 1070 the Fan to talk about Jameis Winston and the Alex Rodriguez arbitration hearing, I had to ask for his perspective on the Theo Epstein rebuild.

In my opinion, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts made a grave error in issuing the hollow threat to move from Wrigley Field, and given Munson’s perfectly true nonsense meter I was riveted to hear his perspective about that too.

You always get original and pure perspective from Munson, and his thoughts about the Cubs and Ricketts aren’t quite as cynical as mine, but he speaks his mind – a trait I wish more Chicagoans shared as they nest in the laps of both Ricketts and Epstein.

Today’s Ahead of the Curve (11a-1:30p – 1070 the Fan) Will Be All New and the Best Ever

by Kent Sterling

The Hoosiers couldn’t finish the deal last night against UConn, losing by a measly point after failing to get a shot off with 0.7 seconds left. But the Pacers won their 11th in 12 games at Boston. The Hoosiers football team will play Ohio State at 3:30p today in a game that would appear to be a rout in the making – but they will play the game for a reason. The Colts are already in Arizona waiting to play a Cardinals team Sunday that has won three straight.

Not only will we talk about all of that, we’ll welcome defending Indy 500 champ Tony Kanaan to the show to talk about his tour of the new road course, and Lester Munson – the best legal expert in sports journalism – will tell us what’s new with Jameis Winston and Alex Rodriguez. Hoosier tailback Stephen Houston will also talk about the wonderful dream of wrecking the Buckeyes chance to play in the BCS Championship Game.

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Fox 59 Sports Director Chris Hagan and I will share our thoughts on the Colts game, and I will share the five keys for a Colts win, one of which is to pressure Carson Palmer. Go figure – who would think that pressuring an opposing quarterback is a good thing? This week, it’s even more important than you might guess.

Hard to ignore the Hoosiers loss, and we’ll talk about that. Indiana had 20 field goals and 17 turnovers, and that near one-to-one ratio cannot continue to happen if they are going to succeed in the Big Ten. Yogi Ferrell hit only 6-19 from the field, but I don’t criticize kids for taking shots, particularly when Noah Vonleh fouled his way on to the bench three times for extended periods. He played 10 minutes and did not score.

In fact, the all-world freshmen duo of Vonleh and Troy Williams combined for two points after scoring 40 Thursday against Washington. They’re freshmen. That’s what happens in November.

Back to the good news – the Pacers are coming home after their two-game road trip 11-1, and Lance Stephenson notched his NBA leading second triple-double. The third quarter continues to be winning time for the Pacers. Last night, they pummeled the Celtics 25-8 in the third to turn a Boston 50-42 lead into a 67-58 deficit. Indiana dominated in turning defense into offense with a 30-12 advantage in points off turnovers.

Glad we get a bonus 30 minutes tomorrow. We’ll need that and more. Tune in this morning at 11a on 1070 the Fan, 107.5 FM, or listen live at www.1070thefan.com. It’s the best two-and-a-half hours of my week.

Kentsterling.com Top Eleven Favorite Movies to Quote From

by Kent Sterling

Everyone is sharing their thoughts about the unfulfilled history we missed as John F. Kennedy was assassinated 50 years ago today, so I want to escape from the relentless sadness of a day like today where everyone is marking the moment the best of humanity met the worst, and write something totally disposable and of very limited societal value..

It’s difficult for me to have a conversation without relating something said to either a Seinfeld episode or one of the ten movies listed below. There are phrases I use without any recollection that they came from a moment in a movie I saw 20 years ago. People call me on it occasionally, “Hey, didn’t Al Pacino say that in ‘Author, Author’?” That’s usually from someone who spent as much time watching HBO in 1984 as I did.

“Author, Author” is a little too arcane for inclusion on this list. It came in at #87, so it will be in the ninth top ten quotable movies list before we get to the wit of Pacino’s character, single dad/playwrite Ivan Trevalian. Don’t hold your breath for that list. The day that I write ‘Top Ten Quotable Movies, Ninth in the Series” will be the day this site is shuttered for uselessness.

When I was a program director for 101ESPN in St. Louis, I mandated that everyone on the staffsee “The Godfather” and “Godfather II” because I have no interest in people who are incapable of understanding how the world works through the Corleone Family’s eyes. I bought copies for some as ‘gifts’. I also tried to enforce a mandate that everyone read a book by Hunter S. Thompson, but Thompson is at the top of an entirely different list for a different day.

Here are the top ten movies from which you are most likely to hear me quote phrases as though they are my own. Some of these films have many quotable lines, and others have only one, but the list is comprised not of the best movie quote, but the most quotable movies. Some are terrible movies made fun with strange dialogue, and others are masterpieces.

I have chosen to omit all Will Ferrell movies because they would fill half the list, and how much much would that be to write.

The Godfather – This movie is perfect. The writing, music, lessons, everything – just perfect. Best movie of all time – period. You watch “Citizen Kane” 10 times, and then “The Godfather” 10 times. Tell me which you would prefer to watch an 11th time. The entire context of my favorite quote is too convoluted to share here, but a man asks for Don Corleone’s help and offers him cash for it. The Don’s son gets honest with the man, and after the meeting chastises him, “Never tell anyone outside the Family what you are thinking again.”

Dumb and Dumber – This is a total classic with endless quotes. I am remiss for leaving it off the first list, but sometimes I get a little high and mighty with my Patrick Swayze obsession. “We got no food, no jobs… our PETS’ HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!”

Lloyd: Uh, what is the Soup Du Jour?
Flo, Waitress #1: It’s the Soup of the Day.
Lloyd: Mmmm. That sounds good. I’ll have that

Lloyd: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
Mary: I’d say more like one out of a million.
[pause]
Lloyd: So you’re telling me there’s a chance.

State Trooper: Pullover!
Harry: No, it’s a cardigan but thanks for noticing.

One of the best ever. I may have discounted this at first because somehow the Farrelly Brothers forgot how to be funny.

Slapshot – With apologies to “Hoosiers”, this is the best sports-themed movie of all time. It is a comedy about a minor league hockey team about to fold. Paul Newman is excellent as the sort of dumb player-coach, but the movie is stolen by former hockey players turned actors who play the Hanson Brothers, three wildly enthusiastic thugs. My favorite character in the movie is Johnny Upton, the only sane guy on the team. When he sees the psychotic Hanson Brothers play, he says, “these guys are a f**king disgrace!” Easy and compact, this quote is applicable in almost any bar, Monday thru Wednesday.

Caddyshack – Where do you go wrong here? Doug Kenney, Harold Ramis, and Brian Doyle Murray made every scene perfect. Over 30 years later, it hold up. College kids quote it today like 50 year-olds used to when they were in college. Every line from Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, and Ted Knight is a gem. Dr. Beeper is funny when he tells his assistant to snake a tube down a patient’s throat and that he’ll be there in five or six house. My favorite though is from the elderly Mrs. Havercamp. She and her very old husband are invited to Judge Smails house for tea. Smails is upstairs trying to kill Danny, who was caught sleeping with Smail’s niece. A chase ensues, and a tea service is knocked from the butler’s hands. It falls from the second floor to the entry floor, and Mrs. Havercam says, “That must be the tea!” Any time dishes break in a restaurant or bar, I trot this one out.

Animal House – This entire movie is quotable. Such is the greatness of the writing by Doug Kenney, Harold Ramis, and Chris Miller. But the most inspired to me isn’t a quote at all, but the moment that in a party fueled haze, Bluto pour a jar of mustard on himself. Failing that obscure moment, I like, “Sophomore dies in kiln explosion? Oh My God! I just talked to her last week… She was going to make a pot for me.”

Road House – You have likely noticed that Patrick Swayze’s ability to deliver a trite and silly line has a special place in my heart. Roadhouse is an outstanding late night cable choice for two reasons – it marked the crest of the very sharp Kelly Lynch hotness curve, and Swayze is at his insipid worst as a patient in an emergency room suffering from a knife wound. Lynch is a doctor who offers him a shot for the pain. Swayze declines with a glance, and the most illogical of all movie quotes, “Pain don’t hurt.” Nice anytime someone asks if something hurts.

Throw Momma from the Train – This is a comedy that isn’t top of mind among the best of the 1980s, but I love it. The classroom scenes with Billy Crystal as the professor are hilarious. Crystal plays understated for the only time in his life, and is perfect as he asks his doltish students to read their assignments aloud. My favorite quote though is from Anne Ramsey’s Momma character. She hollers at Billy Crystal, who is obviously white, “Get out of my way, you black bastard!” It’s random, weird, and has no rightful place in the scene, which makes it all the better. Need to take care where and when this is used.

Stripes – This is the all-time Bill Murray tour de force, and I thought every word out of his mouth was hilarious, but my favorite character in this movie is Dewey Oxburger, played by the great John Candy. On his way on to the bus to take him to Camp, he asks two female military policemen, “Stewardess, is there a movie on this flight?” As he gets off the bus at camp, he says to to Captain Stillman, “How’s it going, Eisenhower?”

Red Dawn – The second Patrick Swayze movie on the list. I love Swayze because he gave the same energy to poorly written garbage as he did high quality lines. He seemed to have no crap barometer at all, and given that he was almost always in bad movies, I admire him for committing 100% to everything he did. Red Dawn was a horrible, yet entertaining movie about a Soviet invasion of America. I feel like I’m cheating you out of a full movie filled with jingoistic claptrap by choosing one line or scene. Swayze, as Jed, has just a small bit in the scene I love about how the war started:

Darryl Bates: What started it?
Col. Andy Tanner: I don’t know. Two toughest kids on the block, I guess. Sooner or later, they’re gonna fight.
Jed Eckert: That simple, is it?
Col. Andy Tanner: Or maybe somebody just forget what it was like.
Jed Eckert: …Well, who is on our side?
Col. Andy Tanner: Six hundred million screaming Chinamen.
Darryl Bates: Last I heard, there were a billion screaming Chinamen.
Col. Andy Tanner: There were! (He throws whiskey on the fire, which bursts into flames.)

Loverboy – Vic Tayback was at the very end of a moderately successful acting career (and life) when he agreed to play Harry Bruckner, the husband of a woman who orders from Señor Pizza because the delivery boy, played by McDreamy from “Grey’s Anatomy,” doesn’t only deliver sausage when it’s on a pie. I haven’t seen the movie in 20 years, but my recollection is of Tayback yelling, “Ya porkin’ her?!” between 12 and 15 times. Saying it, or hearing the great Paulie Balst say it never fails to make me laugh regardless of the situation.

The Outsiders – This movie is wretched, but there are some piece that fit a situation every once in a while. My favorite scene is when Johnny (Ralph Macchio) is dying a painful death because he was nearly incinerated. He looks at C. Thomas Howell’s character and says, “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.” For using this quote, you get bonus points for quoting the same line from the insipid book of the same name. Swayze is in this movie too. This quote is great when a guy vomits or otherwise disgraces himself.

There are many more. The Marx Brothers classic “Duck Soup,” “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” and “Gone with the Wind” have many usable lines, but I have a fondness for Swayze driven junk that bumped them – and “Scent of a Woman” from the list.

Indiana Basketball – While Watching Hoosiers, Bob Knight Still Casts Long Shadow

by Kent Sterling

Jeremy Hollowell would have seen a lot of this last season as Bob Knight loudly encouraged him to play somewhere else.

Bob Knight hasn’t been the head coach at Indiana in over 13 years. That means it’s unlikely any kid currently in high school can recall a time when the big man in the red sweater prowled the sidelines for the Hoosiers.

But that doesn’t mean Knight isn’t still a figure looming over the Hoosiers. People who learned the game of basketball by watching Knight’s Indiana teams still view Indiana through those lessons.

Knight was very generous with students and fans in teaching them the game. There were a couple of seasons when Knight would reveal the precise game plan for his opponent during the pregame. I never understood giving the opposing coach that advantage, but maybe that was the point – Knight showing them that he could kick their asses after telling them exactly how he would do it.

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What I know about basketball, I learned with watching Knight’s teams and listening to him and members of his staff talk about the game. I’ve learned a lot since from Dan Dakich, which is fruit from the same tree.

When I watched Indiana beat Washington last night in the first round of the 2K Sports Classic, I yelled at the TV almost every time Jeremy Hollowell touched the ball, and I wasn’t thrilled with much of Will Sheehey’s play either. Hollowell drove into an obvious charge, and Sheehey yelled at Luke Fischer after a brutal no-look behind the back turnover.

Both plays would have been reason for a Knight explosion, and I can’t help but evaluate Hollowell and Sheehey through a prism that is heavily influenced by Knight.

In my mind, Indiana Basketball is still partly defined by the impatience Knight showed for mental errors, and Knight would never have allowed Hollowell to continue to play while dumping offensive possessions through mental indifference.

The game of basketball has changed over the past 20 years, or more specifically the kids playing the game have changed. They don’t respond positively to what they perceive to be an ogre barking anymore. They have been coddled, pampered, and told they can do no wrong for their first 18 years, and are not emotionally equipped to hear blunt criticism – particularly in the way Knight dispensed it.

The younger IU fans look at the Hoosiers win against Washington as a sign that the Hoosiers are functioning at a high level. The guys older than 30 saw last night’s game as an indictment of a system that does not penalize imprecise play.

I got a text last night from Marty Jenkins, a college basketball reporter for 101ESPN in St. Louis. Marty, 30, is originally from Carmel, Indiana, and he loves the Hoosiers. He wrote, “Dear God they look good. I know it’s Washington, but IU looks really solid. Lots of talent, confidence, and depth.”

My initial thought was that Marty had lost his mind. Didn’t he see Hollowell’s four turnovers and three fouls – all of which could have been avoided? Didn’t he see the three Sheehey turnovers?

I had a lot of conversations with Marty when I was in St. Louis, and can anticipate what he would say, “Didn’t you see Indiana shoot 52% from the field and 86% from the line? Didn’t you see Troy Williams put up 22 and eight? Were you in the can when Noah Vonleh scrapped for his 18 and nine? And what about the wealth being spread among all the starters with everyone shooting between 10 and 13 times?”

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Marty would be right. Indiana was charged with only 13 turnovers and scored 102 points, so it wasn’t all bad. Williams and Yogi Ferrell were outstanding, but the Knight generation sees the reasons Indiana might lose, not the plays where the team functions as it should.

That makes Tom Crean’s job more difficult than it would have have been if he followed a less demonstrative coach so generous with teaching basketball to yokels, who now all believe themselves to be experts.

These Indiana Hoosiers have very little in common with those who played for Knight during his last five seasons. First, this team was assembled by a coach who recruits with energy. Second, there is a tolerance for bad plays from young players still learning the game. Third, Hollowell isn’t playing at UAB or Austin Peay.

Sloppy basketball still drives me crazy, but Indiana is a different team led by a different coach. The Hoosiers are 5-0, so who am I to bitch?

Alex Rodriguez Might Be a Guilty Creep, But He’s Working the System Like a Pro – Just Like I Did

by Kent Sterling

Alex Rodriguez may be a lot of things, but street dumb is not among them.

A-Rod has done what all guilty as hell reprobates should do, but many times don’t have the level of character bankruptcy necessary to pull off – he has taken complete control of the narrative.

What he pulled yesterday in his arbitration hearing is eerily similar to Otter’s “Animal House” speech in front of the Faber College Pan Hellenic Disciplinary Council after the toga party where the members of the Delta House misbehaved – again. Otter completely hijacked the hearing, and turned his obvious guilt into a sham that accused the council of perpetuating an indictment on our entire American society.

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The only difference is that the lack of conscience of the Deltas was in a screwball antiestablishment comedy, where such mayhem is funny. A-Rod’s antics weren’t funny, nor meant to be.

When you have nothing to lose – attack. If that isn’t in Sun Tzu’s Art of War, it should be. A-Rod’s attorneys understand that, so they counseled him to demand that Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig be compelled to testify. When it was explained that there is no reason for his testimony, A-Rod was told to explode and storm from the room.

The subsequent interview on WFAN with Mike Francesa was another well-plotted and executed charade. A-Rod blathered about how he loves New York while Selig hates it, and then tugged at heart strings with his emotional response about how he has to explain what is going on each day to his daughters.

Most duplicitous but clever, A-Rod didn’t wait for the appeal to baseball’s arbitrator to be denied to announce an appeal in federal court, so he won’t look like a death row inmate exhausting all resources to prolong the inevitable when his attorneys file their appeal.

Just after I graduated from high school, a friend invited a bunch of us over to his house to play cards. We had a great time – laughing, drinking a few beers, and gambling with some spare change.

My Dad told me to be home by 11:30p. The fun was raging at 11:15p, so I asked a friend to take me home, and I would sneak back out in the amount of time it took for me to say goodnight, and walk to my bedroom. Unfortunately, my Dad and sister were playing two-handed euchre, and the game just wouldn’t end.

I said goodnight, and hopped out the window to tell Chris to head back to Lewie’s without me. I hopped back into my bedroom, and waited. Finally, everyone called it a night. Dad said goodnight, and I arranged pillows under the blankets to look like I was sleep just in case he popped in. I grabbed the keys to my Mom’s car, and climbed out the window again.

Off I went, back to Lewie’s for more cards, laughs, and beer. I was greeted like a conquering hero. “You’re back! How’d you do it?” I told the story and settled in.

For almost a half-hour, we had a great time. Then, one by one the guys went quiet – too quiet. I continued laughing until it was obvious something was very wrong. I looked at Lewie, and he shook his head side-to-side like I had just been convicted of a felony. I asked what happened.

“It’s Clark.” Clark is my Dad’s first name. “Clark is looking through the front window right now.” I laughed. “No, really,” Lewie continued. “Clark is staring at you right now with a giant cigar in his mouth.” Uh-oh.

I walked to the door, and waited for the yelling. “Get in your Mother’s car. We’ll follow you home,” Dad quietly said. The whole family was in Dad’s car, and I drove home as I was told.

About halfway there, it dawned on me that my ass was grass, and there was no alibiing a route clear of calamitous punishment. That put me in an interesting position, and my only chance was to launch a preemptive attack.

I made sure I was in the house first, and when Dad walked in, I went off. Dad was caught completely by surprise, looking stunned. I passionately laid out my case for doing away with a curfew, and accused him of purposefully embarrassing me. The time had come to trust me to be the adult I was. He said we would talk about it in the morning.

The end result was a relaxation of the curfew, no punishment, and we actually had some laughs over Dad asking a bunch of pillows what I wanted for breakfast. Dad said he shook the pillows and shouted, “He’s gone!” Then he ran to the window, “The car’s gone! Let’s go find him!”

A-Rod is using the “When all is lost, attack the attacker ploy” because that’s his only chance, and through a couple of news cycles it’s worked well. The only guy killing him is one of the smartest men in media, ESPN legal analyst Lester Munson. Gamesmanship does not impress Lester.

How do I know that A-Rod is guilty beyond any question? Because he is doing exactly what I did when I was busted cold. A-Rod is a liar and a cheat, but he’s tactically sound.

Here’s what A-Rod’s hearing looked like yesterday (sadly there is no video of the night of playing cards at Lewie’s, or the aftermath):

Famous Jameis Winston – Patience Needed to Get the Story Right

by Kent Sterling

Jameis Winston either created the victim, or he is one. We don’t know enough to say which.

Reporting on a story like the sexual assault investigation of Florida State quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Jameis Winston is one of the many things the media does not do very well these days.

We want the truth and we want it right the hell now! But the truth doesn’t always emerge on the media’s timetable.

No one but Winston and the victim know the truth what really happened right now, and like most events, the recounting of the events from that night nearly one year ago are likely to be very different – even if the two do their best to be objective in their account.

The police are looking into the allegations, and it’s unlikely that any resolution will come prior to the end of the season or the awarding of the Heisman. The police can only surmise whose truth is supported more by the evidence, and to this point there hasn’t been enough to indict Winston.

Society’s hope should be that the police and district attorney in Tallahassee were not moved by the fame of the accused in not zealously pursuing the truth. Everyone legally wronged should have at their disposal a motivated force that seeks justice.

If the police don’t know, the media sure as hell doesn’t know. That won’t keep it from proffering opinions, seeking witnesses, or pursuing those who claim unique insight. Media consumers requiring sustenance will continue seeking portals talking about Famous Jameis and his not-yet-alleged actions of December 7, 2012.

The job of the media is to provide regular feedings, and we (including the supposed victim and supposed attacker) deserve a more restrained approach to journalism when reputations are at stake.

Let the police do their jobs, and try to the best of its ability to figure out what happened. If there is an arrest and trial, it will be impossible for the media to resist ridiculous in-depth coverage and inane analysis.

No one knows enough to judge whether Winston fits the profile of the pampered athlete who couldn’t take no for an answer, or if the victim is really a victim. Inferring facts not in evidence does no one any good, and neither does championing Winston’s cause out of greed for a BCS National Championship Game berth.

We’ll hear blather from attorneys claiming all sorts of things to try to steer public opinion, but we know they can’t be trusted.

This is not an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” It’s real life, and the process should be allowed to move forward at the plodding and sure pace that serves it best.

The victim deserves that, and so does Winston.

Tribune Company Cans Nearly 700 in “Streamlining” Process; That’s Life for Media in 2013

by Kent Sterling

The dream of retiring from the Tribune Company was crushed for nearly 700 employees yesterday.

For almost 700 people who have built a career with the Tribune Company, yesterday was the day they and their families had dreaded. In sports, athletes get a visit from “the Turk” to tell them they have been cut. The deed in media is done by a manager accompanied by a human resources specialist who sits nearby to ensure nothing is said during the termination that can cause legal consequences for the company.

It’s a soul sucking process for the managers who handle the process. There is not a day that goes by for a manager at a media company when they are not thinking about the next steps in thinning the field. Shrinking the staff to perform nearly the same duties is an ongoing strategic initiative.

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Strategizing to make the workplace more efficient is a fun challenge at first, but then the day comes when the news is delivered, and the shock to the victims is clearly etched on their faces. You can see them check out as the Cobra options are detailed, and the severance agreement – if there is one – is presented. They have already moved on to wondering how they will tell their spouses without crying, and wondering what they will do to fill the day when they awaken the next day and the day after that.

If they have kids, they start to do the math. How long will the savings keep a roof over their family’s heads? How much debt do they hold? Are there expenses that can be eliminated?

All the while, the boss or HR person yammers away. If they are good at pulling the trigger, it’s done quickly. The only thing that matters to the person just fired is that they are out. The brain seizes when hearing news like this, and the details are all in the packet.

Media companies go through this over and over again each year. The specific reasons differ from company to company. The Tribune Company says they are going to allocate more resources to their digital product. That’s of no interest to the 700 who were told to pack their things yesterday. They are out, and that’s all that matters. And no matter how nicely the strategy is dressed by the CEO’s memo, the real reason is the company’s voracious need to make more money.

Greed is at the core of all decisions at the corporate level, and more than the simple desire to make more money, it’s a fear of being fired themselves for not earning enough for the company that motivates the miserable decisions to turn out into the streets those who have unwisely become friends.

Justifications like “We’ll take some of the savings and gave raises to those who are deserving” are internally proffered. But after a few trips through the cycle, managers realize it’s all nonsense.

The truth is that managers are turned into deceitful assholes by a system designed to maximize profits, as though cash flow is the only worthy primary goal of a corporation.

The worst part isn’t the firing of employees; it’s working alongside people who you know will be fired on a specific date. We tell ourselves being smart with other people’s money is the price we pay for the fun part of the job, but that’s nothing but self-talk for the drive home that allows people to smile when they get home after a day of scheming. Managers agreeing to take part in the strategic blood letting is the price paid to keep their jobs.

And then the moral negotiations are held. Just to maintain the facade of being a caring human being, some managers will protect a specific employee, as though that helps absolve the guilt over showing the others out. The pep talks continue ad nauseum about how someone is going to fire these people, so it’s a gift that they can at least choose the correct people and be empathetic. Good luck with buying your own grotesque rationalizations.

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Working in media management today is a soul sucking exercise that leads to lives being ruined and moralities being abandoned – all to drive the stock price a quarter point higher.

Having a specific job is not a right, and occasionally people deserve to be fired, but the relentless emptying of offices and cubicles that continues only because media consumers don’t mind the steady glacial diminution in quality content will come with a cost. Either a tipping point will be reached by the audience and they will choose to read, watch, and listen elsewhere, or managers will finally look in the mirror and scream, “ENOUGH!”

Either way, if you work in the media, the decision as to whether you are retained or fired will be consciously debated by your manager. The only person for whom that is not a fact is the owner. He or she is safe.

You can take control of your life and career, or life in fear of the day that comes for all – the day when you are handed your packet.

(This post, and many others concerning the media are going to be posted at sterlingtalkradio.com.)

Indiana Pacers Post Big 103-96 OT Win Against Evil Knicks; And Forgive Me If I Love It

by Kent Sterling

Carmelo Anthony is my least favorite player in the NBA despite his excellence. That I admit it doesn’t excuse it, but don’t mistake my admission for an apology.

Whether or not anyone on the rosters of the New York Knicks or Indiana Pacers remember the epic playoff battle these teams waged between 1994 and 2000, this regular season game harkened back to those days.

It was impossible to turn away from, and equally difficult to avoid becoming emotionally attached to the result.

I hate the Knicks for all the wrong reasons. Every trait they exhibit, I loathe just because they are the Knicks. And it’s the opposite with the Pacers.

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The Pacers players have a lot of tattoos. David West has “Carpe” on one calf and “diem” on the other, and I find myself wondering what that means to him. For me it’s an obvious reminder that we don’t get a redux for today, so use it up.

The Knicks players have tattoos, so I look at them with disdain, “What the hell is with all that ink? The designs are on top of one another, and I can’t see any of them – except the asinine Warner Brothers logo on Carmelo Anthony’s chest.”

Pacers tattoos – life affirming messages; Knicks tattoos – pointless adornment.

Anthony is my least favorite NBA player, so I can’t stand anything about him. Every time he catches, in my memory, he backs his guy down. His selfishness leads to ugly statistics, and reeks of inefficiency. Tonight, he scored 30 points on 28 shots. What a self-immersed mope, right?

Paul George took 26 to score 35, and that doesn’t bother me at all. If George and Anthony swapped stat lines, I would still defend George, and indict Anthony.

It doesn’t escape me that the Knicks would have had no chance to win this game without Anthony’s effort. He had 18 damn boards to go along with his 30 points, but that doesn’t mean a thing to me because I just don’t like the guy.

And of course Kenyon Martin meant to roll up George’s leg in the overtime period. It was a cheap shot because Martin knew the Knicks couldn’t win while George was on the floor. Yeah, I know it’s stupid to infer evil at every turn, but when the Knicks foul I rant like Shooter Flatch in the asylum during “Hoosiers.”

Such is the illogic of my disdain for the Knicks, and my thorough enjoyment for these Pacers.

A loss tonight would have been a miserable outcome for the good people who recognize the team-first excellence of the Pacers, but the Knicks punting this game that they had in their hands was a just dessert for their fans, who are too blinded by their misplaced geographic loyalty to tell the good guys from the bad.

It’s ludicrous. I know it’s ludicrous. Fans are morons, or at least the kind of fan I am is moronic. We believe they are bad (whoever ‘they’ are), and our guys are good – just because of the geographic proximity of the team.

Anthony might be every bit the good citizen in New York and George Hill is in Indianapolis. I don’t know, and worse, I don’t care. He wears a Knicks jersey, shoots all the time, and sneers constantly. The truth be damned.

I would be a better person if I could sit and admire the amazing skill of every NBA player, but that isn’t going to happen. I have my favorites, and none of them are Knicks.

None play for the Miami Heat either. I spent have the summer yelling to anyone who pretends to listen that there is no way Dr. Dre would wait on hold for LeBron to finish his workout to take his call in the Beats commercial, “What kind of guy is so special he can’t stop his workout to talk to Dre? Who does this guy think he is?!”

I have faults, but finding reasons to dislike opponents of the Pacers isn’t one of them.

The Pacers beat the Knicks, and I’m happy about that. Our nice young men beat back the repeated attacks of a snide and angry group of thugs. Evil has been vanquished, and the good guys are on their way to Boston to beat down the guy who abandoned Butler. Disliking Brad Stevens is going to take some extra work, but I’ll get there.

My excuse of being a fan seems insufficient, but it’s all I have. I like the Pacers, so hating my cartoon version of everyone else is part of the gig.

Indianapolis Colts – Five Keys to a Colts Win Against the Arizona Cardinals

by Kent Sterling

The Colts all but won the AFC South when they beat Tennessee in a game where they rebounded from a terrible first half, and because of a hotly debated pass interference non-call in the Patriots vs. Panthers game, the Colts have a very tenuous hold on the #2 seed in the AFC.

This weekend, the Colts travel to Arizona to battle the resurgent Cardinals, who have won three straight. Granted, those three games were against the worst in the NFL, but a win is a win whether it’s against the Seahawks, Texans, Falcons, or Jaguars. Guess which of those four the Cardinals didn’t beat during the last three weeks.

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These aren’t the doormat Cardinals that have battled the Rams for the bottom of the NFC West over the last decade. They are 6-4 and have some very talented players, and some very mediocre players.

The defense is capable of stout play with DT Calais Campbell and DBs Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu. All three are elite players, who give the Colts matchup problems.

Conversely, the Colts have some match ups that will cause mayhem for the Cardinals.

Here are the five keys for the Colts to beat the Arizona Cardinals:

Get to Carson Palmer – Under duress, Palmer is no Andrew Luck. He’s been sacked 27 times this season, and before last Sunday’s game in Jacksonville, he had thrown at least one interception in every game this season. Oddly, Palmer threw one pick in the first two games of the season, then two picks in the next two games, then one game with three, followed by two games with two, two games with one pick, and finally none in the game vs. the Jags. Without pressure, Palmer’s passer rating is 103.6. With pressure, it’s 40.0. For comparison sake, Luck boasts a 94.2 rating with no pressure, and a 73.2 with pressure. Minus Daryn Colledge, the offense line is average to very poor. LT Bradley Sowell, RG Paul Fanaika, and RT Eric Winston are like bad bar bouncers who let people pass without even a pat down, and Robert Mathis should be like Carl in “Sling Blade” right now sharpening his tools in preparation for a big day.

The Cardinals are second in the NFL in turnover percentage with 16.7%, meaning that one in every six Cardinals offensive drives end in a turnover. The Colts are 28th at 8.8% – or roughly half. Get to Palmer, force turnovers, win the game.

Limit the run – The Cardinals do a pretty good job limiting their own ability to run by playing Rashard Mendenhall rather than Andre Ellington. The callers to Phoenix sportstalk radio stations are wondering why coach Bruce Arians continues to use Mendenhall in the same way fans in Indy want to know why Trent Richardson gets carries at the expense of Donald Brown. Mendenhall has 117 carries for 337 yards – an average of 2.88 yards. For the Colts, Richardson has 96 carries for 272 yards – 2.83 yards per carry. The “back-ups” are rolling. Ellington has 63 carries for 391 yards, an average of 6.2 yards, and Brown has 55 carries for 323 yards – 5.9 yards per carry. In that respect, these teams are battling a very similar problem.

Forcing the Cardinals to rely upon the occasionally flaky Palmer will open opportunities for sacks, turnovers, and game changing chaos.

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Punt away from Patrick Peterson – I was in the press box at University of Phoenix Stadium when Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo decided to tempt fate by kicking to Peterson. The first punt was returned a net 37 yards including a 15 yard personal foul on the Rams. That put the Cards in field goal range leading to a 3-0 lead. The last punt – in overtime – was caught by at the Cards one yard line. Ninety-nine yards later, we headed for the bus, and Spags called a moving company. Peterson is a game changer, and why should the Colts hand the Cardinals bullets they can use to shoot back?

Games like this for a team like the Colts are as much about eliminating the ways to lose as adding to the ways it can win. Punting away from Peterson, regardless of his statistics this season – 6.7 yards per return without a TD – removes a game-changing menace.

Protect the franchise – Colts fans, Indianapolis media, Colts coaches, and anyone with functional eyes and a passing interest in football knows that as Andrew Luck goes, so go the Colts. Remember all the speculation over the years about how bad the Colts would be without Peyton Manning? The 2011 season proved that we were 100% right to assume a collapse, and we don’t need a refresher course. Calais Campbell has a knack for hitting QBs, and he spends a lot of time lined up against guards. That matches him up with the interior of the Colts offensive line, which is um, well, a group of guys who try real hard. The Cardinals like to trick things up with creative blitzes, so Richardson or Brown need to be ready to read correctly.

Other guys need to step up – Patrick Peterson is a shut down corner who will matchup against T.Y. Hilton. That means that Darrius Heyward-Bey, Coby Fleener, and LaVon Brazill need to step up and make catches. Fleener had a great game against the Titans. Let’s see if he can do it again. DHB has had five drops in the last four games, and that needs to stop.

A significant advantage could exist for the Colts in that they beat the Titans on Thursday night, which gave the coaches a bonus 72 hours to game plan for the Cardinals. Arians is a well known quantity among the Colts staff, and if there is a game left on the schedule where the coaches can step up and steal one, it’s comes this Sunday.

If the Colts can get to 8-3 this weekend, they will have three of their last five games at home against their AFC South brethren. They will also travel to Cincinnati and Kansas City. If you want to do the math about a first round bye, go ahead. I’ll wait until it takes no more than adding and subtracting, instead of plotting a series of Venn Diagrams. This much I know, win and the Colts are guaranteed no worse than #2.

The line is Arizona -1. I’ll take the Colts 23-20. As you know, I don’t bet because needing to win 55% of the time to break even is an unfair threshold. In sports gambling, only the house wins.

Indiana Pacers Game Tonight Vs. Knicks – the Reason the Knicks are 3-7 While Pacers Are 9-1 Is Leadership and Attitude

by Kent Sterling

Carmelo is going to get his tonight, but the Knicks are unlikely to get their’s tonight against the Pacers.

Contrasting styles make fights, and that’s why I can’t wait to watch the Indiana Pacers play the New York Knicks tonight at 7p on Fox Sports Indiana.

The Pacers have won nine of ten, while the Knicks are 3-7. The causes for both results are many, and vividly display the differences between the two franchises.

The most important difference is at the top of the food chain. The Pacers are led by a quiet, successful, and respectful man who knows that ownership is about setting a standard and hiring a staff that is committed to achieving it. The Knicks are run by a buffoon who was born on third base and believes he tripled.

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Pacers owner Herb Simon leaves the heavy lifting to president Larry Bird, general manager Kevin Pritchard, and advisor Donnie Walsh. Knick owner James Dolan is a more impetuous version of Dallas Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones. He makes nuts and bolts decisions about the construct of the team, and dooms them to mediocrity with his undisciplined scheming.

The teams are as different as their owners. The Pacers were interviewed on ESPN today as a unit. The network asked to interview Bird and all-star forward Paul George. Bird declined, and George asked that the interview include the rest of the starters and coach Frank Vogel.

The NBA is marketed as a league of single-named stars like Kobe, LeBron, Dwight, and Carmelo, but lasting success comes to the teams that link arms and march together. The San Antonio Spurs have achieved consistent excellence by playing team-first basketball, and the Pacers are emulating that model.

The Knicks are completely lost in a conscious effort to isolate offensively. That’s Carmelo Anhony’s game. Over the course of the first 10 games of the season (minus one outlier game where he scored 45 points on 30 shots), Anthony has averaged 22.2 points on 19.8 attempts. That’s not a productive ratio, and allowing your best player to score only 1.13 points per shot while firing at will is not going to yield many wins.

Basketball is a game played best by really talented players with specific measurables who understand that focusing upon putting teammates in a position to succeed is significantly more important than finding their own groove.

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Tina Fey says that everything in her professional life unlocked when she discovered that focusing on the other actors in a scene were more important than she was. At that point, writing became easy. In basketball, winning isn’t guaranteed through a team first attitude. The parts of the whole must be talented, tall, long, and fast, but without the emotional health and rhythm the Pacers have developed, failure follows.

The individuals who comprise the Knicks continue to indulge in that ‘greed is good’ insanity that has festered through our society over the last 40 years. ‘Greed is good’ works only when all are greedy – and as a result, miserable. As soon as someone figures out that greater efficiency and productivity comes to those who give rather than take, the game is flipped and the spoils go to those who work for each other.

That’s what fascinates us about sports. Teams and players mirror who we are and what we do, but an NBA game takes only 48 minutes, while our professional lives takes considerably longer (hopefully). A season lasts 82 games, and there will be enough adversity and success within those 82 games to test the resolve of a team.

Basketball is the ultimate test of character because there are times when selfishness is rewarded, and that momentary affirmation can drive a weaker mind to indulge with self-annointed impunity. There are even times when selfishness can be appropriate, but as a philosophical choice, it almost always results in failure given reasonably level talent.

That is why a zen master like Phil Jackson can be so successful, and also why Frank Vogel is the perfect leader for the Pacers. Vogel has no interest in the spotlight, and never treats his players or people in the community like he believes he is something special. It’s that understanding that others need to be more special than he that sets a profound example for his team.

The Knicks are unraveling while the Pacers succeed. That’s not a coincidence or the result of happenstance. It’s because of a conscious decision by the Pacers to succeed as a unit and forfeit the right to behave as me-first prima donnas, while the Knicks refuse to let go of what each individual perceives as his greatest strength.

And the difference between the Pacers and Knicks starts right at the top.