Posted 1:31 AM by Steve
Michael Jordan. The man is widely recognized as the greatest basketball player ever. In my own opinion, there cannot be a "greatest" player because basketball is a team sport. There can only be a greatest player at each position. For example, the best team ever assembled would be comprised of:

Point Guard: Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the greatest point guard ever.

Shooting Guard: Michael Jordan, the greatest shooting guard ever.

Small Forward: Larry Bird, the greatest forward ever.

Power Forward: Bill Russell, the greatest winner ever.

Center: Wilt Chamberlain, the greatest center ever.

Some might quibble over my selection of Russell as a power forward, but it's of no consequence. Wilt and Russell are certainly the top big men just as Jordan and Magic are the greatest guards. Could Jordan play point? Sure. Could Russell play center? Of course. The simple fact is that this is the greatest team ever assembled.

Admittedly, if basketball was a one-on-one game, Jordan's quickness and ball handling ability might put him over the top as the greatest one-on-one player of all time. Still Bird and Magic had enough ball control to get themselves into a post position even against a smaller, quicker player, and a 6'6" player would eventually struggle with defending in the low post versus a 6'9" player.

Posted 12:05 AM by Steve
"Reality T.V."

The phrase is laughable. It's like saying "natural artifice" or "organized chaos". So-called "Reality-T.V." is hardly real. Perhaps a better phrase would be amateur television. The public attitude has cooled somewhat towards professional actors and actresses, perhaps for the same reasons the public isn't fond of politicians. Both inhabit worlds of power, prestige and extravagance most of us do not.

It's fascinating to think how America has evolved from average folks in live vaudeville acts to the clumsy and shoddy early motion pictures to elaborate shows and sophisticated films and yet, here we are in 2005, we are back to square one. Basic human drama.

Posted 7:32 PM by Steve
This didn't start with "Sith"

George Lucas has always held that "Star Wars: A New Hope" was, to some degree, allegorical to Vietnam (which, sadly, still seems to be the defining event for a generation.)

In the first "Star Wars" it was The "empire" (the United States with vastly superior technology and firepower) vs. the "rebels". (the North Vietnamese Communists). The analogy falls flat under scrutiny.

His muddled and loose interpretation of history notwithstanding, Lucas was (and perhaps is, we'll see) an extremely talented director/writer and made some very entertaining and even fantastic "space-operas".

He is from a generation who mistakenly believed and probably still believes the idealistic and false concept that "War is the ultimate evil." Now, don't misunderstand. I'm no "hawk" and I support diplomatic and economic solutions whenever possible. However, to make a sweeping claim that war is never required is unrealistic and myopic considering the concepts and principles fought for in conflicts like the Revolutionary war, the Civil War and WWII. The fact remains that THE biggest killer in the 20th century was democide(death by one's own government) at a rate of 4 to 1 versus war.