I never had Hoop Dreams, I had Street Ball Dreams

I just got done watching the Untold documentary on Netflix about the company AND1, and I learned so much about Street Ball that I didn't know. For example, I learned where the heck it went. haha. Either way, this post isn't so much about that company, because you can just watch the documentary. But this is about my experience as a youngster, growing up during the rise and fall of street ball.

Now I don't remember the exact year for everything. But I can tell you, I don't think I ever had a dream to play in the NBA. I wanted to play in the MLB and NFL, but as far as my third favorite sport went, I wanted to play Street Ball. It was so awesome. The dribbling tricks and the way guys would just make their opponent look completely lost, it was hilarious yet magical. All of my friends would do (attempt) tricks that we had seen the legends do. Hot Sauce was incredible. But they were all incredible. It was so fun! The way they would put the ball in their shirt and spin it in a circle. The no look alley oops. The way they would throw the ball off the persons head or between their legs. The fake passes, the trickery, its hard to use any other phrase other than, poetry in motion. Thats exactly what it was. It was some form of art combined with basketball and those were some of my basketball heroes before I got interested in the NBA.

At some point, NBA Street was released on PlayStation and all of a sudden I was actually able to do all the moves that I had seen them do. Off the Heezy! (That's the bounce off the opponents head btw) Man it was a blast! You would get style points and it was all about how many awesome tricks you could do. Yeah, I'm just reminiscing right now. Either way, it's crazy to me that it just sort of disappeared.

I do recall the Slam Dunk contest that Vince Carter participated in. It was the most incredible display of dunking I (and anybody) had ever seen. I did not know he was wearing AND1 shoes though! Pretty cool. Then I do remember that commercial that Nike did. Where they showed how hip-hop they were and how they associated their brand with Street Ball. It was definitely a dope commercial with a cool beat that was created by bouncing a basketball. It was creative! But I had no idea that that was essentially what crushed AND1 the company.

Now as I grew older, I didn't put much thought into why Street Ball was no longer mainstream. But I continued going to basketball courts, playing pick up, and just playing literal street ball. That was where I had the most fun with a basketball. I never really did organized basketball. I didn't really run plays, set picks, do rolls, none of that. I just did fake passes, tried to break ankles, and make shots that looked majestic. Granted, I wasn't able to execute a lot of the incredible tricks they could do. But I had still had countless moments of joy playing. "The Professor" seems like one of the few basketball players that was really able to train himself to be as good (and in many ways better) than the original legends.

I never realized just how much of an influence Street Ball had on me until now, but it definitely did. And I'm glad I watched that documentary. Because it was a reminder of MY hoop dreams. To be someone that could make the crowd “ooooo” and “ahhhhh.” Someone would ask me if I played sports and I'd say I play football, baseball, and basketball. But when they asked if I played on a team I said, "yes but not for basketball. For that I play Street Ball." I can't make this shit up!

Leave a comment if we've ever played basketball together, and tell me your favorite move. Mine, is the mid range FLOATERRR... and SWISH!!

Billy

Here a video of The Professor back in the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vglS7j0c4To

And here is Hot Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWyZwYd7g5A&t=56s

Sources of Energy - Teamwork make the Dreamwork

California is planning to ban sales of new gas powered cars by 2035 (See link at bottom of the page). Which sounds good as far as CO2 into the atmosphere goes.

But selling ONLY electric vehicles.. that’s quite a tall order. Let’s get into it.

For one, where does electricity come from? Well a majority of it comes from fossil fuels like natural gas and coal. So although it is good that there will be less carbon emissions from the electric cars, there will still be carbon emissions from the creation of the electricity that is powering these cars. I will admit however, that I don’t know if one adds more CO2 emissions than the other.

So the battle shouldn’t really be titled Electric Cars vs Gas Powered Cars… it should be titled Renewable Energy Sources vs. Other Energy Sources.

Wind, Solar, Hydro and hydrogen may be my favorite sources, but they also contribute the least to the power grid and have many challenges as far as implementing them (mainly technology, cost, and infrastructure). Natural gas and coal make up the most. Nuclear is in the middle but I don’t really like the risks involved if there’s a failure. Now I will say that fossil fuels will eventually run out. Could be a long time but still. It’s just a fact. All the fossilized plants from the Carboniferous era (which is the era that contributes most to our current source of energy) are in fact limited.

I think if climate change activist really want to reduce CO2 emissions, I honestly think they need to incentivize the creation of renewable energy power plants. Whether that be incentivizing the technology side of things and making it more efficient or incentivizing the infrastructure behind building more of them, either way! I think that each source should contribute an even amount to the power grid. So if there’s an issue with one.. then there’s others. Sort of like a team. So really it shouldnt be anything “vs” anything.. it should just be a team of energy sources. Teamwork make the dreamwork. Mic drop.

Okay mic pick up. Like I mentioned, there are a lot of challenges with renewable/ clean energy sources. One is also determining which one is actually the best in terms of low carbon emissions. I feel like no matter what, there will be something. But if it can be reduced, then definitely we can leave future generations in a better spot to work from. That’s the goal!

This just in! My buddy shared a YouTube video with me on this topic.

https://youtu.be/G67i_Z8ukD4

And in fact, electric vehicles areee better for the environment. That’s great! I just hope at some point they will be able to make them more affordable and I hope the proper infrastructure will be put in place to charge them. For example I live in an apartment, and I don’t know how I feel about running a power cord 500 yards to my car. So hopefully the charging stations will be commonplace at some point. Then after that, I hope there are backup plans regarding if the power grid goes out. Basically, I feel like there are still many challenges with such a major transition, but hopefully those can be addressed as quickly as possible!

AND part 3, after receiving feedback on this topic from someone who’s opinion I value, I’ve decided to continue my train of thought (chugga chugga chooo chooo). Let’s get controversial ehh *Canadian voice*

1) is whether or not you are in favor of greenhouse gas related policies directly correlated with your political ideology? Now I don’t mean to polarize the political spectrum and this topic, but for the sake of simplicity and brevity, I have no choice. If one supports electric vehicles, does that automatically make them more on the democratic side of the political spectrum? And if one supports gas vehicles, does that automatically make them lean towards the republican side of the spectrum? Now honestly, politics isn’t my field. I’m more of a philosopher, which makes this question tantalizing (lol, love that word). What do you think? Can someone be mismatched here, like a person with a more democratic ideology who is in favor of gas powered vehicles? Or is that against their ideology and therefore not possible? Very interesting!

and 2) Are humans even big enough to make that much of an impact on the atmosphere? I mean, have you seen us from a plane? We are absolutely microscopic when talking about the size of a planet. Most of the earth, at least from my perspective is desert, mountains, and ocean ya know, at least compared to the amount of earth that’s inhabited by humans.

In terms of the atmosphere, only 0.04% of the atmosphere is made up of CO2 (at least according to a Wikipedia page titled “Atmosphere of Earth”). I decided to do a google search, and I found out that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is 422 parts per million. And according to the video listed earlier, an average vehicle will emit 57 metric tons of CO2 during its lifespan. Which is equivalent to 0.057 parts per million. So if I continue with calculations I’ll just confuse myself, but just for comparison sake, that’s equal to 7.4 billions car lifespans worth of CO2 in the atmosphere. And since there’s roughly 1.4 billion cars in the world, I can kinda understand this argument. It basically takes about 70 years or so to double the amount of CO2, but once again, it only makes up 0.04% of the atmosphere to begin with. Interestinggg.

I know Albert Einstein once said “Change is the only constant.” So wouldn’t climate “change”, be inevitable? Things are constantly changing!

Regardless, the question becomes, will a rise in this fraction of the atmosphere (0.04%) really cause catastrophic damage to the protective ozone layer? Or are humans just too infinitesimally small to effect it? Lmk what you think!

FINAL EDIT to this post:

Honestly, I've realized that this is truly an endless discussion. I've also realized how much I don't know on this topic of energy. I will say, that after doing some research, I really did not know that much about nuclear energy. Its actually a pretty legit energy source. Its not only renewable, but it can produce energy at all times of the day as oppose to solar and wind. The main problem is the fear that surrounds it. There is fear because of Cheronobyl and another failure in Japan (I cant remember the name), but apparently both of the consequences of those have been somewhat exaggerated and they basically didn't cause as much damage as we think. For example, when someone is asked how many people died at each of them, they will say a number much higher than how many actually died. Additional fear of "nuclear" comes with the relation that word has to weapons of mass destruction.

Anyways, there is absolutely no doubt that the climate is changing and the amount of CO2 is increasing and that humans are the source of this. And while there are (a majority of) people that will say the rise in CO2 is bad and it will lead to the destruction of our ozone layer which will lead to catastrophic weather events, there are also people (the minority) that will say its good, citing the fact that plants like CO2 and that it will help them to grow larger and greener. So whether or not CO2 is increasing as a result of humans, there is no debate. The question is rather, by how much, and is it good or bad?

Peace and Love,

Billy

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/california-ban-gas-powered-cars-electric.amp

Why should Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame?

In case you are not familiar with who Pete Rose, or his story.. he was a baseball player. A damn good one. At 3,000 hits.. a baseball player is considered incredible, Hall of Fame type player... Pete Rose had 4,256... one of two players to have over 4,000 hits. And yes, he has more hits than the other guy... making him the all time hit leader. Why he isn't in the Hall of Fame you ask? Because he broke a particular rule. It states:

Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.

There is no doubt that he in fact did bet on a baseball game he was connected with, however he bet on his OWN TEAM TO WIN. The rule most likely originated because if you bet your team to lose, you may throw the game. Or if a umpire/ referee bets on the game, they have too much control over the outcome. So the rule is well defined, and many will say: He broke a well-defined rule and must live with the consequences of his actions. However, I'm here to tell you, there are some rules that deserve an exception. And this is one of those cases.

In what cases is there an exception to a rule? I'm glad you asked. Lets step away from baseball and look at some random ideas for a bit.

Rule: You cannot kill someone.

Exception: Unless it's self defense.

Rule: You cannot start a fire.

Exception: Unless its contained in a fire pit.

Rule: The speed limit is 25mph.

Exception: 26- 30 mph, isn't particularly dangerous... and you may not be pulled over for doing so.

I'm gonna do a few more silly ones.

Rule (in my moms house): You can't wear shoes in the house.

Exception: You forgot your keys and have to grab them real quick.

Rule: A noun is a person, place, or thing.

Exception: They may someday become a verb. For example: "Texting"

Now for my favorite on this list.

Rule: You can't bet on baseball if you're involved in the game..

Exception: UNLESS YOU ARE PETE F*CKIN ROSE

Allow me to elaborate. As stated, he bet on his OWN team. He did so because he loved his team. He believed in his team. And he is not a perfect person. (Are any of us?) He definitely had a gambling problem, but he is still human, one of us. He has since apologized for disrespecting the game of baseball, and those who heard his public apology considered his remorse for his actions very sincere and genuine.

At the very least, I believe they should hold a trial for the man.. The Hit King. The man nicknamed "Charlie Hustle".. because nobody played the game with as much heart as he did. Rules do have exceptions as you saw earlier. Rules can get amended. And this is just heart-breaking to me. It's sad that the baseball community cannot forgive a man that gave so much to the game of baseball. Better yet, there should be a vote. A vote in which the fans of baseball decide. Because the switch hitting, hard-working, leader in MLB hits, deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame. Sure, a rule is a rule. But love is love. And that man loved baseball, his teammates, and its fans. And it's about time that love was reciprocated.

Peace & Love,

Yours truly