...our skies...

This is really interesting.

Since 9/11, there has obviously been a renewed focus on airport security, we all know the drill, and the current news, etc.

Probably about 90% of my flying experience, if not more, has been post 9/11. I flew maybe 1 or 2 times a year, at most, from 1977-2001, then since 2001 I have been on maybe 25 flights a year for work, etc, at a minimum. I say that just to say my flying experience has been primarily with all these regulations in place, so I don't have much to mentally compare it against.

Every single time I have walked through security, I believe my mindset has been, "this is a cute exercise, but really, what is being done?"

I follow the rules they lay out, for the most part. I do everything they ask, laptop out, no sharp stuff, liquids in a bag, etc. But sometimes I forget, for example, to put my contact solution in a baggie, and then it goes through with everything else and nobody stops me.

I always, ALWAYS, think, "how do they know the liquid in my contact bottle is water. How do they know the liquid in some other person's bottle isn't lighter fluid, or liquid kryptonite, or whatever the hell it may be.

How do they know that joe ordinary doesn't have 130 pounds of organic hashish in their underpants? How do they know?

I have always answered that with, "They have no idea. Period."

I guess that is why I am literally shocked that people are shocked that this clown got on a plane bound for Detroit with explosives. How can you be shocked? Have you not ever gone through security? I don't know what kind of training they all received with the TSA in terms of security, but they all look, to me, like they are going through the motions.

I always get a kick out of the fact that 99% of the people I know simply go to work to get work done and earn a paycheck, and they just go through the motions, yet we all expect employees that service us to be 100% into their jobs, at all times, and go above and beyond, at all times. Not true. They are just working. Then they go home and eat pizza and watch football like everyone else. And they dream about retirement and days off and call in sick when they aren't and hate their bosses, like the population at large.

At TSA, they aren't magicians - and we want them to be. Better than that, we expect all nations, every airport employee in every country, to feel the same sense of "Red/Orange/Green" paranoia that we feel. We are now flummoxed by the fact, which is dangerously obvious, that the Netherlands doesn't care (as much) about who enters the US (or with what strapped to their underpants).

My point is that there is no way that anyone is really surprised, right?

9/11 was an organized attack on the US, it took years of planning, training, etc. They were very careful to review the policies that were in place in terms of security, and they chose to avoid the dangers, act calmly, and murder thousands of people in the process. These guys weren't ninjas, they weren't invisible and able to sneak by security by using spidey-sense. They were just people who planned.

Nobody can really walk through an airport and board an airplane without thinking, "i sure hope this isn't the flight where the planning and preparation for the next 9/11 comes to life..." Cuz thats all we are doing, is we are waiting.

Its a horrible, horrible thing, but all the security in the universe cannot stop people who want to do horrible things from doing horrible things. We are always going to continue to play this game - we will change terror threat levels, we will add new machines to check for devices in your shoes and undergarments, and we will change the rules about when you can and cannot stand up in a plane, but we all have to know that we are simply weeding out the worst of the worst, the lamest of the lame, the poorest planners, the chaotic...we aren't weeding out the prepared. Because we cannot.

I literally don't have a solution, and I am not advocating stopping security at airports. I do think it is literally criminal that the dude going to Detroit didn't have a passport and he was allowed to board. It is borderline criminal, certainly embarrassing, that he was on watch list A, but not on watch list B, so he was able to board. I think about how the lives of thousands are on the line because someone probably didn't input the right data into a spreadsheet...

I do think that weeding out the most unprepared and/or stupid of the potential terror threats is fantastic, and that occurs through what TSA has in place, but to think they are capable of stopping the next 9/11 is really, honestly, tired and shameful.

I don't think we are all in trouble in a daily basis getting on planes, but I do think we are living a life that, unfortunately, millions of people every day in other countries have to live - one of subtle (and at times, overt) fear. We are, to some extent, under attack and should be focused on tragedy preparedness, rather than tragedy prevention solely. Lets balance out that equation a bit. I'd feel better, at least.

...Brian Scalabrine...

Brian Scalabrine is the most confusing player on a local team I can remember. I was at the game the other night v. Minnesota, and his appearance on the floor created such a circus environment, it was really beyond belief.

The arena erupted, like a court jester had just spun a loaf of bread on his pointy-hatted head...they were "oohing" and "aahing" his every move, every attempt, and every touch.

Now I realize the crowd on a Sunday afternoon at the Celtics is far different than a weeknight crowd. The weeknight crowd isn't quite as enamored by Scals in a mocking sense as the weekend crowd is, b/c, honestly, the weekend crowd doesn't know that Scals actually gets pretty solid minutes in most games. They think his appearance is enough to laugh at, and they do.

It is no secret that I am not a fan of Scalabrine. First of all, he is overpaid - which isn't his fault at all. I usually don't complain too much about salaries but he has been a bit of albatross for this team. But beyond that, I think that on the offensive end he puts the team in very bad situations. He has trouble getting space, doesn't have a great shooting %, and frequently puts passes on players off hips, shins, necks, etc.

But I don't think he deserves the treatment he gets by fans, and I think fans think they are doing him a favor by making him a favorite, when in reality he is just another guy on the team. I won't get into it, because people I respect will roll their eyes when I mention this, but it's a huge function of race - the crazy white guy has no business on the floor - and those implications make me feel real weird.

But in reality, he is a very hard worker who, for some reason, has all the respect of his teammates, and for some reason, is honestly a constant energy boost when he is on the floor. If I mock his offense, I have to respect his defensive skills. A guy like Troy Murphy, tonight for the Pacers, gives MUCH better athletes a ton of trouble on a nightly basis, but Scal always seems to neutralize those types of guys. Scals is heavy enough (yes, a veiled criticism) to push people around, but also smart enough to get in the way.

I am confused by him mostly b/c I don't know why otherwise educated Celtics fans have this spot of insanity in their heads for Scalabrine. He gets on the floor and the crowd loses their minds - it makes no sense to me. He's just a 8th or 9th player on a strong 12 man roster. That's it.

...Coach James...

It has been too long since I posted anything on this blog, and I don't think this new post is going to the start of some big major re-birth of my involvement. However, I do think that I have realized, based on ESPN.Com's article that quotes Shaq in saying that Lebron's BBall IQ is amazingly high, that Lebron could be the coach of the Cavaliers right now.

I don't think that Lebron could coach the Celtics, Lakers, Suns, Bulls, Pistons, anyone else, but I do think he can coach this Cavs team, as a player. This is not a new concept, Bill Russell won championships as player/coach, at least 1. Some of the best baseball and basketball players in the history of man had double duties.

The Cavs are a team whose roster doesn't need a ton of messing with. There isn't going to be a 4 or 5 player shift come the offseason. This is the squad that is going to win or lose it, with 1 or 2 exceptions. Danny Ferry can take care of the personnel decisions, but I do think that Lebron could be their leader.

It is no secret that I think Mike Brown may be one of the least educated coaches in basketball, I cannot wait til the playoffs when his poor decision making costs the Cavs game after game. The Cavs are lacking here.

I can't take myself away from Lebron a few years ago against the Pistons when Lebron scored 29 of the last 30 points (in a conference championship game!!) and led the Cavs to a crazy (i think on the road) victory in overtime against a very strong Pistons squad. It was basketball at its best, and it was strategy at its most simple. Give the best player the ball, and make the opposing team stop him. Go at the basket, pass when it makes sense...but Score. Score Score Score.

Mike Brown has no real coaching philosophy. He simply demands that Lebron invent at all times, but with the mirage that he is part of a program, an organization bigger than him. It's a mirage. The PGA is going to see what life is really like without Tiger this year, and the Cavs are going to have to realize, at some point, what life is like without Lebron.

Unless they give him complete control.

It is the next step, I'd say its the logical step, and its something I would love to see, if only to increase the mythology of who I think is the most talented athlete on the planet.