Reflecting on "The Ring of the Rowel" Spurs' Documentary Series

Whoops, I basically had this finished last summer but forgot to post it. So, here it is a year late (I don't think anyone else cares, so you shouldn't either). 

Last year the San Antonio Spurs celebrated their 50th anniversary with a 50-part docu-series chronicling the history of the team entitled The Ring of the Rowel. 

Yes, you read that correctly, it is a FIFTY-part docu-series. 

The series produced a total of over 13 and a half hours of footage. It's an impressive piece of work for the in-house production team that included hours of writing, conducting interviews, searching for archival footage, and editing the whole thing into a proper narrative.  The series goes above and beyond what most teams do for their anniversaries. 

The Spurs franchise had to believe that if they didn't tell the story of one of the most successful sports franchises of the last fifty years, no one would....and it's just as likely no one will give a full review of this excellent series, so why not me?  

The Spurs wisely released the videos out of chronological order. This allowed them to slowly release the most popular videos throughout the year, rather than in one clump. This also made the experience a little more fun as each week, fans would eagerly wait for the next episode in complete mystery of what would come next. Many of the videos themselves are more thematic than chronological. For example, there is an episode on the Spurs-Lakers rivalry that covers the early 80s rivalry as well as the 2000s rivalry with Kobe and Shaq.  However, most of the episodes are chronological, so if you watch them in the order the Spurs released them, it can be a bit of a discombobulated experience. 

Some kind soul has put together a chronological order of  The Ring of the Rowel on YouTube. If you haven't watched any episodes, this is the way to do it. Just search it up on YT. Some of the videos are nearly impossible to put in proper chronological order but having a proper chronological order is impossible because of the thematic nature of the series. If someone was insane enough, they could edit the entire 13 + hours and make a giant single documentary.....but you would be insane to even think such thoughts (I just thought of it).  

The series focused on the players, but there were episodes on ownership, the buildings the Spurs played in, and even the Coyote (which was surprisingly very good). Last year, former owner Red McCombs died, and it felt like they randomly created a video just for him, even though much of that episode ended up being recycled from a later (or chronologically earlier) video. 

Here are some of my favorites: 

"Origins" - Entertaining and informative, I honestly learned a lot.  

"Ice Man Cometh" - Of course, I love the old footage, and I loved learning about the insanity of the trade that brought Gervin to SA. 

"Merging" - like "Origins", very informative but also fast-paced and informative. 

"Our Furry Friend" - Surprisingly interesting. I had forgotten that the Coyote had once been kicked out of a game. 

"Miracle Man" (Sean Elliott) - Possibly my favorite episode, and although I love Elliott, it's not like I am his biggest fan. I admit the interchange between Elliott and Pop had me shed a tear. 

"71" - this is the best thing I have ever seen or read about on David Robinson's 71-point game. Although it seems like in today's NBA 70 is increasingly becoming the new 60-65, in 1994, it was quite the feat. Great interviews with Coach Lucas and Gervin (who was an assistant coach this year), and it included unseen footage from the locker room after the game (hey, look, Madonna)!!!

As you can tell, my favorites were primarily older stuff, but that's because I am a bit of a Spurs nut-case and an expert in the Tim/Tony/Manu era. 

If you're a Spurs fan, you really need to watch all of the episodes! The quality is outstanding, and this is a big but, this series is an "official documentary". This means some major stories that did NOT get told because some of these stories were a wee bit unsightly. After all, a "squeaky clean" team like the Spurs doesn't want to tarnish its own myth-making. 

If this were a perfect world, here would be the stories that should have been covered but didn't for one reason or another:  

Alvin Robertson 

It's clear that this guy seems like a messed-up dude, but does that mean we should forget his record-shattering career?

• Robertson is one of three players in NBA history that had a quadruple-double (and he was on the Spurs when he did it). 
• While on the Spurs, he was a 4-time All-Star & the NBA DPOY in 1986. 
• He is the only player to have 300 steals in an NBA season
• Robertson averaged over 3 steals a game, which has only been done ten times (and he did it three of those ten times with the Spurs)!

There isn't a need to get too deep into his off-court troubles, but we should admit that some of his on-court play was historically great. 

Dennis Rodman 

I would argue Rodman was an idiot with the Spurs, but I also think he might have been at his athletic peak in his time with the Spurs. Rodman played on two crazy, zany years as Drob's sidekick. Both seasons had plenty to remember, and I think framing this imaginary episode about the relationship between Robinson and Rodman, one of the league's most bizarre duos of all time, would have been interesting. 

Just start the episode with this:

There were so many interesting things that happened, and at the very least, we got a cool Secret Base Beef episode out of it: 

The 1994-1997 Spurs Era and Gregg Popovich's firing of Bob Hill 

In 1997, Pop (as the Spurs' GM) fired head coach Bob Hill and installed himself as coach. This insane move wasn't EVEN MENTIONED in the Pop episode. 

This bold move by Pop should have been a whole episode. The episode should have begun by honoring that great WCF team, following their rise and fall to the Rockets.  At the time, Pop firing Hill seemed like an egotistical and cruel move, right as Robinson was recovering from injury.

Even in the episode that was centered on other coaches the Spurs have had, Bob Hill isn't even mentioned! Hill has been basically whitewashed from Spurs history, which is sad. Until Pop came along, he was easily the Spurs' most successful coach, to not even mention him at all seems unnecessarily mean and petty.  

In retrospect, firing Hill was absolutely the right move. Spurs fans held it against Pop until at least 2003. I didn't even really like Pop until 2005ish.  

Spurs-Suns Rivalry, Spurs-Rockets Rivalry, and/or Spurs-Mavericks Rivalry 

The Spurs-Lakers rivalry got an episode, but the Spurs have had many rivalries that deserved a similar feature. The Jazz could be put in there, but that rivalry was largely limited to the largely the 90s. 

Here are some highlights of each of the rivalries' match-ups above that could have been featured:

Spurs-Mavs - Tim v. Dirk, playoff matchups in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2010, and 2014, Tim had his career high of 53 in an OT game, Cuban talking shit about the Riverwalk, acquiring Finley (his journey from being cut from the Mavs, signing with the Spurs, losing to the Mavs in 2006 to finally winning the chip in 2007 with the Spurs might have been a good framing device). 

Spurs-Rockets - Hakeem v. David Robinson, 1995 Conference Finals loss, a huge game in 99 (Elie game-winner), Tracey McGrady scoring a million points in less than one minute, Manu blocking Harden and winning WCSF in 2017. 

Spurs-Suns - Barkley closing down Hemisphere on a buzzer-beater, Tim's first playoff series in 98,  the 2003 match-up (Marbury's buzzer-beater in game one), 2005 and 2007 WCF matchups (both legendary), and Nash's Sun's eventual win in 2010. 

The Rise and Fall of the Kawhi Era  

I know this seems too fresh for some, but it is definitely one of the most important stories of the last few years in the NBA. The producers didn't have to make anyone look bad but to ignore the topic seems to be petty and flat-out silly. 

The guy was a defensive player of the year for the Spurs (twice), our Finals MVP of 2014 and he also led us to a 2017 WCF and the brink of what could have been something special. I don't like the guy, I think he is a certified weirdo, but the fact he didn't get a focused episode on him, left a bad taste in my mouth. It is an inevitability that his number will be in the rafters one day. 

Yeah, Secret Base has us covered here too. :) 

What's next? 

Honestly, probably nothing. I can't imagine the cost and effort this took to produce it, but I would love it if the team released the unedited (or lightly edited) interviews of all these folks that they did interview. It would be a treat for super fans and surely not that difficult to pull off. Some of the interviews barely scratched the surface. 

If someone is reading this who has any connection to the Spurs media team, reach out to me, I will help produce the next series at a deep discount from other consultants. lol.

Anyway, if you like the Spurs, you need to check out this underrated and amazing series. 

The Lost Forest at 40

I used to have a lot of friends. In fact from my senior year of high school until my mid-30's, I probably had too many friends to keep proper track of.  If you will indulge me, think of my friends as a large forest.

There were a good share of small brush (casual friends), trees (good friends) and some older, tall friends (friends I had for years, some since I was a child).

But now that I'm pushing 40; things have changed. It's true that people move and people change. Also, there's our familial duties and responsibilities.  It's hard to be good friends with anyone, when everyone is so busy with work and their families. I have made all the excuses in the world about this phase of my life being "natural" or "normal" but I've noticed what used to be a robust forest is now barren with only few decaying trees around me.  


One by one, year by year, I lost trees. At least one was a tree lost in a lightening strike, but most died due to a drought or neglect. Most of my "new" friends are shrubs and are pretty much destined to be just that. I have a hard time connecting to anyone really.

Here's the run down:

One friend I used to hang out with in graduate school days but he moved away soon after he was married and we had nothing much in common anyway. He moved back a few years ago but as I said we never really had much in common to begin with except beer. But the beer was good, man.

One friend got mad at me because of a political argument in 2006 and he has refused to forgive me even though I never made a personal remark during in the argument. I have repeatably asked to be forgiven for any insult implied and explicitly stated over the years to apologize....all to no avail. However, I am done asking as he obviously isn't worth the effort or time.

In 2010, I told one friend we were adopting from Ethiopia and he was like, "Oh". Then we proceeded to talk about Obamacare and got into a fight. We have spoken since then but he lives in another city and it's never been the same since then. I don't think it's personal, but then again, I don't really know. I lost his phone number years ago and he never calls or texts.  I don't think I've seen him in at least 6 years. He occasionally likes photos I post of my kids on FB. 

One friend cannot be bothered to leave his family or ESPN. Even to maintain friendships. I saw him at his father's funeral 3 years ago and that was the only time I had seen him in the six years. I did exchange congrats for his Cubs win in the World Series. I also deleted one of his comments on one of my FB posts about race and police brutality back in the fall. That's pretty much our relationship....nothing.

I lost contact with another friend (he was never a big talker anyway). He moved away, I lost his number and he never contacted me on FB or my phone and I never contacted him. Now it would just feel awkward and I have no idea what we would talk about.

One couple that both my wife and I liked at church moved to another state two years ago. We really liked them. We visited them last spring break (and again in the summer on the way back home from a trip) but again, we won't be seeing them much in our day-to-day lives. 

Another couple that we love at church is moving to Brazil in the winter. The husband is one of two men I have actually connected with at church (the other one is described above and already moved).

My best friend at work is moving to the west coast this summer to be near his partner. I am really bummed about that. I have other friends at work, but he's the one I joke around with the most and we both share a love of free food. It just won't be the same.


Another is still a friend but we haven't been in contact at all since the summer (they were invited to the Xmas party but his kids were sick). The last time I saw him in person was a lunch last spring. He is the one friend that even read this blog at one time but again, he's busy with church family and family family and I suppose there just ain't much time left over. There's really no hard feelings on many of these friendships, but it's hard to say they are friendships when I never talk to most of them.

I do have one friend, my former best man at my wedding. We do actually talk and even occasionally hang out, but it's not often. He's really my only "active" friend.

Another friend lives in NYC and he visits when he is in town, but that's only a few times a year.

I do have a good friend at work but she is female and I can't be having drinks with her late at night or watch a Spurs game with (she's not much of a sports fan). I can never really get too close with a female anyway as I know I don't want a "best" female friend, as I am married. Hey, I ain't no Mike Pence here - we have gone to lunch, but there has to be boundaries and I respect them.  
 

I have a bunch of friends at work and church who I am friendly with, but I am not really, "real" friends with. I like many of these people but there's always something there to separate them from becoming a good friend. I am a weird guy, so I can't really blame them.

So my big forest is gone and some of the new trees that had been planted are being ripped up and moving out of my forest.

I know all of this sounds pathetic, and it is....but sometimes a guy has to vent into the void (ya know, the internet). A void that will go on for nearly forever, but still a void. And the good thing about a void is that it just takes it.


It's a strange place to be but I can't complain all that much.

I am in love with the love of my life and I have three amazing kids. I love my job and I like most of my co-workers. My parents and in-laws are alive and healthy and my family is in decent financial shape. Oh yeah, we belong to a church that loves us.

I do have a few friends left....and some of those decaying trees could get healthy again. My forest is not in good shape, but I have hope spring will come some day. 

State of Mind

Sometimes I feel worn out.  The kids are in bed. The dishes aren't done but I am.

I don't mean just physically but mentally and spiritually. Lately, my spiritual life feels like I am running in place in one of those huge hamster wheels.

My actions show that I feel like God doesn't mind if I miss a prayer (or two or three or four). I feel disconnected from it all. This life has ups and downs and all arounds, and right now I'm in one of those ruts.

Frequently, I find my mind wandering to the future, never satisfying with what's right in front of me. Too busy to just be. Many people would be surprised to hear me say that because I am "in the moment" for most of my life. This is true for sometimes in moments with my children I am almost brought to tears of joy or beauty. When I am alone though, my mind betrays me.

The truth is, the future isn't better. The future might not exist at all. Now is better than the past and the future. It's all we have. The plans I make are just preparation. They should not be a substitute for living. If you are familiar with the Buddhist concept of mindfulness you know I just cribbed all that from my little bucket of Buddhist knowledge.

God, help me to see what's right in front of me.

I wanted to litter this little post with quotes from the Buddha and scripture and add a cute picture or two but it would just be for my pride's sake and plus, it's getting late.

Being mindful will help me be open to being closer to who God wants me to be. When I do pray, here's what I pray for.

Faith
Patience
Love of others especially my enemies
For the poor and helpless
To help those in need
Those in conflict areas of the world
For the scared and sick
To be a servant of others
All these characteristics to be in myself and family
To be where God wants us to be.

There and Back Again: The Beatitudes, Part I

When I started blogging back in April of 2010, one of my ideas was to write some biblical commentary. I had started a blog at some point in 2009 centered on my amateur efforts at biblical commentary. However, I got busy with life and I was quickly interested in other projects along the way. That failure gave me the idea of a "blog of lowered expectations". I would create a blog without a theme; it would be a repository of ideas, new and old, finished or unfinished. Hence the "fragments".  This post brings me back full circle. I'm finally getting around to posting some of my commentary.

This first (?!?!) series will be on the Beatitudes. My original idea was to post what I had saved on my PC with some minor edits and additions but I just can't operate that way. For example, I had an actual introduction to the Beatitudes but I re-wrote 95% of it. Present Neil is never happy with Past Neil and Future Neil just giggles at the both of them. So, go figure. I have no timetable to getting this done, it may come and go or if I get on a roll, I may just start popping them out rather quickly. Time will tell.

Introducing the Beatitudes 
Matthew’s fifth chapter begins Jesus’ "Sermon on the Mount". It is the centerpiece of Jesus' ethical revelation and contains many of Jesus’ most well known sayings. It has been debated, dissected and generally misunderstood over the centuries. The sermon delivers a radical vision of what the Kingdom of God is like. If you're a believer you can't help but feel a little uncomfortable reading the text. It is uncompromising in it's ethical and moral standards.

More importantly, the sermon sets Jesus apart from other wandering Jewish teachers. There is no doubt that Jesus' teaching established something different than what came before. Whether or not he intended to create a whole new religion, I'll set aside for another time. In the sermon, Jesus tells us that the conventional wisdom of the ages is worthless. The Kingdom of God runs counter to the Kingdom of Man. It shouldn't be a surprise to find out the Greek word used for "Kingdom" is the same word that is used to describe "Empire" when people referred to the "Roman Empire".

The sermon begins with the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are series of eight (more like eight and a half) formula statements on who is "blessed". The word beatitude comes from a Latin term meaning "happy", "fortunate" or "blissful" (Wikipedia, man). The key phrase in the Beatitudes is "blessed" so it's important to explore what the term in Greek really meant. Most translations go with "blessed" but others chose "happy", "fortunate" or even the phrase "God blesses".

I'm not a big fan of translating the word "happy". It might have some value in revealing some of the original word in Greek - but I don't think it encompasses all the meanings in my understanding of the concept.

Something I will keep in mind for the commentary is the fact that we have two versions of the beatitudes. The first comes from Matthew 5 and the other from the so-called "Sermon on the Plain" as recorded in Luke. Luke's version only has four beatitudes (along with corresponding "woes"). I am no scholar so this brings up important questions I have about the hypothetical "Q" source that served source material for Matthew and Luke (the material that Matthew and Luke share that is not shared by Mark). As we discuss each beatitude, I will tackle both versions (or lack thereof) into account.

Here's an overview of the people who are "blessed" (the Luke version is in parenthesis)

• The poor in spirit ("the poor")
• Those who mourn ("those who weep now")
• The meek
• Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ("those who hunger now")
• The merciful
• The pure in heart
• The peacemakers
• Those persecuted for righteousness sake ( Luke records "when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man").

According to conventional wisdom, most of the characteristics on this list wouldn't be considered "happy", "fortunate" or "blessed". Rather, just the opposite. Where the world sees failure and rejection, Jesus sees blessings. As I unpack each of these beatitudes we'll see just how they act as a positive on a believer.

Just reading the list reminds me of how "other-worldly" being a Christian is supposed to be like and how "unChristian" I am.

I don't want to be poor or be sad. I'm more shy than meek and I don't hunger enough for righteousness. I am merciful only when it's convenient for myself or those I love. I'm more self-interested than pure of heart and I am only a peacemaker because I don't like conflict.

The truth is, I'm a work in progress.

This reminds me of the fact that I am too afraid to pray for wisdom because I'm too afraid of how God will teach it to me. All the same, I look forward to the challenge of wrestling with these Kingdom Characteristics. Maybe it will help my journey towards being who I want to become.

How I Met Your Mother, Part II : Lessons Learned (1995-1998)

For as long as I can remember I wanted to fall in love. I had dated a number of different girls but I felt like I had never really made that deep connection. Maybe it was a false sense of expectation or maybe I watched too many movies but I dreamed, even yearned to fall in love. I have a notebook full of bad poetry to prove it too.

Well, every dog has his day and one rainy summer night, it finally happened.

Like most good love stories, the beginning of our relationship was quite unexpected. I was attending a community musical (The Mikado) with Eric, Mikey and her boyfriend BJ to see a number of our choir friends perform, including your mother. After the play was over, the whole crew talked and we made plans to eat at IHOP. After dinner a few of us hung out at the Eric and Mikey's house to watch a movie. I sat on the couch and ended up talking for hours over a People magazine with a very cute girl.

Sure we had known each other before that night, but this time something was different. Most girls I had dated didn't seem to have strong opinions and the dates I went on felt awkward (surely it wasn't me that was the awkward one, right?). While this wasn't a date - it was very, very intriguing. I drove home that night excited about the possibilities. I didn't know it but I had just fallen in love for the first time.

This, of course, was not the night I fell in love with your mother - that wouldn't be for awhile.

It was 1997 when Marie and I started dating. This was my first "real" relationship and I was happier than I had ever been. Marie and I shared a wonderful summer that was a boon to my notebook as it was now being filled up with love poems. We shared an ability to deconstruct anything and anyone. Our conversations reveled in discussing minutia, the mundane and the design flaws of restaurants. It was a Seinfeld fan's dream come true. The one complication that hung over the summer was that I had just been accepted at Texas A&M and would be leaving in the fall.

Meanwhile, your mother was in a relationship with our mutual friend, JJ. Do I have to even say it? Yes, he was part of the choir crew as well.

Note: This choir crew was a loosely organized group. It wasn't a tight knit group although at times, it could be. Between, 1995-2000, we had about 12-15 consistent members without accounting for the various additional boyfriends or girlfriends and a rotating cadre of guest stars who would enter our group for seasons at a time.  I would say only a few times a year would the group be all together.  As incestuous as it all sounds, I was the only one (besides your mother) who seriously dated more than one of the members of the group. Looking back I am surprised there wasn't more dating from within the group. 

JJ and Kathryn dated for a long time. They were great together. I loved both of them as friends and I remember thinking that they would be one of those couples that would be married shortly after college.  They seemed to get along so well.  Marie and I even went out on a double date that summer with the lovely couple (both your mother and I have vivid memories of this date at Carraba's).

While we were happy in our own little worlds, your mother and I can barely have said to have a friendship from late 1995- 1998. Of course we were friendly but we usually only saw each other at parties or at the Schmidt's house during a break from school. I do have one distinct memory of talking with Kathryn at the Schmidt's house one Christmas break in 1996. Most of the guys were throwing a football outside but Kathryn and I chatted on the couch for about half an hour. It was the first time I realized that Kathryn had changed since we had dated. She seemed different.  She didn't seem so much like the "goody goody" label I had placed on her. She was a real person - and cute.  

Well, that magical summer of 97' finally came to an end. Marie and I decided to try the "long distance relationship" otherwise known as sure-fire failure to all people under the age of 21. We maintained our relationship during the fall semester and I visited a few times throughout the fall. In retrospect I think I didn't visit as often as much as I should have. During the holidays, we were reunited and we (seemingly) had a great time - I was still in love.

At the famous annual Christmas Party (1997).  

By February (1998) - something changed for Marie. She didn't like the long distance between us but the bigger issue was she had the hots for some lunk head at the gym. So, my first foray into love had fizzled out. For the record the guy from the gym had an abnormally large head (having said that he could probably tie me into a pretzel had I ever told him that to his face).

I was devastated. The night we broke up was the night before a geography exam. I was living in the dorms on campus and I shared a room - I was going to have to cry somewhere else. I walked around aimlessly on the dark campus trying to make sense of it all and sniffle in the cold. I visited the chapel for the warmth but I soon realized I still had to study. I went straight to bed and bombed it the next day. Don't let it be said your father isn't a romantic.

Thus began the long (and very annoying) Saga of Marie (pending trademark). You see this wasn't the end of our relationship - it was only the beginning of an on-again-off-again romantic relationship and then the not friends-best of friends-maybe friends that kiss and then not friends at all thing. I will spare you the details, but some will be forthcoming as they are necessary to understand how your mother and I finally starting dating again. Later that spring Marie and Kathryn decided to attend LSU together in the fall of 1998.

While the Saga of Marie continued, so did life. I liked my new life at A&M but I still felt a little bit like the odd man out.  I was still adjusting to my new life with a whole new set of friends in College Station.  However, in the summer of 1998 and continuing into the fall, I changed. I had been evolving ever since my senior year in high school but now I fully loosened up to the possibilities of who I could be. It was as if I had finally let the up-tight, conservative, know-it-all Neil finally be put to rest. I was having a blast but I just couldn't put Marie behind me.

Sometimes in life there are roads we have to take before we find our redemption. I could have never been the man I was for you mother without my experiences with Marie. For all the drama and pain, I owe Marie a debt of gratitude. She taught me so much about myself and about what I wanted from a serious relationship. More importantly, she made me believe I could be loved back and was worthy of romantic love.

I don't necessary believe in destiny (although maybe you could sell me on a destiny-lite with a strong dash of free-will --but get back to me on that in a decade or two). What I do know is that we always have choices. Choices on how to respond and what to do when we hurt. Chances are someday you will have a broken, messed up, heart-breaking relationship.  I don't wish it on anyone, but often that's part of growing up. I hope you put in the work to find the meaning for yourself. Just remember, every heartbreak has to end sometime.

Guilt and Loathing in The Lost Weekend As a Muslim

The whirlwind of days 3-6 are just about over (two hours and counting) and my "Muslim" faith didn't survive.

I have a truckload of excuses. We were getting ready for our massive garage sale fundraiser all day and all-night Friday (and believe me the work required was massive). I was literally doing something all day Friday-Sunday. There were no breaks and I managed 4 hours sleep on Friday.

I could chalk it up to bad timing....but really, the truth is, I've failed.

weird, huh? that's kinda how i felt though.

I haven't had one prayer since early Thursday evening or early Friday (I can't even remember it feels like years ago). When I wasn't busy - I could start to feel the guilt setting in. I've heard of Catholic guilt but I gotta say, Muslim guilt could be pretty bad. I could Google it, but I'm too tired. If I had readers, maybe they could look it up for me.

SERIOUS SIDENOTE: how do these bloggers do it?  I mean seriously?!!??

Saturday was the crescendo of it all. I was physically beat and I actually felt almost all of my near 33 years (on a daily level I feel between 27-29 and a half years).

I feel asleep on the couch reading right after I tucked our oldest in at about 9:00. I knew I wasn't waking up at 4:50 in the morning. I was already been deflated and defeated.

Sunday came and church and lawn work followed (as we were having people over and the back yard looked like a jungle)....anyway, today I went to work and faced the first day of registration on my feet for most of day.

I just keep thinking, "I can't believe I gave up on all this after TWO measly days". two - days and I was toast.

So, I am restarting this experiment tomorrow morning. It was definitely a rough patch. I could give up and call it a day...after all, this is a "fragment" blog. So, I am restarting day three tomorrow and submitted all over again (takes a deep breath).