Oh, that’s what they meant

Impetus: after the Atlanta Hawks were unceremoniously swept out of the NBA Playoffs, the Hawks organization published this statement that tried to accentuate the good of the season, right after the biggest of bads just occurred.  The tagline of the entire statement was that the Hawks finished the year “True to Atlanta.”

Honestly, I don’t blame any Hawks fans for wanting to read this gigantic wall of text, but basically it’s a written list of all the good things that happened to the Hawks throughout the course of the 14-15 NBA season.  Including things like their franchise best 60-win season, the first time ever to the Eastern Conference Finals, and being one step away from contending for the NBA championship.

Ultimately, it’s no different than any other team-mandated post-season letter thanking the fans and investors (but mostly investors) for their support, but what I think that makes this worse than any other letter sent by any other organization is their choice of tagline, and the unintentional irony behind it.

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Why people say they hate League of Legends

The following graphic is my last six games. You might notice that they are mostly defeats. You might also notice that they are also Summoner’s Rift games. I do not play a lot of Summoner’s Rift games these days; I typically play a lot of All-Random-All-Mid (ARAM) games with my girlfriend, because they’re quicker, and the random player select for all participants absolves all players of such nagging details like responsibility and skill, and sometimes they’re tremendously fun when you and/or other players get to play a little mad scientist with how to build out a character for varying results.

Summoner’s Rift games are typically way longer, and play to what’s known as a “meta,” basically meaning a traditionally accepted form in which the game should be played, with specific positions, roles, and styles that is expected of those players designated to each role. Personally, I feel that playing games to a style because that’s what’s expected is kind of stale, boring, and tedious.

Summoner’s Rift games are also what is played on the professional level, so the alleged millions and millions of League of Legends’ player base are playing the exact same game that kids all around the globe are paid serious money to do so.

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My, how times change in the sporting world

I’m contemplating making a day trip up to Cleveland, Ohio, so I can knock off one more ballpark on my ongoing quest for all 30 Major League Baseball parks, but it dawned on me that there was some room for concern.  Currently, the NBA is in the midst of their playoffs, and as it stands the Atlanta Hawks are playing against the Cleveland Cavaliers.  The jury is still out, but this could pose some complications for someone like me, hoping to be able to hop on flights to and from Cleveland from Atlanta.

But then I saw that the series currently sits at 3-0 in a best of seven, in favor of the Cavs, with game 4 tonight, so there’s a good chance that the Hawks will continue their outstanding tradition of choking, as well as the Atlanta tradition of falling short of a championship, regardless of sport.

However, that’s not what really prompted me to write today.  It’s what’s happening in the Western conference that caught my eye, and made me think, “hmm, really??

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Is it really that important to always know what’s “trending?”

Since I’m such a man of the times, I’m currently on book five of Game of Thrones: Song of Ice and Fire.  Unlike a lot of epic literary series, I’ve actually enjoyed GoT in written form a great deal, and I look forward to completing book five, and subsequently be like all other GoT novella fans, and (im)patiently await the sixth.

On that note, it goes without saying that I am very much behind in the television series, as it moves at light speed on screen in comparison to the pace of the novels.  I’ve just finished watching the second season of the show, and upon hearing news not too far ago about how things in season five of the television series will spoil plot points for what lies ahead in the not-yet-released book six, I can say that I will probably not watch any of season five, if I can help it.

Yes, I am one of those snobs, who always plays the game of comparisons between book and screen.  This should not be one iota of surprise to anyone.

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I hate the world we live in

When we’re kids, we’re often told that it’s best to talk things out, with another person, whenever there’s any sort of grievance.  That violence solves nothing, and that good communication will triumph over any sort of need for fisticuffs.

However, when we become adults, such basic concepts cease to exist, and grownups are more apt to employ every single form of tactic that remove themselves from the visible part of the equation as possible, and to utilize every trick in the book in order to get the job done without making themselves public.

Personally, I’ve always been of the persuasion that it’s still possible to talk things through with other people, and yes although it might be uncomfortable to confront concerns and grievances face-to-face, I still believe that resolution is more easily achieved in such a manner, and at least everything is on the table and out in the open.

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Taking a breather

Something not very good has happened, and I do not want to talk about it yet.

I can’t say that I’m not going to be posting anything at all until things settle down, because who knows I see something and feel overwhelming inspiration to write about it, but I think it’s safe to bet that I’m going to probably err on sticking to this self-imposed timeout until things settle down.

There is a likely definitive conclusion to this, and it won’t be too long, but frankly, I don’t feel like writing or even really attempting to do so right now, and it’ll probably be that way until it’s over with.