Korner Talk

If you’re a Lakers fan and haven’t heard that we signed Artest and lost Ariza, wake up! I’m in the minority on the signing that believes Ariza > Artest. I was surprised to hear how many fans on talk radio exclaiming their love and approval for Artest, that Artest is an upgrade to Ariza, that Artest is tougher, and that Artest just sealed the deal on the Lakers repeating. I don’t agree with any of that and here’s why (in reverse order):

Championship – Remember when Gary Payton and Karl Malone joined Shaq, Kobe and Co? I, along with the rest of the city, was ready to watch another victory parade come June. You know what happened next.

Tuff – Toughness does not equal  “hoodilizing” LA. I wouldn’t characterize this years Laker’s team as “tough” in the same way the Pistons’ bad boys were tough, but the Lakers were tough enough to win a championship. Ariza made the clutch  steals and shots that counted all without close lining anyone. How much tougher does he need to be?

Upgrade – On paper, Artest > Ariza, so if you are a stats wonk, this signing makes sense. However, going back to the Malone-Payton era, those two guys were upgrades on paper to Horace Grant and Derek Fisher but the end result was not what everyone had hoped for. Players need get along and play as a team and Ariza did exactly what he was supposed to do. I don’t mean to say that Artest won’t and can’t do the same, but why go tinkering with something that isn’t broken.

What I really liked about Ariza was that he was low key and very workman like on the court, ala Worthy, Cooper, and Thompson. Artest on the other hand has already pimped himself on ESPN even before he’s officially part of the Lake-Show. How Spiedi-esqe.

My gut feeling is that Ariza is a better choice not only in the short run, when Kobe can still dominate at least for the next 3-4 years, but also in the long run when Bynum blossoms into Shaq 2.0 (snicker). I’m not hating on Artest. In someways, such as how Artest won’t be playing for another competitor, signing Artest is a plus for the Lakers.

Ahh well. The dust hasn’t settled yet from this summer’s free agency circus, but the coming season looks to be really good. We’ll see how the TruWarier plays out.

I remember the first tennis video game I played. Boy was that thing lame yet I spent hours playing it. All you had to do was move your guy to the ball and he would hit it. A typical rally lasted 50 strokes, not very realistic to say the least. Then came the arcade game Virtual tennis which was later ported onto the Dreamcast and PS2 console. That was an awesome game. And in my foggy memory bank, I remember spending several late nights playing some tennis game on N64 with Yv, Vik and Sunil…. that was fun too… I think.

Anyways, none of those games can compare to the new comer, EA Grand Slam Tennis for the Wii. Tennis games and the Wii remote are a match made in heaven and EAGST takes full advantage of that fact. I can list off some bummers (ie graphics, lack of control with the regular Wii remote vs Motion Plus) but they’re overshadowed by the game play and player immersion, making EAGST the best tennis video game I’ve played. What I really like is how they got the movements of the featured players down pat. McEnroe serves like McEnroe. Sampras does his racket twirling thing when he’s returning serve. And Venus Williams grunts like a wild boar feasting on truffles. But the best part? Maria Sharapova is in the game and she’s hot. Naturally. I wish they included Andre or Michael Chang in the game though. That would have sealed the deal in making EAGST the best tennis video game ever known to man.

First though: UT.

1) Take the rest of this week off

2) Determine date of the next test date and sign up

3) Buy PowerScore’s CR Bible. Anything that claims to be the bible of something must be good

4) Find and download PowerPrep – Edit: looks like this might be it… even includes “hacks” for Gmat prep, woooo

5) Put together a study plan for a 60/40 verbal-quant split

6) Eat more fish oil and blueberries

Although my chances of going to HBS is as likely as me going to the moon, at least I can still read and dream about what it must be like. Philip Delves Broughton, an HBS alum, cracked open the door to what it’s like to attend HBS, the creme de la creme of bschools, in his book Ahead of the Curve. He was an atypical bschool student, a journalist by trade (most students are bankers or consultants) and older than most students (he was 31 or something when he started school whereas the average age of HBS students is 27). I appreciated “PDBizzle’s” nonstandard outlook as I often felt that if I were in his shoe, I would have reacted the same way. The book was extremely engrossing and humorous and I would recommend it to anyone interested in going to bschool. Below are some recurring themes I found interesting.

Uncertainty: It was interesting to read that even among the elites who seemingly have it made, doubt still permeates. Bschool seemed as much as a place to take a two year vacation for some HBS folks as it is to find themselves.

Bling: PDB ranked the most desirable jobs by students as: private equity, hedge funds, vc, and then ib and consulting tied for last. People actually scoffed at ibanking/consulting positions,  jobs that bank $150k a year, minimum. I really don’t find any of those jobs other than VC that appealing, so why am I going to bschool? Good question, tba later!

Balance: Part of chasing the bling means long hours, but many of the CEOs that spoke at HBS said that the sacrifice to bank their cheese came at an overwhelming cost. These same CEOs stressed the importance of having a good work-life balance, and even stranger is that when asked what their biggest regret was, most said that they wished they could have spent more time with their family. So you have current CEOs telling future CEOs not to be consumed by work, but the current CEOs were once the future CEOs who got the same talk from past current CEOs. Balance is difficult, if not impossible to teach to a bunch of people who are pursing power and money.

Ethics: With the troubles and scandals that Wall St has seen in the past year, people can’t say MBA and ethics without rolling their eyes. Ahead of the Curve was written before the market crashed, so it amusing to read the chapter called “Ethical Jihadist”. Ethics seemed to be ingrained into every class and activity @ HBS, shocking considering how things have played out in corporate America. I don’t think ethics can be taught although I wouldn’t say that it shouldn’t be taught. The best that teaching ethics can do is reinforce what good behavior and decisions are. Bad people are just bad and no amount of schooling can turn those that are predispositioned to make other peoples lives miserable into saints.

Case Method: I hate being called on in class, but the case method seems like a great way to learn. Although I prefer to learn by doing, the case method seems to afford the opportunity to power through a greater number of business problems in a short amount of time. In addition, you get to listen to different approaches to a problem from different people. The drawback though is you’ll have to listen to people who like to listen to themselves talk.

There’s a lot of other good stuff in the book. I especially enjoyed reading about the day to day type of stuff PDB went through, his interaction with the other students, and the materials and concepts from the classes he took.

I mixed 0.16 lbs of ??? Decaf and Groundwork’s Angel City coffee that I bought from WFM and I’m really liking it. It was a pleasant suprise to see  Groundwork beans at WFM. The taste of the mix isn’t extrodinary but is good enough. I purposely did a mix this time to cut back on the caffeine I’m consuming. So far the results have been positive since I’m not experiencing those PVC symptons as much yet I still get to enjoy good coffee. I’ve also been alternating the days that I drink coffee with days that I drink white tea, which according to Sosa has less caffiene. Right now I’m drinking Allegro Citrus White Tea, another item off the shelf of WFM. I know, I’ve become a WFM snob. Save the planet!

??? I think the beans are Allegro too.