the conversation

hello, my name is douglas dooley

them: can i help you?

me: i was wondering if there is a girl named Norah Jones, here.

them: i am not sure you are in the right place, are you suggesting that someone who lives by that name is staying here?

me: yes, that is what i understand.

them: well, you are mistaken this is a place of worship that is intended for the congregation, i suggest you leave before i call the police.

me: do you really want the cops to come here, and search the place, if they know who i am?

them: we can see, but if you do not leave, i will call them.

me: who?

them: the police.

me: well, lets do it.

then it spirals in to another episode of me waiting to be taken away before i get to see you, do you not see i need some help, are you not able to help me out do you really want me to go to jail to get you free?, i need your help, because that is the only scenario i see playing out, is me going to jail, and i finally dont know if i can do that for you, i cant go back-in, as i wint come back out, i have too much to live for, so you need a plan to help me, if you do not show me a plan by eight days from now, i am sorry to say that i am determined to let you go back to manhattan, and me be free, sad and lost, but free, that is all...,

my recent fantasy NBA team

the draft happened last nite on espn.com, for my most recent fantasy team and i got something like in return to form: Durant, Bosh, G. Wallace, down to some guards, Kaman, Stuck, JR Smith, Felton, Arenas, Devon Harris, and a few scrubs to round out the initial shot in the season, i did a regular non-auction draft of head-to-head competition, for my fellow MI fantasy friend, and my initial thoughts, are that other than Zach being out, it is set for a run at a title until Gilbert gets in trouble again, does this mean i am going to win the league, not necessarily but that is a tough team to beat, and even though i was optimistic in last years projection, i think this one will win enough of the battles on the boards, on the floor, in assists, in steals, and knowing my machismo will predict that i am going to win again for point, after much consideration, i think i am going to win the league, this is what needs to happen:

Durant, will win, the considerable acclaim, that he has earned, in scoring, over-the-top number, Bosh needs to play well enough even though he has considerable teammates, and Stuck needs to have an interesting year, other than that, no injuries, like what happened on me with Oden, last year, and then Arenas with the gun acclaim altered my season until the end, after a much maligned concept to be eliminated from the league for the rest of the year after it happened, not knowing that other people carry guns, and he should be able to protect himself, until the laws are changed, and until there is better law enforcement for offenders, rather stealth-like, until there is better treatment of positive role models, and not the tearing down for superstars, there is a need to project an image of self-handling the pressures of being in the spotlight, rather than shoot, he just intimidated a fellow teammate, rather than use it, he provided it as a joke, so that others wouldnt yield to messing with him....

as for baketball, the Pistons need to trade Rip soon, they are bogged down in the past, and freeing up some cap room to make a move would help, as would allowing the guard rotation to settle into to a rhythm would help the team, and would help allow the Pistons to get back heading in the direction of getting back to the playoffs, following a wealthy aspect of bad news, i just write freestyle flow, intentionally not making complete sense, but allowing listeners to read what they want from the words, and seeing if it makes enough sense at the end, it doesnt work sometimes, but it gets the point across, and as i have been advised by an solid listener to my writings, it is in quantity that the internet enthusiast gets to the point, accumulating all the banter in to one diatribe is good for the worst styles, but getting multiple until intentional news becomes better, i am responsible to put out lots of new content, and not work on value and quality, but instead do the best to put out lots of material, just pecking away, not ever learning how to type but putting out lots of content at once, until i dont feel inspired, like my costume for happy halloween, where i saw a fellow lilith lover, who could have been an ally of the pop star, in time for me to get comfortable with the beautiful girl who i am going to have a baby qualifies me for some unusual content at once, so if you are reading this much in to the just release post, i am playing tennis sometime soon, possibly tonite, rather likely to play tomorrow and over the weekend, which is my first sporting love....

i live here, by Mia Kirshner

i once had an affliction next to nothing i have ever known with a television show called the L Word, it aired on showtime, and was something planned on by me through the first book itself, determined to fight my anti-semitism rather than succomb to it, and so i wrote a lovely story about a movie plot that would put my future wife, Norah Jones, as the lead special actress within a made up reality of lesbians, that would sleep with each other, and would have he as the only male, initially, let in to their world, it was a fantasy tale about being safe, and the only person on the planet who i would think would do justice to the script that i would write once i got to my future wife, was that the only stand-out apprhensive like quality of me was that i was seeking a fantasy world of safety, my type of heaven on earth quality to it, and in the process i found the goddess, so i knew it had to be real, and the pursuit continues, and it is with much consideration, that i now know i have to marry two chicks, and why not three, so Mia if you want to have children in my safe world, i will marry you too, but i think thats it, i adore the first, or is the second my first, i cant quite figure it out, so i move on trying to make myself man enough to handle two women in less than two weeks time from now, so it is with courage and prayers and pledges and words that i move forward to the next phase of personal development as a scribe enough has been written it is time for implementation and the only plan that made sense was for me to marry lesbians who would carry challenges to a new level, by working with each other to recruit other women to the goddess' plan, and no i dont have to sleep with all of them, to get children procreated, i really could care less about sex, right now i only express it as a way of getting close to my wives, and the only thing that i know about life is this: there is a sinister plan in place to take me away from my utopia, Norah got together with her friends and recruited me for my skills at challenging said system, and now that i offered up myself to her through mental institutions, initiative has brought me to this tectonic shift in priorities from marrying pooorly, to marrying more than one, that is the only thing i can think of, that is the only thing that the goddess is imploring me to find out about, and that itself is enough cause for me to look in to it, but i am not sure how it will be received enough has been written by me, enough has been sung, and said, and communicated to be done with the start-up phase, to move on to Phase II which is recruitment of allies, who is out there, that wants to receive ever-more love right like i am talking about, who out there, is willing to go the next level down to find Her, i am and now i have the two best women i have ever met or heard in my life, agreeing to my pursuit, so i can get closer to what i want and that is to be free, and to set others free, and make my mark on society as possibly the best writer of my era, although Lauren Kirshner might have me beat, for if she is truly better than her sister, i have got to read it and learn from her, and find my own voice, and become a hiphopster with house music, yet much as i would like to believe in the dreams, i still have to wait until the right moment of consequence, when those who know where she is, have to give her over to me as the honorable person overtly willing to chase a gurl for 86.75 months not soon enough will that day come and i will be able to introduce the first wife to the second and vice versa, and then i will say Praise Lilith, all is good in the world....

upcoming DET Pistons season

this is going to be a really great year for the NBA, not only do you have LBJ moving, but you also have the possibility of a lock-down on finances following the year for contract talks have stalled between the players' union and the owners of the franchises that have had the investment they put in quadruple every year, owning an NBA franchise, like in OKC is a gold-mine for the area it serves, that is why i so desperately want to see an GRR franchise, preferably the Pistons, as i like this team:

the Pistons have Stuckey, Gordon, Daye, Villanueva, Jerbeko, and the new kids Monroe and White, thats seven young ones all entering the best years of their young lives, especially Stuck....he is so talented and a great draft pick by Joe D., as have been Daye and Jerbeko, and Monroe seems like he is probably going to end up starting over B Wallace, the Pistons are going to be way fun this year, i am certainly going to attempt to go to a few games, as they will run but still practice good defense, i expect big things, in surprising a league bent on placing them out of the playoff picture....

if you can follow them on twitter at @detroitpistons, and get the news ab/ where this team is headed, it will be going the extra effort to learn about a new sport that much more refreshing, and you will be supporting Michigan, all as football begins to nag at you, and bars for games, seems so over-done, the basketball season starts, and the Pistons are going to be fun to watch, i'll stay updated, and try to write periodic analysis of the season, but as of now, they have a solid team....

state of the Pistons

It has been some time since I wrote about basketball, what with a job search, and Nadal, there has not been enough going on in Pistons Nation to write anything about, outside of the emergence of Stuckey, the stellar draft of last year, and the upcoming off-season, but now that this year's draft is a matter of weeks away, i felt compelled to write about what i see happening, and its not much different than the things i was saying in the beginning of the season:

trade Rip and/or Tay, and re-sign Stuck to a multi-year deal, and let him run the team, let the youngsters take charge, and look for a steal in the draft at #7, no need to go get Cousins unless its part of a package for Hamilton or Prince, and then maybe you shoot-the-moon on an under-developed Kentucky project, but not for anything else, not for Stuck, Not for Jerebko, not even for Daye, its too much up-side to all three not to bet on them for the future....

If CV31 ever gets going, and Gordon returns from injury, then the Pistons are right back in the mix, but they have to do a deal to get value for their two remaining pieces from the run, not counting B. Wallace who is here to stay until retirement, the Pistons look good, i would not want to be a GM anywhere else, everyone is in flux, but Joe D. has this team well positioned, and they are going to be better next year. The only question is how to trade.

Do you go for Boozer? What about Kaman? What about giving Kwame a starting job, and build from the perimeter in? Lots of questions, and no easy answers so it will be a wait-and-see kind of NBA off-season, but that does not mean that every team is not in the same position. Lakers have to replace Fisher, the Celtics have to replace KG, the Cavs probably have to replace LBJ, the Hawks will be without Joe Johnson, and every other team in the league from Phoenix to San Antonio to Miami to Orlando and Chicago have question marks hanging over them....the rest of the league is un-proven, so anything, absolutely anything can happen this off-season and next year....

The Pistons have the luxury of a legit guard in Stuck, a legit forward situation in Jerebko and Daye, and Gordon will be alright, their coach is good enough, and the up-side is much more likely than a downslide. The only remaining question is ownership, and here is where there is an opportunity to split the difference, keep the team in Michigan and play some home games in Grand Rapids, by selling intra-state to a family company that can absorb the cost, and has a presence throughout the state: Meijer....

nothing I have not said before, but it would do more to kick-start the franchise than anything else, with new ownership, and a broadened market outside of Detroit, it would help alleviate any risks of slipping to second tier, look at OKC, in a small environment, is thriving, so thats my state of the Pistons, hopefully more to come....

the Grand Rapids Pistons?

Beneath the low rumble of mid-season announcements of all-star selections and player personnel moves by teams throughout the NBA, Karen Davidson, the owner of the Detroit Pistons, following the recent passing of her husband, William Davidson, has floated the idea of selling the team her family has owned for the past several decades. Possibilities run wild, including the exit of the Pistons from Detroit to a different market, potentially in another state, such as Columbus or Kansas City.

While this may be a painful possibility for many, if not most, Piston fans, it also raises the stakes of the state of Michigan to raise the funds necessary to keep the Pistons here, and that includes the mere mention of moving the team, franchise, ownership, and management to the West side of the state, in Grand Rapids. Though a long shot, this scenario is not as far-fetched as it may seem.

I have attended two of the pre-season games played by the Pistons at the Van Andel Arena in recent years, and Meijer, as a company has been a prominent sponsor of this annual event. There is no way to know how the founders and kin of Meijer could raise the approximate one billion dollars it would take to even get in the conversation for one of the more valued franchises, not even counting the cost that it would take to dust off the plans of adding on the southern wing of the Arena to accommodate professional basketball. But it is not impossible.

Clearly, Meijer has a wide presence in the markets that the Pistons cater to, throughout Michigan, and even extending to fans throughout the midwest, where Meijer does business. Based here, the company would be making an investment larger than the Botanical Gardens, to bring a legitimate challenger to any mid-market franchise throughout the country. It is difficult to imagine, with attendance and player salaries going in opposite directions at the moment, and competing with larger market venues like the Forum in Los Angeles and Madison Square Garden in New York would be formidable, the Grand Rapids Pistons would face enormous challenges to break-even.

With that said, the region is hungry for something to support, and with attendance stable for Griffins games, and considering the strong basketball heritage of the West side of Michigan, it is not inconceivable, that a joint Meijer/Van Andel partnership, with revenue and cost sharing, that a move from Detroit to the new epicenter of Michigan business in Grand Rapids is possible. Some may see it even as a defensive move at first to keep professional basketball within the state, as it continues to be just as popular as the Tigers and Lions, and second only to the Red Wings in statewide support.

Much would have to be considered in making such a billion dollar investment, but I would be thrilled and I think a lot of young professionals throughout the region would come to see a Pistons game as a natural starting point to a night out. Right now, there is lots going on in the art world, but very little for the presently non-family oriented athletics supporter to do. Even with the Griffins and the Whitecaps, the Grand Rapids Pistons would significantly up the ante on what is possible with some money, and a lot of coordination.

I would personally hate to see the Pistons move out of state, and though they enjoy the luxury of the Palace of Auburn Hills as their homecourt, it seems only a matter of time before the Davidson family looks to cash in on their appreciation of investment in the Pistons. In short, a public-private partnership, like the one that originally built the Van Andel Arena could help convince a majority buyer, like the Meijer family, in to making the purchase, and securing Grand Rapids as a destination for professional sports. Perhaps the time has come to begin to vet out such an idea.....

stuckey should be an all-star

few people will agree on the non-starters for the NBA's All-Star game in Dallas next month, and a lot even disagree on the starters, even considering there is universal agreement on Kobe, melo, LBJ, Wade, and perhaps even Amare and Dwight howard, but filling out the rest of the east and west teams will be the subject of much controversy as some players are going to be left-out even though they may be having break-out years in a loaded and deep league....

My pick for #2 guard in the east is Joe johnson from the hawks, as ATL is having a stellar year and he is the leader, so he gets on, as does Derrick rose in the east, and Chris Paul in the west...but after that, if you leave out the fact that Nash should start over McGrady, there is a lot of discussion on the rest of the roster spots, and i feel like Stuck should be given a spot for his leadership in playing in all Pistons games this year....

his FG% and his assists are low for a PG, but he does everything the Pistons need to be in contention for a playoff spot, and with the roster coming together with something like: ellis, kaman, duncan, gasol, boozer, rondo, pierce, garnett, bosh, igoudala, g. wallace, zach, durant, nowitzki, kidd, roy, and jamison as the likely bench players with a couple of spots to fill-in for the east, and that is why Stuckey should be given a spot....no one other than LBJ gets to the rim and finishes as well as Stuck, and his jumper has come along....he makes his free-throws and plays solid defense against the opposing team's best guard....

in addition to Stuck, i would make a strong case for Zach Randolph as mentioned above, as he is averaging 22/11 on a deep memphis team, and he has played well enough for the team to be in contention for a playoff spot, and Rudy gay has not been consistent enough, or more than Zach, so that is my argument...

Stuckey and Zach for their first all-star appearances....