A Life For Itself

Category: ideas

  • Vote Deray?

    Perhaps the biggest news story coming out of Baltimore in the last 24 hours is the last-minute entry of human rights activist Deray Mckesson into the race for Mayor of Baltimore. Deray joins an already crowded race of nearly 30 candidates (it’s a high number, but most of them never had any shot anyway) seeking to succeed Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who is not running for re-election. The Baltimore Sun quickly reported his filing and reaction came in just as quickly.

    The tone of response online was generally positive, especially from people outside of Baltimore. Among locals, sentiments ranged from surprise and increased interest in what’s now a much more fascinating campaign, to some less positive feelings, particularly as I understand it, among those who have been active locally as Deray has been active more on the national stage.

    Also, quite a few folks were questioning whether Deray actually had fulfilled the residency requirement for running. The news generally shows him working and demonstrating in one place or another at any given time. The Baltimore Sun reported today, though, that he’s been living in North Baltimore for the last several months.

    Regardless of any criticism, the race now will find itself under a larger national lens with Deray’s entry.

    ***

    Hit The Ground Running

    Anybody living in or from Baltimore knows that with so many voters registered Democrat in the City, that party’s primary usually determines the winner of the November general election. Deray is running as a Democrat, which puts him against the other dozen or so hopefuls, including former Mayor Sheila Dixon. That election is April 26, 81 days from now.

    Eighty one days to overcome Sheila Dixon’s comfortable lead in the polls.

    To put it in perspective, local businessman David Warnock is trailing badly, even as he’s loaned his campaign close to a million dollars. Whatever money Deray may be able to bring in to compliment his sizable online following, his chances will rest on convincing the probable 21% of current undecideds as well as a probably unknown number of unregistered voters to sign up, the latter before the April 5 deadline. As it stands right now, Ms. Dixon is leading in the key demo of older black women voters, people who are probably much more familiar with her than Mr. Mckesson, regardless of his larger national following.

    ***

    Who’s on the Team?

    Another interesting issue I saw being discussed is who’s on his team. The Sun and Guardian have both reported that fellow activist Johnetta Elzie (a powerhouse herself) is moving to Baltimore to work on his campaign. I can’t help but think the local activists I hear already weren’t happy, weren’t thrilled with another high profile activist —one who is definitely not from Baltimore— coming into their turf.

    Don’t count out our provincial attitudes. Deray, who even mentioned growing up listening to Miss Tony on 92Q in his statement, has been a powerhouse nationally. But I’m sure he’ll still be painted as a carpetbagger, especially by people who have been working on issues locally, if his campaign starts with much more out-of-town support than local support.

    For the record, I grew up listening to V-103 and then 92Q. Frank Ski.

    ***


    Where is the Downtown money going?

    People who know Baltimore solely from watching on TV or reading poverty porn might not get that Baltimore isn’t entirely poor. The segregated parts of Baltimore certainly are, but that doesn’t go for the City as a whole. The City is base to quite a few rich people. Outside folks have probably watched Peter Angelos’ Baltimore Orioles or worn clothing made by Kevin Plank’s Under Armour. But it’s the people most outsiders have never heard of who have the deep pockets that make things move in the Harbor City.

    Or in other words: real estate developers exert a lot of influence in Baltimore.

    Last election cycle, a bunch of those sweet developer campaign dollars went to Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

    Regardless of how much he brings to the table (and so far, it’s a bunch), Deray’s running where there’s a huge machine in place. He’s not going to get far without fealty to, detente with, or a fight from Downtown developers (then again, neither would any of the other candidates). If they feel they’ll lose money or power from his being elected, expect a mess, regardless of how the elections turn out.

    ***

    It’s going to be an interesting 81 days until the primary.

    Can the local guy who made good outside really come back and be given a chance to lead? Or will his candidacy ultimately be about raising issues and pushing the next person in the job to make the changes the real Baltimore (outside of the Harbor) needs?

    Has Baltimore really forgiven the former Mayor?

    Will we see the real emergence of a new political family dynasty?

    Will this family’s legacy of public service continue at 100 North Holliday?

    Where will Downtown’s elite continue to throw their support?

  • Innocence

    A writer can’t be too negative. You have to have a little bit of innocence to be a good writer. Whatever you have to do to preserve that innocence-the “is that so?” element—you should do it. You can’t be someone who knows everything-“been there, done that.” If you know every­ thing you shouldn’t be a writer. You should be God.

    – James McBride.

    http://electricliterature.com/james-mcbride-explains-why-he-writes-memoir/

    #

    My day job is in IT. When I’m there, I have to have the opposite mindset. The job is generally about fixing. Like a plumber has to know how all the pipes work and how the toilet works and how his tools work, I have to know how the servers work and how the thin clients work and any number of other systems that people in the organization I work for may use during the course of a day. Or I have to know how to find out how things work. My coworkers come to my desk or call me needing help and I have to know how to.

    It’s an ironic position to be in, in a world where most information is a few clicks or taps away. But still, it’s not a place for the sort of exploration I do in my non-work hours.

    That’s been my writing life — being often in two mindsets.

    I love exploring, discovering. As much as I’ve often enjoyed knowing, being right or accurate about things, arguing points, etc., discovering and learning are much more satisfying. It’s why I love the classic essay so much — meandering, running, ambling, getting to understanding (the lyric essay even more). Not just having the quick-witted comeback for the moment.

    That latter sense manifests itself in my writing as a desire to write exactly what I think people would want to read. In being frustrated when I don’t know exactly what I want to say, or perhaps, what I should say. But when I ask myself what I truly think about a thing or an event or what does a thing or an event remind me of and still give myself the space to say at first that I don’t know and go from there (and be okay with not immediately finding a destination), things usually flow better.

    When I get home from work, the issue is turning off the mind that has to know in favor of the mind that wants to find out. Sometimes … perhaps often, it’s a struggle, but I’m learning and keeping my hands moving as much as I can.

  • Not Money(foot)ball

    This was quite the surprise. Given the general dysfunction of the (reconstituted) Browns, I wasn’t expecting their owner to go out and get Paul DePodesta, one of the top minds of Sabermetrics and hand him what seems like most of the keys to the franchise. My gut instinct said Haslam would again do what most football organizations do: go hire the Director of Pro Something Or Other from another NFL team, give him a glowing introduction to the media, and start the countdown until he had to fire him.

    But Jimmy Haslam did something way different this time, so different that as ridiculous as it may have sounded on its face, there are lots of people saying it’s going to work out and work out well. SI’s Tom Verducci wrote a glowing piece about the move. Yahoo! Sports’ Tim Brown says it’s definitely the right move.

    #

    Bringing in DePodesta is fitting.

    The main reason Billy Beane and the A’s resorted to the “Moneyball,” or applied Sabermetrics, is that they couldn’t compete financially with baseball’s big money powers. If they have this massive advantage, how do you counter? What do you do when you can’t continue doing business as it’s always been done?

    DePodesta, Billy Beane’s former right-hand man is one of the first to go hard after the answer in baseball.

    While the NFL’s hard salary cap likely makes money a moot point, the (reconstituted) Browns haven’t been able to compete because of a different reason.

    Look at the rest of the division: the Steelers have had the same GM since 2000 and have changed coaches only once, upon the retirement of Bill Cowher. Ozzie Newsome has been running the Ravens since the same time and the Ravens have changed coaches only once, to John Harbaugh. Even the Bengals, whose owner/GM has shouldered his on share of criticism over the years for one thing or another, has had only one head coach since 2003, Marvin Lewis.

    Then there’s Bill Belichick and his continuing tenure in New England. Four titles, 6 Super Bowl appearances in 15+ seasons.

    Bill Polian’s 13-year tenure in Indianapolis. A bunch of playoff appearances and a championship in 2 Super Bowl appearances.

    Tom Coughlin just ended a 12-year run as Giants head coach. Two championships in four years, both over favored Patriots teams.

    The Browns have trended in the exact opposite direction during the same time.

    One playoff appearance since 2000. Yet, they’ve had 3 head coaches just this decade alone and just as many general managers.

    You can’t win in the NFL like that and Haslam, at least now, understands.

    The Browns have the financial resources, but have never had another currency as important in the NFL: long-term stability in the front office and on field.

    #

    I doubt DePodesta was hired to bring the same sort of statistical analysis you see in baseball the on-field football product. As former Ravens head coach, Brian Billick, said earlier:

    “You can’t quantify the game of football the way you do baseball. It’s not a statistical game. The parameters of the game, the number of bodies and what they’re doing in conjunction with one another.”

    Or in other words, a thousand yards for a receiver isn’t always just a thousand yards. There’s always a deeper story and context to those yards that involve other players. Unlike your shortstop’s fielding percentage or your number two batter’s on base percentage.

    Instead, I think SI’s Verducci is right in believing cleaning up the Browns’ organization, not necessarily implementing advanced statistics, will be DePodesta’s immediate job in Berea:

    Immediately, though, DePodesta’s challenge is not how the Browns play football as much as it is how the organization is structured and how it evaluates, acquires and develops talent in a holistic manner. With his year scouring for information, Haslam understood that his Browns, long a disorganized mess, were in serious need of organizational repair.

    If you’ve seen the Cleveland ‘95 episode of NFL Network’s “A Football Life,” then you’ve seen a glimpse into how Bill Belichick and Ozzie Newsome systematically go about choosing players. Since then, I’m sure both have refined and even further systematized their practices even further. The success of both the Ravens and Patriots are a testament to their practices. Quite a bit has been written about Ozzie and the Ravens and how the front office runs.

    I think this is what Paul DePodesta will be aiming for in Cleveland now. With the right mix of philosophy and process, a pledge to the long term, as well as his commitment to data for sound decision making, we may one day look back and see Cleveland ‘16 as the first steps towards a turnaround for the (reconstituted) Browns.

  • No Resolutions

    I’m not resolving anything. Chances are, if you made resolutions, you may have already broken one or two. Or several. Or all of them.

    You come up with a list of things you think you want to do and if you really want to do them and they’re really something you believe you can do (and perhaps consistently), you’ll do those things. Otherwise, you won’t. Since resolutions are generally related to things we want to change, if you’re not ready for those changes (or change in general), you can forget it.

    No judgment. We’re all like this.

    Given that, I decided not to make any resolutions. I forgave myself from looking at a list of shiny new things that might look good or make me feel good if I accomplished them.

    I might not believe I’m capable of those specific things.

    For instance, I might not believe I’m capable of really completing another book.

    I bet if I resolved to write another one, I might not make it. By the end of next week, it might be all over. Not wanting to set myself up to fail at things, I instead, I made decisions on who I wanted to be.

    Deciding the kind of person you want to be takes the edge off. For me, it feels easier to grow into a role or idea of who I want to be or lifestyle, rather than committing to a list of specific things.

    Take losing weight as the resolution. Instead of that, the decision is to be the kind of person who eats healthy and exercises. When I make that commitment and take the actions and create a habit, my mind can wrap itself around doing the things that support losing weight. Not changing my mind and simply giving myself a bunch of things to do without making a habit or making the whole enterprise believable, is a recipe for failure.

    Consider something like becoming Vegan. Within that lifestyle, there are certain practices, which are all easier to adopt once you’ve made the decision not to do those things, but to be the kind of person who does those things.

    Plus, deciding who you want to be is much more fluid. You may think who you want to be is one way and does a specific set of things. You may get down the road some and make new insights. With a list of resolutions, you’re either expanding your list or editing your list. When you’re practicing a lifestyle, it’s easier to make adjustments. That’s also a much more fulfilling and fun way to live, adding and refining for yourself, the new way you’ve decided to live.

    I’m not sharing all my decisions, but with respect to this site, I’m deciding to be a more professional writer. With that comes with continuing to develop my writing habit, including blogging more. Becoming better at generating ideas and submitting more are part of the territory too. All of those things as disparate things would overwhelm me. Instead, adopting the lifestyle, growing my mind more into it and going from there feels more more freeing. It’s not simply a challenge to overcome, but a higher ideal to live into.