I've taken some lighthearted heat for the "fluff" for my recent Exit Interview: Song Girl Natalie in the ongoing Exit Interview series (a series that I actually created with the first articles written on QB Brandon Hance, K Ryan Killeen, and FS Greg Farr). While I take the criticism with a smile on my face (Thanks, The Displaced Trojan! haha), it's funny because the "nice job" in conducting previous interviews is also indirected given to me (credited as "WeAreSC Staff" because of my previous employment with the USC Football team), the target of this recent blogging criticism.

I might occasionally write fluff, but I hope I've earned that right w/USC Football-related stories.
(Ok, some people had just asked me to show them what the Pac-10 Ring from 2005-2006 looks like, so I thought this was a good excuse to show it. It's the one on the left)

Regardless , I hope WeAreSC readers understand that I was under different content constraints for this article because of the Song Girls' ongoing relationship with the university and some behind the scenes news that hasn't hit the "Google Circuit" as of tonight. For instance, traditionally, Song Girls always are published with only their first names when writing about them as Song Girls, for which I was criticized for treating Natalie as a "reality TV character." Haha, love it. There was a lot going on behind the scenes on this story, so I apologize to the readers if it wasn't tabloid material. Fluff or no fluff, I hope most people enjoyed the article. In the end, the interview resulted in Natalie donating an autographed Song Girl poster that I hope will go a long way toward supporting the Mario Danelo Fund.

I have to admit that I have always had a preference toward fluff over controversy. In my last semester with the Daily Trojan, I was awarded the "Little Miss Sunshine" Opinions Columnist of the Semester award by now-Editor in Chief Jeremy Beecher, for having "the only positive column in the Opinions section." Jeremy said he didn't understand how that worked, but that somehow, a lot of people liked it. I like sappy movies, seen more romantic comedies than people would expect, and some of my favorite movies are 8 Mile, Drumline, and You Got Served - I'm fluff by nature and I'll embrace that. After 3 years of being beaten down by being at the bottom of a football hierarchical structure, you need some positives in your life! haha.

Really, it's not that bad. I also found that some random sports fan reposted this article, that I wrote about a year back in regards to a billboard that was going up in Los Angeles by LSU and Texas fans criticizing USC Football (USC Football was supposed to be my life and yet I still managed to have one outside of it). In the article, I wrote that "Some sports fans are huge dorks." This person's response? To repost my article on a message forum, entitle the post "I am a faggot" and register themselves with "David Chung" as a user name, hahahah. That could be the worst I've seen so far, so a little lighthearted criticism is nothing. Much respect to my former columnist peer and friend Patrick McFawn for taking some of the internet libel head on by responding to person after person who objected to his comments and columns. Most of the criticism directed toward McFawn happens to be related to sports, USC Football specifically, which makes me like basketball more and more everyday.

Ah the Internet, it's not just for porn anymore. There are endless reasons why I am so happy that I didn't write for the Sports section at the Daily Trojan, despite all the exclusives I could have gotten with ease. I enjoy sports, but it doesn't end my life when my team loses, nor do I think sports are worth fighting about. In the end, it's a game. In the professional ranks, they're rich. We're not. In college football, most people can't even begin to understand everything that goes on behind the scenes of a college program and love to think that their school's players follow all the rules, while thinking every other team is somehow filled with rapists, cheaters, and ex-convicts. It's just a game. We're not actually playing. If we play basketball together and my team loses, I won't be excited about it. But if the Celtics are playing and happen to lose (90% chance nowadays), my day will go on. Doesn't that just make more sense?

I was bored and decided to Google myself and it happened to come up. Google yourself one day and see what comes up! It's great fun. If you have too many results from a common name, Google your name + your hometown or university to find out just what's out there on you when employers "Google you" (and they do) before making a final hiring decision.

Had a great weekend otherwise, logged a lot of time with some good friends and took in the USC basketball game on Thursday. Happy birthday, Jenna. Drive home safe, Arlene and Mike! Have a safe flight home, Rob! See all you guys soon.

I'm going to chime in on this American Idol Antonella Barba controversy, along with the undeserved booting of Paul Kim later this week. The Bonzai Tree is still alive, threatening to take over the world with its exponential growth. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Check out my feature story on WeAreSC.com on USC's Song Girls co-captain Natalie!

http://usc.scout.com/2/620531.htm

Happy Presidents' Day/NBA All-Star Weekend, all! Hope this post finds everyone doing well.

Congrats to Boston's Gerald Green for winning the Slam Dunk Contest. The skills competition was horribly, horribly depressing as the lack of effort on the part of Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul showed just how much $35,000 means absolutely nothing to NBA players - who could easily say that they were going to donate the money to charity if they won. Seeing them walk through the drills like their mom forced them to do the event (which is for the fans, who allow them to have such ridiculous salaries) made me lose respect for every single one of these so-called "superstars." Honestly, I'd rather watch 4 random guys picked from the crowd compete for the chance to win half that amount, with the other half going to charities. At least they would try. I know if I had the chance to win $35,000 to split between myself and a worthy charity in just under 30 seconds, I'd be running for my life and likely splitting my pants from falling while running between each of the stations.

Doesn't think $35,000 is worth breaking a sweat

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been visiting my blog since its launch in late December. I am proud to announce that my blog has turned into a legitimate side hustle for me! I looked at my bank statement (which was much, much lower than I expected) only find the following entry in my deposit history!

ACH Dep: GOOGLE ADSENSE 0.62

$0.62! I'm rich! And it's all thanks to you all who have visited my site and randomly found inspiration to click on the targeted advertisements that monopolize the top of my blog. While not like winning The Apprentice LA (one of my favorite shows on TV right now), I was still pretty proud of it.

Anyways.
Did anyone else catch the first-ever NBDL All-Star Game on NBA TV this past weekend? I turned it on hoping to catch some high-flying, And 1 mixtape-like action from some players trying to get some national exposure, only to be horribly, horribly disappointed. First, the commentary was absolutely horrible. Whoever is in charge needs to decide if the commentators are going to treat the NBDL as a legitimate league, or if they're going to constantly talk about how much these guys want to make the NBA and how hungry they are to get there. When you watch NFL Europe, at least the commentators try and treat NFL Europe like a true league, where people want to win. Watching the NBDL All-Star game, the commentators kept talking about how the league was a mere pitstop for some of the players who dreamed of cashing in on their NBA paydays. Does anyone legitimately think that they're going to attract a loyal fan base if they keep jamming the fact down the viewers throats that the players aren't happy to be there?

In addition to that, I have always had a problem with people who blatantly change their speech depending on the ethnicity of person that they're speaking with at the time. I'll admit that there is a difference between my work voice and how I speak with my friends. The NBDL commentator suddenly started saying "ballin', "droppin' dimes," and "baby," the second John Starks and Rudy Gay (both Black NBA players) sat down to provide some guest commentary during the game. As soon as they left, he returned to his upper-middle class, overexcited White man persona. Makes me sick that someone who does this has a gig doing commentary on sports when someone like John Bishop is behind the scenes editing instead of being on camera.

If you're familiar with the NBA All-Star Game, players are usually smiling and even do little dances as their names are proudly announced as members of the starting line up for the East and West squads. For the NBDL All-Star Game, I have never seen a more somber line of faces as the players' names were being announced for the East and West squads, before they played in front of a Mandalay Bay crowd that was likely only a fraction of the size of crowds these guys played in front of in college. When looking at a player like a Loren Woods, a guy who has had his shot in the NBA numerous times, you just knew he didn't want to be there, which was sad to watch. Other players like UCLA's Dijon Thompson and Syracuse's Gerry McNamara, who defined "big man on campus" during college, looked like they would rather be clipping and eating their toenails than being named to the All-Star Game. Man, what a depressing sight.

No longer the BMOC

Got a lot to take care of tonight and hopefully some very exciting news to announce by the end of this week, so I'll keep everyone updated. Have a great weekend, all.

People have often said that something is as "boring as watching the grass grow."

How about...watching a Bonzai Tree grow? My co-worker and friend Loc gave me this Bonzai Tree for my birthday and I'm going to do my best to track its growth and/or death. Here's its first week of existence! Oh yeah, and my brother got me a Wii for Christmas...The Tree and the Wii hang out during the day.



Thrilling, no?

I know it's been a while since I've written some more original material or updated on the daily goings on of my life, but I hope to get on that in the very near future.