04/25/22 – Radically Rational

04/25/22

Is the Sun setting on Phoenix? The team with the NBA’s best regular season record is locked up 2-2 in its first-round playoff series against the New Orleans Pelicans, a team that started its season 3-16 and had to win the play-in tournament to capture the 8^th and final Western Conference playoff slot. Sweaty palm time for the Suns, who are playing without the injured Devin Booker, even as they wait for Chris Paul’s inevitable annual hamstring blowout…

Denver avoided a sweep at the hands of the Warriors, meaning only that the Nuggets will have to wait until after Game Five Wednesday night to head to Cancun.

Yeah, I know Milwaukee beat the Bulls senseless Sunday afternoon in Chicago. But I was very impressed with the athleticism of Bulls center Nikola Vucevic. That guy is decisive. When he makes a move, he commits to it. Yeah, I know…all of you guys already knew that, since you watch way more NBA basketball than I do. Don’t mind me…

Thank you, Astros, for winning a baseball game. There’s only one number you need to remember about Houston’s 8-7 ten-inning home win over Toronto, and that’s FOUR! That broke Houston’s four-game losing streak and the Jays’ four-game win streak.

There was a big rumble about a “big” strike zone in Sunday night’s Phillies-Brewers game. Both teams were bitching about home plate umpire Angel Hernandez’s allegedly expansive zone. The Phils’ Kyle Schwarber succeeded in getting himself tossed in the ninth inning of the Brewers’ 1-0 win. Here’s what I don’t get. Why are umpires still calling balls and strikes? We have technology that can get it right. Ditto for where to spot the ball in football.

“Knucklehead” will not suffice. Chicago Bears WR Byron Pringle was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol late Saturday afternoon in Pasco County. Pringle had been doing donuts on a public road in his 2016 muscle car. The police report says there was an adult in the passenger seat and a male juvenile in the left back seat. Oh, and Pringle had been driving with a suspended license. The Bears signed Pringle to a one-year free agent contract last month following a career-best 2021 season in which he caught 42 passes for 568 yards and five TDs.

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Paul's Bio

I clearly have the attention span of your median fruit fly.Look! Airplane!

Sorry. I’m back.

It’s both a curse and a blessing. I’ve never bought this stuff about, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” But I do think that a wide range of life experiences helps us grow as people, and helps us better relate to other people. I’ve been fortunate. And I am beyond grateful.

I show up on time. I go like hell. I’m a good listener. I hold myself accountable. I own my mistakes. And I have a natural and an insatiable curiosity. I’m never afraid to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t. But then I try to find out.

The flip side is I’m a lousy ballroom dancer and my clothes sometimes fit me funny.

Stuff matters to me. I care. But while I take that stuff seriously, I try hard to never take myself seriously. As a result, I have sometimes been told, “Paul, it’s hard to tell when you’re serious and when you’re just having some fun. Which is it? Serious or fun?”

My answer is “yes.” But I think that is a legitimate criticism. I promise I’m going to work on that.

This has been the quickest and strangest half-century I’ve ever experienced. During that period, I’ve been afforded amazing opportunities in news and sports journalism across all platforms. I have taught wonderful students at the high school and collegiate level. Always, I learned more from them than they did from me. I’ve been a high school administrator. I spent ten seasons as a high school varsity football coach. I’ve been an advertising executive. I’ve hosted nationally syndicated television entertainment shows. In maybe the biggest honor I ever received, I was selected by NASA to be “Chet The Astronaut” for the “Land The Shuttle” simulator at Space Center Houston. (All I can say there, is “Do as I say, not as I do.” I put that thing in the Everglades more often than not.) Most recently, I just wrapped up a decade as a television news director, during which time our teams distinguished themselves in holding the powerful accountable, achieving both critical and ratings success.

What does all that mean? It means I am profoundly grateful. It also means I’m ready for “next.” So here we are. Radically Rational. It’s an idea I woke up with in 2017. I scribbled “Radically Rational” on a piece of notebook paper and used a magnet to stick it on our refrigerator. I saw it every day, and it just would not leave me alone.

I am second in charge at Radically Rational, LLC. My wife, Jo (also known as BB), is the president. Clearly, I have failed in my attempt to sleep my way to the top of this organization.

I hope you will learn that I’m loyal as a Labrador. But I will admit that this doggie can bite every now and then. My promise to you? I will show up on time. I will go like hell. I will listen to you earnestly and attentively. I will hold myself accountable. I will never be the least bit hesitant to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t.

But then I’ll try to find out. Let’s do it.