What's in a Name?

With a week to kill before the moonball draft, I thought I’d tell you about Red Black N Blue. A lot of you used to ask me what Key Off U meant. So I thought I would expound a little on my new team name, to help pass some time as we count down to draft day.

Before you continue reading, however, you should know that blogging of this sort is considered unhealthy by the Restored Church of God. They point out the perils of talking about yourself online in blogs. (The irony of making their missive available online seems to have been lost on the Church.)

Here is an excerpt from their website:

Perhaps the largest problem with blogs is they cater to one’s vanity. Human beings are naturally self-centered and proud, and young people are certainly no exception! Note how the Bible describes this generation: “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up” (Prov. 30:12-13).

If you post mundane details of your life, you are in effect saying that your life is important and that people should read about it. Also, whether or not you admit it, having a blog with your name, your picture and your opinions strokes the human ego—it lifts you up. It essentially advertises the self! Many teenagers say, “Listen to me, world, and what I have to say,” when they should be focused on changing and cleaning up their lives.

If you blog, are you sure you do not partially enjoy it because your carnal nature is inclined toward vanity?”

Even though blogs may promote excessive navel gazing, they can help you point others to other cool content on the web. And I freely admit that Moonball stirs my carnal nature, so I will continue. First, I’m proud of Hello Shooters, especially after jumping deep into the money last year for the first time. Hello Shooters will someday make a triumphant return, just like Me-Wolves claims he will do. But I’m sure you’ll all agree that this year feels different, so I chose to make a break and do something new.

The name Red N Black comes from a Blue Oyster Cult song, which was also covered by fIREHOSE on their Live Totem Pole CD. You can listen to it here.

The Red and the Black has been the theme song for my Moonball teams since I turned to it for inspiration during the dark days of my 2^nd moonball season. That was the year I lost Ron Artest for the year after the brawl at the Palace, and then traded DCassel Elton Brand for an injured Baron Davis. Also included in the package was Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who suddenly rediscovered a bone chip in his elbow dating back to his high school days…and he proceeded to sit for most of the rest of the season. Hello Shooters plummeted into the Moonball basement, and into the depths of despair. That is also the year that things started to turn bad for the Wolves, who I had fully expected to contend for an NBA championship.

It was a long cold winter. And the Red and the Black gave me a ray of hope in the darkness. The song describes the cold tundras of the north, backed up by some over the top rock and roll. There are nonsensical lyrical gems like “Hornswoop me bungo pony, dogsled on ice" between shouts of “C’mon my husky” (Hello! Shooters!) But the part that drew me in was that in each chorus Mike Watt keeps yelling, “It’s all right! It’s all right! My honey knows it’s all right…” And that is what I needed to hear right then. I was hoping my own men in the Red and Black, Abdur-Rahim, Darius Miles and Luol Deng would come back and save me. They didn’t. But Baron Davis (and a little bit of Matt Harpring) helped pull me back to a respectable 8^th place finish.

Later on, I came to find that the song is about Canadian Mounties, like the benevolent cartoon character Dudley Do-Right. Since I’m commish this year, I’ll probably have to be a cop sometimes. So, I figure…may as well be a mountie. Red N Black.

I also liked the colors Red N Black because they are the color of the Portland Trailblazers, the first NBA team I loved. (No way could I abide the Laettner-era Wolves.) And there’s a shout to the remedial graphic splendor of our old Moonball site site, TQStats.

The Blue represents the Timberwolves, whose slogan these days is “True Blue.” They have lived up to their slogan, and mostly made fans blue lately, but here’s to another year. Blue is also how I felt when I thought the Rat House Gang was leaving, and I decided to extend my new team name to include that, and not take our league for granted. You’re all awesome.

Red Black n Blue also reminds me of the colors of the American flag after it’s been dragged through a slimy tar pit. These are indeed dark times, but you can read about that on the political blogs.

Thanks gentle reader. Now you know who your commishin’ competition is …I am a Wolf-loving Mountie man who just wants you to know that if your season turns blue, take heart and remember the Red and the Black. Cuz Honey knows it’s all right.