Being absorbed by travel and the challenge of distilling our discoveries: Sam Anderson on the 'Dear Adam Silver' podcast

'Boomtown' by Sam Anderson

Abigail Smithson is an artist with a love for basketball. Like myself, she has a perspective of the game through art and the larger world. Her guests are a reflection of this. Author Sam Anderson provided amazing insight into the writing of his book, 'Boomtown: The fantastical saga of Oklahoma City, its chaotic founding... its purloined basketball team, and the dream of becoming a world-class metropolis'. How OKC came to be his muse and the invigoration he got through travel.

'Dear Adam Silver' podcast | Episode 37: Sam Anderson and Boom Town

SAM ANDERSON: (31m 06s) There's something to be said for coming in as an outsider, as a blank slate and then just filling in the canvas as much as you can.
ABIGAIL SMITHSON: And I think if you're from somewhere, whether it's where you grew up or you live later on. Whichever. It's so much harder to get that same level of drive towards learning about that place, you take it for granted... whereas when you're in a new place and you're a visitor, I gotta get all this info...

I visited Oklahoma in 2017. I was able to spend time with distant cousins, my only NBA roadtrip being hosted by family. I'm sure my experience of Oklahoma was unique to me. Our experience of places are inevitably shaped by the time we have, who we meet along the way and the perspectives we bring. Like any good dialogue, hopefully we get taken somewhere that we didn't expect coming in.

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A post shared by Loz In Transit (@30homegames) on Jun 21, 2020 at 4:52am PDT

On being activated by novelty, Sam Anderson continues:

ANDERSON: It was like an alternate mode of being. That to me as a writer, a reporter, a whatever–as a human is like the most exciting thing, is just being in a place with all my receptors wide open and just take in everything I can take in and that's my only job is to be fully aware. It feels like a real Buddhist state of ecstasy and openness. The writing is the horrible part, the production of the thing later is the bad part. Being out there absorbing the world is just one of the happiest feelings I know...

I've grappled with this myself. On my first grand adventure backpacking around Europe, I traveled sans camera for most of the trip to fully embrace the moment. Truth be told, my camera was stolen early on but I resolved not to replace it to fully commit to the experience. I became fascinated by memory. I read books about it, and wrestled with it through writing. Especially with the ubiquity of social media and life documentation, it often becomes a battle between living in the moment or standing back to capture it.

Sam and Abigail share their struggles with this conflict as creatives:

ABIGAIL SMITHSON: (33m 12s) It's so nice for me to hear that the writing is still the horrible part for you. I too get very exhilarated by being somewhere that's new to me... realising that this could be something I spend more time with but then now I'm home and "aaaargh", slowly pecking at the keys. It's not great. 

SAM ANDERSON: The worst. The worst... I come back and it's always the same thing. I'm overwhelmed by this continent of thrilling material I've come back with and how do you go about reducing that and mapping it out and just extracting the littlest bits that tell people about the larger thing. You just lose so much and that always feels so traumatic for me. That transition from the pure ecstasy of intaking the world to the difficulty of outputting some tiny little thing represents that intake. It's always so hard and it surprises me every time how hard it is and how different the thing I produce is to what I imagined or felt along the way.

Borrowing a moment from #30HGnorthwest

Sam Anderson resolves the dilemma of disconnect by finding value in the attempt.

SAM ANDERSON: (35m 21s) As my editors always reminded me, my big sloshing Pacific Ocean of ecstatic experiences on any given subject, that's completely internal to me. It does that subject no justice if I just sit around with it sloshing around inside myself feeling happy that I contain this ocean and that I have to find a way to distil and compress... present this tiny sculpture made of salt... Here you go. That's the ocean.

'Before Sunrise' (1995) - "The answer must be in the attempt"

A worthy resolution, validated in a line from my favourite movie 'Before Sunrise'. "If there's any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing, something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed... but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt."


Find other posts on creativity and memory here:
- Jacques Henri Lartigue: Why I'm getting a camera
- The pursuit of happiness: A collection of "Happy triggers" during travel
- Retiring the @30HomeGames Instagram.
- Other people's stories - Tales of: Living in the moment

How basketball leads to connection: Isaac Eger on the 'Dear Adam Silver' podcast by Abigail Smithson

Writer and baller Isaac Eger AKA @gluten_daddy

I founded my 30HomeGames mission in Vilnius, Lithuania. I created the project after an unforgettable month traveling the country as the hoopsmad nation hosted EuroBasket 2011. It was my way of preserving that spirit and hopefully a way to keep chasing that high. It was the highlight of my year backpacking Europe, unlocking experiences and connections through a shared love of basketball.

My approach to travel is an extension of how I approach life: Wherever you are, be an interesting and interested person. Basketball becoming my wayfinder these past few years since founding @30HomeGames. I consume and follow plenty of hoops writers. Whilst traveling for work can be standard in sports journalism, I hadn't found many writers with the travel experience or approach that resonated with me.

Rafe Bartholomew was one I admired, he's an American who travelled deeply around the Philippines. Immersing himself in the culture and learning the language in order to understand why a small island nation was obsessed with basketball.

Episode 12: Isaac Eger on the Art of Playing Pickup Basketball

Isaac Eger was another. I found him through some streetball articles a few years ago. I enjoyed his gonzo approach to life and basketball and followed him since. He was a recent guest on artist Abigail Smithson's podcast 'Dear Adam Silver'. She discovered him the same way, describing him in the episode intro thusly:

Isaac is a writer and pickup basketball player, he has played the game all over the world. From Sarasota, Florida to New York City, to Cuba, Israel, Lithuania and Tibet. I reached out to Isaac a couple of years ago after reading an essay he wrote for Los Angeles Magazine about playing street basketball in LA.

In the episode, Abigail and Isaac discuss the power of games and how it allows us to connect with strangers and strange lands.

'Dear Adam Silver' Episode 12: Isaac Eger on the Art of Playing Pickup Basketball
ISAAC EGER: (43m 08s) We play basketball for reasons beyond just the game itself. I think that playing pickup basketball forces you to interact with people in a way that you wouldn't otherwise. I love playing basketball in different countries because I don't feel like a tourist. You know I feel very much on the level with everybody else...
ABIGAIL SMITHSON: Yeah it just seems like a powerful way to sort of build belonging where there is no belonging.

Abigail continues with a point that I've personally lived by. I backpacked Europe in 2011, then South America in 2013.  All my travels since have been Stateside or around Australia, always instigated by basketball. The beauty of this calling is it allows me to explore overlooked locales and find appreciation for any destination.

SMITHSON: (45m 12s) Yeah and I think when you're going to a new place and you get off a plane and then all of a sudden there's this other language around you and everything that you're used to is different. The fact that knowing you have a starting point is really a nice thing. It's like you can always go back to basketball to interact with that place. Rather than feeling like you have nothing to do or feel very groundless. 

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Alice in Wonderland, the OG Space Jam 🕳🐰. #JordanIII

A post shared by Loz In Transit (@30homegames) on Oct 9, 2018 at 1:32am PDT

My @30homegames Instagram project has been a handy catalyst for me to seek adventure. Because I've designed it so every post is basketball related, plenty of life experience goes uncatalogued. It's these times that are often the most unforgettable. Lost in the moment with newly made friends, wandering the unbeaten path. Feeling like Alice in Wonderland.

EGER: (45m 38s) That's the first place I always go to whenever I travel. I always look for the basketball court and I let everything else happen on the way to the basketball court. I'm very frequently on foot and a lot of the stories I write about that have nothing to do with basketball, I discover to and from the basketball court. When I go travel, I don't look to go to museums any more. I always found it to be a funny phenomena where people don't go to the museums in their hometown but the second they're in Paris, "We got to go to the Louvre". It's just like "Why?". Why do you feel like you have to go? So I almost avoid that and so if there's a basketball court on the way to the Louvre or I meet an employee there that can get me in for free or I get some special treatment then hell yeah I'll go. Otherwise I don't want to follow the same grooves everyone else has gone through in their travels...

Playing streetball with Colombian locals on Christmas Day 2013

My camera roll is odd and cryptic, devoid of selfies or tourist photos much to my parents chagrin. I have an archive of obscure jerseys in the wild, hoops of the world and nerdy stealth shots. I do it because I enjoy it. I learnt a while ago that one has to find joy in the process. In travel as in life, doing things to impress others is a fool's game if you're not enjoying the lived experience.

SMITHSON: (47m 17s) I don't think that following that blueprint of "these are the places you can't miss". It leaves you feeling a little bit like you've experienced this place in a very enclosed way and your idea of that place hasn't necessarily changed based on your experience.
EGER: Think about the way people share or position themselves relative to these places they have to go visit? I'm sure you've seen the people who are always holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
SMITHSON: Yeah, of course.
EGER: It becomes–It's no different than a green screen at that point.
SMITHSON: Totally. I have to say if I was there, it would be hard for me not to do it. I mean I've never been. I would just do because maybe that's why we interact with that space but I understand I'm trying not to seek them out because I think it lessens the chance that there's this unknown and a variable and when you have a list and when you have a travel book of all the sights you should see. Those variables you can't hear them as much.

Read Isaac Eger's articles:
- What Pickup Basketball Reveals About L.A.
- ‘I Got Next’: Exploring New York Through Pickup Basketball
- @gluten_daddy on Instagram

Find Abigail Smithson's work here:

- Official folio site
- 'Dear Adam Silver' podcast
- @abigailsmithson on Instagram

Team Chemistry: Pete Holmes and Bill Simmons on the bonds one makes through pick-up basketball

Pete Holmes and friends

Pete Homes' You Made it Weird' is my favourite podcast. I've quoted it extensively for my travels as his outlook echoes many of the observations and epiphanies I've found in my own life. Whilst Pete and Bill share a history growing up in Boston, Pete is unabashedly not a sports aficionado.

AUDIO: Pete Holmes on Conspiracies, Humor, and ‘Crashing’
PETE HOLMES: (18m 28s) This is a joke I've told before but when we used to play pick-up basketball, I didn't count points. I counted friends I'd made. Which is true. Like when guys fight and stuff, I'm like "Fellas. It's f*cking pretend."
BILL SIMMONS: Right.
HOLMES: It's 11 to 6 like who f*cking cares. We just made that up. That's two, that one's worth three. It's all baloney and people getting along mattered more to me than that.
SIMMONS: That's my favourite part of basketball.
HOLMES: Is what?
SIMMONS: Is the relationships. Is the going and playing, staying on the court for three hours. Making like weird friends you'd never make normally. Never seeing those people again after the game.

This exchange resonates with me. For my European and South American trips spanning 2 years, I sought out basketball experiences and pick-up games with locals in each country visited. Sometimes these came via Couchsurfing, more often than not connections were created organically.

December 25, 2013. Bogotá, Colombia.

A conversation struck up over a basketball tee might lead to a pickup game the next day. I reconnected with the driver who picked me up while hitching and watched a game at his nightclub days later. During a lonely holiday period in Colombia, my Christmas day spent hooping with locals punctuated my trip with indelible memories.

A post shared by Loz In Transit (@30homegames) on Jan 9, 2018 at 12:11am PST

It's moments like these that have me pursuing my hoop dreams of travel even as that shot clock winds down. I recently embarked on my Australia tour to tip-off 2018, having just completed my first jaunt in Adelaide. There I met a German backpacker, his "Frankfurt Basketball" tee immediately catching my attention. He remarked over beers, "I want a life I'm happy with on the inside rather than living one other people enjoy from the outside".
Echoing Pete Holmes' sentiment, sometimes we find joy in the little things. From parts of the game where one might not expect it.

The Tao of Jalen and Jacoby: What to do in each City

Jalen and Jacoby on what to do in each city

I'm a big believer that the reason we enjoy travel is more in the spirit we carry than the destination we're at. When we're abroad, we find novelty, we are more adventurous and outgoing. We have an appreciation for our immediate surroundings. That's partly the reason I've gone on these FIBA adventures, the destination is negligible. I know that if i'm there with a pretext that excites me (basketball) I can find novelty when I'm on the ground or I'll have a blast seeking it, it's just a matter of setting expectations.

Jalen and Jacoby talk Kyrie Irving, Super Bowl and more (1/29/15) | Grantland Channel
DAVID JACOBY: I've been to every major city in the country. Not every city is New York, where things open late and there's big parties and big night clubs everywhere but there's something to do in every city. It's not like Cleveland is dead. You know what I mean, there's trouble to get into if you want to get into it if you're J.R. Smith.
JALEN ROSE: That's not accurate. Yeah if you want to get online and do all types of things that you would do on your computer yeah that travels with you. But if you're talking about going out to dinner, hearing music, going to lounges, clubs, speakeasies, bars.
JACOBY: Its not gonna be the same as New York but they have that.
ROSE: But if you're used to eating that Tao at 11 o'clock, that comes with the lifestyle [rather than]... Applebees at 7:30... there's a different infrastructure when you're in that comfort zone.

"Everydayness": Heidegger on Death and Kevin Garnett playing a midseason Game in Charlotte

<< crossposted on 'Let's Get Real podcast' blog

An aging Kevin Garnett VS Charlotte's Cody Zeller.  

What does Champion NBA Power Forward Kevin Garnett have to do with influential thinker Martin Heidegger? Authors Daniel M. Klein and Thomas Cathcart in their humorous book on the Philosophy of death finds a way to explain Heidegger's often complicated ideas via a basketball analogy

Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates:
Using Philosophy (and Jokes!) to Explore Life, Death, the Afterlife, and Everything in Between

Ch 4. Heideggerty-Dog, Ziggity-Boom, What You Do to Me
Look at it this way: Say you're Kevin Garnett and this is Game 7 of the NBA Finals. You're going to play with way more intensity, way more energy, way more life, than in one of those dreary Thursday night midseason games in Charlotte. Heidegger called the latter "everydayness," and he put it down as the ultimate drag. So let's face it squarely, Daryl, this -- right here, right now -- is Game 7 of the Finals, and what a joy it is to be here!

For Heidegger, the worst possible news would be that our souls are immortal. That would condemn us to a never-ending string of those Thursday night games in Charlotte.

My only quibble is the use of Garnett for the example. He's arguably the most consistent and unfailingly intense player currently in the L.

Jordan turning 50: 'Michael Jordan has not left the building' by Wright Thompson

Illustration by Mark Smith

On the eve of Michael Jordan's 50th birthday, Wright Thompson writes a fascinating piece on how a living legend handles the legacy of being the greatest Sportsman of all time. The articles touches on mortality, growing old and Jordan's unquenchable drive to be the best.

Michael Jordan has not left the building by Wright Thompson
[On mortality]
Smoke curls off the cigar. He wears slacks and a plain white dress shirt, monogrammed on the sleeve in white, understated. An ID badge hangs from one of those zip line cords on his belt, with his name on the bottom: Michael Jordan, just in case anyone didn't recognize the owner of a struggling franchise who in another life was the touchstone for a generation. There's a shudder in every child of the '80s and '90s who does the math and realizes that Michael Jordan is turning 50. Where did the years go? Jordan has trouble believing it, difficulty admitting it to himself. But he's in the mood for admissions today, and there's a look on his face, a half-smile, as he considers how far to go.
"I … I always thought I would die young," he says, leaning up to rap his knuckles on the rich, dark wood of his desk.

[On getting older]
The astonishing thing to him was how much he enjoyed this. "At 30 I was moving so fast," he says. "I never had time to think about all the things I was encountering, all the things I was touching. Now when I go back and find these things, it triggers so many different thoughts: God, I forgot about that. That's how fast we were moving. Now I can slow it down and hopefully remember what that meant. That's when I know I'm getting old."
He laughs, knowing how this sounds, like a man in a midlife crisis, looking fondly at something that's never coming back.
"I value that," he says. "I like reminiscing. I do it more now watching basketball than anything. Man, I wish I was playing right now. I would give up everything now to go back and play the game of basketball."
"How do you replace it?" he's asked.
"You don't. You learn to live with it."
"How?"
"It's a process," he says.

Chuck Klosterman talks about Gregg Popovich sitting out his San Antonio stars and the meaning of sports

In a previous post I offered some sports-themed existential questions as posed by by Comedians Pete Holmes and Dov Davidoff. Grantland writer Chuck Klosterman answers some of those questions as he weighs in on the Stern/Popovich brouhaha.

Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich takes a stand

'Are You Not Entertained?' by Chuck Klosterman
Last week, the Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs 105-100 in a nationally televised game that people argued over more than they watched. It spawned one of those temporary controversies we need in order to sustain a 24-hour news cycle... I suspect those minor issues were mostly being analyzed as a way to avoid the deeper question this conflict demands, simply because the answer is too big to reasonably confront. The question is this: What are we really doing here?
...
Now, I don't mean, "What are we really doing here on Earth?" What I'm asking is, "When a dilapidated version of the Spurs plays the Heat in late November, what is actually at stake?" I'm wondering about the central purpose of pro sports, and how much of that purpose is directly tied to entertainment. It's a complicated question that keeps folding back upon itself...
For sports to matter at all, they have to matter more than that; they have to offer more cultural weight than merely deciding if Team A is better than Team B. If they don't, we're collectively making a terrible investment of our time, money, and emotion...

David Letterman enlightens Andrew Garfield, explains "Sports is a metaphor for life"

Andrew Garfield on The Late Show With David Letterman (June 26, 2012) 

DAVID LETTERMAN: (banter before introducing guest) How about Lebron James, Paul? Now I feel horrible, I feel awful now. Remember night after night I was whining about the guy. Now he comes in here, he shows me what he's made of - a nice, friendly happy fellow - deserves the championship and I'm just a putz
...
ANDREW GARFIELD: (changing topics) Can we talk about Lebron for a bit
DAVID LETTERMAN: well its kinda my show. Of course, you know Lebron?
GARFIELD: I know of Lebron. I was just thinking how odd that life must be. Building up to one point and if you don't win that thing then what happens and how do you feel? And if you do win it you're defined by that. And if you don't win you're defined by that then what happens the rest of the year?
LETTERMAN: As you know sports have always been a metaphor for life itself so its no different in sports than in life period.
GARFIELD: I wasn't aware that it was a metaphor for life, no I'm fascinated by that
LETTERMAN:  Did I just come up with this? (talking offstage) No I just came up with this.

Not quite sure what to make of Andrew Garfield's amazement at Letterman's seemingly obvious statement. Garfield having made name for himself in the competitive world of Hollywood and tasked to shoulder a popular Multi-billion Dollar Franchise in Spiderman could surely see the parallels in Lebron and his own life.

Watch Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker living out his basketball fantasy. Garfield has spoken about his love for the game, growing up admiring Mugsy Bogues and playing pickup games when he was a struggling actor after first migrating to LA

VIDEO: The Amazing Spider-Man "Slam Dunk" 

The Joker (Heath Ledger) and Kobe Bryant: What they have in common

Dark Knight (2008)
THE JOKER: [speaking to Two-Face] Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just, do things.

To commemorate the release of the 'Dark Knight Rises' in Sydney we reflect on The Joker, the psychotic villain from the 'Dark Knight'. The Joker is a cold blooded killer, a person who by his own admission "Just does things". Kobe Bryant is one of the key ambassadors for sportswear brand Nike who's slogan is "Just Do it".

That said there is a large distinction between both statements. Joker's declaration reflects his nihilism and penchant for chaos, he has no driving motive besides upsetting the established order. Nike's Slogan is about being a person of action, proactive and not paralysed by fear or overthinking.

Kobe following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan had a killer instinct that made him take the last shot, the antithesis of Lebron James. He is cold blooded and doesn't care about stepping on people's toes. As Superhero movies have shown, there are many types of heroes each with their own defining characteristics. Lebron James in capturing his first NBA title proves that a champion doesn't need to be created from the same mold, they can establish a new one.

Its only fitting that Nike have released several "Chaos" colorways of Kobe's shoes inspired by The Joker

NIKE ZOOM KOBE V (CHAOS)
With a lurid lime sole, red splatter accents and purple foil upper this is a fresh take on the Kobe IV Chaos colourway from earlier this year, which was apparently inspired by Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight.

The Collection: Zoom Kobe VI Chaos
When chaos rears its game-of-chance head, unpredictable behavior is all that remains.
But on the road to yet another three-peat, there’s no room for unorganized confusion at the close of 82 games.

Approaching the closing act of the movie, The Joker encourages the people of Gotham to "Just do it". Using news personality Mike Engel as his puppet he uses a sports analogy to incite the town into anarchy:

MIKE ENGEL: [kidnapped by the Joker, Engel is reading a prepared statement] I'm Mike Engel for Gotham Tonight. What does it take to make you people join in? You failed to kill the lawyer. I've got to get you off the bench... And into the game. Come nightfall, this city is mine... and anyone left here plays by my rules... If you don't want to be in the game... get out now... But the bridge and tunnel crowd are sure in for a surprise. Ha ha ha ha."

Comedians Pete Holmes and Dov Davidoff get existential with Basketball

Basketball inventor James Naismith with the original peach baskets

I find myself agreeing with Pete Holmes a lot but we diverge when it comes to sports

@30HomeGames Comedian Pete Holmes gets existential "Why don't I watch Basketball? Because the ball doesn't mean anything."

Pete Holmes finds inherent sadness in sports because it speaks to him existentially. He expands on this recurring thought with Dov Davidoff

YOU MADE IT WEIRD #64: Dov Davidoff
PETE HOLMES: (21m 20s) I'll watch a sports game (and I've said this on the show before), I'll go "This makes me sad. There are all these people here and we're all acting like this means something". Then I go "Oh No! That's what we're doing with everything". And then that'll get me in a crisis...

He counters that with

HOLMES: Either everything means nothing and I'm at a sports game and I'm like "Everything means nothing and that makes me feel hollow" or everything is everything. Everything IS Everything! ...

Update: April 2014
As part of my 30HomeGames Comedy wishlist I've been compiling a running list of Pete Holmes' NBA interviews for TBS' Pete Holmes Show:
- Fearing the Beard with James Harden
- Kyrie Irving and his long-time friend Pete Holmes
- Pete hangs with NBA All-Star Anthony Davis
- Pete hangs with Harrison Barnes of The Golden State Warriors
- Talkin' like Talls with Dikembe Mutombo

LeBron James wins his first NBA Championship - Kills the Vampire!

LeBron James rocks Vampire shirt at Championship party - courtesy WorldRedEye.com 

Let's have some fun. You must do the following simultaneously:
1. Absorb the Video
2. Read the compilation of quotes
3. Be high. On psychedelics with Bill Walton but preferably on life.

VIDEO: Joe Rogan & Duncan Trussell - Kill The Vampire

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember you should only be reading this once you've gotten yourself in the right condition, the above Video should be playing on split screen.

In their own words: 2012 NBA Finalists 

LEBRON JAMES: It took me to go all the way to the top and then hit rock bottom basically to realize what I needed to do as a professional athlete and as a person.

DWYANE WADE: You know, two years ago, putting this team together, obviously we all expected it to be a little easier than it was. But we had to go through what we had to go through last year. We needed to. And as much as it hurt, we had to go through that pain and that suffering. To get to this point of this season and the rest of our careers together, we'll take nothing for granted.

CHRIS BOSH: I think it did that to all of us, where we couldn't even see the light of day because it hurt so much.

JAMES: The best thing that happened to me last year was us losing The Finals, you know, and me playing the way I played, it was the best thing to ever happen to me in my career because basically I got back to the basics. It humbled me.

WADE: We had a group, a team meeting, and for the first time I heard LeBron James open up, and he kind of let us in on what it's like to be LeBron James. None of us really know. I said as one of his close friends, I said,"Wow, I don't deal with that." And I deal with a lot.

BOSH: Nobody in the world can understand what he's went through this past two years, since the moment that we came here.

JAMES: I dreamed about this opportunity and this moment for a long time, including last night, including today. You know, my dream has become a reality now, and it's the best feeling I ever had.

ERIK SPOELSTRA: We have a brotherhood now that you don't necessarily have unless you've been through the fire together, and two years of it made us all more closer, and it makes this moment that much more gratifying.

WADE: Last season I felt that it was too much questions in our mind, in our head, and guys looking at each other and not wanting to step on each other's toes. This year I know I'm playing with the best player in the world, and that doesn't take anything away from me at all.

BOSH: I know a bunch of people made fun of me and said I was soft, but you can't be soft playing this game, especially at that five, you know what I'm saying? We wanted it so bad, I just wanted it so bad, I didn't care what anybody said, I didn't care what anybody thought. All I thought about was pushing forward to get that trophy...

Tim Legler: Miami Heat had all there fun in the line for the Rollercoaster

The Miami Heat happy in anticipation of the ride.

Former NBA star and ESPN analyst Tim Legler in a recent episode of NBA Today postulated that the Miami Heat would be exhaling BIG once these Playoffs were over, no matter what the outcome. Legler offered this theory when Miami were facing elimination heading into Game 6 in Boston.

NBA Today (June 7, 2012) - Download  MP3 here
Cassidy Hubbarth, Adam Stanco and Tim Legler break down how the Thunder eliminated the Spurs. Plus, they discuss all the issues on the Miami Heat. 

(42min) TIM LEGLER: There is so much talk of their offense, its just so heavy. They don't look like they're having any fun. If they win it they'll be the only team in NBA History to win the NBA title and just walk off the lot, walk off the floor.
(room laughs)
Thank God! Thank God that's over. Like a 7yr old on a rollercoaster that was just taller than the clown and barely got on the ride and hated it. And got off it and was like "God! That was awful". That's how I feel about them and I'm just like "Man, Have fun!". The Thunder, the exuberance man. The fun is there. I don't see any fun with the Miami Heat 

ADAM STANCO: The only fun was when they were in line
LEGLER: That's it. The fun was in line. The anticipation of the ride. Once they got on that ride, "This is terrible". Where are the teacups?

VIDEO: LeBron James harassed at Amusement Park

Interestingly Lebron used the amusement park analogy to describe the last few years of his life.

LeBron James Says His Life Has Been Like an ‘Amusement Park’ 

‘Everything,’ he said. ‘Appreciate it.’ Then he got up and walked off... and he laughs at the very idea of what his life has been like these past two years. ‘You ever been to an amusement park?’ he says. ‘That’s what my life has been like. Twists and turns. Up and down. Uh-oh, here we go, the roller-coaster is going into the dark hole again. Where’s the light? There’s the light. Up and down. Back into the dark hole. Back in the light. That’s what my life has been like.’ 

The ups and downs Lebron has endured is not unlike the rollercoaster that Dirk Nowitzki rode to glory last year, denying Lebron. 

Scams in Istanbul: The reality of trusting (3 of 3)

Are your Spidey Senses tingling?

My mood definitely shifted, I became suspicious of everybody. I even began questioning the authenticity of my hostel roommate, a down-on-his-luck Canadian traveler borrowing money from newly made running mates. I knew I had to find a way to get out of this mental funk. Attention is a double-edged sword. Being a traveler, a lot of possibilities were opened because people were curious and drawn to me as an outsider. I was welcomed into homes and friend circles, now this attention was being used against me. I was afraid to go out, the simplest chores would be interrupted by the constant initiation of conversation. I imagine this is the reality celebrities and hotties live in every day.

My running mate who escaped the scam unscathed was someone I befriended on the trip from Goreme to Istanbul. We bonded over our love of basketball, he was a diehard Laker fan and former intern for the team. We played a game with locals at the courts in the Nike Beyoğlu store the morning after his ordeal as he briefed me on what happened. I had my epiphany, I would convert scammer invitations into a game of hoops. It dovetailed with my 30 Home Games mission, my quest for a Basketball experience in each Country. He was skeptical, it was asking for trouble.

The genius of these scams are that they're only asking for your time. Its essentially rapport building through good conversation, a few shared drinks which sets the table for the manipulation to take place. Its only when the betrayal happens at the Clip-joint that one begins to question everything. A fellow traveler equated it to a relationship break up, especially one dissolved through infidelity. We start tracing its history, which parts were real? Was any of it genuine? Then we start looking inward, was it my fault for believing? I figured I could entice them to a game of basketball during what they thought was the "real" part.

The following few days I was upbeat, returning to my old self. Instead of shooing people away grumpily, I was looking forward to interactions but surprisingly the attention had waned. I can't pinpoint whether it was my change in energy, my familiarity or random chance. Interestingly I had begun to mutually greet one of the scammers like Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog would in the cartoons. He was a fellow in a blue/green puffer jacket I would regularly cross paths with, usually alongside a new Asian tourist. Our original encounter he tried to open me at Sultanahmet with the line "Hey you look like Michael Jackson".

In the closing days of my fortnight in Istanbul I did manage to find a genuine connection, befriending young artists at a Jazz bar. Over several days we hit the town, was welcomed into homes for dinner and tea and got to crash at a few places. The locals were understandably removed from this reality, they explained that some Current affair shows had shed some light on the scams in Istanbul. As it was a crime of opportunity, Turks from the east unfamiliar with the big city were also being scammed. Most attention was paid to non-Turks because they were ideal targets, distinct, lucrative and crucially - naive.

The charming person I spent most of the time with mindblowingly did her major thesis on 'Hyperreality' - a pet topic of mine. On my final day I was welcomed into her friend's apartment, we discussed scamming and reality as we smoked and drank in their attic. Their roommate, a Syrian revolutionary taking refuge in Turkey arrived late into the evening. He began in the front lines for the cause but decided his powers were best served in media relations. He weighed in on the conversation by showing videos he'd filmed that day presenting two versions of reality for the same event, one for dissemination now and the other truth to be released after the revolution was won. 

It was a memorable way to close my experience in Turkey and it gave me a sobering take on the scamming experience. I've always been fascinated by the power of charisma and the bending of reality but this underlined for me that its ultimately playing with fire. My running mate who escaped the scam had himself conceded, "As bad as it could have turned out, it'll likely go down as the most interesting that happens on this trip".

During this time creating genuine experiences with amazing new friends, the basketball mouse trap was the furthest thing from my mind. I never did get to hoop it up with a scammer, I didn't even come close to as invitations had dried up. I'm still intrigued by the prospect of holding court with a scammer but the idea served its purpose as it shifted my mood and I found the genuine experience I was searching for. I'll file it as 'Incomplete' and still hope to achieve it if I ever return to Istanbul. If someone is able to execute it on my behalf I would love to hear your story.

After a great evening capping off my time and saying my goodbyes the morning after, I had one final rude awakening. As I checked in at Atatürk International Airport the teller informed I wasn't in the system for any flights that day. I scanned my ticket, checked my phone everything seemed fine. It was then I realised that my Calendar settings were set to 2011. My Turkish friend had borrowed my phone 5 days earlier to use her SIM, I must've mistakenly applied the wrong settings when I turned it back on so the dates corresponded to the wrong days. I had been operating a day in advance this whole time, my flight was actually for tomorrow.
Everything is real until the moment it isn't.

- Scams in Istanbul: Why I trust people (1 of 3)
- Scams in Istanbul: Why people trust others (2 of 3)
- Scams in Istanbul: The reality of trusting (3 of 3)

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The folks at IndieTravelPodcast have a comprehensive discussion on several possible scams travelers might encounter - Indie Travel Podcast Ep 212: Travel Scams, cons and Travel safety

Scams in Istanbul: Why people trust others (2 of 3)

VIDEO: Aladdin - Do You Trust Me?


During my weakest point in Istanbul, I would think of this famous Disney clip and amuse myself by humming 'A Whole New World'. My intent shifted from sarcasm to optimism.

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This is a cautionary tale. I myself have never been scammed in the following way. My brother was scammed in similar fashion in China (Tea Ceremony scam) and my good German friend experienced another variation in Malaysia (blackjack scam). My American running mate in Istanbul ran through the complete course taking 5hrs total. Fortunately he escaped unscathed, no Standover men forcing him to the ATM. I joke that his scammer was in a 'Jules Winnfield-like 'transitional period' and just let him go. The "Clip-joint" scam is explained below

The Single Male Scam
One of these is the "Let's Have a Drink" Scam which results in your paying a drinks bill of hundreds or even thousands of dollars or euros... While you wander around on your own in the evening, you're approached by a well-dressed man who speaks good English. He chats with you, then he suggests you have a drink together, and leads you to a bar or nightclub that's in on the scam.

VIDEO: Scam City Istanbul (National Geographic)

Below are a sample of the dozen interactions I experienced, these examples on their own shouldn't raise any red flags but do illustrate the variety of scripts. Most of these stories happen from 4pm onwards, as it approaches dark. I am dressed casually (hoodie, trackpants, no bags/camera) and all my interactions began with approaches in English, inexplicably they would say “Sorry, I thought you were Turkish“.

Just like making a sale or attracting a partner - the routine is about triggering certain human behaviours

Appearance: Young, Mobile phone in ear
Location: Sultanahmet Square, walking alongside
Story: Kurdish man on holidays from Antalya
Approach: (Phone in ear) "Excuse me which one is Haghia Sophia and which one is the Blue Mosque?"

Appearance: Older, Very well dressed
Location: Galata köprüsü (main walkbridge with Fishermen), In my path then stops suddenly to enjoy the view with me
Approach: "How far down do you think it is?"

Appearance: Young, dressed for going out
Location: Taksim Beyoğlu
Story: Visiting Istanbul from Izmir, staying at a hostel
Approach: "We are staying at x Hostel... they suggested this bar worth checking out"

Scams are a subversion of the ordinary interactions we have in daily life. Preying on our better nature, they are most effective when they address a want or a need. Scammers see these as 'vulnerabilities'. When our house is on fire, its reasonable to trust the first person we see with a uniform and hose.

When the want or a need is a "free lunch" or something sexual, its understandable why others would be unsympathetic but more often than not the wants are innocent. In the case of the Istanbul clip-joint scams, it could be a yearning for good company, seeking a local connection or just an interesting night out. A scammer is a 'Man with a plan', they target wayward travelers offering direction and directions.

I like to travel with an open mind and have found that all my best experiences in life involve me trusting in others. Most new relationships and experiences are founded on this principle, we use our value systems to balance Risk VS Reward then we make instinctual decisions. On-the-street interactions is how I arrived at many of my best experiences traveling. I didn't want to lose this aspect of my journey. This episode certainly made me more mindful and more grateful of the good fortune I'd had up to this point.

Everyday people are being scammed. Tourists are soft targets because they often stick out and are often more trusting. Looking through forums discussing Travel scams I've found people tend to break down into these types:
1) Victims - ranging from philosophical to vengeful
2) Cautious know-it-alls
3) Defensive locals

Instead of depriving myself of a great Turkish experience (which I had) because I was afraid of unwanted attention, I instead calibrated my state of mind. The more I reflect on this time, the more I realise how human the experience was. As an adventurous person by nature, I would have been perfect fodder for this scam thankfully things transpired differently. I found myself fascinated and obsessed with this stomach-turning game, it was when I read this that everything changed:

CAREFUL: SCAM in Istanbul...
... My guy was very well dressed and well spoken, when I told him I was just going to check my email and then return to my hotel because I was tired, he said he also needed to find a net-cafe and skype his family (he told me he was a business man from out of town !) and he even paid for my net use. I even got to say hello to his wife and child, so how could I suspect a lovely family guy ? Anyway, much the same as everyone else...
- BP007

Enter Basketball...


- Scams in Istanbul: Why I trust people (1 of 3)
- Scams in Istanbul: Why people trust others (2 of 3)
- Scams in Istanbul: The reality of trusting (3 of 3)

Scams in Istanbul: Why I trust people (1 of 3)

"The best adventures are when you trust somebody"
- paraphrased quote entered into a running mate's phone

The third week into my Turkey experience and I was in snow-covered Göreme. It was a foggy day. I was eavesdropping on an exchange between a Tour operator and a representative for a busload of tourists. The owner of the nearby horseranch came out and we chatted about the unreasonable expectations people have. "If you come to Turkey in winter be prepared for snow" he began. "It doesn't matter that it was sunny last week in Dubai. Today you're in Turkey". We connected, he invited me inside where it was warmer.

I hung around for about 5 hours. He commanded a staff of 6 or so of varying ages and experience. They came in and out and we talked about the usual - girls, dreams and life. One associate had been living in Japan for 2 years, it was his second day back in Turkey. He confided that he had a miserable time there but he loves his newborn son and his Japanese wife (they met when she was a tourist). He had a lot of thinking to do. We drank Raki and Efes beer, ate some kebab and smoked.

I mentioned my time in Turkey has been more scenic than social. These are the types of interactions I value and what I've enjoyed most about how I travel. Having had difficulty finding it in Turkey, I cherished this experience all the more.

Its ultimately what connects me to a place - being accepted or feeling like I belong in some way. The ranchowner described the feeling like a mirror, "we tend to like things when we can see ourselves in it" . The ranchowner commended me on my openness, the feeling was mutual. I explained that all my best experiences and adventures have come with an exchange of trust. Strangers off the street, Couchsurfers have welcomed me into their lives and homes. As a stranger I've been welcomed into classrooms and house parties and been handed house keys from people I've just met.

Times I've trusted in others and vice versa:
- CouchSurfing: I accompanied Latvians as they delivered flowers to beloved former teachers and been escorted by scooter to a wrestling show in Germany.
- Strangers met on Lithuanian streets have invited me to parasail and pick mushrooms
- Gone on road trips and slept in unfurnished apartments with new friends
- I was an honorary Student at the SpoHo in Köln. Eating at their Mensa (cafeteria), joining them on social theme park trips and participating in University classes
- Had amazing meals in Portugal through the kindness of strangers
- I surrender myself each time I Ego Trip

We tried to figure out why two strangers could be so trusting, so quickly. The Ranchowner offered "When your soul is naked, people can recognise". Its just my nature, I have faith in people and my 'Spidey Sense' has served me well.

Enter Istanbul...

- Scams in Istanbul: Why I trust people (1 of 3)
- Scams in Istanbul: Why people trust others (2 of 3)
- Scams in Istanbul: The reality of trusting (3 of 3)

Mike Yam and Tim Legler: What drives greatness?

Mike Yam and Tim Legler essentially have a conversation about finding happiness in life when discussing the greatness that drives elite NBA athletes - The balance between success and contentment and the difficulty of enjoying the moment.

NBA Today: 1/11
Mike Yam and Tim Legler discuss the fire that drives the great ones like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

Download the conversation here - NBA Today: Discussing greatness

Happiness VS Greatness

MIKE YAM: ...When you're that competitive I almost feel like you'll never be happy. You can't be happy...

TIM LEGLER: You're talking about [Michael Jordan] at his Hall of Fame speech? There is no doubt it was one of the most unusual Hall-of-Fame speeches of all-time...

The sad part about that speech and it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, he doesn't need to be that. That came of bitter and that came off as a guy that's angry. Directly to what you said, people that are that competitive aren't [happy] because they can't ever find that adrenalin rush or fix in anything that they do as being the best at what they did on the planet...

Being in the moment:

MIKE YAM: (quoting Bruce Lee's wife on her husband) "...He was more concerned about losing that half step than he was about being the best"

Because you're mind is already thinking about that next thing and you're not even in that moment and I gotta feel like these elite athletes are sort of like that.

TIM LEGLER: In a weird way what you're describing (and this is absolutely true) is an insecurity that exists in these people. All of us have insecurities but the general conception is these [elite] people don't have insecurities. They absolutely do.

And its more related to not so much winning or not losing a final... its more like you don't want to feel like you're losing something because you worked so hard to get to that level and all you wanna do is maintain it

This conversation dovetails with my own epiphany having had the privilege of taking the year off to travel abroad. Seeing the dichotomy between success and contentment, speaking to fellow travellers and finding how they coped with the "rat race" they left behind whether temporarily or otherwise.

In living the dream I also found the importance of 'being in the moment', which was crystalised when I read Phil Jackson's book 'Sacred Hoops' whilst Couchsurfing in Germany.