Wal-Mart Raises the White Flag

I am not against big business. To me, it makes no sense in a consumer-driven commercial society to punish a business for doing well. I really didn’t like Microsoft being punished for having a monopoly in the PC OS world (even though I’m not a Microsoft fan). It seems to me that our financial system in the US is based on someone or an organization providing a quality service or product and doing that to the best of their ability. That’s the essence of what a commercial-system seems to be to me.

However, you’ve got to love it when the little guy succeeds. When the underdog weathers the storm and comes out alive and kicking. That happened this week in the online DVD rentals world. Wal-Mart called it quits. Wal-Mart! If you’re against the commercial giants of the world, Wal-Mart is the anti-Christ. Netflix not only out-lasted Wal-Mart, they got Wal-Mart to advertise for them on walmart.com. Amazing. I guess Wal-Mart’s philosophy of moving in and offering the same service or product for cheaper doesn’t always work . . . just most of the time.

You can read more about it here.

Jeff Van Gundy is a Big Baby.

Being a Mavericks fan, I’m already biased against the Houston Rockets. But Jeff Van Gundy made a stupid mistake. He whined about the refs to the media (which is nothing new if your a Mavs fan). Here’s what he said about Yao Ming and the fouls that have been called on him: "When you review his fouls, he looked — you’ve got to give Mark Cuban credit." You can read the whole story in the Houston Chronicle here.

Mavs 97, Houston 93

It’s been a long drive home so far, but the trip was well worth it. My dad got tickets to Game 5 in Houston today and we made the drive down to watch the Mavs beat the Rockets and make it a best of 3 series (and reclaim homecourt in the process).

I guessed the Mavs would win in 5-6 before the series started. I firmly believe the Rockets are done. They had their chance, now it’s Dirk’s turn to shine and put this series away.

Cat Shoots Owner

This is too ironic to pass up. I previously noted that a man is trying to pass a law in Wisconsin making it legal to shoot cats when they enter your lawn. Today in Michigan, a man was shot by his cat when it knocked a loaded 9mm off the counter. Read the story here.

More Praise for Dirk Nowitzki

David DuPree has been lavishing praise on Dirk Nowitzki lately. I noted before that DuPree has already labeled Dirk as the 4th best defensive big man in the NBA. Now, DuPree is talking about Dirk as being one of the best overall players and a serious candidate for MVP. Check out his USA Today article here.

Dirk the 4th Best Defensive Big Man

I heard about this on Randy Galloway today. According to a system developed by David DuPree, Dirk Nowitzki is the 4th best defensive center/power forward in the NBA. I agree that Dirk is a lot better at Defense this year than he’s been in the past, but I’m not sure if he’s shot up that far. I think the flaw in the system is that it relies too much on free throws and rebounds. Free throws really have nothing to do with defense and rebounds don’t automatically make you a defensive stud. Anyway, it’s interesting that Dirk is getting some credit for improving his D.

Check out the article here.

My Big 5 Results

I just took the Big 5 Personality test at www.similarminds.com. If you know me, please commment on whether or not you think these are accurate of who I am. Here were my results:

Big Five Test Results
Extroversion (63%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.
Friendliness (44%) moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly selfish, uncooperative, and difficult at the expense of the well being of others.
Orderliness (39%) moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly flexible, random, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense of structure, reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.
Emotional Stability (72%) high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.
Openmindedness (52%) medium which suggests you are moderately intellectual, curious, and imaginative.

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