Saturday, March 13, 2010

“Audiobook is a fine blend of philosophy and humor (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)” plus 3 more

“Audiobook is a fine blend of philosophy and humor (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)” plus 3 more

Audiobook is a fine blend of philosophy and humor (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 03:05 PM PST

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Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Music Philosophy: Is music rebellion? (MOG)

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 04:40 PM PST

I say yes! Good music has an element of rebellion! From the folk songs and tunes of europe, to the negro spirituals in the colonies to modern day rock and rap there is a scocial thread of rebellion and antiestablishmentarianisim. (I love that word!) Lets stay in America for the pourposes of this lecture and start with negro spirituals. The songs of the slaves were the songs of africa with christian lyrics. See the european slave owners puritanically forbade the practicing of heathen rituals and religeons so the slaves had to camoflage their faith with christianity. Their songs were the foundation of all American music. The rebellious seed that said" ok you won't let us sing our songs we'll sing em with your lyrics and you won't know the diffrence!" I'm sure there were other lyrics to alot of those old spirituals, lyrics that'd make a white man's skin crawl! Anyway Spirituals begat Blues and Jazz and a few generations later white kids were rebelling against their straight laced parents by playing that "nigger" music! During th civil rights era Music was as much a weapon as literature and law! Music Indeed changed the course of history as much as any war! It's rebellion that spirit of standing for somthing, against somthing! Rock'n'roll the very name offensive in it's inception! The attitude showcased and presented before america, that pure badboy essence, "bigger than Jesus" Shocking and at the same time such an embodyment of human idealisim and spirit that it couldent be put down! Every time freedom is suppressed and Government gets too big Music becomes the voice of the people! The cry in the wilderness! Give us freedom or give us death! That pirate ethic symbolized by the skull and the middle finger, that says"you can't stop us and you can't controll our thought!" This Is what makes good music! I used to try to find the formula, riffs, promotions, lyrics. etc. It's not about that it's about that attitude! The ability to move people to think, to talk, to stand as one! No matter what your genre no matter what your style, There are a few artists and bands that are universal! And they are the ones who most embody the spirit of rebellion and Rock'N'Roll! I now open the floor to debate!

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Longtime Maccabees coach Jonathan Halpert has his own philosophy on winning (New York Daily News)

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 03:53 AM PST

Clem Richardson

Friday, March 12th 2010, 4:00 AM

'If you really want to learn how to coach, lose."

So says Jonathan Halpert, who should know.

Halpert was just named the Skyline Conference's 2009-2010 Coach of the Year and is currently finishing his 38th season as Yeshiva University's head basketball coach - the longest serving coach in the metro area.

The NCAA Division III Maccabees finished the season with a 12-14 record.

Nothing takes the sting out of a loss, Halpert said, but what's more important is what you do afterward.

"Losing forces you to learn how to really teach, how to motivate, organize, and prioritize," he said. "It teaches you how to run a practice."

Halpert has spent his entire basketball career at Yeshiva, from high school to now. He played for the late, legendary coach Bernard (Red) Sarachek, a major influence in his career.

"Red stressed the fundamentals: move without the ball, cut, move," said Halpert. "That was where I learned my basketball and how I still teach.

"I'm always yelling, 'Stop at the foul line, stop at the foul line! You never run a fast break without stopping at the foul line and looking to hand the ball off for the layup.

"I'll take a player out of the game if they don't stop at the foul line," he said. "That's what I was taught, that's fundamentals, that's basic basketball.

"Kids come here the first year and they don't know what the hell I'm talking about. A new kid gets on the court, he dribbles, he kicks it down the court, he shoots a three.

"I say to the new kid, 'What the hell do you think you're doing? If you can't make four passes before you shoot the ball you can go home."

It's an unconventional philosophy in the age of in your face, one-on-one basketball, and Halpert's coaching techniques are in the same vein.

For instance, the team practices four times a week, two hours each time, and that's just fine with the coach.

"We can't practice Friday night, the Sabbath, God took care of that," he said. "I don't know how popular I would be if I started Saturday night practices. They do have a social life.

"With the academic work load here, you could not go more than four a week if you wanted to," Halpert said. "These guys take a double program, with Hebrew studies in the morning and secular studies in the afternoon.

"Frankly, at this level, I don't think you should be practicing more than four times a week. After four nights of practice, I'm tired of the kids and I'm sure they are tired of me yelling at them."

Halpert was 27 when he was named coach of Yeshiva's varsity team. He was still in high school - and playing for the Yeshiva team - when he started coaching the Yeshiva junior varsity team in the early 1960s.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Philosophy change (Arizona Daily Star)

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 10:38 PM PST

When their at-large NCAA tournament hopes began fading last month, Arizona freshmen Derrick Williams and MoMo Jones insisted they were not interested in the NIT.

They better be now.

"Anyone who said that can go somewhere else," Arizona coach Sean Miller said Thursday, after Arizona lost 75-69 to UCLA in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals. "When you have an opportunity to play in the NIT, it's an honor. It's not our goal, but when you look at the programs who will be in the NIT, there are terrific programs and great players."

The real question this weekend is whether the NIT is interested in Arizona. After Thursday's loss, the Wildcats are stuck at 16-15, with an RPI of 94 and a Sagarin rating of 85, sitting squarely on the NIT's bubble.

The NIT may have even fewer at-large bids to give than ever, too. College basketball's secondary postseason tournament has only 32 spots, and eight of them have already been taken by automatic qualifiers who won their conference regular-season title but probably will not reach the NCAA tournament.

As of Friday, NITology.com, which says it correctly predicted 31 of the 32 NIT teams last season, has the Wildcats listed as a No. 7 seed. Another projection Web site, the NIT Bracket Project does not have Arizona in the field.

The bids will be announced Sunday at 6 p.m.

Arizona officials have already told the College Basketball Invitational tournament they are not interested in a bid.

Miller said a third win over UCLA on Thursday would have helped ensure an NIT bid but that he still felt good about the Wildcats' chances, with Arizona having played what kenpom.com rated the No. 11 nonconference schedule and having won 10 Pac-10 games.

Even if the Wildcats do get in, they may have to play all their NIT games on the road. The NIT's format since 2005, when the NCAA bought the event, has been to give higher-seeded teams the option to host each of the first three rounds, after which the four region winners go to New York for the semifinals.

Along the way, the Wildcats could run into some other frequent NCAA tournament participants, such as Memphis, Connecticut, Illinois and Cincinnati.

"When you see the teams that advance in the NIT, that field is going to be very representative of an NCAA tournament field," Miller said. "It's one of the reasons they're talking about expanding the NCAA (tournament) because of the depth and quality of the NIT. So if we're fortunate enough to get a bid it would be an honor. I'm also gonna tell you that first game will be really hard."

Miller's enthusiasm and his rather hard sales pitch apparently have rubbed off on his team. Several Wildcats quizzed after Thursday's game said they wanted to play in the event after all.

In the "postseason, any tournament is good," forward Kevin Parrom said. "It's something. Not that anybody's settling for anything, but it's better to take something than nothing, and we can just get better for the next season."

Even Williams sounded like he had warmed up to the idea.

"Any basketball player wants to keep playing," Williams said. "It's a new season."

For senior guard Nic Wise, it's the last season, too. One that he isn't ready to end.

"My career is not over," he said Thursday. "I don't think so."

He'll know for sure Sunday night.

On StarNet: Follow the Cats as they prepare for a possible postseason journey at azstarnet.com/wildcats and

go.azstarnet.com/pascoe

SELECTION SHOWS

Both tournaments announce their selections on Sunday

• NCAA: 3 p.m., Channel 13

• NIT: 6 p.m., ESPNU

NIT SHAKEDOWN

Teams that won their conference's regular-season title, but did not win their conference tournament, are guaranteed one of 32 NIT bids, if they do not receive an NCAA tournament at-large bid. Eight conference champions appear headed to the NIT as of Friday afternoon:

Weber State (Big Sky, 20-10)

Troy (Sun Belt, 20-12)

Coastal Carolina (Big South, 28-6)

Quinnipiac (Northeast, 23-9)

Jacksonville (Atlantic Sun, 19-12)

Stony Brook (America East, 22-9)

Jackson State (SWAC, 19-12)

Kent State (Mid-American, 23-9)

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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