This makes me happy...

And I'm not sure why.

To my fellow Mets fans...

We have no one to blame but ourselves.

We knew this season was supposed to be a rebuilding year. When Alderson was hired, it was clear that success was a few years away. But then the Mets had a surprising and, dare I say amazin', first half.

Wright was a legitimate MVP candidate. Dickey was spectacular. Tejada made us forget about Reyes.

And then there was The No-Hitter. 

The signs were there, however. Pelfrey went down, the bullpen was spotty at best, Ike's slump, Bay still on the team. Yet the Mets managed to tread water, and kept hope alive for one of the Wild Card spots.

And this meant that as fans...fans in the wake of 2006, we believed in the team/ Why not the Mets, with their ragtag pitching staff and awesome stories? Why not the Mets with their bevy of homegrown talent and underdog mentality?

Well, here's why: the Mets aren't a playoff team. Yet. The talent is there, but it is a year or two away from being ready for the big time. Pitching is in the pipeline, and soon, the unwieldy Flavor Flav Clock contracts leftover from the Minaya regime will be be off our necks. 

It doesn't hurt any less. We sit through year after year of the Yankees being awesome, of watching the other teams in our division improve while the Mets seem stagnant, of John Kruk on Baseball Tonight (but to be fair, he's been less biased this year). The Mets fan base wants something to cheer for, and the first half made us believe. It is our own fault...we knew what this team was. And you know what? They're still doing better than just about anyone's expectation- let's not forget.

So I'm happy for 2012, and here's why:

• Ruben Tejada has proven we can win without Reyes
• Jordany Valdespin is a star in the making
• Dickey is one of the best pitchers out there, and we can lock him up
• Our farm system is being replenished
• Wright is playing out of his mind
• The Marlins and Phillies are stinking up the joint!
• We're still not out of the race!
• The No-Hitter!

So, as always, lets go Mets!

When worlds collide

It isn't often that Magic overlays with my professional life. While I advise the Magic club at my place of employment, the realm of student affairs and Magic rarely overlap. Even rarer is the Venn Diagram of Magic Writer and Student Affairs Professional. As far as I know, it includes two individuals: myself and Abe Sargent.

I do not know Abe, nor do I regularly follow his writing. There is nothing wrong with his work, but I am not a casual player, and that is who he writes for. I do peruse his articles, especially if they are about his life outside the game- I find the lives of other student affairs people interesting, since work-life balance is a challenge in this field.

For those who do not know, student affairs is a field of professionals who concern themselves with developing college aged students outside the classroom. This includes orientation, student activities, Greek life,  health and counseling services, residence life (RAs and RDs) and depending on the school, numerous other offices. The way I describe it to friends and family is "everything at a school that isn't teaching or maintenance." 

In his most recent article, Abe talks about the next step in his career. He however, makes a pronouncement about the field that I feel does the article a disservice. When discussing the circumstances that have led him to look for a new path, Abe remarks:

"I kept trying to find a new career, but it was hard. There is a severe bias in this field against:

1. People who are getting older (I'm in my mid 30s).
2. People who are straight white males (diversity is rightly emphasized, but unfortunately only visible diversity is considered while things such as geographic diversity, educational diversity, or religious diversity don't really matter).
3. People who do not have one of two specific degrees to work with students. (The job requires training in student development theory. It also requires tasks such as budgeting and management, which are not taught in student development degrees but which I was trained on with my Masters in Public Administration).

With three strikes against me, finding a new job was already tough. I'd been applying for jobs for a while. Now add to that the fact that I just got fired from my previous one, and I found myself in a crisis."

The Kitchen Table #385- Goodbye Michigan

Abe Sargent

7/19/2012

First, Abe omits a fairly important obstacle for professionals in student affairs looking for a new job: the state of the economy. When I was first looking for work in 2008, the economy had just tanked. Because of this, the highest echelon of workers (also the oldest) had their retirement investments eviscerated. This, in turn, forced them to keep their jobs for a few more years. The dominoes began to fall, and the people who were going to take those jobs never had the chance. As such, fewer positions were opening up at every level. Abe is correct: each position has far too many qualified applicants, and often people can't find work, which leads to a large exodus from the field in the early stages of the career path. That being said, leaving this out paints an incomplete picture. 

Item two is the most dangerous, for a number of reasons. Full disclosure: I myself, am a straight white male. It should go without saying that SWMs in this country get an unfair advantage in multiple aspects of life. They tend to earn more and also have a ton of privilege wrapped up in their mere existence. Saying that there is a bias against SWMs just feeds the notion that they do not have any inherent boosters in the world- that they are on the same level as every other applicant out there. The more I think about it, the more I realize: in student affairs, there isn't a bias against SWMs, there just isn't a bias. Period. 

All applicants are on the same playing field. The field, however, is biased towards people who are caring and community oriented. It wants people who have had to confront privilege (and lack of it) to help provide a better understanding of the students with we are likely to counsel. If a person has never had to confront this, black or white, gay or straight, male or female, they might not succeed at the same level. I had experiences with a boss in grad school who made disparaging remarks about my ethnicity/religion (Jewish) and working through that (and other comments made by this same supervisor) helped me confront my own sense of privilege and place in the world. That trial made me a better member of the student affairs world. I believe that Abe had an experience that made him a strong professional member as well, but I won't presume what it might have been.

I do not mean to disparage Abe. I do not think this was intentional. This was, at its heart, an article about Magic and the community's role in his life- not one about employment trends in student affairs. However, the Magic community is currently dealing with larger issues of sexism and such seemingly innocuous statements such as "bias against straight white males" can to reinforce the idea that SWMs are not at an inherent advantage in the world. 

Abe, if you're reading this, good luck in your search and your new path- I hope one day our Venn Diagram gets a few more people. 

This

On being a fan

I have lived in Brooklyn the vast majority of my life. Apart from the time I spent in college, grad school, and my first job, I have called Kings County my home. An undercurrent of life in Brooklyn was, for the longest time, the absence of a professional sports franchise. The Dodgers leaving, nearly 60 years ago, left a hole in the soul of Brooklyn. Its a sense of abandonment, as if Brooklyn was not good enough. Sometimes it seems like that's part of every Brooklynite- yeah we're not good enough, what's it to you?

Of course, that will change this fall when the Brooklyn (nee New Jersey) Nets come to Barclay's Arena, a little more than a mile away from where I currently live. Professional sports (sorry Cyclones, you don't count) will be back...and in my proverbial backyard.

It got me thinking...can I give up on the Knicks? The team I've backed for years; a team that has baffled me with their business decisions recently.

Basketball is far from my favorite sport. I am first and foremost a die hard New York Mets fan. I have been for most of my adult (and therefore independent) life. I remember the moment I would throw myself, 100%, behind the blue and orange: Robin Ventura's Grand Slam Single. I was still a teenager and I had always rooted for the Mets, but that was the moment I became a fan. 

After baseball comes hockey (Rangers) and football (Jets) with basketball lagging a distant fourth. I cannot explain it, as I absolutely love watching the college game. Professional basketball just does not enthrall me the way it did in my youth where the NBA on NBC was a constant background in May and June. Maybe it was the lockout at the turn of the century, or maybe it was when Ewing went away. I just stopped caring about the Knicks, until the season they acquired Carmelo Anthony. 

My sister was dating a guy (second time around) and he was a huge Knicks fan. Seeing as how he was basically living with my sister (in my parents house), I decided that I might as well get to know him. I watched a lot of basketball with my sister and her boyfriend, and started to enjoy the game again. The Knicks were full of exciting, young talent. Amar'e Stoudemire was playing extremely well, and the team was clicking.

Then James Dolan pulled the trigger and shipped a ton of talent for Carmelo Anthony.  I wanted to like this trade, but I could not. 

Dolan is a villain. I cannot describe the primal feelings of anger that well up whenever someone mentions his name, or Isiah Thomas. Isiah Thomas. I had to mention him twice, because, I mean, Dolan keeps giving him more shots, so I guess we should too?

When you're a fan, you want your team to be good. You have faith in the ownership and management to do what's right for the franchise (even if it means rebuilding). In the post-MinayaMadoff era, I believe the Mets are going in the right direction. The Knicks...not so much.

And then, walking distance from home, a franchise is moving in. One that has an owner willing to pay players to be part of a team, not to please individual fulfillment. They're in my backyard! They're from my hometown! No, they're not the Dodgers...but the Nets are something that could be a part of Brooklyn. Could be a part of my life.

I saw friends who were jumping ship. I considered it, and put it out on twitter. I got no support, only lambasting. 

I wanted to switch. I wanted to take the easy way out and latch on to a tea in the right direction.

I couldn't pull the trigger. 

I have a friend, who until recently was a Mets fan. After Johan Santana threw his no-hitter,  the greatest moment in Mets history in the past ten years, he gave up on the Mets. Management had decided to sell tickets to the game after the fact, including tickets that had already been purchased. To him, this was inexcusable. I couldn't fathom doing that. I can be angry at a team, upset at a direction.

I couldn't turn myself into Brooklyn in 1958, looking for a history that is no longer there.

Lets go Knicks. 

Junior Battles

Classic