Congrats to the Mavs and their first Championship!  Well deserved!  Superbly played!

So many were beyond excited by the outcome of Sunday’s game and many weren’t even Dallas Mavericks fans.

No doubt the Mavericks bandwagon was filled beyond capacity here in the NBA Finals.  When there was no more room, not even one inch of space, people were still clawing and scratching just to get on board.  I have no issue with that whatsoever, as bandwagon jumping is a part of sports.

What I have an issue with is the WHY.

Typically teams attract “so called” fans late in the year based upon their play.  They pick up the sports fans who want to have a dog in the fight, as well as, some people who don’t even watch sports, but fall in the love with the drama that makes athletic competition at the highest level so fantastic.

All of that is cool.

What isn’t cool or acceptable is when HATE for another is the sole reason for which cheers and support are cast and given to the other team.

The Mavs had a lot of people in the “I HATE LEBRON JAMES, SO I WANT DALLAS TO WIN” category this year and that’s sad.

This series unfortunately became more about LeBron losing than Dallas winning.  More people were excited that LeBron didn’t play well than they were that Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and JJ Barea played SO WELL.

Facebook and Twitter were ablaze with Mavs support from many that could tell you very little at all about the game of basketball, yet they all had one thing in common:  They HATE the Miami Heat and more importantly they HATE LeBron James.

When did rooting for someone to fail become acceptable?

When James did the decision?  When the Heat held the preseason celebration?

I would bet almost every one of us has left an employer for what we thought was a better opportunity.  We didn’t do “the decision” of course, but then again we don’t have the voice.

You know, I can’t recall one letter of hate mail or even one negative comment thrown my way when I went from one bank to another over eight years ago.

The preseason celebration, not the best idea, but it is what it is.  The city of Miami and the fans were ecstatic!  They held a celebration because the city, players and organization were excited!

Shame on them I guess.

We don’t do such things of course, unless you count tweeting and facebooking (including pictures) every single great thing that happens in our lives.  We don’t hold an official “celebration” because again we don’t have the voice, but if we did, well just look at your “facebook wall” and tell me what you think would happen.

FACT:  LeBron James is not perfect.

But guess what, neither are we.

I know if I had to endure what James is going through, the good days and for most of this past year, the bad.  If I was followed around with cameras and asked tough questions over and over again.  If every little thing I did or didn’t do was judged by the masses, it would be tough, and I would MAKE MISTAKES.

Honestly, I make mistakes all of the time.

TRUTH:  We ALL make mistakes.

Matthew 7:5 of the Good Word says,  “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

###

Sunday night, amongst family and friends, I was rooting for LeBron James like never before.  I was rooting for the 26 year old young man with the weight and hate of the majority on his shoulders.  I wanted to see him smile, because I haven’t in quite some time.  I wanted him to feel joy, but more importantly I didn’t want him to feel anymore hate.

Enough is enough.

LeBron James has shown he isn’t perfect.

Unfortunately, we have also shown how equally imperfect we are as a society.

It’s time for us all to grow up.

####

me vs. MJ aka Michael Jordan Update:

MJ has yet to agree to play me 1-on-1 (if anyone reading this knows Mr. Jordan, please tell him I’m looking for ’em…haha), but I’m still working hard and getting better every day.  I’m really hoping that all of the work translates to the court when I play my next opponent, professional hoopster, Andy Gebru later this week.

Pray for me! I may need every single one of your prayers!

me vs. MJ…the journey continues!  As always, thank you for following along!

With two of the “healthiest” soft tacos on my tray that Taco Bell could put together, I grabbed my drink and slid into a one of the many loudly colored booths that make up the in house eating area.  It had been years since I had taken a seat in the most famous fast food taco establishment ever created, yet I was immediately taken back to my early college days when making a “run for the border” was almost a daily occurrence.

I didn’t just happen to stop by Taco Bell to reminisce in the middle of last month (March).  I was there to meet Ziarekenya Smith, pay for the design I had purchased from him and see what the designer who created the Michael Jordan piece shown above was all about.

This is how the meeting came together.

The Beginning:  “The Dopest Pic I’ve Seen!”-Marcus Jordan:

On March 7^th, I saw this on Twitter:

I follow both Marcus and Jeff Jordan, Michael’s two sons, on Twitter and while I don’t always click every picture they post, I had to see what Marcus was calling “The Dopest Pic I’ve Seen.”

I clicked the link, did the iPhone reverse pinch to enlarge the image and was amazed!  It was an image of Michael Jordan made up on only words.  They were words like “Hard Working”, “Dominance”, “Amazing”, and series of words like, “For the Love of the Game”, “I can accept failure.  Everyone fails.  But I can’t accept Not Trying”, and “Never Give Up”.

I was blown away!  I clicked the favorite button on Twitter so that I could go back later and look at it and then went on with my day.

Time To Find A Picture (A series of great events):

Usually the night before any posting I do here, I am typing in search criteria in Flickr, looking for a picture to use for the next day’s post.  Monday, March 16^th was no exception.  I had written a post titled, “What’s Your End Goal” and since my end goal is playing Michael Jordan 1-on-1, I was looking for a picture of greatness aka Michael Jordan.

It didn’t take long and once again I was captivated by the same Jordan image, Marcus Jordan had tweeted about some nine days earlier.  When I came out of my trance, I went from one link to the other before I was typing up an email, inquiring about buying this amazing Jordan Typeface for my home.

I sent the email at 6:13 pm Monday evening and continued the search for who this designer/artist could be.

The next morning I awoke, checked my email and had a response at 1:11am on my purchase.  I was back to trying to figure out who the creator of this was and using his name from the email I found a Facebook page that said he attended Full Sail University, a school that is just 35-40 minutes from where I live.

One thing led to another and three Fridays ago I was downing two soft tacos at Taco Bell, awaiting Ziarekenya Smith’s arrival.

The Arrival of Mr. Smith

As I was waiting for Smith to arrive, I had no idea how old he was or even what he looked like.  I didn’t know much at all about the gentleman who created this mind blowing design of Michael Jordan.  As I sat there, I still couldn’t believe that the person who created this, who was getting national attention for this, lived this close to me and was about to walk through the door.

He arrived right on time; bright red ball cap pulled down flush to some jet-black ray bans, a red backpack tugging at his red Nike shirt that said simply yet emphatically, “Doing It!”.  He was tall (6’4”), young and hip and it really shouldn’t have been a surprise.

He’s Only 19!!!!

Ziare sat down, pulled is Macbook Pro out of his bag and we began to talk.  What I thought might be a brief meeting, one in which I pay for the Jordan Typeface design I bought from him, turned into two and a half hour conversation about his work, his life, his passion.

The 19 year old that created a Jordan design back in September 2010, and was now getting National attention for doing so, was so much bigger than his awe inspiring design.

I left the meeting motivated and inspired!

I had to write about and do my best to let more people know about the young man from Detroit, Michigan with no car, nor any desire to have one (he’s afraid it might take away from his time designing), the guy with a design factory lodged inside his head (as I saw when he showed me other things he had done), and the man who sprinkled God over ever single part of his life during our meeting.

Ziarekenya Smith may only be 19, but has the wisdom of someone more than twice his age, and more dedication and determination than I have seen in anyone in quite some time.

He’s beyond focused on achieving greatness just like MJ and just like Jordan, Smith is about to be very special in this World.  Here is a little of our conversation from that Friday in March.

Me and Ziarekenya Smith (The Designer of the Jordan Typeface):

me:  How long have you been interested in design?

ZS:  I’ve been interested in designing since I was toddler.  I always had a thing for creating things when I was little.

me:  What made you want to do the Michael Jordan typeface?

ZS:  It’s really self explanatory.  First off it’s Michael and secondly God gave me a vision.  Plus Michael really motivated me as a designer.  He really lives up to hard work, dedication, passion, determination, resiliency and love for the game. I treat and look at designing in that way.

me:  Where did you get all of the text used for your creation?

ZS:  A variety of different Jordan sites.

me:  How long did it take you to design the Jordan piece?

ZS:  15 hours a day for 4 days straight, with little procrastination breaks.

me:  Were you ever able to see MJ play in person or on TV live?

ZS:  I wish I had, but no.

me:  Have you been surprised by the response your MJ work has received?

ZS:  I really have.  I knew it was a good piece, but I never knew it was good enough to catch this many people’s attention.  I just thank God for allowing my work to flow around the internet and to hit all the right places.

me:  What does it feel like to have Marcus Jordan tweet about your design??

ZS:  Most wonderful feeling ever just seeing him tweeting saying this is the dopest picture yet he has seen of his DAD!  It really touched me, I was very honored, because who knows how many designs he has seen of his DAD and yet he said that mine was the dopest!  It’s the best feeling ever!

me:  Do you think he showed his Dad (Michael Jordan)?

ZS:  I hope so, but eventually time will tell!

me:  This has made you sort of a celebrity around campus, I’m sure.  How does that feel?

ZS:  Sort of.  I just feel like I need to live up to the hype.  I don’t want people to think “Oh he just got that one design piece,” no I want to show people I actually do this.  I live and breathe designing everyday, and I’m not a one hit wonder.

me:  Have companies tried to hire you since this went National on Yahoo Sports?

ZS:  Nope, but one of my instructors from “Full Sail University” recommended that I redesign a EA Sports NBA Elite 12 game cover, because he knows the assistant director at EA Sports. He said if you design it i’ll submit it EA Sports for them to check it out.

me:  What message would you have for anyone who wants to create killer designs like you?

ZS:  Just Do It!  Make sure you have a passion for it first, make sure this what your heart desires and make sure you don’t consider designing working.  If you check off on all of that, the possibility of you becoming a great designer has no limits!  That’s just half the part and I don’t know where y’all at in religion, but God has been everything to my designing life.  That’s how my skills as a designer developed at a fast pace.  I just believe in God, believe in myself, and am just working hard every day designing, putting in major hours each day designing.  I’m dedicated and just want to be the best at what I do. I’ll end it with this, the more hours you put into your craftsmanship which is designing will determine weather you’ll be successful at designing or not.

me:  Your official logo is God Inspired Designs.  Where did that come from?

ZS:  The vision came to me at Feb 5, 2011 at 9am in the morning after I got done reading the Bible. That’s where it came to me because I always put God inspired designs at the end of my caption on my designs. So that’s why I decided to make “God Inspired Designs” my official logo till my life ends. The second reason why I wanted to be “God Inspired Designs” is that I finally realized in life it’s not about me at all, and I refuse to take credit that is not mine. I want people to know God gave everything to me in life:  my idea’s, tools, my determination, etc.  I just wanted to embrace God’s name and show people that he is real and not a myth, so when I become successful I don’t have to say it was because of man, I can say it was God, nothing more nothing less.

me:  What does God mean to you, your life and your designs?

ZS:  Everything I mean everything for example the day I put myself first before God that’s the day when my success will end.

me:  When do you graduate from Full Sail University?

ZS:  March, 2012.

me:  What would be your DREAM job?

ZS:  Working at Nike or having my own Company.

[flickr video=5480357522]

(This is a video Smith created to show his love of Nike.  Simply titled, “I Love Nike”, this might just be the kind of thing that lands him his dream job with the brand.  If you can’t see the video, click this link to watch it \”I Love Nike\” (Video))

me:  You also play basketball correct?

ZS:  YES! Love it!!

me:  Do you think you could take me on the court?

ZS:  Yes!  Show me my opponent!  Lol.  

me:  I love your confidence!  I will remember this when we play!!  Ok, what had you rather do:  Hang with Friends or Design?

ZS:  My life is backwards, hard work now to become successful, and have fun and play later when the mission is complete.

me:  What do you think that says about you?

ZS:  Victory is my only option Failure is not.

me:  OK, another one:  Date with Rihanna or Design?  Haha, sorry, had to:)

ZS:  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Designing! because I know it will eventually pay off.

me:  Anything else you would like everyone to know about you?

ZS:  As a Designer I just want to impact the world! Give this world hope and show people if I can make it, they can as well.  Just believe in God and believe in yourself and anything is possible I guarantee.

God Inspired Designs

I left my meeting with Smith feeling like I had just seen Michael Jordan back when he was at Laney High School.  Back before the World knew his name, but the people around him knew he was special.

That’s exactly where Ziare is at this moment.  He’s relatively unknown today, but that won’t last.  This Jordan piece, which is gaining momentum, could be just like Michael’s game winner at UNC, a launching pad to superstardom.

For the bright eyed Smith, who refuses to put his name on his designs these days because as he says, “If it’s good enough, people will find you,” his desire to be the Michael Jordan of design, could have people one day wanting to be the Ziarekenya Smith of whatever it is they do.

He’s special, no doubt.

I drove home following our meeting, picked up my iPad and opened my Bible application.  As I read, I couldn’t help but reflect on how God has led me.  How a tweet led to a meeting, which led to a lengthy conversation about the importance of God in both of our lives.

Smith’s Michael Jordan typeface, proof that it truly is a God Inspired Design.

Smith’s Future is DOPE!

Right now Ziare is just focused on finishing school and becoming the best designer that he can be.

After that, well we all shall see.

After multiple meetings and interactions, I can tell you this.  The young man, who reads the Bible daily because as he says, “If I have time to do everything else, I have time to read the Bible,” has a Future that is as DOPE as one of his God Inspired Designs.

Remember the name Ziarekenya Smith.  He’s about to BLOW UP!

Purchase Your Very Own Jordan Typeface ($7,000)

If you’ve got $7,000 to spare, you too can have your own 36×48 Jordan Typeface hanging on your wall.  Until then, I will remain the only person in the WORLD (other than Smith) who has one!

Now that’s DOPE!

More of Smith’s Designs and Photos:

Ziarekenya Smith’s Contact Information:

Portfolio | Email | Twitter | Facebook Page
(clickable links)

Note: Special thanks to my bro Ziarekenya Smith for the time and insight!  I hope to announce our joint project in the coming weeks!  Shhh, its a secret!!  Stay tuned!  [hint:  helping=exclusive gift]

####

My Comeback Update:

So I made my comeback last week against one of the best ballers in the country, Robert Brown!  Then Saturday I got in three games of 1-on-1 against some normal competition and went 3-o.  I still have a ways to go to get my wind back, but I AM SO THANKFUL and feel SO BLESSED to be back on the court again!

me vs. MJ…the journey continues!  Thanks for following along and helping to spread the word (hint, hint )!!!

After watching this year’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest, I came to the conclusion that I need a Hype Man! (submit resume here)

Hype Man Definition:  Someone who brings excitement and hype before and while an event is taking place.

Kenny Smith is a world class hype man!  Kenny, who was Blake Griffin’s coach at the NBA Dunk Contest, gave a great example of exactly what a hype man is and does.  He had me excited!  He had me anxious to see Blake’s next dunk!  He hyped Griffin up and if you’ve ever seen BG play, he doesn’t really need any help with that (watch here).

It got me thinking.  How great would it be if I had someone before I hit the publish button on every post telling the World, “YOU MUST READ mevsMJ.cooooom!   Kenny Eller is about to share with you Something you’ve Never read beforrrrrrrrre! Prepare to have you mind bloooooowwwwnnn!”

Then again….

The Ramifications of a Hype Man :-/

If you have a hype man, you actually need to be REALLY…REALLY GOOAT! (somewhere between good and great ;-))

If not, the person hyping you may do more damage than good.

Going back to Griffin’s dunks on Saturday.  They were good, but not as special as Kenny “The Jet” pumped them up to be.  For many that resulted in an adverse affect of what the actual goal was.

Example:  I went and saw (for free) the movie, The Green Hornet, before it came out and thought it was going to be the worst movie I had ever seen.  Instead, I LOVED IT!  During the weeks that followed, I hyped that movie to anyone that would listen.  While my expectation was low going in, what do you think the people I hyped the movie to expected?  They expected it to be great, right?

If Blake had just gone out there and dunked, I probably would have went to sleep that night highly impressed.  Instead, I felt a little let down.

But if you’re GREAT!

If you’re great at what you do though, a hype man can take you to the next level!

Mike had Nike and Spike.  That grew to include almost every person who had ever even seen the game of basketball.  We were all MJ’s hype men!

The thing is, Mike Jordan almost always performed well.  So when people heard of his greatness and tuned in or went to see him, they left on the majority of evenings concurring with the hype.

We are our own Hype Man!

If you have a Facebook Fan Page for your blog or company, or Tweet when a new post or product is released, you are your own hype man and rightly so!

If you don’t believe in what you do, who else will?

Friends + Family + Supporters = Hype Man

Who supports you?  Who helps you?  Who spreads the word on your new post or product?  Who cares?  Who hypes you?

These are your hype men/women!!  Make sure you appreciate them and let them know you do!

Be My Hype Man!

If you love what I’m doing here, HYPE ME!  Do so on Twitter, Facebook, through Email, pick up the phone and tell your friends and family!  Find me someone to play!  Tell Mike Jordan about me!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I’m gooat, but I am giving it my all here at mevsMJ.com.

To anyone who has ever passed along something from this site, THANK YOU!

For the rest of you…join the others and be my hype man!

(ps:  I was kind of kidding about the resume part above )

In the aftermath of all that was wrong with me (see injury), something special happened.

On January 13th, I sent the following tweet to Michael Jordan’s two sons, Jeff and Marcus, and a few other notable people:

Will you help my dream, by RT about my blog mevsMJ.com? My goal is to play Michael Jordan 1-on-1:-)

Within a couple of hours, Mark Lee (@MarkLee3D) of Third Day (my favorite band) retweeted my request (Thanks again Mark!).  He was the only person of the seven or eight I sent it out to that did.

That is…until this past Monday!

Some Jordan Love!

I didn’t actually see it until Monday evening, but at 9:11 am on Monday, January 31^st, Jeffrey Michael Jordan (MJ’s oldest son) granted my wish!

A JORDAN TWEETED ABOUT mevsMJ.com!!!!

I was blown away and along with thanking him, I let Jeff Jordan know so through Twitter.   I guess while I sent the tweet on its journey with bags full of hope, I never really thought anyone in the Jordan household would see it, let alone retweet it.   When I first saw the RT, I actually did a triple take to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

Did Jeff and Marcus check out this site?  Has Michael himself now been to mevsMJ.com??

This is proof that if you dare to DREAM, anything is POSSIBLE!

Thanks again Jeff!  If you’re reading, wanna play?

####

Injury Update

Well, I haven’t been healed, but I do feel I was protected.  My hope at this point is that I’m a couple of weeks from getting back on the basketball court for some light shooting, a few weeks from some light playing and a couple of months from being better than ever!  I say all of this still unable to walk, but hey, gotta stay positive!

Again, thank you all for the wonderful support and encouragement!  Your words have meant more to me than you’ll ever know.  Thank you!

If I lost you with all the Twitter talk, check out the Twitter Help Center to understand Tweets, ReTweets, etc.

The school bell would ring, and like death and taxes, we would head to the CLC or local court to play hoops.   On weekends, guys would be lining the sides and baseline at 12th street just waiting for a game.  It was intense.  It’s where we grew up.

During holiday breaks and in the summer, the morning sun would rise up over the horizon signaling another series of games.  I would spend the morning on my parents’ house phone, confirming when my neighbors and friends would be able to come over and play basketball.  In the evenings, at least a couple of times a week, I would meet the normal crew up at the courts and play for hours.   We all loved playing basketball.  It was fun.  It was competitive.  It was what we did.

Between both of the above, my brother and I would play 1-on-1, game after game, or have shooting contests to see who would be the 3pt champion of the day.  Trash talk ensued.  Basketball was our breath.

Where is everyone?

Besides about two nights a week, I can drive by any of the various courts I live around and it looks like the aftermath of a going out of business sale.  Empty.

Where is everyone these days?

Too Many Options?

• +250 cable channels.
• Video Games.
• Cell Phones.
• Computers.

Of the four named, we did have a Nintendo, but the rest weren’t part of society when I was coming up as a kid.  Cable television consisted of a handful of channels, no one had a cell phone, and computers were the things you did simple programming on at school, for an assignment.

I got my first block cell phone while in my freshman year of college.  It was HUGE!   It was so big, my buddy Sam would ask me not to answer it if we were in the car and at a red light (not that anyone had the number but my parents…haha!).

My parents got our first desktop computer around the same time.   In those days, hearing “You’ve Got Mail” was about as cool as it got and if you heard that you had a good day, haha!  There was no buddy lists full of friends, or facebook, or myspace, or twitter, or anything really.

Cable TV was cool, but you could go through all the channels forwards and backwards in about a minute.   Now you could spend an hour if you go through all the drop down menus and information that is displayed.

I feel like an old guy saying this (is 33 old??), but times were more simple and slower.  There just weren’t so many options.

The cream always rises, but what about the rest?

The cream of the crop kids are getting better and better at everything.   That has a lot to do with what’s available in other avenues as far as specialized training, well structured leagues and AAU ball all at a much younger age.

I don’t think many of us ever heard of AAU until later in our high school life.  Camps…well there just weren’t many.

So the best get better and the progression continues, but what about everyone else?   Where are the kids that just love to play basketball?  Where are the kids that may never play one second of college ball?

Does it now come down to basketball or Call of Duty (great game btw)?   Updating your status and tweeting or getting in shots?

Has the “average” player stopped dreaming?   Have the endless options persuaded kids to go with the thing they are best at first?

What are your thoughts?  Where are all the players these days?