These are the good ole days. Today. Right now. Twenty years from now we are going to look back nostalgically as our kids and their kids wear TShirts with pictures of the Tattoos that were prominent the last few years. In a good natured, mocking way of course.
Twenty years from now, as our kids carry holographic cards in their wallet that store 100 terabytes and rotate pictures on the surface and maintain a complete medical history of themselves, their siblings and every family member having gone to the doctor after 2015, along with every picture or home movie they or their friends have ever taken,theywill look back longingly at the Ipodthey found in grandmas’ closet and wonder how they actually got music on something that big.
Twenty years from now we will look back at today’s sports figures and reminisce about the great players and personalities of the early 2000’s, Shaq, Barry Bonds, Tiger, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, etc, etc, etc. Talking about how great the games were back then.
Even so, twenty years from now we will go to basketball, football, hockey and baseball games in new and improved versions of the arenas we have today for exactly the same reason we go today. It’s fun.
Twenty years from now,media will ask fans what they think about theirfavorite sport andsome, as they do today,willcomplain about how ‘today’s’ players, don’t play as hard or as well as the players from 2005.
That is exactly how it will happen. Because it’s exactly how it happens today.
The NBA does a survey and focus groups about why certain people will or won’t watch the NBA. They respond about how they miss their favorite players and how the game just isn’t the same as it was 20 years ago when the best basketball was being played.
Of course, if you go back and look at the headlines from 20 years ago we saw finals that weren’t even broadcast live on TV. We saw allegations, convictions and lifetime suspensions for drugs. Players who said they wouldn’t play with another player becausehe had the HIV virus. But those were their favorite players.Attendance, a true reflection of interest, at far lower numbers than it is today. Ahh, the good ‘ole days.
Of course this ignorance of the real past isn’t limited to the NBA. I watched a guy throw a no hitter on TV when I was a kid. Loved the player. Only later found out that he was toasted on LSD. In the same city, in my city, my favorite team, drugs were being dealt out of the clubhouse. When those headlines hit, fans reminisced about the good old days of an earlier era. An era in baseballwhen a pitcher can hit a catcher over the head with a bat. Where racism still was rampant against blacks and Latin players. Where players substance abuse was hidden because media and players often hung out and partied together. When kids emulated their favorite players…by chewing tobacco.
‘Back in the day’, no one was ever writing that “this is the best its ever going to be”. We are the futures ‘back in the day’. No one is writing today about how this is the best it’s ever going to be.
Because it’s not.
Sportsisn’t the only entertainment medium that is subject to’The good ole days’ syndrome. We are seeing the same thing with movies. Movie receipts aren’t as good today as theywere lastyear. Of course they are better than they were 2 years ago, but that’s beside the point. So now we are being subjecttostoriesreminiscing about ‘how the movies aren’t as good as they used to be’. How going to the movies isn’t the same as it used to be. Of course people forget all the lousy movies they went to way back when.I paid money to see classics like Smokey and the Bandit. The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh. They are soooo much better than movies being made today. Right?
Twenty years from now, these will be the good old days for going to movies. But nothing will have really changed. People are always going to get out of the house and go to the movies.Everyone will still get cabin fever and want to get out of the house and do something and movies will always be a comparatively inexpensive place to go. Guys will still only be creative enough to ask their dates to go the movies or a game.Families will still need places to go together, so they can say they did something as a family and the movie gives them something to talk about at dinner. Kids will still need a place to go together as a group where they can be cool with their friends and away from their parents, but someplace their parents trust. And at some point around twenty years from now, the movie industry will have a down year and the media will ask people why they aren’t going to the movies as much as they did before, and we will read the see the same stories we see today.
All of this is exactly the reason why it’s so easy to ignore all the “good ole day” stories. It doesn’t matter whether they apply to sports, the movies or anything else for that matter. I ignore them. They are meaningless and worthless.
In the competitive entertainment industry, whether its the NBA and the Mavs, or making movies with HDNet Films or playing movies at Landmark Theaters, the goal is never to give customers the things they reminisce about. The goal is always to give customers a better experience than they have ever had before.
It’s not easy. It’s not the job of our customers to predict how our products and services should look in the future. Customer can tell us how to fix operational and transactional items. They can tell us how to make it easier for them to do things. They rarely, rarely, rarelycan tell us what where our businesses should be next year or after that. Relying on your customers for strategic direction is a recipe for failure. That’s managements job.
That’s what makes the entertainment business so challenging. It’s difficult to come up with something original that puts a smile on a customers face. It’s not easy to invest in something new, knowing it could fail and you have to raise the bar even further to make your customers happy. But that’s the sport of business.
The smart ignore the reminiscing about thegood ole daysand focus on creating unique and improved experiences.
If you do it right, 20 years from now they will write stories about you that will be far better than being called part of “the good ole days”.
Do you feel the recent attack on science, including evolution and stem cell, is a bump or a serious blow to science and science education? If we don’t stay current in technology, it’ll just happen somewhere else, and we’ll get further behind and worse, we’ll lose talented people.
Comment by runescape money -
They contain plaques that say, ’20 odd years ago you could see miles and miles, but due to pollution you can only see a .5 mile. There’ll be a drive for simplicity, specialization, personalization, as people realize there is more to life than buying stuff. Our landfills will be overflowing with 45 years worth of electrical components many not processed for safe disposal.
Comment by wow powerleveling -
Sports leagues (MLB especially) are the only businesses that can get away with saying their old product was better. 🙂
Comment by Marc Lefton -
I’ve told people all my life that these are the good ‘ole days, but now I’m not so sure, since I’m a Yankee fan. I’ve been reduced to watching the Tour de France.
Comment by Elliot Essman -
I’ve told people all my life that these are the good ‘ole days, but now I’m not so sure, since I’m a Yankee fan. I’ve been reduced to watching the Tour de France.
Comment by Elliot Essman -
Mark,
You are 47, I am 59-so I have an extra layer of good old days. I think each 20 years creates that layer. The difference? Life changed even more quickly 40 or so years ago-and my parents hated it!
Comment by tom brann -
My mom, rest her wonderful soul, always told me that these are the good ole’ days, today, and that they’re never going to get any better than they are now, for the most part anyhow. She was right, I liked it better when she was here with me. No amount of time passing will change that so in 20 years time I’m sure I’ll still look back and wish for “the good ole’ days” when she was still alive, just so I could talk to her or hug her one more time.
Just as Pink Floyd rightly puts it, “Shorter of breath, and one step closer to death.” Or Simon and Garfunkel “You know the nearer your destination, the more you’re slip slidin’ away…” How right they are too… It’s as if the more time that passes us by the more we truly lose. Sure, you gain on many different levels over time, such as the collection of material goods, advanced knowledge, and such, but think of all that you’re losing in the process at the same time and then ask yourself what was most important to you in the end, what you’d gained or what you’d lost to gain what you did.
I remember taking the car out for a drive when I was a mere 10 years old, having my own shed with a full bar and nudie mag rack, getting to stay out as late as I wanted, getting to make the choice if I wanted to attend school that morning or spend quality time with my mom at the park instead, watching re-runs of “Combat” in black-and-white late at night with a Tombstone pizza and a six-pack of soda, never being sheilded from or lied to about how terrible and horrific life really can be, and this was all when I was growing up in a small town in the midwest by the name of Gayville. After growing up like that, though I did attend college, I can still sit down and out-smart or out-play most anybody, especially those with masters degrees, on the other side of the table. I’m not very good at surgery or flying commercial airliners though, as I shake at bit too much and I’m quite terrified of heights.
So, yes… In a lot of ways, those were, and always will be, the good ole’ days.
Inkblot
Comment by Inkblot -
Hey Mark,
Any chance that the rumors about you trading Dirk for Shaq are true? Also, would you consider a Wade for the-whole-rest-of-your-roster addition to that trade?
I think that if you couple those two with Zaza Pachulia, James Lang and JaRon Rush, we would be in the finals for at least the next 4 years.
You’re the Man Mark!
The Fur
Comment by Ryan Furlong -
Twenty years from now, the NBA will be bankrupt if ticket prices don’t come down! :O)
Comment by Kerry Kobashi -
Mr. Cuban,
You make some very good points, primarily about how we should not trust the media to paint a picture for us about the past or the present, and that there can both the bad with the good.
However, could there be some truth to the good old days? The NBA for example. Besides anecdotal evidence or the specific statistic you mention (attendance) I think it is safe to say it is worse today.
Your argument basically states that more people are watching, therefor quality must be at least the same.
Actually it could be due to more people having access, better promotion, etc. instead. In fact, the recent NBA finals turns that argument on its head. Many fans have said those games were memorable and well played, but few people watched.
Of course it can be tomato – toemato argument, but I will take Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Dr. J over Shaq, Kobe, and any other one name “superstar” the NBA currently packages, short of Michael Jordan.
I agree that there is the good with the bad for both times, and if we wanted to we could make a list of cocaine vs. steroids, etc. but the NBA has watered down its talent with too many teams, and desperately pushes too many mediocre players hoping to find the next MJ media gold mine.
Comment by A. Morgan -
Mark, I know you read these comments. If you want the future to think back and really see this as the “bad old days”, think about transhumanism. Singinst.org is just one of many organizations that take the far-sighted approach.
Comment by Ryan Keppel -
I respectfully disagree, Mark.
Movies now aren’t as great as they were way back then…go look back at the year of 1982 alone…go see the top grossers of the 80s period…the films had heart, many were far more creative (ie Back to the Future)..than what we’re getting today. Some were visionary. You don’t see that now…studios are remaking the same sh*t over and over…Bewitched anyone? The Honeymooners anyone? The Amityville Horror? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? The Bad News Bears?
As far as sports…I admire Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax over Mark McGuire, etc….I’m one of those kinda sports guys…when it was about the purity of the game…it was completely raw talent at the bat.
Comment by BrettB -
Mark:
I agree with your observation that customers rarely tell you what your future products should be. Christensen talks about this in “Innovator’s Dilemma” Doesn’t mean you don’t have to listen to your customers, but as you say, they’re going going to tell you what needs to be fixed in the current offerings. Every once in a while you are blessed with a customer or an employee who sees things in a radically different way. The challenge is to know when you’re hearing a good idea and taking action.
Toffler speaks about the widening gulf between the Haves and HaveNots, and twenty years ago I heard him say that gulf was going to be defined by access to technology. As Deanna reminded us in post #21, it would be nice to have a time when we didn’t need money or lawyers (or a police force or a military). For that to happen, we have to figure out how give everyone a fair shot at the brass ring.
I’m not talking about a socialist utopia. But I am talking about effective programs to ensure that every kid can have a decent education and good shot at a job which is meaningful and pays well. This isn’t a liberal position. I want those kids to grow up to be my customers, not my tax burden — that’s all.
It’s not gonna happen until we get our population under control. “An education is the best birth control,” said a friend recently. In societies where women have equal opportunity and equal respect, the birth rates are much lower than in the “barefoot and pregnant” cultures (a phrase from my WV roots).
American cannot be the land that sucks up all the poor immigrants — at least not if we’re also exporting all of our high wage jobs overseas. It’s getting to be the point that those of us who are working are supporting ourselves, our families, a couple of retirees on Social Security, a kid in the ghetto and a few refugees.
20 years from now, America will be a second-class country, cowering in the shadow of the Asian powerhouses — if we don’t get our shit together soon.
Comment by Paul Lambert -
A couple of days ago, my boyfriend served you at his restaurant in Vancouver. This is rather a tough job for him occasionally (despite his generous and devastatingly amusing personality), and it was pleasing to see him come home with a giggle and a story about a humble, entertaining human being. I suppose I could say alot more, but I mostly would like to say thank you.
Comment by Sarah -
The NBA is on a decline and will probably continue. I recently read a poll that 80% of USA Today readers (pretty suggestive of America) prefer NCAA Basketball over NBA. Also note that merchandisers are slowly moving to college sports as well. I think EA just released an NCAA Basketball and Football title (they only had pro sports games before) and SnapTVGames.com has a DVD game for NCAA Basketball trivia and one for NCAA Football trivia. Of course, I’m a college fan, so I’m trying to justify my own front; but the statistics are worth considering.
Comment by Jason Dollar -
20 years from now the nba will be drafting middle school students. I can’t wait for the first reality show that follows the life of these middle school students getting drafted.
Comment by Johnny -
“If you ever want to do television (non-reality), let me know.
Paul Guyot”
haha… That comment was so awesome. Here’s a reality check for you Paul.
– Mark is a billionaire
– Mark is on TV at least once a week
– He’s produced and starred in his own TV series
– He is a founder of a television network
– He has more television contacts than you’ll ever have
Paul, you should probably sit really close to the phone. I’m sure Mark will call the second he reads your comment!!! 🙂
Comment by KC -
20 years from now, we’ll all be talking about the good old days when we drove cars.
We’ll tell stories about how we used to use lawn mowers that you could ride on. We’ll talk about how we used to be able to just get onto an airplane and fly anywhere on the planet in just a few hours. We’ll talk about how we used to communte for 2 hours by ourselves in a Ford Excursions that sucks up gas like there’s no tomorrow.
We’re like heroin addicts, but our supply is running out. The withdrawls are going to be painful. Go to google and search for “peak oil”.
I think you’re right when you say these are the good days… Ignorance is so bliss!
Comment by Peak Oil is Coming -
Twenty years ago, I was exactly 7 years old (shameless birthday plug).
That was the year my parents bought our first VCR. We watched TV from antenna. We played video games that have 8-bit sprites and synthesized bleeps. We mess around with our IBM XT. Movie shown in theater was actually quite crappy by today’s standards. We taped music from radio, and occasionally, from records or cassettes.
Fast forward 20 years.
The biggest change is certainly the connectedness of people and data, both wired and wireless. Research is now feeding a few keywords into the search engine, instead of searching through library catelogs. You can find out a lot about something, some place, or someone, if you know where to look.
Other than that, life, and people are still pretty much the same. Kids still go to school to learn English and science and history in the same classroom and maybe the same teacher as students 20 years ago. (I’m not saying the current education system doesn’t need change.) Adults still spend many hours at work. Dinner still needs to be cooked, house still needs to be cleaned. Garden still needs to be tended, and car still needs to be driven. If someone from 20 years ago time-travel to the current point in time, the adjustments are minimal.
There is no reason to expect anything truly revolutionary will happen next 20 years. Most likely, technology will advance in a nice, evolutionary pace. People’s minds, and the overall culture, aren’t well adapted to sudden and drastic changes.
But then, I still want my multi-terabyte credit card-sized storage in my wallet. 🙂
Comment by Cindy Wong -
Of course he’s reading it. But if he starts replying in his comments all of a sudden everyone wants something out of him.
Comment by Ryan Keppel -
Just found this blog. If Cuban’s really reading this, hello and you’re the best thing that’s happened to the crappy NBA since Jordan left the Bulls.
If you ever want to do television (non-reality), let me know.
Paul Guyot
Comment by Guyot -
“Twenty years from now, as our kids carry holographic cards in their wallet that store 100 terabytes and rotate pictures on the surface and maintain a complete medical history of themselves, their siblings and every family member having gone to the doctor after 2015, along with every picture or home movie they or their friends have ever taken, they will look back longingly at the Ipod they found in grandmas’ closet and wonder how they actually got music on something that big.”
Mark, twenty years from now life could be as different as dreams are from waking hours today. Those holographic cards won’t be in their wallet, they will be part of their brain. That’s when things get very interesting! The movement of transhumanism is small now but could change…everything.
“The NBA does a survey and focus groups about why certain people will or won’t watch the NBA. They respond about how they miss their favorite players and how the game just isn’t the same as it was 20 years ago when the best basketball was being played.”
Well I miss when the Blazers had their playoff run. Locally, the best basketball is not in Portland anymore. But overall people might feel this way.
“Twenty years from now, these will be the good old days for going to movies. But nothing will have really changed. People are always going to get out of the house and go to the movies. Everyone will still get cabin fever and want to get out of the house and do something and movies will always be a comparatively inexpensive place to go. Guys will still only be creative enough to ask their dates to go the movies or a game. Families will still need places to go together, so they can say they did something as a family and the movie gives them something to talk about at dinner. Kids will still need a place to go together as a group where they can be cool with their friends and away from their parents, but someplace their parents trust. And at some point around twenty years from now, the movie industry will have a down year and the media will ask people why they aren’t going to the movies as much as they did before, and we will read the see the same stories we see today.”
Could be. For me, I just found out how movies are actually 8 or more channels–not the 5.1 on DVDs. You have to sell that part–and put some digital projectors of course!
“All of this is exactly the reason why it’s so easy to ignore all the “good ole day” stories. It doesn’t matter whether they apply to sports, the movies or anything else for that matter. I ignore them. They are meaningless and worthless.”
It is a matter of being them being short-sighted.
This is a great essay. You’re a breath of fresh air from such a powerful person. Don’t let people get you down who only think backwards (there are far too many out there). Keep looking ahead. Too bad I’m stuck in Portland with the overpaid Jail Blazers! I hope my comments add an amount of insight to your blog.
Comment by Ryan Keppel -
I have been so turned off from basketball and with the pettiness of the players, that I won’t even watch it anymore.
In fact, I recently wotrked with a kids charity and was looking for some help from my Local NBA team. The local MLB team helped out, the local Arena Football team helped out. The NBA team was snide and condescending. I don’t think the NBA feels any need to improve their image at all. They don’t even try.
I think this year will be remembered as one of the worst years for the NBA. I really hope the coming years are betterm so there will be some good old days to reflect upon….or we can just skip thi time period and keep talking about Jordan.
I loved going to ballgames with my dad when I was kid. Now it breaks a family of four just to get nosebleeed seats. Not that the NBA is really family entertainment anymore.
If we can’t afford to go to the game and the players attitudes make you turn the channel, will anyone even be talking about basketball in 20 years?
Comment by Crackpot Press -
At the ripe old age of 52, I have only to say, “Yep. It’s true.”
Selket
“Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinis alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes!”
Comment by Selket -
Interesting blog!
Comment by Jessika -
…and people will say ..they don’t make blogs like they did in the old days….(hopefully they will still be able to link to blogmaverick in 20 years 🙂 )
Comment by Steve McCormack -
I figure the future will be full of new sports that change the nature of our sporting experience. Or at least, I hope so. Not basketball, of course. That’ll be alive and well and the NBA will likely realize that you were right about a lot of what you’ve been saying.
Comment by Ron -
i wouldnt be so bold with those predictions, 50 years ago scifi movies showed people in jetpacks. there was a show in over a decade ago called beyond 2000 that showed concept vehicles and various innovations… most of which never came to fruition. now its 2005 and all i want to know is where is my jetpack?
Comment by harris -
Mark,
As the leader of a new church, you can’t imagine the practical applications this has to building a 21st century church that is Real Rellevant and Refreshing to people.
THanks for the great insight.
Comment by Monty -
Amen Mark!
Everyone is discontented. It’s part of the human condition. The media is especially rampant and basically spoon-feed us our opinions. The whole country blew up after the Pistons/Pacers incident and many pointed this is a sign of the apocalypse for US basketball. Ron Artest is the devil, etc. It was really the media that blew it out of control. Sensationalism sells more copies then anything else does these days. No one wants to read about how good a player is for their communities, instead it’s allegation city. These are the same people who stand in the lines at the supermarket and laugh at the audacity and foolishness of Sun, Star, and Globe… Brangelina! Jen w/ Vince! Bennifer! The same people who shun this sort of media frenzy are the same ones who feed the media in terms of sports stories. ESPN is guilty of it, NBC, players, owners, et al are very guilty of sensationalizing anything and everything. Things may seem worse off now because there is no good reason to hide anything bad. Bad news sells. Sensationalism sells. The media controls everything.
Comment by Matt Hallberg -
Right on the nose Mark. I’d add that this isn’t even limited to the entertainment industry or any industry. People read about a kidnapping and wonder “Why is this happening so much now?”. Really, it’s been happening forever. Technology allows us to report on happenings instantaneously, so while it appears that *more* bad things are happening, really they are just being reported to more quickly and to more folks than in the past. I am thankful that kidnappings, murder and information in general is spread instantaneously or else we wouldn’t have any idea what is going on (just like the old days).
Comment by Jason -
I don’t believe in the philosophy of the “good ole days”. It is a way to pigeonhole people, and dismiss them. The folks that talk about the “good ole days”, are usually the same folks that were complainers when they were younger.
My parents thought the 30’s were pretty fabulous; to each their own.
It is fun to watch the sci-fi films of the 50’s and 60’s, they often reference the time period we are living in now. I’m still waiting for the jetpacks. 🙂 The Next Generation of Star Trek had an eposide where Caption Picard had to explain to someone that was frozen for over 300 years by cryogenics that money and lawyers no longer existed. It is hard to think someone could be nostalgic about the later. 🙂
I stopped listening to the MegaTrends folks, Tom Peters; even Harry Dent is annoying. They’re like that guy who wrote Dow 36000; more fluff than substance.
Do you feel the recent attack on science, including evolution and stem cell, is a bump or a serious blow to science and science education? If we don’t stay current in technology, it’ll just happen somewhere else, and we’ll get further behind and worse, we’ll lose talented people.
In 20 years think where the demographics will be (and traffic congestion). The 6 million dollar man, will become reality, but it will be more like the 230 million dollar man and the government will use bio-nanochips for monitoring citizens. Have you been to our National Parks lately. They contain plaques that say, ’20 odd years ago you could see miles and miles, but due to pollution you can only see a .5 mile. There’ll be a drive for simplicity, specialization, personalization, as people realize there is more to life than buying stuff. Our landfills will be overflowing with 45 years worth of electrical components many not processed for safe disposal.
I hope we are able to find renewable clean energy and are able to kick oil, energy companies allow excess solar energy – or other environmentally friendly energy – captured by residents to enter the grid, and we don’t foul up our water and aquifers and our planet too much, and oh, world peace 🙂
Comment by Deanna -
Mark. You rock! Nuff said. Actually I’ll put together something rather long and (hopefully insightful) later. Love stuff like this–more of it will keep me coming back here.
Comment by Ryan Keppel -
Ah the good old days. . .I worked in a movie theater for 2 years roughly 7-8 years ago. We all thought the tickets cost too much, and now it’s even worse. If you’re looking for a simple, stupid way to get people to the theaters comes down to the price of tickets and food. I understand the margins and the profit of 12 cents of costs equaling $4 of price, but thats not important.
Movie ticket pricing for the first weekend, first week can and should be high, that’s when most movies make their money. But during the 2nd week the movie is out, on the weekdays lower the price $2-$3. There are movies that I won’t pay $10-12 to see, and often I can’t get to a theater for a matinee showing due to work et al. So if new movies, 10 days or so into their release, were $7 (or so) at night, you’d have more foot traffic in to buy the $4 popcorn because they’re getting the movie pricing that they remember “from the good old days.” And maybe after 3 weeks, when movies are normally on the way out of theaters, lower the weekend pricing as well. I learned a bit about distribution agreements since my time there and that pricing is partially up to the theater; I may be wrong, but I doubt it.
Comment by Steve Brown -
I’d like to see more of what you think it’ll be like 20 years from now in just the IT world. It amazes me everyday the new gizmos, size of hard drives, cpu speeds, etc.
Comment by Brian -
Easy Mark. Smokey and the Bandit is still my favorite movie. I can’t wait till the next 20 years get here.
Comment by Jason -
The Good Ole Days are ok, but you just can’t live there totally. Remembering the past is fun and often entertaining. However, there are probably more bad things about the old days than good. Only because we are still moving forward in a positive direction as a society, or an industry such as sports. If you really look at the big picture, the now, and hopefully the future will be far better than the old days, and the now.
————————————–
http://www.activsoftware.com
Comment by Rob Thrasher -
yay for the fun part (creating unique and improved experiences)
Comment by bravezila -
Twenty years from now Michael Jordan will shock the world when he reveals that he has 12 cloned versions of himself that have been super trained and are now ready to play pro ball. Being a shrewd business man, he’ll be sole owner of the Washington Wizards and he’ll of course rename them the Washington Clones. The Clones will then go on to win more championships than the Celtics.
Comment by Mike Didj -
Considering I will be 70 in 20 years, I suppose these are the good old days. Twenty years ago weren’t bad. And 30 years ago when I was in the Navy were pretty good too. But we get a lot of good and bad from all times of our lives and make the best of it. Thanks for all you have done with the Fallen Patriot Fund.
Comment by Dick -
I say that 20 years from now we should look back
at all the social issues and say thank (insert
your version of a higher being) that we now have
equal education or our children would ask
why did we have to “pay” for healthcare, you know
stuff like that.
I know all this is a downer on
such a holiday but this being independence day one
of the most important ideals we have is the American
Dream and now that dream is all about being the
Anorexic celebrity with the most houses and
strangest reality show. (No offense Mark Cuban)
but I think we all just have to shift our
priorities.
Realize this our number one export
to the rest of the world is now entertainment a
couple of decades ago it was hope. Sorry to be
such a buzzkill just wanted to put that in ‘y’alls’
ears. Have a safe & great fourth of July to all.
Ours was amazing here in Sicily… (don’t be jealous)
Terry Armistead
“With great power comes great responsibility”
Uncle Ben…Not the rice guy
In boca lupo
Comment by Terry Armistead -
In twenty years the Mavs will have the biggest dynasty in sports history, with 11 championships, and will be viewed as americas team….
Comment by Miles Cunningham -
LOVED this entry!!! good one mark.
what have u been up to this summer?!
Comment by cali -
Mark, excellent point! The good ole days syndrome as you call it is very much part of human nature. It’s cousin to another syndrome called ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’.
It’s in our very nature to be discontent about what we presently have. Sometimes we compare it to the past and think we had it better in the good ole days. Other times we compare ourselves to the Jones’ and can’t stand that they got nicer stuff.
But both of these are just the negative response to something deeper – our never-ending thirst for more things and better things.
What we already have is never enough. We always want newer tech gadgets, trendier fashion, and more convenient ways to do things.
And this constant thirst is the very seed of consumerism. It is why there are economies.
Yes, there will always be a certain percentage of us stuck forever in the past. But we can build businesses around making them happy too. Oh, you think the sitcoms nowadays aren’t as good as the ones in the 70’s? Ok, here’s a season of Brady Bunch you can watch on DVD for 40 bucks.
To businesses, people who aren’t happy with the present create great oppotunities. If you find a way to fulfill their needs, they will be happy to hand you over some cash. It’s much harder to build businesses around people who are totally happy and content with what they already have.
Comment by Victor -
“The theater association calculates that individual ticket sales rose 66.86 percent between 1970 and 2004 – when U.S. population grew 43.38.The same report showed Americans went to the theater on average 4.5 times a year in 1970; in 2004, the average was 5.2.
According to the theater association and the Motion Picture Association of America, since 2002, fans are buying more tickets than at any time since 1959.”
The only constant in film popularity is attendance and not box office so why the industry continues to utilize b.o receipts as its gauge is beyond me. With theater prices continuing to go up, I would rather see a 5PM matinee before dinner than the reverse. But BO Reciepts would show better if I went to the evening show vs the matinee.
Comment by Bearman -
My daughter was born 20 years ago June 4th. To commemorate the occasion, I bought a USA Today. I looked at that USA sports page today. The lead story was an update about the 3rd game of the NBA Finals between the Celts and Lakers. Point: look at the calendar. The problem with the NBA today is simply they have come to a point where the season is just too long, too tedious, too meaningless. In other words, not fun. The product is cheapened. Play 60 games and have 8 teams in the playoffs, and then you’ll see some interest.
Comment by Mark Mooney -
I am only 24 and I am already talking about the good ol days in the late 80’s. Prime example, Ty Cobb went and attacked fans in the stands when he played in the early 1900’s. Everyone in the “Media” was commenting how players today have changed after the Pistons-Pacers brawl. But players have been doing this for years.
Things don’t change, just the cast of characters. The hisory has a tendency of being seen with a rose colored tint.
bg
Comment by brandon -
Ditto great topic Mark – it’s pretty amazing the number of entertainment options available these days – heck, it makes you wonder if all people did in previous generations was stuff like http://www.watching-grass-grow.com/
I didn’t see you mention a plug high-def, but I’ll do it for you … and just as that scratchy black-n-white looks like … welll … crap now, I’m sure that the next generation will look at the current NTSC TV quality as … welll … crap also! 😉
Comment by Ron -
This is a great topic 🙂
As Omar was saying, hopefully in 20 years the Mavs win a Championship but even if they dont, no regrets, I love this game and I love this Maverick team through good times and bad! MFFL!
Comment by Aaron Mackey -
So true Mark….it’s also like that with older folks and parents………”back in the day it was better because of blah blah blah”……….hopefully in 20 years we will have a few MAVS NBA TITLES to talk about and then i will guarantee you these will have been the GOOD OLE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time will tell!
Comment by Omar S -
twenty years from now ill be 35. The world will be so much differnt, which is petty scary if you think about it….
Comment by Miles Cunningham -
Happy 4th to you and the family…and twenty years will go sooo fast.
Comment by Cav -