28 February 2006

In The Business of Failure (CS)

Isaiah Thomas is a madman. Or at least most Knicks fans seem to think so at this point. Ever since assuming control as the Knicks's General Manager, Isaiah Thomas has made terrible decision after terrible decision resulting in one of the most visible teams in the league becoming the most abysmal as well. Following his recent trade for Stevie Francis, the conspiracy theories just started flying. Just look at the e-mails pertaining to it that Bill Simmons got. Theories range from Thomas having a personal vandetta against the Knicks to getting some sort of kick-back on the rediculous contracts he signs to even Bill Simmons paying Thomas off for easy column fodder.
Why are they grasping at rediculous explanations? Because the current situation defies explanation. It will be years before the Knicks are under the cap, all their future draft picks of any use have been dealt away, and they are saddled with mediocre players with zero chemistry and overblown (and impossible to unload) contracts. A team this stuck in the mud needs a rebuilding process, but Thomas has dealt away all the building blocks already. Knicks fans are understandably confused. Where else can you find someone continually failing in one major endeavor after another only to be appointed a position of power that he screws up beyond even the most pessimistic expectations and yet taking no responsibility and meeting with no censure? Ohhhhh yeah! The White House!
The comparison between these two pathetic businessmen is almost eerie. Both G.W. Bush and Thomas were screwups in many if not most of their former roles. Thomas failed while in charge of the CBA and the Toronto Raptors and certainly underachieved as coach of the Pacers. Bush failed as an entrepeneur in oil and baseball (plus he was apparantly a bit of the problem drinker/coke snorter back in the day... but that at least I can probably forgive him). And yet both have been given an extra chance at the highest level possible... and sent everything in each of their respective cases to hell. You even have the comparison of Michael Brown and Larry Brown serving as scapegoats for Bush and Thomas, respectively.
In Thomas's case it's extra confusing that he doesn't know how to put together a good team since he played on one for so long as one of the greatest point guards of all time. In Bush's case it's extra depressing because it's bad enough that he doesn't realize you can't really run a country like a business, much less run it like a totally inept businessman.
The worst part is that both Knicks fans and American Citizens are complaining and calling for the heads of these guys and yet nothing ever happens. What do these guys have to do to get reprimanded and/or fired? Show up to work naked? We all know that there's no way in hell the average joe could get away with screwing up at his job as much as these jokers without being sent packing. The only thing we're left to wonder is how they got so dumb. Or maybe they are just maniacal madmenl.