The Stack Report 10.13.10 - 11:57pm

Hey, everybody! Welcome to my new spot, Stack’s House. My goal with this site is to create a place filled with all different kinds of news, content and opinions. You will find out the latest on a variety of topics, from sports to cooking to music…and much more than that. I want to relate to all kinds of people, not just basketball fans, so there will be many voices on this site with diverse views to share in discussion. I definitely have opinions, and I had a great experience last year co-hosting a radio show with the same name, Stack’s House, where I got to express my thoughts and my perspective as a player on many issues. I know I wasn’t right all the time…okay, maybe most of the time…but I will admit that other people’s opinions have value, and I want to incorporate them. I’m excited about it, so hope you keep checking us out…and feel free to share your opinions too!
Let’s take a look at the features we will highlight on Stack’s House:

• The Stack Report, which is my weekly blog…I am voicing my opinions on the topics of today, as well as giving insight on what players go through on a day-to-day basis. I find it interesting that reporters often have such strong opinions on things, yet most likely have never been in the player’s shoes. I’m going to talk about what is happening in the world of sports and what is being reported on, but from the perspective of a player who has been competing for the past 15 years in the NBA, alongside today’s ballers. I also want to tell you about all of the things I am up to and involved with these days. I’m learning about new opportunities and seeing what is in store for me as I start the next chapter of my career. I have so many interests…basketball and other sports, obviously, but away from the game too. I love photography, music, cooking, broadcasting. It’s a journey that I’m interested in having you explore with me… from behind the scenes.
• There is the Stack Exchange, where I am conducting a Q&A with a different personality each month. In this month’s Stack Exchange, I stepped out of my comfort zone and interviewed a Duke alum, NBC Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams. I wanted to talk with someone who I admire and respect in the media world and find out about some of the projects he is working on, like his new Web site SportsGrid, one of several new Web sites he recently launched. I thought he could offer me some good advice.
• And then there is my Guesthouse. This is where I invite athletes, celebrities, corporate executives – anyone with an opinion – to have their own blog. This month, we heard from George ‘Iceman’ Gervin. Talk about a legend! I have always looked up to him…and everybody still tries to copy his famous finger roll move! He’s a Hall of Famer, one of the greatest ball players of all time, and I’m glad he is part of Stack’s House.

Here are some realities of recent topics in my opinion…

LeBron-athon

I’m still not sure who this controversy is with? It’s crazy. LeBron made his decision, and he had a right to make his decision. This is like any business. When you sign a contract and provide a service for your organization, once that contract is up, you have the option of joining alliances with a different company if you so choose. In professional basketball, GMs have an opportunity during that period to force a player into another relationship with another company. It’s done all the time and nothing is ever said about that, but when a player fulfills his contract and decides to do something else, all of a sudden it’s controversial.

I don’t even want to talk about the subject with basketball players, let’s talk about it the way it really is…it’s business, it’s big business. LeBron made a business decision for himself that I think is going to be great for him in the long run. He’s not going to have to kill his body over the next 10-15 years, which I see him playing, and he’s going to find a way to win a Championship. There’s too much talent there for that not to happen. All of those guys will benefit from this. Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh…they are going from guys who had to carry the weight of their team every night. Now they can be a complement on any given night or can be that go-to guy on any given night. You hear some of the older players talking about how a guy like Larry Bird or Magic would have never done this. Man please, Larry Bird played with Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. These are the same caliber players as Bosh. Dennis Johnson, the way he performed in the playoffs, Danny Ainge, the list goes on…Cedric Maxwell, this guy was the MVP of the 1981 NBA Finals. So you know all of these teams were stacked, and that’s why they were in the Championships every year. For the Lakers, it wasn’t just Magic. It was Kareem, Worthy, kind of the same thing. It’s baffling to me that they put LeBron on the kind of pedestal that he should want to do it all by himself. I don’t think he felt that way. I think he felt the ultimate way for him to accomplish his goals of winning multiple Championships was to align himself with other talented players as has happened in the past with other great teams.

Who knows how this season will pan out for Miami…you can’t give the Championship to anybody in October. It all depends on how fast it comes together, which it will when you have that type of talent. It’s unchartered territory as to how these guys will be able to complement each other. It was pretty seamless with Boston, they had the right mix of guys. You had a shooter in Ray Allen, a guy who could post-up in Paul Pierce and Garnett was the leader of your frontcourt. It’s kind of the same situation in Miami except out of these three guys, I don’t think any of them consider themselves shooters. I think their success will also depend on some other players coming into the mix. Don’t get me wrong, these guys can make plays all over the floor, I’m not saying they can’t make the open three, but that’s not their strong suit. There are some question marks obviously, but they are confident they will be able to overcome that through sheer talent. I hope their supporting cast comes in and performs at a high level as well.

My Redskins

I’m a Redskins fan, but I’m also intrigued by all the different scenarios that intrigue most sports fans…the Ochocinco/ T.O. thing, Brett Favre, what’s going on with Tiger. With my own team, with McNabb and the whole situation with Coach Mike Shanahan and Albert Haynesworth, I like to chime in. As an athlete and having experienced all kinds of situations, I can often shed some light that the media just can’t.

So, Coach comes in and obviously has to try to set a standard for his team while handling the dynamic of his $100 million player…and they are kind of at odds. Here are my thoughts…

When Haynesworth signed his current deal, he thought they were building the defense around him. Then all of a sudden you have a coaching change and everything you told your $100 million player changes. It changes his outlook and how he feels he can be successful and positively impact the team. That’s just from a defensive standpoint…he wants to play the 4-3 and they want him playing the 3-4. It just sounds like he’s going to get more double teams and not really showcase what he can do. And Shanahan is like, we paid you all this money, we changed the defense, now deal with it. That’s where I think it all started, yet there are so many different stories we are not privy to regarding all the different conversations that went on about this. This is a guy who was still an impact player for you, so where is the balance? There’s a balance and a way of treating star players, and I think there are plenty of coaches who go with the school of thought of ‘what are you going to do for me at game time?’ Then some coaches are adamant about practice, practice, practice. At the end of the day, Haynesworth and Shanahan are still employees, they are not the owners of the team, and obviously you want them working together for the ultimate good of the team. Then you have a guy like McNabb…his comment saying the teams ‘needs’ Haynesworth came out of left field. You have trade talks one day about moving the guy, and then you have the leader of your team coming out and saying we need him in order for us to win.

Man, it’s a little bit of turmoil already for my home team. I’m interested to see how it plays out. But, I must say we are getting it done out on the field. Not too bad a start for my boys. Don’t sleep on the ‘Skins!

Yankees Doin’ Their Thing

I love the Yankees, and we are poised to win it again. We had a few bumps in the road throughout the season, but the team is back swinging. I’m loving the playoffs. Baseball is so hard to follow from the start to the end, I get much more into it when the pennant chase starts. Don’t want to jinx anything, so that’s all I’m saying about the Yankees for now…

I was so disappointed about what happened with Stephen Strasburg this season. It was exciting to have a pitcher like that come in to the league and then he gets injured. When the Nats came to Atlanta to play the Braves, I went to the game. I live in Atlanta and have been to maybe two Braves games. When I saw this guy was coming to town, you know I was going to watch him play. You need those storylines to keep the game going and keep fans excited.

The Stackhouse Kids Take On Public School

First, let me give you a little background on the Stackhouse family. My wife Ramirra and I live in Atlanta with our kids Antonio and Lexi. And, my son Jaye, who lives close by, is in 8th grade and goes to private school, as he always has. Antonio is in 4th grade at a school about 500 yards from our house and Lexi is in 6th grade, middle school. Now, my wife has always homeschooled my two youngest, up until this year. We made a decision to homeschool them because the numbers were off the charts as far as the success of the kids learning in that environment went. At the time, we were a little worried about the social aspect, but between taekwondo, gymnastics and all of their other activities, they’ve always been around other kids.

We decided to send them to public school for the first time this year. The first two weeks of school was an adjustment for everybody. The kids are getting settled and understanding what they need to do. I’ll tell you, there’s so much homework that I wonder what are they doing in school all day. The kids get in and are literally spending four to five hours doing homework…it definitely changes date night for me and my wife, there’s no time for it! Anyway, I was creative when it came to getting my homework done. I would use any break I had to finish it, at school, on the bus riding home. If I wasn’t throwing planes on the bus or acting up, I was doing my work. I knew I did not want to do that when I got home. I wanted to come home and watch my shows, play with my friends, go to football practice. I share those kinds of things with the kids, and Lexi was like, ‘Oh, I guess I do have some time as opposed to talking or texting during free time.’ They know they are going to have to do it, may as well get on top of it while you can. They are also adjusting to the speed of things. When you are working at home, you have time to go at your own pace and go over things. Those are some of the adjustments they have to deal with, but all the teachers are saying they are doing well.

The younger ones kind of know what to expect since their brother has gone through it. Even though I’m the youngest of 11 kids, most of my brothers and sisters were much older than me. I’m 35 and my next oldest sibling is 42, so most of my experiences of going to elementary school were on my own. I didn’t have anybody I could really relate to because when I started school, they were in like 8th grade. It was a lot of trial and error for me. With my kids, they have an older brother to tell them what’s going on. When I look back, growing up in North Carolina, I’m glad I don’t have to do it again.

I’m happy my kids are doing well. Antonio joined the chorus. He told me the other day that his favorite part about going to his new school is riding the bus…and he only catches the bus home! My wife takes him in the morning since it’s so close to our house and it gives him a few extra minutes of sleep. I don’t know what it is, but I guess he feels like a bigger kid on the bus. Lexi plays the piano and now she’s in the orchestra playing the violin. She’s riding the bus too, always lugging all her instruments. She’s got to be the best dressed in her school. Every morning, you hear her coming down with her bangle bracelets rattling. Mom is yelling at them to speed up, telling them to eat like they have somewhere to go. I still have one eye open at that time in the morning, but that’s what I hear everyday. Jaye plays football at his school. He’s a great student too, but he loves sports and competing. We’ve been waiting all summer for football season. I’ll be out there watching his game with bells on. He’s mainly a wide receiver, but they’ve got him all over the place. He plays a little quarterback, plays running back, returns kicks, on defense he plays safety.

It’s funny because I was more of a football guy when I was his age…I fell in love with basketball in high school. I was tall and loved to play, but football was like the guy’s guy sport. I was really good at basketball and it came natural to me, but with football, you had to work at it, out there sweating. Ahhh, I could smell the shoulder pads and helmets right now. I can see understand how parents live through their kids. I know not to put pressure on him and I don’t really talk to him about his football in a serious way. I tell him to have fun, but I see it in him that he doesn’t just want to have fun – he wants to compete, wants to win, wants to be the best. Even during sprints at the end of practice, he wants to win. I’ll sneak up on him in practice and he doesn’t know I’m there, and sure enough, he’s always first in sprints. He wants to be good, so I’m going to try to do all the things I can to give him the opportunity that he wants. At the same time, I let him know I want him to enjoy it and have fun. As far as playing at the next level, those are some things to start thinking about in high school. I’ve been thinking about it too, so it’s not farfetched or anything, but the best thing to do is have fun and everything else falls into place. He’s in 8th grade and goes into high school next year. He is playing JV basketball this year. He’s ahead of the game in basketball, but I still like seeing him on the football field.

This Is the Life

I’m sitting here in my backyard, I call it Shangri La, with my landscaping by the pool. I enjoy sitting back here most days after I work out and reflect on life and the things I want to do moving forward. It’s a fun time for me all the way around…having my wife and kids to share in it and enjoy it with…I’ve got a pretty good gig going on.

Until next time…Let’s go Redskins!