Of Lawsuits, Joker and Judson ... And Staying Alive

The Schloss-Blog is coming to you today by sheer luck ... I'm still alive. More on that later.

Today, we celebrate south Florida, the epicenter of the universe. No, not Trump's trial. Rather, the end of two unlikely runs at championships that came up short by the NHL's Florida Panthers and the NBA's Miami Heat.

Both were '8' seeds in their respective conferences and both bounced the top seeds and two more higher seeds en route to their league's championship finals.

Chicago connections abound for both, but for the Heat especially. Heat star forward Jimmy Butler was traded away by the Bulls to Minnesota for current forward Zach LaVine, an all-star and Olympian in his own right.

And he has taken the team nowhere. Butler, however, carried the Heat to the NBA Finals. So, did the Bulls get fleeced in the deal?

Yeah.

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In Montana, Gen Z environmental activists are suing the state for what they term is a lack of action on climate change, which is now damaging the Big Sky State. They say they have the right to a clean and healthy environment in a lawsuit brought by 16 residents, ages 5 to 22. Gen Z is typically described as being between 8 and 23.

This is the first lawsuit of its kind known to make it to trial.

Let's face it, governments across the country - around the world - have failed to adequately battle climate change. Donald Trump calls it "the weather" and the Supreme Court has chipped away at environmental protections, including the narrowing of the Clean Water Act.

If we don't wake up, we will have nothing to which to wake up.

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The Southern Baptists have expelled two churches from their huge, evangelical congregation because they are headed by - gasp, wait for it - female pasters.

One of the churches, Saddleback in southern California, has some 23,000 members.

Is this really how the evangelical elders want to play it? They also voted at their annual convention to embed in their rules that only men may head churches, not because they're biased, they say, but because, wait for it, "...Scriptures say the office of pastor is limited to men," according to Southern Baptist Church President Bart Barber.

Well, and this will get me trouble but who cares: you know why Southern Baptists are opposed to sex: it could lead to dancing.

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In yet another of Fast Company's insightful think pieces, a corporate leader, or perhaps a consultant who I never heard of, says that there are a whole bunch of things than can hamper your management style, if you are a manager, that is.

Among them: you have poor hiring practices; you don't emphasize skills in your hiring evaluations; you're a generally poor leader; you always wind up with stressed employees who report to you; your work environment is inflexible (what does that mean?); you use unclear communications; and you don't promote a team culture.

You never would've thought of those, would you? Yeah, me neither.

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Paul Judson passed away last week.

He was a mainstay on the legendary Alden-Hebron team that won an Illinois High School Association state title in 1952 in what was then the one-class system, topping all the big boys, along with his twin brother, Phil.

Had the honor to cover several games Paul coached at Hampshire when I was rookie sportswriter at what is now part of Pioneer Press. Always a class act and a gentleman. He was drafted coming out of Illinois but did not report to the Syracuse Nationals of the NBA, opting instead for what would become his stellar teaching and coaching career.

RIP, Paul. Kudos to colleague Marty Maciaszek for a great piece about Paul in his Substack column.

Paul Judson was 89.

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I do not feel bad about my golf game (usually shoot in the 90's for 18) when I watch the pros hook and/or slice shots so far off course, all the time.

Just like I do.

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Speaking of sports, Nikola Jokic is the best basketball player in the planet, period!

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Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, which almost wasn't mine. Apparently, I had the week off, according to our playlist and Joltin' Joe Catanzaro was supposed to be sitting in for me.

However, reports of my passing were premature.