I always thought it was nice that the Joker took the time to remind Lieutenant Eckhardt it is important to think to about the future. Of course, he followed up the advice with an immediate gun shot to the chest, so there was not a lot of time for Eckhardt to actually think about said future. But still, there is a lot to be said about planning for the future, so it was good advice nonetheless. In today's society, a society that strives on instant gratification, we often forget about the importance of looking towards the future. From time-to-time, I can be as guilty of this as the next person, and that is after four years of economic classes that pounded the importance of long-term planning down my throat.
Take my job for example. My feelings for my present position have been well documented on the pages of GameTime, TBD©; after all, they are the reason I started this little beacon of wonder. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with my job (love might be a strong word, but the saying isn't like/hate . . . ). I may not like the specific type of law I am currently practicing, but I really do enjoy the people I work with and the laid back office environment is a plus. I have realized, however, that whenever I think about work, I tend to focus on my day-to-day dissatisfaction as opposed to the long-term perspectives I have. Staying here means that I am only three to four years away from making partner, something not possible at the others firms I have been looking at. I also have failed to notice that there are short-term changes I can make that would make it possible to achieve my long-term career goals here, with people I enjoy working for. By focusing on my long-term career goals, and making the necessary changes in my day-to-day activities to point toward those goals, I can have everything I want here. That is like winning the lottery (or not . . . a Mega Millions jackpot that would net me about $141.3 million is probably a little better, but if I only have a one in 175,711,536 chance of winning that, I probably should just stick with the job thing . . . thoughts?)
Of course not all long-term planning is planning for the rest of your life. "Long-term" is a very subjective phrase. Long-term planning can be anywhere from a few hours, a few days, to many years (as with my career). My good friend Barney Stinson, for example, is a man who always seeks to accomplish his short-term goal (finding an attractive woman to hook up with) with his long-term plan in mind (how to escape in the morning undetected and without fear of future concentration). Barney's conquests are, in a word . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . legendary. His long-term planning may only be for ten to twelve hours in advance, but by making those necessary plans, he executes his game plan with near perfection.
But here is the best part about long-term planning: if you establish clear, reasonable goals and make smart decision with those goals in mind, it is possible to achieve what you thought might take many years much sooner. And that, my friends, is where we find the 2008-2009 Los Angeles Kings. Clearly, this young team still has a long way to go (as evidenced by Tuesday night's 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche), but they have come along way already.
You may recall back in early October, I boldly predicted that the Kings would be contenders for a playoff spot late into the season but would ultimately fall short. What was I thinking? I am here today to amend that prediction: the Los Angeles Kings will be the eighth seed in western conference come playoff time. I know the Kings are currently one game under .500 (11-12-4 . . . personally I count that as 5 games under .500, they are overtime loses after all . . . but that's not the lingo of the league), and currently sitting eleventh in the west, so please allow me to explain.
The early months of Murray II's reign have been nothing short of fantastic. He has managed to convince this younger team that the key to winning is not just scoring a lot of goals, but playing defense in all three zones of the rink. As a result, the Kings rank among the league leaders in shots against per game and penalty killing, an area of their game that was abysmal over the past two season. Murray II is so confident in his young team, he managed to beat me to punch, calling his team a playoff team a full five days before I did so here today.
Everything has not as well as I predicted back in October. Jason LaBarbara struggled in his first ten games as the number one goaltender, and Brian Boyle was sent back down to the Monarchs to develop his game more. Thankfully, Erik Ersbery, last season's late surprise has risen to the challenge and established himself as the Kings' clear number one goaltender. And Boyle's time with the big club was not terrible, he just needs to learn to use his huge six foot six inch frame to his advantage. I am confident he will get a call up soon and will show that his numbers from the last month of last season were no fluke. While the Kings are certainly not lighting the lamp at a record pace, the return of Boyle's offense would only be an added bonus. Frolov continues to show prove that he is a 35 to 40 goal scorer, regardless of what the "experts" say, and Brown is on pace to set career highs in all categories for the fourth straight season. Kopitar just continues to do what Kopitar does (that is, of course, leading the team in scoring) and O'Sullivan has shaken off his slow start and is starting to regain his 2007-2008 scoring form (missing training camp during a holdout doesn't help). And I have to mention Kyle Quincey, a defenseman claimed off of waivers from the Detroit Red Wings. He has added much-needed depth to the defense, proving to be a top-four NHL defender, and brought some offensive punch to the blue line (leads the team in assists).
But the Kings' all-star for the first third of the season has got to be rookie defenseman Drew Doughty. Doughty, you may recall, was the Kings' first round pick (2nd overall) in the 2008 draft. He turned nineteen (you read that right, 19) two days ago. All he has done over the first 28 games is lead the Kings in average time on ice, play a solid two-way game, play significant roles on the power play AND penalty kill, and has put up a respectable ten points (3 goals, 7 assists). Did I mention this kid was only nineteen? It is crazy to think that he is only going to get better as the season goes on and the scoring touch he showed in the juniors will come around.
A real man is able to admit his mistakes and must I do that now. I wanted Dean Lombardi to take offense with the number two overall pick. I thought we needed someone who could make an instant impact, and I did not think a young defenseman could do that in the NHL. I thought the transition from juniors to the big league was much easier for an offensive player. Well, apparently there is a reason DL's master plan is working, and I am here blogging about it. DL has stuck to his rebuilding plan, never wavered, stared down angry season ticket holders, and put together an amazing group of young, talented players. He asked the fans to be patient for three to five years, and most were patient for one. Well, here we are, three years into DL's plan, and the future is nothing but bright for my favorite franchise. DL though in the long-term, put together a plan, made all his short-term decisions based on that plan, and we are now beginning to see the results of his plan sooner than we anticipated.
Do you think Lombardi knows anything about professional football? I know of an NFL team that is in need of some solid long-term advice . . .
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