第480期:The Fan

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Wendi: So I wanna know who your basketball team is?

Ken: Who my basketball team is?

Wendi: Yeah.

Ken: Oh, my favorite pro team?

Wendi: Now, like who's your team?

Ken: Oh, OK. I'm from Atlanta so my favorite team is the Hawks, unfortunately. For the past six or seven years, they have sucked it up royally and they haven't been much to cheer for but they're signs of them turning it around. They've got a nice young core. Like we have the slam dunk champion on your team. A nice free agent pick-up recently. Hopefully, in a couple of years, we'll make the playoffs, something to cheer for.

Wendi: Alright, in any basketball game I've ever been to, it's like, at half-time, those cheerleader girls come out and cheer. What's the relationship between basketball and cheerleading?

Ken: It's not the relationship between basketball and cheerleading so much as the relationship between the basketball fan and the cheerleader and that a basketball fan is normally a man, and men like to look at beautiful women moving around I think. That's the relationship. It's just a crowd-pleaser more than anything else.

Wendi: That's an honest answer, Ken.

Ken: I don't think the players are any more motivated than they would be just because some girls are dancing around in skimpy outfits but the fans still love it.

Wendi: Fair enough... Alright, if you think of all the teams you have ever been on, what characterizes the best type of teammate to have?

Ken: The best type of teammate to have is one who is a good leader. I like good leaders, like people who know how to win, know how to get their teammates involved in the game. They motivate you. They praise you when you do well. They'll give you constructive criticism when you're not playing as well as you could be. But ultimately they know the strengths and weaknesses of each of the players on the team and they'll make the most of it based on what they feel is best for the team.