Gilbert Arenas - The Takeover

Hands down, I have a new favorite blog.

Do you know Gilbert Arenas? If you don't you should.

He's the starting point guard for the Washington Wizards. A two-time All Star. 29 PPG last year, good for fourth in the league. Wears the number "0." Takes off his jersey at the end of every home game and throws it in the crowd before walking into the locker room shirtless. Gives bizarre but disarmingly honest quotes after games. On former teammate Larry Hughes' return from injury in 2005 remarked: "I don't want to see him come back like Ma$e did and be a flop."

This man has a blog and it is the most compelling thing I've read on the internet since that one time I saw that one message board where people talked about stuff.

His blog is a lot like his game: creative, eccentric, daring, exciting and completely self-absorbed (though what blogger isn't?).



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On the upcoming 2006-2007 NBA season, a season he has publicly dubbed "The Takeover":
The Takeover is just about everything. From taking over the city, I'm trying to take over the league, taking over sponsors, taking over you know ... Just the industry of everything ... Getting buildings in my name, getting leagues in my name ... This is the time where, you know, me as a person is gonna go get bigger.

On the fact that he wore a robe (yes, a robe) to opening night this year:
I was planning on doing it last year, but I just thought the way this year was going, it's just The Takeover. I'm trying be mentioned. If I came out in that robe and had a bad game, they was gonna make fun of me. That's how I was getting pumped for the game. I want all of this to come back on me. A lady made it for me for my birthday two years ago. I used to use it when I used to beat Chucky Atkins in dominoes. I used to come out to the gym after I'd beat him and I'd say, "I'm the king!" and I'd hold the belt. And Chucky used to die laughing from it.

On his recent charity work in Washington D.C. and his future political aspirations:
I'm doing a thing for the D.C. metropolitan area called Scores for Kids, wait, no, Scores for Schools, so every point I score at a home game, I donate a hundred bucks to that school. So, if they would have added up the home games last year I would have owed them probably $120,000. It was just for me to help better our public schools and our private schools out there. You know, help them fund to keep kids in school, keep kids wanting to come to school because you know, it's the young generation that's going to help us grow old so we have to better their lives.

James Brown was excited to be a part of the whole movement that I call The Takeover that I'm trying to just ... One day run for mayor! In Washington, but that's a long way, that's 30 years from now.

On his other business ventures:
Right now, me and DeShawn Stevenson are collaborating. We're going to start a talent agency called 0-2 Talents and we're going to start it out by having a model calendar.

We're going to have female models, we're going to do little kid modeling calendars. Just, we're trying to do everything with little kids, and with AAU teams, we're going to have a lot of AAU teams. We're just going to be a talent agency, just me and him. We're starting it off, we're kicking it off by having a calendar of some of the top celebrity women and models out there.

We'll include whoever we think are popular, good role models. I don't want to confirm names yet, because we're still in the process of doing that right now. I don't think there's been any NBA player that's ever did this, that were actually basically agents while they were playing. I'll be busy, but that's why we hire people to run our business.

On the new Wizards uniforms:
I like them. It's 10 times better than that, what is it? Aqua-blue?

On vitamin water:
I'm signing a deal with Vitamin Water. That's all I drink is Vitamin Water. I'm making deals, I'm making progress.

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In all sincerity, no sarcasm, this stuff is enthralling. At least I think so.

Not in the way that you might assume, though. I'm not here to mock his grammar, braggadocio, or intelligence. The troublesome cultural notion of "boy, professional atheletes sure are stupid and irresponsible" is usually race and class condescension miscast as innocent fun. I don't intend to perpetuate that.

No, what I find interesting is that he carries himself more like a self-promoting rapper than a basketball player. Most NBA players will pepper their public quotes with stock, rote, boring images like "we really competed as a team tonight" or "we need to execute down the stretch" or the dreaded invocation of deity: "I just gotta thank God for helping me throw down that vicious dunk on Speedy Claxton's head tonight."

Gilbert isn't interested or capable of talking that way. He's more akin to Damon Dash, Jay-Z or 50 Cent than Lebron James or Carmelo Anthony. Vitamin water, starting a modeling agency, signing deals, making progress, eventually being the mayor of Washington D.C.

I like this. I've always liked this personality, the hustle, the paper chase. It's honest and revealing. It's easier to identify with this type of millionaire than those that don't seem to outwardly acknowledge their money. Also his name is Gilbert, which you can't help but like.

I've got a link set up to The Takeover for you on the right. Bookmark it and learn what its like to Gilbert.