середа, 13 липня 2011 р.

Brad Miller wins lockout, starts radio-controlled car racing team

It seems like every NBA player has taken to Twitter in the 14-plus hours since the NBA's owners officially locked out the players after the league's collective bargaining agreement expired, jokingly asking some variant of the question, "So, anybody hiring?" You know who hasn't joined the chorus? Brad Miller, that's who. You know why? Well, for one thing,�he's not on Twitter.

For another, he was too busy launching BMiller Racing, his very own radio-controlled (RC) car racing team, and hiring two drivers to compete under the BMiller Racing banner in organized RC racing events. Obviously. Miller has clearly studied the principles of Shawn Carter: Don't just be a businessman. Be a business, man.

As you'd expect, RCCarAction.com has the info on the recently traded Minnesota Timberwolves center's latest endeavor:

A past RC enthusiast, Miller was recently struck by the short course racing bug and wanted to get back into the hobby.

"I am definitely a backyard basher when it comes to RC driving, but I really enjoy the scale look of the short course trucks and VTA cars. The advancements in the RC industry over the past few years have been impressive and made bashing and racing fun for everyone. As for myself, I will likely stick to bashing in the fields around the house and leave the racing to the experts," states Miller.

If you're like me, you are not really familiar with what organized, competitive radio-controlled car racing is and how this is actually a thing. But, according to the Internet, it is, and YouTube has some proof:

First things first: Thanks, Brad Miller. Today, of all days, we needed this, and of course you'd be the one to come through for us.

Secondly, some definitions for my fellow RC newbies. "VTA" is an acronym for "vintage Trans Am," meaning that racers must use vehicles modeled after classics like the Barracuda, Camaro and Mustang, and "Bashing" apparently means radio-controlled car racing without rules or regulations, taking your vehicle off high (presumably sweet) jumps and enjoying the spectacle of wrecks rather than seeking to avoid them.

Near as I can tell, this means that while Brad Miller likes the look of a small model car based on, say, Bullitt's '68 Mustang GT, he prefers bigger, burlier, less ornate stuff that he can send soaring into doom in his backyard. So, basically, exactly what you'd expect from Brad Miller.

According to RCCarAction.com's Matthew Higgins, Miller met his team's first two racers, Todd Pearson and T.J. Wickum,�in Northern California, where the former Sacramento Kings pivot still has a home. Pearson reportedly brings more than two decades of RC experience (with both cars and planes) to BMiller Racing. Wickum, whom Higgins called "a relative newcomer to the world of competitive RC racing,"�won a number of local Sacramento-area races this year before stepping up to the regional and national levels.

Credit Miller for recognizing the importance of mixing savvy and exuberance in his early hires; clearly his 12 years in the NBA and participation in eight playoff runs have given him�a keen eye not only for talent, but also for how to build a winner from the ground up. It may be too early to call Brad Miller the Sam Presti of competitive off-track radio-controlled car racing, but it certainly seems like he's on his way to earning such a title.

One thing like this every day in the offseason, basketball gods. That's all I'm asking for.

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