Why Is This So Interesting?: A review of A&E's Storage Wars

Tweet recently I stumbled on to this show when flipping through channels one boring night.  At first I thought: "better than nothing ".  However, after 3 episodes I was hooked!  Here are my thoughts on the show.

The premise of 'Storage Wars' is very simple.  Companies that rent out storage lockers hire an auctioneer (Dan) to sell units that have been abandoned.  Once the units are bought, we see if the locker was worth the money or not.  Right off the bat I am going to say that this simple concept works really well.  There are no complicated rules, or a set competition (from what I have seen so far), and the focus is on only 4 buyers; Dave Hester, Darrel Sheets, Barry Weiss, and Jarrod Schulz.  Dave is the owner of a large thrift store and always carries 10K on him for auctions, Jarrod and his wife own a much smaller thrift store and are often outbid due to their lower finances, Darrell seems to make a living off finding other people's expensive stuff, and Barry only looks for collectible items.  Now that you have the general idea of the show let's get to the fun stuff.

Our buyers converge on a facility that is holding an auction, and Dan leads them from locker to locker.  When somebody sees a unit they like, they join the bidding process.  At this point Dan speaks so fast that I can only catch about 30% of what he is actually saying.  He raises the pacing of the show during these rapid fire auctions, it really makes the auctions feel more exciting.  The show focuses on auctions where the buyers we are following are actively competing against one another, the most interesting of these is when Dave and Darrell both want the same unit.  They go back and forth (in bids and in insults) until one of them relents; the dynamic between them is incredible, they genuinely do not like each other.  Often their battles end with the loser saying something to the tune of "at least I made him over-pay for it" or, more commonly "I hate that guy, I just wanted to beat him".  Following the auctions, the second phase begins: seeing what the hell these people bought.  Now, whether some of the show is set up or not, I do not know.  What I do know is that it is very fun watching a buyer find something very valuable among a pile of crap.  Without giving too much away, I will focus on one example.  Jarrod spent $500 on a locker because he "had a hunch" about some jeans (yes...jeans).  As it turns out, the pairs of jeans he found were apparently rare, and desired; so he got back well more than the $500 he initially put in to them.  The show is full of these successes and failures, and has so far not disappointed.

The only gripes I have with the show is that one: the buyers do not find out how well their competitors did.  I think that seeing these guys rub it in to their opponent when they've outbid them and found valuables in the locker would provide for some excellent television.  Two: the slightly repetitive episode structure.  There is always a hidden treasure in the worst of lockers, this is a small gripe because they probably go through tons of lockers per day, and A&E only shows us the best of the best.  These gripes do little to deter me from watching (or caring enough to write a review). It is much more entertaining to watch with a group of friends, just for the conversation you will have amongst yourselves.  If you are not watching this show, I suggest you give it a shot, odds are you will like it.  If you do watch the show, hopefully you will keep watching to keep it on the air.

Overall rating for the show: 7.5/10

Ratings structure:
0: quickly change the channel
1-3: if NOTHING else is on
4-7: entertaining or interesting enough to put the remote down
7-9: I plan to watch regularly and look into when its on.
9+:The cream of the television crop (The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Simpsons,etc)


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Why Dallas must win

Tweet Lets examine this year in the NBA as a whole, starting of course with the decision.  Now, everything that needs to be written about the decision has been written, I will not waste your time by re-hashing it, I will simply skip right into the start of the regular season.  I found that with each night in the NBA, there was something compelling to watch, every game had some interesting sub-plot, or performance worth following.  We wanted to see how a team (Miami) with 2 out of the top 5 players (some may even argue 2 of the top 3) along with a top 25 player would co-exist.  We wanted to see if Phil Jackson could go for an impossible-seeming fourth 3-peat.  We wanted to watch young stars breaking out (Kevin Love 30-30 anyone?) Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Brandon Jennings, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, Steph Curry, Monta Ellis and a slew of other exciting players were putting up ridiculous numbers, making every night mean something in the league.  It was the first time, in a long time that every team had something going for them (except Cleveland, which is a whole other story).  It was the first season in over 20 years that games such as Knicks-Celtics or Bulls-Knicks mattered again, all the big market teams were going to make the playoffs, and the league never seemed healthier.
By the time the NBA all-star weekend and trade deadline passed, the general thoughts were that the Bulls, Celtics, Lakers, Heat, Thunder, or Spurs were on the short list to win the NBA title.  Few disagreed with this view.  These were the best teams on paper, had the most stars (old and new) and were playing championship caliber basketball.  Fast-forward to the start of the playoffs. Miami suddenly looked invincible as teams discovered that Wade and James could destroy them as scorers, passers, or defenders.  The Miami team suddenly looked like the juggernaut that everyone expected them to become, and fans everywhere feared that title 1 of 7 was on the way.
If this were a movie the script would be brilliant, picture it:
                                               

***cue the star-wars introduction***

...It is a period of great despair to NBA fans outside Florida

The Evil heat Empire has conquered the Bulls and is on the cusp of greatness

Emperor Pat Riley sits on his throne counting his NBA rings

while loyal servant coach 'Spo' leads the mighty heat onwards

It seems as if nothing can stop this Miami team However,

In a not-so-distant conference, a scrappy challenger to the Heat throne rises

Dirk Nowitzki, leads a group of unlikely heroes into Florida

Though they know the mission is unlikely, they also know that NBA fans everywhere are counting on them...

                                                              ***end of introduction***

Kinda catchy isn't it?

And on that note we get to the Dallas Mavericks.  They have made a habit this year of shocking everyone. No Caron Butler? No problem.  Too old? That's OK. 
This resulted in the unlikeliest of re-matches: Heat Mavs II.  On one side: Lebron, Wade, Bosh and the 'Heatles'.  Throwing a champiionship celebration before a pre-season game was played, arrogantly proclaiming that they would win 7 titles, and carrying themselves as if someone already crowned them.  On the other side: Dirk Nowitzki and his Mavericks.  Few people remember that Dirk was a free agent last year, lost in the hoopla of the decision was his loyalty to his Mavericks, who (at that time) did not look like getting to the finals.  He understood this.  He knew that if he left, the slim chances Dallas had would be reduced to 0.
So he went to the gym, he worked on his game, and he gave it his all hoping for the best.  Then something happened, and though no one knows how or when it happened, there is no question it did.  Dallas was tough, Dallas played D, and Dallas, most importantly of all: believed.  You can see it in their team huddles, they are united, they play hard, and they never give up.  A group that seems like its going for a 5th title rather than a 1st, they exuberate a quiet confidence which spurs them on.  In the book 'When the Game was Ours' an account of Bird and Magics impact of the NBA, Magic lamented that guys in today's league take things for granted and do not work hard enough.  Reading between the lines, it seems that if players (not just stars but everyone) started to care and busted their asses every day, that the league could return to the glory of the 80's.  There is no better finals match-up to drive that point home.  Hard work, toughness, and the hard path vs. talent, fame, and the easy path.  This is why Dallas must win.  To encourage players to work harder in the future rather than latch on to a winner.  If Dallas wins, there will be proof that if you work hard enough, and believe in your team mates, you can beat anyone.  Best of all, it would be ultimate karmic justice for 06' and for the decision.