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Archive for the Sports Category

Pay Your Bills, Bundy! (April 28, 2014)

Posted in Entitlements, Race, Sports on April 28, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C1 “Pay up and shut up.”

C2 “I agree. Pay his bill. It is that simple. There are too many freeloaders and dead beats in American today.”

C1 “This entitlement mentality is getting way out of control.”

. . .

C1 “Lincoln’s dad was one of the first real estate property developers who cleared land and put up rail fences for folks. Young Lincoln interned for his dad and helped with the work.”

C2 “The picture of him splitting rails was a crowd pleaser in his election campaigns.”

C1 “That experience shaped him as he moved with the land clearing business from Kentucky to Illinois. When he was President, Lincoln signed the Homestead Act right in the middle of the Civil War in 1862 also being fought in part over land. The legislation gave land taken from the locals folks without just compensation to immigrants who were given an opportunity to prove up the land. A guy like Cliven Bundy or his predecessors was given free land for a little healthy outside work.”

C2 “The Bureau of Land Management is the nation’s realtor and oversees the public land not dedicated to more specific purposes. Too many property owners who abut BLM property feel entitled to use our property for free.”

C1 “The Park Service still wears military uniforms that reflect the early days when they were engaged in combative confrontations with belligerent individuals who felt entitled to all the public land.”

C2 “If Cliven does not like BLM policy, he can write his congressman to change the law. Congress sets public land policy.”

C1 “Or he can run for Congress. Put up or shut up.”

. . .

C2 “Sterling revealed himself in private. The government cannot and should not be able to use in court any testimony obtained if an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy. However, the public is free to evaluate any statement made by an individual in the court of public opinion even if the individual did not intend to be candid.”

C1 “Candid comments have the benefit of being candid. He could have shut up. Now he needs to ‘fess up.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

A sense of entitlement manifests itself in so many subtle ways.

Don’t judge me by what I say or by what I do

As we approach the post-O’bama era, America is still a pre-racial country.

Bundy / Sterling in 2016. For No Change

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Unionizing Athletes And Adjuncts (And Sherpas) (April 21, 2014)

Posted in Education, Occupy Movement, Pogo Plight, Schooling, Slavery, Sports, Unions, Wages, Work on April 21, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1 “They say you need three things to run a college: sex for the students, tenure for the faculty and football for the alumni.”

2 “That’s about it. The sex is self-executing. Tenure for the faculty is now tenuous with the adjuncts impressed to assume the laboring oar. That leaves the futball team – the sine qua non that justifies the existence of a college in America today.”

1 “The young gladiators are relieved of paying some of the lease payments for the classrooms they may not frequent and the coliseums they fill and toil in for the benefit of the ‘lums. Granting tenure might foster academic freedom and independence. Adjuncts can be underpaid and overworked along with the gladiators.”

2 “Today all the money is deployed for administrators who are bureaucrats with shiny pedigrees. Someone needs to develop a percentage formula to limit the amount spent on the administrators who exist to collect big pay checks and approve tuition increases.”

1 “Humans seek to enslave other humans. We need to resist our basic impulses. Unless the athletes organize and unless the adjuncts organize, they will be exploited. And the Sherpas too.”

. . .

1 “Kids who do not understand their own mortality do not understand that their student debt is immortal.”

2 “The solution is simple. After high school, youngsters are still engaged in the emancipation process from their parents or parent. A two-year break allows them to flirt with adulthood rather than go to college and extend their adolescence. A summer with the Civilian Conservation Corps, a stint in the military, a go at something out of their community or comfort zone provides critical perspective.”

1 “Even one year. The kids in college who took a year off before starting college were three years more mature than the others.”

. . .

2 “If fewer students attend college, the unused dorms can be used for housing of others in the community to allow students to interact with other members of the community and develop a sense of community.”

. . .

2 “We paid the lead Sherpa the equivalent of two year’s wages via a stack of Benjamins for our climbing fee. He paid his countrymen and women a few Rupees a day to do the work and carry the load.”

1 “Humans seek to enslave other humans.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssays” titled “Is College Worthless? (July 25, 2011)” and “Humanity’s Motto: To Enslave And To Colonize (January 27, 2014).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

I have let my schooling interfere with my education.

Occupy Namche Bazaar

Earth Day

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Boycott Futball? (February 3, 2014)

Posted in Boycott Series, Consumerism, Football, Hypocrisy, Pogo Plight, Sports on February 3, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

F1 “Are you crazy? Apple pie and motherhood are as American as futball.”

F2 “Soccer Moms wielding mini vans hold the keys. Will they make a motherly pitch to the kids and drive them to the pitch or accede to pressure and deposit them on the gridiron.”

. . .

F1 “Watching it for the ads seems akin to buying a girlie magazine for the articles.”

F2 “Spectacles are always spectacular. A brand is a story. This year the brands really tried to tell stories over a number of ads throughout the extravaganza.”

F1 “Seemed to be fewer ads for ED medication and the usual number for EtOH self-medication.”

F2 “Capture the audience and then captivate the audience.”

. . .

F1 “The NFL is the big winner. They scored non-profit tax-exempt status long ago. The public pays for the millionaires to play for the billionaires.”

F2 “And the public finances most of the coliseums. The teams are tantamount to unregulated public utilities.”

F1 “Perhaps citizens should pay a monthly bill for water and sewer, telephone, gas, and for futball.”

. . .

F2 “Football is counterproductive because it destroys so many gladiators along the way. Society is left weaker.”

. . .

F1 “Sports has always provided every society with a forum to train warriors and titillate the populace.”

F2 “ROTC with colorful, multi-color uniforms, cheerleaders and beer.”

F1 “Tiddlywinks simply does not train warriors or titillate the public. Few aspire to a career in the NTA – National Tiddlywinks Association. Our need for blood sports is hard-wired into our dna. Coursing is coarse, but the desire courses through our blood.”

F2 “Auto racing appeals to our love of speed and lust for a crash. The most skilled drivers are at the wheel to maximize the speed and minimize but deliver the inevitable and cherished crash.”

F1 “Satisfying our need for immediate gratification led them to accelerate the process and fashion the ‘demolition derby’ that provides what the fans really desire – a string of premeditated crashes – without the wait.”

F2 “Rather than going in circles, they go right at each other. Perhaps football could be reduced to fifteen minutes of uncontrolled mayhem with the gladiators going right at each other.”

. . .

F1 “The ideal winter sport is the biathlon . . . shoot and ski in the winter and then run or bicycle or pogo-stick in the summer to stay in shape. The ideal summer sports are soccer and women’s rules lacrosse. Men’s rules lacrosse is for insecure sissies.”

F2 “Men’s rules lacrosse is the outdoor version of ice hockey. Is there women’s rules ice hockey?”

F1 “What about co-ed inner tube water polo played indoors in the winter and cricket played in the summer?”

F2 “Moms may need to select among competing pitches. Cricket Moms would emerge as another target demographic for advertisers.”

. . .

F1 “What would happen to Monday morning quarterbacking?”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

“Is Dylan a Cadillac shill or a Chrysler shill? . . . . . . . or a Ford shill?” “I think he was a Victoria’s Secret model.”

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Columbus And The Redskins (October 14, 2013)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Consumerism, Economics Nobel, Football, Race, Sports on October 14, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1 “Columbus Day lands at a fortuitous time between Labor Day and Veteran’s Day and keeps the steady cycle of holidays and spending sprees rolling along.”

2 “The summer, 2014 lines of consumer goods and bads have already been rolled out at a few malls.”

1 “We are mauled at the malls. And the day arrives just in time for the great debate over the team’s name.”

2 “The name is not used disparagingly. The name is part of the tradition and history and culture of the team. Leave it. Address real problems.”

1 “Western man invaded the continent and used a great Zamboni moving from east to west to scrape the Natives off their land and deposit them on patches of unproductive dirt. And then we use a term to refer to the dispossessed that is not endearing.”

2 “And introduced germs and genocide. And grew the gross domestic product of the newly formed United States of America by stealing land from the Red man and liberty from the Black man. All true and all troubling. Yet the name is positive in context and has positive connotations in practice.”

1 “The individuals who dislike the use of the name are organized and zealous. Those who like or tolerate the name are not organized and may not be as passionate. The vocal group will compel a change in the next few years.”

2 “Seems to me that we need to pause, catch our breath and reflect on what really matters.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” titled Skip the Nobel in Economics? (Oct. 6, 2009) for its continuing relevance to today’s announcement.]

[See the “e-ssays” titled The First Look At The “Second Political Party” (January 3, 2011) and Immanentize The Eschaton: Move To Sunny Somalia (December 20, 2010) for some perspective on the current global political climate change.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Go Redskins

Go Skins

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Foot Longs and Football (September 2, 2013)

Posted in Football, Fracking, Health Care, Perjury, Perjury/Dishonesty, Pogo Plight, Society, Sports on September 2, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

F1 “One is bad for us and the other is bad for them.”

F2 “How about hot dog buns and pig skin antics. Today’s version of bread and circuses.”

F1 “The fans poison themselves in the stands while the combatants bang their heads on the field.”

F2 “And on the heads of their opponents.”

F1 “Those who make it to the top have been pummeled for years if not decades and performed on Friday nights and then Saturday afternoons and then all day on Sunday.”

F2 “And on Monday and Thursday and Wednesday and Tuesday.”

. . .

F1 “America was about education, now it is about revenue sports. Two sports are the revenue sports in high school, in college and in the prose.”

F2 “College combatants do not even receive workmens’ compensation insurance coverage while on the job let alone a share of the profits. We celebrate Labor Day but do not reward them for their labor.”

. . .

F2 “The NFL executives testified before Congress in 2009, under oath as always, that repeated head contact by players has not been shown to lead to brain injury. One representative, Linda Sánchez, noted that their testimony is the same as the tobacco company executives denying the link between smoking and lung disease.”

F1 “Every generation can be defined by its Big Lie.”

F2 “The danger from fracking also may be our generations’ Big Lie.”

. . .

F1 “There are rumors of a legal settlement with a gang of retired gladiators who are suffering all manner of predictable maladies. Most settlements include a provision enjoining future violations, but the games go on.”

. . .

[See the article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/sports/football/29hearing.html.]

[See the “e-ssay” titled Gettin’ Health Risks Right (June 25, 2012) discussing the Big Lies of past generations.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Play ball

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Boycott The Olympic Boycott (August 12, 2013)

Posted in Boycott Series, Gay Politics, Government Regulation, Russia, Society, Sports on August 12, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A “Boycotts are often the most effective moral and economic means to vote against oppression and repression or in favor of truth and justice. Do not buy a product or do buy another product. However, boycotting an Olympics is more of an act to ‘cut off your nose to spite your face.’”

B “Spite and nose cutting are not pretty.”

A “Send the athletes to compete. The Olympics are often expressions of nationalism, jingoism and aggression with all manner of doping, deception and dishonesty. However, there is the possibility that a hard-working kid gets a chance at a bigger stage and a few minutes on the winner’s podium.”

B “Even if the Russian policy toward gays and gay marriage is reactionary, America should react by sending its athletes who have trained hard to perform.”

A “Prevailing at an away game on foreign soil and celebrating with restraint is always more sublime.”

. . .

B “Let the pitchers pitch.”

A “Pitch your pitch on the pitch.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Play ball!

Just win, baby, with dignity and without dope.

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Summer Reruns (June 17, 2013)

Posted in Consumerism, Sports, Television on June 17, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Something in your living room wants all your money

Would you let someone into your den channeled through your television that you would not allow to cross your front threshold?

TV transmitters require passive receivers

Sugeoen Generel’s Warnig: Telivision Promots Iliteracy

Kill your television

Imprison your television

Run from reruns; run from runs

A TV is not a monitor, it is a mirror.

Do you watch the beer and erectile dysfunction ads or the guys running around hitting each other?

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Sports Writers: 1 – 0 (January 14, 2013)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Courts, Economics Nobel, Federal Reserve, Guns, Journalism, Law, Newspapers, Perjury, Perjury/Dishonesty, Sports, Taxation on January 14, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A “A mixed group of informed individuals acting individually issued a profound collective indictment.”

1 “In court, the government only determines whether a person is guilty or not guilty, a court does not determine whether a person is innocent. Yet when you look carefully, far too many courts have found far too many innocent individuals to be guilty.”

A “Still not a great idea to be Black or Brown and get mixed up in the American judicial system.”

1 “It is to be eschewed. The government is not and should not be allowed to deprive someone of his or her liberty without proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The court of public opinion does not need to meet that high threshold when considering those who play on the court or field or pitch.”

A “The sports writers are akin to an informed group of jurors from all ages, albeit a little older, and backgrounds, albeit a shade White, and world views from different parts of the country.”

1 “On the uniforms, they sport the initials MLB not MDL – the Major Dopers League.”

A “They can get their own hall of fame, the Hall of Shame.”

1 “I might waive the character requirement and support a scoundrel if he played clean against others who played clean.”

A “They may also be atoning for the great oversight in the late 1990s when any honest person realized that the guys were juiced and few said anything. Finding the individual who was not juiced or was not juiced much will be a challenge. The brush could be too broadly brushed.”

1 “This is a promising start. Now if we can get the Norwegian suits to follow suit and not award the Nobel in e-con-omics unless they award it to someone who understands eco-nomics.”

A “Everyone from Roberts on the Supreme Court to players on the courts succeeds by lyin’ and cheatin’.”

1 “He’s a lawyer-type. He said that he would call balls and strikes, but keep this in mind. He never ever said that he would call a ‘ball’ a ‘ball’ only that he would call balls and strikes.”

A “He and Alito and Thomas and Scalia are having a ball.”

1 “Dishonesty and hypocrisy are so American.”

A “So human really. We don’t have a monopoly on it.”

. . .

[See http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/opinion/australia-banned-assault-weapons-america-can-too.html?hp for some international perspective on gun restrictions.]

[See the “e-ssay” titled “Why Johnny And Roger? (April 30, 2012)” and the recent article on the deliberations of the Federal Reserve at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/opinion/the-new-tell-all-fed.html?hp&_r=1& and the “e-ssay” at The Kids (At The Fed) Are Not Alright (January 30, 2012).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Play ball!

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Armstrong (August 27, 2012)

Posted in On [Traits/Characteristics], Pogo Plight, Sports, Supreme Court, Technology on August 27, 2012 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1 “Legstrong is not sexy.”

2 “Walk on moon, pedal a bike. More leg than arm.”

1 “Some members of the public will opine that he did not receive a de novo trial before the United States Supreme Court, yet the court of public opinion may do a clearer job of determining truth. Something did not seem right about him and so many of the other riders who were too superhuman.”

2 “Where is the line? What is the rule? Photos can be photo shopped. Songs can be synthesized. With the intervention of editors and the involvement of focus groups, a book is about as individual an accomplishment as winning the Tour de France is a singular achievement. Athletes are as much a product of technology as of training. Who is the real thing? What is real?”

1 “Neil was real. He did it with skill, sang-froid, integrity and humility.”

. . .

(Neil Armstrong – 1930 – 2012)

Bumper stickers of the week:

One small step . . .; one giant leap . . .

Girls like guys on bikes

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Why All The Shouting: Campaign Finance And The First Amendment (June 18, 2012)

Posted in First Amendment, Perjury, Perjury/Dishonesty, Sports, Supreme Court on June 18, 2012 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C1 “Hard for me ever to depart from an absolute view of the First Amendment right of free speech. But adhering to an absolute view of the First Amendment right of free speech requires one to depart from an absolute view of the First Amendment right of free speech.”

C2 “I think I hear you.”

C1 “Limits on campaign spending are limits on free speech. But not to place limits on free speech for those who can shout and scream and drown out others with their dollars places a limit on the free speech rights of others who are silenced because they do not have the dollars to make their speech heard.”

C2 “Without some limits, one person can shout louder and shout down another person. Without some limits, one person can silence hundreds of other persons.”

. . .

C1 “Johnny Edwards is exonerated of charges that he engaged in campaign shenanigans and Roger Clemons is exonerated of charges that he lied to Congress. But Johnny Roberts misled Congress and then distorted a ready case to change the law involving campaign finance in Citizens United.”

C2 “Does not seem right. Johnny E. is still a sleaze and Roger Clemons fibbed to Congress but not beyond a reasonable doubt.”

C1 “The decision in Citizens United allows Johnny R’s cohorts to stack and pack the Senate and preclude any inquiry.”

C2 “Still does not seem right.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” titled ”Why Johnny And Roger? (April 30, 2012).” The John Edwards and Roger Clemens trials are additional indictments of the failing American legal system.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

“A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.” Citizens United v. FEC, __ U.S. ___, ___, 130 S.Ct. 876, 954 (2010) (Stevens, J., dissenting).

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