My Champion of the Month for January is an easy choice: The entire staff at Charlie Hebdo.
Enough said.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
My Super Bowl blog.
Okay, let's face reality. 11 of 12 footballs did not deflate themselves. 11 of 12 from the Patriots and none of 12 from the other team? If you think that's just a coincidence you are deluding yourself. Someone deliberately deflated those footballs and quite obviously Tom Brady knew about it.
The question is what should the punishment be.
Deflate-gate reminds me a bit of the George Brett Pine Tar incident. For those of you too young to remember, in July of 1983 the Kansas City Royals were playing the New York Yankees. George Brett had just hit what appeared to be a crucial homerun that gave the Royals a late lead. But Yankee manager Billy Martin said "Not so fast!" and pointed out that Brett had too much pine tar on the bat he had used. Originally the homerun was disallowed and Brett called out. The Royals protested the game and their protest was eventually upheld. The homerun counted. The Royals won the game.
Now the question in the pine tar incident was never about if Brett had too much pine tar on his bat. He clearly did. The question was the punishment. "Let the punishment fit the crime" it is said. Did having too much pine tar on his bat mean that what appeared to be the game winning homerun should be overturned? Or did it merely mean that an umpire should tell Brett "Hey, take a little of that pine tar off your bat." MLB finally ruled (quite correctly I think) the latter should apply.
That's the question right now in deflate-gate. Does Brady & co. deflating the footballs mean they should be disqualified from the Super Bowl? Of course not. It's way too late for that. A $25,000 fine and a loss of a draft pick is what the rulebook seems to call for
Of course, I think most teams out there would quite willingly pay a $25,000 fine and lose a draft pick for the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. I know the Minnesota Vikings certainly would!
Tom Brady and Bill Belichik did themselves no favors in speaking out over the incident with their "Golly gee whiz, how did that happen?" denials. They should have merely said "Hey, we have a game to prepare for" and let it go. Because this will be the real punishment for the New England Patriots: Loss of esteem. Like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire and all the others in baseball, we will no longer look at them as we did before.
Champions? No. Real champions don't cheat
Okay, let's face reality. 11 of 12 footballs did not deflate themselves. 11 of 12 from the Patriots and none of 12 from the other team? If you think that's just a coincidence you are deluding yourself. Someone deliberately deflated those footballs and quite obviously Tom Brady knew about it.
The question is what should the punishment be.
Deflate-gate reminds me a bit of the George Brett Pine Tar incident. For those of you too young to remember, in July of 1983 the Kansas City Royals were playing the New York Yankees. George Brett had just hit what appeared to be a crucial homerun that gave the Royals a late lead. But Yankee manager Billy Martin said "Not so fast!" and pointed out that Brett had too much pine tar on the bat he had used. Originally the homerun was disallowed and Brett called out. The Royals protested the game and their protest was eventually upheld. The homerun counted. The Royals won the game.
Now the question in the pine tar incident was never about if Brett had too much pine tar on his bat. He clearly did. The question was the punishment. "Let the punishment fit the crime" it is said. Did having too much pine tar on his bat mean that what appeared to be the game winning homerun should be overturned? Or did it merely mean that an umpire should tell Brett "Hey, take a little of that pine tar off your bat." MLB finally ruled (quite correctly I think) the latter should apply.
That's the question right now in deflate-gate. Does Brady & co. deflating the footballs mean they should be disqualified from the Super Bowl? Of course not. It's way too late for that. A $25,000 fine and a loss of a draft pick is what the rulebook seems to call for
Of course, I think most teams out there would quite willingly pay a $25,000 fine and lose a draft pick for the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. I know the Minnesota Vikings certainly would!
Tom Brady and Bill Belichik did themselves no favors in speaking out over the incident with their "Golly gee whiz, how did that happen?" denials. They should have merely said "Hey, we have a game to prepare for" and let it go. Because this will be the real punishment for the New England Patriots: Loss of esteem. Like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire and all the others in baseball, we will no longer look at them as we did before.
Champions? No. Real champions don't cheat
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
I want to touch on a subject near and dear to my heart today: The deplorable state of the sport of boxing.
Last Saturday night a man named Deontay Wilder defeated Bermane Stiverne to become Heavyweight Champion of the World. Sort of. Well, not really at all, actually. I'm not sure anyone alive considers Deontay to be champion other than Deontay himself.
It wasn't that long ago when pretty much everyone could name the heavyweight champion: Frazier, Foreman, Ali (of course!), Holmes. I bet when Ali was reigning 90 to 95 percent of Americans would have identified him as champion. How many Americans today could name the true heavyweight champion? I would bet less than 5%. And even that might be pushing it.
That is partly because there are no fewer than four men claiming the current title. The WBA itself recognizes three! They recognize a super champion, who has the overall heavyweight title, but then the WBA must have its own champion along with that super champion. And then for some reason they also recognize something called the "interim" heavyweight champion. (Which leads me to believe the folks running the WBA have no idea what the word "interim" means...they just like the way it sounds.)
The situation is worse for the middleweights. That proud division of Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Graziano and Marvin Hagler has no less than six champions at the moment.
Every sport expands. Some of you readers will remember when Major League Baseball consisted of 16 teams, eight per league. The top two teams in each league would meet in the World Series without any sort of playoff system. Now there are 30 MLB teams and eight of them make the playoffs. Football, basketball and hockey have seen similar expansion. But here's the thing. There is still only one World Series. Still only one Super Bowl. And only one team emerges as champion.
Imagine for a moment that instead of one Super Bowl each year we had three. (Or four. Or five.) Let's have Green Bay play New England in one. Baltimore vs. Seattle in another. And in still another how about Denver vs. Minnesota. Yeah, I know the Vikings don't really belong, but hey it's been so long since they've seen a Super Bowl and that match up would really sell!
As silly as that situation seems, that is exactly what goes on in boxing! So many fighters fighting for so many championships that no one really cares anymore.
Boxing needs to get it's act together. Literally. One champ per division. If something doesn't change in boxing soon, the sport is doomed.
Oh, and PS. The one true Heavyweight Champion of the World is Wladmir Klitschko. Sorry Deontay.
Last Saturday night a man named Deontay Wilder defeated Bermane Stiverne to become Heavyweight Champion of the World. Sort of. Well, not really at all, actually. I'm not sure anyone alive considers Deontay to be champion other than Deontay himself.
It wasn't that long ago when pretty much everyone could name the heavyweight champion: Frazier, Foreman, Ali (of course!), Holmes. I bet when Ali was reigning 90 to 95 percent of Americans would have identified him as champion. How many Americans today could name the true heavyweight champion? I would bet less than 5%. And even that might be pushing it.
That is partly because there are no fewer than four men claiming the current title. The WBA itself recognizes three! They recognize a super champion, who has the overall heavyweight title, but then the WBA must have its own champion along with that super champion. And then for some reason they also recognize something called the "interim" heavyweight champion. (Which leads me to believe the folks running the WBA have no idea what the word "interim" means...they just like the way it sounds.)
The situation is worse for the middleweights. That proud division of Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Graziano and Marvin Hagler has no less than six champions at the moment.
Every sport expands. Some of you readers will remember when Major League Baseball consisted of 16 teams, eight per league. The top two teams in each league would meet in the World Series without any sort of playoff system. Now there are 30 MLB teams and eight of them make the playoffs. Football, basketball and hockey have seen similar expansion. But here's the thing. There is still only one World Series. Still only one Super Bowl. And only one team emerges as champion.
Imagine for a moment that instead of one Super Bowl each year we had three. (Or four. Or five.) Let's have Green Bay play New England in one. Baltimore vs. Seattle in another. And in still another how about Denver vs. Minnesota. Yeah, I know the Vikings don't really belong, but hey it's been so long since they've seen a Super Bowl and that match up would really sell!
As silly as that situation seems, that is exactly what goes on in boxing! So many fighters fighting for so many championships that no one really cares anymore.
Boxing needs to get it's act together. Literally. One champ per division. If something doesn't change in boxing soon, the sport is doomed.
Oh, and PS. The one true Heavyweight Champion of the World is Wladmir Klitschko. Sorry Deontay.
Friday, January 9, 2015
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Champion of the Month!
Yes, it's that time again when I raise a hand in victory and declare this person to be Kayo Nelson's Champion of the Month! This month, however, I am actually raising the hands of several people because my champion is not one person, it's a group: Pussy Riot.
I don't much care for punk music, so I don't much care for the music of Pussy Riot. What I like, of course, is their willingness to take on the world, to fight for change in an oppressive society. I greatly admire their willingness to face arrests and imprisonment (and have done so!) in their attempts to change their country. Where would the world be without people like this?
The Russian government erred badly when they arrested and tried three members of the group in 2012 after their protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They should have fined them a token amount and sent them on their way. By trying and convicting these women the Russian government unwittingly turned them into international stars.
Obi-Wan Kenobi to Darth Vader: "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."
The women were at it again yesterday in a large protest in Moscow. Look it up. Pussy Riot! Kayo's Champion(s) of the Month!
Yes, it's that time again when I raise a hand in victory and declare this person to be Kayo Nelson's Champion of the Month! This month, however, I am actually raising the hands of several people because my champion is not one person, it's a group: Pussy Riot.
I don't much care for punk music, so I don't much care for the music of Pussy Riot. What I like, of course, is their willingness to take on the world, to fight for change in an oppressive society. I greatly admire their willingness to face arrests and imprisonment (and have done so!) in their attempts to change their country. Where would the world be without people like this?
The Russian government erred badly when they arrested and tried three members of the group in 2012 after their protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They should have fined them a token amount and sent them on their way. By trying and convicting these women the Russian government unwittingly turned them into international stars.
Obi-Wan Kenobi to Darth Vader: "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."
The women were at it again yesterday in a large protest in Moscow. Look it up. Pussy Riot! Kayo's Champion(s) of the Month!
Saturday, December 27, 2014
It has been a while since I have blogged. That isn't because nothing has been going on in the world. It's because too much has been going on in mine. The holiday season can be a busy time. I hope you all had a great Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate (Isaac Newton's birthday maybe?), and will have a happy New Year. I will post on some more thoroughly fascinating subjects soon.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
The strange case of Elizabeth Lauten.
If you don't know the name Elizabeth Lauten...well, good for you. She recently was involved in a real firestorm of a mess. A mess, of course, that she made herself. After the obligatory "President Pardoning the Turkey" bit, Lauten decided to focus in not on the ceremony itself, not on the President, not on the First Lady, but on the first kids! On her Facebook page she blasted them for being classless and dressing like they were heading for a bar. The girls she was ripping into are 13 and 16 for heavens sake! Talk about classless!
This wouldn't have been so bad if Lauten had been just another goofy Facebook user, but she happened to be the communications director for US Congressman Stephen Fincher. She also happened to be a self proclaimed expert on social media. Lauten quickly took down her post and apologized, but in that typical non-apology way. She first wrapped herself up in the Bible, claiming that she had prayed for hours, and then apologized not to the people she had insulted but to the ever present "anyone I might have offended." She had no trouble directly addressing the Obama daughters in the first post, but in the apology...well...not so much.
Then came the firestorm and Lauten's inevitable resignation. Yes, if you are that bad at your job (communications and an expert in social media, remember) it is probably best that you resign.
Next, of course, there was the backlash from the conservatives rallying to...well...not so much defend Lauten, but to say it was all an overreaction, because (insert the name of a Democrat here) did something worse. (There is always someone who did something worse out there, isn't there?) And somehow it must all be the fault of the media, liberals in general and Obama in particular.
All of this misses the entire point. Why people were so angry with Lauten's post is perfectly clear and it has nothing to do with her political affiliation, be that Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Whig. The citizens of this country are fed up with this type of extreme partisan politics.
These days too many people don't just disagree with a politician's policies, they must hate that person's entire being: Politician A doesn't just have bad policies, but he's evil, he hates the country, he wants to destroy the county, his wife is a terrible person and so are his kids!
I think it's time we started dialing that back a little. Don't you?
If you don't know the name Elizabeth Lauten...well, good for you. She recently was involved in a real firestorm of a mess. A mess, of course, that she made herself. After the obligatory "President Pardoning the Turkey" bit, Lauten decided to focus in not on the ceremony itself, not on the President, not on the First Lady, but on the first kids! On her Facebook page she blasted them for being classless and dressing like they were heading for a bar. The girls she was ripping into are 13 and 16 for heavens sake! Talk about classless!
This wouldn't have been so bad if Lauten had been just another goofy Facebook user, but she happened to be the communications director for US Congressman Stephen Fincher. She also happened to be a self proclaimed expert on social media. Lauten quickly took down her post and apologized, but in that typical non-apology way. She first wrapped herself up in the Bible, claiming that she had prayed for hours, and then apologized not to the people she had insulted but to the ever present "anyone I might have offended." She had no trouble directly addressing the Obama daughters in the first post, but in the apology...well...not so much.
Then came the firestorm and Lauten's inevitable resignation. Yes, if you are that bad at your job (communications and an expert in social media, remember) it is probably best that you resign.
Next, of course, there was the backlash from the conservatives rallying to...well...not so much defend Lauten, but to say it was all an overreaction, because (insert the name of a Democrat here) did something worse. (There is always someone who did something worse out there, isn't there?) And somehow it must all be the fault of the media, liberals in general and Obama in particular.
All of this misses the entire point. Why people were so angry with Lauten's post is perfectly clear and it has nothing to do with her political affiliation, be that Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Whig. The citizens of this country are fed up with this type of extreme partisan politics.
These days too many people don't just disagree with a politician's policies, they must hate that person's entire being: Politician A doesn't just have bad policies, but he's evil, he hates the country, he wants to destroy the county, his wife is a terrible person and so are his kids!
I think it's time we started dialing that back a little. Don't you?
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