- The NBA’s minimum age requirement for players has struck me as more than a little fraudulent ever since the league put the measure in place. The rule, which is part of the league's collective bargaining agreement with the players union, requires that players be at least 19 years old and a year out of high school before entering the league. The reason I say it’s bogus is that it’s unfair from a labor standpoint to tell guys that they can’t earn a living playing in the NBA simply because of their age when a) they are legal adults and b) physically capable of doing so. The arguments for and against are well known, with incredible tales of straight-to-the-NBA success like LeBron James and Dwight Howard on one side and the scores of failed careers for players whose appetite for success and the NBA lifestyle vastly outreached their game. There are too many names to mention on that second list and for the most part, those guys are either out of the NBA or out of basketball altogether. However, the fact that some have tried and failed miserable should not preclude others from making the attempt in the future. That’s what the NBA is trying to do with the minimum age rule, to prevent these failures and play the role of God in deciding when players are eligible for the NBA. For that reason, the NBA currently finds itself defending its minimum age requirement to Congress and so far, the league isn’t faring too well. Last month, Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., urged the league and union to scrap the requirement in the next collective bargaining agreement, calling it unfair. At the time, NBA president Joel Litvin told Cohen in a recent letter the purpose of the requirement is to promote the league's business interests by "increasing the chances that incoming players will have the requisite ability, experience, maturity and life skills" to perform at a high level. Litvin also said that the policy is strictly a business measure and not one designed for force players to attend a year of college against their wishes. He also noted that many employers require job candidates to have post-high school experience, and that the U.S. Constitution sets minimum ages for House members, senators and the president and as such, the NBA just didn’t understand Congress’ beef with its rule. Cohen isn’t backing down either, having send a letter to Litvin maintaining that players should have the "economic freedom" to make their own decisions. He pointed out that even if the policy helps the league in its scouting and hiring decisions, there are other issues. "However, my concern is that the players who must abide by this rule are harmed by the league's pursuit of these business interests," Cohen wrote, adding that the "age discrimination" prevents players from supporting their families. He went on to ask for a meeting with Litvin and commissioner David Stern and threatened to consider both hearings and legislation if the requirement remains. All in all, this should make for a very interesting showdown in what has become the latest intersection of sports and legislature in our society……..
- Every nation needs its place in the world, that key thing it brings to the table that no one else can supply. For the United States, it’s competitive eating, FAT people and reality TV (what can I say, we’re overachievers). For China, it’s a systematic repression of basic human rights like nobody’s business. And as for Venezuela…..well, let’s just say that Venezuela's role as a transit point for South American cocaine bound for the United States and abroad has significantly expanded in recent years and I think we all know how proud they must be of that fact. According to a U.S. government report released Monday, The Venezuelan government contributed to a more than fourfold increase in cocaine flow between 2004 and 2007. Four-freaking-fold? That is incredible and I can see where that would be an immense source of pride for any nation. This study alleges that Venezuela has been able to accomplish this in large part by providing a safe haven for Colombian drug traffickers while reducing counternarcotics cooperation with U.S. officials. As you might expect, Venezuelan dictator/despot/President Hugo Chavez shot down the report. Even so, the findings could throw a new hurdle in the way of the Obama administration's attempts to improve relations Venezuela. But let’s not focus on that little detail and instead on the fact that the total amount of cocaine shipped from Venezuela jumped from roughly 60 to 260 metric tons over the four years, a total representing approximately 17 percent of cocaine produced worldwide. Apparently the United States remains the primary market for most cocaine going through Venezuela, but distribution to other countries has increased as well. Also in the report are allegations that the drug trade in South America has benefited from the Venezuelan government's decision to actively assist several illegal armed groups. A group like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, accounts for 60 percent of the total cocaine exported from Colombia to the United States. Chavez’s administration has reportedly given FARC extensive support as it battles the Colombian government. This cocaine is being smuggled "aboard maritime vessels" departing from "Venezuela's long coastline or aboard suspicious aircraft that take off and land from hundreds of clandestine airstrips." Sounds good to me, what’s the problem? The world’s coke heads need their fix and Venezuela is doing its part to make that happen. So I’d advice my man Hugo Chavez to stop disputing this report and labeling it as "a new lie from the government of the United States." Embrace what you’re good at and who you are, Hugo. Your country is a key cog in the machine to bring the world its blow. You’re clearly good at it and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Stop the guise of making alleged increased efforts to stop drug traffickers and be true to yourself. The world, like professional wrestling, needs its villains. You are one of those villains and I’ll be extremely disappointed if you ever stop filling that role……..
- This was only a matter of time. Because she’s quickly become a sex symbol for the testosterone-fueled world of sports in her role as a sideline reporter for ESPN, sooner or later Erin Andrews was bound to end up online in a revealing video of some sort. Of course, the ideal path for this sort of thing, assuming a person is going to wind up online without their clothes on, is of their own volition. In other words, they decide that they no longer have any personal dignity or standards and pose for a skin magazine or post the revealing images themselves. Heck, even making a sex tape that they allegedly never intended to become public is better than what happened to Andrews. She was merely minding her own business in a hotel room when some perverted freak snuck up to the door and taped her undressing through the peephole. Right, because that’s what those things are intended for, some freak with no soul and no conscience to creep up with a video camera and secretly film an unsuspecting woman undressing in the privacy of her own room. To whoever the freak is that committed this crime (and it a crime), you are a piece of crap. Making matters worse, Internet hackers are seizing upon this video as a way to infect computers worldwide with a brand new virus. According to anti-virus and security company Sophos, links purportedly to this creepy video are actually portals that allow hackers to infect the computers of unsuspecting pervs with their virus. Now I could aruge that anyone with so little class and integrity that they are looking to view a video of a woman being surreptitiously and really, violated, deserves whatever happens to their computer as a result. Marshall B. Grossman, Andrews' attorney, issued a statement Friday condemning the video and threatening to press charges against those responsible. "While alone in the privacy of her hotel room, Erin Andrews was surreptitiously videotaped without her knowledge or consent. She was the victim of a crime and is taking action to protect herself and help ensure that others are not similarly violated in the future. Although the perpetrator or perpetrators of this criminal act have not yet been identified, when they are identified she intends to bring both civil and criminal charges against them and against anyone who has published the material. We request respect of Erin's privacy at this time, while she and her representatives are working with the authorities," the statement read. Great, but what else can she do to protect her privacy? She was in her hotel room and the door was closed and locked. Short of taping a piece of paper over the peep hole and hanging blankets over any windows in the room, I’m not sure what else she can do. According to the chief purveyor of these types of salacious celebrity stories, TMZ, the video is being shopped to the highest bidder, but the site has stated that it will not publish or purchase the footage. Nice to know that even TMZ has its standards…..sort of…….
- Here’s hoping your iPod doesn’t go up in flames any time soon. That seems to be a growing concern among users of Apple’s popular MP3 (actually MP4) devices, according to an investigative report from a local television station in Seattle. The investigation found that a remarkably high number of iPods have suddenly burst into flames and smoke in recent months, injuring people and damaging property. Documents from the Consumer Product Safety Commission took a full seven months to gain access to because Apple continued to battle their release in court. Gee, why would they do that? Perhaps because there’s a serious issue with their product and they don’t want to see their market share take a hit? In the end, the CPSC released more than 800 pages of documentation showing that there have indeed been scores of incident in which iPods have suddenly burst into flames, started to smoke and even burned their owners. Customers who contacted the company were told that theirs were isolated incidents and not a widespread problem. Those claims seem to be contradicted when you go online and see bloggers posting photos of their charred and melted iPods. Heck, the Japanese government even issued a warning to consumers citing "a number of accidents in which iPod Nanos" overheated and sparked. Federal records show that Apple has known about problems with its iPod batteries causing fires and burns for some time, including one incident in which an iPod overheated, “causing damage to home and harm to minor son” in Pennsylvania in 2005. These incidents have come from across the country and seem to indicate
- Here’s a valuable lesson for one and all: when making a life-sized replica of an astronaut out of cheddar cheese, always make sure your statue is in a temperature-controlled setting where the conditions aren’t going to change. I know this should go without saying, but clearly no one told officials at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. They commissioned the gigantic cheese creation and artist Sarah Kaufmann of Cincinnati spend 59 hours carving the spaceman as part of the weekend festivities at the museum. It was set up in the museum’s main hall for all to see as hundreds of visitors descended on the museum to celebrate the 40th anniversary of man the landing on the moon. A fitting gesture for a landmark event, no doubt. I have no doubt when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, the first thought going through his mind was that some day, someone would think enough of his accomplishment to immortalize that moment in some sort of processed dairy product. However, no sooner did Kaufmann finish her statue than the museum’s air conditioning system automatically shut off overnight and the "heat" caused the sculpture to soften and slip off its base, causing damage to the artwork made from nearly a ton of cheese. Apparently no one thought ahead and realized that cheese needs to be kept at a certain temperature lest it soften and become unstable in terms of being able to stand up in statue form. It’s a bit like ice in that respect, except that ice is considerably less tasty. So an important life lesson learned by one and all here for, you know, the next time you have a hankering to create a ginormous cheese sculpture to commemorate a monumental moment in world history……..
No comments:
Post a Comment