- Why does a sport with thirty teams need 160 games and six months to eliminate only 75 percent of them from the playoffs?
- Why would any college football player turn down free sex or an envelope full of cash when the university is profiting off of his labor?
- Who is going to pay Brett Farve to analyze football games if their isn't an NFL season this year?
- Are there any sports left where most of the participants are not on some kind of PED?
- If baseball is so pure, why is its all time home run leader a cheater, its all time hits leader a gambler, and it commissioner a money hungry fool?
- Why is our broke government spending millions of dollars to prove Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong cheated their way to greatness when there are hundreds of current athletes doing the same?
- Do the leaders of the BCS really think they are fooling anyone?
- Who else besides me likes a good sumo match?
- Don't you think if the NFL really valued player safety they would go back to two way players, smaller teams, and no face masks?
- Is there a dumber looking bunch of fans than Raider fans?
- Why not start the NBA playoffs after the all-star break and just get them over?
- If it is Major League Soccer then why do most of our major stars play in other countries?
- Why should unemployed or under employed workers care if a bunch of rich athletes and owners shut down their league and cancel a season?
- Which of these professions can we survive without: teachers, police officers, trash collectors, or professional athletes?
- Can anyone explain to me why a college athlete on scholarship is not allowed to earn a few bucks while one on academic scholarship can?
- If the Super Bowl is cancelled, will their still be the Lingerie Bowl?
- Is it just me or do you also think anyone can become a draft guru?
- Don't you think when tax payers approve a bond to build a new stadium they should have to shut up about their run down schools?
- Would you rather lace up the cleats and go play some football outside in the rain and mud or slip on a pair of turf shoes and play indoors?
- Am I the only person who used to think sports was the center of the universe but now realizes it only shows us all that is wrong with our country?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
20 Questions
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Shut Up And Go Away
Jim Tressel, the head football coach at The Ohio State University, wants everyone to know how sorry he is for embarrassing the university by showing the public the specially designed helmet his players will wear this spring to honor the men and women in our military. This guy just doesn't get it and should just shut up and go away. The once proud example of all that is good about college athletics is now the poster child for all that is wrong with it. For starters, he covered up the mess created by some of his star players who sold game jerseys to make some extra money. Tressel was too busy trying to win another national championship while hoping to secure another pay raise to discipline the players when it was first brought to his attention. Next, when it became public knowledge what his players did, Tressel denied any knowledge. He then, with his boss' approval, played the five players in their BCS bowl game to help maximize ticket sales and revenue to the university rather than suspending them like he should have. Instead, the five stars were informed they would be suspended for the first five games of next season even though there was nothing preventing these young men from leaving school and turning their talents to the NFL. Then we find out Tressel lied to the NCAA and his University and actually was aware of the transgressions committed by his players. His punishment was swift; a two game suspension next season. No big deal because their first two games are against teams I could beat if I coached the Buckeyes. Seeing a huge public outcry over his lame punishment, Tressel regrouped and asked the university to make his suspension the same length as his players. Sounds noble but it was actually done with the hope that this would keep the NCAA from dropping the hammer on him and the school causing the program to face NCAA probation penalties. It was only then Tressel was made to apologize to the Buckeye supporters. We just do not know if the apology was for his wrong doings or for getting caught. Now his latest move is to show the world what an honorable man he is by trying to give our military special recognition for their service to our country. Give me a break. Do Buckeye fans buy this? You actually have to be intelligent to go to The Ohio State, unless of course you play football. If Tressel had an ounce of honor, he would have resigned long ago. Lucky for him, his employer does not hold him to the same standard as the military would. If Tressel had been an officer who pulled what he has done, he would have faced court marshalling and possibly time in the Brigg. Tressel forgets most of the young men who play for him would have few options besides military service if they did not excel on the gridiron. Coaches like Tressel, Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, and countless others love to view themselves as generals who lead their men into battle when in reality they are only playing a shell game with the public. Jim Tressel needs to shut his mouth, take his punishment, and then if he had an ounce of dignity, resign from The Ohio State. Maybe then someone with a real sense of values will replace him, someone who actually practices what he preaches.
Old School
When you work in the public school system, it’s easy to become hardened by what you see. That is probably true of anyone who works in any bureaucratically run system. Still, each year that passes, I become more aware of the system’s faults and less tolerant of those who run it. I can not compare education to any other profession since I have never worked outside of it. However, I do know it can not be successfully run by people locked into following business models from the private sector. They just do not work. I once had a first year principal who spent less than five years in the classroom tell our staff how she loved reading business models in her free time and that she planned to run our school after the model used by Starbucks. After a lengthy description of her plan, I pointed out two flaws: 1. Starbucks is designed to sell products to paying customers who want them while our middle school students wanted nothing to do with what we had to offer them for free; 2. Starbucks is interested in maximizing their profits while we lacked sufficient capitol to meet the basic needs of our students. She lasted one year before the district fired her. Needing something and wanting something are two different things. Our youth need an education but in too many cases, they do not want it. Too many parents would rather have before and after school programs to look after their kids so they can be dropped off and picked up around the parents busy schedule than a great school with no day care. By the time parent and child get home, both are too tired from their long days and want nothing more than to escape into a zone of nothingness: the Internet, television, or whatever else helps them escape. How do we get children to want an education? For starters, we need to dump the endless testing and teaching to the tests and return to an education that focuses on developing the whole child and not just test takers. We also need to invest in more hands on learning that allows students to experience what they learn rather than requiring them to simply recite one concept after another. While we are at it, we need to scrap the goal of making every student ready for college when in fact, college is not for everybody. We should be providing more career training for the non college bound student and let them know it is alright to choose a path other than college. If we decrease class sizes, teachers will be able to once again know their students as individuals and not as potential scores on a standardized test. Students will then begin to feel they actually matter beyond their academic progress and appreciate more of what their teachers have to offer. Finally, let principals run schools knowing they have the support of a district office that only wants what is best for the community. We need to stop trying to make all our schools the same when not every town or neighborhood are the same. I am not suggesting we eliminate everything we are doing and return to the dark ages. However, a little more of the old school approach mixed with modern knowledge and strategies would go a long ways toward improving our public schools.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Mountains
The late George Sheehan once said, "The person who descends from a mountain is not the same person who began the ascent." As an avid road bicyclist, these words ring true. I love nothing more than a long arduous climb up a mountain highway. I figure, anyone can ride down a mountain or on the flats, but it takes a special frame of mind to want to tackle a long steep climb. I have enjoyed many fantastic climbs on my bike. Last year, as part of a century ride, I rode my bike up Mount Palomar before turning around for the second half of the ride. On the way back, at the 81 mile mark, stood the climb up the back side of Couser Canyon. This climb is only one mile; far less than the 12 mile climb up Palomar. However, after several hours in the saddle pedaling, and 9,000 feet of climbing, I was not sure I could complete the climb up the ten to eight teen percent grade. It took every bit of effort in me to make it to the top; an effort I did not know I possessed. I love to ride from my house in Hemet up highway 74 through Mountain Center and Idyllwild before stopping at the peak in Pine Cove at 6,200 feet elevation. I rarely see another rider so I know I am doing something most people would never consider attempting. Next month, I have the climb up Mount Diablo and then this summer I return to Lake Tahoe to tackle several passes in the area. With any luck, I will also get to return to Big Bear and ride to the top of Onyx Summit which is over 8,000 feet in altitude. These climbs are punishing but rewarding at the same time for, like George Sheehan says, I am never the same person on the way back down as I was when I started out. However, these are not the only mountains worth climbing. I believe it is important for people to choose mountains to climb or risk having them selected for you. Setting a challenging goal should make a person feel alive and include some risk. The mountain can be professional or personal but should be challenging enough to cause you to celebrate upon successful ascension, or pause for self reflection upon failure. Too many people choose to avoid mountains for risk of failure. However, it was Edison who said he never felt like a failure when he created more than a thousand light bulbs that did not work. Instead, he claimed to have learned something new with each attempt. The mountains we attempt in life are great preparation for the ones thrown at us. The mental resolve we develop by choosing to tackle mountains makes it possible for us to face mountainous events like job loss, illness, or the loss of a loved one. Four years ago, after a bike accident nearly killed me, I faced months and months of painful physical rehabilitation. I never asked for the accident but it was thrown at me anyway. While in physical therapy one day, I bumped into a former colleague of mine. She could hardly turn her neck from the elective surgery she had a few years earlier. Later, my physical therapist told me she should have full use of her neck but she rarely came in for treatment. She was actually worse off than if she never had the surgery in the first place. She just couldn't get herself to climb the real mountain -- therapy and all its pain. There is something to be said about being battle tested. Life is not always easy no matter how many mountains we manage to avoid. Sooner or later you have to scale some. It only makes sense to prepare yourself by selecting a few of your own challenging peaks before one is selected for you that you are unprepared to climb. For as George Sheehan also said, "Our lives must contain mountains or marathons or their equivalents or else we will not be sure if we have reached our potential."
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Our Broken Schools
The public school system is broken and unlike what some would like you to believe, it is not the fault of teacher unions. Like most anything else run by our government, our public school systems has grown far beyond its original purpose.
When Thomas Jefferson pushed the idea of a public school system, he wanted the youth of America to have the same opportunities that were only made available to the elite. A strong education system was vital so all Americans could better their lives and the nation as a whole.
I do not believe Jefferson would approve of what has become of the public school system today. I do not believe he intended for a system that included early childhood day care while relieving the responsibility of raising children from the parent and placing it on our teachers.
Ah, but many of our educational and political leaders today will remind us that many of these kids have parents far too young or fit to raise their children so lets get them into the public school system early and do the job for them. To that, I believe our founding fathers, in their no nonsense manner, would say, "Then they have no business being parents."
We have made it too easy to become a parent while removing the responsibility of parenting and have placed that duty on our nation's teachers. As a teacher, I deeply resent this. I did not go into teaching to feed, clothe, or raise other people's children because they lacked the time or skill set to do it themselves. I went into teaching to open up the minds of our youth while reinforcing society's values. Instead, I am now part of the village left to raise the children of far too many village idiots.
It is not the function or responsibility of our public schools to provide free breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks to children whose parents are too busy with their careers to provide the basics for their kids. Is it just me or does it infuriate you to see students in line for a free lunch texting or listening to music on cell phones their parents purchased?
Do you enjoy seeing our educational leaders cut back on teaching staffs while increasing class sizes and then telling teachers, "I didn't suspend Johnny for _____________________ because there is no one at home to supervise him during the day?" So rather than inconveniencing parents for their dysfunctional children, we allow the kid to destroy the learning of others and then blame the teachers for declining test scores.
Our public school system is broken because we insist on placing academic expectations on our youth that were never placed on our decision makers. What would you rather have, a first grader who masters being polite, kind, and patient or one who can write an entire paragraph that makes sense? Our leaders prefer the writer because you can measure writing on a standardized test.
How many adults are asked to take a standardized test? How many can not hold down a job because they lack manners, patience, and kindness? Employers can train well mannered adults to do most of the jobs that are needed out there but have no desire to hire an intelligent jerk. Our schools need to return to a more practical form of education while we still have a society worth educating.
Finally, what good is a public education if we no longer make college available to our high school graduates? I find it strange we are providing more programs for illegal residents to attend our colleges while legal ones find it increasingly difficult. We force our youth to attend local community colleges that in turn make enrollment deals with local state colleges for their students. Sounds great but this puts the clamps on the young man or woman who desires to venture further off from home.
Tuition increases at three to four times the rate of inflation while universities continue to cut back on their faculty. The end result is we pay more to receive less when we go to college. This is not what Jefferson intended.
A well educated society is vital for our nation's future. However, we need to pause and rethink what kind of a society we want at a time when our public schools are reinforcing too many behaviors that end up destroying the education, and all too often the childhoods, of too many children. We need to reconsider what skills we really want an 18 year old to possess before setting them off into the real world.
When Thomas Jefferson pushed the idea of a public school system, he wanted the youth of America to have the same opportunities that were only made available to the elite. A strong education system was vital so all Americans could better their lives and the nation as a whole.
I do not believe Jefferson would approve of what has become of the public school system today. I do not believe he intended for a system that included early childhood day care while relieving the responsibility of raising children from the parent and placing it on our teachers.
Ah, but many of our educational and political leaders today will remind us that many of these kids have parents far too young or fit to raise their children so lets get them into the public school system early and do the job for them. To that, I believe our founding fathers, in their no nonsense manner, would say, "Then they have no business being parents."
We have made it too easy to become a parent while removing the responsibility of parenting and have placed that duty on our nation's teachers. As a teacher, I deeply resent this. I did not go into teaching to feed, clothe, or raise other people's children because they lacked the time or skill set to do it themselves. I went into teaching to open up the minds of our youth while reinforcing society's values. Instead, I am now part of the village left to raise the children of far too many village idiots.
It is not the function or responsibility of our public schools to provide free breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks to children whose parents are too busy with their careers to provide the basics for their kids. Is it just me or does it infuriate you to see students in line for a free lunch texting or listening to music on cell phones their parents purchased?
Do you enjoy seeing our educational leaders cut back on teaching staffs while increasing class sizes and then telling teachers, "I didn't suspend Johnny for _____________________ because there is no one at home to supervise him during the day?" So rather than inconveniencing parents for their dysfunctional children, we allow the kid to destroy the learning of others and then blame the teachers for declining test scores.
Our public school system is broken because we insist on placing academic expectations on our youth that were never placed on our decision makers. What would you rather have, a first grader who masters being polite, kind, and patient or one who can write an entire paragraph that makes sense? Our leaders prefer the writer because you can measure writing on a standardized test.
How many adults are asked to take a standardized test? How many can not hold down a job because they lack manners, patience, and kindness? Employers can train well mannered adults to do most of the jobs that are needed out there but have no desire to hire an intelligent jerk. Our schools need to return to a more practical form of education while we still have a society worth educating.
Finally, what good is a public education if we no longer make college available to our high school graduates? I find it strange we are providing more programs for illegal residents to attend our colleges while legal ones find it increasingly difficult. We force our youth to attend local community colleges that in turn make enrollment deals with local state colleges for their students. Sounds great but this puts the clamps on the young man or woman who desires to venture further off from home.
Tuition increases at three to four times the rate of inflation while universities continue to cut back on their faculty. The end result is we pay more to receive less when we go to college. This is not what Jefferson intended.
A well educated society is vital for our nation's future. However, we need to pause and rethink what kind of a society we want at a time when our public schools are reinforcing too many behaviors that end up destroying the education, and all too often the childhoods, of too many children. We need to reconsider what skills we really want an 18 year old to possess before setting them off into the real world.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
March Madness
It's March which means the NCAA basketball tournament is in full bloom. Big deal!
I refuse to watch a basketball tournament in which the NCAA crowns a national champion when they refuse to put in place a football playoff to do the same. The leaders of the NCAA are hypocrites. They attempt to portray the image of an organization that holds its participants to high standards while they pursue athletic excellence. What a load of crap that is.
The NCAA is about one thing: money. They would implement any system that would generate a greater profit for them. It's why they have a playoff system in every sport but football. As soon as they can come up with a football playoff with a larger payoff than their current BCS (Bogus Championship System), they will.
The NCAA is an organization that uses young men and women athletes as their own source of free labor. While the NCAA makes millions of dollars off of their athletes, remember, these athletes are not allowed to make a dime for anything they do outside of their sport.
The NCAA, not the athlete, profits from jersey sales of football and basketball players but won't allow the athlete who shines in it to hold a summer job because they are on scholarship. Excuse me, but any kid on a scholarship who has the drive to earn money should be applauded. I don't care if it is doing yard work, waiting tables, or dancing at a strip club. If they can find a legal job to do then they should be allowed to do it. Remember, those same schools do not prohibit students on scholarship for academics from earning money so why shouldn't an athlete?
The people who coach these athletes are paid quite handsomely by the universities. They also earn additional money for the television and radio shows they "host" to promote their team as well as money for advertising products from companies looking to cash in on their success.
I don't know about you, but I have never attended any sporting event or watched one on the television to see someone coach. We tune in to watch the athletes do their thing and the NCAA claims these money making magnets should be happy just to have a scholarship. Lets not forget, these scholarships are not even guaranteed and can be revoked each year.
Just for once, I would like to see these student athletes do something really bold; something that would hit the NCAA where it hurts. When tournament time rolls around, after a long regular season where thanks to ESPN their talents have been show cased to no end, I would love to see these basketball players go on strike. I would love to see them tell the NCAA, "We're done working for free."
Any player with an ounce of talent does not need the NCAA tournament to know if they have the goods to play in the NBA. Most know mid way through their freshman year if they have the talent for the next level.
However, if enough of the top players from the top programs went on strike and forced the cancellation of the NCAA tournament, they would send a message to the hypocrites profiting from their hard work. Television revenue would have to be returned hurting the NCAA in the only thing they care about, their wallets. Networks would have to scramble for new programing and face the consequences of lost viewership and advertising revenue. Vegas would see a huge loss in money bet on tournament games while fans would have to go back to work rather than come down with a mysterious case of flu during the tournament. It would, for lack of a better phrase, result in a new March Madness.
I refuse to watch a basketball tournament in which the NCAA crowns a national champion when they refuse to put in place a football playoff to do the same. The leaders of the NCAA are hypocrites. They attempt to portray the image of an organization that holds its participants to high standards while they pursue athletic excellence. What a load of crap that is.
The NCAA is about one thing: money. They would implement any system that would generate a greater profit for them. It's why they have a playoff system in every sport but football. As soon as they can come up with a football playoff with a larger payoff than their current BCS (Bogus Championship System), they will.
The NCAA is an organization that uses young men and women athletes as their own source of free labor. While the NCAA makes millions of dollars off of their athletes, remember, these athletes are not allowed to make a dime for anything they do outside of their sport.
The NCAA, not the athlete, profits from jersey sales of football and basketball players but won't allow the athlete who shines in it to hold a summer job because they are on scholarship. Excuse me, but any kid on a scholarship who has the drive to earn money should be applauded. I don't care if it is doing yard work, waiting tables, or dancing at a strip club. If they can find a legal job to do then they should be allowed to do it. Remember, those same schools do not prohibit students on scholarship for academics from earning money so why shouldn't an athlete?
The people who coach these athletes are paid quite handsomely by the universities. They also earn additional money for the television and radio shows they "host" to promote their team as well as money for advertising products from companies looking to cash in on their success.
I don't know about you, but I have never attended any sporting event or watched one on the television to see someone coach. We tune in to watch the athletes do their thing and the NCAA claims these money making magnets should be happy just to have a scholarship. Lets not forget, these scholarships are not even guaranteed and can be revoked each year.
Just for once, I would like to see these student athletes do something really bold; something that would hit the NCAA where it hurts. When tournament time rolls around, after a long regular season where thanks to ESPN their talents have been show cased to no end, I would love to see these basketball players go on strike. I would love to see them tell the NCAA, "We're done working for free."
Any player with an ounce of talent does not need the NCAA tournament to know if they have the goods to play in the NBA. Most know mid way through their freshman year if they have the talent for the next level.
However, if enough of the top players from the top programs went on strike and forced the cancellation of the NCAA tournament, they would send a message to the hypocrites profiting from their hard work. Television revenue would have to be returned hurting the NCAA in the only thing they care about, their wallets. Networks would have to scramble for new programing and face the consequences of lost viewership and advertising revenue. Vegas would see a huge loss in money bet on tournament games while fans would have to go back to work rather than come down with a mysterious case of flu during the tournament. It would, for lack of a better phrase, result in a new March Madness.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Black Hawk Down A Must
I finally got around to seeing the movie Black Hawk Down this past weekend. With all that is going on in the middle east and our military involvement throughout the world, I found this a particularly appropriate time to see a great film depicting the ugliness of war.
Twenty five years ago, when I taught high school in Red Bluff, I used to show the film All The Right Moves. At the time, Red Bluff was a mill town not that much different than the coal mining town depicted in the movie. I showed it because so many of my students had the attitude that high school was not all that important because they were just going to get jobs at the mill after they graduated. Most would end up marrying their high school sweetheart and then spend the next thirty-five years mindlessly working at a job before retiring. My students could not see life beyond Red Bluff.
Today, in Hemet, many of my students see few options out there after they graduate. College is not feasible to most but since this is southern California, they want to get out of this town and feel like they make a difference.
Many of my students express an interest in joining the military. The JROTC program is very popular on campus and for many who can not afford college, they see military service as a way to learn a trade they can use once their service is complete.
Unfortunately, these young men and women do not consider the possibility they may not return from duty and if they do, it may be as someone with a missing limb or two, a victim of head trauma, or just plane tortured with post traumatic stress.
Black Hawk Down does a marvelous job of depicting war in today's world. The violence is very real and serves a wonderful purpose by depicting the horrific nature of a battle gone wrong. It does not bash the military; it simply shows how despite all efforts and the best training, things can still go horribly wrong during battle.
Riddley Scott, the director, does such an outstanding job of showing us what a real battle against an enemy that is hard to locate while grossly out numbering our troops is like. He does not glorify war or make heroes out of those who die. He simply depicts it in the most realistic manner possible.
Any young man or woman who is considering a career in the military should be required to view this movie before enlisting. It will not help the military with its recruitment but it will at least allow someone who feels they are invincible because of their youth pause to think before making a final decision.
Communities all across this nation show films and bring in guest speakers to schools to expose our students to the dangers of drugs or drinking and driving. Military service should not be taken lightly. The men and women who serve our country do so with honor and we should be thankful for what they do. However, I wonder how many would choose this path after they watch Black Hawk Down.
Twenty five years ago, when I taught high school in Red Bluff, I used to show the film All The Right Moves. At the time, Red Bluff was a mill town not that much different than the coal mining town depicted in the movie. I showed it because so many of my students had the attitude that high school was not all that important because they were just going to get jobs at the mill after they graduated. Most would end up marrying their high school sweetheart and then spend the next thirty-five years mindlessly working at a job before retiring. My students could not see life beyond Red Bluff.
Today, in Hemet, many of my students see few options out there after they graduate. College is not feasible to most but since this is southern California, they want to get out of this town and feel like they make a difference.
Many of my students express an interest in joining the military. The JROTC program is very popular on campus and for many who can not afford college, they see military service as a way to learn a trade they can use once their service is complete.
Unfortunately, these young men and women do not consider the possibility they may not return from duty and if they do, it may be as someone with a missing limb or two, a victim of head trauma, or just plane tortured with post traumatic stress.
Black Hawk Down does a marvelous job of depicting war in today's world. The violence is very real and serves a wonderful purpose by depicting the horrific nature of a battle gone wrong. It does not bash the military; it simply shows how despite all efforts and the best training, things can still go horribly wrong during battle.
Riddley Scott, the director, does such an outstanding job of showing us what a real battle against an enemy that is hard to locate while grossly out numbering our troops is like. He does not glorify war or make heroes out of those who die. He simply depicts it in the most realistic manner possible.
Any young man or woman who is considering a career in the military should be required to view this movie before enlisting. It will not help the military with its recruitment but it will at least allow someone who feels they are invincible because of their youth pause to think before making a final decision.
Communities all across this nation show films and bring in guest speakers to schools to expose our students to the dangers of drugs or drinking and driving. Military service should not be taken lightly. The men and women who serve our country do so with honor and we should be thankful for what they do. However, I wonder how many would choose this path after they watch Black Hawk Down.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
I'm back. It's been a while and I have no excuse other than my own cyber ignorance. However, I vow to get this thing up and running (That's what she said) thanks to my good friend, Dan.
There is much on my mind these days and so I will be writing about many topics. Look for the following coming soon:
1. The Middle East
2. Obama's Presidency
3. Education in the Cross Hairs
4. Workers Rights
5. The NCAA
6. Drug Testing in Sports
7. Japan vs. Hatti
8. What we Should Really be Teaching in School
If you enjoy what I have to say, pass this blog on to a friend. If you hate it, pass it on any to someone you don't like.
There is much on my mind these days and so I will be writing about many topics. Look for the following coming soon:
1. The Middle East
2. Obama's Presidency
3. Education in the Cross Hairs
4. Workers Rights
5. The NCAA
6. Drug Testing in Sports
7. Japan vs. Hatti
8. What we Should Really be Teaching in School
If you enjoy what I have to say, pass this blog on to a friend. If you hate it, pass it on any to someone you don't like.
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