Professional Stupidity Run Amok

Stupidity is common among professional athletes. Most of the brutes that play professional football lack a certain intelligence that powers the part of the brain that controls self-preservation. They do in fact play one of the most violent sports there is to compete in these days, so it takes a certain kind of insanity right off the bat just to consider stepping onto the field with guys like LaRon Landry roaming the secondary looking for a head to take off. Any one of them could tell you what any of the other 10 guys on the field will be doing in any given situation, and how to respond to this kind of formation or that particular type of play. But when it comes to handling their life off of the football field, most of them are clueless and naïve. The media has proficiently covered the blunders and mishaps of various football players and their horrendously dim-witted and careless involvement in maintaining a social nightlife. This is the year that Pac-man Jones beat down his security guard in a drunken stupor just 6 months after being arrested, suspended, and subpoenaed for his involvement in an altercation at a strip club in Las Vegas. This is also the year that Plaxico Burress ‘fumbled’ his gun in his pants at a Latin dance club in New York and accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed handgun. Stupidity has rung at full volume this season, all while drowning out the foolishness of possibly the leagues brightest shining star.

Tom Brady is one of the greatest quarterbacks I have ever personally seen play the game in my lifetime. He is outfitted with a strong and accurate arm, a keen mental awareness, ’cold as ice’ composure, and the qualities of a natural born leader. He has the talent, the charm, and the looks to take him anywhere that his imagination and boyhood fantasy could lead him. But what a boneheaded move he made by choosing his own doctor to repair his blown out knee as opposed to letting a sports specialized surgeon appointed by the team perform the procedure. Now, not even 24 hours after the end of the regular season in which he only participated in for roughly 8 minutes, it looks as if he will have to have his knee surgically repaired again to correct the infection that has caused him problems throughout his rehab thus far. If this is the case, and that is indeed how it goes down, he will likely miss the entire season next year. Somebody seems to have gotten caught up in the glamour of the ‘LA’ life and lost his sense of reality. Well reality now reads “Back to the sidelines you came from Tom.” No more celebrity status. Just another dumb ass football player with all the talent and all the qualities of a star, who flushed it all away by making decisions that he was never cut out to make. That’s exactly why professional organizations like the Patriots hire professional doctors to handle their tremendously valuable athletes.

*Disclaimer: I am a fan of Tom Brady. I have been a fan of his since Drew Bledsoe went down and Brady stepped in and made a few miraculous throws to win the game. I support all Michigan Wolverines and former Wolverines and I will continue to support them even through bonehead moves made in their collegiate/professional career. I even forgave Chris Webber for his infamous “timeout.”

Great Ball Player, Dreadful Coach

In light of the recent firing of Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks, I'd like to share my thoughts from 2 weeks ago... when I first began to call for the rolling of Mo's head.

12/1/08

Coaches coach. Thats the bottom line. Mo Cheeks is not a coach. Not at a professional level atleast. A coach motivates and uses his assets in the best way he sees fit to win the game. It's more complicated then that but at the same time it's not. That is the primary function of a coach at a professional level. It's not as if he's trying to develop talent. These are grown men... professional ball players. They've been through the motions most of their lives. They know how to play the game. But it is painfully obvious that they don't know how to play in Mo's system. They look confused. It's more like backyard ball than professional play. Atleast when you throw down on the court around the neighborhood, you go after rebounds with the necessary aggression. This team is full of potential, but they lack guidance. What happened to the hard-nosed defense that they played last year? Where is the post game that Elton Brand was supposed to bring with him when he came to Philly? Their whole selling point to the fans is "Come Run With Us." Where's the running? These are concerns that the team needs to address if they want to compete in a very tough Eastern Confrence. Keep in mind that the reason why Allen Iverson is not with the Sixers anymore, much to the dismay of the fans, is because the organization invested hope and confidence in Mo Cheeks. With that said, the first thing I would do if I was Ed Stefanski would be to fire Mo Cheeks. I like Mo. He seems like a good guy. But he's not a good fit for this team. He was a good fit for last years team. This year, the main objective was a new direction. A new team, with new talent. I'm sorry, but being outscored 31-11 in the third quarter with the entire starting lineup on the bench and the last 5 guys on the depth chart in the game for more than half of the quarter is grounds to fire the guy who puts the lineup on the floor. Brick after brick, bad foul after bad foul. The players on the court did not deserve to be on the floor at that critical point in the game. They didn't match up with the opposing team. Chicago had the right guys on the court at the right time and they ran away with the game before the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter. Sorry Mo... There's nobody to blame but you.

Holiday Hypocrite

With the holiday season in high gear, just 2 weeks away from Christmas, I have come to realize my hypocrisy in the celebration of Jesus/Commercialism. I disagree with and despise everything that Christmas represents in the eyes of many. I despise commercialism, even though it is good for the capitalist economy that you may deny that you live in. I also have grown to renounce Jesus Christ as my lord and savior despite the efforts of my family to drive it into my head that he is in fact "The Son of God." Don't get me wrong; I think Jesus was a very important historical figure... I just don’t buy into all of the hypocrisies of the Catholic Church and I don't buy into the idea that Jesus was what Christians have made him out to be. (For the record, for all of you who grew up with pictures of a white Jesus embedded into your head, he was of Middle Eastern descent, and if you haven't seen what the people in that region of the world look like, they are dark skinned.) There's even the idea presented by researchers that Jesus was born in June, utterly discrediting the correlation of Christmas to the celebration of the birth of Christ.

Despite all of the reasons why I should boycott Christmas each year, I still celebrate it as my favorite holiday. I see Christmas as a representation of something different. It's the spirit that makes it such a special holiday. It's the warm feeling you get when you're out driving, passing all the decorated houses along the way. Once you get home, you walk inside to see your tree pleasantly lit with decorations scattered throughout your home. There's the pain in the ass that is the Christmas shopping experience, but it's much more manageable to get through when you hear Christmas music playing overhead, softening the stress of dealing with the crowds and the long lines you get caught in.

But most importantly, it's a time that is meant for family. For some, it represents tradition. Some families do the exact same thing year after year, strengthening the bond they share with each other. My heart goes out to those who don't have a family to spend the holidays with because it can be a very lonely and depressing time of the year when you are overwhelmed with the visions of something you don't have or can't relate to. But hey, what would Christmas be without the Scrooges and Grinches of the world?

I tend to have a pessimistic view of most things in life, I can't help it... but it is so important to have something to look forward to and enjoy despite all the negativity that you can draw from it. You can look at Christmas as a financial burden to some, but there's nothing to say you have to spend "X" amount of dollars, and buy this and that for him and her. It's not supposed to be stressful (although you can very easily fall into the retail racket). The most important thing is to maintain and share the spirit with those close to you because you never really know how many more opportunities you will get to do so. Life is too short not to enjoy times like these with your loved ones.

So in closing, I would like to propose the disassociation of Christmas with the birth of Jesus Christ in an attempt to unite everybody, of all religions, in a celebration of life, love, and appreciation. Get rid of the fucking baby in the barn with the "virgin" and the carpenter... Christians can celebrate that shit in June if they'd like, when Jesus was actually born. They can even take the name if they'd like, I'd prefer a new one anyway... feel free to offer suggestions. Myself, I like "Santamas.”

The Value of a Good Woman

The value of a good woman is greater than most men give credit. What constitutes a good woman is different to each man, depending on his deficiencies. Take for example, a man who grew up nurtured in all aspects of life by his mother who was a housewife by occupation. He probably took advantage of the situation and never bothered to learn for himself how to cook, clean, do laundry, etc... A good woman to him would fill that void in the traditional sense. However, a man who learns to be independent on his own, needs not the same holes filled, but instead has his own fallacies that he may need addressed. Whatever it may be, a good woman provides a swift kick in the ass and makes a good man want to be a better man. We all have potential to do things we never imagined. That same potential is easily lost and wasted if we don’t know the best way to use it. By striving to be the best we can, we find what drives us and our talents are better recognized. What better way to find greatness than to use the natural talents you were born with and, for some reason or another, never let grow to the full potential we are capable of. It is too easy to fall into the rut of conformity just to find a sense of security and comfort in a world full of uncertainty and instability. We sacrifice true happiness and satisfaction to provide a steady paycheck and health benefits to support the life we grew up accustomed to in the middle class of society. We strive to maintain and keep up with those around us, losing sight of what matters most to us. We dig holes and build debt, living beyond our means to preserve a sense of status that we may not necessarily have possessed in the first place. In this murky abyss we dig and settle into, we lose sense of ourselves and go astray from what makes us individuals. A good woman made me re-evaluate my position in life, who I was, what I wanted, and made me strive to be a better man… a man I always had the potential to be but was too distracted by the blinding light of bullshit that I never should have let get in the way of my pursuit of happiness. I have an uphill battle ahead of me to get back on the path in which I can be who I am and do what those close to me have always told me I should be pursuing. Sometimes it takes an outsider looking in to see a natural talent that you don’t see because it is what it is and what it always has been from your perspective. And sometimes it takes that swift kick in the ass to get you going in the direction of the trail you strayed from and lost long ago.

Thanksgiving Terrorists

When I turned on the TV early Thanksgiving morning to see if the parade had begun, I was astounded by the horrific news broadcasts on each of the 3 major networks.

"Massacre in Mumbai"

"Terrorists Attack Westerners in India"

"Myspace Suicide"

Only in America will you wake up to reports of terror and doom on what has been declared a national holiday. I completely understand the importance of the events that transpired, but Jesus, what a way to kick off the holiday season. They are feverously injecting fear into our minds and our hearts to ignite the consumerism buried deep inside us all underneath the fear of losing our homes and not being able to put gas in cars. There is always death and destruction and terrorist attacks around the world. At any point in the day, a broadcast could flash on your television screen displaying a scene most would only believe happens in a movie. It's the timing deployed by the broadcasting stations and national media that disgusts me. Constant fear mongering to justify an unjust "War on Terror" is one thing -- I've grown accustomed to the unsettling feeling it leaves in my stomach. But to use it to ignite a consumer frenzy at the very start of the holiday season is fucking sickening beyond anything that I've seen thus far. "Stay in the country this holiday season folks, and don't take the subway... There are terrorists out there, and they will kill you."

Small Business, Big Business, What's the Difference?

Businessmen are businessmen regardless of the work force they command beneath them. They are masters of micromanipulation spending every conscious and unconscious second of their day trying to fatten their pockets. Whether its a small business or a Fortune 500 company you work for, they will no doubt leave you underappreciated, underpaid, and enraged about your position with your job/career. Your life, your family, your future... its all inconsequential. All that is important is the bottom line figures and dollar signs. You have a problem with that? Leave. You are replaceable. Somebody will backfill right behind you as the door crashes into your ass on your way out. That is the nature of the business. You dont like it? Start your own business, work for yourself. Become that guy. Someday, you'll be hated by your employees. Its the cycle of the corporate world. Make sure you thank Commercial America for taking us into this distained universe in which we exist in the 21st century.

Shakles...

"Anarchism, really stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion; the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government." --Emma Goldman


The true spirit of an outlaw is not one of destruction, but merely a soul rebelious to the restraints and imposed control that ties down the free spirit within.

--You can quote Me on that one

Walking the Path Less Traveled

In a few weeks, millions of American citizens will head to the booths to cast their vote for the presidential nomination. I wish I could say that they will head to the booths intending to vote for the candidate that they support, however statistics illustrate that is not the case. The numbers show, after accounting for all those who do and do not participate, that it only takes about 30-32% of the American public to elect a president. Out of that 32%, roughly half vote for what they deem the lesser of two evils. That leaves us with roughly 16% of the People that actually support the elected president. It doesn’t take a statistics major to realize that the current process we have does not work the way it was intended. With only 16% giving their full support, the rest of us make up the majority. In each election, the mainstream media presents us with only two candidates to choose from. The resulting decision comes down to choosing between a democrat and a republican. But what if I told you that there are more than just two candidates to choose from? What if I told you that there are actually four candidates from four different political parties that represent principles that are outside of the status quo that we have become accustomed to over the years run by the Republicrats?

The differences between the Democrats and Republicans are minute when looking at the big picture. They both carry similar strategies on foreign policy, civil liberties, national debt, and the Federal Reserve – all of which have failed us consistently through the years. Both can arguably be blamed for the financial crisis that we face today, and neither offers a productive solution to fix it. Case in point: Last month, Congress gathered to vote on treasury secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion bailout plan… Upon preparing for the vote, Congressmen from all over the country received emails, letters, and phone calls from constituents (you the American people) in an astonishing 9-1 ratio in favor of voting down the proposition. 9-1. That’s 90% of the concerned American public that did not wish to pass this legislation… however, both Senator Obama and Senator McCain voted in favor when the revised bill was presented to the Senate.

The part that gets me is that in spite of the difference of opinion shared by the American public with the two candidates from the two major political establishments, voters are set to head into the booths on Election Day next month presumably to vote for one of the two. The worst part is they will not necessarily be voting for the candidate that they agree with, but against the candidate that they so adamantly disagree with. The ending result is they end up canceling each other out until one of the two mainstream representatives is declared the winner, disregarding the fact that there were other candidates to consider.

Each election process gets worse and worse when it comes to the general public being forced to decide between the lesser of two evils. When our founding fathers drew up the blueprints that became the foundation of our country, they feared the establishment of powerful political parties. Apparently, we took not heed to their warnings, but instead embraced the Democrats and Republicans as the only two “logical” selections to choose between. The general consensus to the uninformed is either you are a Democrat, a Republican, or a Communist. Such is not the case. These two major players are merely one powerful party divided in two. They represent the status quo, and anybody who wishes not to support the status quo is seen as radical and in return shunned by not only the media, but by the Commission on Presidential Debates as well.

The Commission on Presidential Debates was founded in 1987 by the chairman of the Republican Party and the chairman of the Democratic Party. They declared themselves the law of the land for presidential debates and blatantly disregarded the inclusion of other political parties in the debates. This is why the principles of other parties go unknown to the American public. However, we live in a new day in age where just about anybody with a computer and internet access has full capability to research and decide for themselves who they support on the issues that matter most. We have no excuse not to invest a little bit of our time in making a decision that we can stand behind and defend as opposed to defending our decision to ‘not’ vote for the other guy.

So I urge you, and anybody that you may know that this applies to… if you do not fully support the candidate that you plan to vote for next month when you step into that booth, or if you simply plan to vote against ‘the other guy’, then do yourself and your country a favor and at least look into candidates such as Chuck Baldwin of The Constitution Party (the third largest political party in our country), Bob Barr of The Libertarian Party, Ralph Nader of The Independent Party, and Cynthia McKinney of The Green Party. Our country desperately needs to reform our presidential election process and the only way we can realign the way our politics are conducted is if we band together and consider something outside of what we’ve grown accustomed to over the years. Cure your apathy... Knowledge is Power.

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