ESPN's Commandments For Athlete Survival In New York

Sorry for the quality but it's worthwhile to watch if you havn't seen it already. I like how Plax gets consecutive mentions pretty casually and how A-Rod gets 2 as well. The second commandment is probably the best though.

Referees Deciding The Game

It seems that every week, there are at least a few instances of referees making a call that decides the game. Now, there are two ways of responding to when a ref makes a call that decides the game. One is to say that a foul at the beginning of the game should be one at the end of the game, while the other is to note that the players not the referees should decide the game.

While both sides present valid argument, my thought is as follows. As with most case in life, a compromise has to be found. What I propose is a higher barrier for making a call, that is, a questionable call made is the first quarter should not be made in the fourth. Thus, if its a foul that does not lend an advantage to either side, it probably should not be called as well. However, if a foul occurs where the non occurrence of the foul would have changes the circumstances such that the outcome could possibly be different, example a blatant pass interference preventing a touchdown, then it must be called. Ideally, games should not be decided by a ref but they also should not be decided by the lack of a call.

Should the U.S. Auto Industry Be Bailed Out?

No. But ultimately yes.

The U.S. Auto Industry, the "Big 3" has been working an inefficient system while attempting to stay in contention with "foreign" automobile manufacturers and now want money to bail them out? It would be ridiculous were it not so sad. Yes, I am aware that the Big 3 employs over 200,000 employees. However, it is simply the nature of the market.

The Big 3 has been hesitant to change in more than one form. They have been holding to the ideal that during a time when consumers have less money than ever, they will want to let alone be able to buy gas guzzlers like the GMC Yukon or the Ford Excursion, not to mention the ridiculous amount of wasteful trucks. There is a reason why Toyota and Honda are so successful. It is that their primary focus is on the car and the mid size SUV with a mini van mixed in, to provide the needs while giving flexibility in terms of fuel and features. Furthermore, even Al Gore noted that it was unfortunate that the Big 3 had essentially give Toyota a strong foothold in the last 7-8 years by allowing the Toyota Prius to corner the market. Hell, even in today's economic crisis, where some GM dealers are offering buy one get one car sales, the price for the Prius has been marked up by dealers.

Furthermore, the labor union and management should be blamed for the current situation as well. The Big 3 fail to realize that they need to restructure benefits packages such as virtually every other industry has done. One of the sticking points of the latest bailout proposal has been that the Big 3 and the associated labor unions were not willing to accept competitive pay with the U.S. workers for the foreign employers, employ over 110,000 Americans, but are paid 3-4 dollars less, while still being paid reasonably.

Detroit is having a bad year. The Lions suck. The Pistons gave away their heart and soul and now are sucky. The Indians will suck after Kerry Wood messes up his elbow after a week of spring training. Detroit needs something, and if those financial firms whose actions were just as egregious were given a 700 bil bailout, it seems that the automakers should get one as well.

Requiem for a Change

As you may (or probably may not) have noticed I had taken a hiatus from blogging. In the mean time, some great and some not so great things happened. The Lakers and the Colts are doing well (to most people at least) and the Dodgers are the Dodgers.

The reason of this post is to note a philosophical shift for this blog. Since I could just as well be reading and commenting on a billion other blogs that would serve the same purpose as this, I have decided that I would like this to be a bit different.

Thus, I am throwing away the conventional wisdom that one should not mix sports and politics and I will even add some philosophy to this concoction. Hopefully, this blog will serve to be both informative and/or pointless while being thought provoking on a variety of topics. For what is that which you read to serve but as nourishment for the mind.