Daniel Millhouse's Blog, page 13

When Money Supercedes Morals

For as long as currency has been around, there have been people around to find ways to hurt their fellow man to gain more wealth. Whether it was snipping off pieces of gold, silver, or other valuable metal from coins, to selling out Jesus (depending on your religious and personal views) for 30 pieces of silver (most likely Tyrian shekels), or stealing a sale for commission from a fellow co-worker, people will often do things that would be against many other people's moral values.

People will fight for the almighty dollar today, step on each other's necks if they have to, but for what? When they go back home, can they honestly say to their family that they ethical in any sort of way? What happens when their kids ask a question about what's fair and what isn't when it concerns how they should treat others? Do the parents tell their kids the truth about what they have done?

Even with the way people will treat their fellow man to gain an extra dollar, it appears that things are worse today. Of course people did it in the past in different ways, but people hide it better in modern times. In the past you had people that sold "tonics" that would cure the average person, sell devices that would make you look or feel better, and even people that "sold" the Brooklyn Bridge over and over again. The thing was that most of the general public back then knew that these were conmen trying to dupe them out of their money.

Of course there have been scandals such as Bernie Madoff's pyramid scheme in the modern times, but otherwise, many of your people that set aside their integrity to make an extra dollar, are either a lot harder to detect or even accepted as just a part of everyday society. Many of the "1%" fit into this category, even if they legitimately started off trying to run an ethical business. To become extremely wealthy in today's society, it's commonly known that most of the wealthy stepped on at least a few necks to get where they are at.

But what does this say of the future? It's okay to set aside your integrity for an extra buck, as long as you hide it better or make a lot of money? If more and more people today don't teach their kids that morals should outweigh the power of making an extra dollar at the expense of their fellow man, tomorrow's society can turn into a financial version of the Old West. Is that really the type of society people want their children learning and facilitating when they grow up?

The Characters of the Game

The Clown Prince of Baseball: Max PatkinJust as in many professional sports, there are a small percentage of players that are character-like on the field. Football has it's mean guy, monster-like players that would scare anyone if their actions were performed anywhere off the field. Basketball is known for players that have flair, covered in tattoos, often wearing what's trendy, and in the 1990's, rapping in music videos. Baseball on the other hand, has had a mixture of these types, but a whole other class of characters that is seldom seen in the other sports. Quirky. Whether it's the players, managers, or someone just affiliated with the club in some sort of extraneous way, it seems like every team has at least one person that boosts the team's "weird" credentials.

I give you a list of the top ten characters of baseball over the years.

1. Max Patkin: For 51 years Patkin was crowned "The Clown Prince of Baseball" for his antics as a minor league player, barnstormer, and genuine entertainer after his baseball career was over. A member of the United States Navy during World War II, while pitching for a service team, Patkin allowed a homerun to the legendary Joe DiMaggio. Rather than get angry and forgetting about it, Patkin threw his glove down and started to run the bases behind DiMaggio.

After his career ended, he performed over 4,000 times and never missed a scheduled performance. He wore a baggy uniform with a question mark as his player number and made funny faces to entertain the crowd. His fame as a minor league clown was solidified when he appeared in the baseball movie Bull Durham as himself.

2. Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky: Hrabosky used theatrics to intimidate the opposing hitters of the team. Facing towards second base, he would vigorously rub down the ball while huffing and puffing. Then he would slam the ball into his mitt, turn around, and have the expression of an angry man. He often yelled on the field and stare down hitters for extended periods of time before throwing a pitch. Off the field he would go shirtless during team batting practices.

3. Rube Waddell: During the offseason, Waddell would wrestle alligators. If that doesn't say enough about him, he was even more peculiar during the season. On multiple occasions he would wave his teammates off the field and tell them he would be striking out the side, often following through on his claim. During games, he was known to leave the stadium when he heard the sirens of passing fire trucks (it was rumored he would chase after them). Opponents would sometimes distract him with "shiny objects" and puppies during the game. His attention was always splintered in multiple directions. Despite all this, he was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

4. Yogi Berra: Perhaps the most quotable player in baseball history, his quotes were termed as "Yogiisms". Another Hall of Famer, Yogi was a great player on the field, but with his words, he often dumbfounded those around him. It's still not one hundred percent known if his quotes are created on the spur of the moment or if he pre-planned them. It's also not known if they are intentionally so confusing. Here is a small sample of his past quotes:

-"It's deja vu all over again." - "You can observe a lot by watching." - "Always go to other people's funerals. Otherwise they won't go to yours." - "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." - "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." - "I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."

5. Turk Wendell: Perhaps the most superstitious athlete of all time, Wendell officially earned this title from Men's Fitness magazine. During his 11-year career, he would jump over the foul lines, chew black licorice while on the mound, drawn three crosses in the dirt before starting each inning, slamming down the rosin bag as hard as he can every time he used it, and brush his teeth in the dugout in between innings. While signing a contract with the New York Mets, he made them change their offer of $10 million a year to $9,999,999.99 in honor of his uniform number, 99. A hunter during the offseason, Wendell wore a necklace made from the claws and teeth of the animals he hunted.

6. Wade Boggs: Though being known as one of the purest hitters of his generation, Boggs was a slave to routine. One of his most widely known routines was that he had to eat a whole friend chicken before each game (he played in 2,440 regular season games). What many fans didn't know was he had to take 150 grounders during practice. No more. No less. He also would scratch the word "chai" into the dirt before every at-bat (the word means "life" in Hebrew). He would have to take batting practice at exactly 5:17pm and at 7:17pm do his sprints before every night game. Boggs was also known for excessively drinking beer while his team traveled on road trips.

7. Mark Fidrych: Known for his bird-like movements, Fidrych earned the nickname "The Bird". While pitching, he would often talk to the baseball, be seen strolling around the mound, and would even toss a new ball back to the umpire because he felt the ball had "hits" in it. In a OCD-ish sort of a way, he would often smooth the mound with his own bare hands to get rid of the cleat marks of opposing pitchers.

8. Nyger Morgan: Perhaps quirky or perhaps sad, no one could ever fully figure out if Morgan is the victim of multiple personalities. Often calling himself Tony Plush, which would in itself not be too alarming, he once got a game-winning base hit and couldn't recall it minutes later during a postgame interview. He would often thrown up a "T" for Tony, imitate other famous athletes motions, and he would wear a uniform a couple of sizes too big because he felt Tony Plush was a bigger man than he was.

9. Kevin Rhomberg: Despite only playing 41 games in his Major League career, Rhomberg was perhaps the most tactile player to ever play. He had the weird obsession to touch anyone back that touched him and took this "tag" like obsession to a new high. Once tagged with a baseball by teammate Brook Jacoby during a game, Jacoby threw the ball out of the stadium, leading to Rhomberg leaving the stadium and searching for the ball for two hours before finally finding it. Whenever he was tagged out, he would touch the player back instantly. In a game against the New York Yankees, the umpire had to stop the game and warn the Yankees to stop touching Rhomberg because he would run after each player. Once touched on the toe by teammate Rick Sutcliffe while he was in a bathroom stall, Rhomberg ran out of the stall to touch everyone in the clubhouse since he wasn't aware of who touched him. In extreme scenarios, he would mail a letter to a player and write in the letter than receiving the letter constitutes as a "touch", if he couldn't touch the player who touched him during the game.

10. Charlie Kerfeld: Known as the Astros' oddball in the 1980's, Kerfeld demanded that his contract include 37 boxes of orange Jell-O as part of his compensation for playing. A fan of the cartoon series, The Jetsons, Kerfeld had to wear the same Jetsons shirt under his jersey every game. Many times while sitting out in the bullpen, he would wear a Coneheads cone on his head with teammates Larry Anderson and Dave Smith. He was also quoted as once saying that he wanted to team up with Hulk Hogan, Brian Bosworth, and Charles Barkley against the Four Horsemen and would often say he was pondering a career in wrestling, Arena Football, or as a brain surgeon after the end of his baseball career.

DC Superhero Equals Dead Parent(s)

Art by Alex RossMany kids grow up with lofty aspirations of what they want to be when they grow up. Everything from being a rock star to being a sports star are often goals the youth of America aspire to achieve. Some kids, especially when they are too young to know better, state they want to be a superhero when they grow up. Watching TV, movies, and reading the stories of their favorite comic book characters, kids often pretend to be their favorite heroes while they play. One of the most popular groups of superheroes that kids emulate is DC's Justice League. Unfortunately, what most kids don't realize, if you want to be a Justice League member, one if not both your parents have to have passed away.

Now there have been many Justice League members over the years, so of course many of them probably still have living parents, but if you look at most of the core members over the years, you'll notice a trend.

Batman : This is probably the most obvious one since the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne basically created the desire in Bruce to become something more than your average kid. Without their death, he would probably resemble something closer to his playboy image he pretends to be when he's Bruce Wayne, rather than the Dark Knight. Without the act of Joe Chill, the world itself might have been destroyed several times over because there would be no Batman to save it.

On a side note, though not a core member of the Justice League, the various Robins have been victim of parental deaths as well. Dick Grayson (Nightwing), the first Robin, was orphaned after his parents were killed while performing. Jason Todd (Red Hood), the second Robin, was originally an acrobat himself and his parents were killed by Killer Croc. This storyline was retconned though and Todd became an orphan who tried to steal the tires off the Batmobile. The third Robin, Tim Drake (Red Robin), started his superhero career after the death of his mother and the crippling of his father. His father would eventually be killed by Captain Boomerang. This story was later retconned as well and Tim Drake's parents would go into hiding in the Witness Protection Program.

Superman : Although raised by the Kents, Superman was originally orphaned when his home planet of Krypton explodes, taking the lives of his parents. Raised by the wholesome Kansas farmers, Superman is more of an alter-ego for Superman, as opposed to Bruce Wayne is the alter-ego to Batman. Not personally knowing his biological parents, Clark is less influenced by their death than he is by the boy scout like demeanor that the Kents instilled in him.

Aquaman : In the Golden Age version of Aquaman's backstory his mother dies while giving birth to Arthur.

The Flash : Barry Allen's family is torn apart when his mother is murdered after he comes home from a spelling bee. Making matters worse, his father is arrested and sent to prison for the death of Allen's mother, despite his father's innocence. Proving this becomes one of Allen's priorities in life and the likely inspiration for his career choice in forensics for the police department.

Green Lantern : Hal Jordan was the son of a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft. Idolizing his father, Hal unfortunately watched his father die right before his eyes when he crashed his plane. Despite witnessing such a traumatic event, Hal eventually became a pilot himself before the ring found him, turning Jordan into the first human Green Lantern.

Green Arrow : The child of millionaires, Oliver Queen learned how to shoot a bow and arrow to emulate Robin Hood. After accidentally killing a small animal, Queen was mildly traumatized. Later on, while on an African safari, Queen witnessed his parents being mauled by lions. He could have saved them, but his hesitation to shoot the lions leads to their death.

Shazam : Billy Batson is a teenager who bounces around from foster home to foster home before acquiring the powers of the Wizard who passed his powers onto Batson.

The Martian Manhunter : While technically not the victim of an early parental death, J'onn J'onzz was a loving father and husband until his family and just about all the other Martians died off from a contagious virus that fed off the telepathic energy that Martians had.

Death By Butter

Every year, millions of people across the country head out to their local fairs, whether it be a county or a state fair, and spend ridiculous amounts of money on things that could kill them. Fair rides always seem to take some lives every year due to the shoddiness of their reassembly or lack of planning on how they exactly work. Occasionally you get a fight that breaks out in a stabbing or shooting on fair grounds as well. Little do people suspect, that the item that is probably killing them off the most is the very food that they eat.

I myself have gone to local fairs, looking forward to the strange new foods that might be available. In the past, it was never a big deal. While fried food is common at these fairs, a little fried food isn't going to send me to my grave much faster than I would already by going. Especially when fairs are usually a yearly occurrence.

Even with the selection of fried goods, my favorite go-to fair food was turkey legs. While they appear to be bigger than any turkey leg I've ever had for a Thanksgiving feast, they were no more likely to kill me than whatever fast food or TV dinner I would have probably popped in my mouth if I hadn't attended the fair on that particular day. Just a week ago, I even tried fried alligator for the first time (it was okay, but lacked flavor and was a bit chewy).

In the last 10 years or so, the gods of fried food stepped up their game and created meals that could probably kill a person on the spot.

First, I noticed sweets that were fried. Twinkies, Snickers, and Oreos appeared to be the first ones that I could tell. I even gained the courage to try the fried Oreos, only to be disappointed by the lack of the addicting Oreo cream and the mushiness of the whole desert because of the addition of grease from frying the snack. Instantly I found myself turned off by the whole ideal.

Even then, I always kept a look out for what the new concoction would be when a fair rolled into my region. Snacks such as fried chocolate covered bacon appeared and partially because of my experience with the fried Oreos and for my lack of appetite for chocolate, I refrained from buying the newest fried good.

What came next, I could not have ever foreseen. Fried butter. Yep, you read that right. Fried butter. Apparently it comes with a slight cinnamon flavor, but essentially you are just eating fried grease, fried in liquid grease. If the gods of fried food were ever going to try to kill you, this is the weapon they would pick.

When I saw fried butter for the first time at the San Diego County Fair, I thought to myself that no one would ever order something like that. To some small degree, I can understand someone trying a fried dessert because you might enjoy that dessert in an un-fried form. And while people enjoy the flavor on things such as popcorn, it's not usually something you would grab from your refrigerator and eat like a candy bar.

Somehow, despite the absurdity of the fried good, people ordered the fried butter. Millions of pounds of it must have been sold across America. And why? I don't know. I can only guess that America's obsession with fatty foods has reached it's pinnacle. At least I hope so. The only thing worse that I can think of is the concession stand worker scooping up a cup of the fry machine oil, putting a straw and lid on it, and selling it for $10.

While food you don't normally have on a regular basis and can't get everyday at a typical restaurant is an okay thing to have occasionally, it feels that fried butter was only invented to kill it's consumer instantly. Other than the cigarette industry, I can't think of a product that is made with the thinly veiled attempt to hide that the product is a poor health choice.

Hopefully with the long life ahead, I almost shudder to think what the fair-food industry will come up with next.

*picture taken by Daniel Millhouse at the San Diego County Fair

Not Every Star Pitcher is a Hall-of-Famer

Former all-star Tim Lincecum heads to the bullpen accompanied by his pitching coach and former all-star Dave Righetti. Picture by Daniel Millhouse.In Major League Baseball, currently one of the biggest concerns for teams are the amount of innings their star pitchers are throwing. Teams, agents, managers, and even the players themselves cite that they are held to innings and pitch limits that are lower than ever before in baseball history. In the process, teams have become overly conservative with their pitchers, especially when it comes to their young up and coming stars.

In the 1970's and before, league leaders in innings pitched would routinely be over 300 innings a season. In 2014, the MLB leader was David Price with 248.1 innings pitched and even that was higher than the American League leader from the previous season when James Shields pitched 228.2 innings.

Part of the reason for the reduction in innings is because of teams converting from four-man rotations to five-man rotations. This was done to extend the amount of rest a starting pitcher has between starts. Even when this happened, league leaders during the 1980's would reach up to the high 200's in innings pitched (e.g. Bert Blyleven 292.2, Steve Carlton 295.2).

When the 1990's rolled around and the contracts of professional baseball players jumped up at a higher rate than ever before. The highest paid pitcher going into 1990 was Dave Stewart at $3.5 million a year. By the end of the decade, Kevin Brown was making $15 million a year. As player contracts jumped in value, agents started making demands on behalf of the pitchers they represented. One of the most common demands was limiting the pitchers in innings pitched and/or pitches thrown in a game. They felt this would preserve their client's career.

Since then, MLB teams leaned towards conserving their pitcher's usage. Often rookie pitchers are held to around 150 innings or less, and then are shut down for the rest of the season regardless of whether or not their team needed them to secure a playoff spot or pitch for them in the playoffs.

In 2012, Stephen Strasburg finally was ready to pitch a complete season for the first time in his career. By the end of August, Strasburg had reached 159.1 innings pitched and the Washington Nationals shut his season down despite being in the middle of a playoff race. The Nationals took first place, but entered the first round of the playoffs without the intention to using their young star player. They lost three-to-two in the playoffs, using only their middle level starting pitchers. If they had turned to Strasburg who went 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA and 197 strikeouts, the Nationals could have been the team in the World Series that year possibly. They were too conservative with their star player.

Almost all the teams in the MLB pull the same thing now. This is partially due to every team thinking that once they develop a star pitcher, that he'll be a star pitcher for years to come. Historically this has never been the case. There are hundreds of examples of pitchers only having several star-like seasons before fading off. Sometimes this is because it takes pitching several years before hitters adapt to the star pitcher and sometimes it's just plain luck. Not every pitcher that has a 20 win season is a future Hall-of-Famer.

Examples of players that once dominated, but faded off include Brett Saberhagen, Orel Hershiser, and Ron Guidry. Each one of those pitchers were so dominating at some point in their career, they had been awarded the Cy Young Award. This isn't unusual.

Even players such as the Giants' Tim Lincecum, can be seen as a prime example of this. Lincecum won back-to-back Cy Young Awards and received votes for the award the next two years, but then fell off into pitcher obscurity. He never dropped off because of over-usage or injury. It just happened.

Teams need to let their star pitchers pitch. Let your pitchers do the job they're receiving millions of dollars for. Don't be so conservative. Their time as stars will most likely be short enough. Take advantage of their abilities and ability to deceive the hitters in their league before everyone catches up.

2015 Major League Baseball Predictions

National League Awards:
MVP: Giancarlo Stanton
Cy Young: Johnny Cueto
Rookie of the Year: Kris Bryant
Comeback Player of the Year: Matt Harvey
Manager of the Year: Bud Black

American League Awards:
MVP: Jose Abreu
Cy Young: Chris Sale
Rookie of the Year: Daniel Norris
Comeback Player of the Year: Avisail Garcia
Manager of the Year: Buck Showalter

National League Standings:
East: 1. Washington Nationals; 2. Miami Marlins; 3. New York Mets; 4. Philadelphia Phillies; 5. Atlanta Braves
Central: 1. Pittsburgh Pirates; 2. St. Louis Cardinals; 3. Chicago Cubs; 4. Milwaukee Brewers; 5. Cincinnati Reds
West: 1. San Diego Padres; tied 2. San Francisco Giants; tied 2. LA Dodgers; 4. Arizona Diamondbacks; 5. Colorado Rockies
Wildcards: San Francisco Giants; Los Angeles Dodgers

Notes: I believe the race in the west will be the tightest. I have the Padres in first place, but the truth is that the Padres, Giants, and Dodgers will finish within a few games of each other. Any of them could be first, second, or third.

American League Standings:
East: 1. Baltimore Orioles; 2. Toronto Blue Jays; 3. Boston Red Sox; 4. New York Yankees; 5. Tampa Bay Rays
Central: 1. Kansas City Royals; 2. Chicago White Sox; 3. Cleveland Indians; 4. Detroit Tigers; 5. Minnesota Twins
West: 1. Seattle Mariners; 2. ANAHEIM Angels; 3. Houston Astros; 4. Oakland A's; 5. Texas Rangers
Wildcards: Chicago White Sox; Cleveland Indians

Notes: The closest race in the American League will be in the central. Any of the top three teams (Royals, White Sox, and Indians) have the ability to take the central and the Tigers have an outside chance to taking a wildcard spot.

Playoffs:
NL Champion: Washington Nationals
AL Champion: Seattle Mariners
World Series Champion: Washington Nationals

Why Humanity Must Embrace Space Travel

Whether or not you believe that Earth will or will not perish due to self-destruction such as nuclear warfare, internal-destruction such as a super volcano, or external-destruction such as an asteroid, no matter what, humanity's time on Earth is ticking away. It is inevitable that eventually one day, the sun will expand and take out Earth or supernova and take out most of our solar system.

The most popular theories to humanity's end is a large asteroid, such as one that eventually led to the extinction of the dinosaurs, and nuclear warfare that could end in either a quick end for nearly all of humanity or a slow end if a nuclear winter took place.

For any of these reasons, it is imperative that if we want to continue on as a species, we must eventually spread to other planets and/or moons away from our solar system. Scientists must continue their search of finding "Earth-like" planets in other solar systems, but also explore the possibilities of terraforming a planet to fit the needs of humanity.

Using some of the most advanced telescopes available, scientists at JPL and observations based on the Kepler Mission, only 1.4 to 2.7% of sun-like stars are expected to contain Earthlike planets. Even once we find Earthlike planet candidates, we must find ways to determine whether or not they are truly inhabitable for humans. Anything from temperature variances, to deadly plant/animal life, to a lack of a proper atmosphere are all real possibilities humans would face if we were somehow able to figure out how to successfully send humans to one.

Terraforming has also been discussed as a possibility, but something on this scale would take years and we would need to figure out how to provide the planet with the missing ingredients that are essential to human life. Mars, Venus, and Saturn's moon Titan have been suggested as future candidates to possible terraforming if humanity leans that way. One study suggests that to successfully transform Mars to be compatible with humanity, it could take up to fifty thousand years before we could possibly live on it. Even then, we would only be one planet farther from the sun that will eventually destroy most, if not all of the solar system.

In the current status of the space agencies on Earth, we will not be able to escape the Earth before our extinction comes. We could possibly prolong humanity's extinction by formulation some sort of asteroid defense plan, but we cannot stop our own sun from erupting in a supernova or slowly burning off the surface of Earth and leaving our planet in a Mars-like status.

Even if we are able to escape the solar system and find a new home planet, scientists such as Stephen Hawking has theorized that the whole universe is doomed. Trillions and trillions of years from now, our universe will eventually spend all of the available thermo-dynamic energy, leaving the universe black, desolate, and lifeless. From our dead universe, it is even speculated that a new universe could spring up and our existence may never even be known. Sadly, there may have been thousands of species that have existence in a previous universe prior to our big bang, but any evidence of their existence could be wiped out like ours may be one day.

Microbrewers Are Worth Taking a Chance On

With companies such as Anheuser-Busch pulling billions of dollars of profit each year, it's hard to comprehend that Americans would spend so much on a beer that is by no means the best tasting beer. In many domestic markets, Anheuser-Busch pulls in over fifty percent of the beer market, despite the availability of better beers.

In recent years, there has been a rise in the amount of micro-breweries and larger independent breweries across the country. While many of these breweries don't sell their product at the low prices as the major brewers such as Anheuser-Busch or MillerCoors, the local breweries provide those who are brave enough to escape the trappings of the billions of dollars spent by the biggies, a wide selection of flavors, great taste, and seasonal specials that the larger companies often won't release nationally.

So in this case, it almost comes down to, "why are you buying a particular beer?" While it's widely known that name recognition plays a major role in Anheuser-Busch's dominance, it's only recently becoming known that micro-breweries offer more flavor to their customer base. Beers such as Budweiser and Coors often have been joked that they have a watered down taste. The only advantage to this could be for those looking to become intoxicated quicker and cheaper, rather than enjoying their beer.

Brewers such as southern California's own Hangar 24, offer taste to their customer base. Unfortunately not available across the country, Hangar 24 is well known in the southwest for their Orange Wheat, Betty, Amarillo Pale Ale, and many other beers including seasonals. Led by Master Brewer Ben Cook, Hangar 24 has utilized local fruits and other products to enhance the flavor of their beer and attract a customer base that truly cares for the taste of their beer. Beyond the taste, Hangar 24 has attracted the initial prospective customer by producing some of the nicest looking packaging on their bottles and collectibles.

Not to be sold short, another local to the southern California scene is Craft Brewing Company out of Lake Elsinore, California. They don't produce beer on the scale of Hangar 24, but to the local Inland Empire area, they offer several beers that offer taste and even eye-catching packaging. Craft offers Raven Stout, Fallen Angel, and Warlock, that should be able to delight the taste buds of anyone who tries them.

Opening shortly, The Mason Jar Brewing Company in Menifee, California will join the micro-brewery competition. In a quick growing market, if Mason Jar can provide their customer base with great tasting beer, I believe the citizens of Menifee will be quick to embrace their local brewery. The rise of a new brewer can provide it's customer base not only with the joy a great tasting beer, but also provide Menifee residents with a sense of local pride.

Quickly, California's local breweries are proving to be some of the best in the United States. Other locals that are finding success include Stone Brewery, Coronado Brewing Company, and Firestone Walker Brewing Company. Metropolitan areas such as St. Louis and Milwaukee try to claim the title of being home to the best beers, but in reality, the best ones are only a short distance from the Pacific Ocean.

Even if you are not in the California area, dare yourself to try a local brewer's offering rather than a beer from a international brewer. I believe that you will pleasantly be surprised.

All-Star Festivities No Longer What it Once Was

Over this last weekend, the NBA held their all-star game festivities in Brooklyn, New York. For those of us who grew up watching the festivities in the '80s and '90s, we remember players such as Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, and more not only participating in the all-star game, but also in the dunk contest and 3-point shootout. While the games back then lacked hard defense, there was still some defense played.

Today, there is no defense to be seen. There were 32 total steals in the game this year, but most of those came from poor and errant passes, and not by stellar defense.

If the all-star game shot clock would have been only 10 seconds instead of the normal 24, it would have made little impact on this game. Toward the end of the game, Clippers point guard Chris Paul held onto the ball for approximately 6 or 7 seconds and was booed by the crowd.

With an ending score of 163-158, this years game was the highest score in NBA All-Star Game history, beating out last years game which ended with a score of 163-155.

Defense is an afterthought in the game and the stars have nearly abandoned the other festivities over the weekend. No longer do you have battles on the level of Jordan versus Wilkins in the dunk contest. No longer do you have battles like Bird versus Jordan versus Reggie Miller versus Mark Price in the three-point contests.

Now the complaint that the NBA All-Star game is lacking, is not exclusive to only the NBA. The NFL Pro Bowl Game and the NHL All-Star Game have their own problems. Defense is almost non-existent in their games too. Neither the NFL nor NHL wants to risk injuries to their stars.

What's worse in the NFL, is players from the supposedly top two teams that year are not allowed to play in the game because it's played a week BEFORE the Super Bowl. The NFL made it even worse by making their Pro Bowl similar to a schoolyard and having to ex-players pick their teams out of an available pool of players. At least the MLB and NBA pick their teams by division/league.

While Major League Baseball's All-Star Game festivities may not be seriously played either, it does have elements that make it better than the others. Beyond the home-field advantage in the World Series for the league that wins the game, there is a sense of pride. Pitchers truly do try to strike out hitters. Outfielders will dive for nearby fly balls. Speedsters will try to steal a base.

More than all this, the MLB hosts a Futures Game and a Home Run Derby that is enjoyable. The Home Run Derby is filled with big name players and the Futures Game features the best players in the minor leagues that want to impress their parent clubs.

If the NBA could re-instill the sense of pride that the players had twenty or thirty years ago and feature their to talent in the festivities, they could gain some of that all-star game weekend glory back. Until then, the NBA, NFL, and NHL all-star games will remain weak and only exist to raise more money for their respective sports.

Opening Up School Sports Facilities to the Public Could Benefit the Community

Parents, school faculties, and various other groups spend large amounts of time searching for ways to keep the youth off the streets and steer them away from a life of crime or minimal opportunities. While many cities have Boys & Girls Clubs or YMCA's, even the low prices of their after school activities or the distance of their locations in relation to the children's home often prevent parents from spending the money necessary to enroll their children in these programs.

Children without access to recreational activities, whether it be at home or at a local park due to crime, will often fall victim of boredom and lack of a positive environment to surround themselves with and fall in line with the negative elements that surround them. This is when many kids find themselves hanging out with other kids who are part of or are forming gangs. Kids who are lucky enough to stay away from negative elements, often find themselves secluded from others and in search of a support system if their parents, grandparents, and aunts or uncles aren't around to guide them during the post-schooling hours.

While many cities, states, and even non-profit organizations search for ways to fund activities for kids, the answer is actually a lot more simple than what some people may be aware of. The majority of middle and high schools have gyms and other sports facilities at their disposal. While particular facilities such as basketball gyms or pools are in use by their respective school teams, they are not in use at all times and even during the season of the sport, may have hours that they are available.

As an example, high school basketball teams may practice during their season until six o'clock, but why not keep the facility open until eight or nine o'clock? Of course the school will need a couple of people to supervise the facilities, but with government aid already being spent on finding alternative after school programs and activities for children AND adults, why not redirect some of the funds to a gym manager. On an average of six to eight hours worth of payroll a day, the school can employee one or two people part-time to make sure the facilities are safe and everything is under control. Often more money than this is already spent on various other programs across a city.

Another benefit of giving children and even adults a sports option to occupy their free time is harmony. What I mean by this is that when people often compete with or against each other in sports, they often build a level of respect and even friendship for each other that they otherwise would have never had. The stronger levels of friendship that can be formed by various children for each other, the harder it would be for them to commit acts of violence against each other when they mature.

Legendary Olympian Jesse Owens, several months before his death, lobbied then-President Jimmy Carter to allow the United States to be represented in the 1980 Olympics because the Olympic ideal was to be a time-out from war and above politics. Competition on the playing field often disintegrated lines of hate and politics. While everyone is different, they can build a mutual respect for each other through competition.

Another smaller benefit is that opening school sports facilities, will open up the availability for people to be more active in their everyday lives, cutting down the effects of obesity and health afflictions such as diabetes. Professional sports organizations such as the NFL promote programs called "Play 60" and First Lady Michelle Obama promotes for "Let's Move!", which urges children to play for 60 minutes a day. Opening school gyms, pools, and sports fields would make this more possible for children and adults to do.

While I don't have access to numbers such as the cost of enacting such an initiative, I am willing to bet that the benefits would outweigh the cost and even help contribute to making neighborhoods safer.