GOOD LAUGHS AND A SERIOUS IDEA
Another blogger on line and I had a conversation, couple laughs, and she told me "I am nuts for taking sides on some issues. So being the consummate gentleman, I asked her to explain.
She said in the first four small paragraphs I had made a couple points, showed my position and a good dose of anger toward some of those on the opposing side. So she proceeded to explain that I was locking myself into my position and losing my ability to change sides if needed.
Puzzled, I replied, "change what, the truth, what I see or feel, I asked whats the litmus test of what anyone writes about?" I reminded her when you think you are invincible and capable of standing on water, you might also want a continence test taken. "I write about what I uncover". It's not a position, I try to be factual. I don't create the news, I call it as I see it, not what someone else thinks it is.
THE FIVE SIDED CORRUPTION WHEEL - SPORTS and MONEY
I designed the five star or five-sided corruption wheel which explains my thinking in simple graphics. That is if you are an MIT graduate. It's my "sardastically" visual way of explaining how really everything that affects us is interconnected. Sex, Religion, Sports, Politics and the Economy are entwined, very similar in dynamics, and we really are guided by chance and choice in all aspects of our lives. And I make no representation of accuracy for this chart for SAT, F-CAT, or any finals exams in schools. However some did describe the chart as the Los Angeles Freeway Interchange at Inglewood.
All the points of the star are co-joined at the hip. They are different but the same. Similar because stinkin' thinking prevails in all aspects and actions and they interconnect just like a spiders web and basically return the same results. It's all about power. Sports like politics is all about money, power, enhancement drugs or bribes, incentives, lobbyists, corruption, endorsements, the politics of who gets paid what, not really that different. It shares the same temptations.
SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT - is a billion dollar (with a B) business and has made the McMahon family incredibly rich. Somehow Politics reminds me of Wrestling on WWE Monday night. Give and take, jockeying for position, drama and good vs. evil and we know who will win ahead of time using a good dose of filth, cheating and reality show garbage to sell it. The whole show is just like POLITICS.
And Linda McMahon, wife of and co-consort to Vince McMahon, the actor, billionaire, filth purveyor, sports distorter and teacher of cheating, bad acting and owner of the lucrative WWE wanted to buy her way into the Senate. Had she been elected to the Senate I could see her kicking some of the other Senators in the privates if she didn't get what she wanted.
After all she did it often enough on TV and even got the R.K.O. by Randy Orton. Another star in the Wresting world. He plays the role of a psychotic bad guy/good guy, depends on who he is fighting. It seems he fought the US Marine Corps. Orton enlisted with the United States Marine Corps. There, he received a bad conduct discharge a year later after going AWOL on two separate occasions and disobeying an order from a commanding officer and was put into a military prison for thirty-eight days. Now thats just the stuff that her company thrives on, really bad guys and a few heroes.
"In Professional Wrestling", the story lines of the hero’s and villain’s are what we are teaching kids, basically good and bad. The problem is "what we are really implanting is the resolution to the good and the bad problem". It teaches bullying, it teaches cheating and intimidation. You hit people with chairs and throw them off ladders, spit in their face, drop them over tables, and this is "sport entertainment".
It is just a sign of our societies limitations today. In wrestling, it's all about money and position, tattoos and the RKO. I see nothing a kid gains from this other then becoming the next school bully. I see the same acting and posturing, cheating and faking it in Congress.
THE FIVE SIDED CORRUPTION WHEEL RELIGION - SPORTS (GOD's SIDELINE COACHING)
And religion is involved in sports. Who can forget Kurt Warner and his epiphany on the field after winning the Superbowl. I wonder which side the Lord had. According to some players, the almighty seems to favor one side over another, as the participants seem to tell us, and they always want the big guy involved.
Reality: Sports is about two individuals or more on separate sides trying to overpower the other guys, either by skills learned and earned through training, preparation or by sheer muscle. It's not a battle between the Good Lord and the his fallen arch rival Mr. Satan. It's between human muscle and thinking, planning, execution and ultimately winning or loosing based on intelligent prepared effort and a little frickin luck.
IF I WERE THE QUARTERBACK-
• I would be thanking the guys in front of me who blocked the other team from removing my head.
• To the companies that made those great pads and helmet I wore that saved my bones.
• To my insurance man in case I got hurt to provide for my kids.
• Teammates, Coaches, Trainers and Dietitians. AND FAMILY, those who support me.
My point is you have to keep this stuff separate. Your beliefs are yours. Talk about anything you wish but not in a venue that has believers of other doctrines, those who could care less, or smart enough to know it's not relevant to the sport.
DRUGS and CHEATING - No connection? I guess you missed the Roger Clemens Steroid and HDH grand jury inquisition held by our distinguished Congressman who have 300 unsigned bills in the Senate and they are worried about doping in sports. No they are worried about their re-election and the money they get from the lobbyists.
As anyone other than the home plate umpire watching Wednesday night could easily determine, both from the loud “doink” of the ball hitting the bat as well as the station showing it over and over again, on the big screens, Chad Qualls did not hit Derek Jeter with a pitch. It was all an act. The Rays-Yankees contentious run at the pennant is always hot and heavy. Instead, Jeter faked pain from being hit, prompting the ump to award first base. In baseball, it appears cheating is Ok as long as you win and make money. In one dumb move he is now "Jeter the Cheater".
WEEKENDS OFF -
Like the Lord got time to sit home on Saturday-Sunday and watch the NFL or the SEC. We all know Sunday is his Christian day off but that doesn't stop him from having to handle eighty billion requests for new Mercedes Benz's, Lexus's and if you are a TV preacher, a silver Cloud Rolls Royce.
Creflo Dollar had two of the Silver Clouds at $280,000 each. One on the east coast and one on the west. "A gift from his ministry". Sometimes the LORD is the party of NO WAY which is good. Even though TV preachers do pretty good in the sled department and I am not counting Santa. You should know that, you probably helped pay for their new car. There are quite a few who think Jesus had three points on The Colts and Manning over the Saints and Drew Brees and just about every other sports contest we have, he's on the personal endorsement list. Must be true then. Because in interviews after the game, our hero of the day thanks Jesus for the win.
Jesus was not a seasonal ticket holder for the game, much less a fan. Surprisingly, none of the other deity leaders had season tickets either and none got comped in. No one else was pushing their doctrine. No signs cheering Mohammed, Moses, Shøki (Buddhist)or Shiva (Hindu) were present. Were they any lesser in participation? I think it is one of the worst things a professional athlete can say. Just not the right time and place. Starting with "I would like to thank MY personal Lord and Savior". Note the word "MY". Be careful of the "MY" part in team games.
Jesus preferred fishing. "A fisher of men". Problem is there are some stinking fish out there. Maybe he would feel more at home at the Bass Masters. He could walk to the fish instead of wasting gas in those 250HP Ranger Bass boats. It's a fish that costs 1900.00 dollars a pound once you spend $30,000 dollars to look good in those NASCAR styled outfits driving at 60-70 MPH to catch a four pound fish on ten pound test and then give it back if it doesn’t die at the weigh-in. Hero’s my ass.
Jesus version: I have four state parks not far from where I live. We got folks here with eight foot wood dinghies sitting on the lake catching twenty pounds of brim on cane poles, every hour, rowing to shore to switch buckets and hide the stash so the Fish and Game don't do a weigh count. Now thats fishin'. It's also called a meal to share with others in tough times. Thats the Godly part of the sport.
GREAT READ: By Chad Gibbs
In 2008 over six million people attended an SEC football game. They spent thousands on season tickets, donated millions to athletic departments, and for three months a year ordered their entire lives around the schedule of their favorite team. As a Christian, Gibbs knows he cannot serve two masters, but at times his faith is overwhelmed by his fanaticism. Some call it Tebow fever.
He is not alone. Gibbs and his six million friends do not live in a spiritually void land where such borderline idol worship would normally be accepted. They live in the American South, where according to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, 84 percent identify themselves as Christians. (Unfortunately only about 41% actually live that way, it's one of those talk the talk, and walk the walk things)
This apparent contradiction that Gibbs sees in his own life, and in millions of others', has led him to journey to each of the twelve schools to spend time with rabid Christian fans of various ages and denominations. Through his journey, he learns how others are able to balance their passion for their team with their devotion to God.
BOOK REPORT - This book is a great read. I have no problem with believers, but when the line gets really close believers become fanatics. Fanatics tend to make outlandish statements. An individuals fanaticism cannot overshadow a teams efforts. If a team loses, as when Brett Farve, heavily injured, in the last seconds of the game tosses an interception, costing big time, did anyone think God had something to do with that? Hmm maybe Satan stepped in ? All kinds of stupid stuff. Believe what you want. I think he was in pain, toughing it out like the hero he is, and simply mis-fired. Logical conclusive and real. Satan wasn't there, he was asleep snoring under the stands. Till he awoke and sent Brett on another path.
NASCAR
I like NASCAR, well, any kind of team car racing. I'm not a fanatic, but I did drive SCCA and gymkanas in a Team Sunbeam Alpine, with the four banger under the hood and actually got a chance to drive the Tiger 260 which later became a 289 in competition. That was a gas.
I also spent time on a drag team in the D Class of Super-Stock. We ran (gulp!) an American Motors AMX built by GARY STOWE of STOWE Engineering. It was an AMC roller-cammed 390 V8 with a Borg Warner T-10 transmission. Incredibly powerful but too much for the banjo housing and velocity joints in that short coupled AMX body. I wanted to paint the car in Hyena Colors since it looked like one. They all laughed till we ran a 10:10 on an 11:11 record. A couple of times, caught the Camaro teams attention, it was their record. Just couldn’t get the second by-run for the record, blew the rear.
Car racing is fun to me and living in the south 150 miles from Daytona makes it real. Its just a different form of competition. In the beginning of every NASCAR race they give a blessing. I always appreciate it when it is non-denominational. That includes all people who believe. I am all in favor of it. I have nothing against these things. I bow my head like everyone else and put my hand over my heart because I mean it. I like it when it ends with a simple AMEN. I like it at the end when they all go home safely.
You are asking the divine one to protect all the players. Till the first bump-drag goes wrong, and then Satan and hot tempers take over.
Suddenly you see a horrific crash and when the guy climbs out, people scream it's a miracle! No it isn't. It's because NASCAR builds safety, with roll cages, Nomex fire protection and HANS devices for the neck and head. It took the greatest most entertaining driver of all to get them there and he paid the ultimate price. Thats people power, not miracles! Thats because we think and do and make better. Lets give people the credit sometimes.
All in all I enjoy watching most sports, but it is becoming very similar to the distractions offered to the plebeian class in the gory and glory days of the Roman Empire. Nevertheless attendance at some arenas is way down because of the economy. The answer? Build a newer bigger stadium... sounds like the government. Thats how the Romans got the Coliseum, thats how we got the most bloated financial conspiracy in the world. It's called a government and it's "too big to fail". They will wake up one morning and find out they have failed miserably, monetarily and morally. It was old news by today.