I feel a little bit like that kid from the movie "The Sixth Sense", except I'm seeing weird people instead of dead people.
Now, this is nothing new I know and I'm quite sure I'm not the only one seeing them...and I can only hope (futile I'm sure) that someone isn't looking at me and saying the same thing! It's just that the people who are celebrities for whatever reason and the people that get interviewed on the evening news or on news magazine shows just seem to get weirder and weirder. No concept of "normal", no perception of what reality is to most of us.
Driving in to work this morning, I hear on the radio that Tom Cruise is planning on eating the placenta from the recent birth of his baby. What?!?!?!?! A caller to the show went on to point out that this is common practice in many cultures around the world and is, in fact, a delicacy! You have GOT to be kidding me. I simply have no basis for wrapping my brain around this. What good is supposed to come of that? Why on earth would you want to eat that thing? It isn't food...it's a reproductive organ! Don't even get me started on Scientology...there is so much room for the discussion of weirdness there that I might overrun my word allotment for one post. Let me just try and sum it up by saying that it wouldn't surprise me if I heard one day that Scientologists were planning a moonlight party comprising of a healthy dose of arsenic laced Kool-Aid while waiting for the galactic warlords to come and and take them away while raining down their destruction on all of us non-believers.
What is it about becoming famous that you completely lose touch with reality? Is there nothing anymore that shocks us or repulses us? Have we come to an age where everything is acceptable if that's what it takes to avoid pissing anyone else in the world off? You have people doing things today that would have gotten them the gas chamber 30 years ago...and they get away with it! You have criminals who can now get away with claiming temporary insanity? Isn't murder, rape, or a variety of other abominable acts by definition insane???
Are people like me, who find the way people act anymore completely off the weird scale, the minorty now...making us the weird ones? Here are just a few more examples of things I find weird...see if you agree!
Why is it that after a tornado, hurricane, or some other natural phenomenon blows through town, the only people that the news reporters can find to interview are the ones with dirty shirts and no teeth?
Why is it that star athletes can get away with doing things that would put the rest of us in a cell next to a big man named Bubba for a very long time...but they get nothing more than a slap on the wrist and a start in their team's next game?
Why is that 99% of all "reality" shows on television have so little to do with reality as to render the entire genre ironic?
I suppose weirdnes is just a part of life and that what is weird to some will always be perfectly acceptable to others. Maybe it's just me...maybe it isn't getting worse. What do you think?
4.24.2006
4.17.2006
To Be Free Or Not To Be Free...
That is today's question.
We have nearly limitless freedoms in this country. Sometimes I think we may have too much freedom in some areas, but that's a more serious discussion than I intend to have today. What I'm specifically concerned with today are the personal freedom's athletes and celebrities are allowed to have and whether or not that's a good thing...and me being a sports nut, specifically personal freedoms in team sports.
Being a celebrity or athlete grants you something few of us normal people ever get to experience. They are afforded ample opportunities to air their thoughts and feelings in settings where many, many people will hear them. My question to you is...is this really a good thing? Now the immediate argument in favor would state that we normal people have just as much freedom to tune them out as we do to actually listen to what they have to say. Something akin to a jury being told to disregard something they've seen or heard in a courtroom. They are told they have a duty to disregard it, but do you think that ever really happens? I don't think it does and I don't see how I could not take that information into account when trying to form a verdict. So when a famous person stands in front of a camera with a microphone and starts pushing a personal agenda, doesn't it stand to reason that it will have at least a degree of impact on a good number of us?
Will there be people who just tune it out or disregard it? Sure. Will there be even more who consider it gospel simply because of the source? Most definitely. Finally, as information flows more and more freely, doesn't it stand to reason that more of us are thinking much less often for ourselves and instead allow famous people whom we don't even know to dictate our beliefs to us?
Alright, so now that I've gotten the serious stuff out of the way and maybe given you food for thought there...let's move on to the athletes and their culture.
Most athletes don't live in the real world. They make more money in a year than some of us will in our lifetimes. Their existence is on a completely different plane from most of us. They have huge homes, fancy cars, and a set of problems completely different from the rest of us. So, when athletes do something outside of normal gameplay to distinguish themselves, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
When Terrell Owens once upon a time scored a touchdown in Dallas and proceeded to run to midfield and start celebrating on the big star, was that harmless fun, juvenile showboating, just plain wrong, or all of the above? When the first basketball player started the throat slashing gesture or extremely loud yell after a dunk, was that spur of the moment jubilation that was poorly executed or maliciously exclaming thier superiority? When a baseball player hits what he knows is a homerun and stands at homeplate eyeballing the pitcher and soaking it all in, is that reveling in the moment or making themselves look good at someone else's expense?
When does it all get to be too much? When does personal freedom go to far?
The NFL is cracking down again on celebrations because they've turned into planned happenings complete with props and non-team member participants. The NBA long ago outlawed the throat slash because it's just plain wrong (shame the players didn't understand that for themselves, isn't it?), and has even determined that players are not allowed to wear tights on court because it singles them out against the other players. Are these measures too harsh? Is it harmless fun or is it crossing moral and/or societal lines?
Personally, I don't think you should go out of your way to call attention to yourself when playing a team game. I don't think you should ever single yourself out over someone else in a way that is hurtful or malicious. I think it's great to celebrate when you do something worth celebrating (ie. hitting the winning shot or scoring the touchdown to put your team in the playoffs). I also think it's pretty cool when megastars like Barry Sanders or Marvin Harrison simply toss the ball to the official. I think it's neat when the fans are allowed to be a part of the celebration like the do with the Lambeau Leap in Green Bay. To me, you cross the line when you celebrate in the face of your opponent, call attention to their failure, or go out of your way to show the world how special you think you are.
I want to hear what you think...which side of the line do you fall on? Am I right on the money or am I just too old school and set in my ways when it comes to matters of personal freedom?
We have nearly limitless freedoms in this country. Sometimes I think we may have too much freedom in some areas, but that's a more serious discussion than I intend to have today. What I'm specifically concerned with today are the personal freedom's athletes and celebrities are allowed to have and whether or not that's a good thing...and me being a sports nut, specifically personal freedoms in team sports.
Being a celebrity or athlete grants you something few of us normal people ever get to experience. They are afforded ample opportunities to air their thoughts and feelings in settings where many, many people will hear them. My question to you is...is this really a good thing? Now the immediate argument in favor would state that we normal people have just as much freedom to tune them out as we do to actually listen to what they have to say. Something akin to a jury being told to disregard something they've seen or heard in a courtroom. They are told they have a duty to disregard it, but do you think that ever really happens? I don't think it does and I don't see how I could not take that information into account when trying to form a verdict. So when a famous person stands in front of a camera with a microphone and starts pushing a personal agenda, doesn't it stand to reason that it will have at least a degree of impact on a good number of us?
Will there be people who just tune it out or disregard it? Sure. Will there be even more who consider it gospel simply because of the source? Most definitely. Finally, as information flows more and more freely, doesn't it stand to reason that more of us are thinking much less often for ourselves and instead allow famous people whom we don't even know to dictate our beliefs to us?
Alright, so now that I've gotten the serious stuff out of the way and maybe given you food for thought there...let's move on to the athletes and their culture.
Most athletes don't live in the real world. They make more money in a year than some of us will in our lifetimes. Their existence is on a completely different plane from most of us. They have huge homes, fancy cars, and a set of problems completely different from the rest of us. So, when athletes do something outside of normal gameplay to distinguish themselves, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
When Terrell Owens once upon a time scored a touchdown in Dallas and proceeded to run to midfield and start celebrating on the big star, was that harmless fun, juvenile showboating, just plain wrong, or all of the above? When the first basketball player started the throat slashing gesture or extremely loud yell after a dunk, was that spur of the moment jubilation that was poorly executed or maliciously exclaming thier superiority? When a baseball player hits what he knows is a homerun and stands at homeplate eyeballing the pitcher and soaking it all in, is that reveling in the moment or making themselves look good at someone else's expense?
When does it all get to be too much? When does personal freedom go to far?
The NFL is cracking down again on celebrations because they've turned into planned happenings complete with props and non-team member participants. The NBA long ago outlawed the throat slash because it's just plain wrong (shame the players didn't understand that for themselves, isn't it?), and has even determined that players are not allowed to wear tights on court because it singles them out against the other players. Are these measures too harsh? Is it harmless fun or is it crossing moral and/or societal lines?
Personally, I don't think you should go out of your way to call attention to yourself when playing a team game. I don't think you should ever single yourself out over someone else in a way that is hurtful or malicious. I think it's great to celebrate when you do something worth celebrating (ie. hitting the winning shot or scoring the touchdown to put your team in the playoffs). I also think it's pretty cool when megastars like Barry Sanders or Marvin Harrison simply toss the ball to the official. I think it's neat when the fans are allowed to be a part of the celebration like the do with the Lambeau Leap in Green Bay. To me, you cross the line when you celebrate in the face of your opponent, call attention to their failure, or go out of your way to show the world how special you think you are.
I want to hear what you think...which side of the line do you fall on? Am I right on the money or am I just too old school and set in my ways when it comes to matters of personal freedom?
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