Behold the Power of Sports

There are few things in this world that successfully unify a country, and two of them occurred simultaneously on Sunday: sports and tragedy. The unifying power of tragedy is the more obvious; in times of need, a country can rally around each other to strengthen the patriotic bonds that tie this country together. Tragedy has most recently unified this country after 9/11. It was hard to go anywhere without seeing Old Glory flapping in the wind, candlelight vigils in communities around America, and chants of U.S.A. at professional sporting events from San Francisco to New York City. The competition of professional sports can be at times, quite divisive (see Yankees/Red Sox, Ohio State/Michigan, UNC/Duke, Eagles/Cowboys, etc...) but it can also be an incredibly strong means of cohesion. The Olympics are the quintessential example of this; who doesn't root for their country to win the medals race every other winter and summer? It's a matter of national pride to win the most medals or beat a rival country, and citizens quickly evolve into fans trying to push their country to the top of the sports world, literally.

So what can be said for the Confederations Cup this past week? With the United States just barely squeaking by into the semi-finals, nobody expected them to beat Spain, the world's number 1 ranked team. But they did. And people noticed. A country with fewer soccer fans than citizens of Vatican City rallied behind their soccer team and cheered them onto a 2-0 win over Spain. I can't even count the speed with which my Facebook news feed blew up with statuses about the game. And while I know I may have a few friends who watch soccer, there was certainly a discrepancy between the number of soccer-watching friends and soccer-loving statuses after the game. Not to mention soccer--soccer!?--yes soccer, was the headline on ESPN.com, a rarity indeed.

And then Sunday struck. Confederations Cup championship game, USA vs. Brazil. In just 45 minutes, the United States soccer team had millions of Americans surrounding their TV screens watching their soccer team outwit, outplay, and outlast Brazil (Yes, that's the Survivor slogan and I just felt like using it), up 2-0 at halftime. American pride oozed from homes across the country. And then tragedy (and perhaps reality) struck. Brazil struck three times in the 2nd half to take the lead, 3-2, and they held on to win the game. Yes, spirits were down, but the US soccer team had succeeded in turning a country of bystanders into a country of fans. The loss couldn't damper the American spirit and pride generated from a once meaningless game. A classic example of sports and tragedy unifying a country and regenerating pride in the US of A. And I can guarantee that one year from now back in South Africa, millions of Americans will remember the Confederations Cup, rally behind their team, and try to push them to the finals, a place they have never been before.

An Eventful Day

Wow. There is so much to say about today, I really don't know where to start. First of all, I'll keep things short on the passing of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. They were spectacular entertainers, and one's who will be sorely missed. Farrah's battle with cancer was well documented and hopefully she is now in a better place. The death of "The King of Pop" is too very sad as his music helped to transform American pop music. Disappointingly, the media has turned his death into a second coming of a P.T. Barnum circus; I know fans around the world are mourning his death, but the coverage is exhaustive, tiring, repetitive, and unnecessary. I channel surfed past Nancy Grace (who gives Glenn Beck a serious run for his money as the most despicable newscaster on TV) on CNN tonight as she discussed Jackson's death. It has already been well documented he died of a heart attack, and even though the on-site reporter repeated that several times, she continued to ask questions about foul play with drugs and alcohol. That kind of reporting is downright disgusting, trying to capitalize on one man's death for better TV ratings. In any case, the media coverage is outlandishly extensive and little more needs to be said about Michael Jackson's death; his spirit will live on forever through his music.


Moving on, it was a big day for the NBA with big trades and a big draft. The day started with Shaquille O'Neal aka The Shaq Daddy aka the Shaqtus aka the Big Aristotle being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Shaq and Lebron James on the same team will incite fear in locker rooms across the NBA. No doubt in my mind Shaq will win his fifth NBA championship in Cleveland. He just seems to be a perfect compliment to superstar players: Kobe in LA, Dwayne Wade in Miami, and now LBJ. And I know Kobe was criticized for not winning championships without Shaq until this year, but it will be different for Lebron now. Shaq is past his prime. He's not a role player, but he's not the superstar either, so it won't reflect negatively on Lebron when (not if) they win a championship. Funny I'm saying this with the Orlando Magic trading for Vince Carter today from the NJ Nets. The Magic will be a tough match again...Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, and Jameer Nelson and possibly Hedo Turkoglu. That is a thorough, complete, and dominant starting 5. Maybe the best in the league. The Finals just ended 2 weeks ago and I'm already intrigued for 2009-2010.


As if that wasn't enough for the NBA, the draft was a big success today. The NBA puts on a respectable and commendable draft in Madison Square Garden. Even though I loathe David Stern, he does a great job with the draft. Combine that with solid ESPN coverage and the draft is really a success. Five minute rounds in a orderly, organized, and classy manner is the perfect set up compared to the helter-skelter, over-hyped, and 2-day event that is the NFL draft. And watching Jeff van Gundy, Jay Bilas, and Stuart Scott beats Chris Berman, Chris Mortensen, and Mel Kiper Jr. any day of the week. And congrats to Israeli guard Omri Casspi for being the first Israeli player drafted to the NBA. Unfortunately that's all I know about him, which is considerably more than NBA "analyst" and moron Fran Frischilla, who could only muster up "I hope they have good falafel in Sacramento!" followed by forced laughter and awkward silence. But yeah, congrats to the NBA for a job well done on a big day.


And for those interested, Astana announced their roster for the 2009 Tour de France, and as expected Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Andreas Kloden, and Levi Leipheimer all made the team, and all have a chance to win the tour. In his bio, Contador was listed as the team leader, but I have my doubts. Ill leave it there for now, it's been a long day.

How Do We Let This Happen?

As citizens of the United States of America, we have the privilege of living in a democracy, and thus it is bestowed upon us to elect leaders that will represent us in government. After exhausting campaigns, there is not much we do not know about the people serving America on our behalf. The same goes for appointed officials; local, state, and the federal government perform thorough background checks on everything from personal lives to tax records to ensure our leaders are in fact qualified to be our leaders. So why, time after time, do politicians get away with corruption and scandals? Today, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R) admitted to having an affair with an Argentine woman, Maria, since July 2008. Even worse, he finally fessed up after a 4-day disappearing act--how does a United States Governor go away without anyone knowing!?--where it turns out he was...back in Argentina! (One can only presume he was saying "adios" to his senorita). As if the affair wasn't bad enough, the neglect of his gubernatorial work is even more concerning, and honestly, the whole thing just blows my mind.

Gov. Sanford's infidelity is just another item on the laundry list of recent political scandals.

• Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Enough said.


• Gov. Jim McGreevey (D, NJ), married and father of two, admits he is gay and had an affair with a man


• Rep. Mark Foley (R, FL) is accused of sending sexually explicit IMs and emails to congressional pages. The kicker: he resigns and checks into rehab for alcoholism


• Sen. David Vitter (R, LA)'s phone number appears on the records of a DC escort service.

Shall I go on? Yes? If you insist...

• (My Personal Favorite Scandal) Sen. Larry Craig (R, ID) tries to solicit sex in a bathroom stall (he claims he has a "wide stance") in a Minneapolis airport...from a cop. He pleads guilty and resigns, then tries to rescind his plea and un-resign. Oh, and he denies being gay. HA!


• Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D, NY), known for fighting corruption, is found to have solicited sex from a prostitute and resigns. He is now writing for a really crappy magazine.


• Fmr Sen. John Edwards (D, NC) fesses up to having an affair after vehemently denying it two years earlier, killing his bid to become the Democrat presidential nominee in 2008.


• Sen. John Ensign (R, NV) also admits to having an affair with a female employee.

And those were just the sex scandals. Don't forget Sen. Ted Stevens (R, AK), who embezzled $250,000 worth of gifts from his oil company. Or Rep. Tim Mahoney (D, FL) who agreed to pay an employee $120,000 to keep her from suing him for sexual harassment--side note: Mahoney served the same district as Foley after Foley resigned...that district is really screwed. And Rep. Vito Fossella (R, NY) was found guilty of DUI and then admitted to having an extramarital affair and child. Double whammy! (By the way, the pictures take up a little room, so I don't put on too many just to save some space. But if I could make a collage of all of these mugshots/teary-eyed apologies, it would make for a)great wallpaper and b)always a good laugh).

Yes, that was a long list and maybe a waste of some space, but I think it really serves a purpose; Look at all the scummy people that we are choosing to represent us! I don't know anybody who would want to be represented by a runaway adulterer like Gov. Sanford. But here's the issue. These elected and appointed officials/leaders/dirtbags are citizens just like you and me. Can we and should we hold them to a higher standard? Aren't they humans too, and thus prone to making (terrible) mistakes? Of course they are vulnerable to making mistakes like everybody else, but they must be held accountable for their actions. What are we doing wrong, putting these people in office?! The representatives of the most powerful country in the world shouldn't be liars, schemers, adulterers, cheaters, and embezzlers. Sure, they are entitled to a personal life, but not one of an average Joe. They should be our role models and rise above sex scandals and political corruption. Today's news further damages the reputation of "government" as a whole, and only we can take action to fix it by voting in true representatives. The good news: the list of scandals is pretty evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans...who says bipartisanship is dead?

P.S. Transformers 2 is UH-MAY-ZING. It hasn't gotten a single good review, but I haven't heard anybody under 30 years old utter a single complaint. T-Minus 3 weeks until Harry Potter 6, another movie which I will surely see at midnight. Stay tuned for an eventual post about midnight viewings.

P.S.S. The US beat Spain, the #1 soccer team in the world, in the Confederations Cup today, 2-0. Sunday is the Championship game against Brazil or South Africa. And if that's not enough proof that God exists, Perez Hilton got punched in the face. Aaaah, life is so good.

Finally...This is a terrible idea. I love the Oscars, but if they get any bigger and the show gets any longer, a lot of people are going to get turned off.

So God Exists After All...

Let me preface this by saying I had a great Father's Day. The weather prevented me from partaking in a 2nd annual Father/Son round of golf (it's been raining almost everyday and even though the rain held off for most of Sunday, the golf course was inundated with water), but the family headed down to Citizens Bank Park to catch the Phillies-Orioles game. As my dad is originally from Baltimore, and the Phillies almost never play the O's at home because of the Interleague schedule, this was a great and very appropriate opportunity to spend a day at the ballpark. After the game, the family went out to dinner at a fun Italian restaurant in S. Philly, went home, watched Baby Mama and opened presents. My dad loves Sacha Baron Cohen, so my brother and I got him Borat on DVD, an IOU to see Bruno, and an IOU for our round of golf. Overall, it was a great day.

But still, I hate Father's Day. And let's not be sexist, I hate Mother's Day too. A little history lesson for you. Mother's Day was created by a woman named Anna Jarvis from West Virginia as a day to honor mothers and motherhood. Consequently, Father's Day was created to honor fathers and fatherhood (See here and here for information on the holidays). The fact that the "holidays" were created from thin air is such a bothersome and contrived notion, I can hardly express how irritated and agitated I am. And now, almost 100 years after the creation of these mythical holidays, we "celebrate" ridiculously commercialized days dedicated to letting mom and dad relax and answering to their beck and call. I'm not exactly enslaved by my parents, but having to hear "stop fighting, it's Mother's Day" and "be nice to dad, it's Father's Day" really ticks me off. Not to get into a religious argument, but shouldn't this always be the case? Straight for the 10 Commandments, God says "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother" (Exodus 20:12 for those religious folk). So why do we need a special Sunday in May or June to remind us of this? (If in fact Mother's and Father's days serve as your reminder to be nice to your parents, well...then I think you have some serious thinking to do about your life.) Why not just be nice to your parents everyday, like you're supposed to? Somehow, I just don't see an IOU for Bruno as a sufficient "thank you" for giving me life. But thanks to Hallmark, I'm forced to think of contrived gift ideas every year, apart from birthdays and Hanukkah, for my parents. If anything, giving meaningless cards and gifts only clouds the original meaning of the holiday, and that is disappointing. I just know that when I grow up, I will certainly forgo Father's Day and all of its artificial, commercialized rituals, and I wont put my kids through these phony holidays.

Moving on, as my title so subtly stated, I finally have faith that God exists (yes, technically it is hypocritical to use God's name in vain, breaking the 3rd of the 10 commandments, after quoting the commandments in the previous paragraph. Eh, no one's perfect. Forgive me.). Jon and Kate are getting divorced. Praise the Lord. I'm so sick and tired about hearing about this family. I can't believe stuff like this is considered news. Just look at the image of CNN.com earlier today: There is an article for a 'Jon and Kate' blog above articles about Autism research and terror suspects buying guns. WHY!? That is so infuriating. (Not to mention CNN has articles about Chris Brown, Farrah Fawcett, and Tyra Banks' stalker on their homepage...how is that news?! Shows how reliable CNN is...). So Jon and Kate had 8 kids...how does that make for an entertaining TV show!?!? (If in fact you watch this TV show, I can't even imagine how bored you must be with your own life that you watch Jon and Kate Plus 8. Unless you're about to have sextuplets and you need parenting tips, there's NO excuse. Also, I don't think I would take parenting tips from them; considering their adulterous relationship, I would seriously reconsider taking any advice about parenting or marriage from them.). Finally, they'll disappear into Middle America with the rest of us--until one of them ends up on The Surreal Life or another bad D-List celebreality show. And hopefully they'll take They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named...the idiots from The Hills...Heidi and Spencer (*shudder*). I'll save my rant about celebrity and celebrity gossip for another day. But good luck with that divorce...I can't even imagine how messy that's gonna be, not that either of them are starved for money with the success of their show.

P.S. Re: my last post: Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon, Mickelson and Woods both fell short of winning the US Open, and the US managed to advance in the Confederations Cup by a miracle of God--further proof he exists! Sooo, maybe my predictions aren't perfect. But seriously, watch Lance.

Offseason? What Offseason?

I guess it's the time of year where sports fans like myself take some time off and go into hibernation. The NHL Finals are over (for all 6 hockey fans out there, including myself makes 5), as are the NBA Finals. The NFL doesn't get underway for another month, and that's just training camp. (The over-coverage that NFL training camp receives makes me want to launch my remote through the TV and means absolutely nothing unless you really, really need up to the second updates on the status of Tom Brady's knee every time he steps into a divot on the turf at the Patriots practice facility. And if that won't get enough coverage, then Brett Favre's imminent return to the Vikings will surely make your head explode [Oh you hadn't heard? Well then congratulations on awakening from your coma]). Rant aside, NFL season doesn't start until late August or early September. And MLB is about 70-75 games into the marathon 162 game season, rendering these exciting interleague matchups (Royals/Diamondbacks? Mariners/Padres? Wow, what exciting matchups!...) and week after week of monotonous baseball.


So that accounts for all 4 major sports. What's left? More than you may think, so wake up sports fans! There's no need nor time for hibernation!

• This Father's Day weekend, like every Father's Day weekend, is the PGA's U.S. Open, possibly the most exciting golf tournament of the year. Who could forget Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate going toe-to-toe last year with Tiger sinking putts on 18 on Sunday to force an 18 hole playoff, and again on Monday to force another one-hole playoff, and Rocco falling just short on the 91st hole. Not to mention Woods was playing on one leg making that much more incredible. So look out for another great tournament this year. Look for Phil Mickelson to have the tournament of his life with his wife, Amy, about to begin treatment for breast cancer. And of course, watch out for Tiger. Stay tuned, it should be a doozy at Bethpage Black.


• If golf's not your thing, the greatest tennis tournament of the year, Wimbledon, begins on Monday. Granted, this year's French Open fell short of expectations this year with Robin Soderling knocking out #1 Rafael Nadal in the fourth round and letting Roger Federer romp to his 14th Grand Slam victory. Nadal's status for Wimbledon remains clouded with his knee injury flaring up worse than ever. Hopefully Nadal plays and makes a run for the title. Considering last year's epic 5-set victory for Nadal on the grass court, I would imagine everybody's looking forward to another 1-2, Nadal-Federer rematch. Oh, and to top it off, Roger's looking for his record-breaking 15th Grand Slam victory, and how appropriate it would be for Roger to overtake Pete Sampras at the place where Sampras dominated throughout his career, winning 7 Wimbledon titles of his own (in 8 years nonetheless, 1993-1995, 1997-2000). Keep your eyes peeled and ears open for this one.


• For the international folk, the Confederations Cup tournament is currently underway (yes, that's soccer). No, it isn't the World Cup--less than a year until World Cup 2010 in S. Africa--but it's probably the next biggest global tournament. Sure, the United States is getting steamrolled (3-1 to Italy and 3-0 to Brazil), but hey, it's at least entertaining to see 3 goals a game with such a porous defense. But seriously, this is the last major tune-up for the World Cup for a lot of these teams, there is a high level of competition, and who doesn't love deciphering crazy European fans' chants and watching them riot after wins and losses.


• And then there's my personal favorite: The Tour de France (although shouldn't it be "Le Tour de France" or "The Tour of France"? Mixing French and English just sounds bad). But seriously, I love the TdF. Besides the fact that Lance Armstrong is my personal hero and role model and I have an intense passion for cycling and road racing, cycling's a really cool sport and the TdF is the pinnacle for bike racing and it's fans. It's remarkable that those guys can bike for 4 or 5 hours at speeds up to 30mph on flat ground and 65-70mph downhill. Even more incredible is watching them bike uphill. I could go on-and-on about it, but I would just come off as a huge nerd. In any case, Lance Armstrong, the greatest cyclist in history and winner of 7 consecutive Tour de Frances (awkward plural...) came out of retirement this year not just to race but to raise money and awareness for his cancer-fighting organization, Livestrong. He's racing with Team Astana this year along with American powerhouse Levi Leipheimer (my 2nd favorite rider) and Spanish star Alberto Contador, winner of the 2007 Tour, among several other great riders (Yaroslav Popovych, Jose Luis Rubiera, Andreas Kloden). Top to bottom this is the best team in the Tour, and it will be riveting to see if Leipheimer, Contador, or Armstrong rises as the team leader and who will be forced to ride in support of the superstar-laden team. And to top it off, Armstrong is recovering from a surgically repaired collarbone fracture which occurred in the 2009 Vuelta Castilla y Leon, which delayed his comeback training, but did not keep him out of the Giro d'Italia. Bottom line: this should be excellent.

So there you have it. Yes, the 4 major sports are essentially out of commission for the next few months (unless you really want to watch underdeveloped and underprepared basketball players get drafted to the NBA for insanely high salaries). But that doesn't mean all sports are gone. If sports are all about sportsmanship, tradition, and competition, then these four events should be absolutely spectacular. So step outside your comfort zone, tune into one (or more) of these great sporting events, and enjoy! It should be a great summer sports season!

A Finals Reflection

First of all, I must thank the Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls for breathing life into the NBA again. The superstardom that came out of the 2009 NBA playoffs may have been unlike any other; Derrick Rose and Andre Iguodala's break out series, Ron Artest's resurgence, along with the outstanding play of the NBA elite, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Lebron James, Paul Pierce, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade. Every night of the last 7 weeks was an absolute spectacle of incredible basketball; there always stood a chance for records to fall and for legends to be born. So again, congratulations to those teams for an outstanding postseason and to the NBA for a successful season.

But the biggest praise is of course reserved for the NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson in particular. While Kobe's stardom was never in doubt, as he and Lebron James are the face of the NBA around the world, his place in NBA history was certainly in question. Winning 3 NBA Championships is no easy feat, but with Shaquille O'Neal as the leading and dominating force of the LA Lakers dynasty in the early 2000's (someone needs to find a catchy name for this decade...I mean, it's been 9 years and still nothing?), Kobe received little credit for his successes. After his falling out with O'Neal (resulting in Shaq's trade to Miami and his subsequent tour of the NBA. Cleveland next?) and Jackson (resulting in the hiring of Rudy Tomjanovich and subsequent re-hiring of Jackson), the Lakers were mired in mediocrity--see Kwame Brown, Vladamir Radmanovich, and a whole slew of other subpar talent--leaving Kobe's full potential untapped and his greatness in doubt. His resurgence as 2008 MVP and now 2009 NBA Finals MVP have answered all of his critics; Kobe overcame sexual assault allegations, rebuilt the Lakers from scratch, re-established them as the premiere basketball team in the NBA, and solidified his place among the Top 10 basketball players of all time with MJ, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dr. J, Jerry West, and now Kobe. After all, with 4 NBA titles, 11 All-Star selections including 3 All-Star Game MVPs, 9 time All-Defensive Player, 2 Scoring Titles, and the 2008 MVP and 2009 Finals MVP, he is truly one of the greatest of all time. Oh, and he has an Olympic gold medal too. And he's only 30 years old. (And yes, I went to the same high school as Kobe. I'm not a homer. The numbers are just undeniable, for all you Kobe haters out there.)


Phil Jackson is a more interesting case. He's won ten NBA titles, one more than the late great Red Auerbach, and now the most of all time. But is he the greatest coach of all time? Kobe silences his critics by winning without the likes of Shaq, but Jackson has always had superstars, be it Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen or Kobe and Shaq. Jackson and the Bulls won 3 consecutive titles in the early 90s, but when MJ retired in 1993, the Bulls stopped winning titles. Cue the comeback for Jordan and the resurgence of the Bulls, again three-peating from '96-'98. Jackson followed by coaching his third three-peat, from 2000-2002 with Bryant and O'Neal. Were the Bulls' and Lakers' dynasties a result of great coaching or true superstar play? The same can be said for Auerbach of course. Red's Celtics won 9 championships in 10 years, including 8 in a row! That puts any three-peat to shame, considering Red did it by defeating the Lakers, with the likes of Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, in the finals 6 years in a row. To be fair, the Celtics starred Bill Russell (an 11 time champion for whom the NBA Finals MVP Trophy is named), K.C. Jones, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, and Tom Heinsohn--all Hall of Famers. But what was so impressive was that Red Auerbach built his dynasty from scratch. He drafted Russell, Heinsohn, and Jones and made them into the HoF players they became (and even into coaches, as they won 6 more championships as coaches for the Celtics). He went on to GM the Celtics for 17 years, solidifying them as the best franchise in the NBA with the likes of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, all of whom he drafted and again turned into legendary players. So who is the best coach of all time, Jackson or Auerbach? It's tough to say, and until Jackson retires and makes his final impression on NBA history, there may never be a clear answer. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com makes an intriguing case for Jackson (his article can be found here), highlighting his non-championship years (45 wins with the same roster minus Caron Butler as Rudy Tomjanovich the previous year), his trademark Triangle offense, Zen Buddhist philosophies and Sioux rituals. He successfully managed Jordan, Pippen, and Dennis Rodman--yes, that Dennis Rodman--and Kobe and Shaq (though his tiffs with Bryant are well documented). Thus he is a proven player manager and strategist, and his leadership is impeccable. Still, I can't overlook that Jordan and Kobe seemingly fell into his lap (MJ averaged 35 ppg even before Jackson took over the Bulls). Auerbach was the complete coach; he embodied the Celtics. He drafted, coached, and mentored Russell, Jones, and Heinsohn. Then he went after Hall of Famers Bird, Bob Cousy, McHale, Parish, Nate Archibald and Danny Ainge, among many others. He single-handedly overtook the Lakers as the best franchise in the NBA. He won 8...8 consecutive championships! Even though Jackson may have surpassed him as the coach with the most NBA titles, Red Auerbach smoking his victory cigar still represents the best of the best in NBA coaching. Jackson is a close 2nd, and with just one more championship, 11 would be a number too hard to ignore, he will inherit the throne and wear the crown of best coach of all time.