feh...

Oh Good grief.

Why haven't I updated this thing lately?

Well, it's probably due to the fact that I'm...well, to be brutally honest, lazy.

But also somewhat busy.

I've been working, playing games (currently, I'm dealing with CarnageBlender, Button Men Online, and Final Fantasy X), watching movies (I think we've seen 15 or so in the last month), reading, commuting, cooking....

You get the idea.

And, to be honest again, I haven't felt much like writing lately. I don't know why, maybe slight depression, maybe a lack of ideas to write about...I don't have a good answer.

But let's see if we can't get his sumb*tch back on track, shall we?

It's late now, and I've got to update the main page badly. So, I'll touch on two topics, both sports related.

Apparently, the voters of Winthrop, MA have decided to not approve the new tax scheme that would have (allegedly) allotted 3.5 million (out of 6 million) dollars for the school system. As a result, the Winthrop schools will be cutting the school budget even further, including the elimination of all sports teams. (Read the Boston
Globe story here)

Now, I don't know all of the issues in play here. There's 2.5 million not being accounted for in this story, and that may have been enough to torpedo this deal. And I'm not a resident of Winthrop, so I don't know how this would have affected them financially.

I played football in high school. As I have mentioned elsewhere on this site, I wasn't the greatest player. Never honestly claimed to be. But, football was an excellent experience for me, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I also did theater in high school. I wasn't the greatest actor. Never honestly claimed to be. Theater was also an excellent experience for me, and I wouldn't trade it for anything either. So, it pains me to see people not supporting their schools, and the schools being forced to cut programs which make the students better people!

But all this crying (especially by sports talk radio hosts and sports columnists) that "sports programs are always the first to be cut" needs to stop.

Immediately.

Those of us in the arts have been fighting this fight for far longer than the sports teams have. While y'all enjoyed funding, we watched our programs be cut and cut and cut, until in many cases, we were eliminated from the school entirely. Art, music, drama -- all gone.

Welcome to the club, folks. And get in line.

The second of my two issues for the day is regarding the NBA. Is it me, or is this crap becoming unwatchable? Plus, coaches are being fired after less than HALF A SEASON on the job? I tried to watch a game the other night and I was bored. It was like no one was interested in busting their ass out there on the floor! So exactly why are these bozos being paid? If any of the rest of us brought this sort of crappy attitude to work ,we'd be shown the door. Fast.

The flip side of the coin is that the coaches aren't getting a damn chance to do anything. How about giving them a chance to work? Especially since, in many cases, these people are not coaching players that they brought in.

Ah what difference does it make. The whole thing is headed down the crapper anyway. Hope some of these fools have invested their money in something besides wine, women, and weed, because I think the NHL has a better chance of surviving than the NBA, at the rate things are going.

God, I miss the days of great rivalries like Philly and Boston, or LA and Boston. I'm just old, I guess.

Have a good night, all.

(no subject)

While driving home from work tonight, I found myself listening to the post-game call-in show for the Washington Capitols (local hockey team). They recently traded one of their best players (Peter Bondra), and many of the fans are in an uproar.

Now, I like hockey, although not as much as my brother Matt or cousin Justin, but I follow the Flyers and try to catch a game on TV once in awhile. And to be honest, I'm not sure how good this trade is or isn't, as there are reasonably compelling arguments either way.

But it got me thinking about what I consider to be a bigger problem in sports: the lack of team cohesiveness and identity. Yes, Free agency is good for the players, but we lose the consistency of our teams! The rivalries of the past just aren't there anymore!

Exception: Washington Redskins & Dallas Cowboys (and even that is lopsided more towards the Redskins). That rivalry is what makes it safe for me to be an Eagles fan in this area!

I mean, think about it. At least for me, hearing that the Steelers and the Browns were going to play used to send goosebumps racing up my arms! And I lived for the 76ers games when they played the Lakers or, better yet, the Celtics! (Now there was a team to hate! Byrd, McHale, Parrish, Johnson & Ainge...) The Eagles playing the Giants! Or the hated Cowboys! A player would stay with a team for years and years, rarely leaving, instead becoming identified with the city and the team!

Alas, those days are no more. I think the last of those players retired a few years ago: Cal Ripken, Jr.
Now the players switch teams often, and the rosters feel like they've been thrown in a blender. The mystique is gone.

And the fans, as always, are the ones who lose.

Feel free to comment on your faorite sports rivalry of yesteryear in the comments...