Death of the sports icon?

ESPN headline from about 5 months or so read “Yankees and Derek Jeter agree to contract extension”. The two sides had reached an agreement after battling back and forth on the value of the contract. Derek Jeter has been the face the New York Yankees and more importantly the face of players free from the taint of steroid allegations. Jeter has been deemed the prototypical “good guy” of baseball yet his contract talks were extensive because the team couldn’t evaluate Jeter’s aging abilities. Meanwhile the co-face of the Yankee’s, Alex Rodriguez, receives a very hefty contract when he was signed, despite admitting to previous steroid use. When analyzing Jeter and Rodriguez’s respective contract situations there is question of whether it pays off to be honest and use all natural abilities when playing in professional sports world now plagued by performance enhancing drugs.

The continuous use of performance enhancing drugs could very well result in the lessening of respect for professional sports and a decrease in viewership. The proof of this is already visible today. The constant connections to steroids in sports are already causing the sports world and viewers to suffer. Many boxing fans are being deprived of what many will consider the greatest fight of all time due to steroids. A bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao because Mayweather belief that Pacquiao uses steriods and Pacquiao's refusal to take drug test that would disprove Mayweathers claims

The professional athlete is considered to be one who already has above average athleticism and skill. It is their rare ability to perform a sport at a high level that justifies their very high payment to play their respective sport professionally. For those very same reasons fans that may not possess the God given abilities that athletes have often attach themselves to them in hopes of living vicariously through them. With such constant admiration, the notion of an athlete cheating in a sport hurts not only their image but also those who believed in their natural abilities. Their larger than life persona depletes itself and can give the fan who once admired them the mindset that they were never so special and if given performance enhancers they too could be a professional, thus killing the notion of the sports icon.

smoking

Everywhere I walk on campus, I see people smoking and somehow I wind up behind them so when they blow the smoke out, I inhale it directly. I always wind up coughing non-stop or trying to blow the smoke out of my way so I can breathe freely. I think it is a disgusting habit to have.

I do not mean to judge those who do smoke because it is your life and you are free to do whatever you want, but personally, I think it is absolutely gross. It smells terrible and the other negative side effects, like lung cancer or emphysema, are horrifying and just not worth it. I do not understand why someone would willingly inhale something that has acetone - the solvent that removes nail polish, Cadmium – something that is used to make batteries, or carbon monoxide – present in car exhaust, just to name a few.

Adele, a singer who is gaining well-deserved attention here in the U.S., said she smoked for a while and recently quit. Her voice is truly unbelievable and one of the best I’ve heard in a while. She sings so effortlessly and never fails to hit the right notes, so I was relieved to hear she quit smoking to preserve her voice, after all she has made a career out of singing. It would be such a shame to hear this fantastic talent go to waste for damaging her voice by smoking.

JELLO~

Let me share some of my misfortunes and mishaps. So I made some jello today and I was walking to my room and it spilled on my floor. So much fail with one step. I cleaned it up fast but such a waste of delicious delicious jello!



But I made extra so I'm not too upset by it. I just can't wait to eat it. I've been eating everything lately. Sometimes I can't stop eating which is a bad thing since I feel like my metabolism is slowing down gradually.

I actually like blogging because one thing leads to another and it's just a good flow of words but sometimes a big jumble of mess. I prefer blogging than making video blogs because I am a perfectionist and I dislike it when I forget what I want to say and there's those long awkward pauses. Yup, random blog.

Alternative look on Black History

There is a common theory implying that man fears what he can’t understand and hates what he can’t conquer. An event in history mirroring this theory is the civil rights movement. It represented a time when many whites loathed blacks for resistance to their oppression. The fear factor was incorporated when blacks obtained the mindset that their state of existence was equivalent to that of whites. This heightened sense of worth puzzled whites in a way previously unknown to them. For whites, grasping the possibly of dividing a sense of superiority held solely by them for so many years most undoubtedly evoked fear. It is the deadly combination of hate and fear that is depicted in history books in the form of police dogs attacking blacks and fire hoses dousing African Americans in oppose to fires.

The civil rights movement suffered deaths and injuries at the hands of whites. This aggressive attitude toward the movement helps give the idea that it was effective, but more so in a manner that would definitely advance blacks status in society but not put them on the equal plane that they desired. Why is it though, that another movement, the Black Panther movement, which was both similar and variable to the civil rights movement, was exterminated by all means necessary? The daring methods utilized by the Black Panther Party were the kind that could have led to the overthrowing of whites as the governing race. Inevitably the Panther’s days were numbered from the moment that idea was conceived. Though the civil right movement was ultimately a success, it can be argued that if the government’s efforts to raze the Black Panther party failed, the panthers could have very well implemented a system capable of placing blacks in a position where they are not recognized as the sometimes struggling minority race.

To ignore the contributions of a movement that was a few flaws short of success would be unreasonable. The holiday and days honoring Civil Rights Leaders Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks are well warranted and demonstrate how much their efforts helped The United States to mature as a country. Conversely, to eliminate those who fought their same fight in a manner that was in several ways was more risky would be like disregarding all individuals who are unsuccessful in curing an infectious disease thought to be incurable. Their labors are not successes and frequently viewed as redundant but serve as building blocks to the triumphant path to the cure. The legacy of the Panthers is one where will they always be seen as the unsuccessful party but in time, can come to be known for their prospective success in oppose to their abrupt failure.