Implied Dissent

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Jacked up

The Daily Show takes on Carl Monday. Gotta say, Jason Jones has really taken up the slack that Colbert left and Corddry is leaving. And, if you don't know about Carl Monday, check out this, including the follow-up in the 4th update.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Crikey

Norm MacDonald on the Crocodile Hunter's death. Some may find it to be in poor taste, or too soon, or something. Whatever, it's funny.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Delusions of Grandeur

Shorter Sports Guy: If only more people were as good as me, they'd watch The Wire, and then society's problems would be solved. [The bad grammar is intentional. See, the thing about SG is that's probably how he would have written that sentence. Other than that there's no way he could write it in less than 1000 words.]
Stick to writing about sports and sports-related topics. Larry Bird didn't enter dunk contests. David Ortiz doesn't play in the field except when needed. I don't review female hygiene products. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and, SG, we know what yours are.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Happy Birthday, Red

Today is Red Auerbach's 89th birthday. Here's a nice look back at some of what he accomplished.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Of course

This sounds about right. Other than the (common) misunderstanding of how Rorschach tests work.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Well I'm Mike D and I'm Back from the Dead

Hope for people in a persistent vegetative state. Thought I'd put up something positive today.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

In which I criticize Gladwell but basically agree with him

Gladwell has written about the NCAA a bit recently, criticizing it's treatment of amateur athletes. In this most recent blog post, he makes some good points, but I have to disagree with one thing:

We all accept the fact that if we attend a high school or a college, that institution can impose a certain behavioral code on us when we are attending that school. But a high school that forbids its students to wear miniskirts or jeans or torn t-shirts cannot extend those restrictions to the way students dress when they aren’t at school. Authority is necessarily tempered by the question of jurisdiction.

This probably sounds reasonable, but it isn't. If we were talking about a public school, then he'd be right. However, we're not. The closest comparison is to a private school, that is, a school that you apply to knowing that they require you to do (or not do) certain things while associated with it. You don't have to comply with the rules if you don't want, because you don't have to attend the school. It is similar with playing under NCAA rules.

Now, I will admit that if an athlete doesn't play under NCAA rules, he probably doesn't have a lot of other options. More importantly, whether or not the NCAA can legitimately govern athlete actions outside of the sports arena, I absolutely agree that they go way too far in doing so. Furthermore, treating the athletes as amateurs but nothing else about college sports that way takes a lot of chutzpah. I think there's an opportunity for a competing organization to try a totally different strategy.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Fluff

Ever wanted to know which beer each NFC was like? Here you go.
Ever wanted to know which Muppet each AFC was like? Here you go.
In case you weren't paying close attention back then, here are the lessons that you should have taken from 80's cartoons.