For many years people have had the notion that black people play basketball, white people play golf, and people from Boston and Minnesota play hockey. This stereotypes have been backed up by some pretty heavy statistics. But if people would use their eye's they would see what I see in that, almost every NBA player is over 6'6, every golf player has been practicing since the age of 5, and Minnesota is right next to Canada. People play these sports because it is regional or because they were gifted with these height, or because their parents taught them. I believe that these myths, though backed up by many stats, can be proved false. In hockey there are people from the tropics who become stars in the NHL, just how in the NBA there are people like Steve Nash who are from Canada and just have a great basketball intuition. In Golf people like John Daly can hit the ball a mile and he even admits he doesn't put as much time into it as he should. Everywhere there is a stat to prove a point there are other stats to disprove that point. In my opinion people need to keep an open mind about these topics because there are always exceptions to every stat.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
White man can't jump
For many years people have had the notion that black people play basketball, white people play golf, and people from Boston and Minnesota play hockey. This stereotypes have been backed up by some pretty heavy statistics. But if people would use their eye's they would see what I see in that, almost every NBA player is over 6'6, every golf player has been practicing since the age of 5, and Minnesota is right next to Canada. People play these sports because it is regional or because they were gifted with these height, or because their parents taught them. I believe that these myths, though backed up by many stats, can be proved false. In hockey there are people from the tropics who become stars in the NHL, just how in the NBA there are people like Steve Nash who are from Canada and just have a great basketball intuition. In Golf people like John Daly can hit the ball a mile and he even admits he doesn't put as much time into it as he should. Everywhere there is a stat to prove a point there are other stats to disprove that point. In my opinion people need to keep an open mind about these topics because there are always exceptions to every stat.
The biased sides of Media
Today in class OC made a comment about how Fox news is a "Right wing propaganda machine". At the time this made me very angry because in my opinion, Fox news is the only news station that is not horribly liberal. Because I remember just as clear that the anchors on MSNBC called president Bush, "Bush". I think it is a lone island surrounded by a sea of liberal media. But in this post I am going
to try and take a neutral side.
Many people believe that the news has its neutral stations like CBS, PBS, and ABC. Then there are the two polar stations in MSNBC (liberal) and FOX (conservative). Every single republican has its counter part, Bill O'Reilly and Keith Oberman. Ying and yang. To really get a scope of everything, one must watch Fox and MSNBC to get both points of view.
Back to what I believe, even though in my opinion almost every station is liberal, I should watch MSNBC to get a different point of view. This is the great thing about media, there are stations for everyone (some more than others).
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Draft time
The bears are infamous for bad first round picks, from Curtis Enis, Cade McNown, to this years Chris Williams, we have had nothing but busts. We need solid selections to be a force next year in the NFC. In my opinion the two people we need are in the pictures, Taylor Mays and Dez Bryant. Taylor is a safety at USC and he was rated one of the best in the country, he is tall, strong, and fast so he will be able cover receivers and blitz. For to long we have had to count on Mike Brown to take care of the secondary, but he gets hurt to often and we need a back up plan. The other person I would recommend drafting is Dez Bryant, a wide receiver out of Oklahoma State. He is 6'2 and has great hands. This is exactly the type of receiver we need to be a counter to Devin Hester's run and gun style. He would provide us with great over the field coverage and the occasional long bomb. If nothing the bears just need to draft for the secondary, and receivers because this year, those were our Achilles heels.
Its the most horrible time of the year
The holiday period is one of, or the, best time of the year. But to be followed up by such a period of mourning and stress is almost cruel. Following the winter break is final exams, what most students say is the worst time of the year. Students press, get lack of sleep, get anxiety, and many more terrible side effects. to cram all the knowledge one has learned in 4 months, and cram it into one test, it is just atrocious. I feel like there really shouldn't be final exams because, don't we have enough high stake tests already. Theres the ACT, SAT, and all the school work to cope with. Now this is only for a junior to fret about, but still, it is too much on one plate. This one test is 15% of your grade, and most of the time its a grade breaker. In one class i am border line and have a 79.88 in math, if i get anything below an 80% i get C+. I realize this is just preparing us for college, but still, in college we only have like 3 grades in the semester besides that so really, its just a big test. In most of my classes there is just to much to go back and revisit. Unless we get specifics on the amount of work from a single unit, it is almost impossible to study for. I just feel like we don't need finals and it is not a real picture of our work from the semester.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Somber family reunion
Though many people thought it might be a brother v brother super bowl, it seems that once again the colts get knocked off in the last minute and bad eli shows up and ruins it for the Giants. It seems that fate just wont let these two play eachother. Though the Colts ended the season on a 9 game winning streak they once again blew it in the play offs. The Giants on the other hand, blew through the NFC only to lose 3 out of their last 4 and then lose to their division rival the eagles. I feel that it is kind of Ironic. Through out the years Peyton has always over shadowed the younger Eli because of his reimaginging of the quarterback position. But recently Eli has become more of threat and winning the superbowl sure helped his credibility. But these two aren't the only ones with family rivalries, what about the Baldwin brothers, or the Wilson's, even the Bush brothers have their rivalries. I think that this is whats so great about competition, it really brings out the best in people brothers or not.
A feat that will never be touched
In 1995-96 the bulls did something that no other team had ever done in the history of Basketball, they had won over 70 games in the regular season. They dominated almost every single game they played that season. It helped that they had on their team the greatest player who ever played in Michael Jordan. To accompany him they had the first ever point forward, Scottie Pippen, then they had one best rebounders of all time, Dennis Rodman. Now almost every year there is a team that everyone says will beat the record but they end up never coming close. This year for instance the Celtics started the year 27 and 3 but they went on a skid and now they are 29-9. To be as good as that bulls team, they must never go on a skid for any amount of time. That year the bulls went on one skid and it lasted a total of two games. There longest losing streak of the year. I don't know if any team will ever beat this feat. To do this the bulls averages 13 more points than their opponents and had one of the best all around teams of all time. In the category of greatest team ever, the bulls stand in a league of their own.
The fogotten kids
Many people talk about the grueling and strenuous life style of the president, but what people don't talk about is the lives that the children of the president are forced to take. Malia is ten years old while his other daughter, Sasha is only seven. They have to constantly worry that their father is under danger. They also have to worry that whereever they go, the press will follow them which means they can't have one foot out of line. They will also have the feeling of perpetual danger accompanied by the secret service every where they go. They will also be pressed to find friends who are "like them" becuase of the constant media watch. They are the youngest kids to ever be in the white house and now they have to go to a brand new school with people they have never met before. Also there dad will almost never be at the white house because of all the foreign problems that are occuring in the world. The fact is that they will never live a "normal" life style and because of that I feel sorry for them.
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