Hail To Pitt!

I have long espoused on this blog my definition of "sport" - an activity can only be called a 'sport' if there is risk of death during the participation thereof. i.e. Fencing and Javelin Umpiring - you get the point.

Although Tennis is considered a very polite and respectful sporting activity, I am not aware of anyone dying during its participation. But I am elevating being a Tennis Ball Girl into nominated status of being sport-worthy. Catch this video where the ball girl nearly receives a concussion by Michael Llodra earlier this weekend at the Wimbeldon Championships. With a bit more practice by the tennis players, this activity of collecting balls from a tennis court could shortly become a legitimate sport!

I have posted three times over the years why I hate unions (New Jersey, Michigan, Philadelphia). Today it's the New York City Public School System.

I can't even start to type my comments here, they're patently obvious. But I know not all of you will click through and read the article, so here it goes:

Teachers, and administrators, who are tenured, but in need of firing, go to so-called "Rubber Rooms" where they do anything they want, as long as they show up and don't teach kids.

The cost of these rooms in NYC alone comes to about $65 million annually

It routinely takes 2-3 years and more to 'process' the grievances of rubber room attendees. Imagine being paid for 2-3 years to sit around and do nothing while your for-cause firing is being heard? Un-freaking-believable!

Lastly is the reason - besides the insane contract and power the teachers union has on the city - Only 23 arbitrators work these cases and they work only 5 days a month!

At > $70,000/teacher sitting in this torture chamber, wouldn't it behoove the system to hire more arbitrators, make them full time and clear the docket of wasteful spending. A penny spent here saves a dollar down the road. It's all corruption and graft, nothing more, nothing less. The system is slow because it's designed to be that way to benefit certain peoples and interest groups.

'Nuf said.

For the good or the bad, Donte Stallworth, who I blogged about earlier today, was suspended "indefinitely" by the NFL. Listen to this video report from ESPN.com for more details.

The good is, as reported by ESPN's Chris Mortensen, that it is believed Stallworth will get a 2 year suspension, the length of his jail time plus probation. Mort also said that this could easily be lifetime (i.e. indefinite). That's the good news. The bad news is that he could have his suspension lifted in 30 days by the commissioner. Something tells me it till be for at least a year though.

Good on ya Roger Goodell and the NFL. If the players union appeals, I will lose my respect for them entirely! Like I said earlier today, this was a human life that was lost!

When Michael Vick was suspended from the NFl for participating in Dog Fighting, I was outraged - not that Vick bred, fought and put down dogs, but that his punishment was worse than what other athletes have done for what I consider much more serious acts.

Vick was suspended indefinitely in 2007 after pleading guilty to crimes which he eventually spent a considerable amount of time in JAIL for. He has recently been released under house arrest and is expected to play in the NFL this year - serving basically 18 months in jail and if my math is correct, 32 game (2 year) NFL suspension.

My problem lies in the fast that Leonard Little of the St Louis Rams was convicted of killing a woman while driving drunk in 1998. For that, he received 90 days in jail and an 8 game suspension by the NFL.

People, you can NOT tell me that Vick deserved more time in jail and a longer suspension from professional sports than Little did. PETA was all over this, Vick was in the mainstream media (i.e. News) for months because of his heinous crimes, but I bet all but the most sports-savy fans reading this never heard of Little before reading this post. Where is the outrage for Susan Gutweiler?

In more current news though, Cleveland Brown's Donte Stallworth was just convicted of DUI Manslaughter. He will spend less than 30 days in jail for this crime. This was a construction worker - you know the signs, "Kill a worker, go to jail!" - The states attorney said the penalty was "just." How can taking the life of a person be "just" with such a puny sentence. The blogs believe he will get the same 8-game suspension given to Little, or perhaps even fewer.

Someone please tell me how fighting dogs creates a public backlash against Vick and calls for boycotts of him, his team and the NFL, but players are literally allowed to kill innocents, but all we're concerned about is will they be back for the playoffs? Let's see some better judgments here people. And what about justified outrage - be outraged that these folks killed real people, not 4-legged creatures! PETA is currently outraged that the President killed a fly, why aren't they that someone killed a human being, animals by evolutionist standards. Why no outrage?

Photo Credits: dotanuki (photo); jbcurio (photo)

In what is probably the coolest thing I have seen in the lines of either vandalism, graffiti or art in maybe a decade, I bring you this "Barrell Monster" done by local street artist Joseph Carnevale in Raleigh, NC.

Done as a lark, he was arrested and charged with a couple misdemeanors. The claim was the barrels he damaged or destroyted were worth $360. Cheap canvas IMHO.

The good news out of this is that the owners of said barrels, Hamlin Associates, "thought it was pretty neat." Glad someone sees the quality of this work.

So here's what I'm thinking - they always want us to slow down at construction sites. They should commission Carnevale to create these things and plop them down in the construction zones. People most definitely would slow down and everyone would be more safe for the effort.

Props: The Smoking Gun & CBC News