The Philadelphia Flyers pulled out an amazing comeback against the Boston Bruins in the NHL playoffs, becoming only the third team to rally from a three games to none deficit to win a hockey playoff series. Do you know what that means?
It is yet another demonstration that playoffs are a joke. They are intended as nothing more than money grabs by the powers that be in the sports world.
We now are faced with the unreasonable spectacle of the seventh and eighth seeded teams, in the Eastern Conference of the NHL alone, playing for a shot at the Stanley Cup. That once supreme symbol of team dominance in sport is tarnished by this sort of competitive tragedy.
Not only are the Montreal Canadiens and the aforementioned Flyers the weakest teams in their conference, neither would have even made the playoffs had they played in the West. There were three Western Conference squads with better records, and one with an equal record. How fair can anyone claim playoffs to be when at least three better teams didn't even have a chance to show their stuff?
This is not to take anything away from Montreal, who ended the seasons of the first and third best teams in their conference, or Philadelphia per se. They won their games legitimately enough. But they never should have been there to participate. There were better squads on the outside looking in.
True, in the the West the number one and two seeds are playing. Yet that has happened for only the sixth time in the NHL since 1994. In short, generally speaking, after a grueling regular season the higher ranked teams regularly do not get the opportunity to play for a Cup. An opportunity that their dominance in the regular season should have earned them.
At the highest levels of play in any sport, any team can win a short series. When lesser teams even at that strata do, however, it lessens the importance of the long run. It moves competition from overall mettle into a leap at short term gains. That does not improve the aura of a championship. It diminishes it.
What the NHL has is a Stanley Cup Tournament, not an NHL Championship. They should at least have the decency to call it that. It would be better to simply seed all 32 teams and let each one have a crack at the Cup than to waste all the time they do on a meaningless regular season.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
2010: 1994 All Over Again?
It is not news that the Democrats in Congress are worried about the upcoming midterm elections while the Republicans are smelling blood. But what news there is about the issue is becoming clearer every day.
At AOL's Politics Daily, David Corn writes that despite numbers and issues which the Democrats could use against the GOP, such as the party being in bed with Wall Street, the polls indicate that the voting populace lacks any real feeling for the Dems. Anti-incumbent sentiment naturally will hurt those in office more than those out, and that seems to be the trump card which fate intends to play.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll gives the Republican Party a whopping 56 to 36 percent advantage over the Democrats as to who the public supports for November. Now, polls are not necessarily reliable, especially so far ahead of the actual event, but a 20 point differential is huge nevertheless. We may be rolling headlong into a repeat of the 1994 midterm elections.
True, the GOP suffered a setback in Utah, where incumbent Bob Bennett has apparently lost his Senate seat through in-party squabbling. Notice, though, that he has the dreaded I word associated with him, and that he is from a very conservative state. What happened to him means little to the tsunami the left faces.
So, to use the question which Mr. Corn asks, are the Democrats screwed?
Let's hope so.
At AOL's Politics Daily, David Corn writes that despite numbers and issues which the Democrats could use against the GOP, such as the party being in bed with Wall Street, the polls indicate that the voting populace lacks any real feeling for the Dems. Anti-incumbent sentiment naturally will hurt those in office more than those out, and that seems to be the trump card which fate intends to play.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll gives the Republican Party a whopping 56 to 36 percent advantage over the Democrats as to who the public supports for November. Now, polls are not necessarily reliable, especially so far ahead of the actual event, but a 20 point differential is huge nevertheless. We may be rolling headlong into a repeat of the 1994 midterm elections.
True, the GOP suffered a setback in Utah, where incumbent Bob Bennett has apparently lost his Senate seat through in-party squabbling. Notice, though, that he has the dreaded I word associated with him, and that he is from a very conservative state. What happened to him means little to the tsunami the left faces.
So, to use the question which Mr. Corn asks, are the Democrats screwed?
Let's hope so.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Is Arizona Looking for Controversy?
Arizona, it seems, has or is about to take another public relations hit. The state has passed a law banning ethnic studies in the state's public schools. Such a move will almost certainly bring out the protests, a la the recent immigration law. But would that be a proper reaction this time around, if indeed it was the right response over the first act?
The director of a program in Tucson says that the students relate better when literature and other content is from and about people like them. This is no doubt true, and it be wrong to say that anything is wrong with that on its own terms. All history, all prose, almost all of any given subject, is worthy of study for a variety of reasons. We can surely glean truth and insight from Indonesian history and literature as well as from the American or British counterparts. So surely Latino and African American literature merits study.
But necessarily in American public schools? We are, after all, in America. It would be absurd for US families to move to Berlin and demand that German schools adjust their curricula to American tastes. If we are to stay a cohesive nation, we need a common background of understanding for our own authors and institutions ahead of comprehension of other people and places.
This is not, emphatically not, any kind or attempt at condemnation of other folks and their reflections. It is merely a recognition that we live here, along with the reasonable presumption that the people who came or are here want to become like us. Then they need to study what other American youth study in public forums; it's as simple as that.
No one is stopping anyone from reading their own authors or about their own cultures at home or on their own time. The Polish and the Irish, among others, have done remarkable jobs of keeping the home fires burning as they became Americans. There is no reason other cultures cannot do as well. Indeed, they should, for their heritage is part of what they are.
But not as a matter of course when paid for by American taxes. To be sure, any study of literature as literature or history as history requires an overview and inclusion of the best writers and greatest events of all peoples and cultures. But is it the job of our schools to promote the rest of the world and its mores, or our own? Outside of true moral evils, the best advice is, when in Rome.
The director of a program in Tucson says that the students relate better when literature and other content is from and about people like them. This is no doubt true, and it be wrong to say that anything is wrong with that on its own terms. All history, all prose, almost all of any given subject, is worthy of study for a variety of reasons. We can surely glean truth and insight from Indonesian history and literature as well as from the American or British counterparts. So surely Latino and African American literature merits study.
But necessarily in American public schools? We are, after all, in America. It would be absurd for US families to move to Berlin and demand that German schools adjust their curricula to American tastes. If we are to stay a cohesive nation, we need a common background of understanding for our own authors and institutions ahead of comprehension of other people and places.
This is not, emphatically not, any kind or attempt at condemnation of other folks and their reflections. It is merely a recognition that we live here, along with the reasonable presumption that the people who came or are here want to become like us. Then they need to study what other American youth study in public forums; it's as simple as that.
No one is stopping anyone from reading their own authors or about their own cultures at home or on their own time. The Polish and the Irish, among others, have done remarkable jobs of keeping the home fires burning as they became Americans. There is no reason other cultures cannot do as well. Indeed, they should, for their heritage is part of what they are.
But not as a matter of course when paid for by American taxes. To be sure, any study of literature as literature or history as history requires an overview and inclusion of the best writers and greatest events of all peoples and cultures. But is it the job of our schools to promote the rest of the world and its mores, or our own? Outside of true moral evils, the best advice is, when in Rome.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Lost as to Lost
To all you Lost fans out there, I have to, uh, confess (seeing as the show certainly seems to like its Catholic symbolism) that I have no real idea what's up at this point either after last night's episode. Okay, it might just be the light of life...but the boys' 'mother' killed an innocent to protect it? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. It needs to be explained further if there is to be any feeling of justification for the act. And mother thanking the guy in black for killing her? It doesn't seem appropriate. Aren't we to presume that she was a special sort with special powers and insights?
Is Jacob a God figure? Perhaps, but a god would seem to have to have come about on his own or what's so special about him? Are we talking something like the Knights Templar here, where a series of people protect the most wonderful thing in the world? Is the mother supposed to be like Gaia? Okay, if you like that sort of mother Earth pablum, but otherwise it is fair to ask where did she come from? These seem to me critical explanatory questions.
Jacob appears to have developed significant powers: he can leave the island, apparently, for one. Where did they come from? That's too important of a question to be allowed to wallow in uncertainty.
A part that makes more sense to me is that his brother, in wanting to leave the island, was not worthy of it, so the light of life would have an adverse affect on him along the lines of devils reviling Heaven.
In the end, I guess what I'm saying is the light sure has a lot of darkness about it. Explaining that away would certainly be compelling, if it can in fact be done. But if Lost is to hold any long term satisfaction for its viewers, it cannot end on some kind of what does it all mean really? nonsense. If you're bold enough to broach questions on the meaning of life, at least be bold enough to offer a few answers. Even if they are shallow, at least they would be some attempt at clearing the air rather than keeping it foggy.
It will be an interesting, and hopefully not disappointing, final two episodes.
Is Jacob a God figure? Perhaps, but a god would seem to have to have come about on his own or what's so special about him? Are we talking something like the Knights Templar here, where a series of people protect the most wonderful thing in the world? Is the mother supposed to be like Gaia? Okay, if you like that sort of mother Earth pablum, but otherwise it is fair to ask where did she come from? These seem to me critical explanatory questions.
Jacob appears to have developed significant powers: he can leave the island, apparently, for one. Where did they come from? That's too important of a question to be allowed to wallow in uncertainty.
A part that makes more sense to me is that his brother, in wanting to leave the island, was not worthy of it, so the light of life would have an adverse affect on him along the lines of devils reviling Heaven.
In the end, I guess what I'm saying is the light sure has a lot of darkness about it. Explaining that away would certainly be compelling, if it can in fact be done. But if Lost is to hold any long term satisfaction for its viewers, it cannot end on some kind of what does it all mean really? nonsense. If you're bold enough to broach questions on the meaning of life, at least be bold enough to offer a few answers. Even if they are shallow, at least they would be some attempt at clearing the air rather than keeping it foggy.
It will be an interesting, and hopefully not disappointing, final two episodes.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A Little Bit of This, a Touch of That
It looks as though the protests against the Arizona immigration law are petering out. Two petition drives have been halted due to concerns about the timing and possible protections under the Arizona constitution should a measure pass on a public vote.
But the whole thing was much ado about nothing anyway. There is nothing wrong with an officer of the law, after stopping a vehicle or persons for other reasons, checking on the true identities of the folks involved. And as no one has the moral right to be here unless they come in the front door, there really is no significant issue at stake here. All else involved in the matter is padding, one way or another.
The residents of New Orleans are at the point where they can smell the oil spill which is a few miles off their coast. We can sympathize with them; who would want an odor of lighter fluid permeating their habitat? But as to those who currently mock the 'drill baby drill' sentiment heard lately and often from conservative Republicans, ask yourself this: where would you be without that oil? Until a better source of energy is found or developed, our nation runs on oil. That means we have to tap into the oil that's available. There will continue to be risks involved with that. But it's the best, indeed really the only, option we have for the time being.
You want innovation? Get government out of the way so that the free exchange of ideas might produce something better. Until then, drill baby drill.
But the whole thing was much ado about nothing anyway. There is nothing wrong with an officer of the law, after stopping a vehicle or persons for other reasons, checking on the true identities of the folks involved. And as no one has the moral right to be here unless they come in the front door, there really is no significant issue at stake here. All else involved in the matter is padding, one way or another.
The residents of New Orleans are at the point where they can smell the oil spill which is a few miles off their coast. We can sympathize with them; who would want an odor of lighter fluid permeating their habitat? But as to those who currently mock the 'drill baby drill' sentiment heard lately and often from conservative Republicans, ask yourself this: where would you be without that oil? Until a better source of energy is found or developed, our nation runs on oil. That means we have to tap into the oil that's available. There will continue to be risks involved with that. But it's the best, indeed really the only, option we have for the time being.
You want innovation? Get government out of the way so that the free exchange of ideas might produce something better. Until then, drill baby drill.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Taken in by a TV Show
Lost is nearing the end of its run, a fact that has the more rabid fans of the show on their toes, and for all sorts of reasons. Some want a nuanced ending with many questions left unanswered, or answered vaguely. Others want a grand finale that speaks to the soul of humanity. Some would like a dramatic confrontation of good versus evil. A few may simply want all the questions simply answered, just to figure out what the whole thing is all about.
Over at salon.com, a purported fan, one Heather Havrilesky, has written that the one thing she does not want is to have wasted six years "in a Judeo-Christian allegory". She doesn't want it all to boil down into a good against evil story. She wants something more complex.
What's more complex than the challenge to determine good versus evil? The temptations, the uncertainty, the gut feelings and simple faith and conflicting emotions of plain old humans trying to figure out exactly what's going on and what they really should do in a world where right and wrong become central issues in virtually all that happens? Who in their right mind doesn't want to have the great questions answered in order to find out whether they truly have their heads on straight? Why are there folks who don't want issues of true and false sorted out?
Because they are more afraid of what that may say about them, perhaps? They don't want absolute answers because absolute answers mean they may be wrong, and they want to go about life doing what they want and not be bothered about actually examining their own actions and motives. They want shades of gray because it blurs the air; at that point, they need not bother to worry about truth.
That's the coward's way out, and nothing more. If you really care about people and things, then you really want to know that you're right in what you do. This doesn't mean that the insecurities, the uncertainties which you face day in and day out are not of little matter. They are part of who and what we are and how we face them is critical to the kind of individuals we become. But it is to say that if that's all we have or all we want, then our lives are pointless indeed.
Lost, hopefully, will end up a good old Judeo-Christian allegory. Let's hope it is in fact a good versus evil story. That's an ending which will give it punch, will give it meaning. Anything less will make the six journey a sham of false hopes and shallow divinity.
Over at salon.com, a purported fan, one Heather Havrilesky, has written that the one thing she does not want is to have wasted six years "in a Judeo-Christian allegory". She doesn't want it all to boil down into a good against evil story. She wants something more complex.
What's more complex than the challenge to determine good versus evil? The temptations, the uncertainty, the gut feelings and simple faith and conflicting emotions of plain old humans trying to figure out exactly what's going on and what they really should do in a world where right and wrong become central issues in virtually all that happens? Who in their right mind doesn't want to have the great questions answered in order to find out whether they truly have their heads on straight? Why are there folks who don't want issues of true and false sorted out?
Because they are more afraid of what that may say about them, perhaps? They don't want absolute answers because absolute answers mean they may be wrong, and they want to go about life doing what they want and not be bothered about actually examining their own actions and motives. They want shades of gray because it blurs the air; at that point, they need not bother to worry about truth.
That's the coward's way out, and nothing more. If you really care about people and things, then you really want to know that you're right in what you do. This doesn't mean that the insecurities, the uncertainties which you face day in and day out are not of little matter. They are part of who and what we are and how we face them is critical to the kind of individuals we become. But it is to say that if that's all we have or all we want, then our lives are pointless indeed.
Lost, hopefully, will end up a good old Judeo-Christian allegory. Let's hope it is in fact a good versus evil story. That's an ending which will give it punch, will give it meaning. Anything less will make the six journey a sham of false hopes and shallow divinity.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Much Ado About...What?
Greece is on the verge of collapse, and threatening to take the Euro with it. Well, gloom, despair, and agony on me.
We at The Sublime to the Ridiculous do not pretend to be experts on monetary policy issues. Quite frankly, they strike us as profoundly dull and boring. But nevertheless, there may be something of interest in the entire debacle.
Greece, as with many members of the European Union (16 out of 27, if memory and a quick Google search are to be trusted), has adopted the Euro as its means of exchange. Yes, we realize that a collective yawn has developed at the announcement of this striking news. But see what lies beyond it: when a nation using a currency held common with may other nations has a problem, then everyone associated with the crisis is in a deep hole too.
So we see the European Union, that fascist ideal of a world power, worrying that an economic collapse in Greece may bring them all down, and perhaps even take the world economy with it. This strikes us as fear mongering, yet such would not tell the entire story. The salient point here being that who controls the currency controls you. Should anyone want to give up control of their money to someone or something else, they are playing with fire.
Would a financial crisis in the relative backwater of Greece be so critical if the cash flow of so many other countries were not involved? Who knows for certain, but likely not. Centralization, among other things, centralizes problems. So rather than having one nation of dozens in Europe with a severe economic problem, we have many nations facing calamity. And the larger the problem in Europe is, the more likely it is to affect everyone else.
If Europe were to let Greece be responsible for Greece we might avoid the potential for widespread injury. But we must unite, we must socialize our political and economic processes. If we do not hang together we shall surely hang separately.
But at least then we would have to be taken to the gallows one at a time.
We at The Sublime to the Ridiculous do not pretend to be experts on monetary policy issues. Quite frankly, they strike us as profoundly dull and boring. But nevertheless, there may be something of interest in the entire debacle.
Greece, as with many members of the European Union (16 out of 27, if memory and a quick Google search are to be trusted), has adopted the Euro as its means of exchange. Yes, we realize that a collective yawn has developed at the announcement of this striking news. But see what lies beyond it: when a nation using a currency held common with may other nations has a problem, then everyone associated with the crisis is in a deep hole too.
So we see the European Union, that fascist ideal of a world power, worrying that an economic collapse in Greece may bring them all down, and perhaps even take the world economy with it. This strikes us as fear mongering, yet such would not tell the entire story. The salient point here being that who controls the currency controls you. Should anyone want to give up control of their money to someone or something else, they are playing with fire.
Would a financial crisis in the relative backwater of Greece be so critical if the cash flow of so many other countries were not involved? Who knows for certain, but likely not. Centralization, among other things, centralizes problems. So rather than having one nation of dozens in Europe with a severe economic problem, we have many nations facing calamity. And the larger the problem in Europe is, the more likely it is to affect everyone else.
If Europe were to let Greece be responsible for Greece we might avoid the potential for widespread injury. But we must unite, we must socialize our political and economic processes. If we do not hang together we shall surely hang separately.
But at least then we would have to be taken to the gallows one at a time.
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