Something I like seeing
Today I had to come in a bit early to open up the classroom and labs. I guess I should have thought about it a little more as I can’t start the labs anyway, until I get another instructor so that we have enough safety observers. The military guys all have PT today so I suppose I will have to put the class on a break until they get back.
The past two weeks I have seen something that has made me pretty happy. On my way to the freeway each morning I catch 16th street through National City for a few blocks. People use it as a speedway and never seem to follow the posted speed limit. The past two weeks every morning there has been a motorcycle policeman on the street, usually with someone pulled over, and I welcome it. Also since today is trash day with him being there I did not see any of the shopping cart bums rooting through people’s trash. All in all it is a win win situation, and I hope to see this policeman each morning.
This morning on the radio the subject was about Barry Bonds and his breaking Hank Aaron’s record for home runs.
Even though he has not been positively caught using steroids and performance enhancing drugs, most people feel he has. He has made enough money in his career to pay for high priced lawyers and all to keep things quiet.
When he gets the record I think it should get the little asterisk like the one that Roger Maris has all those years after breaking Babe Ruth’s record. He had the asterisk for playing more games in a season than the Babe. He also had to put up with adverse pressure from the press and fans who wanted Mickey Mantle to break it.
Aaron had the same things going on as many people did not want a black man to break the records. He had death threats and all kinds of things going on. I remember when Aaron broke the Babe’s all time home run record and also remember that nobody really realized he was that close to it until the last couple of years. Aaron was just so consistent over the years. He quietly gained all those home runs having just about the same total runs each year throughout his career.
Bonds, McGwire, Canseco and others have been flashy hitting their home runs. They have also dwarfed others in size and strength. Canseco actually came out and admitted he used steroids and told about others that were using them. McGwire denies using them but it appears that he was and also it affected his being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in the first year of his eligibility. I have a feeling the same thing will happen to some to some of these other players that have been suspected of using steroids.
I think all records set by players suspected of using performance enhancing drugs should have an asterisk after their name in the record books. That is just my personal opinion. By allowing these guys to set records and have the records stand tarnishes the game.
Also another thing that was brought up is what is it with these sports hero’s and the troubles they have been having with the law? The latest sports guy to get in trouble is Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick over illegal dog fighting and animal abuse. Yeah, I know he has not been found guilty of anything yet but since it is a 40 page federal indictment and some of his friends have come out in the open and confirmed things with the press, I figure he will have some problems. But then he is a rich sports guy and can hire a few high priced lawyers to get him off.
The comments today on the radio were basically about if these guys did not have professional sports to turn to they would probably be in prison and would have been living a life of crime. The only problem is that they still have the gang banger mentality and with the income from sports they are nothing more than rich gang bangers. I guess that is why I have lost interest in watching professional sports. Yeah I watch the big games but they have all lost me as a fan.
Well time to get to work, so I guess I will get this saved. I have to earn my pay check.
August 01 2007 04:33 pm | Driving in San Diego and Sports and Work