Contributors

Friday, June 25, 2021

Saturday, June 12, 2021

Me Vs. We

The biggest impediment in our society right now is this. 














People in our society don't care about others. More importantly, they have an adolescent loathing to systemic structures like government which create spaces for group-level support. 

We will continue to decay as a country until this horse shit attitude changes. 

Wednesday, June 02, 2021

Leave Naomi Osaka Alone

The sports world is upset over Naomi Osaka pulling out of the French Open. How dare she not attend press conferences! Fining her thousands of dollars wasn't enough -- they had to embarrass her and force her out of the tournament, and then threaten to drive her out of tennis completely.

I don't watch much sports -- basically just volleyball. But I always cringe when it comes to the interviews. The same questions are asked and the same cliches are repeated every time. It's usually just embarrassing to everyone.

And what's the point? The only thing that matters is what happens on the court. Why do we need to hear excuses or humble-bragging in the aftermath of a tennis match?

The play-by-play and color announcers generally do a fine job of informing us when the players screw up, and why they screwed up, how many times they screwed up in the past, and the statistics of their screwups. Why put the players on the spot in front of a world-wide audience, especially after they lose a match?

I mean, who really cares what athletes have to say? They're not there to talk to us, they're there to play the game. They're not generally all that insightful, especially the "naturals" who are just good at their sport and don't really know why they are.

Plus, one of the best ways to improve your performance is to learn from your mistakes, and then immediately forget them and focus on the next thing. If you need to talk to someone, talk to the coach -- they're the one who's responsible for the analysis and training anyway.

I can see why tournament organizers and the press want a photo-op with the winner. But why torment the loser with questions after a hard-fought match? Nothing is gained by humiliating these athletes.

I grant that the tennis organizations are within their rights to ask the people they pay millions to play games the rest of us play just for fun to show up for a post-match celebration that the press is invited to.

But just the winners.

If the loser wants to make an appearance, fine. But if they don't, it makes no sense to bother them with stupid questions that embarrass the reporters and audience as much as the players.