Volume 2 Issue 4

February 6, 2003

Sports Time

The LeBron James saga, Space Politics, and Michael Jackson goes nuts

A happy 92nd birthday to former President Ronald Reagan!

So today I'm going to ignore the pending wars and turn to the world of sports. Where we find the story of one LeBron James. For those of you not into sports, LeBron James plays high school basketball for St. Vincent-St. Mary's High School in Akron, Ohio. This team is actually currently ranked as the best high school team in the nation, and Mr. James is mostly responsible for that. He is by all accounts an amazing player, and will likely be pick #1 in the NBA draft this year. In addition, Mr. James appears to even be a good student, making the honor roll this past semester. Unfortunately, Mr. James is lacking a good amount of morals in other areas though, and his "loving" environment could make him the biggest sports disaster in history.

You see, Mr. James is currently in a court battle with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), which tried to ban him from playing the rest of the year after he took $845 in "retro" jerseys from a local sports store owner. Let's start from the beginning. First, I think the one person who is least to blame in this whole story is LeBron James himself. I mean, the kid is 17, and being pulled from all sides, and not always in the right direction. I worry that this has scarred him for life. We first saw James when ESPN decided to televise one of his games (yes, a HIGH SCHOOL game) this year on national TV. The kid was for real, and his stock began to rise. Now in many cases, athletes are surrounded by loving families, who help keep them from being corrupted by all those "forces" out there. Tony Kornheiser, in Wednesday's Washington Post, discussed one such athlete, Kwame Brown, who was drafted out of high school last year. Brown was sheltered by his mother and a family friend, who kept him out of trouble (see Tony's excellent column here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26436-2003Feb4.html) But, with James, it's a different story. Last month, he suddenly started driving around in a brand new Hummer. Now, since he's a scholarship student from a poor family, this raised some eyebrows. As you may recall, high school and college students are amateurs, and are not supposed to take money for their play, or have sponsorships and the such, as the academics is considered more important than the athletics. At least that's how it used to work. But even the NCAA keeps very strict regulations still on programs, trying to keep the money from corrupting the students. James' mother supposedly got the Hummer by taking a loan out on her son's future earnings. Hmm...

Then there was the shoe contract negotiations that were supposedly happening that shouldn't have happened, and then the jersey situation, which finally made OSHAA say enough and declare him ineligible. But, this being America, James went to court, and had a judge overturn the ban, and turn it into only a 2 game suspension (http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0205/1504308.html). So...conclusions. Well, it's ridiculous. Everyone in this situation is making out except the poor kid, who is being corrupted more by the day. His high school is making money off of him, as are the TV networks and sponsors. His mother is stealing from his future earnings. And I'm sure there are even more unsavory characters approaching him with "deals." Now, you may say, "why doesn't he just go to college?" and the answer is that, well, he's still be in the same situation, in fact many big colleges exploit their players even more. The problem in the end is that James will have a hard time being his own man once he gets to the NBA, and he also will, frankly, suck for a few years, just like most other high schoolers who make the NBA jump. Interestingly, the NFL has resisted allowing high school students to be drafted, and requires most to go to 4 years of college. Most "students" in Division I basketball don't even complete 2 years, much less graduate. You know, if the kid is good, great, he should have the opportunity to make his money. But groups like the OSHAA and NCAA need to really start looking at student-athletes as a whole, and just who is protecting who in academic athletics. As a side note, LeBron James may get his...looks like the Cleveland Cavaliers have the best chance for the #1 pick (current record: 10-40 [.200]). Nothing more exotic than playing basketball in Cleveland. Except maybe playing it in Akron.

On to the insanity...

War Talk: I covered the Powell speech yesterday, and most papers did like 200 page sections on it today if you need more.

One of the biggest groups protesting against the war are artists -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/arts/06PROT.html?8hpib
Oh, and North Korea threatened to "rain fire down upon" us today. Just a mention, considering we don't care about them and all -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/international/06CND-KORE.html

Shuttle Columbia Investigation: NASA has seemed to now set aside the theory that foam from the External Tank caused the damage to the shuttle that resulted in its burning up during Saturday's re-entry. The theory was discounted because computer models can't even begin to equate damage from the 2 pound chunk with the necessary damage to cause such a catastrophic failure. Some theories being investigated now are a meteorite, or perhaps a computer problem -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/national/nationalspecial/0 6EVID.html

CNN's website had an unusually in-depth discussion on whether the shuttle should still be the primary means of space travel -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/05/sprj.colu.shuttle.f uture/index.html
In a interesting example of how the disaster may be used politically, Conservative groups were about to attack Clean Air laws, because of the new foam used on the External Tank is faulty, and the old one had to be discontinued because it contained CFC's, a banned substance under the Montreal Treaty. But...turns out that NASA got an exemption when the new foam didn't work, and the foam on Columbia's tank was the old kind! -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/national/nationalspecial/0 6FOAM.html
Some new political cartoons on the Columbia disaster -
http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/ShuttleColumbia/columbia0302 05gifs/ramirez.gif
http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/ShuttleColumbia/columbia0302 05gifs/plante.gif
http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/ShuttleColumbia/columbia0302 05gifs/arial.gif
http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/ShuttleColumbia/columbia0302 05gifs/nease.gif
There's been a lot of discussion about the lack of excitement shown by George Bush in the Space Program. But what about the media? Turns out they aren't very interested either -
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/printedition/calendar/l a-et-rutten5feb05001443,0,7111247.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dcalendar

For those who still feel the space program isn't worth it, a reprint of an excellent article from The Atlantic Monthly for the 30th anniversary of the moon landing in 1999 that makes a good argument that Apollo 11 led directly to the end of apartheid -

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99jul/9907apartheidtv.htm
Finally, a note that Congress apparently will for FY03 give NASA an additional $100 million to investigate the shuttle disaster. The 3% "increase" is for FY04. And, though it sounds somewhat grim, they really don't need the additional money for FY03, because well, much of it is for shuttle launches, and they probably won't be doing many of those between now and October 1. That money could go toward research for a new vehicle, but with no promised funding in the future, that probably won't happen either...by the way, I looked at the FY04 budget today, and while NASA gets more money overall, the line item for "space flight" is actually less than FY 02 and FY03!

Budget Battle: We may not get an FY03 budget at all, since White House is threatening to veto it, and the chair of the Senate Appropriations committee is considering just not doing one. That's right...not doing a budget. So if you wanted biannual budgeting, you just got it! -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31562-2003Feb5.html
The GOP is also trying to change the rules so that tax cuts don't cut revenue. Voodoo economics takes control! -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32443-2003Feb5.html
Oh, and while most states are struggling to make massive cuts in the face of deficits, and increasing taxes...there is a place out there with no income tax or sales tax. Where not only is the budget balanced, but spending is on the increase. And where there is $1.8 billion stored away in accounts for a rainy day. Go west to Wyoming my friend, a state with fewer than 500,000 people, and fewer problems on the fiscal front too... -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31815-2003Feb5.html

Civil Liberties Watch: A N.C. Congressman said recently that he thinks the WWII internment of Japanese-Americans was a good idea, and suggested considering doing the same for Arabs today -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/politics/06INTE.html

NJ Doctor's Strike: Doctors have begun to return to work in NJ, but they're not back to normal yet -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jer sey/5115762.htm

Look Who's Running For President: Wesley Clark says he's not running, but the AFL says he will. Oh, and he's been sending around one of those "non-denial denials" to the press. Perhaps by the end of the month we'll know? -
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20030206_281.html

Look Who's Running For President 2: Howard Dean likes to talk about his career as a doctor, but he kind of forgot to renew his medical license -
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0302060346feb06,1,79211.story

Look Who's Running For President 3: South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn has decided not to run for President under the Donna Brazile "50 favorite sons" plan. For those of you new to this, Brazile is a Democratic big-wig who proposed a plan where 50 native favorite sons would run in each state's primary, to "energize the base." Oh, and they would also mostly be African-American, so that way Sharpton wouldn't get so much of the vote, but that's the quiet part. Brazile still is for the plan however, and will propose it at the DNC's winter meeting on February 20. But it looks less likely to happen now. Overall, its a dumb idea, it would likely result in a deadlocked convention, where the candidate would be chosen behind closed doors, and probably either be Gore or Hiliary Clinton. Of course, that would be fun to watch, and with all the other political stories we've had lately (impeachment, 2000 "election") it wouldn't surprise me! -
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/5117755.htm

Look Who's Voting for President: The "DC First" primary movement continues unabated -
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20030204-20971752.htm

Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day: He lurks... -
http://media.gatewaync.com/wsj/photos/specialreports/edwards /edwards12.jpg

Look Who's Running For President - A Scorecard Update (2/6):
RUNNING
Gov. Howard "Jed Barlett" Dean (Vermont) - http://www.deanforamerica.com/
Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts) - http://www.johnkerry.com
Senator John Edwards (North Carolina) - http://www.johnedwards2004.com/
Congressman Richard Gephardt (Missouri) Is the man ever going to get a website?
Al Sharpton (NY) - http://www.sharptonexplore2004.com/
Senator Joe Liberman (Conn.) - http://www.joe2004.com

CONSIDERING
Former Senator Gary Hart (Colorado) - http://www.garyhartnews.com
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) - http://www.draftkucinich.com/
Former Senator Carol Moseley Braun (Illinois)
Senator Bob Graham (Florida)
General Wesley Clark (Arkansas)

LONG SHOTS
Senator Joseph Biden (Delaware)
Senator Chris Dodd (Conn.)
50 "favorite sons" under the Donna Brazille plan
And half the Democratic Party over the age of 35.

OUT
Former VP and President-Elect Al Gore
Governor Gray Davis (California)
Former Senator Bill Bradley (New Jersey)
Senator Tom Daschle (South Dakota)
Senator Hilary Clinton (New York)

Card Movement Today: I think Clark's going to do it...but we'll see. Also, in a recent nationwide poll, guess who polled the first of the Dems? None other than Hillary Clinton...

If you needed a reason: Men who don't shave daily apparently have less sex and die younger, according to a new study. Of the Welsh. -
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20030206_184.html

Wacko Jacko: ABC tonight airs a much heralded and controversial documentary about Michael Jackson, where he admits to sleeping with young boys, and says he sees nothing wrong with it. He also makes his children wear masks at all times, but wants them to have a normal life. And we thought Elvis' daughter was strange? Wait until these kids grow up... -
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/michael_jackso n_doc_030206.html
Jackson feels betrayed by the documentary maker though -
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertainment/ap20030206_601.html

Must be long lines at intermission: The World's longest composition is being performed in Germany...for the next 639 years. The first note gets played this week, after about 2 years of inflating the organ's bellows -
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2728595.stm

Have a great day!

Gregory S. Gadren