Amen

This week, any person that has a right mind and television access will be tuning in to watch The Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia.  People don't need to be a golf fan to love what goes on during this beautiful extended-weekend that happens every year.  And when I say beautiful, I'm not just referring to the azaleas in Amen corner -- a famous nickname for the 11th, 12 and 13th holes at Augusta -- I'm talking about the golf too.
As I mentioned, you don't have to be a golf fan to like The Masters.  I consider myself a year-round golf fan, yet last year when The Masters came around, it felt like most everyone I follow on Twitter, most of whom barely even knew the sport existed it felt, were right there with me as huge golf fans.  There is just something different about The Masters.
The Masters is, for starters, the only "major" PGA Tour event held at the same place every year.  Obviously, the four major tournaments get the most viewers, but the course is one reason The Masters stands out.  Viewers have a familiarity with the course that entices them to keep watching.  They know that just because a player is doing well after the 10th hole, they can throw it all away by putting their tee-ball in the lake on 11.  Once fans watch a couple of times, they too are familiar with these things and it keeps them coming back.
One thing the fans familiar with the tournament know is what it means to see the Augusta National clubhouse come into sight as an in-car camera travels down Magnolia Lane: drama! You can watch all the Gossip Girl or Bachelor -- I have never watched either, but I assume those are considered drama -- you want, but I doubt they have as much drama as The Masters have every year. Every year, odds makers in Vegas determine who the favorites are for that year.  Rarely are they right, and that is another beautiful part of The Masters.  Almost every year someone whose name has never been heard weathers the storm and earns a green jacket.  When a youngster who has been hyped up wins, they are considered a bona fide star because everyone knows that winning The Masters is truly something special.
If you are not a normal viewer or even a golf fan, I suggest that you give The Masters a try this year.  I highly doubt that you will be disappointed.  Let the golf take you away.  What will start out looking like some guys hitting a ball around on Thursday will have you glued to the tv on Sunday.  You will have (not want) to know if Tiger is really back, if Watson can repeat or if Rory can finally get a green jacket.  Trust me, I'm so glad that I don't have to be the one who says I wasn't watching Bubba's shot on the first playoff hole of the 2012 Masters live.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's ok; just don't miss this year's great moment.
8 hours from this minute, three of the greatest golfers of all time (Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer) will knock drives down the first fairway of Augusta National as The Masters' honorary starters.  At that moment, the greatest four days in all of sports will commence.  Amen to that!

Good for Them

ESPN writer Rick Reilly has never toured or attended a game at Wrigley field.  Ok, I don't know that, but in his recent article on ESPN.com, Holy Cow! What a Mess!, Reilly makes it pretty easy to believe he hasn't.  Reilly comes across as a big business in his article by the way he thrashes tradition of a place he has probably never been in order to squeeze out every dollar possible.

I am a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan.  Every year I watch a good amount of Braves games -- enough to be able to tell you the batting order top to bottom -- and I certainly live and die with the team.  That said, if I were going to watch a baseball game in any park in America, it would not be Turner field -- where the Braves play -- it would be the Chicago Cubs home, Wrigley field.  I will preface this by saying that I have not been to a game at Wrigley field, but I have toured it.  Wrigley is America's best ballpark.
Rick Reilly's article talks about the need for Wrigley field to finally get with it in terms of updating their stadium to be like those of the 21st century.  Reilly remarks on how Wrigley's famous rooftop seats are sold for exorbitant prices by the building owners and the Cubs see very little of that money.  He talks about how Wrigley's famous ivy along the outfield wall is costing the Cubs millions in advertising.  He complains that the team owners let the local businesses run the show when it comes to financing.  Rick Reilly's main point is that the Chicago Cubs are losing out on tons of money that they could be using on better players that would pull them out of franchise-long cellar of the MLB -- The Cubs claim the longest drought of never winning the title in any North American sport by not taking the MLB pennant in 104 tries.
It's true, year after year the Cubs are the laughing-stock of the MLB, they don't make the money other franchises do from advertising and their facilities are not the most up to date to say the least.  My question to Mr. Reilly is: why, if the Cubs are so bad and have such bad facilities, are they one of the MLB's most popular franchises?
The Cubs organization has continually not done something the rest of America struggles to do: sell out.  I don't mean in terms of seats, I mean that they don't think it's all about money.  The Cubs boast without a doubt the most traditional field in all of baseball.  Going to Wrigley field makes fans remember what baseball is really about and how it all started.  They go to a very scenic place to watch a game, not socialize in a box that doesn't even have a view of the game or watch TV on a jumbotron.  When people see Wrigley they see baseball, not a business.  They look out and see ivy, a classic scoreboard and seats on rooftops, not a bunch of advertisements with a baseball game going in between.  The team's management and owner is willing to sacrifice some money to preserve a classic feel around the stadium.  Often the organization has had the team to win the series they just haven't performed, or they had fans catch foul balls in the NLCS game 6.  To think it is money that is holding the team back is just silly.  Just look at this year's Los Angeles salary versus their record.
I believe Rick Reilly has never been to Wrigley for two reasons.  The first is that he has a false claim when he says that attendees have add up scores on their own using the manual scoreboard in center field.  The second reason is the pageantry of Wrigley.  Anyone who goes in the stadium is immediately swept away by the tradition preserved in the stadium.  Rick Reilly would not have been able to write this article if he had this experience.
So in the end if everything is so bad about Wrigley including the team, people don't actually go to games, right? Wrong.  With the second worst record in baseball this season, the Cubs attendance average was 10th in the MLB.  That put them ahead of many playoff teams and their crosstown rivals, the Chicago Whitesox who almost were a playoff team.  The fact of the matter is that people love the tradition Wrigley has.  Obviously they aren't going to see a great team or hang out in the nicest of luxury boxes.
The Cubs haven't sold out like every other professional sports franchise, and for that, I say good for them.

How Capitalism Might be Ruining Something that Can't be Ruined

Every year that there is an NCAA basketball mens division-1 tournament basketball tournament, I, as a big sports fan, am going to fill out a bracket.  Whenever there is a choice between capitalism and some other kind of format, I am almost always going to chose capitalism.
So how is something I prefer ruining something I love?
There are two very naive reasons.

1. The 68 Team Field
Let me go no further without saying that these are reasons that far from ruin college basketball; they just make it the smallest amount worse.
Since 2011, the NCAA tournament has fielded 68 teams.  Since this doesn't work out on a normal bracket, there are four "play-in" games.  This really means that teams must win another game before they are really part of the 64 team NCAA tournament field.  That means four teams will play in the fast moving tournament having already played one game.  The other four teams won't even be part of the 64 team field.
Why do these teams, four of whom have theoretically qualified for the tournament, get put in such a terrible situation? Money.  It is all about selling an extra day of advertising for the NCAA.  In 2011, my Clemson Tigers played in a play-in game and, after winning, were back on the court in 24 hours.  When Clemson lost their next game by a margin of less than 5, fatigue was definitely questioned since the team had two games so close to each other.
The NCAA is milking out a little more money at the cost of weakening their product.


2. Gus Johnson
If you call yourself a basketball fan and you don't know who he is, you are really missing out.  If you have just become a March Madness fan in the last couple of years, there is a good reason you don't know who the most exciting announcer in all of sports is.  Gus Johnson left CBS -- the company with exclusive broadcasting rights for the NCAA tournament -- two years ago.  Without him, the tournament hasn't been the same.  Why did Johnson leave CBS? Contract negotiations.  Once again, money was standing in the way of a great aspect of the NCAA tournament.

While these are not things to get too tied up over, it is interesting to see how capitalism has hurt the quality of the great NCAA tournament.

Who Gus Johnson is:

Now Really is the Time for Change

While I have talked about it in this Blog before, I have to remind readers that during the election season it was very evident that I was against the idea of President Obama being re-elected.  That is the reason that the title of this post is so surprising, considering it is nearly stolen from President Obama's new gun control proposal titled, Now is the Time.  I fully agree that is the responsibility of America to pass this act in order to suppress mass shootings.  I agree that banning military-style semiautomatic assault rifles, increasing funding to mental illness, limiting the capacity of magazines and closing background-check loopholes are all the proper steps to making America safer.  I haven't always felt this way.
I have always enjoyed responsibly shooting guns.  I have shot many types of guns from pistols, to shotguns and even an AR-15 (the exact type of gun I am asking be outlawed).  When the most recent shootings happened in the United States, I fell into the crowd that believed it was just a few bad people getting a hold of these weapons that are the problem.  I always said that these criminals shouldn't ruin the fun for the rest of us.
The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that left 20 children and 7  happened while I was home for winter break.  I was driving home alone from I can't remember where one or two days after the shooting.  Without thinking, I took the route that is usually a minute or two faster.  The fact that it was 3:40 didn't cross my mind.  Everyone knows not to take this route between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon because Davidson Elementary lets out at 3:45 and the parents are lined up way before.  Since the carpool line is so short, the line goes out into the road in both directions and causes a serious roadblock that I drove right into that day.  So there I was, frustrated and teed up for at least a 5 minute wait.  A hundred thoughts went through my head. Why was I so stupid? I know not to come this way. Why are these parents already here? Davidson needs to get this under control.  
The school finally let out.  Kids came running out.  The setting was a bunch of children with big smiles, lots of running, laughing, and chasing each other around with over sized book bags.  I saw the looks of the parents picking their kids up.  Their expressions were much more diverse.  Some acted as though they hadn't seen their kids in forever, some had more somber looks.  That's when I remembered Newtown.  Finally the line was moving and I pulled up only a few feet before a small child and grandpa holding hands crossed the street together in front of me. My thoughts of Newtown continued.  These kids were the exact same age.  I realized that the parents had differing reactions because some were realizing how much it meant for their child to have a normal school day, and others were somber in remembering that not all families had been so lucky that week.  The children obviously weren't thinking about this.  They just played on as if the world was no different -- a true testament to the innocence of children.  Innocent just like the ones who had their lives taken earlier that week.  Many parents consider picking their children up from school a chore.  I can almost guarantee that the parents of the 20 students shot at Sandy Hook would give the world to be picking up their child again.  That's when it hit that now really is the time for change.
Like I mentioned, most gun owners use their guns very responsibly.  The problem, though, is that when these guns are not used responsibly, the results can be devastating.  In 2012, America had to twice stop and remember those who died of domestic mass shootings, which were both carried out by mentally unstable American citizens with legally-acquired semiautomatic assault rifles.  The key phrase being 'legally-acquired.'  These are the types of guns President Obama has called for action on.  Many argue that if these guns are outlawed, criminals will still get their hands on them.  That is a chance I'm willing to take.  Had the shooter in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and the one in Newtown not been able to get their hands on guns so easily, they likely would have moved on from the idea since they were likely driven by mental illness and not exterior motives.  If this isn't enough, Mother Jones, a site dedicated to reporting facts of mass shootings has released that of the last 60 shootings in the United States, 80% of them have been with legally acquired weapons.  Taking these assault rifles out of circulation is obviously the optimal strategy to prevent more deaths of innocent citizens.
Along with limiting the size of ammunition magazines, banning military-style assault rifles is the only gun control change I am in favor of.  These guns and magazines have no use beyond being fun to shoot.  There is no reason, away from the battle field, for anyone to need to hit 70 moving targets in 90 seconds, especially when they are other humans, like was the case in the Aurora theater shooting.  The actual number of rounds the shooter fired is unknown, so 70 isn't even the total number of shots.  Equipped with many large capacity magazines, these numbers were possible.  Similarly, in Newton, the shooter was armed with many 30-round magazines.  Had these been limited to 10 rounds like in the President's proposal, simple math shows that such high death rates aren't possible when such shootings occur.
America must enact President Obama's newest proposals before it is too late, again.  The bill only asks that America do away with one type of killing machine and limit the magazines on the rest, along with improving school safety and funding to mental health.  If the shooter's legally-acquired semiautomatic assault rifle hadn't jammed while he was trying to shoot up an Oregon mall, America would likely be thinking about more than the 151 innocent civilians killed in mass shootings during 2012.  Now is the time.  Mass shooting rates are skyrocketing and people still struggle to take the hints.  America must honor the dead and pass President Obama's proposal as soon as possible because, after all, now is the time.  We need to take action and leave the idea of ignoring what has happened to the children, like the ones running around in the school yard that day.

On December 14, 2012, 20 kids went to school and probably thought much more about how close Christmas was than their safety.  Their parents probably even did the same.  They never saw each other again and people won't give up guns that have little purpose away from the battlefield? That's weak, America. A child going to school shouldn't be a risk.

I told you before that I am all for shooting guns responsibly.  I only ask that America make these changes.  I see nothing wrong with sporting rifles, pistols or shotguns.  People worry that this is just a start to America infringing on rights, but let me assure you that once America steps beyond this, I am certainly no longer for more gun control.  The only thing Americans actually have to give up is putting large amounts of bullets down range in a short amount of time.  An AR-15 is the most fun gun I've ever shot, but if my never shooting one again means it will save the life of one innocent child headed to elementary school, that's fine by me.  I hope everyone would make that choice.

I may not be able to change your mind, but this should:

Mother Jones' report on U.S. mass-shootings

No News isn't Bad News for Catholics

Everyone knows the face the next performer makes after the act before them has an incredible performance. The last notes finish and the next act knows that at the end of the song the crowd is going to erupt and give a the first performer a standing ovation.  That's when the look comes.  The face goes pale, the jaw drops and the eyes get wide.  Suddenly the last thoughts in the head of the following act go from "I can knock this crowd's socks off" to telling themselves "just don't mess up."
A sinking sect of Christianity who could barely keep their head above water was now treading water calmly when Pope John Paul II passed in 2005.  Being one of the main reasons Communism couldn't survive in his native Poland during and the world the Cold War, when Pope John Paul II died he was not only loved by Catholics, but by much of the world.  This gave Catholicism the spike it needed.  He got the standing ovation.
Watching the crowds roar from the previous performance, Pope Benedict XVI took the stage after recollecting himself from what he just watched, telling himself "just don't mess up."
Pope Benedict kept the Catholic Church treading; he didn't take it to new levels, he didn't let it sink.  Very little of his work was major public news except, of course, joining Twitter.  Like any Pope, he pushed ideas he felt best reflected the ideals of the Catholic Church, made appearances and pushed for reform.  The only reason his retirement is really newsworthy is because he is the first Pope in 600 years to do so.  He felt his time has come and gone.  After Pope John Paul II's reign, the Catholic Church remains vulnerable and Pope Benedict knows that he doesn't have a plan to move it in a better direction without too much risk.
For the first time in 600 years, the Pope is hanging up his robe, and hey, after a tough act to follow, he did the most important thing.  He didn't mess up.

Valentine's Day -- When Money is in the Air

Every year, people around the world toss around millions of dollars on a very low level holiday, Valentine's Day.  People spend on everything from decent chocolates to ridiculously priced roses.  Of course, since so much money is changing hands (an estimated $14.7 billion on Valentine's Day in 2009 alone) someone has to question the morality of the entire picture.
Like many of the most celebrated holidays, there is not a very clear reason behind why a large portion of the world celebrates Valentine's Day.  Some of the earliest theories are built around the belief that the holiday arose from a Pagan fertility ritual, but others have even the Pope endorsing it as a celebration for the Saint Valentine's works.  This lack of knowledge behind why the holiday is celebrated makes people who participate morally good in a Mandevillian sense, but not so much under the ideas of such philosophers as Thomas Hobbes.
Bernard Mandeville's idea that it is morally good if and only if something leads to benefit from that person is definitely in play here.  People aren't giving life-size teddy bears with Pagan rituals on their mind, no, they're doing it with a big box of Whitman's Samplers in mind.  Clear proof that people only participate in the holiday because they will receive something.
Thinkers that do not follow this Mandevillian thought process would likely say that the holiday is only moral in the sense that you are doing good for someone else.  Unless someone is thinking about Pope Gelasius's celebration of Saint Valentine, they are being immoral.  Such holidays as Christmas are different in that they are obviously based around an event, such as the Christian Christ's birth.  People spread cheer and give usually under the principle that they received the best gift from God.  People go to church to celebrate this on Christmas.  Personally, I've never heard of anyone headed to Valentine's Day Mass.
What does all this really boil down to showing about Valentine's Day? It's a chance to give the economy a nice first quarter boost, and a time to hope there isn't any coconut in the chocolate from your valentine.

Hosting More than a Super Bowl Party

While I consider myself someone who is very involved in politics, I have, for my entire life, always chosen not to associate with a Party.  I have always considered myself an independent.  I really like some Republican presidents, and I really like some Democratic presidents.  The past presidential election I found myself clearly on one side of the political spectrum.  People who didn't know me before this most recent election season swore I was a staunch conservative.  My endorsement for Mitt Romney came early in the GOP debates.  I became a huge Romney fan and didn't feel Obama was the right candidate for the time.  I am fine sharing this now considering I was almost in-your-face about it at the time.  Being politically active, when I heard the Democratic National Convention was going to take place in my home city of Charlotte, I was interested.  I thought it would be cool to see the events unfold.  I wasn't overly excited given my stance on the Democratic candidate, but I wasn't too upset.  When I learned that Charlotte was going to lose money over the ordeal by having to make so many upgrades, I was initially upset.

Comparing Democratic National Convention coming to Charlotte to the Super Bowl going to almost any city is not a very difficult task.  Both require the local government to make certain changes to accommodate for the event, but also bring in many people who cover at least most of the costs.  Learning that Charlotte, who always seems to be needing money for many reasons (education particularly), was going to lose more money was frustrating.  As the events of the DNC began to unfold, I watched coverage on tv, since I was away at school.  It was cool seeing the places that I knew very well on national television.  That was when I realized that I was actually quite happy that the DNC came to Charlotte.

Short-term economic loss for Charlotte was inevitable, but long-term returns were more than likely.  Getting my city exposed to the world showed many people the better parts of the city; making it appeal to movers, tourists and businesses.  People around the nation learning more about Charlotte and how it is home to some of America's biggest companies, such as Bank of America, began to see the opportunity Charlotte had to offer.  Finally, seeing President Obama accept his party's nomination for a second term gave viewers an image of patriotism when they think of Charlotte.  These are all aspects that eventually pan out to an increase in Charlotte economic prosperity as well as put Charlotte on the national map.

These results are very similar to the cities that host the Super Bowl.  While New Orleans likely lost money off of hosting the Super Bowl this year, it gave the networks a chance to remind America that parts of the city still hadn't totally recovered from Hurricane Katrina.  This tactic was aimed at getting America to rally around New Orleans and continue to help our fellow countrymen.  The city brought in many tourists and exposed the benefits to viewers at home. These are all aspects that, even if they don't lead to immediate economic success, may lead to long-term payoffs and at least put a city on the map.  I saw the images of the parties on Bourbon Street after the game and I know I want to go spend my tourist dollars there.

This is why a city may be excited about a Super Bowl even if their team isn't playing, much like a kid who became excited for a National Convention even though it was for his Party.