Professional Athletes

There is an interesting article that is posted online at Time.com dated October 30, 2007.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1677608,00.html

This article got me to thinking that it seems like there has been a lot of problems lately with professional athletes. The thing that I don't understand is most of the athletes have the world by the proverbial balls. They make millions to play a game that they love, but yet they are constantly doing things to get into trouble. Unfortunately until team owners and leagues start to make these players take responsibility for their actions the athletes are going to continue to get into trouble.

I understand the argument that what a person does in their off time is not any of their employer's business, but in my opinion that argument goes right out of the window when you are a public figure. In my line of employment if you do something while you are off duty that is an embarrassment to the department you can face disciplinary action, so why then can't professional athletes be held to those same standards.

I understand that we have always had sports scandals but it seems to me that there are more of them recently. Or is it that the media picks up on these scandals a lot quicker and easier than they used to.

It is a shame that in this day and age, that there are very few professional athletes that children can look up to. I know that this will date me, but when I was growing up we had athletes like Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, and Ryne Sandburg to look up to. Yes I do know that we did have some scandals when I was a child such as the whole Pete Rose issue and Magic Johnson announcing that he was diagnosed with HIV and admitting to sleeping with numerous women, but as I mentioned earlier it seemed like those incidents were few and far between.

What really makes me mad though is there are two athletes that I looked up to as a kid that have let me down. They are Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire. When I was growing up the other kids in the neighborhood and I would trade baseball cards. Whenever I could get my hands on a Barry Bonds or Mark McGuire card I would jump at the chance. The majority of the their careers I still thought that they were great players and then both of them had to let me down with doping allegations. I know this will sound corny but to me it was almost like finding out that Santa Claus is not real.

To get back on track though, a more recent example of an athlete letting me down is Kobe Bryant. This guy was an awesome basketball player, has a smoking hot wife, and then has rape allegations. Sometimes I just want to sit back and say WTF!!

I think that there are still some professional athletes left that are suitable for kids to look up to as hero's. It just seems like it is harder to find them. I don't know what the problems that we don't hear more about the hero's and less about the problem athletes. Is it that the media feels that athletes getting in trouble makes for better news? Or is it that there really are that many problems with professional athletes? If the latter is true I find that very sad.

Schwarzenegger Inserts Foot in Mouth

From http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071029/ap_on_re_eu/schwarzenegger_marijuana_1

"Arnold Schwarzenegger says marijuana is not a drug, a British magazine
reported Monday. But his spokesman said the governor was joking.

"That is not a drug. It's a leaf," Schwarzenegger told GQ. "My drug was
pumping iron, trust me."

From the way it looks in this article Schwarzenegger's Press Secretary Aaron McLear drew clean up duty for this stupid comment. I find it absolutely hilarious when public figures stick a foot in their mouth and then use their hired hands to clean up the mess. McLear is quoted in the article as saying that the comment was taken out of context. In other words that is not what the Governor meant to say after he realized what a dumb comment he had just made.

Unfortunately I don't follow California politics very closely, but I sure hope that the Governor does not have a get tough stance on drugs. I especially hope that he does not have a get tough stance on marijuana because after all, "That is not a drug. It's a leaf."

It is mentioned in the article that Schwarzenegger has admitted to using marijuana in the past and it also states in the article that the marijuana use was 30 years ago. I do have to hand it to Schwarzenegger for being honest which is more than what can be said for most politicians. Most politicians would deny that they did it, or they would dance around the issue.

I do have to hand it to Arnold though he had his facts straight if you look up marijuana in Webster's Dictionary is does states that it is a plant. Way to go Arnold on almost having the exact definition!

Fire Department Stuff

I am also a volunteer firefighter and I responded to this call.

From October 28, 2007 issue of the Quad City Times

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/10/28/news/local/doc472412956641d077338450.txt

"The Camanche Fire Department is investigating Friday night’s fire that
authorities believe may have started accidentally.Firefighters were called at
7:40 p.m. to the scene of a house at 221 7th St. where an unattached two-car
garage had moderate smoke coming from it.

The fire caused an estimated $5,000 in damage to the garage and $500 damage
to the vehicle parked inside."

We made a pretty good stop on the fire but then again I am a little biased.

Lousy Fast Food Service

I am not sure if it is just me or what, but it seems like whenever I go out for fast food especially if I go through the drive through the service is absolutely horrible. For instance tonight I went to Taco John's to get supper for my wife and I, the person who answered on the speaker starts off with welcome to Taco John's may I help you, (at least that is what I think he said) so fast that it sounded like he was speaking in a foreign language. I then proceed to attempt to place my order, and the fool interrupted me 3 different times. When I go through a drive through, I always end my order with that will be all. So what does the idiot do next, you guessed it asked if that would be all. I then go around to the window the moron opens the window and just looks at me. I assume that this means that he wants the money, no hi, kiss my butt, not even what the total is again. I give him the money and then he throws the change at me and drops almost all of the coins on the ground. The guy then gives me our drinks. My wife wanted a Diet Pepsi and I wanted a Dr. Pepper, he just gave me the drinks and did not tell me which was which and the lids were not marked. I then asked the fool which was which and he replies "heck I am not sure, I think that the one in your right hand is the diet." Again no apology. Finally our food was ready and he gives it to me shuts the window without a thanks or anything. No mind you this is not an isolated incident this is just the incident that set me off tonight.



I can understand the argument that most of the time the people that work at fast food restaurants are high school aged kids working for minimum wage or slightly above. I feel that is no excuse. In high school I worked for minimum wage at a gas station. I always made sure to be polite and say thank you to every single customer. There were several reasons for this. One reason being is if my boss got a complaint that would not be cool. Another reason being that if my parents found out they would have my butt. My parents raised me to treat people the way that I would want to be treated. The last and most important reason is self pride. I have always prided myself on being a respectful person and being kind to others.

In my current profession I am required to always be fair, kind, and respectful towards the people that I deal with. I am employed as a 911 operator, so as one can imagine people are not always the nicest towards me because lets face it people don't call 911 because they are having a good day. I have been a 911 operator for over seven years and I have had maybe 4 or 5 complaints made against me and they have all been unfounded. I am not trying to brag, but if I can be courteous, kind, fair, and respectful towards people that are having emergencies, I think Joe High School can show those same qualities dealing with fast food.