Making a Mockery

I am really glad I held off on commenting about the idiots in the sports world yesterday despite there being enough fodder between Michel Phelps, Miguel Tejada, 97% of the NBA, and that A-Rod. This morning's WSJ had an article that had me cracking up because it danced delicately around the jackassery of the professional sports world. Where else do you have to have hired, "safe" friends to keep you from exposing the fact that your are a not only threat to yourself and others, but also a grade A moron. The majority of the athletes listed in the article have gotten into some sort of trouble when left on their own.

I still have a hard time with the argument that steroids don't have a significant impact on baseball. Hitting is not just about strength, it requires a high level of skill and coordination. If a slightly mis-hit ball is a pop up that happens to go 400' instead of 250' because somebody has the "natural" physique of an early 1990s Mark Mcgwire . . . doesn't that count as some sort of impact . . . you make the call.

Another one I am having a very hard time getting my brain around is a Microsoft Store, kind of like the Apple Store, but less user friendly and way less . . . uh, cool. Microsoft sells mostly software, but has a couple bits of hardware. Will this be a Zune and Xbox 360 store . . . isn't that just a Best Buy? Maybe it is just marketing having an influence on me, but I can only picture nerdy (rather than charmingly geeky) sales people peddling Microsoft wares in techie fashion, inaccessible to the normal user, kind of a cross between Radio Shack and uh, well, who really cares? It is a terrible idea, there is very little "gee whiz" factor when it comes to Microsoft.

This one goes into the "file under awesome!" folder. What do you get when you combine Western excesses with Middle Eastern sensibilities?


People who over extended on their spending are ditching cars "some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield" at the airport on their way out of the country. In the US, we'd be trying to figure out how to bail these geniuses out. Dubai still has debtor's prison, lock em up!