Summer Days Drifting Away
September is here. The kids are back in school, MLB playoffs are on the horizon, Football is about to start and I am in the middle of my annual campaign to get scientists to stop wasting their time trying to cure diseases and instead focus on inventing air conditioned underwear. We can do this people, no one likes a sweaty crotch. Anyway, as we all get back in the swing of things I thought it would be a good time to look back at a few of the major events that occurred over that past few months in sports, politics and global affairs.
I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar
In a sports world that has long been dominated by men’s athletics, the ladies have been grabbing more than their usual share of headlines lately. In tennis, the US Open is underway and Serena Williams has a chance to be the first to win a Grand Slam(taking all four majors in a calendar year) since 1988. Serena is already one of the greatest tennis players of all time. And lately, she has been about as dominant in her sport as anyone can be, except for maybe Ronda Rousey.
In 2011, when UFC President Dana White was asked when women would be in the UFC, he responded, “never.” Less than five years later one of their biggest draws and most profitable fighters is a woman. Ronda Rousey sports an undefeated MMA record and has continually disposed of her opponents in the first round, usually in under a minute. Her fights are compelling and her most recent brawl pulled in the largest pay per view audience for a UFC fight since 2013. Dana White is happily eating his words because Ronda is bringing in tons of cash.
In golf, Brooke Henderson, a 17 year-old Canadian, won an LPGA event by eight strokes. She became just the third player to win a tour event before turning 18 and earned full membership to the LPGA with the win.
It is not just the individual sports where the ladies are making their presence known. In the most watched soccer game in American history, the US Women’s soccer team won the World Cup in a final game that was never close. The US scored on Japan in the 3rd, 5th, 14th and 16th minute to take a stunningly quick 4-0 lead. They coasted to a victory and secured the US its third world cup. Since the inception of the Women’s World Cup in 1991, the US team has never finished outside the top 3.
I have always enjoyed watching sports. In the past I watched mostly men’s sports because that’s what was available and that’s what was the best quality of entertainment. Lately I’ve started watching more women’s sports because the availability, quality of play and level of production has increased dramatically over that last decade or two. I still can’t really get into women’s basketball because the men’s game is so much more entertaining to me. But in many sports, the women’s game is becoming as compelling and fun to watch as the men’s.
Young Guns
On the men’s side of golf, two young players have dominated the game this year while Tiger Woods’ mediocre play continues to make me feel better about my own golf game. The first half of the season belonged to Jordan Spieth. The 22 year-old won the Masters in Spring while tying for the lowest 72 hole score in the history of the tournament. He then went on to win the US Open, finish 1 stroke back in the British Open and finish second in the PGA championship. With two other tour victories early in the season he would normally be a lock for player of the year, but 27 year-old Jason Day’s play as of late cannot be ignored, and so the two horse race is hitting the home stretch.
Jason Day finished in the top 10 in the US Open despite battling vertigo and at one time collapsing on the course. Then, like Spieth, he finished one stroke back of the lead in the British Open. Since then he has won the Canadian Open, the PGA championship and last week he took the Barclays by 6 strokes. He is as hot as anyone right now and has won as many tournaments as Spieth this year. If he can win one of the last few tournaments this year, he will have a strong case for the player of the year award that most people gave to Speith after his US Open win. On a personal note I have been betting on Jason Day in majors off and on for the last few years and I’m glad I stuck with him on the PGA championship because now my bets on him are finally in the black, thanks Jason.
The other big golf story of the year is Dustin Johnson and what could have been. He has played well all year including the majors, but he just can’t seem to get it done when it matters most. In the US Open, he was one stroke off the lead heading into the last hole of the tournament. He played two perfect shots to reach the green and get about twelve feet from the hole on the par-5 18th. If he makes the putt, he wins the tournament, if he two putts, he ties Jordan Spieth and they play an 18-hole playoff the next day. Instead he did the unthinkable, three putts from 12 feet away and hands the title to Spieth. Then, in the PGA championship he finished 5 strokes off the lead despite opening his final round with a quadruple bogey on the first hole. Were it not for a few missteps, Dustin Johnson could be a major champion and in the hunt for player of the year. As it stands, he will have to settle for his millions of dollars, and his beautiful wife and their new son. I’m sure he will win a major someday, but even if he doesn’t I think he will be ok.
The Graveyard of Champions
In thoroughbred horse racing, the first Triple Crown winner since the seventies got back to the track after winning the Belmont Stakes. American Pharoah ran in the Haskell at Monmouth Park on the Jersey Shore in early August and was never challenged as he coasted to a 2 ¼ length victory without being asked for his best run.
His next race was the Travers at Saratoga in late August and he looked to be a sure thing to most bettors. But Saratoga is not known as the graveyard of champions for nothing, If Secretariat lost a race there, any horse can lose there. In the race, American Pharoah never looked comfortable despite making an easy lead and going a slow pace early. Frosted, runner up in the Belmont Stakes, moved up even with Pharoah on the turn as they headed into the home stretch. That is when American Pharoah would normally turn it on and sprint away from the field, but this time he just wasn’t moving like usual. Instead of the horse doing it on his own, Jockey Victor Espinoza had to urge him on for the final quarter of a mile and while he gamely put away Frosted, he could not hold off the late charge by Keen Ice, a horse be beat in the Kentucky Derby and the Haskell.
Maybe it was the travel, maybe it was the track, maybe it was just not his day. American Pharoah still ran a decent second and he is still set to run in America’s richest horse race, the Breeder’s Cup Classic, at the end of October.
When considering where to race Pharaoh, before opting for the Travers, his trainer mentioned the Pacific Classic, Del Mar’s richest race. Perhaps he would have ran better close to home, but I’m not sure he could have won that race either because the best female horse of the past two years, Beholder, put on a show. In her first attempt at taking on male horses she absolutely crushed the boys. She made one of the most impressive moves I’ve ever seen on the turn to go from 2 lengths back to 2 lengths in front in what looked like three or four strides. Then she coasted home with little urging, winning by eight lengths and coming within fractions of a second of the course record. Had American Pharaoh ran in the race, I don’t think he would have won. But he may get a shot at Beholder in the Breeder’s Cup Classic if her connections decide to run her there. I hope they do, because there is nothing in horse racing I want to see more than American Pharaoh and Beholder throwing down on the home stretch. If they both bring their A-game and push each other to the limit, no track record is safe.
Ballghazi/Deflategate
I guess I should mention the monumental waste of time that was obviously part of the NFL’s diabolical scheme to keep us talking about football through the offseason. A federal judge just tossed out Tom Brady’s four game suspension for being “generally aware” of inappropriate activities, essentially confirming that Roger Goodell overstepped his bounds when issuing the punishment. Unfortunately the appeals process is sure to drag this on even longer but for now Brady is free to play as Goodell continues to do what he does best, make the league look bad.
I don’t like Goodell and I don’t like the Patriots so I have no dog in this fight. Neither side seems totally honest or transparent. I can’t fathom an equipment manager altering footballs without some understanding that the quarterback wanted them to be altered. But even if Brady told someone to deflate footballs before a game, it is still just an equipment violation that only warrants a fine under the collective bargaining agreement. Goodell obviously thinks Brady is lying or part of a cover-up, but absent any real proof, all he should be allowed to do is issue a fine. I agree with the judge’s ruling and I hope that’s the end of it.
But I also hope there are a few good stories to come out. Jim McNally and John Jastremski were two were key figures in the investigation and both are no longer employed by the Patriots as a result of it. I would imagine there are large money offers for them to tell their side of the story but they have remained silent. Probably because they signed some kind of non-disclosure agreement, maybe because they were paid off. My hunch is it’s a little of both and if someone snoops on their finances something fishy might come up. Still, I hope they got paid and don’t catch any shit for it. Everyone else involved is making stacks while they are missing out on the kind of money that could set their families up for life by not sharing their side of the story.
The Elephant in the Room is Also a Jackass
The presidential primaries are five months away, but the candidates have been on the campaign trail since the day after Obama was sworn in for his second term. The chaotic Republican race is packed with enough hopefuls to fill two debates and somehow the big leader in the polls is the person with the highest unfavorable rating among the general public. Republicans will lose if Donald Trump is their nominee, the establishment knows this, but right now he can’t be ignored. I hope he stays in the race for a while because the debates are a lot more entertaining with him in them, but it is a bit depressing to see a name calling egomaniac get so much support.
I suspect people just throw out Trump’s name to pollsters because it’s the most recognizable and they don’t really know enough about all 18 candidates to offer an informed opinion. Trump offers little in the way of realistic and specific ideas. He just rambles on about making America great again and claims he will be able to bend foreign leaders to his will. Although he has said he thinks he would get along well with Vladimir Putin, probably because they are both assholes.
If I were to bet on the Republican nomination right now, my money would be on Bush or Rubio. Both are from the swing state of Florida, both are more electable than their firebrand counterparts and both are towards the top of the list in money raised.
Bush seems the most likely nominee on paper, and he has raised the most money, but he was rusty and uninspiring in the first debate. Maybe he will find his sea legs and improve as the debates progress, or maybe he’s just not that good of a candidate. He likes to tout the economic growth of Florida with him as Governor but he doesn’t mention the huge amount of debt the state took on. I suspect that the numbers that Bush brags about are mostly a result of him leaving office near the top of the real estate bubble. If he stayed in office a few more years he would have had to deal with some harsh realities, his timing was impeccable.
Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants and has policies that appeal to the conservative base of the Republican Party. He supports a balanced budget amendment and opposes the capital gains tax and the estate tax. I can’t get behind most of his policies but I like that he tried to get his party to compromise on the DREAM Act and I really like his idea of replacing the earned income tax credit for low wage earners with a federal wage enhancement that would be added to workers’ paychecks. This would act as a minimum wage increase but the cost would fall to the government instead of businesses. I think we should raise the minimum wage as well, but Republicans are less willing to support that. They are more likely to be in favor of federal wage enhancements and that is better than nothing.
Bernie and the Robot
Hillary Clinton has been the favorite to be the Democratic nominee and win the Presidency since just after Obama was sworn in for his second term. Right now bookmakers across the pond, where it is legal to bet on such things, have Hillary as an even money favorite to be our next President. Bernie Sanders is making a lot of noise lately, but that is partly a function of there being no one else doing any serious campaigning on the Democrat’s side beside him and Hillary, and partly a function of early primaries being held in states with mostly white people voting. Bernie is not doing nearly as well with black and Latino voters and there is no way he can win the Democratic nomination or the Presidency without a sizeable chunk of support from those communities.
As I have written here before, I like Bernie but I don’t want him to be our next President. I would like to see him and Hillary debate, preferably with another candidate or two. Democracy is not as strong and effective when people run for office with no legitimate opposition and are not forced articulate and evolve their positions.
As of this writing, Bernie Sanders’ website does not have a policy section devoted to foreign affairs. Hillary has a lot of experience dealing with foreign leaders so she would seem to have an advantage in that area. Bernie appears more relatable and honest to me. Hillary can sometimes struggle to appear human, and Clintons and scandals go together like peas and carrots. Still, Clintons also have a history of surviving those scandals and I would imagine Hillary has a much larger network of contacts and connections that would help her implement her policies if she were elected. President Bernie would have to work with Republicans if he wants to accomplish anything meaningful and that won’t be easy.
I was always interested in government and as a kid I thought about going into politics. But sometime in high school I realized that it is very hard to be a successful politician and a good person. I am more pragmatic and less idealistic now, but it still seems like elected officials have to sell a little piece of their soul to stay in power.
I’m sure Obama has been in favor of gay marriage for a lot longer, but he only officially supported it in 2012. His ambition to become President was more important to him that that single issue. That may make him a sellout, but it also got him to a position of power where he is now able to affect positive change. So maybe not being open about his opinion was the best way to help the cause. To be an effective leader, it is often important to stay in the middle on controversial issues and work behind the scenes to take baby steps in the right direction. It is often practical to take this track, but I still find it distasteful. Leaders have to pander to the general public, but even in America, in recent history, large portions of the population have supported segregation and opposed women’s right to vote and interracial marriage. I would rather speak my mind on issues of freedom, civil rights and human dignity than bite my tongue just so I don’t anger ignorant people who lack compassion. I don’t think I could do the dance that all these politicians are doing, but it is fun to watch.
Cash Rules Everything Around Me
The money problems of major nations have been an issue this summer. In Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff has an approval rating of 8%. That is not a typo, less than one in ten Brazilians approve of the job she is doing. The people are unhappy about a variety of things, but the biggest blunder is the $2 billion in bribery related costs that the government had to write off on Petrobras, its state owned oil company. Scandals from the whole debacle run through the government, reaching some of the highest political officials. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have taken part in protests against government corruption. The people are pissed and they are right to be.
In Greece, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged the people to vote no on a referendum to decide if they should accept the bailout conditions proposed by their creditors. The people obliged, and after the results were in, the no voters celebrated their victory. Then it was back to the reality that Greece can’t pay its debts and some kind of deal needed to be worked out. So Tsipras went back to the negotiating table and worked out a deal that included many of the austerity measures he just encouraged the people to vote down. He was able to pass the deal with help from the opposition because many in his own party opposed the deal. I don’t think there were any good options for Greece, but accepting the deal is probably a better option than leaving the Euro, which seemed the most likely alternative.
In China, stocks have turned negative fairly dramatically after a run that saw them more than double in the year before. Stock advances and pullbacks are nothing new and the story would not be nearly as intriguing were it not for the response of the Chinese government. The communist party has made some steps and given lip service to allowing markets to fluctuate more freely. That is easy to do when things are going well, but once the crash started, the communist party leaders couldn’t help themselves and started to meddle heavily in the market. Stock prices falling must be someone’s fault, right? It can’t just be because markets fluctuate or prices were too high. That seems to be their logic because they have jailed journalists who dared to express their opinion on stock prices while restricting individuals’ ability to sell their personal shares. China has made huge strides in recent times, but this latest episode shows they still have a long way to go in terms of economic and journalistic freedom.
It blows my mind that the Chinese government is able to exert so much control in such a large and populous nation. But they can’t stop the spread of information and they can’t censor everything. The people are getting more knowledgeable and prosperous. If the Communist Party of China wants to stay in power for years to come, it needs to keep bending; otherwise it is sure to break.
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free
Just take a look at the humanitarian crisis in Europe with all the refugees coming in or the plight of the Rohingya people and that should help put into perspective all the rhetoric in the US about illegal immigrants. Refugees are flooding into Europe and hopefully the EU will pick up the pace in finding a dignified solution to the problem. It shouldn’t take horrific photos of drowned children to stir action and make nations deal with refugees in a compassionate manner. It is not acceptable to ignore these people or simply hope they go somewhere else.
I’d like to live in a world with open borders and I’d like to live in a nation that welcomes immigrants and refugees. People who take long, dangerous journeys to escape persecution, poor living conditions or a lack of opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their family should be celebrated, not marginalized.
No person should be without a home, but right now the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are over 10 million people who cannot claim citizenship in any country. The free nations of the world have a moral obligation to come together and provide assistance and expedited paths to citizenship for these vulnerable and persecuted groups of people.
Well that’s all I got for now. I know other important things happened that I didn’t mention and maybe I’ll get to write about some of them later on, or perhaps I’ll get a chance to go more in depth about some of the topics above. But I’ve already rambled on for long enough so it’s time to drop the mic and walk offstage. Peace.