Conference back40::soapbox

    Professional sports teams have become harlots.  Sports has lost its
    American heritage due to coddling with large corporations. 
    Unfortunately we are the fools for supporting these teams.
    
    -Jack

I thought it was the American heritage to coddle with [sic] large
coprorations.

Either that or eggs, one or the other...

    .......ya so now i suppose yer going to tell me PROFFESIONAL WRESTLING
    
    is fixed??
    
    horne
    

As long as we got us NASCAR, it's OK.

>      <<< Note 750.0 by SMURF::BINDER "Errabit quicquid errare potest." >>>
    
>  As sports stars, the
>  NBA kids are unlikely ever to learn how to handle adulthood;
	
	Join the club.  

	The rest of us have it so together.  Oh yes.

    Di:
    
    A twenty year old is not mature enough to be a millionaire!  

>         <<< Note 750.6 by MKOTS3::JMARTIN "Madison...5'2'' 95 lbs." >>>

	How unusual.  You're not usually given to such gross
	generalizations.

    
    
    	At 20yrs old, I would've felt mature enough to handle one million
    smackeroos! :)
    
    	

    True and I halfheartedly wrote what I did.  Let's just say that if I
    had a large trust set up for my kids, they could not touch it until
    they reach the age of thirty.  Wisdom tells me they will be better
    equipped to make important decisions then!
    
    -Jack

    hey, that reminds me, the menendez bros. will receive
    their sentence today.

>    hey, that reminds me, the menendez bros. will receive
>    their sentence today.


 ..and, the judge has agreed to go to the prison to peform the marriage
 ceremony for whichever one is getting married.  How nice..


 Jim

    i wonder where they'll honeymoon?

 Good question..

    the exploitation of youth for the Olympics is THE major reason why I
    won't watch it any longer...I have boycotted it for some time now, of
    course, the effects haven't quite damaged Coke, McDonald's Ricoh, etc.
    etc. who have made this amateur event a mockery of what the greeks had
    fathomed...

    Jack, if you are going to get it wrong at least be correct when you do
    so.  The teams are whorehouses.  The players, harlots.  The fans are 
    johns.  The corporations, pimps.  There.  Your score card should be in
    order now.  Carry on. 

Does this have anything to do with transgendering?

    My almost 6 year old son has been taking weekly gymnastics classes for
    3 years.  His instructor has promoted him to the pre-team (1 level
    before competition) where they practice 3 hours a week.  As a parent we 
    our proud in our son's progress but we mainly want him to enjoy classes 
    and not let it rule his childhood.
    
    We see other parents pushing their kids and the instructors as if they
    have a future Olympian on their hands.  It is sickening to watch.  Let
    the kids enjoy their childhood.  The business of athletics is a very
    strange one that puts the athlete at risk.  
    
    Look at the early days of bicycle racing where laws limiting the hours 
    of 6 day racing had to be created & enforced because promoters were 
    looking out only for their wallets as the riders were destroying their
    bodies and future.
    
    The days of pure amateur competition just for the fun of it are gone.
    Athletics has advanced to a high level of expertise, high paying
    sponsors, and a career.  It is no longer play as part of a balanced
    lifestyle for many competitors. 

    
    well, the Big Mac and the large Coke were the greeks downfall. They
    should have stuck with Wendy's or Burger King.

    If the individual has the talent and the willingess to exploit it, more
    power to them.  Jack was actually close in nailing the problem.  The
    collective we, pay for it.  We support these practices by watching,
    going to the games, buying the products they shill.  If a sophomore in
    high school has the talent to quit and go into the bigs, I hope that
    person makes the choice based upon their desire for their future.  If
    that means quitting school, well then, there you go.  BTW, this is not
    a new development.  Major League Baseball has been doing this for
    years.  They take kids out of high school.  Don't know how young they
    go but certainly before college.  If you don't like it, don't watch.  I
    don't watch but then again I support these kids for explointing their
    talents as long as someone is willing to pay.  
    
    Brian

So, whyizzit that the kids are interested in pursuing this stuff?

re .16:

You mean like the all-transvestite volleyball team from Thailand?

    it's getting harder evry day w/this olympics and my boycott...Jim
    Henderson said it right the other day, who ISN't sponsoring something
    at this year's Atlanta Olpympiad?
    
    maybe if there's enough food sponsor, i ould tick to a diet and lose a
    few kilos

    
    	Women's gymnastics is more suited to the bodies of young women/
    	girls, given that the flexibility expected usual involves 
    	hyperextension of the joints.  
    	
    	Men's gymnastics is for the incredibly strong, and therefore
    	would not be dominated by boys.  Most male gymnasts are college
    	aged.
    
    	FWIW,
    	Karen
    

    >	Women's gymnastics is more suited to the bodies of young women/
    >	girls, given that the flexibility expected usual involves 
    >	hyperextension of the joints.  
    
     Not to mention the difference in rotational inertia between the
    pre-pubescent female body and mature female body.

    
    what ever do you mean, doc????

    .19
    
    > If a sophomore in high school has the talent to quit and go into the
    > bigs...well then, there you go.
    
    So much for praying that these children will have the faintest idea
    about, or interest in, the sane government of the country that has made
    such an unreasonable lifestyle possible...

>    at this year's Atlanta Olpympiad?

An appropriate typo.

Wait a minute.

What difference does it matter if'n the kids in junior high school, 
junior olympics or the NBA?

I thought it was the parent's job to teach the children well.

It looks like the group not taking responisibility in this matter is
obvious.

TTom

    <---- precisely.  

    .28
    
    It's the parents' responsibility, you're right.  That's why most
    parents pay taxes to support a public school system that by law we have
    to have, wherein it is hoped something remotely resembling education
    will occur.
    
    What actually occurs there is, in fact, education - how to make a
    net-only layup, how to sell crack to your classmates, how to hide guns
    in your locker, how to market your body to the highest bidder...

>     <<< Note 750.26 by SMURF::BINDER "Errabit quicquid errare potest." >>>
    
>    So much for praying that these children will have the faintest idea
>    about, or interest in, the sane government of the country that has made
>    such an unreasonable lifestyle possible...

	First of all, you have no reason to assume that, and secondly,
	I don't know about you, but I couldn't care less how much
	interest a handful of unusually talented athletes has in the
	government, as long as they're not planning to overthrow it.

    
    	RE: .30
    
    	At least they're learning skills that they can actually use
    	once they graduate.
    
    	I had to take French and English Literature and Phys Ed.
    	What a waste.
    

Yeah but there was always Latin!~

    .31
    
    > reason to assume that...
    
    ...such as the fact that the high-school junior who was just drafted
    cannot even name the Speaker of the United States House of
    Representatives?
    
    > how much interest a handful of unusually talented athletes has in the
    > government
    
    So you don't give a rodent's patootie whether these athletes, when they
    become FORMER athletes, know or care enough to exercise the franchise
    with something resembling wisdom?  Fine, when they vote themselves a
    bigger free lunch, I'll expect you to remember that.

    
    	RE: Speaker of the House
    
    
    	You mean the democratic speaker or the republican speaker?
    

    .33
    
    > Yeah but there was always Latin!
    
    Correct.  I will point out here that Latin students typically score
    roughly 50 points higher on the SATs than non Latin students - on both
    the verbal and the math tests.  Why is this?  Because Latin teaches
    them how to think in an organized manner as well as teaching them a
    helluva lot about English.  (More than half of the words in English are
    of Latin origin.)  It also teaches them a little about history - and
    the fact is that the framers of the US Constitution learned a lot about
    government from the Romans - so much so, in fact, that our tripartite
    government is based on the idealized Roman republican government.

    What's the problem here, Mr. Binder?  How many kids are you talking
    about?  How many high school sophomores do you think are going to be
    affected by this?  Oh yeah, all of them because they will all wistfully
    say, "I wish..."  I admit that I would like to see the kid at least
    finish their high school education regardless.  That is up to the
    parents to decide though, not me.  There is no travesty being committed
    here.  No societal breakdown is occurring.  It is a fluke.  Nothing
    more or less.  
    
    Brian
    
    

 ZZ   I thought it was the parent's job to teach the children well.
   
    Because their parents health will slowly go by?  Or is it because the
    past is just a goodbye?

>     <<< Note 750.34 by SMURF::BINDER "Errabit quicquid errare potest." >>>
    
>    ...such as the fact that the high-school junior who was just drafted
>    cannot even name the Speaker of the United States House of
>    Representatives?

    Yes, well I guess that just about proves that non of these athletes
    will have the slightest interest in the workings of the government.
    No matter how long they live.  Ayup - uhunh.

 Z   What actually occurs there is, in fact, education - how to make a
 Z   net-only layup, how to sell crack to your classmates, how to hide
 Z   guns in your locker, how to market your body to the highest bidder...
    
    I'm glad somebody agrees with me the public school system is in
    shambles!

    .39
    
    Taking children from high school merely encourages them not to know
    anything about government - I never said none of them do or will.

>    Taking children from high school merely encourages them not to know
>    anything about government - I never said none of them do or will.

It also prevents them from taking that valuable fourth year of Latin.

    .42
    
    I had only two years of Latin.  I manage.

    
    	Imagine how much more annoying you'd be with 2 more years of
    	Latin?
    
    	Eesh.  8^)
    

>     <<< Note 750.41 by SMURF::BINDER "Errabit quicquid errare potest." >>>

    
>    Taking children from high school merely encourages them not to know
>    anything about government - I never said none of them do or will.

	In .26, you've given up on the whole lot of them.  You have
	no reason to assume that even a _majority_ of them will have no
	interest in government.  

Shawn, I had four years of high school Latin and some college Latin as well.
Maybe that's why I'm so annoying.

>Maybe that's why I'm so annoying.

	you are not annoying - you're amazingly unpretentious.
  

    
    I've no years of latin. I'm also very annoying.

Thanks, Di.

{putting down can opener and can of worms}

    
    	RE: last few
    
    	Well, it's obvious that there is no direct connection between
    	a course in Latin and annoyingness.
    

    
    I didn't take Latin in school, but I sing it.
    

    ...and most of the time u ain't annoying, either!
    
    :-)

I took latin, chanted it, sang it...

 How come one can't go to a restaurant and order Latin food?

    You can.  

    One can.  What one will receive is burritos, enchiladas, and frijoles
    refritos.

  how 'bout a Caesar salad?

 No thanks..just had lunch.

 ZZ    I've no years of latin. I'm also very annoying.
    
    Yeah but you're also French.

Gee, I've never thought of French as being annoying.

Oh, you mean the country? Nevermind...

daryll

  .60  What did he mean by that?




   - Naive Nelski

    French is only annoying when it is spoken in a restaurant between the
    employer and employees in an apparently admonishing manner in front of
    a room full of english speaking patrons.  

re: -1

Oh, you mean the language then?

Also annoying when they start raving on and on about what a 
great actor that Jerry Lewis is...

daryll

    
    French can be a very romantic sounding language, especially when one is
    being read the Books of the Old Testament.
    

    
    ...or when whispering sweet nothings in your ear..
    
    

    Go to Paris...people there have literal annoying contests.  It's quite
    funny!
    
    Brian, I'm ignoring you!! :-)

    Uh, no you're not. :-)

    Yes I am!!!! :-)
    

    Hi Glen!

    
    	parlez-vous ??
    
    

    re .0
    
    I thought we're suppose to encourage entrepreneurship to young people.
    -ss

    
    Jack Martin, I am not French. German/Irish, thank you very much.
    Explains my propensity for good beer.

Mark,

Didn't you mention having a MGD with dinner last week?

daryll

    
    <----- daryll, shhhhhh. I'm trying to forget my faux pas

    
    	Have 10-20 more MGD's and you'll forget ALOT quicker.
    

    Mark, which faux-pas would that be?  The fashion faux-pas or the food
    faux-pas? 
    
    

    At least the 14 year old girls aren't having sex with 26 year old men.

    Just about every other physical activity seems to be an olympic event,
    so it's probably only a matter of time...  :-)