Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic EvolutionSM
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Welcome to the Sports Zoo! |
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Have you ever been watching a game and had that deep-down, gut-instinct-feeling
that something is really wrong with sports? Ever wondered why you've wasted so
much time watching a bunch of overpaid, under worked "athletes" engaged in a meaningless
entertainment scheme that does nothing more than take your money, waste your time and
demean your intelligence?
Sure, watching sports teaches us to be "team players" (servants and "yes" men) in addition
to giving us heroes (never mind that real heroes fight for their country, save children
from burning houses, and arrest bad guys) and releasing our tensions
and aggressions. However, there's much more to the story! I'll post here, as time permits, various stories and
informational pieces to illustrate how corrupt and wasteful the world of organized sport actually is. Stay-tuned, bookmark this page, and send me your suggestions... |
"Football is a game for trained apes. That, in fact, is what most of the players are - retarded gorillas wearing helmets and uniforms. The only thing more debased is the surrounding mob of drunken monkeys howling the gorillas on."
- Edward Abbey, from his book,
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
"I remember very well in high school having a sudden kind of Erlebnis, you know, a sudden insight, and asking myself, why do I care if my high school football team wins? I don't know anybody on the team. They don't know me. I wouldn't know what to say to them if I met them. Why do I care? Why do I get all excited if the football team wins and all downcast if it loses?"
- Noam Chomsky in Understanding Power
In the News:
Report: Baseball steroid use widespread
CNN.com Thursday, 12-13-2007
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"Illegal steroids have been widely used in Major League Baseball for more than a decade, former Sen. George Mitchell said in releasing a report today. 'Those who have illegally used these substances range from players whose major league careers were brief to potential members of the Baseball Hall of Fame,' Mitchell said." |
Baseball old-timers swing away at steroids issue
CNN.com Saturday, 03-29-2008
"As Major League Baseball opens a new season in the shadow of revelations of drug use by some of its biggest stars, opinions vary among players from what is now called the "clean era" of baseball -- before steroids and human growth hormone entered the game's lexicon.""Baseball fan John Miller, sipping beer in the stands with three buddies under the Florida sun, remembers that era and its top players, particularly Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles."
"'I grew up on him and saw the game played the way he played it. That's my memories of baseball,' Miller said. 'Just watching him play, that was the thrill of the game. You can't take that away.'"
"Robinson, a Hall of Fame third baseman nicknamed the Human Vacuum Cleaner for his amazing fielding ability, is saddened and a bit angry that steroids have affected the game."
"'I think it's terrible. It's cheating. That's as simple as you can put it," Robinson said."
"'I think the Mitchell Report was great,' he added."
"A report by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell named dozens of current and former Major League Baseball players who allegedly used anabolic steroids or HGH to enhance their performance."
"Big names like Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield and Andy Pettitte were included. A handful of players, including Clemens, testified before Congress."
"Talk of the scandal was unavoidable when baseball old-timers gathered recently for a game to benefit Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida."
"'We used to think these guys spent seven days a week in the gym, pumping iron,' Robinson said. 'We know different now.'" Warren Cromartie was an outfielder with the Montreal Expos who was called "the Messiah" when he signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Tokyo, Japan, in 1983. Cromartie's reputation was all about hard work. He uses words like "integrity" and "perseverance" and "old school." He says big money puts added pressure on today's players. "'We weren't about the money then,' he said. 'We didn't make the money they make now. We went out and played ball and got dirty, so that means something. That's something that we're going to hang onto.'"
"Cromartie's values began at home."
"'I've got a father [Leroy Cromartie] who taught me, who played in the Negro leagues,' he said. 'We went out and played. We practiced. We practiced, practiced, practiced, we got good. So either you had it or you didn't, so we didn't think about putting anything but vitamins in our bodies at the time.'"
Sports: Sex, Drugs, Gambling, and Cruelty
In July of '07 I decided to update this page (a little) after it had been sitting around on another server for over five years. Sadly, the world of sports only worsened during that intervening half decade with all kinds of sex scandals, gambling, drugs, beatings, and a general feeling that sports elites, themselves (along with their handlers, coaches, and billionaire team owners), are better than the rest of us. Anyway, here's a small snapshot from the mid 2000s that should jog your memory a bit:
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* Sadly, the Olympics have grown into a very large and corrupt business that has almost nothing to do with amateur sportsmanship anymore. In the past the Olympic Games only accepted amateur athletes. Now, of course, most participants are either outright professionals that are supported by their governments or stealth "trustees" that accumulate large bank accounts from all kinds of willing sponsors. |
Anyway, do we really want our kids (and ourselves!) growing fat, stupid and broke watching sports cheats become rich off overpriced tickets, expensive stadium beers, and flimsy team hats and jerseys that even a medieval clown wouldn't wear??!! And, let's not forget how expensive the rest of our lives become when the price of toothpaste, cars, and groceries are raised in support of a team, new stadium, or broadcasting contract. It's time for a change - the sports entertainment industry needs to be cleaned up - now!
Basketbrawl!
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Here's yet another example of sports-out-of-control. This particular bit of sport's "history" took place on the evening of November 19th, 2004 in Auburn Hills, Michigan during a Pacers-Pistons game at "The Palace." The news of this brawl raced around the world, dominating sports talk and other broadcasts for the following week. Below are three short excerpts from a very long AP article on the subject: |
NBA Suspends 3 Pacers, 1 Piston for Brawl
By Chris Sheridan, AP Basketball Writer, November 20, 2004
"NEW YORK (AP) - Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson of Indiana and Ben Wallace of Detroit were suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Saturday for taking part in one of the ugliest brawls in U.S. sports history, a fight with fans that commissioner David Stern called 'shocking, repulsive and inexcusable.'""The brawl was both shocking and violent, with Artest and Jackson bolting into the stands near center court and throwing punches at fans after debris was tossed at the players. Later, fans who came onto the court were punched in the face by Artest and O'Neal."
"Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers drew a 60-day (26-game) suspension in 1977 for a punch that broke the jaw of the Houston Rockets' Rudy Tomjanovich during a game, while Dennis Rodman was suspended 11 games for kicking a courtside cameraman in the groin and six games for head-butting a referee."
Rageful parents are poor sports
Kids' game marred by violence
By Anne Thompson, Associated Press, July 2000
"BOSTON - A father who doesn't like a call at his son's Little League game breaks the umpire's jaw. mother at a soccer game slaps a 14-year-old referee..."
"While pushy soccer moms and obnoxious Little League dads are old traditions is children's sports, a new parental rage has developed over the past five or 10 years, say sports psychologists and youth sports officials."
"To help parents who can't control themselves at games, some youth sports leagues - including those in Jupiter, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C. - have adopted a sportsmanship training program."
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Rocky Mountain News Baseball faces up to steroids March 18, 2005 Taking up nearly ALL of that edition, on their front page, the Rocky Mountain |
 Click on this photo for a "bigger" view of Fan Number Three!! |
NFL, Giants Stadium in Hot Water for Breast-Baring Ritual Among Fans
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
By Catherine Donaldson-Evans
Fox News
"Giants Stadium management, the National Football League and the New York Jets are in the hot seat over a practice that has become a halftime ritual at Jets games: lewd, drunken male fans shouting at women to expose their breasts."The men whoop, whistle, chant and stomp for female fans to lift up their shirts and bras, often shouting obscenities in the process. Some women comply with the jeering requests.
"When the male spectators don't get their wish, they frequently grow nasty - booing, spitting and throwing beer bottles at the women they're targeting.
"The story, which was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times, has caused a public outcry and led the New York Jets to issue a statement about the behavior.
"'This type of conduct on one of the stadium spirals is outrageous and unacceptable,' said Jets senior vice president of business operations Matt Higgins. 'We have spoken with NJSEA [New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority] officials and demanded that they take steps immediately to ensure that it does not happen again.'
"The NJSEA, which runs operations at Giants Stadium and The Meadowlands complex where it's located, acknowledged that the bawdy ritual has been a problem and said security staff and New Jersey State Police are doing what they can to stop it.
"'This is not something new to us in terms of dealing with rowdy fan behavior,' NJSEA President and CEO George Zoffinger told FOXNews.com. 'Anybody who uses vulgar language or is intoxicated or acting in an improper manner is either ejected or arrested.'"
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