1hundredsixty8

Random musings...

The fabulous amounts of money involved in the global sports-as-entertainment industry should be a signal to the public to demand more scrutiny. The recent announcement that as many as 650 soccer matches, including World Cup and European Cup contests, may have been fixed by gambling interests is only the latest scandal. It follows closely the Lance Armstrong doping admission. Even a medical timeout granted to tennis star Victoria Azarenka in the recent Austrailian Open invited loud speculation that she was faking an injury in order to regain her composure. The sports-consuming public, in a lather of hyperbole relentlessly formented by media outlets, online betting sites and fantasy leagues, has come to abide instances of cheating and corruption as mere distractions from the spectacle. So benumbed are we to reports of steroid use, the pervasion of performance-enhancing drugs with bewildering names such as HGH or andro, or bounties paid to NFL players to injure opponents, that we ignore the pernicious effect all that money can have on what we once naively thought was something pure. You just have to think the Romans were rigging those gladiatorial matches.

On another cultural note, I did not watch the Grammy Awards on TV Sunday night.  I had been subjected to CBS's promotional bombardment long enough to know that I really did not know who these pop music artists were. Okay- I do recognize some of their names, but I would not know their music if I heard it.  And I consider myself a music fan: I listen to a wide variety of musical styles- blues, jazz, bluegrass, classical and, lately, opera. I just have never been a pop music guy. Going back to the 60's, I never listened to Top 40 radio, for instance.  As the risk of seeming condescending, I am drawn to a type of honesty in the sound of music, and do not much care for the glitz and stagecraft of most pop acts (the late James Brown and Prince are exceptions). I can identify a Doc Watcon tune from his singing and guitar playing, but would be stumped distinguishing Tim McGraw's voice from that of Toby Keith. Yes, I think Beyonce can sing, but so can Amy Helm. 

Finally, as a follow-up to my previous post about big government, I would like to note my admiration for the effort  Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK),  has made in bringng to light waste and inefficiency in the Federal government.