America's Obsession

The month of October is a big month for sports. Among some of the biggest games being played, Indiana University won its first football game against another big 10 team in the last 2 years at the University of Illinois' homecoming game. This came as a shock to many because, to state it nicely, Indiana's football team has not been too good in the past. Although this year, their team is composed of a majority of freshman players, so there is a glimpse of promise for the future. Watching this game got me thinking about the nature of sports and why it sucks in so many followers. One reason in my opinion is that the worst team in the league, in any sport, can turn out to be the best team a few years down the road with some rebuilding. That is why you hear so many managers label a season as a "rebuilding year" so the fans feel a hope for a successful season a few years down the road. That is one of the reasons why many Cub’s fans come back to watch season after season, decade after decade despite their inability to win the pennant. Although they haven't won the World Series in over 100 years, there is always hope that the next year can be a breakthrough season. This unpredictability is also another reason why fans seem to be enthralled by all kinds of sports. On any day, the underdog can play well and pull of an upset that will get a city or University truly excited, just like in the Indiana game. These are not the only reasons why the sports industry is so massive though. What are some reasons that you watch sports and why do you think it is such a popular pass time?

 click here if you want to read more about this game.

Privacy: How Much Do They Deserve?

This week a lot of our class discussions revolved around the idea of the freedom of speech, and what we as American's are allowed, and not allowed to say. This discussion caused me to research if either of the Presidential candidates had a comment similar to Tagg Romney’s comment that we also discussed in class. During this research I came upon an article on one of Romney’s comments about American's that shocked many people. He said "47 percent of Americans are dependent on the government and see themselves as victims". This comment evoked a lot anger from many voters. Although, what really interested me was the context of this comment. Romney said this in privacy at a fundraiser, and somehow, someone in the audience picked up a recording of his statement. Although I believe this comment was not something smart to say, and could only hurt Romney’s campaign, it was said in privacy and was not intended to be made public. This got me thinking about if anything either candidate says is really private, and should they deserve any privacy because of their positions in society. It seems like they have no right to voice their opinions without it being all over the internet within a few hours. This is very similar to famous athletes or performers. Anything they say has the possibility of being recorded and made public. Do these people deserve more privacy? Or do they deserve not having the luxury of the type of privacy most American's have because of their position in society?

To read more about Romney's comment, and see Obama's reaction click here.

Style vs. Substance

The Vice presidential elections took place this last week, and although they usually don’t have a large impact on the overall race, many people were talking about it the next day. I heard many people throughout the school talking about how strong Biden's arguments were, or how accurate Ryan's rebuttals were, but one thing in particular stood out to me. I agreed with much of what Biden had to say, but the way he said it came off as rude, and demeaning. In many cases he is shown laughing at important issues and interrupting Ryan. In fact he interjected over 80 times throughout the debate. 

(You don't have to watch the entire video)

Setting aside being a Democrat or Republican, debating in this form seems very immature, especially for a vice President. What do you think? Does it matter how one debates as long as they get their arguments across?

America's American Airlines

A large topic in the presidential debates is domestic safety, and how to keep Americans safe. Although, American's may be at risk right now and not even know it. American Airlines recently canceled many flights because seats were coming loose during flights (a deceivingly dangerous occurrence). The hazard was due to "a combination of wear, poor design and even soda spilled into the tracks that caused pins to pop out of the grooves". Despite the issues American was having, my parents put me on one of their flights because the tickets were cheapest. In fact, the flight I was on was packed full. Because of the issues American was having, they lowered their prices, and as a result, increased their amount of customers. Despite fixing the issue, I thought it was unfair for a business to risk their customer’s safety without any repercussions (especially for airlines). What do you think? Should there be some type of punishment for businesses that fail to perform their task or keep their customers safe?