You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November, 2006.
When you see this post, I know you’ll probably ask yourself, “Where does he come up with these posts? What’s the logic/inspiration/purpose?” Truthfully, I’m amazed at how, for no apparent reason, I’m inspired to opine on what some may consider useless fluff, but here goes.
At my job the other day, I overheard a co-worker (a high-schooler) speaking to another about being on the school’s wrestling team. I’m unsure how it came up, but he mentioned a requirement that the wrestlers pass a hydration test. I asked him about it, and he stated that a wrestler who is deemed dehydrated is disqualified from competing. I thought to myself, finally someone has chosen tho stop ignoring the risks these athletes are taking.
I wrestled when I was in high school; my record was not one which would qualify me as an all-star, but I wrestled nonetheless. I spent my first 4 high school years in England, in a U.S. Air Force base school. Going to wrestling meets was not a quick trip; the “crosstown rivals” were at least 1½-3 hours away by motor coach at another U.S. base or American-run facility (the American School of London for instance). For those of you not familiar with wrestling, the sport is divided into several weight divisions, ensuring that competitors will be equal, in physical stature at least if not ability. The general consensus among wrestlers and coaches is that lighter is better, so the wrestlers will take whatever means necessary to shed those last few ounces (yes, OUNCES) to qualify at a weight below what their normal weight is. On these “cross town” trips, I saw on a regular basis teammates who would ride to the meet in what used to be called “sauna suits” and wrapped in blankets. Yes, it was October/November in England at the time, but they weren’t trying to stay warm, they were trying to stay HOT. I saw a few times some of them fall victim to this self-imposed regimen and pass out from the resulting dehydration, and then a few hours later, don a singlet and try to go six minutes on the mat (it may not seem like that long to you, but trust me, six minutes can seem like hours if you’re matched up with someone of equal ability). In most cases, they were beaten, but their defeat took place on the bus instead of on the mat. Actually, it probably happened sooner than that; for a week or so prior to a meet they would typically eat as little as possible and drink not more than a few swallows of liquid a day, leading up to the day of the meet.
I rejected this method of preparation for a meet. I always held the philosophy that weight training should be used for preparation, and when I explained this to teammates and coaches, they scoffed. “You put on all that muscle, you’ll go up in the weight classes” was the typical reply, to which I would respond, “Yes, I might, but I’d rather move up a class and be stronger than move down one and be weak from thirsting and starving myself.” None of the other wrestlers ever accepted that reasoning; the “lighter is better” idea was constantly being hammered into us by the coaches, which was ultimately the reason I stopped after two years. Winning a medal was not worth risking my health, and I’m happy to see that today’s coaches and intramural sports program administrators are realizing that as well. If it’s due to a fear of a wrongful death lawsuit, then maybe the change is for the wrong reason, but at least the change is in place. But how far does the policy extend? What questionable practices are taking place in other high school sports, such as football and basketball, and what is being done to prevent the students from taking extreme measures to enhance their performance?
I’m so happy, nay, honored that you took the time to pay my little journal a visit. I must admit, I’m not as active with my journal or as politically conscious as Eternal Wanderer is, but I do hope you will find something that will prompt you to exercise your mental “muscle”. I can’t promise that you’ll agree with all of my opinions, or to be non-controversial, but then, what fun would that be if everyone agreed with absolutely everything?
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to exercise my own mental “muscle”, as I have a LOT of catching up to do with the NaNoWriMo event.
OK, I like having fun as much as the next person, and I’m all for other people having fun, but when your chosen activity/fad puts others at risk of injury or property at risk of damage, then it’s not fun anymore. The fad that has me so full of piss and vinegar is skateshoes. For those of you who have not yet experienced this fad, they’re basically sneakers except that the last two or three inches of the heels are angled upwards slightly to accommodate a urethane roller, recessed in the sole. Because of this design, the wearer can walk on them like they were plain sneaks; the skate part happens when the wearer angles the foot(feet) back so that they are riding on the roller part of the sole.
Now they don’t work like traditional skates, to take full advantage of the design, the wearer gets a running start across some hard surface and comes down on the roller on the last step and then the other roller, gliding on the heels (picture yourself sliding across the tile floor in your socks as a child, same general idea). The hard urethane rollers and the bearings encased within ensure a fairly long glide, depending on the speed of the buildup run.
I recall the first commercials for these shoes a few years ago. The kids were shown having a grand time on these skateshoes rolling along the sidewalk. That’s right, every shot was an OUTSIDE shot: a sidewalk, basketball court, driveway, etc., and that’s just fine. Now imagine if you will these kids doing the same thing, say….in a mall, or an airport concourse, the lobby of a movie theater, a grocery store, where there are lots of people walking around, not expecting Junior to whiz past them missing them by inches, or worse, actually running into them, knocking them (and whatever they may be carrying…their groceries, food and drinks, their newborn child perhaps) to the floor. I’ve witnessed people almost being clobbered by these little punks, hell, I myself have come close to being knocked down; I’ve yet to see an actual collision, but I’m sure it will be ugly when it happens. The incident itself for sure will be, but I imagine the words exchanged between the victim and the child and/or their parents will be far uglier. “What the hell are you doing?! You’re not supposed to be doing that in here!!” “How DARE you tell my child what they can’t do!” “Well *someone* needs to; obviously YOU’RE not doing the job!!” And then it just mushrooms from there.
I’m siding with the victim/potential victim in this one. More often than not, I see the kids tear-assing through a crowded public area, on and off these skateshoes, and the parents don’t say word one to them admonishing them for their improper behavior, but let some third party say something to them, even in the most polite manner one can muster, and it’s ‘Katie, bar the door’.
Now kids being kids are going to want to romp and play and have fun, and again, I’m OK with that. Parents (and kids), an important part of having fun is making sure you’ll be safe while having that fun, but please sure that others around you will be safe as well.
Maybe this little rant wasn’t about skateshoes as much as it was about the piss-poor parenting that has become evident, at least here in the U.S. The sad part is that these kids, because their own parents didn’t have the backbone to discipline their kids (and I’m not talking about spanking, “whoopin’s”, etc.), won’t have the first clue how to discipline their own kids when the time comes, because no one set the example for them. And as far as the skateshoes are concerned, know this, kids: I’m watching for you, and when I see you coming, I’ll brace up…and we’ll test that whole irresistible force/immovable object theory. And on top of that, I learned a few things from watching the roller derby back in the day that I bet you don’t know.
I’ve never been able to log in to them without some sort of problem and repeating the login at least 4 times. Now, I’ve been trying to add a hit counter to go with my NaNoWriMo stat-bar, and it won’t let me in at all, giving me a ‘user account not found’ message, so……F#%& BLOGGER!
My posts there can still be accessed, but don’t bother. I’ll be copying and pasting those entries here for your perusal, so that no one need give Blogger ANY hits at all. It may take a day or two, so bear with me.
OK, a quick refresher about the Scrolls: THIS IS NOT A “BLOG”, IT’S A “JOURNAL”. I f*$%#&g HATE the B-word, a word born out of someone’s laziness (ironic, since I’m possibly the laziest chump you’d ever want to meet, but that’s another journal entry). Yes, because someone couldn’t be bothered to enunciate ONE extra syllable to say ‘weblog’, we now have the term ‘blog’ (groan). Depending on my mood/fatigue level, my posts here may be few and far between. When I do, it’ll probably be something that’s gotten my undies in a serious wad. Comments are welcome, and encouraged. You can be sure I’ll read them all, and reply when I can.
OK, thanks for stopping by. I’ve got LOTS more writing to do for NaNoWriMo, figure out how to display my stat-bar, and ride the porcelain pony…but not necessarily in that order.
These are the entries mentioned in my first posting here. Click on the link below to view them, in descending chronological order. If you feel like commenting, that’s fine, but understand that you won’t be able to respond to a specific entry.
