Doping the Sweet Science

So long as Filipino welterweight boxing champion and living legend, Manny Pacquiao, disagrees with the drug testing procedures his slated opponent Floyd Mayweather Jr. insists he adheres to, this bout will not happen.  Mayweather Jr. and Sr., their entourage, even Oscar De La Hoya, claim 'PacMan' is doping.  Standard doping tests for professional boxers include urine samples before and after fights however, Mayweather Jr. is demanding that Pacquiao agree to Olympic style drug testing, which includes random blood and urine tests that would commence once the contracts are signed.

Pacquiao meanwhile, refuses to agree and has since filed a defamation suit against Mayweather Jr. and his group for damages to reputation.  Good for PacMan.   Here we have a multimillion dollar athlete, who grew up without a high school education, and he has since passed his high school equivalency exams, and enrolled into Notre Dame of Dadiangas University so he can obtain a university degree for his post-boxing political career.  Mayweather's claims therefore, are certainly damaging to Pacquiao's 'from the ground up' reputation.

Without a hint of naivete from yours truly, I am well aware there's a chance Pacquiao is doping, but there's also a chance most other professional athletes are as well, Mayweather Jr. included.  Just because Oscar De La Hoya, and a handful of other of Pacquiao's Mexican chumps say he doped (because he spoon fed them the meaning of  'whoop ass'), does not legitimize their unsubstantiated and harmful accusations. If Mayweather is scared, and he should be,  he should reconsider fighting PacMan, instead of smearing him.

Torn Muscles

So we have officially moved into our new place.  It took roughly 12 hours this past Monday December 28th, but it's finally over. As for the daunting task of unpacking and setting up our new pad, well it seems mild and painless compared to the grueling affair me, Sabrina, and - thankfully - Greg went through a couple of days ago.

First, U-HAUL (I'll never recommend them) completely F*&^%^' up our reservation.  They claimed to have sent us a last minute email on Sunday at 3pm notifying us of a transfer of pick-up locations.  Needless to say, we never received the email, so we ended up at the initial location at 10am only for there to be no moving van for us. From there, U-HAUL sent us across the city to a most inconvenient location. We managed to wrestle a discount from them, but they pretty much strong armed us as we had to move that day no matter what.  Two hour later and two hours late, we finally had our moving van and were ready to go.  We spent the next three hours shuffling up and down the stairs, loading our belongings into the van, and the next 3 hours unloading it.  Simply put: BRUTAL.

All I can say is that it never hurts to have some good friends with you in a move. If it weren't for Greg, me and Sabrina on our own might have run out of steam.

In any case, at least our new place has a nice deep bathtub for me to soak my torn muscles in...

Moving...

My apologies for the extended absence.  First, the holidays and Christmas came around (a belated 'Merry Christmas' to all of you who celebrate!), and now, we're moving.  I cannot wait to be in the new place, but tomorrow is going to be hellish...  up and down the stairs in our building for a good three to four hours!  Ugh.

I'll be back soon with some things to say about Jersey Shore and the delayed Pacquiao/Mayweather Jr. fight.

I think Mayweather is scared...

I smell a smear campaign...

 

Tiger Woods, coincidentally, is being linked in media reports to a Toronto doctor currently under investigation by the FBI for prescribing PEDs... This one smells a bit fishy to me, any thoughts?

More in the coming days...

Living and Dying by the Sword

I made a conscious decision to avoid commenting on the Tiger Woods situation until things settled down.  I just had this feeling this story was going to take six or seven twists and turns before the general public had any idea what exactly had transpired.

First off, let me just say that adultery or cheating among pro athletes is nothing new, I mean, it's practically a birthright.  The only reason we hardly ever hear about it is because the professional newsmedia doesn't report on it unless law enforcement officials get involved in the process.   So while Tiger Woods secretely managed to tally up twelve (!!!) or so 'goomars', this probably never gets out unless his wife, Elin, chases him through the neighbourhood with his own nine iron - which she did.

It really isn't that difficult that take a stand on this one.  Tiger screwed up, plain and simple, and he deserves what he's getting.  His squeaky clean image has been micromanaged ever since he broke onto the PGA tour, becoming the first ever pro athlete to make a $ 1 billion.  And how did he do it?  Well, he's a pretty phenomenal golfer, but even as the top player and earner on the tour for the past decade, his tour earnings don't even come close to what he makes in sponsorship deals; on TV, in magazines and newspapers, online, and on billboards that me or you couldn't avoid if we tried.  So when the tables are turned, why should Tiger be able to turn it off?  In this day and age when superstars like Tiger top up their sponsorship deals because of intense exposure provided by new internet technology, they simply live and die by the sword.   Plain and simple, suck it up Tiger.

Who does your Hair?

"From a photo of an insane woman, to show the condition of her hair."
The expression of the emotions in man and animals -- Charles Darwin

Chris Rock, wearing a wig and starring in his documentary Good Hair.

 

Baptist Minister, Civil Rights Activist, and Democrat Al Sharpton

"The state of her hair is a sure and convenient criterion of her mental condition" explains Dr. Browne on page 296 of evolutionary scientist Charles Darwin's work The expressions of the emotions in man and animals.

If you've seen Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair, you'll quickly come to the realization that 'hair' is still a critical tool used to evaluate class and social status; at least according to the African-American community who together form the subject of Rock's documentary.  Why else then would so many Black women in America (and in Canada too, I've seen it!) spend thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to either straighten their natural hair with chemicals, or have professionals stitch weaves and extensions onto their heads?  There is absolutely no doubt that Darwin's research (shown above) racializes natural Black hair by associating its physiognomy and texture with this woman's mental status; just another example of how Social Darwinism privileges European ideas of status and aesthetics.  And there is no way Darwin would ever have associated straight blond hair with mental illness.

Rock's doc fairly plays both sides of the fence though, before ultimately coming to the conclusion that while racism in mainstream American media exacerbates the pressure on African-Americans to straighten their 'Black' hair, the real blame rests on the shoulders of the Black communities in the U.S. and abroad. Democrat Al Sharpton, whose chemically 'relaxed' hair is all natural and a significantly cheaper alternative to the hair weaves Rock's investigation really targets, doesn't mince words.  According to Sharpton, while the pressures on African-Americans to straighten their natural hair may be a burden, putting food on the table and paying for your child's education comes first. Sharpton believes  African-Americans need to take ownership of the situation by either choosing more affordable solutions to style their hair (aka: The Al Sharpton 'relaxer') or by using their buying power to solely purchase hair products from African-American owned companies. Because when Black women in the U.S. are spending upwards of $3000 every few months in order to modify their natural hair, this money goes to companies with no significant investment in the African-American community, which essentially undermines their potential to control the marketplace as the primary purchasers of hair extensions and weaves in the U.S.