What Goes Around

A little miscellaneous business is in order today, I believe. Went down to the Reds game Friday night, and was thrilled to see a great game. A close, hard-fought contest that the Reds ultimately won, a packed house, and a playoff-like atmosphere made for one of the most exciting games I have ever attended. However, my enjoyment was somewhat negated by many of the other people in attendance, specifically those who chose to walk up and down the aisles during the innings, while the game was going on. Seriously? Why am I even having to talk about this? Isn't it common courtesy, if not common sense, that you should not obstruct anybody else's view of the game if at all possible? For that matter, shouldn't you be watching the game yourself? You probably laid down at least twenty bucks, if not more, for your seat, and maybe as much for your family or your friends to sit next to you, why don't you pay attention to the game? How much diversion do you really need? Can you not wait until the inning is over to go get your hot dogs and your beers? Should you arrive back to your section after procuring your food and the inning is still in progress, you should wait on the concourse until play has stopped, and you should then return to your seat as quickly as possible, so that you are not blocking the view of another person (exceptions, of course, if you have to use the restroom and cannot wait any longer). Also, you do not need to be texting and checking Twitter every two minutes, as the guy in front of me seemed to believe was necessary to his very existence. You're at a damn ballgame, an exciting one between two good teams! Watch the fucking game! Please, be aware that you are not the only damn person in the world, and that the world will not end if you are away from your phone and/or the internet for a few hours.

Elsewhere in the world of sports, there is basketball. I personally don't care for basketball, but it's out there. And you would have to be living outside of the uncharted waters in the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy to be unaware of the LeBron James saga, which ended with James and two other top-of-the-line stars all signing with one team at the same time. The three players had essentially gotten together beforehand and come up with the idea to all play for the same team, and presumably win themselves a championship every year for the next decade or so. Doesn't that sound screwy to anybody else? I saw this morning where Michael Jordan said something to the effect of, he never called up Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and said, Hey, why don't we all play for the same team? He didn't want to play those guys, he wanted to beat them, because that's how you know you're the best. And he's right in his implication, that LeBron James isn't interested in any of that, he just wants his rings, even if it isn't strictly fair or right the way he gets them. You can be like the Yankees in baseball and stack the deck in your favor, and it may get you your championships, but it will also be sure to get you hated by everybody who doesn't root for your team.

For something completely unrelated, I'm now looking at some billboards that have gone up in a few states which are at least supporting the right of old and/or sick people to go ahead and kill themselves, if not outright encouraging it. And to this I say, great! The last thing we need is a bunch of elderly people who don't know where they are or who can't take care of themselves hanging around for way too long, being a drain on either the government or their family, whichever is paying to keep them alive. It's about time somebody started taking a common sense approach to this sort of thing. Hell, why would anybody want to stick around in that condition anyway? I mean, if you're old but you're still getting around okay, more or less on your own, then great, keep at it. Otherwise, we need to get some people outta here! I guess you could say that my theme for the day is pretty much, don't be an asshole, because there seems to be a lot of that going around right now. Somebody, please, break the cycle!