Sports

Dang, I’ve accumulated quite a bit of material worth commenting on during the craziness of the past few weeks.   Some of the more interesting articles include:

• Redstate referenced an article in the Telegraph entitled “The Great Oil Bubble Has Burst”.  While Redstate seems inclined to play up the influence of off-shore drilling expectations in the recent rationalization of oil prices, the more complete story seems to be the free market coming back into balance.  Yes, the markets seem to reflect expectation of new supplies, and global economic slowing is shifting expectations of demand, and these shifts in turn seem to end the incentive to dance the contango. 
     
  However, I do notice that both articles also fail to touch on expectations of the US Dollar strengthening / Euro weakening impacting dollar-denominated oil futures contracts, as well as China presumably ending its massive stockpiling of diesel fuel for Olympics power-generation.

  It’ll be interesting to see where  the new oil/fuel price equilibrium emerges.  It’s a little odd that I’d ever be happy over gas and heating oil prices locally dropping below $3.90 – a year ago that would have been an unsettling price to think about.  Hopefully planners and venture capitalists will continue to see the market potential of alternative power sources (wind, solar, non-food-based-ethanol) enough to justify further development of such technology.
   

• You may have heard that the Olympics are on. NBC apparently racked up record ratings, which annoys me since it will only support that network’s practice of tainting the games (and its ceremonies) with inane, fluffy chatter.   You’d think that with the advent of digital multicasting, there would at least be some move to provide a commentator-less soundtrack, as well as additional coverage of some of the less-popular (but more interesting) sports.
   
• Tyson Foods drew some flack in Nashville media for one provision in its recently announced 5-year contract at a Shelbyville processing plant – workers will no longer receive Labor Day as a paid day off, instead picking up Eid al-Fitr, the end of the month of Ramadan.  The fuss seems to be focused around the appearance of sacrificing an American holiday for an Islamic one.  
   
  However, not much seems to be made of approximately 60% of staff at the plant being Somali (and presumably Muslim)…and that not much work would be done that day anyway.  It seems like a rather practical approach to maximize plant efficiency while being sensitive to workers’ wishes.   It’s similar to how even the most secular institutions in the U.S. observe Christmas Day.
   
• The Dems reportedly have reached the necessary compromises to draft a platform for the ’08 election season.  I’m hoping to have time to look through it more carefully later, but I can observe now that quickly searching for the word “insurance” and skimming through the results makes me feel oh-so-loved, and causes me to wonder if I should be searching for “bread and circus” as well.
   
• And finally, while I might feel unloved by the Dems due to my association with the “evil” insurance industry, I still can’t help but compliment the Obama camp for seemingly almost mastering the art of media hype.   The current example of this is was the invitation broadcast far and wide for a text message alert when Barack’s veep choice (presumably Bayh) is announced (presumably in the next day or two).

Whew!  And now, it’s time for me to head back into the salt mine….

Seen at Insurance Journal:

After a tense match ended in a 1-1 draw, the penalty shoot-out saw Man United come out on top 6 to 5 - the third time it has won the prestigious trophy, and 50 years after the team was decimated in a plane crash in Munich.

The team’s success also provided some welcome news for a change for embattled AIG. Man United’s players have sported the AIG logo on their shirts since the start of the 2007 season. AIG concluded a $100 million deal for the rights in 2006.

Now if the world’s largest insurer (by capitalization) can just solve its subprime loan crisis, avoid further million dollar fines and find a way to deal with the looming presence of ex-CEO Hank Greenberg, it might get back on track.

I’m amazed that there’s actually been coverage of Man United’s victory in the U.S., enough so that the game was spoiled for me.   Usually, it’s possible to TiVo a game and wait a day or two to watch it, without having any problems avoiding the outcome.  However, when I popped open the WSJ website upon getting home, waiting for my recording of the game to transfer to my iPod, there was the results.

Feel sorry for the Chelsea fan in my office who will be wearing a red shirt to work today. 

There was, of course, one very important unanswered question in the wake of last week’s announcement of Liberty Mutual’s planned acquisition of Safeco. That question has been answered. Seen in Insurance Journal:

A Safeco Corp. spokesman says the Seattle Mariners’ home field will continue to be called Safeco Field, despite Liberty Mutual Group’s agreement to buy Seattle-based Safeco.

Whew! That’s a relief.

Although, considering how the Mariners’ season has started, maybe Washington state regulators ought to push for a charitable contribution from Liberty to the Mariners as a condition for approving the deal.

A couple of thoughts that have been bouncing around my head, given how much news coverage there has recently been on the Olympic Torch and related pro-Tibet protests.

First, in the Olympic Torch relays I’ve been aware of (from ‘84 on), the torch has been portrayed as a symbol of the ideal of the world coming together in peace and good sportsmanship.

This year, for the first time, I’ve been hearing folks recall that the torch relay was originally developed as an element of Nazi propaganda associated with the ‘36 Olympics.

How come when the U.S., or Australia, or South Korea, or any other country hosts the Olympics, the torch relay is symbolic of peace, but when the PRC gets the Olympics, it’s a resurrection of Nazism?

Haven’t the pro-Tibet/pro-Darfur/anti-China protesters ever heard of Godwin’s Law?

Second, don’t I remember hearing China promise that these would be the Green Olympics?

Seen in Wired:

If people are looking for another reason to be pissed at China, how about this: By the time this pyro parade is over, it will have produced about 11 million pounds of carbon emissions.

While reading about the challenges the Olympic torch relay faced in Paris, a comment in the Washington Post caught my eye:

But the relay team struggled at a slow pace as it followed the banks of the Seine and looped back toward the Trocadero across the river from the Eiffel Tower, where pro-Tibet demonstrators pelted the torch bearer—a wheelchair-bound ping pong player—and his assistants with bottles of juice, fruit and other projectiles.

Um…while I agree that China’s policy towards Tibet (and many ethnic minorities, for that matter) is atrocious, and their implicit support for the Darfur massacres is heinous…dudes, is belting a wheelchair-bound torchbearer really the right way to get your message across?

Flying Tibetan flags, waving “Save Darfur” signs…those would be acceptable ways to get the message across, in the faint hope that the semi-openness Beijing is allegedly honoring for the Olympics permits the message to get through. Asking political leaders to take the PRC to task, or even campaigning to permit athletes to add Tibetan or Darfur-oriented flair to their uniforms…that would be fine too.

But throwing stuff at a wheelchair-bound torchbearer?! The only thing that will be effective in doing is arming China with material to show what rabble Tibetan supporters “really” are.

Just before heading to bed, I browsed past the live stats for this site, and noticed that many folks are arriving here seeking answers to a question:

What’s with all the owls being shown in the background in the debate wrap-up coverage on MSNBC?

Well, that’s an easy one to answer:  The debate was held at Florida Atlantic University, where the mascot is the Burrowing Owl.

Normally, this wouldn’t attract my attention for a blog post, but…well exactly why I’m making an exception is left as an exercise for the reader.

Seen in the AJC, a letter from University of Georgia president Michael Adams to the NCAA:

“For some twenty years, I have opposed a football playoff system, largely for academic reasons. We at the University of Georgia have one of the few institutions in the country with both a top-20 public academic program and a top-20 athletic program, and I want to keep it that way. For that reason, I remain concerned about any move to lengthen the football season into a second semester. I believe the season already is too long and demands too much of athletes and the universities that serve them.

[...However...]

“This year’s experience leads me to believe the only equitable solution is to have an NCAA selection committee place the top eight teams in the four major bowls. The winners of those four games will play in two playoff games on the first Saturday at least a week past the New Year’s bowls, with the national championship game between the two winners the following Saturday.

“My concern about extending the season into the second semester still exists, but this would involve only four schools, and only two into the second week. To answer concerns about the wear-and-tear on the student-athletes, I would consider returning the regular season to an 11-game schedule.

There is something to be said for the old tradition of big bowl games, and reveling in the success (or mourning in the failure) of your alma matter’s team.   However, considering how society and society’s views on sports have change…I agree; it’s time to transition to some form of playoffs in the NCAA.

Props to Michael Adams too for recognizing that the primary purpose to attend university is to  further one’s education, and therefore giving serious thought to the risks involved with football season leaking too far into the new year.

…I-N-I!

Although they finished 11th out of the Big Ten last year, my alma-matter, the University of Illinois Fighting Illini (sans the Chief) improved significantly this year, and will (finally, at long last) be making the trip to Pasadena to play USC at the Rose Bowl.

Granted, that’s not quite the same achievement as it was in pre-BCS days, but still, it’s an incredible improvement over the shame of having the infamy of being eleventh in the Big Ten.

I’m sure many Minnesotans would agree. 

I think Texans are taking lessons in Dubai. From the Wall Street Journal (subscriber link):

Mr. Aaron and several investors have ambitious plans to build a 25-story mountain with slopes for year-round, outdoor skiing and snowboarding. Surrounding the mountain will be an “Alpine Village” with chairlifts, ice rinks, a bobsled track, a winter wonder-park for children, a retail center, a 600-room hotel and a convention center. Total cost of the proposed Bearfire Resort: $696 million.

The proposed resort is to be built outside Fort Worth, Texas and relies on a new type of artificial snow called Snowflex:

Paul Hilbig, an avid skier who attended the University of Texas at Arlington, tried out several Snowflex slopes in the United Kingdom in 2005, courtesy of Bearfire investors. At first, he was skeptical of the technology, but he found that it felt remarkably like real snow. “If you were blind, you couldn’t tell if you were skiing on one or the other.”

With global warming, I suppose that some avid skiers should be happy to see the creation of a usable artificial snow. However, the idea of going to the plains of North Texas to get in some good downhill skiing in when the temperature is hovering around 100° F just seems incredibly wrong to me.

Well, after having seen my alma matter retire Chief Illiniwek, it was with some interest that I encountered this story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

A Choctaw activist told Tennessee lawmakers on Tuesday that legislation that would prevent the state from ever banning Indian mascots at schools is disrespectful and unconstitutional.[.]

The bill sponsored by Sen. Dewayne Bunch, R-Cleveland, specifies that no state agency would have the authority to prohibit public or private institutions from continuing to use Indians for symbols, names and mascots.

The article doesn’t discuss why the proposed measure would be unconstitutional, although I do wonder why Native American mascots are singled out for special attention, as opposed to mascots like that of my high school (the Spartans).