What The Holidays Remind Me Of

Despite the fact I grew up in a devout Roman Catholic household, once I left for university at the age of 19, I stopped practising my faith for various reasons. I became lazy and complacent towards my faith, and even more so, I became skeptical that something which could not manifest itself physically could have such on influence not only on my life, but the lives of my family and the creative foundation of the world.

My parents, being the passive and understanding pair they are, allowed me the liberty of an attempt at both a literal and contextual analysis of the church and scripture, which combined with the aforementioned malaise found me turning my back on my faith.

Save for a funeral or wedding, the only time I step foot in a church these days is to appease my mother and attend a Christmas Eve mass. When I'm sitting there next to my parents and brother and sister, an unmistakable sensation of guilt sweeps over me. Why, I have no idea? I reckon it's because I feel such an overwhelming urge to please my parents and make them proud. Regardless, Christmas Eve mass always evokes a sense of virtue and focus on my part, in so far as a renewed focus on what's important in life; family.

Time changes all, and rifts are created between friends and family members over various reasons, sometimes legitimate, other times completely trivial and wasteful where a person's pride masks the sobering effects of proper judgment. Come holiday time, I am reminded of the fact that at the end of the day, our families are all we really have. Blood binds people together like a metaphysical adhesive greater than that of any legal commitment or contract.

Despite the fact very little people will likely ever read this post - both because I've not posted much the last few months and likely decimated what little fan base I have and also because the first paragraph mentions the ever-tantalizing existence of church and faith - the fact remains, often we do the bare minimum when it concerns family. The holidays and the practise of worshipping a false idol (Santa, not Jesus) should not be the sole reason to come together as a family. Call your aunt, email your uncle, for God's sake, tell your mother you love her, because while time changes all, it also passes at great speed with very little notice.

Happy Holidays to everybody and thanks for reading.

Long-Form Sports Journalism: Alex Belth

As newspapers continue to drop long-form, researched pieces for short, attention grabbing bullet points, the internet is becoming a safe haven for sports journalist looking to rekindle a previous romance with full-length pieces.

I encourage everybody to read the following article by New York sportswriter Alex Belth, about a fellow sportswriter whose style and penchant for alcohol and drug-induced interactions with the athletes of the 70's and 80's evokes memories of a time I never experienced, but have read so much about.

Deadspin; Alex Belth, December, 6th, 2011.

Thank you for reading, and again, my apologies to the dozens of loyal fans of this site for it's general shittiness.

Gary Speed RIP

Sunday morning, police discovered that Welsh football manager Gary Speed had hanged himself. The 42-year old ex-Premier League and Welsh footballer leaves behind a wife and two teenage boys.

Though not the best of obituaries, the Telegraph's coverage features a nicely edited video of Speed's career accomplishments. I encourage you to have a look at the link if you'd fancy.

The internet doesn't need another obit, rather I've decided to post this link and share my sentiments because I always admired the man. Upon reading about Speed's suicide, I was absolutely gutted. He was a fearless leader and a brilliant example for younger players. His 535 matches played was a league record before being broken by ex-England keeper David James. He was the type of player who never showed dissent and always seemed to exceed the physical limitations his ever-aging body presented as obstacles.

Certain that possible reasons as depression or the like will be revealed in the coming days, it's safe to say his suicide has caught everybody who knew the man by surprise.

RIP Gary Speed.

Penn State Scandal: John Amaechi's Perspective.

Amidst all the nauseating accounts of Jerry Sandusky's actions and the uncovered allegations of Penn State's administrations lack of proactivite measures, many a Penn State grad or person with experience or perspective has been asked to express his or her sentiments regarding the case.

Former NBA center and Penn State grad John Amaechi appeared yesterday on ESPN's Highly Questionable with Dan LeBatard to share his disgust with Sandusky's actions and the manner with which Penn State's administrative hierarchy failed in dealing with it.

Besides being a very well spoken and eloquent individual, following his retirement in February, 2007, Amaechi became the first high-profile athlete from one of the 4 major North American leagues to announce that he is homosexual. He subsequently released an autobiography titled Man In The Middle and became a spokesman of sorts for inequalities in sport and the plight of the closeted homosexual in extremely heterosexual and homophobic environments. Needless to say, the guy is a class act whose sacrifices have paved the way for the next generation of educated and well-versed professional athletes.

The reason I'm posting this 6+ minute video and giving a brief account of John Amaechi's successes is because the sentiments he shared with Dan LeBatard are the most eloquent and sobering of opinions I've seen or read since this whole scandal unfurled not two weeks ago.



In this instance, eloquent seems like a bit of an understatement, but the point remains; Amaechi does well to separate where we should be directing our efforts and goodwill, and how easily people can become selfish in such times. I commend Amaechi for his opinions and hope that as many people as possible can as well in hopes of coming to grips with this disgusting scandal that will forever leave its black mark on college sports and the University of Penn State.

Lockout With Your Glock Out

In lieu of the fact that the NBA lockout negotiations continue to move slower than Jose Molina on the basepath and the apparent refusal by the owners and the players to meet half way like Oprah's belt, I present to you the closest thing to NBA basketball we have.

Here we find the Knicks' Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire discussing the term 'compare' with Grover. Carmelo's smile is about as genuine as a pair of Adidas I have with two stripes. Speaking of Adidas, it seems the people at Sesame Street are against brand recognition.



That's all I have for you today. Remember to show your appreciation for a Veteran today. The most poignant remark I've seen in recent days was from a colleague on twitter, who said something along the lines of "Veterans have signed a blank cheque to the country with their lives. Show them some love."

Well said. Thanks for reading BadNewsBlog. I apologize that the last few months have been pretty sparse, I hope to find a 25th hour in the day so as to placate both of your appetites for Pulitzer-level shit.

Tommy Craggs: One of America's Best Sportwriters.

Amidst all the hoopla surrounding Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and his adoption by the sports media as "America's Christian Darling", there has been a very biased and narrow minded approach to covering him.

Despite his struggles on the field, the media has anointed him as a special one, namely because of his tidy ethical principles and well-spoken demeanour.

No sportswriter in America has tackled this issue with the same concise manner as Deadspin's Tommy Craggs.

Deadspin: Tommy Craggs, Friday November 4th.

Enjoy the article and thanks for your support of BadNewsBlog.

Read Something

I'm often asked by friends and colleagues for book suggestions. It's an ever-challenging task to speculate upon somebody's taste in literature, even when presented with options or a precedence of sorts for what another reader may fancy.

Different people enjoy different forms of literature, where the person's aesthetic presentation gives little insight to their preferences. As the old adage goes, you can't read a book by its cover.

My physical appearance would give an inquisitive passerby a sordid impression that I'm really into Niezstche and Sartre and critically acclaimed bandwagoneers the like, while simultaneoulsy bowing at the alter of the David Halberstam's and Dick Schaap's of the world. There was once a time when I read books I was told I would like because they were an influential artist's seminal work or some lavish and epic Tour De Force. These days I read because I want to be entertained, rather than the purpose of any form of enlightenment or to check one off the 'Must Read Before I Croak' list.

To come full-circle, if you want my advice, I'm going to suggest those books that I find entertaining. For every person who's fallen for a writer that was suggested to them or found on 'Must Read' lists, there is a person who adores the work of clandestine artists whose work is found on clearance racks masquerading as garbage heaps curbside.