How to begin? With sadness, I have to report that a giant aqueous mammal killed the 110-pound person that was 'training' the animal. The woman had not even begun the show yet...she was explaining to the crowd what they'd be seeing when the whale was released into the show pool, where it promptly bolted for the unsuspecting trainer and snatched her off the platform. The crowd was promptly evacuated and the park closed.
My question, while trying not to sound too callous, is: Does the liability insurance that Sea World carries cover the therapy for the children in the stands? Usually you have to tune in to National Geographic or MMA events to witness potential death, but at Sea World? Imagine if Mickey got his head lopped off while standing near Space Mountain and the trams...you think that might jar a six-year old? Maybe, just maybe, it is time for society to quit corralling wild animals for profiteering and just take an ocean cruise if one wants to go to see them.
The bigger issue to 7DB, of course, is how these folks land in these jobs. Does anyone really 'dream' of working with animals with limited personality and limited ways to express it? What college career counselor said, "So, ya wanna work with giant, slimy mammals that are held in captivity? That's what you're career profile suggests you'd be best at!" ?
Can the prospect of making $35,000 a year and smelling like fish all day seem appealing? At least underwater pier repair pays well for its high risk. There are many noble folks that work for peanuts (or smelt) and enjoy their experiences with animals and rescue centers, and they should be respected for their choice. Working with show animals, however, seems a bit to 'carny' for an intentional career move.
Siegfried or Roy (I cannot remember which) made big piles of loot, then lost his face to this 'profession'. The money cannot replace what must appear in his mirror every morning...the whole prospect of that being a way to make a living, solely off of the curiosity of people about animals that they may not see in suburbia, creeps me out. At least zoos rescue some animals. Cesar Millan teaches people how to interact with them. Sea World teaches us...how to make whales beg for food and do parlor tricks?
As an adult, feel badly for the young woman. As a person, feel like this is preventable in the future by not lighting the hoops on fire and wondering why Shamu wants human pool toys afterwards.
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For the twelve remaining Winter Olympic fans, something to ponder:
In 2006, the Olympics were in Turin, making tape delay a necessity. In 2010, they are in Vancouver, yet still tape-delayed...but only IN THE TIME ZONE THEY ARE OCCURRING IN. Some numbnuts in Podunk, VA gets the events live at 3pm local, yet they're not shown when they occur in the area they occur in. So, to the question:
Does anyone care?
Probably not, as ratings are off and people are dying at the Games. Ugh. Can we get to spring training yet?
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Tiger Woods put his midlife crisis on display with a press conference...er, live video of him reading a statement. Woods' mother was present, but his wife was not.
Thoughts on this event range from indifference to mild humor. The humor? The Golf Writer's Association of America voted to decline its three invitations to the event, citing that there was no need to send qualified golf writers to an event where no questions would be taken.
First, did you know there was a Golf Writer's Association of America? Are they union? Do they have a Collective Bargaining Agreement, or are they a trade organization? Who organized the 'vote'? We have, as a society, now reached critical mass on the First Amendment being used as a bludgening tool.
Many journalists are angry with Tiger for not taking questions, be it from them or one of their colleagues, and cite that as the reason for their 'protest'. For the first time, a blogger will come out in defense of Tiger since he started playing Hide the Cannoli with local Hooters wait staff...
The only person that Woods has to answer to is his wife, and he doesn't even have to answer to her if he's not interested in staying married. This guy, and this guy alone, created the need for the swollen press corp following golf. All of those protesting d-bags should be tithing 10% of their checks to the Tiger Woods Foundation, not trying to take potshots from their ever-dwindling newsrooms. He broke no law, yet you bloodsucking morons are hanging outside of a preschool to take pictures of his toddlers? Who owes whom?
In short, Tiger will come back, win a buttload of tournaments, get endorsements from the hypocrites who dropped him and the others who didn't, make his fellow golfers very rich and very resentful, and then do what all other golfers do...play until they are 83 years old or so.
Yes, I earlier lumped the golf press in with the tabloids. Yes, it is deserved. The behavior involved in chasing around a guy with enough of his own doing on his plate is bad enough, but to criticize how he voluntarily addresses those paycheck leeches is just outrageous. Be thankful he said anything at all...and have no fear, you'll get to take your shots at him when he plays his next tournament. Losers.
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The Old Spice commercials are still going, long after the Super Bowl ended. "The tickets are now diamonds! I'm on a horse..." True words of wisdom.
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LPBA champ Kelly Kulick made history last month, by entering the men's Tournament of Champions and walking with the winner's check of $40 grand and a two-year exemption on the Tour.
Kulick was granted entry by winning the LPBA Championship earlier in the season...oh, sorry. I should stop now and explain that this is about bowling. K. Sorry about that...
The winner of the LPBA tourney had the option of entering the men's field, and Kulick maximized her opportunity, blowing Chris Barnes back into the lounge with a 265-195 thumping. Losing at bowling by 70 is bad. Losing to a girl...no different. Barnes has nothing to be embarrassed about...other than losing by 70. Kulick averaged 226 over the 60-game tournament, sharing similar conditions and the same lanes as the men she left eating mozzarella sticks at the snack bar. On equal footing, she owned her fellow keglers.
Bowling alley terminology is fun, isn't it? Congrats to Kelly Kulick. We all look forward to...not hearing about your sport again for some time to come in the mainstream media. We will have to hear about Michelle Wie again a few hundred times, though...Ugh.
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More to come in the next day or two...have slacked off in my two-or-three a week plan, but will redouble efforts here. Mazel Tov!
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