Ray Rice Hysteria

Wow! What a week for Ray Rice and the NFL. Even though the” incident” occurred months ago. It wasn’t until the video was released (a video is worth 1000 words) that the eruption began. Many are outraged and couldn’t care less about Ray Rice, the person. This doesn’t mean that they don’t want his blood. I’m not condoning domestic violence. However, does it take a video to facilitate a reaction? Where have all these concerned humans been when they first learned about the incident? It seems to me that because Ray Rice is a celebrity, who earns millions of dollars, playing an aggressive sport that perhaps many get on this social media bandwagon of phony outrage. Of course, national media delights in having this type of so called news. They can get anyone to give one opinion and then find another person with an opposing opinion. More entertainment, not serious news reporting.

One university professor Mark Edmundson believes that he has a solution regarding the personality orientation of athletes with their aggression and destructiveness tendencies. The professor believes that the great classics (Greek) should be taught, especially to athletes. The thesis is that the body and mind are related. The professor goes on to talk about Homer and the Greek word Thumos. According to Homer and the professor, Homer has glorified Achilles. Homer talks about Achilles’ thumos the word that’s associated with his bravery, courage and the urge for glory. In fact, Achilles was brutal and has a necrophilia personality orientation that was illustrated when he killed Hector in the battle regarding Helen of Troy. Hector told Achilles that the victor should honor the dead, with a proper burial. Essentially, Achilles disregarded that idea as his values were very different. In essence, Homer glorified Achilles (disgraced the dead Hector) behavior.

On the other hand, Plato in the Republic counters, Homer and suggests that we should not be afraid of fear. Also, knowledge and reason should rule the drive for glory or destructive necrophilia behavior. And the professor believes that Homer and Plato should be taught to today’s athletes. In doing so, the individuals learn to control their impulses and domination to rule both on and off the field. Apparently, Aristotle thought that sports is an opportunity to rid the self of our dangerous emotions by venting them in a game such as sports. Could that be a solution for combating Isis?

I don’t think it would hurt to teach our athletes about Plato and Homer. However, I don’t think the public or the NFL, for that matter would punish Ray Rice by having him read the Greek classics.

Edmundson’s article was found in the New York Times, August 17, 2014.

Yoenis Cespedes

Are the Oakland Athletics dead? Leading up to the All-Star game played in Minnesota, they were leading their division and had the best record in all of baseball. Shortly after that game, and at the start of the second half of the season, they made this blockbuster of a trade. They traded Yoenis Cespedes and a minor league player to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Jon Lester, an outfielder Johnny Gomes. The hype at the time suggested that that blockbuster trade would just about guarantee the A’s winning the World Series.

Jon Lester was an outstanding pitcher for the Red Sox and won numerous times in post division as well as in the World Series. He was their ace and would be the Oakland A’s ace as well. Unfortunately, Lester was to become a free agent at the end of the year and intended to re-sign with the Red Sox. This meant that the A’s would have him for the remaining 2014 season, which would be approximately 2 months.

Supposedly, Cespedas would become a free agent at the end of the 2015 season at which time the A’s likely would not have signed him as a story goes. However, Cespedes was a home run champ at the All-Star game for two consecutive seasons. Not only that, he provided many big-time game-winning hits and made the spectacular throws from the outfield, which eliminated runners attempting to achieve an additional base. The fans loved him. When asked the question about his ability to hit, he said “I see the ball, I hit the ball.”

More importantly, Cespedes was the glue that provided team cohesiveness for the A’s. They loved him and he loved them as well. The team was unified and he made players better around him. While with the team, the A’s were fun-loving, relaxed and enjoyed playing. And a number of other players like Norris, Doolittle, Moss and Donaldson made their very first All-Star game. And then there was the trade.

Since the blockbuster trade, the Oakland A’s have been a very different team. The A’s have lost their cohesiveness (their tough glue that held them together). The players are discouraged, have become less confident, and are more anxious (pressing), which has affected their play. Their ability to hit and drive in runs have been pathetic (One can argue that with Cespedes missing, the players got worse). Their pitching is still good, but now the starting pitcher can’t afford to make any errors (like giving up too many runs) since they are not likely to win the game at the end. This means that their won and loss record is nowhere near what it was before the trade. They no longer have the best record in baseball; are no longer on top in their division; and they look like they are not even going to make the playoffs. Further, Cespedes has a batting average (.297), since the trade, which is now higher than any of his former A’s teammates.

Billy Beane you blew it.