The game over the weekend when the bugs attacked the Yankees was awesome
Also, not that I want you all to think I am a sports fanatic...it was great to see the New England Patriots beat the Cleveland Browns football team....
Next Topic..
NY Times Story: No Spitting On the Road to the Olympic Glory
You can follow the link for the whole story but to summarize, I guess spitting is a fairly common thing in China and many officials there are trying to put an end to public spitting so as not to look uncivilized to the many foreign visitors they expect being the hosts to the 2008 Summer Olympics.
from the article...
" ..some Communist Party officials have publicly fretted that Beijing may not measure up. One delegate at the country’s annual political meetings in March recommended heavy fines and a public education campaign to curb spitting, cutting ahead in line, smoking and foul language."
“Public awareness of manners needs to be improved,” said Wang Tao, the soft-spoken, exceedingly polite civil servant who has become a local celebrity for his efforts to curb public spitting.
"Beijing had already announced that people caught spitting in public before the Olympics could face fines up to 50 yuan, or about $6.50, hardly small change in China. Mr. Wang, the anti-spitting activist, said the Olympic spirit inspired him to begin his campaign. “I felt I must do something to contribute,” he said."
No more article excerpts...
I like the initiative, public spitting is a filthy habit. But I believe Baseball is part of the Summer Olympics....Every time I watch a baseball game I see many of the players spitting regularly all over the place. It seems every time they come in close on a player in the batters box or on base, he spits something or scratches his balls..
BBCnews ring
What's up with that?
What will the Chinese do about it?
I have to tell you $6.50 may be a lot in China but the Red Sox signed rookie pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to a contract for over $50 Million Dollars, he could spit every day all day for a long long time before it really started to cause him any problems.
It is a disgusting habit, I don't enjoy watching these guys spit and wonder why baseball hasn't tried to set a better example to others, especially young kids who look up to players as role models.
And what about the ball scratching?...Will the Chinese take that issue on as well?
Which one bothers you more public spitting or ball scratching??
5 comments:
Scratching - no big deal. The less attention paid the better, I think.
The spitting, now - that one puzzles me. Is it "excess" saliva? Dip, or a tobacco plug a la baseball? I remember going through a Phase in school where spitting was all the rage, at least with guys. But spitting for no particular reason makes no sense to me and yes, it does register on the Disgust-O-Meter.
Perhaps spitting is just a BAD habit like thumb sucking or nose picking. I have to believe stupidity is s factor in the tobacco wad but I am puzzled by the scratching because with all the money they get paid they could afford to see a doctor about jock-itch.
Hmmm... Can't say I ever thought about it. I guess if I had to decide, though, I would say I have a bigger problem with the spitting than the scratching, but not by much. But since most people who watch baseball are of the male persuasion, and since men are generally not offended by such behavior, I don't think it will be changing anytime soon.
Avery, In Boston, 77 percent of women describe themselves as Red Sox fans. Nationally about 43%; however, sports teams are particularly interested in women fans because they SHOP. I'll bet that might have some influence on spitting and scratching.
Hey Tom... Coming across your post this morning is quite a coincidence. Watching Saturday's game I finally had to leave because I couldn't take the spitting close ups any longer. So last night I decided to keep track of the spitting close ups. I counted 126. Imagine how many I missed. It's disgusting and they really should do something about it - although it doesn't seem to annoy my husband, just me.
Post a Comment