Asshat of the Week – Early Edition

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I know it’s only Monday, and there’s lots of possible dumbfuckery yet to come , but this Washington Post column by George Will prompts me to present this dubious honor well in advance of the weekend.

Basically, George Will is calling for a ban on Football

Decades ago, this column lightheartedly called football a mistake because it combines two of the worst features of American life — violence, punctuated by committee meetings, which football calls huddles. Now, however, accumulating evidence about new understandings of the human body — the brain, especially, but not exclusively — compel the conclusion that football is a mistake because the body is not built to absorb, and cannot be adequately modified by training or protected by equipment to absorb, the game’s kinetic energies.

After 18 people died playing football in 1905, even President Theodore Roosevelt, who loved war and gore generally, flinched and forced some rules changes. Today, however, the problem is not the rules; it is the fiction that football can be fixed and still resemble the game fans relish.

George Will justifies this position by mentioning the suicides of Junir Seau and Dave Duerson along with the implication that they were the result of brain trauma  that lead to dementia and depression. He further states that today’s athletes are bigger, stronger & faster which will lead to more concussions and that will inevitably lead parents to keeping their kids out of Football and the eventual demise of the sport.

George Will didn’t do any research on this theory.

For starters according to the National Federation of State High Schools over 1.1 million kids played HS football in 2011. And although we don’t have exact numbers – experts for Sports Illustrated estimate another 1.1 million play youth football.

That same SI article discusses Pop Warner leagues, which have over 170,000 players nationwide, and have never had a player fatality in their 67-year history.  And studies show that most youth football programs are relatively safe.  In a recent study, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission examined athletic injuries on a sport-by-sport basis.  It found that organized football 5-to-15 year-olds had 12 % fewer injuries per capita than organized soccer for the same age group.  Football also had 50% fewer injuries than bike riding and 74% fewer than skateboarding.

I played football for 8 years and have coached sons for another 12. In all that time I’ve seen only one serious injury – a broken leg. I’ve never had a teammate or player suffer a neck injury and only a handful where I thought there might be a possible concussion. Maybe you wonder what qualifies me to judge possible concussions? 7 years of coaches clinics and certifications. and who provides the material for these clinics? Well it’s none other the CDC

But George Will didn’t think to do any research before he wrote that Post article or talked to George Stephanopoulos in a “This Week” roundtable discussion.

He just opened his mouth and let uninformed opinions spew out.

And for that George Will is the IBC Asshat of the Week.

 

Asshat of the Week

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Adam Smith is now the former CFO and treasurer of Vante Medical Supplies.

Why? because Adam Smith thought he’d take his personal protest against Chick-Fil-A directly to where it would do the most good…. a restaurant near his home.

Not content with sharing his grievances with some poor girl making minimum wage, this MENSA candidate decides to film his tirade and post it on youtube so all the world wide web would unite in singing his praises.

Obviously Adam Smith thought he was sticking it to the man (no homo) – not that there’s anything wrong with that (Seinfeld) over the opinions of their CEO on same sex marriage

Things didn’t turn out quite the way Adam Smith planned though. He was recognized and his employer contacted. Today Vante Medical Supply released this statemnt:

TUCSON, AZ–(Marketwire – Aug 2, 2012) – The  following is a statement from Vante:

Vante regrets the unfortunate events that  transpired yesterday in Tucson between our former CFO/Treasurer Adam Smith and  an employee at Chick-fil-A. Effective immediately, Mr. Smith is no longer an  employee of our company.

The actions of Mr. Smith do not reflect our  corporate values in any manner. Vante is an equal opportunity company with a  diverse workforce, which holds diverse opinions. We respect the right of  our employees and all Americans to hold and express their personal opinions,  however, we also expect our company officers to behave in a manner commensurate  with their position and in a respectful fashion that conveys these values of  civility with others.

We hope that the general population does not hold  Mr. Smith’s actions against Vante and its employees.

Congratulations Adam Smith – You’re the IBC asshat of the week

Asshat of the Week – Early Edition

759 views

 

 

 

 

I know it’s only Monday, and there’s lots of possible dumbfuckery yet to come , but this Washington Post column by George Will prompts me to present this dubious honor well in advance of the weekend.

Basically, George Will is calling for a ban on Football

Decades ago, this column lightheartedly called football a mistake because it combines two of the worst features of American life — violence, punctuated by committee meetings, which football calls huddles. Now, however, accumulating evidence about new understandings of the human body — the brain, especially, but not exclusively — compel the conclusion that football is a mistake because the body is not built to absorb, and cannot be adequately modified by training or protected by equipment to absorb, the game’s kinetic energies.

After 18 people died playing football in 1905, even President Theodore Roosevelt, who loved war and gore generally, flinched and forced some rules changes. Today, however, the problem is not the rules; it is the fiction that football can be fixed and still resemble the game fans relish.

George Will justifies this position by mentioning the suicides of Junir Seau and Dave Duerson along with the implication that they were the result of brain trauma  that lead to dementia and depression. He further states that today’s athletes are bigger, stronger & faster which will lead to more concussions and that will inevitably lead parents to keeping their kids out of Football and the eventual demise of the sport.

George Will didn’t do any research on this theory.

For starters according to the National Federation of State High Schools over 1.1 million kids played HS football in 2011. And although we don’t have exact numbers – experts for Sports Illustrated estimate another 1.1 million play youth football.

That same SI article discusses Pop Warner leagues, which have over 170,000 players nationwide, and have never had a player fatality in their 67-year history.  And studies show that most youth football programs are relatively safe.  In a recent study, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission examined athletic injuries on a sport-by-sport basis.  It found that organized football 5-to-15 year-olds had 12 % fewer injuries per capita than organized soccer for the same age group.  Football also had 50% fewer injuries than bike riding and 74% fewer than skateboarding.

I played football for 8 years and have coached sons for another 12. In all that time I’ve seen only one serious injury – a broken leg. I’ve never had a teammate or player suffer a neck injury and only a handful where I thought there might be a possible concussion. Maybe you wonder what qualifies me to judge possible concussions? 7 years of coaches clinics and certifications. and who provides the material for these clinics? Well it’s none other the CDC

But George Will didn’t think to do any research before he wrote that Post article or talked to George Stephanopoulos in a “This Week” roundtable discussion.

He just opened his mouth and let uninformed opinions spew out.

And for that George Will is the IBC Asshat of the Week.

 

Asshat of the Week

1,020 views

 

 

 

 

Adam Smith is now the former CFO and treasurer of Vante Medical Supplies.

Why? because Adam Smith thought he’d take his personal protest against Chick-Fil-A directly to where it would do the most good…. a restaurant near his home.

Not content with sharing his grievances with some poor girl making minimum wage, this MENSA candidate decides to film his tirade and post it on youtube so all the world wide web would unite in singing his praises.

Obviously Adam Smith thought he was sticking it to the man (no homo) – not that there’s anything wrong with that (Seinfeld) over the opinions of their CEO on same sex marriage

Things didn’t turn out quite the way Adam Smith planned though. He was recognized and his employer contacted. Today Vante Medical Supply released this statemnt:

TUCSON, AZ–(Marketwire – Aug 2, 2012) – The  following is a statement from Vante:

Vante regrets the unfortunate events that  transpired yesterday in Tucson between our former CFO/Treasurer Adam Smith and  an employee at Chick-fil-A. Effective immediately, Mr. Smith is no longer an  employee of our company.

The actions of Mr. Smith do not reflect our  corporate values in any manner. Vante is an equal opportunity company with a  diverse workforce, which holds diverse opinions. We respect the right of  our employees and all Americans to hold and express their personal opinions,  however, we also expect our company officers to behave in a manner commensurate  with their position and in a respectful fashion that conveys these values of  civility with others.

We hope that the general population does not hold  Mr. Smith’s actions against Vante and its employees.

Congratulations Adam Smith – You’re the IBC asshat of the week

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