Business Articles Team-Blog.BrandHandBag.biz

The amount of wasteful spending in this country, to say the least, is completely outrageous. The money being allotted for frivolous spending throughout the government of the United States of America is completely out of control. All the bills that are sighted in this report are from the fiscal year of 2009.

$14.6 million for brown snake tree control. Over the last ten years, Representatives Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representative Madeline Bordallo (D-Guam) have brought home $14.6 mllion in earmarks for brown snake tree control. In Fiscal Year 2009, they received $1.2 million alone. Are brown snakes such a problem that they are worth $14.6 million? $1.2 million is a great example of wasteful government spending, let alone $14.6 over ten years!

The next Bill that smells like bacon, is one that House Appropriator Carolyn Kilpatrick ( D-Mich ), requested $50,000 for. This money is being used for tree replacement in River Rouge, MI. According to a census completed in 2000, this town had a population of less then 10,000 people. Could this money not have had a better use? How many trees do you get for $50,000? Does a town of less then 10,000 people really need this many trees. Why not start a community outreach program to keep kids off the streets and off of drugs. Education, in my opinion, is more important then a few thousand trees.

Military spending receives a large amount of attention. Usually, the attention is on spending for the Iraq war. This story is not about war spending but about spending on an access road. Representative Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) joined Senators Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) in requesting $30 million. The $30 million will be spent on Phase Five of an access road at Pohakuloa Training Area. Phases One through Four have already cost $74.4 million. Now that is wasteful government spending.

Another earmark for overspending was allotted once again for none other then Military Construction. This was requested by then- Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Representative Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). $9,000,000 for a dining facility/ community center at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station. Thats an enormous amount of money for a gathering place. A better appropriation for these funds would be better used on veterans who have fought in wars both past and present. They have served this country and are owed any financial or medical problems they may encounter; such as clothing, medical bills, shelter, and rehabilitation if so needed. It is heartbreaking to see the amount of war veterans that are homeless on the streets and are unable to get jobs. Yet the government wants to build an oversized dining room? Why? Useless spending once again if you ask me.

And last but not least, lets end this with an extremely wasteful way to spend money. We can thank the Department of Agriculture and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee member Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). He requested $1,791,000 for Swine Odor and Manure Management Research in Ames IA. The so called purpose of this bill is to generate and integrate knowledge for evaluation and development of new management practices that minimize nutrient excretion, malodorous emissions, and the release of pathogens into the environment as well as have a positive impact on animal health.

Swine are not the only things that give off stinky manure. Just go into the bathroom after Larry the Cable Guy. Yet, we do not study ways to make human feces smell better. It does not make much since to study why swine manure has an odor. It is not a new problem. Is this really the most important problem and the best use for $1,791,000.

For several years, Department of Defense has worked on a new jet plane. The Joint Strike Fighter would provide America a more advanced piece of military machinery. There is no surprise in this plane. Keeping Americans safe requires that we develop the newest weapons. What is surprising is the jet’s engines. A successful engine has been developed. Congress decided that the engine would be cheaper is there was competition. $465 million was allocated to develop a second engine. Not because the first one did not work, just to make competition. Some would call this wasteful government spending.

A total of 100 Senators and 435 Representatives have refused to be associated with this bill by remaining anonymous. Hint, hint, anyone? If the officials we have elected are hiding their voices and not wanting to be tagged with this, then why has the millions of dollars even been allotted for these mind blowing bills? $465 million for competition level engines? I urge you to pick up the phone, call your local Representative, and let them know how utterly disgusted you are with the way taxpayer’s dollars are being spent.

The landscape of American sports is one which is in a near-constant state of flux. Sports which ruled the roost a hundred years ago have largely fallen out of favor and other sports have taken their place. It doesn’t take an entire century for this to happen of course; even in the space of a few years, the tastes of sports fans can make dramatic shifts. There are many reasons why sports wax and wane in popularity; a charismatic star, a memorable event or just plain luck.

If you think about the sports that were most popular in the early 1900s you would see that baseball, boxing and horseracing were the three most popular in the country. Today, baseball is still popular but doesn’t have the status it once did. It has been overshadowed by other games, games that have a faster pace and translate more excitably into television viewing.

Boxing comes and goes, but has been on the wane in recent years. The 60’s and 70’s saw resurgence in the popularity of the sport which continued into the 80’s, spurred by stars including Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard. The sport is now struggling with an image problem and a rapidly shrinking reach to television audiences, leading it to slip out of the top tier of American sports.

Horseracing has become a minor sport with a small niche audience. The only times the sport gets much attention anymore is during the Triple Crown – and once these events are over, most people quickly forget about horseracing until the next year.

Other sports that have fallen off the cliff include tennis, golf and hockey. Hockey had a great expansion led in part by Wayne Gretzky. However, the sport now reaches a very regional grouping of fans. There are diehard fans in pockets of the country close to established franchise, but the sport is not popular throughout the country as a whole. Tennis fails to reach today’s youth whatsoever, and the only time golf captures the focus of the public is when Tiger Woods is playing at his best.

A single star player or one famous event can lead to popularity or obscurity for a sport. Mixed martial arts (MMA) is the latest sport to come to the attention of the public, with a particularly large following among younger people.

MMA was thought of as too violent and too crazy. But when the UFC hosted their reality show two fighters in the finale put on an amazing fight. They displayed unheard levels of heart and grit. The fight propelled the sport into the mainstream all by itself. All it takes for a sport is a few minutes like this, one player, one event, which can completely change its place in society.

So how will the world of American sports change over the next few years, the next few decades and even the next century? It’s impossible to predict. While today’s powerhouses like the NFL seem unstoppable, it was not but 50 years ago when the NFL didn’t even exist and Major League Baseball was the first, second and third choice for a young child’s favorite sport. Anything can happen in the world of sports and it can happen at any time.

One of the greatest players to ever walk onto the court, “Magic” Johnson was born Earvin Johnson in Lansing, MI in 1959. Born into a large family of a GM worker, a school custodian and nine other children, Johnson discovered basketball early. Johnson has said that he used to walk to the store dribbling with one hand and dribbling with the other as he walked back.

He got his nickname as the star of Everett High School. A local sportswriter, who had watch the amazing 15-year-old play and scoring 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 16 assists, felt no other word would describe Earvin other than “Magic!” After excelling at Everett High School, Magic wanted to stay close to home for college, so Michigan State was the obvious choice. Even as a freshman, he was impressive with numbers like 17 points per game and led his college teammates, The Spartans, to a 25.5 record and The Big Ten Conference title. As a sophomore, Johnson and his teammates won the national title in 1979 and beat out Larry Birds’ Indiana State in what is thought of as one of the most watched NCAA Championship Game-ever.

Deciding to go professional, Johnson decided to declare his eligibility for the draft in 1979, where he was snapped up by the Lakers. Lakers fans were incredibly excited to see one of the nations’ best college players on their team. Larry Byrd ended up winning the NBA Rookie of the year award, the Lakers did capture the NBA championship in Johnson’s first year on the team with a 60-22 record. The next year, Johnson and the Lakers performed even better, with Johnson matching his college records – he was the first rookie to start in an all star game since 1969.

In the 1980 NBA finals, Johnson scored an incredible 42 points, 15 board, 7 assists and three steals against the Philadelphia 76ers. Johnson was the first rookie to win the MVP award in the NBA finals. Magic Johnson is a modest sort, saying only of his achievement: “I just wanted to do whatever the (Lakers) needed to do to win. I was having fun.” Sadly, torn cartilage in his knee would keep him on the sidelines for 45 games in the following season.

Johnson and his team came back in the 1981-82 season, easily winning their division and facing the 76ers once more for the NBA championship-a repeat win and a repeat MVP Award. Maybe due to some of Johnson’s comments after the 1982 season, or maybe it was just time or for whatever reason, Coach Westhead was replaced by Pat Riley-who would become a legend in coaching in his own right. While some fans weren’t happy at this decision or Magic’s comments to the press, Johnson was jeered this season, but still his averages never dipped below 17.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 10.5 assists throughout his career.

In 1984, Johnson signed a $25 million contract with the Lakers. It was a good investment for the team, which captured three of the next four NBA titles. Johnson would also score a stunning 38 points in a game against Houston and an even more incredible 46 in a match-up with Sacramento in the 1986-1987 season. This season also saw Johnson’s career-high scoring average of 23.9 points per game. Johnson would win the NBA’s MVP award this season; an honor he would also receive in 1989 and 1990.

Before the beginning of the 1991-1992 season, Johnson announced that he has been diagnosed with HIV and would retire from the game. He didn’t leave the game without making his exit in style, however – Johnson played in the 1991 All-Star game, winning the MVP award. However, he had found a new focus: outreach and educating the public about HIV/AIDS. Johnson received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award from the NBA for his work in this field. Johnson also played on the US Olympic Basketball team in the 1992 Olympics, wrote a book on safe sex and started up philanthropic foundations. He also was an NBC sports commentator and served as head coach of the Lakers for part of the 1993-1994 season. And all of this was before he returned to the Lakers in 1996 where he played 32 more games before retiring from the game for good – unless he elects to make another comeback.

In his 13 season NBA career, Magic Johnson achieved an astounding 17,707 points ( a 19.5 point per game average), 6,559 rebounds and 10,141 assists. This is in addition to his 1,724 steals (Johnson holds the record for ninth most steals in an NBA career). Johnson was also invited to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time team in 1997 and entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Johnson remains as modest as ever and continues to focus on his philanthropic work, but he is indisputably a living legend in the game of basket ball. As one of his fiercest rivals and greatest admirers, Larry Bird says of Johnson: Magic is head-and-shoulders above everybody else. I’ve never seen anybody as good as him.

Hockey was once one of the four major American sports. The big four were the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. But yet, even as some in those group dominate the others (the NFL dominates all sports in terms of popularity), the NHL has not been able to really keep up with the others.

In fact, hockey is not truly considered to be in that big four grouping any longer. Of course, a more accurate description of the sports climate might show that NASCAR and MMA have joined the NFL, NBA and MLB in that top tier. Hockey however is on the outside looking in, no longer enjoying the popularity it once did.

Why did the NHL suffer this rapid decline? Was it the lockout which caused there to be no 2004-2005 season? The lockout was only a symptom of a deeper problem; sadly, it all has to do with money rather than the merits of hockey as a sport. NHL franchises began finding themselves in a sticky situation; salaries for players continued to climb even as revenues declined for many teams. Other than hugely popular franchises like the Rangers and the Red Wings, teams found themselves simply unable to pay the salaries commanded by many NHL players.

As any fan who lives in a city with a NHL franchise knows, declining ticket sales aren’t the cause of NHL franchises’ slumping revenues; games continue to be well attended and eagerly looked forward to. The reason for the lower revenue has to do with broadcast rights, a significant source of income for the NHL. Hockey is simply less popular as a televised sport than it once was.

The lockout however certainly didn’t help the situation. When hockey returned the next season they made a deal with the network known as OLN – now Versus – to broadcast their weekly national games. However that cable station reaches only a small fraction of the homes that the major networks reach. This means that hockey simply isn’t viewable by a great deal of the population, leaving it in a spot where it can hardly increase its popularity.

There is also the problem that many fans think that hockey is a sport which doesn’t lend itself well to the medium of television. Fans prefer to watch hockey games in person; and NHL games are often sold out. However, hockey fans think that some of the speed and the finesse of the sport are lacking in televised games. Sadly, this has led to hockey being harder and harder to watch at all and there are a lot of people who may never know just what they’re missing.

Therefore the answer to the question is that no, hockey is no longer one of the major sports in this country. It has lost it’s place in that upper echelon, and is struggling for a strategy to get back. It needs to find a way to make its television games more exciting, while also getting those games aired in a spot where more people can view them. Until both of those happen it may be hard for the NHL to regain the spotlight it once had.

Babe Ruth is a player who needs little if any introduction. People the world over know his name and the near-legendary achievements of this man, one of the best known players ever to pick up a bat or glove. You don’t need to have been around when Babe was on the Yankees to be familiar with his name and the House That Ruth Built. Even his superstitions are followed to this day. Ruth once said “Whenever I hit a home run, I always make sure that I touch all four bases”. Larger than life both in terms of his performance on the diamond as well as in his private life, Babe Ruth is still very much a part of the American psyche. There may never be another player like the Great Bambino in any sport.

George Herman Ruth, Jr. was born on February 6 in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland and was the son of Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Senior. Kate had eight children with George Sr. but only two would survive past infancy – a daughter Mamie and The Babe. Babe didn’t have the best of childhood memories, taking care of himself most of the time. At seven, Ruth was sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys-more of a reformatory and orphanage than a school. Without his parents, except some weekends and holidays, Babe was what the Nuns at St. Mary’s called “incorrigible.”

The Babe never like rules, especially regimented rules and was not good at adapting to what was correct-he had his own way, a uniqueness that would follow him to baseball. Perhaps the biggest thing Ruth learned to love at St. Mary’s would be his fondness for children; as an adult, he was charitably involved with them as much as he could be. George Jr. shined with talent at a young age and played numerous positions at St. Mary’s, often, however, he excelled in catching and pitching. When Babe reached nineteen, Jack Dunn, the manager and owner of the then Baltimore Orioles which was a Boston Red Sox minor league team, was awed at Babe’s talent and signed him right away. Once Jack signed him, he was dubbed by his teammates as “Jack’s newest babe.” From then on, he would be forever known as simply “Babe.”

After only five months, Ruth was signed to the Red Sox, where he spent six years playing the outfield and as a catcher. He rapidly gained popularity with fans for his performance on the field as well as his colorful nightlife off the diamond. Ruth played his first of many World Series games in 1916, where he set a record of fourteen innings pitching; a record which remains unbroken to this day. In World Series games alone, he achieved a record of 29 2/3 innings with no score as a pitcher – this record would stand for 43 years. He was traded to the New York Yankees in 1919; it wasn’t until 2004 that the Red Sox won the World Series again, a phenomena which became known as the “Curse of the Bambino”.

In 1920, he began his Major League career with the New York Yankees where Babe and his teammates would win 7 American League Pennants and 4 World Series Titles, a legacy called “The Curse of the Bambino.” Babe hit an amazing 54 home runs in 1920 and was both a fan and player favorite not just for his home run hitting skills, but also for his candor. In 1923, mostly due to the popularity of The Babe, the Yankees opened Yankee Stadium that would eventually be named, The House That Ruth Built-how appropriate that The Babe would hit a home run on opening day, along with yet another World Series Title. Married to Helen Woodford in October of 1914, by 1919, Babe had enough money to buy them a country house and adopt a daughter they named Dorothy. After a separation, but no divorce in 1925, Babe did not remain the good boy when it came to women and continued an affair with model Claire Hodgson. Upon Helen’s death by fire in 1929, Babe married Claire and hit her an out-of-the-park homerun in his first at bat in April of that same year.

Throughout his 22-year career in baseball, Babe will forever be remembered for his 60 home runs in 1927, a record that stood until Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961. Sports fans everywhere argue to this day who actually holds this record since Babe hit his 60 in 154 games and Maris hit his in 162 games. No one, however, can deny The Babe’s impressive .690 lifetime batting percentage-something that may never be seen again. Along with The Babe, sports writers gave him nicknames like The Great Bambino and The Sultan of Swat.

Babe’s famous moment in baseball came in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series where the Yankees played the Chicago Cubs. In the 5th inning, after he already had one home run, Babe came to bat and was at a count of two balls and two strikes. Before the next pitch came his way, Babe pointed to the center of the field bleachers and slammed that puppy right where he pointed and some believe it is the longest home run ever hit out of Wrigley Field.

When Babe did not get his desired Yankee manager position in 1935, he left the Yankees and signed with the Brave’s as not only a player but also their first base coach accepting the promise of their manager position the following year. With his manager outlook grim, Babe hit three home runs in one of his final games against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where only a meager 10,000 fans saw him tip his hat at that last home run-his 714th. Still, with Babe’s 8,399 at-bats, 2,211 RBI’s and a career 2.28 ERA as a lefty pitcher, The Babe remains a true hero in the hearts and fans of baseball everywhere.

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, born March 21st, 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, has risen to become one of soccer’s greatest players. The 5′11″, 177-lb “Ronaldinho” began wowing spectators back in 1999 with his amazing mastery at the forward position. He began his amateur soccer career by following the path of his father Joao. Here he honed his talents by playing beach and indoor (“futbal”) soccer.

Born to Miguelina, and cared for by his sisters and brother after his father’s death when he was only eight, Ronaldinho achieved his first cap with the Brazilian senior team in 1999 with club Gremio under head coach Celso Roth. In 2001, Arsenal FC wanted Ronaldinho but this move would not go through as Ronaldinho was unable to obtain a work permit. Eventually, Ronaldinho would sign a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC where some reported he enjoyed his nightlife more than football. Unhappy in Paris, Ronaldiho finally went back to Barcelona in 2004.

It was at the Copa America in Paraguay where Ronaldinho and teammates Ronald and Rivaldo mesmerized onlookers; and here, he achieved truly huge success by scoring Brazil’s fifth goal in a 7-0 crushing of rival Venezuela. But there was also the “wonder goal” of 2002’s FIFA World Cup in Japan. This was Ronaldinho’s scoring of the game-winning goal via an amazing 30-yard free kick which took England’s goalie David Seaman utterly by surprise. Winning the quarterfinal, his team went on to win the World Cup. Ronaldinho achieved yet more soccer accolades here by being named part of the all-tournament team.

Winning almost every possible award in soccer, Ronaldinho’s prizes include the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005, and the UEFA’s Champion League Award in 2006 in Barcelona-that year scoring seven goals in just twelve matches. In 2008, Sport Illustrated magazine put Ronaldinho in the top fifth wealthiest athletes at $37.5 million that included earnings, bonuses, endorsements, and appearances. Only Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, David Beckham, and Kimi Raikkonen beat him in earnings-quite the achievement for the twenty-eight year old.

During his 200th match in the summer of 2008, Ronaldinho dismayed his fans and spectators of soccer by going down with a right leg injury–an injury that got him sitting the bench for the rest of the season. Then to complicate matters, Ronaldinho and his club got into an argument over his decision to play in the Bejing Olympic games. Nevertheless, Ronaldinho eventually got a deal with the Italian Club AC Milan and went on to play in the Olympics alongside his countrymen.

Manchester City offered Ronaldinho a contract for over $25 million to play for them at a time when he was getting paid $21 million in Barcelona; however, he turned down this offer but instead when with AC Milan on a three-year deal. However, he gave up his #10 because it had been retired for Italian AC Milan player Clarence Seedorf. He replaced it with #80 for the year of his birth. Milan quickly saw the wisdom of their new player selection when Ronaldinho scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Internazionale in September of 2008.

Against Sporting Braga in the November 2008 UEFA Cup, Ronaldinho got Milan inot a 2-2 draw after they had fallen behind 2-0 when he scored a match-winner in the 93rd minute. His brother Roberto has been quite the force as Ronaldinho’s brother Roberto has acted as his brother’s agent and already brought him more endorsements for him that are booked up through 2014. Ronaldinho seems in better spirits these days in Milan, Italy.

Becoming a father in 2005 with the birth of his son Joao, named after his father and mother of Brazilian dancer Janaina Mendes, Ronaldinho’s soccer fate seems to be set in stone-what team he will remain on may be known only to Ronaldinho and Roberto. With fans of soccer everywhere shouting his name and cheering him on, we bet Ronaldinho will be a best bet for any team and some may dream, “what about the US?