With the month of March quickly coming to an end, people across the country are packing away their winter wear and surveying the aisles at malls and department stores in search of the newest spring fashions.
Although I like the warmth of the sunshine and the ability to wear shorts and flip-flops on a regular basis, the weather reports are not what have kept me in the habit of picking up the Kearney Hub on a day-to-day basis and tearing open the front page like a child opening presents at Christmas-time.
What draws my attention and has me teeming with anticipation is the fact that Spring not only means enjoyable weather, it also signifies the fact that golfers around the world are hitting the driving range in preparation for the Masters Tournament that will be held on April 8-11 at Augusta.
The tournament that is not only the Super Bowl of golf, but also one that will mark the return of the sport's favorite and most controversial son, Tiger Woods.
In a press conference held last Tuesday, Woods made it known to the public that he has planned his return to the sport, which is a moment I have been looking forward to since his scandal-ridden leave of absence in mid-January.
"The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta," Woods said during the conference.
His decision will no doubt bring forth many jeers from fans across the world, especially due to the fact that the tournament is one that requires only one thing of it’s participants aside from the ability to swing a club and knock a little ball into a hole…they must have a penis.
The Augusta National is a tournament that is all male, meaning that the Michelle Wie’s of the world will have to once again sit this one out.
There have already been reports of female protesters citing that Woods’ decision to return is one that suggests a continued lack of moral standing, and many have problems forgetting the fact that Woods refused to boycott the Master’s Tournament only a year ago for it’s refusal to allow a woman to play in the tournament, a decision made ironically to keep Woods out of the oft judgmental eyes of the controversy-hungry media.
Although this decision is one that is slowly coming back to haunt him, especially after his exploits in dalliance and infidelity, people need to remember that Woods' mere involvement in the game, let alone his prowess, is a positive mark for the sport that at one time only held color beneath the weight of a bag of clubs on a caddie’s shoulders.
When the tournament kicks off in a few short weeks, there is no doubt in my mind that all eyes will be focused hard on Woods, and although it is near impossible for him to play the course without any jests and jeers, I say that its about time we let Tiger out of his cage, so that he can get back to doing what he does best, which is continually changing the face of golf.
Showing posts with label Final Draft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Final Draft. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Losing sight of our utopian society. Final Draft.
Author and Journalist Hendrik Willem Van Loon once said, “This world needs Utopias as it needs fairy stories. It does not matter so much where we are going, as long as we are making consciously for some definite goal. And a Utopia, however strange or fanciful, is the only possible beacon upon the uncharted seas of the distant future."
Perhaps its time we start thinking in the past.
Not long ago, it seemed as though Kearney was an excellent place to live and raise a family. It was as close to a utopian society as one could get.
For Generation Y, those of us born between 1970 and 2000, Kearney was seen as a place where nothing truly interesting and newsworthy really happened, yet recently, as in the past decade, the town has been akin to troubles you would see in larger metro areas and on giant movie screens.
Serious issues such as the 2001 Anne Sluti abduction, the 2009 murder of Kelcey Fike, the 2009 robbing of Kmart, the recent hostage crisis at Wells Fargo and the newly developing story about the teenager who, with the aid of his friends, allegedly robbed his 77-year-old grandmother of her pain medication have turned this once quiet town into a feeding ground for the morally dejected.
So what ever happened to the good old days?
Ask any Kearneyite and they will surely tell you, Kearney is a wonderful place to live and has a lot to offer. One can acquire virtually anything they need in order to carry on with their days in a short five-minute drive to the supermarket.
There are movie theaters, parks, bars, a public library and a slew of other places one can go for a good time, so why is it that trouble seems to find its way into our lives, and what can we do to keep it out and restore our utopia?
Society cannot be fixed using a computer or a cell phone, and this may come as the ultimate challenge to us, as our culture has come to terms with a lifestyle that goes along with push-button technology so much so that we tend to forget that it takes us, the people, to fix our problems and society.
It’s about time we took a step back and thought about things with a grass roots approach.
Rather than letting our children run amok whilst we whimsically chat with friends online, we should be spending quality time with them and being there to make sure they live a healthy childhood.
If parents spent more time molding their children and encouraging them, rather than letting them play mindless video games for hours so long as they stay quiet, there would likely be a shift in the crime rates for the better, as most of the crimes we see are being perpetrated by people ranging from young adults to those in their late twenties.
Not to say that it’s the video games fault, but more so the lax upbringing that children are receiving these days.
People have become dependant on technology to a point that it has become a necessity rather than a luxury, and that needs to change if we are to usher in a new generation of moral beings to inhabit this town and make it the place it once was when we were young…our own personal Mayberry.
It would be easy to look to the recession as a scapegoat for all the recent headlines that have shocked our town into a state of fear, but the blame could more squarely be placed on our own shoulders, and its about time we do something about it.
Perhaps its time we start thinking in the past.
Not long ago, it seemed as though Kearney was an excellent place to live and raise a family. It was as close to a utopian society as one could get.
For Generation Y, those of us born between 1970 and 2000, Kearney was seen as a place where nothing truly interesting and newsworthy really happened, yet recently, as in the past decade, the town has been akin to troubles you would see in larger metro areas and on giant movie screens.
Serious issues such as the 2001 Anne Sluti abduction, the 2009 murder of Kelcey Fike, the 2009 robbing of Kmart, the recent hostage crisis at Wells Fargo and the newly developing story about the teenager who, with the aid of his friends, allegedly robbed his 77-year-old grandmother of her pain medication have turned this once quiet town into a feeding ground for the morally dejected.
So what ever happened to the good old days?
Ask any Kearneyite and they will surely tell you, Kearney is a wonderful place to live and has a lot to offer. One can acquire virtually anything they need in order to carry on with their days in a short five-minute drive to the supermarket.
There are movie theaters, parks, bars, a public library and a slew of other places one can go for a good time, so why is it that trouble seems to find its way into our lives, and what can we do to keep it out and restore our utopia?
Society cannot be fixed using a computer or a cell phone, and this may come as the ultimate challenge to us, as our culture has come to terms with a lifestyle that goes along with push-button technology so much so that we tend to forget that it takes us, the people, to fix our problems and society.
It’s about time we took a step back and thought about things with a grass roots approach.
Rather than letting our children run amok whilst we whimsically chat with friends online, we should be spending quality time with them and being there to make sure they live a healthy childhood.
If parents spent more time molding their children and encouraging them, rather than letting them play mindless video games for hours so long as they stay quiet, there would likely be a shift in the crime rates for the better, as most of the crimes we see are being perpetrated by people ranging from young adults to those in their late twenties.
Not to say that it’s the video games fault, but more so the lax upbringing that children are receiving these days.
People have become dependant on technology to a point that it has become a necessity rather than a luxury, and that needs to change if we are to usher in a new generation of moral beings to inhabit this town and make it the place it once was when we were young…our own personal Mayberry.
It would be easy to look to the recession as a scapegoat for all the recent headlines that have shocked our town into a state of fear, but the blame could more squarely be placed on our own shoulders, and its about time we do something about it.
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