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Get Up and Get Moving

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Get Up and Get Moving

According to the experts, it doesn't really matter what you chose to do, just do it. Sitting is killing us.

Get Up and Get Moving

D. S. Mitchell

 

Getting Fatter

We hear it every day, our society is becoming more sedentary and with that comes obesity. Many of us spend hours behind a desk at our jobs.  We drive our cars to the fast food drive thru, then the bank drive thru, and the pharmacy drive thru, we never even have to get out of our cars.  We use our computers to shop, (I love Amazon), without ever leaving the house.  With decreased activity people are increasingly complaining of multiple issues including aches and pains, bad knees, obesity, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

Too Much 

Just like we enjoy eating and drinking too much, we enjoy sitting too much. We are surrounded by cars, snacks, elevators, sugary drinks and fast foods. The problem has become serious enough that the World Health Organization has a new agenda focused on encouraging physical activity. Things are serious when WHO recognizes the problem as a world wide health issue.

Improving Mental Health

A “Black Dog Institute” of Australia study found that 1-2 hours of exercise per week can prevent depression. In addition to improved mental health multiple world-wide studies have shown that vigorous movement can stave off heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, fatigue, diabetes, and even cancer. That should be a hell of a motivator, but sadly it doesn’t seem to be. There could be many reasons for that; but to combat the sitting disease it is necessary to drop all the excuses, find your tennis shoes and go for a walk, sign up for Pickleball at the local park, take a water aerobics class.  This exercise thing can be a fun thing.

Sitting Addiction

Our country, and most of the industrialized economies are suffering from a “sitting addiction” which leads in turn to “sitting disease”.  Physical inactivity is one of  the top 10 causes of disease and disability according to a recent UK government study. That study attributed 1 in 6 deaths to “sitting” which is equal to smoking in that country.

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Tips On Staying Young

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Tips On Staying Young 

Living longer is about moving and socialization.

Tips On Staying Young

By D. S. Mitchell

I was standing in the grocery check out line when I noticed a special edition Prevention magazine titled “99 Ways To Live To 100” on the rack in front of me.  I bought the magazine and when I got home the first article I read was “Active At 80+”

The story featured 4 amazing women from 81-87 years of age. Each of the women offered 3 stay young secrets. I thought they were good enough to share with my friends.

Alice Rocky 81: Stay Fit Activity, Yoga. Her “Stay Young Secrets”:

1.) Spend time with people of various ages. Having a broad social network helps you to feel and act younger, it helps you keep in mind that age is just a number.

2.) Recognize that some aches and pains are normal and natural.  It is your body giving you feedback. Listen to it and change, but don’t stop moving.

3) Exercise your brain. Stay engaged intellectually. Volunteer. Do crossword puzzles.

Ruth Heidrich 82: Stay Fit Activity, Iron Woman. Her “Stay Young Secrets”:

1.) Appreciate what you can do, “whether walking a half mile or doing chair yoga, applaud yourself.”

2.) Go meatless. Ruth states it is the most important health change she has ever made.

3.) Focus on the rewards. Exercise improves sleep, lowers blood pressure, reverses Type 2 diabetes, prevents heart disease and osteoporosis.

Florence Meiler 83: Stay Fit Activity, Track & Field. Her “Stay Young Secrets”:

1.) Discover your “thing.” “It can be yoga, Tai Chi, swimming-the key is finding the activity you like enough to commit to it on a regular basis.”

2.) Team up. “Exercising with friends keeps you on track and motivated. The National Senior Games’ motto is ‘Fitness, Fun and Fellowship.’ That says it all.”

3.) Believe in yourself. “We are all capable of far more than we think we are, instead of saying ‘I can’t’ say ‘I’ll try.’ Those words can make all the difference.

Joan Campbell 87: Stay Fit Activity, Swimming. Her “Stay Young Secrets”:

1.) Always have a goal. “It can be anything that motivates you. Goals give you a push”

2.) Avoid scale creep. “If I feel my pants getting tight, I cut my portions. Fish and veggies are my go to dinner.”

3.) Just say yes. “I see daily exercise as an automatic. That way I don’t question it. If I don’t feel like getting out of bed, I motivate myself by thinking how good I will feel afterward, and that always helps me get moving.”

Wow. Some pretty insightful suggestions. I think the information is as good for a 25-year-old as an 80-year-old.

Pickleball Takeover: One Paddle At A Time

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Pickleball Popularity Surges

Pickleball Takeover: One Paddle At A Time

The game of Pickleball is sweeping the U.S.A. and Canada

D. S. Mitchell

Just A Little Help

It was 2017 when I decided to start the www.calamitypolitics.com website. I asked “Computer Jane,” my techie friend for some help.  Actually, a whole lot of help. She of course was cool, except she refused to give up her “pickleball time.”

Pickleball?

Pickleball? What’s that? I asked. Her response, “it’s sort of like a mix of ping pong, badminton, and tennis; but played different. It’s a whole lot of fun.”

Tell Me More

Pickleball is played on a court 1/4 the size of a tennis court. Like in tennis, players serve, volley and hit ground strokes but pickleballers use a solid surface paddle and a perforated plastic ball. All serves must be underhanded. Games are played to 11 points. To win, however, there must be a two point spread. Points can only been won if you are serving.

Die Hard Fans

This fun, fast paced, low impact and easy to play game has made 5.8 million Americans and Canadians die hard fans. The pandemic did nothing but accelerate the game’s popularity. Jane tells me she thinks the small court  increases socialization and ups the action which she swears helps her stay in shape.

The Funny Name

I looked this up. Co-inventor, Joel Pritchard claims the name came from the term “pickleboat” in collegiate crewing. A “pickleboat” is defined as a boat filled by random rowers that were not selected for competitive races. Fitting since pickleball  is a game combining bits and pieces of other games.

Terminology

Dillball: Incoming ball that has bounced once.

Dink: A soft arching shot hit on a bounce inside the kitchen.

Falafel: A shot hit without any force.

Flapjack: A shot that must bounce before being hit.

Kitchen: The 7 foot no-volley zone near the net.

Pickled: Scoring zero points in a game.

Where To Play?

To find a Pickleball court near you check out Places2play.org.

Sports Quotes Just For Laughs

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Sport Quotes Just For Laughs

Pro athletes have a way of making us laugh. Sport quotes.

Sport Quotes Just For Laughs

D. S. Mitchell

Official Play Day

I am officially declaring, today a play day here at the office. It’s great sometimes, being the boss, even if it’s only me, and Rocky. Rocky, my stalwart partner in crime is a blue and white Budgie. I have been trying to teach him to talk. So far he has mounted a full campaign of resistance. Thinking about political theory, political science, political reality, political bullshit, is about as frustrating as trying to teach my budgie to talk. So I have decided there will be no political discussion, today. There will be no analysis, there will be no relevant comment, other than what a few athletes have had to say over the years about some weird shit. So, here goes. . .

He Said What?

Mike Tyson:  Responding to a question about his retirement plans:  “Fade into Bolivian, I guess.”

Joe Theismann: “The term genius is inapplicable to anyone in this game.  A genius is Norman Einstein.”

Pedro Guerrero:  About his relationship with the press, “Sometimes they write what I say, not what I mean.”

Chuck Nevitt:  On why he appeared nervous:  “My sister is having a baby, and I don’t know if I’m going to be an aunt or an uncle.”

Yogi Berra:  “It gets late early out here.”

George Foreman:  “There’s more to boxing than hitting.  There’s not getting hit, for instance.”

George Roberts:  “I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first.”

Tug McGraw:  “Always root for the winner.  That way you won’t be disappointed.”

Don King:  He (Chavez) speaks English, Spanish, and he’s bilingual.”

Dizzy Dean:  The doctor X-rayed my head and found nothing.

Bill Cowher:  On whether the Steelers bent NFL regulations: “We’re not attempting to circumcise the rules.”

David Thompson: “Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses.”

Dizzy Dean: after a 1-0 game, “The game was closer than the score indicated.”

Michael Jordan: “I never lost a game, I just ran out of time.”

Thanks Rod L. Evans, Ph.D. taken with permission from his book, Tyrannosaurus Lex.

OPINION: What’s In A Name?

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OPINION: What’s In A Name?

OPINION: What’s In A Name

The Brett Favre legacy is not looking good, as he faces scrutiny over welfare fraud

By D. S. Mitchell

Say His Name

What do you think of when you hear the name Brett Favre?  Until a week ago, I never thought of Brett Favre one way or another. I’m more into basketball, myself. I knew he had played in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers, and I’d obviously seen pictures of the old dude, he was a football icon.

The Internet

From the internet I found the following statistics. In the 15 years spanning 1992-2007, Favre was synonymous with the Green Bay Packers and was their most legendary quarterback. During that time, he led the team to two Super Bowls and became the first and only NFL player to win three consecutive AP MVP awards.

  • 3× Associated Press MVP (1995, 1996, and 1997; the last shared with (Barry Sanders)
  • 11× Pro Bowl pick
  • 6× First- or Second-team All Pro choice
  • 1990’s NFL All Decade Team
  • NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
  • Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame (2015)
  • Pro Football Hall of Fame (2016)

Lots of It

I then looked up his financials, on the internet of course. It is estimated from his player contract days with Green Bay alone, Favre earned more than 140 million dollars. This apparently, does not include money from other teams he played for, or endorsements and licensing fees. His net worth today is estimated to be well over 100 million dollars. So why does a guy with buckets of money need to steal from welfare recipients? The answer of course is that he did not ‘need to steal’ money from anybody. But, Mr. Favre with a 100 million dollars in the bank decided it would be okay to steal from starving kids in his home state of Mississippi.

Conclusion

Put away the Brett Favre jerseys and the Green Bay Packer pendants from his glory days and call out Brett Favre for what he is, a cheat, and a liar, and possibly a criminal. Brett Favre used his power and influence to redirect money from Mississippi welfare recipients to the construction of a new volley ball stadium, at his alma mater, Southern Mississippi. Just so you understand this, Brett Favre, millionaire football icon, decided it would be okay for a bunch of impoverished kids in Mississippi to miss a couple meals, so his daughter could play volleyball in a fancy new stadium.

**Mr. Favre states he repaid the 1.1 million he diverted from poor kids. But, he didn’t pay back interest. If the scam had not been uncovered, I’m sure Mr. Favre would have not repaid  a nickel. I think it is time that the U.S. government hold states accountable for delivering welfare money to those most in need, not rich football icons.

Women And Professional Sports

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Women And Professional Sports

OPINION: The Long Game

LPGA

Women And Professional Sports

OPINION: The Long Game

By Trevor K. McNeil and D. S. Mitchell

Professional Women Athletes

The idea of women’s professional sports is not new. For people of my generation and younger, the 1996 founding of the Women’s National Basketball Association was a long time ago. The WNBA is just one of a number of attempts at starting women’s professional sports leagues.

Big Disgrace

The world-wide lack of sustainable women’s pro baseball, hockey and soccer is an on-going and unaccountable disgrace. Particularly considering how well amateur teams have been shown to do, especially in hockey at the Olympics. An injustice underscored when former Canadian Women’s Hockey Team captain Hayley Wickenheiser went to play pro hockey in Finland, where the hockey federation voted unanimously to allow women to play for the existing men’s teams. This of course then raises questions of equal opportunity on an unequal playing field.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

One of the major obstacles to the success of women’s teams are issues around publicity and sponsorship, at least partly based on the idea that there is a lack of interest in women’s athletics. There is without a doubt a shortage of attention given to women’s pro athletes. Star’s attract viewers. The media doesn’t make stars but it draws attention to them. Perhaps a priority should be to demand the media give the gals equal coverage.

A League of Their Own

One of the first professional women’s athletics leagues was the All-American Girl’s Professional Baseball League. Founded in 1943, when a baseball hungry nation cried out for satisfaction during the final years of WWII, the AAGPBL did surprisingly well. There were the usual cries of foul from arch conservatives, particularly at the beginning, but the league ended up lasting for 11 years from 1943 to 1954, drawing in up to 500,000 fans per season during its final years. Even after ‘the boys’ came home from the war.

Do It Yourself

A women’s professional association that not only survived but thrives to this  day is the LPGA. Founded in 1950, it is the oldest continuing American women’s professional sports association. Boasting champions such as Kathy Whitworth. The Texas native who won 88 titles over an over 40 year a career, from 1960 to her retirement in 2005. A tradition carried on by the likes of Lexi Thompson who at the age of 25 has already won 14 American and International golf championships.

In Her Court

Similarly, there have been strong women competitors in tennis for decades. The 1924 Olympics in Paris a prime example. A fact which finally calumniated in the formation of the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973. It gave a visible platform for the likes of  Martina Navratilova to compete on a professional level, destroying all competition put in her way, as well as being one of the first to play mixed-doubles against men. There have been controversies of course. One notable fact is that male winners got more prize money than female winners at the same event. Something that immediately changed once the governing body was challenged.

Going Backwards

In some ways it seems like we are going backwards. The current resistance and outright patronizing attitude shown toward women’s athletics is indicative of a distinctly retrograde attitude. There have always been idiots, just like there have always been politicians and lawyers, yet things seem to be getting worse. The objections, counter-arguments, and crude jokes, about women’s sports now, sadly reminiscent of those at the beginning of the AAGPBL in 1943. I truly hope we are better than this.

Third Wave

There is the erroneous idea that increased attention on women’s athletics and the push for more recognition is the result of feminist activism. While feminist ideals have certainly helped to push the idea along many other factors are at play. For one there is a major social and cultural reticence in terms of women’s sports. In the good old USA, being a Tomboy is okay until you are fourteen, but after that it is a time to drop the games of childhood and get ready to raise the next generation.  There is none of that pressure on the guys. It is okay for men to play for money until they die.  It’s time that the girls should be allowed to play for big money too.

 

Really Dumb Sport Quotes

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Really Dumb Sport Quotes

D. S. Mitchell

“Layed Back Tuesday”

It’s another play-day at Calamity Politics. No surprise, says the reader. I am officially declaring, ‘Layed Back Tuesday’. It’s great sometimes, being the boss, even if it’s only me, and Rocky. Rocky, my stalwart partner in crime is a blue and white Budgie. I have been trying to teach him to say, “Hello, Mama,” but to no avail.  Thinking about political theory, political science, political reality, political bullshit, is about as frustrating as trying to teach the bird to talk. So I have decided there will be no political discussion, today. There will be no analysis, there will be no relevant comment, other than what a few athletes have had to say over the years about some weird shit. So, here goes. . .

Just for laughs.

Mike Tyson:  Responding to a question about his retirement plans:  “Fade into Bolivian, I guess.”

Joe Theismann: “The term genius is inapplicable to anyone in this game.  A genius is Norman Einstein.”

Pedro Guerrero:  About his relationship with the press, “Sometimes they write what I say, not what I mean.”

Chuck Nevitt:  On why he appeared nervous:  “My sister is having a baby, and I don’t know if I’m going to be an aunt or an uncle.”

Yogi Berra:  “It gets late early out here.”

George Foreman:  “There’s more to boxing than hitting.  There’s not getting hit, for instance.”

George Roberts:  “I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first.”

Tug McGraw:  “Always root for the winner.  That way you won’t be disappointed.”

Don King:  He (Chavez) speaks English, Spanish, and he’s bilingual.”

Dizzy Dean:  The doctor X-rayed my head and found nothing.

Bill Cowher:  On whether the Steelers bent NFL regulations: “We’re not attempting to circumcise the rules.”

David Thompson: “Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses.”

Dizzy Dean: after a 1-0 game, “The game was closer than the score indicated.”

Michael Jordan: “I never lost a game, I just ran out of time.”

Thanks again,

Rod L. Evans, Ph.D. taken from his book, Tyrannosaurus Lex.