The Patriots

So, today is Super Bowl Sunday.  For the past three weeks, we have heard about “Deflategate.”  Lots of people have weighed in with their opinions on the events of the AFC Championship Game.  The biggest issue that I have with the discussion is how it magnifies our country’s relative morality.

The arguments that have been made are related to thing like:

1. They didn’t know there was such a rule.
2. Are you saying no other team in the league used under deflated footballs at all this season?
3. The only reason why people are upset is that they got caught.
4. Once the footballs were inflated to regulation PSI, the Patriots played better.  Imagine what the score would have been if they had used regulation footballs the entire game.
5. They might have broken this rule, but so many other teams use drugs.  So many other players beat their wives.  This is a non-issue really.
6. If you aren’t cheating, you’re not trying.

These arguments are extremely immature – I feel like I’m listening to a bunch of 7-year-olds talking about their neighborhood flag-football game.  These are adult professional football players.  They knew what they were doing – they may not have known the regulation PSI, but even I as one of the world least knowledgeable about the game knows there are rules about every aspect of the game.

Why have we not heard anybody say, “We’re sorry we played dishonestly.”  “We will work on our teams checks-and-balances and make sure this sort of oversight doesn’t happen again.”  “We’ll take a long hard look at our motivations.”

When our morality is based on the actions of people around us, we will always be able to find people who are worse than us.  And perhaps our own immorality will justify somebody else’s bad behavior somewhere else.  It is a downward spiral if we don’t acknowledge our faults and try to be better.

I think it’s sad that this isn’t just an issue with football.  It is an issue our whole nation deals with.  Politics.  Business.  Marriage.  Personal morality.  It seems that being immoral might just be what it means to be a Patriot – are we going to change that?

Inching toward Netflix

Well, Blockbuster and I are no longer getting along.

The first irritation was more my fault and so I was a little more accepting - I let a gift card sit too long and they decided to wipe it clean. It's their policy - a well stated policy - but a policy that states that money is more important than the client relationship and trust. I through away my membership card on that one - so I'm already pretty much done. I figured that this was a personal decision - it was mostly my fault and so no sense to blog it....

However, this week, I was receiving 60 to 100 spams a minute for several hours from an email address that I only ever gave to Blockbuster. (Sometimes it's nice to have your own email server.) I know that Blockbuster is struggling to stay alive, but to sell email addresses is a very poor business decision.

I'm really liking the Netflix/XBox partnership that has begun this month. The only struggle is value - obviously we don't rent that many movies....

I miss being trusted

I used to use cash at the gas station. It doesn't make sense to me that I can't use cash because "some other guy" likes to drive off without paying.

I have used the same gas station for almost a year now because it was the only gas station that would still trust me enough to take cash - but they no longer trust me either. I was a faithful customer. Every Monday after school. But to them, I am no exception. Apparently I was baiting the system so that one day when my tank was EXTREMELY empty, I would just fill it and run.

They think that if I pay first, it is no different than if I pay after. But, if they are not going to trust me with their fuel, why should I trust them with my change? Oh, that's right - I am the villanous customer and they are the upstanding corporate American representatives.

Perhaps I should commit a crime. It seems as though the American Courtroom is the only place where I am innocent until proven guilty. It would be nice to feel trusted once more.