Instant replay, please!

It is the hand that is talked about world-wide; it is the hand that receives the most coverage since Diego Maradona’s infamous “hand of god.” Yes, Thierry Henry’s handball that directly put France into the World Cup tournament in South Africa is what I want to talk about today, and I have only one take on this topic: introduce instant replay to soccer, and any other sport where a poor judgment call can be so costly.

For those of you who do not follow soccer/football, here’s what happened: in a winner-take-all match between the Republic of Ireland and France, where the winner is qualified to be one of the 32 teams to compete for the World Cup, and the loser is sent home, French star Thierry Henry went off-side and used his hand to move the ball to his right feet, allowing him to pass the ball to teammate William Gallas, who scored the winning goal in extra time. The result? France is going to the World Cup; Ireland is going home.

Back to the issue of instant replay. The “strongest” opposing takes against instant replay fall into one of two sorry categories: one, it will slow the flow of the game down; two, it is against the tradition/culture of the game. Both arguments cannot be more unacceptable, and here's why:

Soccer/Football is already a "slow" sport to begin with, in the sense that it contains a lot of plotting and build-up before the rare goals. In moments where a major dispute occurs, pausing the game for two minutes to make the right call is not any more "wasteful" than watching a player act as if he was shot by bullets, rolling all over the pitch until the referee pulls out a yellow card against another player whose leg did not even touch that rolling player. Is soccer/football fans can bear watching that nonsense happening frequently on the pitch, then waiting two minutes for the referees to make the right call certainly would not be unbearable.

As for the "traditions" of the game. Traditionally, surgeons don't use any anti-septic to clean their surgical instruments, and there were no anesthetics to put one out, does that mean that such old practice should remain in the medical field? Even bringing the talk back to the soccer/football pitch, they did not have the sleek shoes, the aero-dynamic shirts back in the day, so why are companies spending big bucks trying to develop gear that would improve performance by a fraction of a percent?

Fact is, the technology is here, and it can make the game's results that much more convincing. If FIFA truly cares about the development of this "world's sport," it should introduce instant replay before the World Cup. Allow each time to have a maximum number of challenges similar to tennis and American football, but the right call needs to be made, no matter what the sport is, and that's the bottom line.

The Andre Agassi Saga

There may not be a lot of tennis fans out there, but as a long-time tennis fan (and a little bit of a player myself), the recent revelations that retired tennis star Andre Agassi were still big to me.

For those of you who have not followed tennis/sports news, the former tennis great revealed in a book that he had always hated tennis, and was only forced to play by a verbally demanding (or abusive) father. Agassi also told the world that the very famous hair that he had in his early days turned out to be fake. But the most shocking revelation he gave was that he had used crystal meth during his playing time, and lied to the ATP (the professional organization for men’s tennis) about a failed drug test…

Andre Agassi had always been a tennis player that I liked. When he first came out and was rocking that crazy mane, and when he was playing in torn-up jeans, I marveled at his rebellious image (I was young then too). When he showed up, for the first time, at Wimbledon in his all-white tennis attire, I was rooting for him. Later on in his career, he became a standard for determination on the court. Though he was never my favourite tennis player, he was always a player that I liked, and I liked him a lot.

Did these revelations change the way I look at Agassi? Not a whole lot. I have long come to the realization that we really do not know these people – athletes, movie stars, public figures… many of them have a dark side to them, and though I do not condone that dark side, it is no different than a friend who is struggling with substance abuse issues, or a person I work with who is fighting a losing battle against some personal demons. Yes, Agassi is an athlete, and a very famous one at that. He has, like it or not, become a role model for many. If you have been reading from me long enough, you would know that I have always given praise to individuals, but I have long stopped worshipping them or expecting them to be, holistically, a role model (many of them still have attributes we can learn from and model from).

This, however, does not mean Agassi is spared from my criticism. The drug use, the lies he told the ATP aside, I do question his motives behind this. Many have argued that he is not doing this for the money (he was paid five million dollars up front to write this book) but is instead using this in as an emotional therapy to his past demons. While I do not deny the therapeutic side to his actions, I would also question why these revelations were not given without a return, or why they were not revealed while he was still on tour, but instead came after he had retired, and after he has been fading from the limelight. So these revelations are helping himself emotionally… but while he’s at it, he may as well get paid really, really well to do that.

Just another star that has fallen. If anyone is still idol-worshipping after one of these celebrities, you are naïve behind belief…

The following report was produced by CNN. And though the video appears to be distorted somewhat, the pictures seen still speak a million words:

CNN: Living in a Cage in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, a place where its GDP ranks twenty-eighth in the world, where its federal reserve ranks seventh in the world (in terms of amount; had this been measured in terms of per capita wealth, I have a feeling that it would be even higher), also has a Gini Coefficient that ranks FIRST in the world (for those of you who don’t know, the Gini Coefficient measures the discrepancy between the rich and the poor). In a place where the rich gets a lot richer, and the poor gets a lot poorer, the government is doing next to nothing in helping them. On the contrary, the government’s policies are slanted towards the rich and the big corporations (sounds familiar, right, British Columbians?).

If this report was seen in another democratic society, can you imagine the backlash the government will receive? Can you imagine the shame that the government will be put into? And, as a result of the public humiliation the government suffers, it will most likely be doing something immediately to address the problem; otherwise, that government will be going down in flames in the next election. However, because Hong Kong is not a democratic region, with a crippled, non-elected government, government officials do not seem to have the need to address these problems. If you re-watch the clip again and see the way the government responses to CNN’s questions about the “cage houses,” how can you not be angry or even infuriated?

Some pro-government personnel would blast the critics, saying that we are complaining and criticizing all day just to disturb the society’s harmony, and to negatively affect the rule of the government. Only people who support a dictatorship mandate would say such words. The truth is: the culprit in destroying the society’s harmony is the government, who allows the discrepancy between the rich and the poor to go completely out-of-hand with no policies to help those who cannot help themselves. The truth is: the one responsible for crippling the effectiveness of the government is the government itself, who uses policy makers and officials who have no regard to the poor and the needy.

Hong Kong, a place I used to call my home. How did we EVER get to this stage?

Say No to Foie Gras

Today, I came across a blog entry that was absolutely disturbing. It is about a gourmet meal called the foie gras (the literal translation for this dish is “fatty liver”) – basically, this dish involves the cooking of the liver of geese (or ducks).

While the thought of eating an animal’s internal organs in itself may be unpleasant enough to deter you from even considering this dish, there is a lot more to it. While I am no nutrition expert, my biology training tells me that this dish is probably very high in its cholesterol content and thus is not healthy. The liver, the largest filtration organ of an organism, filters all the “junk” we consume, including poisons. Why one would enjoy eating animal livers is beyond me.

But the main reason why this article is written is not because foie gras is an unhealthy meal; it is because the production of this dish involves some very inhumane and gruesome methods, and to me, it was just sickening. I have captured a few images below. A word of warning: these pictures are not suitable for the viewing of everybody – you have been fore-warned.

In order to prepare a dish of foie gras, geese/ducks must be induced into a physiologically sick condition called fatty liver. This is achieved through a process of force-feeding, and assisted by a complete restriction of movement that would allow the animal to use up some of the foods’ energies.

Birds are confined to cages that are just slightly wider than their bodies. The birds cannot spread their wings, and cannot even turn around.
As frequently as three times a day, workers use force to insert a long metal tube (up to 30cm in length) into the bird’s mouth. And food is squeezed into the bird’s stomach. Birds can be injured or even killed during the force-feeding.
The amount of food forced into these animals’ stomach is so substantial that the food may overflow backwards out of the mouth (some articles call that vomiting, but I do not think birds have a vomit reflex) and may suffocate the birds.
If the force feeding is successful, the birds’ livers are progressively enlarged. When the birds are finally slaughtered, their livers can be more than 10x the size of a normal bird.
And all this for a delicacy that people pay a lot of money to eat. I am sorry, but even if it is the best-tasting food in the world, count me out as a person who would want to eat it.
For more information, Wikipedia has a couple of entries that are very good starting reference:
Foie Gras
Foie Gras Controversy

Reconcile in Love

October 10, 2009 will be marked as a day that I’ll remember for a long, long time. And I have to thank a lovely couple, who stepped forward to share with us a story of reconciliation.

As a person of faith, and a follower of Jesus Christ, I was taught, like many other Christians, that God’s love brings about forgiveness, that it brings about healing, and that it brings about reconciliation. We listen to those who have taught us, and believe in what we are taught. In many ways, we even experience these lessons in our lives, to a certain extent: over the years, we have learned to lay down some grudges we’ve held against others. Over the years, we have learned to forget some of the sorrows we have experienced, and replaced them with the current joy. Over the years, as we grow, we have learned to understand that some of the rifts left behind are really not that important anymore. All in all, we understand the lessons, and believe in these lessons.

But you have taken these lessons to a whole new level when you took courage to stand in front of so many people, and share with them, in tears, the most concealed wounds that you have suffered. What we witnessed was your forgiveness to those who have hurt you; what we heard was an unconditional plea to reconcile and an open expression of unconditional love in spite of all old wounds and sorrows. Watching you two, I know that God’s love, through you, are shining a lot brighter than what I have ever been taught.

When I saw the hugs you have given out, I know they were not hugs that came from a moment’s of emotions – they were hugs that signalled the true beginning of reconciliation. Like what was said in your slide show, the road is still difficult, but I trust wholeheartedly that you can make it through.

Thank you, for the loveliest testimony of love. I know there is not a whole lot that I can do, but please believe: from this day on, every step that you two take, will come with our blessings, and will come with our prayers.

To a perfect couple, all the best to you!

Listening to your sharing, I cannot but remember this song, “in the seas of life, time flies right by; but through the changes, I have learned to feel the warmth of this family…” It’d be my prayer that your family will be blessed with love and warmth, for now, and for all the future days ahead.