Friday 8 April 2011

The Blame Game

It seems every where you look today in the US there is division. The Republicans and Democrats can't agree on a budget for the country and so are pushing the country to an enforced shutdown. The NBA league could shut down for next season because the players union can't find an agreement with the franchise owners regarding profitability of teams (or lack thereof) and players wages. Likewise a similar shutdown could happen in the NFL.

What the hell is going on? No one seems to know how to talk anymore. They can't even agree about what they are disagreeing about.

I am not going to feel sorry about the Lebron James or Kobe Bryant type players if the NBA was to shut down next season but is anyone thinking about the young college kids who have worked so hard over the past couple of years to get a shot at the NBA or NFL? How are those kids going to cope if they make themselves available for the draft, find themselves picked and then not play for a year, sitting in the sidelines while waiting for a new crop of young players to come in the following season. That second crop of kids will probably have a better chance of establishing themselves that year because they will have been playing in competitive action for a year, instead of pumping weights in the gym. The answer for some of the players is not to declare themselves for the draft and stay on in college for a year longer. For the senior players though this is their make or break time they don't have the option of leaving it for another year. Some of the younger players don't want to miss out either. This might be their only shot, a bad injury in college next year may mean they get overlooked next year, or a bad run by their college team could affect their chances of being forgotten.

As serious a situation this might be for the lesser players in the sport or for those sportsmen trying to establish themselves, it is just sport. The Government and the Republicans should know better. A shutdown of the government because both sides can't reach agreement on the US budget will mean 800,000 people won't be able to go to work, or get paid, until an agreement is reached. That will be a lot of families struggling to pay mortgages or put food on the table. Now how does that help a country that is supposed to be on its knees?

And why was that law ever agreed in the first place? And why would any opposition want to hold a government to ransom in this way? Is no one thinking of the children that might affected here?

Talk, listen, talk again, compromise, its easy, or maybe not.

2 comments:

Sausage said...

If the gov. shuts down and the employees of said gov. won't get paid what will the military do over in the middle east? take a time out?
strange days we do live in my brother, strange days indeed.
Rally round the family......
cheers, Sausage.

Someone Said said...

This country is off the rails. Millionaires and billionaires do not know how to share, and often are at odds with each other about how to play the game they rigged in their favor.

Meanwhile, the 98% of us are left having to do all the hard work.