What I hope to avoid (but probably won't) in 2024

 

Now that we've entered 2024, here are a few of the things I hope to avoid during the next 12 months. I acknowledge the struggle is real.

Anything related to or about Taylor and Travis - I have nothing against either personally and wish them all the best. I imagine they're a warm and engaging couple. I'm just not interested in seeing their photos or videos about them everywhere I turn, or in my news feed daily. So as nice as they might be, I'm happy to leave them behind in 2023.

Celebrity news and opinion - They've been with us forever, and celebrities of all types and stripes receive a disproportionate amount media coverage (see the couple named above), and that's just the way it is in our culture. I saw too much of it in 2023; more than any one reasonable, relatively balanced individual should see. I'm done. I'm trying to avoid all of it in 2024, and so far (yes, it's early), I'm doing fine. Wish me luck, and maybe offer up a prayer, if you're so inclined.

Professional sports - This one won't be as challenging for me as it was in the past. I lost interest in the NBA decades ago (about the time the league gave up any interest in playing defense) and can't recall the last time I watched a full game. 

I stopped watching the NFL back when the league allowed politics to become a part of the game. If I want that, I'll watch the news. Also, the broadcast became too long. I simply don't have the time or interest to commit more than three hours to watching a game. Professional hockey never captured my interest, but I do enjoy watching the college game. If you've never watched one, give it a try. 

I admit to watching a couple of MLB games in 2023, just to see how the pitch clock affected the game. I liked it, but not enough to watch an entire game. I shifted to radio broadcasts and enjoyed those. 

Anything related to The Walt Disney Corporation - The fools running that operation completely turned me off in 2023. It's not just that they produced weak movies, which they did. It was their decision to insert their cultural agenda and politics into everything they do and produce. That's the company's choice, of course. It's also my choice to walk away and spend my dollars elsewhere. That's easy for me to do on this one. 

Netflix and HBO - I've never cared much for the productions Netflix offers and the operation's movie collection doesn't match my tastes. Avoiding Netflix is doable for me. However, my lovely wife frequently watches the streaming service, so I might have to take the hit in order to spend time with her.

As for HBO, well the decision to run commercials during their presentations ended things for me. I understand most streaming services have or soon will be introducing commercials to their basic offerings. There's little I can do about that trend. But I've watched HBO since the early 1980s, and loved its commercial-free model in exchange for my cable (later streaming) subscription. Introducing commercials strikes me as a betrayal, one I can't bring myself to forgive.

Arguing with the misinformed and blindly partisan on social media - What was once an amusing distraction now leaves me annoyed. It seems the number of ignorant, blindly partisan and willfully misinformed grows with each day. The stupid and lazy live among us in great numbers. I once enjoyed toying with them, much as a cat plays with string, but I've lost interest in them. I can use your prayers on this one, too. 

Those are just a few of the things I hope to avoid in this new year. I could probably add many more, but I'm ready to move ahead, eager to meet the challenges of 2024. 

-- Thank you for reading. Your comments and questions are always welcome. Please post them here, or feel free to email me at kbotterman@gmail.com.

The irony (and fun) of Rodgers winning the MVP award

 

I enjoyed a good laugh when I read the other morning Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year.

I have nothing against Rodgers, and considering he posted 37 touchdowns against only one interception last season, he seems to be as worthy of the award as anyone else. In fact, Rodgers received 39 votes for MVP while Tampa Bay's Tom Brady earned 10 votes, according to an ESPN report.

Clearly those who vote on the award believed Rodgers earned it. And the irony of Rodgers winning the award, after all the intense criticism he received in 2021, made me laugh.

Information (I can't call it news) flows so rapidly these days that we hardly have time to fully process yesterday's controversy before the headlines serve up something new to make us fighting mad.

Why, only a few months ago sports writers and commentators were telling us Rodgers was a rotten egg because he ducked the Packers organization during much of the previous off-season. And they told us he was a lying scoundrel that ought to be driven from the league for violating the NFL's Covid-19 guidelines.

More than a few reporters were nearly rabid in their words about Rodgers. One writer suggested his actions put every NFL player at risk of death by C-19.

I don't follow the NFL closely so the intense views puzzled me, and seemed over the top. Rodgers certainly had some reporters, commentators and fans worked up, but most people seemed unmoved, willing to judge him based on his on-field performance rather than what he did off the field.

I think that's how it should be with professional sports, minus some obvious exceptions.

And it appears many others agree. All the fuss about Rodgers that aired in recent months seemed in the end to be more smoke than fire. And that's often how it goes these days.

-- Thanks for reading. Comments and questions are always welcome. Post them here, or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com.

Observations from a visit to the ER

 

I recently spent a Sunday afternoon in the emergency room at a local hospital, while a friend received treatment for a serious but treatable ailment. Here are a few thoughts and observations from my several hours in the ER: 

* Gone, thanks to Covid-19 and technology, are all the magazines and newspapers that once populated hospital waiting rooms. No more Time, Golf Digest, or Sports Illustrated. I noted their absence, but did not miss them, particularly Time. In fact, given how many hands the magazines passed through each day, it's really rather surprising they had a presence in the ER for as long as they did. The particular ER I was in had two large-screen TVs, and nearly everyone waiting there had their heads down, staring at individual smart-phone screens. 

* The TVs in the ER were on and featured the NFL game between the LA Chargers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I don't have strong feelings one way or another for either team and haven't followed professional football for at least six years. I'm a fan of college football. Sunday's game was the first I've watched during the 2020 season, and I was reminded why I walked away from the game years ago. The game's flow is endlessly interrupted by commercials, official reviews, and just about anything else you can name, or so it seems. And it seemed not long ago that most games might run about two and half hours, from beginning to end. It's easily a three-hour time commitment (often longer) these days. And most of the commercial spots are repetitive and mind-numbing. Others in the ER looked as though they were enjoying the game, but I was something hostage to it. I can't see myself watching another NFL game soon.

* My dad spent a lot of time in hospitals during the last years of his life, and I became familiar with the facilities at two suburban hospitals. Everything changes with time, including hospital accommodations. I think one of the best changes in recent years is the decision that dropped shared rooms for patients and adopted a one-patient-per room policy. Patient privacy is important and the seclusion is appreciated.

* There are few places better than a hospital to see how advances in technology impact modern life for the better. Here's one example: My friend who was receiving care needed an X-ray. Just a few years ago that would have involved a hospital worker wheeling the patient and the bed they were in down to a room, usually in the basement, where a tech or two would spend a few minutes obtaining the ordered images. All necessary, but rarely pleasant for the patient. But on this visit, one tech rolled a x-ray unit into the ER examination room, collected the needed images and rolled back out in less than five minutes. And the machine itself  was smaller than most office chairs. Amazing.

- Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a comment or question.