Sidewalk Life

Twitter Fired

Why Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs didn't see this coming is surprising.  He took out his frustration with his coach and the fans on Twitter, and guess what, the Chiefs released him today. 

It's not the first time someone has been fired from posting personal thoughts in a public forum, but now that it has happened in the NFL, maybe people will realize that people are actually reading this stuff.  Beware kids.  Twitter is not a toy.

Thanks to Duane Hoffmann / msnbc.com for the image.

Why is everyone on steroids?

"There's something simply un-American about this" scolded Senator Joe Biden during the Major League Baseball hearings on the use and abuse of steroids in the sport.  But as the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster explains, being on steroids, and the 'win at all cost' attitude is as American as it gets.

The movie is often funny and insightful, but ultimately depressing if you like sports and want to believe it's fair.  Worth watching if you missed it theaters earlier this year.

Bread and Soccer

I thought this would be good.  It wasn't. 

There were only a few installations, nothing much to do with Austria (other than being held in the Austrian cultural forum on E. 52nd Street) and the only real connection to the reference about how the Romans quelled the masses with bread and sport spectacle was in the accompanying book. 

Slightly funny video watching people on the street copy the Zidane head butt from the last world cup though.

Outsourcing Parenthood

The NY Times had a story about the increasing trend toward sending child (nine years old) athletes to the sports psychologist to improve performance.  I thought confidence was one of those things that parents were supposed to teach their kids.