Pacific Jewish Center | Rabbi » athletes

Another Snake-Oil Sales Company is Exposed

rabbifink — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 08:11:54 +0000

A few famous athletes wear Power Balance wrist bands on their wrists. Power Balance sells all kinds of products that are supposed to “react to the natural flow of the body” and increase athletic performance. How does this magic work? There is a special hologram that is on the wrist band or necklace which somehow does the magic.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission conducted a study and found that the holograms do absolutely nothing. Shocking. Right?

The company has fired back saying that they believe in their product and despite the claims of the scientists at the ACCC, many people believe in their product’s effectiveness.

I heard on the radio that the way they market their product is by pulling you very powerfully by the arm, you fall over, then they put on the bracelet and pull you again, this time much less powerfully, you don’t fall over and you are to conclude that the hologram really makes you stronger. (At least this was how it was described by Petros and Money who were subjected to this test.)

People are always looking for a quick fix. There are no shortcuts in life. If you want results you need to do the work. Holograms don’t make you stronger. Wrist bands and amulets don’t make you stronger either.

The funny thing is that these types of products are reminiscent of amulets and charms of the past. Usually associated with religion, these items were thought to bring luck or even the favor of God. The Torah prohibits these practices. Although tricksters have been fooling Jews and others into buying their miracle items despite the exhortations of the Torah. Now that religious miracles are not as reliable as they were in the past (read: frauds are more easily exposed), the snake oil salesmen have moved to athletes looking to gain an edge.

Reading stuff like this makes me a proud skeptic.

Source: Power Balance

Link: OC Metro

The Sales Pitch

Braylon Edwards is a Moron Who Failed to Learn a Sobering Lesson From Donté Stallworth

rabbifink — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 23:33:52 +0000

On the morning of March 14 2009, NFL Wide Receiver Donté Stallworth was driving his Bentley when he struck and killed a pedestrian. Stallworth admitted that he had been drinking the previous night and was allegedly still intoxicated at the time of the accident. The pedestrian was not in a crosswalk and Stallworth was only driving 10 MPH over the speed limit of 40 MPH.

Stallworth was very apologetic and sympathetic to the family. Stallworth wished that the family should avoid having to go to court to relive the trauma of losing their loved one and happily settled out of court in a financial agreement and made a guilty plea to avoid a criminal case.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Stallworth would have likely been found innocent at trial. However, Stallworth wanted to avoid trial for the sake of the family and to do what he thought was morally right and thus accepted the guilty plea. A friend said: “His biggest concern was for the gentleman’s daughter. He wanted [the victim's] family to know he was remorseful.” His lawyers tried to convince him not to move forward with his plea. He did it anyway. He was in jail for 24 days among other punishments.

For his off the field misbehavior, Stallworth was suspended by the NFL for one year without pay. In his time off, Stallworth spent his time pursuing more meaningful outlets, like politics. Stallworth is an avid reader and has a subscription to The Economist, a more highbrow publication than what most jocks are assumed to be reading. To anyone who will listen, Stallworth says: “Any little decision you make will have a subsequent reaction, be cognizant of your decisions.”

It seems that Donté Stallworth has used his experience to improve his life, the life of those who lay in the wake of his error and the lives of anyone “who will listen”.

Stallworth was drinking with a friend that night. He was drinking with NFL Wide Receiver, Braylon Edwards. Edwards has had a spotty NFL career. He has underperformed and been fined several times for various infractions. In March 2009 he was drinking with Stallworth in the incident that led to a death but he was not charged in the incident.

Edwards must have seen how Stallworth reacted to his crime. In true Restorative Justice fashion, Stallworth took ownership of his actions and made it up to the victim’s family as best he could. Stallworth has tried to turn his life into a more positive light for others.

Yet, this morning, Braylon Edwards was picked up by NYS Police with a .16 BAC (twice the legal limit) with two fellow teammates as passengers in his vehicle.

Yes. Braylon Edwards is a moron. He saw his friend kill a man while under the influence of alcohol. Yet, he puts his own life, the lives of his two teammates and the lives of every other driver on the road at 5:15 this morning in danger.

It’s important to learn from our experiences. Experiences are supposed to be better learning tools than book learning.

It seems Braylon Edwards is experience learning disabled…

Sometimes Role Models Are Athletes

rabbifink — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:50:11 +0000

Grant Desme: Is he looking heavenward?

The two most popular posts on this blog are variants of one common theme.

Athletes as Role Models.

It makes sense. I enjoy sports, I am passionate about education and I love the moral tension created by appreciating both of those areas of life. It appears that people like reading about it as well.

Learn about what I think by reading these posts (in order of popularity):

Tim Tebow’s Pro-Life Superbowl Ad is Heartwarming and Reckless (Top post on this blog thanks to Deadspin)

Athletes as Role Models? (Second most popular post on this blog thanks to Steve Mason and Kaplan’s Korner)

The Eye Of The Tiger (Fans)

Ron Artest Is Going To The Lakers | What Do I Think?

To summarize: My opinion is that athletes are just athletes. They excel one general area of life, competitive athletic ability, and that is the only thing worth looking up to them for. One can admire work ethic, focus, quick thinking, pure athleticism of their favorite athletes, but to learn about sportsmanship, common courtesy or morality from athletes is asinine. That is not what they are known for, and usually it is for a reason. There are much more appropriate role models for those things and our job is to look to those people as role models and not athletes. When it comes to children, parents must teach their children who their role models should be as opposed to letting athletes teach their kids about morals and ethics.

There is one general exception. When an athlete clearly excels in another area of life and has experience in that area of life then even the athlete can become a role model. Or more precisely, the person is a role model who happens to be an athlete.

Take Tim Tebow for example. Tebow has spent signficant time and effort doing good work and rising above his athletic stardom and become a star of his religion. He clearly has a set of morals that guide his life and is more than just an athlete. He is a missionary and an athlete. Tebow is a worthy role model who happens to be an athlete and being a succesful athlete has given him a greater audience. Tebow’s greater audience gives him more oportunity to be that role model and that is a good thing. Tebow is using his star power to express his opinion on abortion. We can agree or disagree with the message but Tebow is a messenger whose words carry some weight. As a role model, Tebow’s fame as an athlete goes a long way to increasing his influence and impact.

Recently, another athlete who could have been just like Tebow in that respect bowed out of competitive sports. Oakland Athletics prospect Grant Desme left his baseball dreams behind to enter the priesthood. Projected as an above average Major League player, Desme bows out of the game he loves, for the God he loves more. Desme was going to be a good baseball player. But now he hopes to be a great priest. Instead of using his baseball related fame to teach and be that rare athlete worth treating like a role model, Desme leaves sports and is devoting his life to his religion.

Two athletes with higher moral standards and two different approaches.

Who will have a greater impact, Tebow or Desme?

Which is the better path? The athlete who uses his fame to be a super role model to millions of adoring fans? Or the former athlete who gave it all up to pursue a “higher calling”?

Tebows audience will be much bigger. But Desme’s potential is greater because he can devote more time to personal growth.

I find this question very interesting. What do you think?

Tim Tebow's Pro-Life Superbowl Ad is Heartwarming and Reckless

rabbifink — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:03:53 +0000

This post has been crossposted to DovBear.

UPDATE: RETRACTION AND APOLOGY HERE

The most well-known athlete in America might be Tim Tebow.

Tebow is possibly the most celebrated, successful college football player of all time. He was a 2 time national champion with the Florida Gators and a Heisman Trophy winner. His success, as well as his good looks and supernatural physique has made him a household name across the United States. Oh, there is one more thing, Tebow is the son of missionaries who is very religious and (at this point) celibate.

Tebow has used his star power to advocate for Christianity. He spent a couple of summers working with missionaries in the Far East and has always been vocal about his religiousness. Tim Tebow is an athlete who is using his star power to make a difference in the world. We may not agree with his message, but he is certainly a better role model than felon Gilbert Arenas or even LeBron James.

During the upcoming Super Bowl, Tebow will be featured in a $2.6 Million ad for a strong Pro-Life Organization called Focus on the Family. This has set off a firestorm of reactions from groups that oppose Focus in the Famliy, like the National Organization for Women (don’t you love these names?) who do not approve the message of the ad. Additionally, advocate groups like PETA are up in arms because they have been denied Superbowl air time for their causes.

Honestly, the reason CBS approved this ad are probably related to the economy. IF you’re willing to pay $2.6 Million for an ad in the economy – they’ll take your money.

What is interesting to me about all this are the circumstances of Tim Tebow’s birth. In the ad Tim is expected to tell the story of his mother’s pregnancy. Mrs. Tebow became very ill during a mission to the Philippines and was advised to terminate the pregnancy to save her life. She ignored the doctor, Tim was born and Mrs. Tebow survived.

First, Jewish Law does not share the same views as Christian Law on abortion. In a situation where the mother’s life is in danger, many traditional authorities hold that the mother MUST abort the pregnancy. There is an assumption that fundamentalist Christians and Orthodox Jews agree on abortion. That is just not true.

Second, even those that hold that abortion is immoral and should never be allowed, is this a wholesome message? To ignore a doctor’s strong recommendation? Isn’t reckless? Don’t we look at Scientology with disdain when a life is lost because of their refusal to see a doctor? What if Mrs. Tebow lost her life in the pregnancy and Tim dies before birth?

It seems that advocating for the sanctity of life is a fair cause to support, but advocating in a manner that breeds recklessness… That seems irresponsible.

The Eye Of The Tiger (Fans)

rabbifink — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:03:43 +0000

Ah yes, another fallen icon.

What do Tiger fans see now? They see the truth. Or a somewhat muddled version of the truth.

Without going into detail, Tiger Woods has certainly confirmed what I have been saying about athletes as role models.

They’re not. Stop pretending that they are.

In one of my most popular posts of all time, gaining attention from local Los Angeles sports media, I make the claim that if you are a parents whose child reveres and looks to an athlete as a role model, you are not doing a good job as a parent.

Thank you Tiger, for proving my point, again.

Read it here.