Amateurs

What is the difference between being an amateur and a professional? Sure we discussed it in class, but its still a good question to ponder. I mean what draws the line between amateur and professional- there are amateur and professional sports leagues, pretty much anything concievable has both an amateur and a professional side. If sports has amateurs and professionals, then money is not the determining factor between them because amateur sports players still get paid though the amount of money may be slightly different. There can be an amateur plumber and a professional plumber; fixing your sink in a do-it-yourself fashion vs hiring a licensed plumber to fix the sink. I would say that the most obvious distinction between professional and amateur is the whole wake up and do the task deal. The job or career that you wake up everyday to work on would be your professional career, and anything you do on the side could be considered amateur. Amateur sports players typically have an alternative source of income, a regular 9-5 job they would consider their profession, and when they are available for games, or have to play their season they go on hiatus from the profession to be an amateur sports player. Money is a factor, but it does not entirely distinguish between amateur and professional.

On Passion and Living (required 5)

I am extremely passionate about baseball. There would be nothing more satisfying than if I could spend everyday on a baseball field playing or watching (playing is slightly more preferred), America's pasttime. There is no chance I could ever make this passion into a career, the odds of someone making a living playing any sport are slim to none, and I am in no way near qualified to have even those odds. Generally speaking, there are only a few things I consider myself passionate towards, one being romance (which we are not talking about here) and the other being baseball. So unfortunately, the percentage of time I spend is slightly skewed towards the work I do to prepare for my career; by slightly skewed I mean more like 100% of my time is put towards something I am not passionate about. I think that this holds true for most Americans, that the country values the work done for a career more than the work done out of passion (unless those overlap). The idea that people only really ever get credit for the work they do in their job, not for what they do when they are at home dabbling with what they love only proves my point. As for me, I am one of those that wil be stuck doing something they are not passionate about because, at least in my case, the passion will never pay and with no money you are not much use to the American society.

On YouTube and the Election (required 4)

I watched two youtube videos on the election http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk8jgdYW3Qs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv_dV_PTX8w&feature=related. Both are pretty organic (if by organic we mean eccentric). The first video is a rap about how the user is not going to vote for John McCain. The rap has a nice flow and rhymes, which is always nice, but it does not do much convincing as to why he would not vote for McCain even if he "threatened me with a rock".
The second youtube video is about an army wife and how she is supporting McCain due to his background. Also very authentic, it feels more from the heart and tells why she is going to vote for McCain instead of why she is not going to vote for someone else.
The most convincing videos are the videos from the heart, such as the video from the army wife. It takes a lot of strength to be in the position she is in, so her opinion of something like the war in Iraq and how each candidate plans to address is slightly more convincing than someones rap about why people should not vote for someone.

On the Millenial Generation (required 3)

From what I understand, the book is claiming that the millenial generation (my generation), is more giving and aware of what needs to be done for the country. I would agree with this portrayal, every person I talk to has their own idea on how to better the country. Even though I may not agree with all the ideas, the point is that it is obvious we care about our country and want to see it become a safer and better place to live.
My generation would probably be best suited with a name like Explosivo instead of "Millenial". Yes we were born into the new Millenium, but aside from that we really are not new anymore; most of us are able to vote. Explosivo works better because we are always so eager to get things done; nothing can be done swiftly enough to satisfy my generation. Yes we want a better country, but we want it better quick. Maybe that is just because we are too young to realize a quick fix is not possible, but the term Explosivo fits.
I would say that the drama's in todays tv business are the best for understanding my generation's concerns. The drama's are full of the concerns and how we would like to approach them. The drama I recall as probably the best display of what the Millenials are about is "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" on ABC family. It has stereotypical millenial’s in it, and covers topics that are held dear to most millenials: teenage pregnancy, abortion, and sex.

ALCS

So the ALCS, for those who do not know is the American League Championship Series, and pits the surprise Tampa Bay Rays against the perennial powerhouse Boston Red Sox. The series starts this Friday, and the Rays have homefield advantage (four games will be played at Tropicana Field, and three games at Fenway). The homefield advantage plays a significant role in this series because of the home crowd. Simply stated, the Rays win at home when they play in front of big crowd (30,000 or more). The Rays went 21-2 this season at home with both losses being in front of less than 30,000 cheering fans.
To think that the crowd has no effect on the Rays would be naive. They are perfect when playing under the big stage. The power of the cheering crowd may give the Rays a moral boost in close games, or just keep them pumped through the whole game hearing 30,000 people cheer their names. Whatever the effect is that the crowd has on this surprise team, it is clear that the winning calculation for the Rays demands a crowd.
This loosely ties in with the wisdom of crowds in that the Rays are drawing from the crowd to play more competively. Come Friday, I will be sitting in front of my TV rooting for the Rays hoping that the power of the crowd rises to the occasion and lifts them into the World Series instead of the Red Sox.
-Statistics from www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081007&content_id=3601052&vkey=ps2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Coordination?? Or Lack There Of.....

Sitting at work today on a payday would be much better if I actually received my paycheck. Since I began working at my job, in May, the electronic system that records time sheets has not worked for me. This causes a great deal of pain for the Tech Guy because I have to email him my time sheet at the end of a pay term so that I can get paid. Unfortunately, there was a mix up this past pay term, the Tech Guy misfiled my timesheet in his email and my hours never got put in, hence no paycheck.
Now to explain the coordination part; in order to hand me my money as fast as possible the Tech Guy has called in an emergency pay check, which means that he puts in the hours and requests a check get cut as soon as possible. The turn around for this, considering he does not cut the check and the check is not cut here, is remarkably quick. The check should be in my hands by Tuesday. The group of people all involved in making sure I get my check really has nothing to do with eachother aside from handing disgruntled employees their money, but they manage to coordinate and work so efficiently that I will have the check pretty conveniently.