When it was a game...

The title reminds me of a two-part HBO special from the 80's or 90's about the days of baseball's past. Mostly shot in black and white with real interviews and candid moments with some of the games greats, the special showed something that is seemingly gone from professional sports - the love and passion for playing the game.
Yes, I'm well-aware that there are plenty of professional athletes out there with all the drive in the world, but they are totally overshadowed by the self-absorbed and larger-than-life characters that we as a society have created. These people get paid millions of dollars to play and we treat them as gods. Curious. Perhaps that's why they are self-absorbed.
In the 1980s athletes began to get very large contracts and once it started, it just got worse and worse and team owners and sponsors competed with each other. In the past few years, some professional sports leagues have put salary caps on teams, but players still make absurd amounts of money while rarely showing the class that the ballplayers from days gone by, showed.
I'm not going to call any of these athletes out by name. We all know who thought he was bigger than the World Series. We all know current players who think they are bigger than basketball. Hell, we even know golfers that make so much money from sponsorship - due to demand from fans who watch and create ratings - that you'd think he'd appreciate his fans, but the reality is that sports in our country have been declining for decades and it's a sad commentary.
I could make more of an argument, or rant, if you will and delve into the world of "college athletics," but I don't think there is enough room on the page; however, on the note of "amateur" sports, it isn't too long ago that we watched the Olympics and saw a unique spectacle that only allowed amateur athletes. While that is mostly not the case by-in-large, there are still many events in the Olympics (winter and summer) where money is NOT an issue whatsoever and it is great to see the twinkle in the eyes of these athletes as they enter the stadium for the opening ceremonies. Their payday isn't a bid check, but rather a small flag embroidered on their uniform, a camera full of priceless pictures, and memories to last a lifetime. Some of the events may be obscure, but perhaps it is those sports where we find those athletes who truly embrace and remember, when it was a game!

iPhones an investment? Not so much!

It's rather ironic that I am writing an opinion piece about technology on a website that more or less is a byproduct of our dependence on all things new, but websites are easily changed, refreshed, and updated. iPhones will be updated, they will be changed, and they will be updated, but in case you didn't realize when you plucked the $500 down for a new one with the smaller memory version; yours will not fit that bill.
Phones of any sort, be it a regular camera phone, PDA, or smart phone are not investments in the traditional sense. An investment is something we put money towards to have an impact on our future. A lot of time there is risk involved. Sure, for those who want to be hip and in the now, buying an iPhone is a great investment in today, but do you really need it? Do other phones do almost, it not all the same things? Are those phones cheaper to buy? What do you do next year when the cost of your iPhone is down to $250 and the new one on the market has a new feature and will run you $600?
Having the newest and the best innovations is great, but sometimes it's good to know when something has long-term value. People get into a pattern of always buying the newest, cutting edge items, when they really should be buying something more practical and putting the rest of the money towards better use.
For example, I'm willing to bet that almost every, if not all, the people who bought iPhone, already have a nice cell phone with Bluetooth and internet capability. Furthermore, I bet these same folks have iPods. No, not the Nano, but the ones with the bigger screen and the loaded memory. Additionally, I'm willing to bet that both of these work perfectly fine, despite being separate devices. Now how about you take the $500-$600 dollars and either allocate that towards your 401K, IRA, or through it into a mutual fund. Then wait a year. Your devices will still probably work just as well, but you'll have made an investment that has yielded you something for the future. Women may not be swarming to see your new iPhone, but did you really think they would anyway? Bottom line; if you have the money to throw around, go ahead and buy one. It will still be a poor investment, but will not have the same economic impact that these have on most of their buyers.