Sports Fan Life Lesson

 I don't want to make this about me, but rather a life lesson for us all.

I was banned from MGOBLOG after Michigan's dramatic 3 OT comeback victory over Rutgers in 2020.  I was somewhat drunk and compared McNamara to Brady.  I called a poster who diminished our victory an ASSHOLE. 

I feel somewhat vindicated.  McNamara has indeed proven to be an exceptional QB and a remarkable leader.  The team has fought back to being ranked #2 in the country after beating OSU convincingly.  We didn't get to this point by giving up on the team in 2020.

The larger life lesson is that friends should not give up on friends when they are down and out.  Being a sports fan is somewhat analogous to being a friend.  We support the team, and the team tries its best to reward the fans.  When the team is having a bad year, it's more important than ever to be constructive and supportive.  Small victories, such as the Rutgers 2020 game, should be acknowledged in the same way that large victories are acknowledged.  

Anyway, I'm the biggest fair weather fan in the world and am being somewhat hypocritical here.

Go Blue, beat Iowa...

Public Health and Nihilism

Here's a very long article from 2016 showing how public health was politicized before Trump and covid:  

U.S. Public Health Professionals Routinely Mislead the Public about Infectious Diseases: True or False? Dishonest or Self-Deceptive? Harmful or Benign?

For me, this article shows why the covid crisis has been such a political nightmare.  As with the viral lab leak, the chickens are coming home to roost for the medical/scientific establishment. 

It should be noted that I have basically the same attitude towards all of our establishment institutions: military, intelligence, Wall Street, Pharma, media, ...  I'm currently reading The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium, by former CIA analyst Martin Gurri, which describes this phenomenon.  The Internet, if left uncensored, exposes a lot of previously hidden information about our authoritative institutions, and can engender nihilism in the public.  I'm against nihilism and recognize the need for authoritative institutions, so I try not to be overly alarmist.  There's a lot of good as well as a lot of bad and I want to support the good.