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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (159844)	2/6/2009 1:03:05 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 361973

David Moulton: Job description for Olympic champion swimmer doesn't include being a role model naplesnews.com This just in, Charles Barkley was right. Long before Sir Charles ran his mouth about everything, lost millions gambling and got his DUI, Charles Barkley looked into a TV camera and said: “I am not a role model”. So why is it that we still expect our athletes to act like one? They are not role models. They are ballplayers. Entertainers. They perform, not on a stage but on a field, court, rink or, in the latest case, a pool. Fame and wealth are not qualities that define a role model. Michael Phelps is not a role model. He is a swimmer. The greatest swimmer of all-time, but not a role model. We need to stop expecting our athletes to be role models. Why? Because we don’t demand that the people who should be role models act like it. So how hypocritical is it of us to expect that a bunch of selfish, egotistical, singular of purpose strangers be to our kids what we are apparently admitting we can’t be? By the way, I’m saying selfish, egotistical and singular of purpose in a good way. An elite athlete almost always has to be this way to become great. They have to be selfish in that at some point in their young lives, they broke away from the pack and put normalcy on the back burner to pursue their dream of being a pro. Do you know what percentage of kids make it to the highest level of their sport? Far less than 0.1 percent. And then there is the case of Michael Phelps. Think about it. The ridiculous training schedule required day after day, month after month, year after year necessary to even pursue eight gold medals, nevermind win them. He is not a role model. He is a swimmer. He had no life outside of swimming. He left home, hung out with only a few people a thousand miles away for four years and trained, trained and then did some more training. This was all after his DUI at 19. Is this really the life you want for your kids? Really? I’m not knocking Phelps. I’m knocking us. Let the Michael Phelpses of the world be what they are: elite athletes. Period. Just because they get some endorsements, it does not make them role models. Just because someone becomes a “celebrity,” it does not make them a role model. Do some athletes become role models? Of course. Tiger Woods, Cal Ripken Jr., Warrick Dunn and others have taken it upon themselves to try and be a role model. Tim Tebow is following this same path. They have chosen to hold themselves to the highest of standards and ideals. They are challenging themselves to match their greatness on the field with a standard and purpose to life off of it. They are remarkable. They are the exceptions. That’s what makes them far more special than the rest. To expect the same from the rest of the pack is foolish. It was not always this way? Bull. Babe Ruth was a mess. Joe DiMaggio was a rude, loner of an absentee father. You want to be like Mike? Jordan cheated on his wife and had a gambling problem. There’s not enough print in this paper to go through the list of star athletes and their shortcomings. But they were great players. Some of them inspired us. At times they may have even brought us to tears with their achievements. Great. If Mark Messier bumped into me on the street, I might tear up as I bored him with a tale of what the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in 1994 meant to me. But Mark Messier my role model? No way. That man was orphaned at 4, had a seventh-grade education, didn’t read much, couldn’t break 80 and stood 5-foot-3. In the end, Messier and all the rest are entertainers. Period. Parents are role models. In my case, it was my grandfather because my dad wasn’t up to the job. And it’s in the job description. In no other job is it required. Not teacher, not cop, not even president. But if you are a parent, then you are your kids’ role models. Do you really want it any other way? Would the world be a better place if we held everyone up to the same standards we want are athletes to live up to? Sure. But until we insist that parents and presidents be role models, on the hypocritical scale of 1-10, where do you think it ranks that we demand it of Michael Phelps? I’d say 13. ________________________ David Moulton is co-host of "Miller and Moulton in the Afternoon." The radio show airs weekdays 3-7 p.m. on WWCN/AM 770. His columns appear in the Naples Daily News print edition every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (159844)	2/6/2009 1:12:41 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 361973

U.S. Hires Advisors for Auto Restructuring ______________________________________________________________ February 6th, 2009 - NEW YORK/DETROIT (Reuters) - The U.S. government has retained two law firms with extensive bankruptcy experience and the investment bank Rothschild to advise officials on the taxpayer-backed restructuring of General Motors Corp (GM.N) and Chrysler LLC, a person with direct knowledge of the work said. New York law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP was hired by the U.S. Treasury last month and will consider a range of possibilities for the struggling automakers including the prospect of a bankruptcy funded by the U.S. government, the person said. Cadwalader is joined by Chicago-based law firm Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal and Rothschild in working with U.S. officials as they prepare to review turnaround plans being readied by the two struggling automakers, the person said. Sonnenschein confirmed that the firm had been engaged to advise Treasury on “ongoing matters related to the 2008-2009 developments within the U.S. automobile industry.” The Sonnenschein lawyers who are advising the government are from the firm’s capital markets practice based in New York, said Melissa Anderson, a spokeswoman for the firm. A Chrysler spokeswoman said the automaker, which is controlled by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management [CBS.UL], was focused on preparing a revised turnaround plan. Both GM and Chrysler face a Feb. 17 deadline to submit updated restructuring plans to the U.S. government. “We can only speak for ourselves: Chrysler is focused on developing its submission to the U.S. Treasury and the company looks forward to submitting it on Feb. 17,” Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan said in an email. Representatives for Rothschild, GM and the U.S. Treasury could not be immediately reached for comment. Cadwalader had no comment. GM and Chrysler executives have previously ruled out a bankruptcy filing, saying that it would quickly spin out of control into a liquidation because buyers would be scared away from purchasing new cars and trucks from a bankrupt automaker. But some outside analysts have argued that without the threat of bankruptcy, the companies lack the leverage that they need to extract deep concessions from bondholders and the United Auto Workers union. GM has been given $13.4 billion in emergency loans. Chrysler, which has a pending alliance with Italy’s Fiat SpA (FIA.MI), has been given $4 billion and is seeking another $3 billion. AUTO MARKET COLLAPSE U.S. auto sales dropped 37 percent in January to a 27-year low. The market is entering its fourth year of declining sales after plunging 18 percent in 2008. The appointment of the advisers to the U.S. Treasury appeared to revive the possibility that the government could consider a federally funded debtor-in-possession financing for Chrysler or GM in a bankruptcy process. Some outside experts had urged the previous administration of President George W. Bush to pursue that option, which was strongly opposed by the automakers, their suppliers, auto dealers and the UAW. Cadwalader has been an adviser to Lyondell Chemical Co, which obtained an $8 billion DIP loan when the company filed for bankruptcy last month. Deryck Palmer is leading the team advising the Treasury at Cadwalader on the auto restructuring. Sonnenschein partners working with Treasury include Aimee Cummo, Robert McCarthy, Jeffrey Murphy and Stephen Whelan. Both GM and Chrysler have until the end of March to demonstrate that they can be made “viable” under the terms of a bailout approved in late December by the Bush administration. President Barack Obama’s administration has not yet appointed a “car czar” or other officials who would oversee the restructuring of the cash-strapped auto industry. Other requests for aid remain pending. Ford Motor Co (F.N) has asked for a $9 billion line of credit. Auto parts suppliers have asked for government aid that would be either channeled through the car companies or loans that would be provided to them directly. (Reporting by Jui Chakravorty Das, David Bailey; Editing by Patrick Fitzgibbons, Gary Hill)

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (159844)	9/11/2009 12:34:20 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361973

Michael Phelps Sticks Around for Game, Not Fame: Commentary by Scott Soshnick Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Every professional athlete should hear Michael Phelps recount the first business meeting with his agent. Athletes usually ask how their representative is going to make them filthy rich. Besides the usual rigmarole like salary and bonuses, the elite athlete thinks even bigger these days. They want global sponsorships, equity-based endorsements, a reality television series and, for the iconic few, maybe even an iPhone application like the one Notre Dame football just introduced. The request from Phelps, a teenager at the time, was altogether different. His agent, Peter Carlisle of Octagon, opened their meeting with a straightforward question. What, Carlisle wanted to know, did Phelps want his agent to accomplish on his behalf. The swimmer’s answer centered on doing big things for the sport, not amassing big dollars for himself. “I want to change the sport of swimming,” was the response from Phelps, whose eight gold medals became the defining athletic accomplishment of the Beijing Olympics. “I want to take it to a new level.” We’re inundated by athletes paying lip service these days, using terms like “grow the game” when, in reality, their focus remains on simply getting paid even more. This isn’t to suggest that Phelps is a charity. His fame isn’t free. He’s got a number of endorsements with companies such as Swatch Group AG’s Omega brand, the Subway sandwich chain and Warnaco Inc.’s Speedo, which earlier this week signed swimming’s 24-year-old golden boy through 2013. “I’ve had countless opportunities,” Phelps said. Swimming Mission What he’s done with those opportunities on behalf of his sport is what separates Phelps from the others. Phelps has made it his mission for swimming to assume a place alongside other, more popular, sports in the fans’ consciousness. And not just every four years, either, when the Olympics dominate the airwaves. “I have no idea where we can go from here,” Phelps said of swimming’s popularity, “but I know that we can go higher.” Ask Phelps for the specifics of his endorsement riches and he responds with a shrug of indifference. Those particular numbers don’t excite him. If you’re trying to shake Phelps from his monotone default setting I suggest asking about the statistic released by USA Swimming, the sport’s governing body, which earlier this month said participation is up 11 percent in the past year, the largest single-year membership gain in history. ‘Got That Number’ “I got that number the other day and was really happy,” Phelps said. “That’s huge for the sport. It’s exciting to see the sport grow as much as it has.” Phelps has already accomplished what before Beijing would have been deemed impossible. He made swimming a topic of conversation among American sports fans during a non-Olympic year. Back in July, during the World Championships, Phelps’s coach, Bob Bowman, grabbed headlines, back pages and column inches by saying his star attraction might remove himself from future competitions unless FINA, swimming’s international governing organization, took immediate steps to ban record- shattering swimsuits. Just like that, the pundits in the U.S., including the high-volume crowd on ESPN, were devoting their time to a sport that historically has been ignored. More Air Time It was Phelps who insisted on leveraging his personal relationship with Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports, which shows the Olympics in the U.S., in order to get more swimming events on television. He figures people can’t fall in love with what they can’t see. Ebersol obliged because if Phelps is there the eyeballs will follow. He’s a one-man show. Phelps, after Beijing, has all the fame and fortune any athlete requires. His decision to participate in one more Olympics was fueled, in part, by the knowledge that his presence keeps swimming in the spotlight. Let’s face it, the masses aren’t tuning in to watch Ian Crocker, Ryan Lochte or Cullen Jones. Try to name another athlete, especially a megastar, who cares as much about the future of his sport as Phelps. You can’t. That person doesn’t exist. It’s amusing that only now, amid recession-related worry, professional sports teams have hatched a bevy of fan-friendly initiatives. Only now are most owners and players thinking about ways to keep the paying customers happy. Many don’t even know where to start. Might I suggest a chat with Carlisle and Phelps, who never seems to tire of telling the story of what an up-and-coming teenager wanted from his agent. (Scott Soshnick is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) To contact the writer of this column: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net Last Updated: September 10, 2009 21:00 EDT