Testing Positive

So I was reading my Sports Illustrated this evening and I came across something very positive. The Milwaukee Admirals, an American Hockey League team and affiliate of the Nashville Predators, are holding a "Don't Be Like Mike Night" tonight. This program is designed to sway the youth from doing drugs by saying "Don't Be Like Mike", as referring to swimming phenom and recently reported drug user Michael Phelps. Now I love Phelps for what he did during the Olympics, it was a great feat and won't be duplicated any time soon. But the man has gotten a DUI and was photographed smoking marijuana, which are unacceptable when you are that high up in society. I realize that people smoke pot, and I realize that it's not as big a deal as all of the other drugs out there, but the man allowed himself to get his picture taken while he was doing it; how moronic can you be? You have a whole nation looking up to you, either exercise restraint or use your brain.


Meanwhile Joe Rogan writes himself a myspace blog about a letter he has sent to Kellogg's about dropping Phelps from their sponsorship after the news has come out. Mr. Rogan used all kinds of f-bomb's and referenced his own drug use all throughout this brilliant letter so that it could appeal to the average teenage stoner, but if he really cared about his cause as much as he claims, he would not make it something that the myspace public would eat up; he would have quietly sent it to Kellogg's or used his fame to set up some sort of meeting. But no, alas, America's celebrity lets the public down again, and this already famous man decided that all he wanted was more spotlight and maybe even a "High Times Stoner of the Year" nomination. While I respect the man's opinion on mixed martial arts, boxing, or comedy as a whole (he knows a lot about each of these topics and is very well-spoken about them in the public), I really do not find his spotlight hogging necessary in this situation.

Meanwhile, you have the Milwaukee Admirals organization. Selling tickets for $2 to any fan who has graduated the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. They are giving out a weed-wacker to a lucky fan as a symbolic gift. The front office decided to make a statement with this anti-drug message to young fans. This is something that should be seen as respectful and honorable -- it should be emulated by teams from all sports all across the globe. Teaching kids to "say no to drugs" has become a phrase not worthy of thought. It is overused and overdone, and that is why the message gets drowned out in today's media. Taking it and making something creative with it is a worthwhile and admirable technique, and it is on nights like "Don't Be Like Mike Night" that I consider myself proud to be a hockey fan, as well as a morally strong human being. It helps me see light at the end of the tunnel, because even in the ethically corrupt world of professional sports there are still some people trying to make a difference.


The world is falling apart. Which voice will you hear in your head as you toss and turn each night?

The sheer amount of people out there always fascinates me. I think about how many people I don't know that live in my town. Then I think of all of those in similar towns around me. Then all of those in my state, and in the country, and finally the world. It makes me start to wonder: is it possible to have individuality with those kinds of odds? I know I have said before that everyone has significant ideas and that those ideas separate us -- in the end that is all we have. The problem is, though, what if that idea itself is being thought of by a similar downtrodden young man at a similar point in life in a similar town in some other state. With all of the people out there, is it out of the realm of possibilities for someone to have the exact same moral code and the exact same theoretical mindset as the ones I have developed? And if these people have these things, I imagine it would not be hard for them to write about it all, and their trials and tribulations that they encounter in daily life. So how much individuality is really out there?

I often wonder how similar other towns are to mine; I imagine there are some across the country that seem like exact replicas. I want to go to these towns and know what people are thinking, know what is going on. I feel as though we can only gain insight from those who think like ourselves, and I know there are other's who are just like me. The odds say that there must be.