Most Expensive Car 2018

My very short paper on this topic is now available at Think: Philosophy for Everyone ( http://bit.ly/ck7IX3 ).

Jeff Pearlman rightly criticizes the NFL's possible expansion of the regular season to 18 games. I, along with Pearlman, have a very difficult time seeing how this will benefit the players, all things considered.

Ben Cousins was a great athlete, and a great AFL footballer. He is also a drug addict. Michael Burke has offered insightful commentary on the AFL’s illicit (read recreational) drug policy, and the anomalies of Cousins’ case, but he stops short of asking questions relating to illicit drug use and its actual connection to the nature and image of a sport. Phrases such as ‘role model’ and ‘good of the game’ feature prominently in these types of discussions, but I cannot seem to get over the idea that at base, it’s nobody’s goddamn business what substances a person puts into his or her body. Obviously, if those substances are performance enhancing, or said person is acting like a jackass in public (and Cousins’ antics at the back end of a five day coke bender at the Crown casino certainly qualifies here) or is a danger to others, then we have a problem. But if an athlete’s private activities do not affect performance, team morale, little Johnnie’s love of footy or ticket sales at next week...

Interesting news link on Quinnipiac University's attempt to abide by the Title IX legislation by maintaining that Cheerleading is a sport.

A nice read, especially the story on Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler: Is it okay to cheat in football?

The success of Lance Armstrong on the bike in the Tour de France is unprecedented.  His record of seven victories seems more amazing now, given not only the physical and mental skill that such a record reveals, but the luck that it also required (the lack of crashes, mechanical failures, and injuries). While there is no lack of controversy surrounding Lance (e.g. "Pharmstrong"), he might be right that he is the most tested athlete on the planet, and yet he has never tested positive for banned performance-enhancing substances. But is Lance Armstrong a success? In the forthcoming book I co-edited with Jesús Ilundáin Agurruza, Cycling - Philosophy for Everyone: A Philosophical Tour de Force , Greg Bassham and Chris Krall address this question. As they point out, on many classical and medieval theories of success, the answer to this question is "no".  Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Augustine, the Stoics, and Epicurus would of course disagree on many things, but Lance fall...

Mixed Martial Arts Legislation in NY Would Spur New Economic Activity By Alexia Krause With the New York state deficit hitting $8 billion, steps need to be taken in order to right the ship that is the state's budget. Recently New York Gov. David Paterson stated that the projected deficit for the upcoming fiscal year has grown by an additional $750 million. There's no doubting that the Empire State is in dire straits trying to fix their deficit. It is extremely difficult trying to balance a state budget at a time when the country as a whole is going through some of its most difficult economic hurdles in recent history. This forces us to take a fresh look at which programs will continue to receive funding. As a result, the state has been forced to cut, reject, and outright shut down many state programs and projects in order to make some type of movement out of the red and back into the black. Many of these budget cuts (like closing down state parks and cutting funding to public ...