After Atalanta

I caught Outside the Lines on Monday afternoon. Wait, since when am I home on a Monday afternoon with the TV on? Oh yeah, since I finished writing my dissertation! Whoop whoop! Hopefully posts will be more frequent. Monday's episode was called Charity Conundrum. A video segment along with the podcast of the show can be found here . It was an investigation into athletes' charities and began with Lamar Odom's Cathy's Kids, which was used throughout the episode as an example of a bad charity: deceptive in its purpose, high administrative costs, mismanagement, lack of oversight. Attempted interviews with Odom did not go well either. He doesn't seem to know where the money goes (not to underprivileged children but to kids on two elite AAU teams) and is quite defensive when questioned about where the money is going. He kept saying "it's my money, it's my money" as if 1) he doesn't have to answer questions about it and 2) oh, yeah, it doesn't...

Nike sponsors various philanthropic activities largely aimed at empowering young people. They have (and still do I believe) offer grants to organizations providing sport opportunities for girls and young women. But I did not know they have a similar effort aimed at young Native Americans and indigenous youth in the United States and Canada. They (just) do (it). I discovered the N7 campaign (named after the Native American philosophy of 7 generations--thinking about one's impact 7 generations into the future) when reading about the University of Nevada's basketball team. Nevada partnered with N7 as part of the university's Native American Pride day last weekend when Nevada took on New Mexico State. What's slightly problematic is the way Nike markets the N7 campaign. Because it's not just a campaign to raise awareness and fund opportunities for indigenous peoples, it's also to sell shoes. And not sell shoes in that good-publicity/charity-equals-more-product-sold k...

On Saturday I did a 5K that benefited a local organization that helps women and their families who have been victims of domestic violence. And though there was a snazzy mug designed by cartoonist Hilary Price who writes and draws Rhymes with Orange , I was actually pleased that the proceeds (over $55,000 I heard) went to a local charity and was put together largely by donations from local businesses. So many charity runs spend a lot of money on advertising and prizes/gifts that, in the end, take away from the actual charity. In the afternoon I managed to catch all of the NBC special on the Paralympics. I thought it was good. A good mix of stories in terms of sports participated in, type of disability, race, age, and "success" at the Beijing Games. Of course the producers could not have known the outcomes when they chose the athletes--not entirely at least--so this may have been more chance than not. There was a good segment on how China has become more aware and accommodating...

If you have ever been stuck in traffic in Boston--specifically on (or because of) Storrow Drive, you may be interested in this bike ride on Sunday (21st) morning called HUb on Wheels . Storrow Drive is shut down and you ride your bike on it. It's ten miles on Storrow but there is a 30-mile and 50-mile option that takes you around the city but in such a way that there is reduced car traffic. (There's a link to the route map on the left-hand side of the page linked above.) Registration is still open. At least it was as of last night when I signed up; and is only $50. (It';s $55 for same day registration on Sunday morning.) The money (you can give or fundraise more) goes to bringing more technology to the Boston Public Schools.

I joined a women's USTA league recently. We haven't started playing official matches yet but there has been lots of email contact among us as the start of the season nears. Today I received a forward advertising a charity tournament this weekend. In addition to the tennis there is a basket raffle. Teams create baskets. (Everything in yellow is from the email sent by one of the coordinators.) Some “basket” themes to get those creative juices flowing, but you can do anything you would like. Surprise me - BBQ; Golf; Romance; Pet Supplies; Caribbean Fiesta; Think Pink; Gourmet Dinner for Two; Housewarming; Virgin Olive Oil & Accessories; Beach; Lobster; Gardening; Get Away. Baskets get raffled off and the proceeds, in addition to the fees for entering the tournament, get donated to a local hospital's breast cancer division. But there are incentives to get people to make the baskets: Some Women's teams are entered into the fabulous basket fundraising raffle - they are c...

Many thanks to amateur for pointing me to this fascinating blog entry by sportsbabel about his experience running in a recent breast cancer charity event. Here are his very interesting observations as he questions if such events are really "feminist" (noting that there are many types of feminism of course): "1. There is a bounty of sponsor-provided free food offered to the runners after the race is completed, while Toronto's homeless peer in through the semi-enclosure or sleep on grates nearby. 2. After the post-race refuelling is finished, there do not appear to be temporary recycling facilities anywhere to collect what will be thousands of plastics and tetra boxes. 3. Men can get breast cancer as well, yet I could only find this nugget of information buried away on the web site's Breast Cancer Statistics page. Saying so out loud must confuse the "Think Pink" message. 4. In the ultimate irony of "Thinking Pink," there is predominantly pink...