jgore wrote:What Holly said.
Thank you Jim & Holly.
jgore wrote:What Holly said.
DougG wrote:jgore wrote:What Holly said.
Thank you Jim & Holly.
erinmcd wrote:The plot thickens- steroids were allegedly found at his house.
Sadly, this will probably enrage people more than the death of the woman.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/others ... urder.html
jonovision_man wrote:...once people decide someone is a "hero" it takes quite a lot for some to come to terms with the truth.
Double Bellybuster wrote:jonovision_man wrote:...once people decide someone is a "hero" it takes quite a lot for some to come to terms with the truth.
Agreed. I have been travelling quite a bit lately and listening to talk radio. I was listening the day Pistorius was arrested and for a half day no one could get off that it must have been a Valentine's Day surprise gone wrong. There have many cases in the opposite direction since then. One is the dude accused of the racial slur and slap of a child on a plane.
- The guy who appears to have had very very poor control on a flight was ruined as soon as the accusation from an upset parent hit the news.
- Pistorius had a dead body taken from his house but it must have been an illusion.
Having had previous death threats, Pistorius said he slept with a 9-mm pistol under his bed in his plush Pretoria home in the heart of a well-secured gated community.
He and Steenkamp went to sleep on Wednesday night - the eve of Valentine’s Day - shortly after 10 p.m., he said.
However, in the middle of the night, he awoke in pitch darkness and thought an intruder had climbed through the window of his bathroom, Pistorius said.
He climbed out of bed without putting on his prosthetic legs and went towards the closed bathroom door, not realizing Steenkamp was behind it, he said. He then fired several shots into the door, before shouting to Steenkamp to call the police.
Realizing she was not in bed, he grabbed a cricket bat to beat down the bathroom door and found her slumped on the floor.
La wrote:I think it's natural for people to give hero status to people who have overcome odds or adversity to achieve greatness in some area. And once we've done that, it's hard to let go and accept that the person is, actually, human and fallible (and not always very nice - we tend to equate overcoming odds with being a "nice" person, and that's not always the case).
What I believe is that WE don't want to think that our heroes have done bad things because it makes US "wrong" for having idolized them in the first place. In my case, it started with OJ (not that I idolized him, but generally liked him as a player and personality at the time), then Lance. What I'm feeling is really not "about" them, it's more about me.
HCcD wrote:Apparently, his defence is that ....Having had previous death threats, Pistorius said he slept with a 9-mm pistol under his bed in his plush Pretoria home in the heart of a well-secured gated community.
He and Steenkamp went to sleep on Wednesday night - the eve of Valentine’s Day - shortly after 10 p.m., he said.
However, in the middle of the night, he awoke in pitch darkness and thought an intruder had climbed through the window of his bathroom, Pistorius said.
He climbed out of bed without putting on his prosthetic legs and went towards the closed bathroom door, not realizing Steenkamp was behind it, he said. He then fired several shots into the door, before shouting to Steenkamp to call the police.
Realizing she was not in bed, he grabbed a cricket bat to beat down the bathroom door and found her slumped on the floor.
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/19/blade-runner-pistorius-shot-girlfriend-through-door-prosecutor
jonovision_man wrote:HCcD wrote:Apparently, his defence is that ....Having had previous death threats, Pistorius said he slept with a 9-mm pistol under his bed in his plush Pretoria home in the heart of a well-secured gated community.
He and Steenkamp went to sleep on Wednesday night - the eve of Valentine’s Day - shortly after 10 p.m., he said.
However, in the middle of the night, he awoke in pitch darkness and thought an intruder had climbed through the window of his bathroom, Pistorius said.
He climbed out of bed without putting on his prosthetic legs and went towards the closed bathroom door, not realizing Steenkamp was behind it, he said. He then fired several shots into the door, before shouting to Steenkamp to call the police.
Realizing she was not in bed, he grabbed a cricket bat to beat down the bathroom door and found her slumped on the floor.
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/19/blade-runner-pistorius-shot-girlfriend-through-door-prosecutor
That's a pretty lousy defence, even if it's true.
jono
turd ferguson wrote:La wrote:I think it's natural for people to give hero status to people who have overcome odds or adversity to achieve greatness in some area. And once we've done that, it's hard to let go and accept that the person is, actually, human and fallible (and not always very nice - we tend to equate overcoming odds with being a "nice" person, and that's not always the case).
What I believe is that WE don't want to think that our heroes have done bad things because it makes US "wrong" for having idolized them in the first place. In my case, it started with OJ (not that I idolized him, but generally liked him as a player and personality at the time), then Lance. What I'm feeling is really not "about" them, it's more about me.
I hear you on all that but take the complete opposite view.
I guess I assume that elite sports is so competitive, the drive it takes to be the best of the best, means that most I the people who succeed are deep down jerks. In the same way it's been postulated that many CEOs are sociopaths.
As Green Day said, Nice Guys Finish Last.
Of all the lance allegations, the only one that never bothered me was that he was an arrogant, entitled, jerk. I would have assumed that from all the winning.
I distinguish between sports heroes and real heroes. An A-hole who can throw a ball isn't a hero, and we shouldn't be surprised when he turns out to be an A-hole.
CAW wrote:turd ferguson wrote:La wrote:I think it's natural for people to give hero status to people who have overcome odds or adversity to achieve greatness in some area. And once we've done that, it's hard to let go and accept that the person is, actually, human and fallible (and not always very nice - we tend to equate overcoming odds with being a "nice" person, and that's not always the case).
What I believe is that WE don't want to think that our heroes have done bad things because it makes US "wrong" for having idolized them in the first place. In my case, it started with OJ (not that I idolized him, but generally liked him as a player and personality at the time), then Lance. What I'm feeling is really not "about" them, it's more about me.
I hear you on all that but take the complete opposite view.
I guess I assume that elite sports is so competitive, the drive it takes to be the best of the best, means that most I the people who succeed are deep down jerks. In the same way it's been postulated that many CEOs are sociopaths.
As Green Day said, Nice Guys Finish Last.
Of all the lance allegations, the only one that never bothered me was that he was an arrogant, entitled, jerk. I would have assumed that from all the winning.
I distinguish between sports heroes and real heroes. An A-hole who can throw a ball isn't a hero, and we shouldn't be surprised when he turns out to be an A-hole.
exactly!
Is anyone surprised that either of the Williams sisters throw a snit fit when they lose a tennis match? No.
So why, then, are we surprised when other "nastiness" is revealed about other elite athletes?
CAW wrote:Is anyone surprised that either of the Williams sisters throw a snit fit when they lose a tennis match? No.
ian wrote:CAW wrote:Is anyone surprised that either of the Williams sisters throw a snit fit when they lose a tennis match? No.
For the record, it's only one of the sisters (Serena) that has a history of poor sportsmanship. The other one (Venus) is widely regarded as a complete class act. Ditto for their parents: the father tends to be a well-meaning boor while the mother has a wonderful sense of humanity and perspective.
From my perspective, there's a lot of truth both to what Lesley and Mike wrote. I'm in the middle somewhere. There are dozens of athletes that, time and time again, have conducted themselves with the utmost class, and as such, I find them easy to root for. I'm also open-minded enough to recognize that I can't know everything about another person (be they an athlete, a co-worker, a neighbor, etc.) and that my impressions can and will change in the future based on events or information that I don't know right now.
La wrote:ian wrote:CAW wrote:Is anyone surprised that either of the Williams sisters throw a snit fit when they lose a tennis match? No.
For the record, it's only one of the sisters (Serena) that has a history of poor sportsmanship. The other one (Venus) is widely regarded as a complete class act. Ditto for their parents: the father tends to be a well-meaning boor while the mother has a wonderful sense of humanity and perspective.
From my perspective, there's a lot of truth both to what Lesley and Mike wrote. I'm in the middle somewhere. There are dozens of athletes that, time and time again, have conducted themselves with the utmost class, and as such, I find them easy to root for. I'm also open-minded enough to recognize that I can't know everything about another person (be they an athlete, a co-worker, a neighbor, etc.) and that my impressions can and will change in the future based on events or information that I don't know right now.
Wise as always, ian.
QuickChick wrote:Interesting piece in the Star today: Why Oscar Pistorius will likely get off.
What do you think? I can't imagine living in a country that is under such paranoia all the time, so I'm not sure I buy it. The case will surely be interesting, though. Does anyone have firsthand knowledge of what it's like to live in South Africa?
Tisha wrote:QuickChick wrote:Interesting piece in the Star today: Why Oscar Pistorius will likely get off.
What do you think? I can't imagine living in a country that is under such paranoia all the time, so I'm not sure I buy it. The case will surely be interesting, though. Does anyone have firsthand knowledge of what it's like to live in South Africa?
Huh, the article has been removed.
Already some foreign observers are assuming that volleys of gunshots are just a normal part of life in this country, and that Mr. Pistorius reacted like any typical South African to the fear of crime. It’s an assumption that’s tempting but wrong.
Of course most middle-class South Africans take plenty of precautions against crime. Security alarms, barred windows and doors, high walls, electric fences and motion detectors are all popular. Yet even in the most dangerous cities, gun-wielding paranoia is not nearly as common as outsiders believe.
I’ve lived in Johannesburg, the most crime-ridden city in South Africa, for the past four years. I have dozens of friends in the city, and some have been victims of home invasions or burglaries, but none keeps a gun under the bed, let alone feels any desire to blast bullets through doors at the slightest sound.
Studies suggest that 12 per cent of South Africans own guns. It’s a relatively high percentage by global standards. But it still means that the vast majority of South Africans prefer not to have guns in their houses – mostly for safety reasons, since they realize how often guns can be stolen, misused, or accidentally fired.
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