Break It Down!: September 2015

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Act III: Baseball Enters The Game

It's time to Break It Down!

It was bound to happen. I’ve written about what was at the time a totally new thing when the NBA hired its first female coach. Then, football entered the game, so to speak. It was almost certainly only a matter of time before a third member of America’s Big 4 sports franchises took a seat at the table. Sure enough, the inevitable transpired when Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland A’s and Justine Siegal made MLB history yesterday, as the Oakland Athletics announced she would serve as a guest instructor for their Instructional League club, making her the first woman to coach in big league history.

On July 29, 2015 I wrote:

“Jennifer Welter was hired as a training camp and preseason coaching intern for the inside linebackers position for the National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals. The signing made her the first female coach in the NFL.”

On July 22, 2015 I wrote:

“Coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurts made Ms. Hammon the NBA’s first full-time Regular Season female Assistant Coach on August 5, 2014. It was clear at that time she had cultivated a history with the Spurs, and that she had established a relationship with both Coach Popovich and a number of Spurs’ players. Other women had served in support roles, one as an Assistant during the Summer League, and another as a Volunteer Assistant during the Regular Season. Hammon, however, assumed full coaching responsibilities, and traveled with the team.

On Monday evening, Ms. Hammon led the Spurs to the Championship of the Vegas Summer League, as the Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns 93-90. By doing so, she became the feature attraction in yet another chapter in the annals of history, after having added one just two weeks ago, when she became the first woman to serve as Head Coach of an NBA Summer League Team. The Spurs lost their first Summer League game to the NY Knicks, but rallied from that point, winning the rest of their games, including in the end, persevering in a hotly contested Title Game.

On August 6, 2014 I wrote:

“But that’s a tale that will not be told until next spring. Apparently, the Spurs wanted to make a statement now, and that they did. Yesterday, they announced the hiring of Rebecca (Becky) Hammon as an Assistant Coach. In doing so, they made her the first female to become a full-time Regular Season Assistant Coach in the League. This year, Natalie Nakase, an assistant video coordinator for the Clippers, was hired to help run the Summer League. Also, during the 2001-02 Season, when John Lucas coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lisa Boyer served as a Volunteer Assistant with the Cavs. However, Ms. Boyer did not travel with the team. In contrast, Hammon will operate in the capacity of a full-time Assistant, and will travel with the team.

Hammon, a veteran WNBA player had already announced her retirement, slated for the end of the WNBA Season. As a member of the San Antonio Stars, she and the Spurs were already familiar with each other. In fact, she had previously worked with the Spurs; a key factor in Coach Popovich’s comfort level with her. CNN reported that Popovich, in speaking of Hammon said:

"I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff." Having observed her working with our team this past season, I'm confident her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs."”

Today it’s Major Leaguer Baseball’s turn to grab a proverbial 15 minutes of fame for its foray into the world of female coaching hires. At first blush, it appears they are doing a fine job, and that they have selected an excellent candidate. Dr. Siegal, who has a Ph.D. in Sport and Exercise Psychology, has completed the Major League Scouting Bureau School. As a rookie coach, she will assume a slate of duties that includes an array of responsibilities, including, hitting infield practice, throwing batting practice, offering her knowledge in meetings, and, as she says, “helping out wherever they want me to help out.”

Dr. Siegal went on to say:

"And I do like talking about life skills—I like to help people achieve their life goals."

Siegal, became the first woman to coach men professionally in 2009 when she was the first-base coach for the independent league Brockton Rox. She will work with A’s minor-leaguers from Oct. 4 through Oct. 17.

Her hiring continues an upward trend for women in men's professional sports. The San Antonio Spurs’ hired Becky Hammon as an assistant coach, and she led the Spurs' summer league team to a championship this past July. This summer the Sacramento Kings followed suit by hiring Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman to serve as an assistant under head coach George Karl.

At the moment it appears that Siegal's situation is best compared to that of Dr. Jen Welter, who served as a coaching intern with the Arizona Cardinals during training camp. Like Welter, Siegal was not hired for a permanent position but as temporary help during a time when a team needs all hands on deck.

A’s Assistant General Manager David Forst put it this way:

"Justine knows that nothing has been promised, but we're not ruling that out," referring to a full-time position.

For her part, Dr. Siegal responded:

“I think it would be incredible to coach full-time.” But for now, I’ll do my best every day to help out any way I can, from carrying water to throwing BP to using my Ph.D.”

When questioned about the potential reaction of the A’s minor-league players, Mr. Forst believes they will be as accepting of Siegal as they would be of any other coach. He added:

“I’ve found from experience that men are surprised to have a woman coach, but when they realize you know what you’re talking about and that you care, you fit right in with the rest of the staff.”

Siegal has served as co-chair of SABR’s Women in Baseball Committee and she directs a program that champions gender equity in sport for Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society. She is the founder of Baseball For All, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing instruction and opportunity in baseball, especially for girls; Baseball For All will hold a national event for girls aged 7-15 in San Francisco in July.

The A’s are one of a handful of teams to have employed a woman in a scouting capacity in the front office; Kate Greenthal was a scouting assistant with the team from 2012 through ’14. Former A’s assistant GM Farhan Zaidi, now the Dodgers’ GM, is one of the few Muslims in baseball administration, and Oakland’s director of player personnel, Billy Owens, is African American.

That leaves the NHL as the only major professional sports league that has not had a female coach. The Athletics previously employed Kate Greenthal in their scouting department from 2012 to 2014, and this hire shows they're still among the most progressive organizations in baseball. Even if Siegal's just a guest instructor, this is progress worth celebrating and, hopefully, a sign of things to come.

So there you have it, “Act III: Baseball Enters the Game!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

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Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2573727-justine-siegal-hired-by-athletics-becomes-1st-female-mlb-coach

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/07/29/jens-turn-apparently-its-in-the-cards/

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/07/22/the-spurs-and-becky-hammon-another-chapter-added/

(http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2014/08/first-spurs-won-title-now-they-are.html)

http://www.sfgate.com/athletics/article/Oakland-A-s-hire-woman-coach-Justine-Siegal-to-6538183.php

http://www.mercurynews.com/athletics/ci_28896649/make-justine-siegal-first-female-coach

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/09/29/justine-siegal-oakland-athletics-female-coach

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/09/29/as-make-justine-siegal-first-female-coach-hired-by-mlb-team/

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2015-09-29/athletics-hire-justine-siegal-female-coah-oakland-baseball-mlb

http://www.insidebayarea.com/athletics/ci_28896649/make-justine-siegal-first-female-coach

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Capitalism: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly!

It's time to Break It Down!

Words matter; any number of words can be used to signify the Pathos of American culture. However, perhaps none does so more aptly than Capitalism. It is arguably, the spirit, zest, and emotion that propel us to so frequently achieve greatness. There are most certainly terms that better reflect the American Ethos, and our sometimes, slippery connection to communal ethics. In addition, we can point to more poignant vessels to accurately capture the Logos that is the essence of the way we in America reason. Today’s word, however, is Capitalism, so perhaps we will examine those other elements of persuasion at another time.

In this election season especially, a number of politicians are poised to place an extra fine point on the distinction between Capitalism and other primary systems of organizing and managing government’s economies. The term Capitalist means owner of capital. Capitalism is an economic system that emphasizes that trade, industry, and the means of production are largely or entirely privately owned and operated for profit. Central characteristics include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor and, in some situations, fully competitive markets. In a capitalist economy, the parties to a transaction typically determine the prices at which they exchange assets, goods, and services.

The degree of competition, the role of intervention and regulation, and the scope of state ownership vary across different models of capitalism. These models include laissez-faire or free market capitalism, welfare capitalism, crony capitalism, corporatism, "third way" social democracy and state capitalism.

The American Way, purists will insist, is punctuated by free enterprise. At its core, in a free enterprise system, business is governed by the laws of supply and demand; not restrained by government interference, regulation or subsidy. This apparatus is also referred to as free market.

The American combination of Capitalism and Free Enterprise is considered to be one of the most successful economic experiments in the history of the world. The United States is the world's largest national economy, representing 22% of nominal global GDP and 17% of global GDP (PPP). The United States' GDP was estimated to be $18.124 trillion as of Q2 2015. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions and is the world's foremost reserve currency. Several countries use it as their official currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. The United States has a mixed economy and has maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a moderate unemployment rate, and high levels of research and capital investment. Its seven largest trading partners are Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

The US has abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. It has the world's ninth-highest per capita GDP (nominal) and tenth-highest per capita GDP (PPP) as of 2013. Americans have the highest average household and employee income among OECD nations, and in 2010 had the fourth highest median household income, down from second highest in 2007. It has been the world's largest national economy (not including colonial empires) since at least the 1890s. It’s abundantly clear that our national economic bona fides are firmly entrenched and indelibly established.

The numbers are not just staggering on a macro level. The United States, not surprisingly, also has a number of incredibly wealthy individuals. Our Country has more billionaires than any other. As of 2015, the U.S. was home to more than twice as many billionaires, 536, as the second closest Country, People’s Republic of China, 213. In fact, to sharpen the focus to an even higher degree, the State of California has more billionaires than every Country, except China and the U.S.

California spawned 23 new billionaires over the past year, bringing its total count to 131 — or nearly a quarter of America’s 10-digit club. It not only has more billionaires than any other U.S. state, but also tops Germany, India, Russia and the UK. In fact, if California were a country, it would be home to the third-highest number of billionaires in the world, surpassed only by the United States and China. California’s billionaires own a combined $560.1 billion in wealth, which is more than the GDP of 49 countries, including Argentina, Poland and Taiwan. All in all, it is fair to say, that is good.

Not surprisingly, the United States is home to the world’s wealthiest man. In 2014, Bill Gates, the Microsoft Tech Titan, was the world’s richest man, according to Forbes. As of July 2015, Gates remains at the top of the list.

While you have undoubtedly heard of Bill Gates, the name of a very wealthy man that has bludgeoned its way into the consciousness of Americans this week is Martin Shkreli. He is the CEO of a company known as Turing Pharmaceuticals, which bought the 62-year-old drug called Daraprim in August of this year. The company immediately raised the price of one pill from $13.50 to $750. Just for the record, I’ll submit, that is bad.

This increase drew protests in the medical community from those concerned that many patients will no longer be able to afford the drug. According to Mr. Shkreli, however, the move is simply a smart business decision.

"Why was it necessary to raise the price of Daraprim so drastically?" CBS News correspondent Don Dahler asked Shkreli.

"Well, it depends on how you define so drastically. Because the drug was unprofitable at the former price, so any company selling it would be losing money. And at this price it's a reasonable profit. Not excessive at all," Shkreli responded.

Daraprim was developed in 1953 as a treatment for toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by a parasite. It comes from eating under-cooked meat or drinking contaminated water, and affects those with compromised immune systems, like AIDS and cancer patients.

As one might imagine, there were stark economic repercussions stemming from Mr. Shkreli’s “reasonable profit” motive. When Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim to $750 per tablet, the average cost of treatment for patients rose from about $1,130 to $63,000. For certain patients, the cost can go as high as $634,000.

While Shkreli acknowledged that the move might look "greedy," he said there are "a lot of altruistic properties to it."

"This is a disease where there hasn't been one pharmaceutical company focused on it for 70 years. We're now a company that is dedicated to the treatment and cure of toxoplasmosis. And with these new profits we can spend all of that upside on these patients who sorely need a new drug, in my opinion," he added.

Oncologist and CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus disagreed.

"Patients shouldn't be taxed and charged for future research and development. Patients should pay for the drug they're getting and what they need in the situation that they are" Agus said.

"It's predatory practice and it's inappropriate," he added.

The topic entered the political debate on Monday, with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeting: "Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous."

Her rival Bernie Sanders sent a letter to Shkreli demanding information on the price increase and called the rate hike "...the latest in a long list of skyrocketing price increases for certain critical medications."

Sanders and Congressman Elijah Cummings have been investigating drugs that have seen jumps in prices.

Suffice it to say, Mr. Shkreli got the message. The 32-years-old has been called everything from a boy genius to a vulture. Take your pick, but one thing the wealthy Capitalist is not is slow on the uptick.

Turing’s increasing the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 a pill represented an increase of over 5,500%. Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton generously called that drug "price gouging." OK, you knew it was coming; that is ugly!

The Daily Beast declared Shkreli the "most-hated man in America," surpassing the dentist who killed Cecil the Lion.

Mr. Shkreli insists he has heard the outcry.

"We've agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a price that is more affordable," Shkreli said on ABC World News Tonight.

He didn't say what that "affordable" price would be, but stressed that the company already gives away the drug for free to about half the patients who use it and that Turing plans to expand its charitable drug program.

In a somewhat ironic confluence of circumstances, Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio), the former Cardinal of Buenos Aires, and the 266^th Roman Catholic Pope is visiting the United States this week, week stops scheduled in Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York. While there is no real expectation that Pope Francis will delve into or weigh in on Shkreli-gate, the Pontiff is a well-known critic of Capitalism.

In fact, this Pope’s Socialist posture, and his affinity for an array of issues including Climate Change/Global Warming, Restoration of formal Cuban-American relations, abolition of the death penalty, and a duty to the poor and marginalized has resulted in many Conservative politicians, a number of whom are seeking the GOP Nomination for the Presidency, to openly state their opposition to positions taken by the Pope. This just heightens the irony for a number of folks who happen to be Catholic, but do not bond with the 266^th Pope.

Neatly summarized, there you have it…”Capitalism:The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitalism

http://www.investorwords.com/2085/free_enterprise.html

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-capitalism-and-free-enterprise?share=1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Shkreli

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/21/martin-shkreli-is-big-pharma-s-biggest-asshole.html

http://www.salon.com/2015/09/22/martin_shkreli_on_his_altruistic_motives_im_a_capitalist_i_want_to_create_a_big_drug_company/

http://gawker.com/pharmaceutical-greed-villain-martin-shkreli-will-fight-1732104723

http://www.turingpharma.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_the_number_of_US_dollar_billionaires

http://www.forbes.com/sites/katiasavchuk/2015/03/04/california-has-more-billionaires-than-every-country-except-the-u-s-and-china/

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Next On Deck The Apprentice II: Otherwise Known As The GOP Debates

It's time to Break It Down!

Almost everyone I know well who purports to follow politics avers that they believe the Donald Trump phenomenon will eventually dissipate, evaporate, or in some form or fashion, just go away. I should amend that statement to note I have not had this conversation with persons who admit to being Republicans. Therefore, it is certainly not meant to be representative of how a typical Republican feels about the situation.

Nevertheless, if that affirmation proves to be an eventuality, it surely cannot come too soon for the GOP Establishment, nor for the other GOP Presidential candidates, regardless of whether they consider themselves to be a part of the Establishment. Three weeks ago I wrote a post discussing the conundrum that the Republican Party faces in dealing with Mr. Trump and the immigration issue (http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/08/26/the-team-gop-conundrum-trumping-the-immigration-issue/).

The bigger story, undoubtedly, is that it is not just the Club Leader’s position on immigration that is troubling to the Party hierarchy. It’s his deep pockets money stream; his prickly, mercurial, unpredictable nature, it’s his penchant for “counterpunching” anyone with the temerity or effrontery to take him on in mano a mano terms.

The first 2015 GOP Presidential Debate was held six weeks from tomorrow on August 6^th at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. I wrote about the pending festivities on August 5^th (http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/08/05/and-then-there-were-10-lets-get-ready-to-rumble/).

The abundance of contestants for the GOP Nomination, in concert with predetermined Party Rules, resulted in a split debate format for the first Debate. The schematic consisted of 7 candidates appearing in what amounted to the Early Show, and the remaining 10 candidates appearing at the Prime Time event later that evening.

This evening’s Debate will operate in a format slightly altered from the first contest. It will convene at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Semi Valley, California. At 6:00 p.m., 4 candidates, down from 7, will appear in the first session. Those individuals are George Pataki, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, and Lindsey Graham. CNN amended the Debate Criteria by adding this caveat:

"In the event that any candidate is polling in the top 10 in an average of approved national polls released between August 7th and September 10th, we will add those candidates to our top tier debate, even if those candidates did not poll in the top 10 in an average of approved national polls between July 16th and September 10^th.”

This change opened the door for Carly Fiorina to be promoted to the main stage. Rick Perry suspended his campaign, and therefore dropped out of the field. Jim Gilmore failed to attain the necessary threshold for inclusion.

That means the Prime Time Show expanded from 10 to 11 participants. The post-debate polls, which were used to determine the participants, were also used to determine the order that the candidates would appear on stage. Trump will anchor the center of the stage for the 8:00 p.m. debate, flanked by Carson to his right and Bush to his left. Walker, Fiorina, Kasich and Christie, in that order, will stand to Bush’s left, while Cruz, Rubio, Huckabee and Paul will appear to Carson’s right.

Up to this moment in the campaign, which many experts continue to insist is still early, The Donald has been the straw that has stirs the GOP Presidential Candidates’ Drink. There is a fair amount of speculation that a number of the candidates may actually try to gain traction by attacking Donald Trump. This has been a largely unsuccessful, and in some cases fatal flaw in strategy for those with the gumption to try it. See Rick Perry, who no longer lists himself among active candidates, and Lindsey Graham, whose campaign has appeared to limp along.

One of the next, certain to take up the gauntlet is Bobby Jindal. Governor Jindal wrote an Op-Ed that appeared on CNN’s website yesterday, in which he lambasted Donald Trump as, among other things, “a madman who must be stopped.” Are you ready yet?

So in the Apprentice, Donald Trump ran the show. When a contestant didn’t live up to his lofty standard, Trump would with great fanfare and bluster utter the phrase, “You’re fired!” It will be interesting to see if Trump tweets some scathing message about/to Jindal between now and the Debate this evening, or whether he will take the opportunity to launch a broadside attack (he likes to say he only counter punches) during the Debate.

Here’s the opening salvo from Jindal’s CNN commentary:

President Trump today announced that the first season of "The Apprentice: White House Edition" will air on CBS this fall. Contestants, including Gary Busey, Ted Cruz and Kanye West, will vie for Cabinet positions. The announcement came as the newly renamed "Hair Force One" touched down in South Dakota for the unveiling of President Trump's face on Mount Rushmore. Meanwhile, first lady Melania had reason to celebrate as her White House-branded perfume, Trump, by Trump, hit Macy's shelves ...

No, this is not a story from The Onion. It's a vision of our future. The only people who would enjoy a Trump presidency are Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert. The jokes write themselves. The jokes, as he said, will write themselves.

Jindal is clearly desperately seeking a breakout moment. So much so that he did not limit his targets to Mr. Trump. What Right Wing/Tea Party diatribe would be complete without a nod to President Obama? Definitely this one, by Governor Jindal, will not be the first. To further shore up his macho Trump imitation bona fides, he said:

“The liberalism and incompetence of the Obama administration have pushed us to the edge of a socialist abyss.”

In analyzing The Donald, Jindal proclaims not only that he will never be President, but that his nomination would be tantamount to delivering the White House to Mrs. Clinton, at least in part because he is sure to self-destruct in a general election. Apparently, Trump is venom and he (Jindal) has the antidote.

He insists that everyone knows Trump is not the answer, but…no one has the courage to say so…except him. He noted that he said last week:

“Donald Trump is a shallow, unserious, substance-free, narcissistic egomaniac. It's pointless arguing policy with someone not intellectually curious enough to care and who makes it up on the fly. According to him, his plans will be "fabulous" and "something terrific. His problem with Washington isn't big government, it's that he's not running it. He's not liberal, moderate or conservative. He's not Republican or Democrat. Donald Trump is for Donald Trump. He believes only in himself.”

Jindal did eventually concede that Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, and the aforementioned “no longer a candidate,” Rick Perry called out Trump for lacking adherence to conservative values. Alas, it was a fruitless gambit because Trump is not a conservative. He panned Ted Cruz for “clinging to Trump like a limpet to an oil tanker, hoping to suck up his votes when Trump eventually sinks.” Senator Cruz may be hoping to jet with Trump’s votes, should he falter, or he may be making space for a Trump Cruz ticket, but it’s not likely he and Bobby will be making up anytime soon.

Showtime is 8:00 p.m. There may be more histrionics and fireworks when the lights come up. In fact, I’d say you could depend on it. Put the kids to bed early, get the beer and you popcorn. It’s about to on and poppin’. “Next on Deck The Apprentice II: Otherwise Known As the GOP Debates!”

I’m done; holla back!