Originally written by Adrian on 19 Jul 2004.
Okay, I am going to say something that no one else has the balls to say: I’m sick of Lance Armstrong. Yes, I am tired of everyone’s hero, and I am not afraid to say it. Don’t get me wrong, I know Lance is a great athlete and has come back from cancer to dominate cycling, but I am sick of having him shoved down my throat. People say we have to love Lance, but I don’t see why I have to love him when I only want to appreciate him.

Look, I’m not trying to bring Lance down, I’m just saying that there is no reason to place him on an elevated pedestal like he’s some sort of god. He’s just an athlete, not a hero. I mean, he’s a friggin’ cyclist for crying out loud! And honestly, how many of us really care about cycling?

Originally written by George on 20 Jul 2004.
Obesity, according to Medicare, is now classified as an official “disease.” This means that anyone eligible for Medicare can receive virtually free treatments for their obesity (read: liposuction, gastric bypass surgeries and so on). Who will be paying for these so-called “free” treatments, which can cost around $40,000 for a gastric bypass (according to NY Times) and even more in the event of complications? Taxpayers of course! And don’t think this will stop with Medicare. Many other relevant organizations are thinking about defining obesity as a disease, leading to a lot of money out of taxpayers’ and insurees’ pockets. (I don’t know if insurees is a word)

I don’t mind a tax hike when it is for a legitimate reason, but this is ridiculous. I do not want to pay for someone who was too lazy to take care of themselves to get expensive surgery. Obesity is not a disease. It doesn’t just creep up on you and surprise you. You don’t go to bed one night, perfectly healthy, then wake up the next day with a huge gut and realize that you must have caught obesity.

Originally written by George on 30 Jul 2004.
As the Democratic National Convention wraps up, I thought I would quickly make note of what I observed. First, the good things.

I think it was a brilliant decision to select John Edwards as his running mate. At first, I really wasn’t sure whether or not it would be wise to pick someone who had already been torn apart in the primaries, but I really think this will unify Democrats behind them. I also think Kerry’s speech was very well written, and I was feeling pretty excited after listening to it. Kerry’s platform is really starting to appeal to me, more and more as time has gone on, and I think the speech laid it out well enough.

This picture really scares me, but I’m still voting for the guy.

Now, on to the bad things. Kerry needs to relax when he’s up there and just enjoy the crowd. When people are chanting your name, don’t hush them! Enjoy it for a while! Of course, if it goes on forever, then attempting to get them to quiet down is ok, but don’t hush people the second they chant your name. Kerry seemed really eager to get on with the speech with as little crowd disruption as possible. Or maybe that was just how I felt, but he didn’t seem very comfortable with the extremely supportive crowd.

Originally written by Guest Article on 30 Jul 2004.
On the rushing of Kerry’s speech, he was trying to finish it up before prime-time coverage ended…I personally think he shouldve just made it shorter, but thats just me. I personally thought his and Edwards’ speeches could have been a lot stronger, to me, they were filled with hypocricy. The biggest thing that stuck out in my mind was Edwards’ statement that you shouldn’t “judge a man’s values on his tv commercials, but on what he’s spent his life doing…John Kerry voluntered to go to Vietnam…” ok…does no one else see something stupid about that? Kerry was in Vietnam for FOUR MONTHS; that hardly constitutes spending one’s entire life doing something. In fact, what has John kerry been doing the last 20 years? Voting for the extreme liberal agenda in the Senate (as proven by his #1 most liberal voting record)…yet his commercials and this convention are trying to portray him as a moderate, even trying to be MORE conservative when it comes to “fiscal responsibility” and national defense…hmmm, so ok, what Edwards is saying is that we shouldn;t listen to a word theyve been saying recently, and just look at his senate record? If I were a democrat, I’d be pissed at that statement of his, but that’s just me.

Originally written by Marcus on 01 Aug 2004.
As a native Bostonian, I feel it is my duty to talk about the tremendous trade that sent Nomar “Nomah” Garciaparra packin to Chi town. Now Nomah is one of the best shortstops in baseball and most beloved people in New England behind John Kerry and Tom Brady. You would think that Bostonians, such as myself would be sad to see him go. But that is not necessarily the case.

Since the heart crushing loss in Game 7 of the ALCS to the Yankees, Nomah has not exactly been a happy camper. He was welcoming the trade rumors between he and A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez, not Axelrod). He seemed almost all too willing to leave this cursed team and the angry fans. But he stayed. And then he got hurt in spring training and had to miss the first month or so of the season. And what happened in that first month, the Red Sox were in first. Now im not saying the Sox were better with Nomah hurt, but this obviously showed the Sox don’t need him.