Wednesday, June 30
Tuesday, June 29
Sunday, June 27
Monday, June 21
Sunday, June 20
Tuesday, June 15
Sunday, June 13
Thursday, June 10
Wednesday, June 9
Garbage ref...
Arthur Mercante Jr: The Bravest Referee in Boxing
By: Dave Cacciatore - Sometimes people make mistakes and the whole world finds out about it. Like when an oil company decides to drill in water that is too deep in the Gulf of Mexico with unsafe technology resulting in an explosion that kills eleven people and spills millions of gallons of crude across the sea. Sometimes people make mistakes and no one finds out about it. And other times people make mistakes, we all find out about it, but nothing catastrophic happens. This last category is where Arthur Mercante Jr’s performance in the Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto fight falls..
Was Yuri Foreman’s career ruined by Arthur Mercante Jr’s actions? No. Did he take serious punishment when the fight was extended? No. Did the fans have the opportunity to watch a few additional rounds of courageous boxing? Yes. But was Arthur Mercante Jr’s decision the right one? No.
Arthur Mercante Jr’s decision not to stop the fight was the wrong decision because it was about Arthur Mercante Jr and not about Yuri Foreman. Suddenly the attention of Yankee Stadium, the HBO audience, and the boxing public was on him, Artie Jr. With the focus being on Arthur Mercante Jr acting the part of the tough guy, the guy ordering people around, the guy keeping the fight going, the guy probably risking Yuri’s health.
It cannot be disputed that the rules allow a referee to disregard a towel thrown into a ring. But listen to what Mr. Mercante Jr says in his post fight interview with HBO and in subsequent interviews. “I overruled the trainer.” Mr. Mercante Jr makes it clear that he thought Yuri was giving a good account of himself in the ring and that therefore the fight should not have been stopped for that reason. This is not Arthur Mercante Jr executing his duties as an official with the primary charge of the safety of the fighters; this is Arthur substituting his judgment for that of the man who trained and knows Yuri Foreman, Joe Grier.
The question then becomes who is Arthur Mercante Jr to make such a decision? The answer is a man who made the same decision before with disastrous consequences. A man who did not learn from his mistakes. A man who watched another brave fighter named Beethaeven Scottland take round after round of abuse, so that the fans could watch a few more rounds of courageous boxing. The only difference is that time Beethaeven Scottland’s career was ruined and he was permanently injured.
It also needs to be said that while it is true Arthur Mercante Jr was free to disregard the towel, it is equally true that he was not free to disregard when Yuri Foreman’s corner stood up on the ring apron. That act is universally recognized as a disqualifying offense, regardless of who threw the towel, or who denied throwing the towel after the fact. And it shows that Mr. Mercante Jr’s decision had less to do with the proper execution of his job, or being a stickler to rules, and more to do with drawing eyes to his performance while doing his duties. It is why the scene in the ring at Yankee stadium was such an anomaly, when had you ever before seen a corner throw in a towel and go into the ring and the fight still continues?
In boxing like in government, harmony is dependent upon a separation of powers. Fighters fight, trainers train, referees ref, but the last two have the obligation to look after the safety of the fighter. And only the trainer is charged with charting strategy. This is because fighters do not have a history of looking out for themselves in the ring and fighters consent to being coached by their trainers. Brave champions like Yuri Foreman do not care about odds, about injuries, or about risks. Their mindset in the ring is monolithic, victory with costs to be measured out later.
Yuri Foreman was losing and in with the best opponent of his life, and that was before he injured his leg. Yuri has never has been renowned as a knockout puncher and had not shaken Cotto in the fight. The odds of him winning in the moments before the injury were bad and then after they were almost non-existent. The risk of injury to Foreman was also great fighting the biggest and most skilled puncher he has ever faced with an injured but undiagnosed leg that made even walking difficult. The risks were high the chance of rewards were low, but that did not matter because the bravest trainer in boxing was going to roll the dice again with a fighters health.
Tuesday, June 8
Sunday, June 6
I guess I'm a G then...
Florida stretch of I-95 deadliest highway in the nation; I-4 ranks No. 3
By Rick Stone and Luisa Yanez, The Miami Herald (MCT)
June 7, 2010
If driving on Interstate 95 makes you fear for your life, there's good reason.
Five years of highway fatality data have found that Florida's 382-mile stretch of the highway is the most dangerous road in the country, with the worst rate of fatal accidents, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
To determine a road's ranking, the Daily Beast website, using the federal agency's figures, broke each interstate into stretches within individual states. It tallied fatal accidents, rather than total fatalities, and then divided that by the number of miles of that state's stretch.
I-95's rate was 1.73 fatal accidents per mile in Florida for the five-year period from 2004 through 2008.
Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Alex Annunziato knows well the perils of I-95's always-busy Miami-Dade/Broward stretch. He largely blames driver distraction for many of the accidents.
Those distractions include cellphones and other technologies, such as video players and satellite navigation systems.
They would be bad enough on ordinary roads, Annunziato said. But on super-congested I-95, the dangers they pose are magnified.
"I think it's the volume coupled with the level of distraction that's present in the driving environment these days," he said. "That really is a recipe for what we've been seeing here."
Often, when he pulls drivers over, he gets a clear view of the level of their distraction event though they are rolling down a major expressway at 60-plus miles an hour.
"They're completely startled. You can absolutely see it when my lights come on. They just have this look of, "Where did this guy come from?" he said.
Annunziato said 12 years ago, when he was a young state trooper, enforcing the law on the local stretch of I-95 was no more difficult than being visible in his back and yellow cruiser. Everybody would slow down and obey the rules.
It's different today, he said.
"I get people passing me all the time. I see a lot of aggressive driving out there, a lot of lane-changing."
Fitting too many drivers onto one expressway, even up to 10 lanes wide in Broward and up to 12 lanes wide in Miami-Dade, is another reason I-95 is so dangerous. The Florida Department of Transportation admits traffic volume is a problem, but a spokeswoman says it's no longer possible to add lanes.
"We don't have the money to buy all those homes and all that right-of-way in order to add lanes to what's already there," she said.
"You may have an I-75 with the same number of lanes, but it doesn't service as many people, so you don't see as many accidents, although I-75 certainly has its own challenges," she said.
What can be done, Kelleher said, has been done already: Installing express lanes in Miami-Dade -- and eventually in Broward -- to separate long-haul drivers from short-range commuters, and using traffic signals at on-ramps so motorists don't all crowd onto the expressway at once.
America's 10 Deadliest Highways: 1. I-95, Florida
2. I-76, New Jersey
3. I-4, Florida
4. I-15, California
5. I-10, California
6. I-59, Louisiana
7. I-94, Illinois
8. I-93, Massachusetts
9. I-95, Delaware
10. I-55, Tennessee
SOURCE: The Daily Beast with data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
By Rick Stone and Luisa Yanez, The Miami Herald (MCT)
June 7, 2010
If driving on Interstate 95 makes you fear for your life, there's good reason.
Five years of highway fatality data have found that Florida's 382-mile stretch of the highway is the most dangerous road in the country, with the worst rate of fatal accidents, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
To determine a road's ranking, the Daily Beast website, using the federal agency's figures, broke each interstate into stretches within individual states. It tallied fatal accidents, rather than total fatalities, and then divided that by the number of miles of that state's stretch.
I-95's rate was 1.73 fatal accidents per mile in Florida for the five-year period from 2004 through 2008.
Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Alex Annunziato knows well the perils of I-95's always-busy Miami-Dade/Broward stretch. He largely blames driver distraction for many of the accidents.
Those distractions include cellphones and other technologies, such as video players and satellite navigation systems.
They would be bad enough on ordinary roads, Annunziato said. But on super-congested I-95, the dangers they pose are magnified.
"I think it's the volume coupled with the level of distraction that's present in the driving environment these days," he said. "That really is a recipe for what we've been seeing here."
Often, when he pulls drivers over, he gets a clear view of the level of their distraction event though they are rolling down a major expressway at 60-plus miles an hour.
"They're completely startled. You can absolutely see it when my lights come on. They just have this look of, "Where did this guy come from?" he said.
Annunziato said 12 years ago, when he was a young state trooper, enforcing the law on the local stretch of I-95 was no more difficult than being visible in his back and yellow cruiser. Everybody would slow down and obey the rules.
It's different today, he said.
"I get people passing me all the time. I see a lot of aggressive driving out there, a lot of lane-changing."
Fitting too many drivers onto one expressway, even up to 10 lanes wide in Broward and up to 12 lanes wide in Miami-Dade, is another reason I-95 is so dangerous. The Florida Department of Transportation admits traffic volume is a problem, but a spokeswoman says it's no longer possible to add lanes.
"We don't have the money to buy all those homes and all that right-of-way in order to add lanes to what's already there," she said.
"You may have an I-75 with the same number of lanes, but it doesn't service as many people, so you don't see as many accidents, although I-75 certainly has its own challenges," she said.
What can be done, Kelleher said, has been done already: Installing express lanes in Miami-Dade -- and eventually in Broward -- to separate long-haul drivers from short-range commuters, and using traffic signals at on-ramps so motorists don't all crowd onto the expressway at once.
America's 10 Deadliest Highways: 1. I-95, Florida
2. I-76, New Jersey
3. I-4, Florida
4. I-15, California
5. I-10, California
6. I-59, Louisiana
7. I-94, Illinois
8. I-93, Massachusetts
9. I-95, Delaware
10. I-55, Tennessee
SOURCE: The Daily Beast with data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Saturday, June 5
Friday, June 4
Tuesday, June 1
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