Cheers and Jeers

Cheers to Sports Illustrated for including in their 2007 Pictures of the Year issue, a couple of photos that remind us what sports are supposed to be all about. Nestled in with photos of the NBA finals, Cal at Oregon and Manny flinging himself toward second base (yeah, it really happened) are a photo of kids in Shanxi Province, China playing ping pong on a table made from brick piles and a concrete slab, using cardboard for paddles. Another photo captures kids in Mogadishu playing pick-up soccer adjacent to war-torn areas of the city. The photos, interspersed with all of those involving the ubiquitous twins of sports--big money and big egos--just kind of make you stop and ponder the real meaning, the real beauty, of athletic competition. (I'll post the photos as soon as I can find them)

Big Fat Jeers to The Forward for the following blurb:
When he’s not on the set filming a soon-to-be blockbuster hit, or traveling to Africa to adopt impoverished children, superstar Brad Pitt might be found in New Orleans, where he’s promoting “Make It Right.”

Now, how would that sound if it said, "When he's not filming..., or incessantly impregnating his wife..."? Hellooo? He and Angelina have ONE child from Africa, so even if it could be argued that a certain blogger is being all militant about adoption language, the statement is still factually incorrect in implying that he's just constantly jetting to Africa to pick up "impoverished" kids. Not to mention that his biological daughter was born in Africa. Why no mention of that? The whole thing is just one big offensive paragraph that leapt out wildly to me and other parents via adoption I asked to read it. I think what set us off was the flip tone, like, 'when he's not waxing his car, buying groceries and adopting impoverished kids" as if it's either a job or a hobby. Boo to you, Forverts, for being so cluelessly ridiculously offensive.

There, now I feel better.