David Carty's Homepage

David Ortiz is an American citizen, proving that 279 career home runs make you king of one nation, but a U.S. citizenship is worth so much more. It seems like such a simple thing, to be a U.S. citizen, but citizenship has to be earned...well, unless you were born here.

My colleague here at the Globe (note how I wrote colleague, though I've never met her personally) Yvonne Abraham wrote about her experiences with citizenship a few months ago, but other than the high profile candidates (see: #34), it's a rite of passage for so many to-be-Americans that is largely forgotten about and overlooked.

I feel like dis-citizenship should be equally as much a rite of passage for our nation. First up on my docket, Elijah Dukes, Pacman Jones, Paris Hilton, and Mike Tyson (just don't tell him I said so). Some people just don't deserve to have any freedoms whatsoever. Hell, all of these people have been arrested at least once. They gave up their right to be considered fully mentally-functional human beings long ago.
____________

A couple interesting articles from the New York Times today. One is a story about a family who basically had a giant scavanger hunt installed in their house. Excellent job by Penelope Green. Not only is this basically every kid's dream, but there's a nice touch of sentimentality there. The prize wasn't hidden treasure; it was a father's love...or whatever you want to say to make you throw up a little bit. I thought it was nice.

And another story that bewilders me to some degree. According to science (which can prove or disprove any theory in the known world), heterosexual women are more attracted to nude women than nude men.

I knew it! Actually, there are a few things that I find puzzling - and fucking hilarious - about this piece. Doesn't this seem like a bit of a sleazy operation? Was this conducted in the backseat of someone's dirty minivan or a one-bedroom apartment downtown? If it were conducted in some kind of labratory, I'd be shocked if any arousal whatsoever took place. I'm just curious to see how these test were conducted. I know they used a photoplethysmograph, which measures heart rate, respiration, and whatnot, but you'd think there would be more to this test. Either way, it just kind of reeks of creepyness. That being said, I'm glad there is being studies devoted to such an important topic, as opposed to stupid stem cell research or leukimia or something lame like that.
____________

Tim Donaghy keeps talking and now the game that everyone thought was rigged is back in our attention. While maybe not as offensive as the boy-band stylings featured by Scot Pollard and Hedo Turkoglu, this certainly poses at least as equal a threat as the hair fiasco of the late 90's/early 2000's.

The NBA has already lost a ton of credibility over this whole Donaghy thing. Each foul call is disputable 90% of the time, so when you throw a monkey-wrench into the situation, it turns the sport upside down. Now every official is under fire. How does this impact the way we view a sport struggling with credibility issues as it is? The NBA received an A in diversity, but fans still aren't relating to the big salaries and questionable decisions of some of the world's best basketballers. Luckily, the NBA got their dream matchup...but even THAT makes you think. If the NBA imposed their will in 2002, as Donaghy suggested, who's to say they didn't do it again in these playoffs? If this was an organic NBA finals matchup, it sure worked out pretty well for the NBA...makes you think.
____________

Yin and yang.

Trevor Linden (check out those Canucks threads on draft night), one of professional sports' all-time great guys in calling it quits.

While Milton Bradley, cleansed of his hunger for umpires, has advanced to menacing broadcasters. He really must've heard too many Parker brothers jokes as a kid...
____________

Wikipedia Randoms

Another soccer player. So far, this isn't quite as random as I thought it's be. Today, Suriya Domtaisong gets the call. He's on the Thailand national team as a striker. He also plays for Bangkok University. Come on, we all know at least one kid from high school who applied there as a joke. I hope it wasn't their only option.