Thursday, September 01, 2005

how pomposity can get in the way of generosity

stuff like this really gets under my skin :

serena williams announced that, with every ace she serves, she will donate $100 to the hurricane relief fund.

i think she's doing a nice thing. don't get me wrong. but why does it have to be a bet? she's got more money than god. why not just pick a nice sizeable number to donate and then double it? why does her much needed donation depend on whether her opponents can return serve? that's so completely egocentric.

seriously, just donate a chunk of money and play your damn game.

and it's not just her. we'll be hearing all about this type of stuff for katrina aid or for anything else that goes on.

in fact, there's something called "strike out cancer", in which for every strikeout thrown by a giants pitcher at home, a company named genetech will make a $200 donation. how about just making one very large friggin donation? the giants have one strikeout pitcher in their rotation, and their fireballing reliever has been hurt all year. why does cancer research have to be punished because the giants have had soft throwers like kirk reuter in their rotation? hey, as long as it gets the company's name in the paper and there's a nice logo on the right field wall, who cares?

enough with the games already. just donate.

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