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I've always been a fan of English Premier League (EPL) football (soccer, to North American fans), but I had no idea that it was such a lethal sport or that the players were not in as good condition as might be expected. 22-year-old Spanish midfielder Antonio Puerta collapsed during a game on Saturday of a heart attack and died Tuesday of multiple organ failure. A Zambian player, Chaswe Nsofwa, competing in the Israeli league, collapsed yesterday during a game and died shortly thereafter. In the good news department on this front, Leicester City defender Clive Clarke has made good progress after collapsing at half-time during a League Cup match on Tuesday night.
Why is it that soccer players seem to be subject to this sort of thing, and what does it say about the health requirements related to the sport and the sheer amount of stress that it puts on the players?
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A story earlier this week told of how HMV, one of the music retailers, is slashing prices in a last-ditch effort to save the music CD. To be honest, it's time folks in the music business woke up to reality. They charge way too much for CDs. I mean, how much does it cost to press out a CD and its packaging, something like 35 cents or so? So how can they charge so much to the consumer for such a cheap product, in some cases for an album that has been selling for 40 years or so? I think you should be able to buy anything released in the 1960s for $5.00 - after all, the artist has already made their money on it. Of course, if they want to compete with the digital market, then they have to make the CD a better product and more worthwhile, they have to give me something that digital can't.
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So, there you have my thoughts on a couple of news-related topics. Anyone got something to add about either of these?