“Tanking” is quite possibly the most bizarre and counterintuitive concept in the strange world of professional sports. In North America, a franchise system is used rather than the promotion/relegation system commonly found in Europe, where, for example, the three worst performing teams are replaced by the three best performing teams by the league below every year. In North American leagues such as the NBA, there are a fixed number of franchises, and no matter how poorly managed and dysfunctional a team is, there is no danger of said team being forced out of the league. In fact, bad teams in North American leagues are often rewarded for their poor performance.
Category: OpEds
Mon père, mon héros (ou pas)
L’année 2020 m’a offert un père. Enfant d’un divorce compliqué, nos relations ont toujours été sporadiques. Un mois par ci, deux par là, la récolte est maigre. Mais voilà que, depuis le confinement, je vis chez mon père, découvrant ainsi la figure paternelle absente de mon enfance. Continue reading “Mon père, mon héros (ou pas)”
What is to Be Observed from the Ceremony of the Double Tenth Day?
On October 10, 1911 in Wuchang, one of the three cities of the conurbation of Wuhan, revolutionaries started a revolt that later led to the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, and China’s two thousand years of imperial rule with it. The Republic of China (ROC), the régime founded afterwards, set this date as the national day, popularly known as the Double Tenth Day. As most national days in the world, the Double Tenth Day became an important event employed by politicians to make political gestures in Taiwan, the island that formally embodies the régime of ROC. So, what is to be observed? Continue reading “What is to Be Observed from the Ceremony of the Double Tenth Day?”
What Next?
Even after COVID-19, experts believe that social distancing and other safety measures may become the norm. Their rather alarming speculation is that these measures may become more necessary than precautionary. Continue reading “What Next?”
L’autre effet du coronavirus: le racisme anti-asiatique s’amplifie en France
« Coronavirus! Ching chong! »
C’est ce que j’ai entendu après m’être raclé la gorge. Il faisait encore assez froid en ce début du mois de mars, et je me souviens que le premier cas de coronavirus venait d’être détecté dans le département de la Seine-Maritime. J’étais en train de rentrer chez moi après une soirée, marchant sur le pont entre Les Docks et la gare du Havre. Derrière moi, quatre garçons, âgés d’environ 11 ou 12 ans, répétaient ces mots. Il faisait sombre, et je ne voyais personne d’autre qu’eux. Continue reading “L’autre effet du coronavirus: le racisme anti-asiatique s’amplifie en France”
Le Dragon Déchaîné 