Football – the American Gladiatorial Game

American football culture is a unique phenomenon of U.S. The game originates from Rugby and has evolved over the last 100 years to its current form. Players actually have not been using their feet all that much beyond running since forward pass from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage was allowed in 1933, The game is played by kids as young as 5 years old (see e.g. Pop Warner) through college and universities. It also has a successful and highly profitable professional association NFL (National Football League) that is currently consisted of 32 teams across the country that are further divided into two conferences – AFC (American Football Conference) and NFC (National Football Conference). Each conference has four 4-team divisions (North, East, South and West). Depending on the measure you use, it can be considered the most popular sport in America with stadiums of capacity ranging from approximate 50 thousands to almost 90 thousands seats. It is a huge commercial business; each team is valued at about $0.5-1B with Television Networks bidding and paying over $3B annually in total to gain just the rights to broadcast NFL games alone. It is certainly one of the most watched entertainment programs on TV!

I got curious and became interested in watching American football games while I was attending the graduate school. Living near the U.C. Berkeley football stadium and many fraternity houses during my first year in U.S., one can’t help but noticing the noises, the crowds and parties from the neighborhoods before, during, and after the Saturday games through the fall. Media coverage of the legendary NFL Oakland Raiders of the 70’s at the next door certainly helped to generate further interest with a sense of association by proximity. After moving to the east coast, cheering for the “home town” San Francisco 49ers led by Bill Walsh and Joe Montana was a no-brainer in the 80’s as it would give some bragging rights in sports conversations by default.

Make no mistakes, professional American football is the ultimate capitalism sport and is not for faint hearted. It scales – up to 90 thousand fans physically in the stadium plus millions in front of the TV. It epitomizes the ultimate industrialization of the society: specialization of the functions and tight integration through sophisticated processes and peripherals together produce an extremely efficient cartel. The player functions and positions are divided into offense, defense, and special units which are played at different circumstances. Offense is made up with 11 players in 5 distinct roles – Offensive Line, Quarterback, Running Backs, Wide Receivers, and Tight Ends. Defense is made up with 11 players in 3 roles – Defensive Line, Line Backers, and Defensive Backs (Corner Backs or Safeties). On the other hand, the special team has jobs like Kicker, Holder, Kick Returner, Punter, etc. to handle everything else beyond the offense/defense units duels. Players are tested, drafted, recruited, traded, groomed, and placed into particular positions competitively depending on how close an individual approximates the optimal physical and mental characteristics of that particular position. You can get a feel for their amazing talents and capabilities by watching a part of the CBS 60 Minutes interview with San Diego Charger’s LaDainian Tomlinson, a superstar Running Back.

Of course, having a bunch of super athletes optimized for each position is not sufficient by itself. Strategies, creativities, and executions with rigorous practices is crucial as well. It is not unusual that each team’s playbook has tens or hundreds of plays, completed with high tech and back up storage and communication devices. The goal of the team is simple enough – moving down the field towards to opponent’s end zone to score more points than the opponent before the end of the game, by touch down/conversion, field goal, or touch back.

Professional American football is in some ways the modern day Gladiator entertainment – win or die if you are a player, cheers/boos and bet if you are a spectator. The average weight and height of NFL players today is about 250 lbs and over 6 ft with offensive lineman on the high side, average over 300 lbs and 6’3’’. It is a collision sport with extremely physical force – hitting each other is a part of the game and you can almost hear the bone crushing sound in some of the contacts. LaDainian Tomlinson mentioned in his interview that (as a running back) playing a game is equivalent to experiencing through a car wreck. The NFL player career length averages is about 3.5 seasons with an average annual salary of about $1M with a large variance.

Over a decade ago, I had chances to be at the 80 thousand seats New York Giant Stadium (which is physically in New Jersey, go figure!) for kids’ high school events. The feeling was surreal: as I stood in the field and looked up to the voluminous bowl shaped seats, I suddenly realized the 120 yards by 50+ yards football field is much bigger than you see through TV cameras or the cheaper seats up in the stadium, and yet at the same time, I felt I was much bigger than my actual physical size. Only then I began to appreciate and could imagine how the players (and for the matter, the gladiators two thousand years ago) might be feeling emotionally when over 50 thousand fans stand on their feet and cheer on thunderously off the top of their lungs.

This season’s NFL Super Bowl XLII will be kicked off at 6:20 p.m. EST in Arizona on Sunday Feb 3rd. New England Patriots will beat New York Giants 38 to 20 to complete its undefeated season, 2^nd time in NFL history after the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Two days later, on the Super Tues Feb 5^th, voters from 24 states across U.S. will be having primaries and caucuses to choose their Republican and Democrats presidential candidates. The Results? Too close to call for Democrats but John McCain will win Republicans’.

Talk to you soon!

Taiwan’s Challenge: Parliamentary, Presidential, or Semi-presidential System

On Jan 12^th, last Saturday, Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party (aka KMT or Kuo Ming Tang) won a landslide victory in legislatures election, 10 weeks before the crucial presidential election. The election result is widely regarded as a no-confidence vote to the current president Chen Shui Bian (or A-Bian) who has increasingly resorted to ludicrous rhetoric and pathetic personal attacks as the end of his 2^nd and last term approaches. The result can also be seen as the voters’ disappointment at the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) - a party that rose to power in relatively short time by being the first and leading voice of opposition and promising to rid of the corruption and monopoly of KMT. Unfortunately, after almost 8 years, President Chen and his DPP has not been able to demonstrate that they can attract and groom talents to govern the country effectively since their victory in the 2000 presidential election (KMT has continued to hold a majority in the legislature). Instead, they have been promoting extremism and focusing on ideology and Taiwan Independence with divisive and petty politics.

The most significant implication of this lopsided election victory is, in my opinion, the Nationalists Party now has the golden opportunity and can take the lead to amend the defective and crippled Constitution as DPP won only 27 of the 113 seats, less than ¼ of the legislature. The need and importance of amendments cannot be overstated: a healthy and stable democratic government can only be built on top of a thoughtful and well-designed Constitution.

A little digression: there are obviously many different types of government all over the world and in history (click here to see a current summary). For democratic nations, political scientists have broadly categorized the systems as Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-presidential for the executive and legislative functions. A principal concept and priority in the design of the Presidential system is, with U.S. being a well-known model, the separation of powers in which the president who is elected separately from the legislatures by popular votes has the executive power, appoints and leads the cabinet. Check and balance between executive and legislative is then achieved with mechanisms such as veto (by president) of legislation and confirmation of appointees (by legislature), etc. In contrast, Parliamentary system adopts the view that the parliament, i.e., the legislative body, shall select the prime minister and form the cabinet that holds the executive power with dissolving and re-election of the parliament as the primary mechanism of check and balance. While there are many variations of it including nations such as UK, Japan, and Singapore, the coalescing of executive and legislative powers in the Parliament system tends to have the advantage and thus disadvantage of quicker legislative actions. Semi-presidential system, on the other hand, is a hybrid of the above with an active president elected by people and a prime minister (appointed by the president) who may or may not be a member of the parliament or majority party is responsible to the legislature. This hybrid system can have a larger gray area in distribution of powers with widely varying dynamics and balance of power, depending on the particular design and individuals involved. French government is a well-known example of a Semi-presidential system. The pros and cons of each system and detailed designs is well studied in political science and documented by scholars with many real life models from the world.

With this classification, Taiwan’s system of government is clearly a semi-presidential one that is a more tricky to work with. Further and unfortunately, its Constitution was created and amended multiple times as results of power plays and compromises of two dominant and adversarial parties (KMT and DPP) who do not have clear visions nor always act on the best interest of people.

Taiwan has come a long way in transitioning towards to a multiparty democratic political system since the lifting of the martial law in 1987. With its twisted past history, complex psychology, and delicate relations with Japan and the mainland China, the progress has been slow in substance however. Meanwhile, as China continues to accelerate its changes in domestic and economic policies and poises to become the next new world super power, Taiwan will face even tougher challenges and choices that require collective wisdom and will of the people that currently do not exist. The problem is a serious one; it is fundamental and structural and time is running out. As Richard Bush III of the Brookings Institution put it well in his Sept 2007 article The Four Faces of Taiwan Democracy: “… Regrettably, Taiwan's institutions - semi-presidentialism, the legislature, the party system, the electoral system, and the mass media—work together in a perverse way that rewards political gamesmanship over good policy. They reduce accountability, foster a zero-sum political psychology, promote policy deadlock, ensure suboptimal policy performance, and defer consensus on the rules of the game.”

It is imperative that something is done with Taiwan’s Constitution as soon as possible. There have been serious debates among some politicians and scholars if other systems or tweaking further the current semi-presidential system would be best for Taiwan. Sadly this issue has not been receiving sufficient attention and priority nor open and in-depth discussions. My gut feeling is a Parliamentary system that encourages broader multiparty representations and centrism would be best. I would challenge the elected legislatures and next President (Ma, Ying-jeou?!) to make an honest effort to lead amendments to the Constitution with thoughtful inputs from learned, objective, and non-partisan individuals. Only then, we can hope to see a more stable and effective government in Taiwan that will address its people’s welfare and take it to a prosperous future.

Talk to you soon!

The Obama Tsunami

The presidential election was kicked into high gear when Iowa and New Hampshire held their primaries within a week of each at the beginning of the new year, 11 months advance of the presidential election. The surprisingly strong win of Barack Obama in Iowa Democrat caucuses has shaken the political landscape so much that some pundits called it the Obama earthquake. As I watched his inspiring caucus victory speech late night on TV, I was moved. It was certainly one of the most impressive and uplifting speeches in US since Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” in 1963. No, this is not an earthquake; it is a tsunami!

Over a year ago, Boston Globe published an article "At Harvard Laws, a Unifying Voice" about Barack Obama. It traced back the history making event in Feb 1990, almost 18 years ago, when Obama was elected by 60 mostly white peer editors to become the first black president of the prestige Harvard Law Review in its 104 years history. As Obama related the event later to the school newspaper of a black editor giving him a long and hard hug in congratulations right after the election, he said "At that point, I realized this was not just an individual thing. . . but something much bigger." Indeed the candidates and voters year after year have continued to miss THE point. This (and other) election is not about just political issues. This is not even just a personal issue like Hilary Clinton and John Edwards emotionally articulated about their convictions. Only when one understands he or she belongs to something much bigger, can one begin to respond to the awesome challenges and make lasting impacts.

Some highlights of Barack Obama’s background: 46 years old, elected in 2004 from Illinois first term US senator, community organizer, civil rights lawyer. Born in Hawaii 20 months after Hawaii became the 50th state of US (This is what Mike Huckalbee would call “divine intervention”!) and shortly after when the 42 years old John Kennedy was sworn into the office. His black Kenyan father and white American mother from Kansas met when they attended University of Hawaii at Manoa. Two years after Obama was born, his father left them for Harvard, and later went back to Kenya and never returned. Obama lived and schooled in Indonesia for 6 years until age 10 with his Christian mother and Indonesian Muslin stepfather. He returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents in Hawaii since 5th grade and followed a typical middle class schooling/working path, completed with a Harvard Law School J.D. degree magna cum laude and a successful professional career. From his brief bio, one can imagine the diverse environments and interactions, confusions and triumphs, and joys and pains Obama has experienced from which he emerged as a compassionate political figure and became the defining voice of change.

Yes, CHANGE has become the most often used magic word in this presidential election since the Jan 3rd Iowa Caucus. It was used to sometimes a laughable degree by the candidates of both parties who desperately tried to catch up and wanted to be associated with and hopefully ride the wave created by Obama. Further amplified by the press and pundits with 20/20 hindsight, the word floods all channels over the air, wires, and the paper. However, Hilary Clinton, John Edwards, and other candidates all missed it again, perhaps intentionally. This is not about incremental changes; this is not about tweaking and negotiating a new policy, nor is about passing a new bill with different mixes of compromises. This is about business is no longer as usual. This is about mental and attitude rather than merely a physical or appearance of change. That is why younger voters are responding and why it is a generational change - older generations have too much invested and have come to be used to the status quo.

No, no one including Obama himself should underestimate the incredible obstacles and challenges in realizing and sustaining such a change. The most difficult one however is not the so-called special interest groups or corporations like John Edwards wants us to believe. After all, we are the ones elected representatives, the governors and president. Who else can we blame? Not to mention special interest groups and corporations are supposed to do everything possible within legal limits to maximize their profits for which we are culprits through our financial activities! The biggest challenge is to change ourselves – we are our worst enemy with human nature of fearing of uncertainty. This is what Geroge W. Bush’s camp has been exploiting (successfully) for last 8 years and the subliminal message that Hilary Clinton is delivering when she spoke of experience in comparing herself with Obama.

The fundamental solution is to educate ourselves and to participate in the process. The level of overall participation, the awareness and understanding of important issues is simply embarrassingly low. A democratically elected government is by design a reflection of its people’s will (or lack of it). While the results may not be visible for a while, historians have told us that there have been a few critical moments in history the president’s decision have moved the direction of the nation, for better or worse. I am excited that this election could be such a moment when we start walking down a new path with a different and higher level of empathy. As extensive media coverage of Obama continues and as his supporters echoed in the air “Yes, We Can!” during his New Hampsire’s primary concession speech the other night, I am sure of one thing: Obama has created a tsunami. Win or loose, he has personified and delivered the message and thus left the mark for a truly fundamental change. The rest is just a question of whether we will have the first women president or first black president in Jan 2009. How exciting!!!

Talk to you soon!

Costa Rica – the Switzerland of the Americas

As the exclusive family vacation planner, I researched and eventually settled our annual family X’mas vacation for a visit to Costa Rica that was concluded on New Year’s Eve. Below let me share with you briefly our itinerary and experience.

Tues, Dec 25: flew nonstop from Newark to the capital San Jose’s Juan Santamaría International Airport near the center of the country. Stayed overnight at the airport Hampton Inn. As one tour book puts it: if you are worried about cultural shock, you can stay at this place and will feel right at home since it is identical to every Hampton Inn in US!

Weds, Dec 26: picked up a 4WD rental car and drove through the winding narrow two-lane mountain roads of Central Valley to the Central Pacific Coast at the south west. A little bit of adaptive driving skill and courage helps – for those who have driven in countries like Taiwan and Italy know exactly what I mean. Stopped by for lunch at the bustling beach town Jaco which is famous for surfing. We then took a Canopy adventure tour, clipping on and zipping through twelve long steel cables in-between 100+ feet tall tree-top platforms. If you are sufficiently relaxed, you could enjoy the beach view and possibly spot some birds or monkeys. If you are flexible and daring enough, you can do a up-side-down ride to enjoy the view of the forest beneath your head!

Thurs, Dec 27: strolled on the beautiful Manuel Antonio beach. Enjoyed a $1 coconut drink fresh right from the fruit. Browsed the street vendor stands. Took a guided tour of the Manuel Antonio National Park in the afternoon. The park is right next to the beach and is full of some interesting and diverse animals and plants (by the way, Costa Rica is one of the highest biodiversity countries). In addition to four local varieties of monkeys – White-faced, Hawler, Squirrel, and Spider monkeys, we saw two contrasting and fascinating animals: Jesus Christ Lizards and sloths. The former is so named because it can "Walk on the Water". According to a National Geographic News article on how Jesus Christ Lizard walks on the water, they can burst across water on their hind limbs at about 5 feet a second (or 3.5 Mph) for a distance of approximately 15 feet (4.5 meters)! Sloth on the other hand, is extremely economical (or “lazy”) and has a very low metabolic rate – they sleep 15-18 hours a day and come down to the ground about once a week to urinate and poop. They mate only once a year; our tour guide Rudy has filmed such an act earlier this year and put the video up on the Youtube. In the evening, walked across the street from the hotel to this popular restaurant/bar called El Avion to have a drink (which turns out to be awful). The center piece of the restaurant is the “Contra Bar” converted from an old C-123 cargo plane that the owner bought in 2000 for $3000. It is one of the two C-123s involved in the infamous Iran-Contra Scandal of the Regan administration in 1980’s that was exposed and definitely “proved” when its sister plane was shot down with its CIA cargo handler captured by the Nicaraguan government troops. It is not clear if Nicaraguan government had used any “enhanced” interrogation techniques to get the confession though!

Fri., Dec 28: Relaxed on the Manuel Antonio beach in the morning. Went for an afternoon horseback riding to the Tocori waterfall in the mountain near the town Quepos

Sat Dec 29: drove back to the Central Valley region. Took a lunch break on an open air hilltop café which has a spectacular view. Drove to and visited Sarchi, the village famous for its arts and crafts, especially the Oxcarts.

Sun Dec 30: visited the Doka estate coffee farm (who is one of the coffee bean suppliers of Starbucks!) and learned the whole life cycle of coffee from a seed to a brewed cup of coffee on our table in a traditional way. It is the picking season; the driver and tour guide pointed us to the Nicaraguan workers, some are illegal, who work for the coffee farm with room and board provided, to pick coffee beans as no locals want to do that work – a universal immigration issue. Spent the rest of afternoon and evening at the near by Resort, enjoying the garden, river and waterfall trails, pool and spa.

Mon Dec 31: flew home

Now the more serious sides – why is Costa Rica considered the Switzerland of the Americas? Wealth and standards of living? Don’t think so. Scenery and landscape? Doubt it but can’t say it for sure for the whole country since we did not visit the Arenal Volcano and Lake region at the north which is supposedly comparable to the Alps and lakes of Switzerland. The most important event that every tour book and the locals proudly point to is the abolishment of its army in December 1, 1948 by President José Figueres Ferrer (which was later introduced into its constitution) after a bloody and last civil war. Unlike its neighbors in central and south America, Costa Rica has since enjoyed peace, free election and democracy when many others were busy recruiting or using nation’s (otherwise idled) military forces against their political rivals and own people.

It is often suggested that Costa Rica government has wisely diverted the military budget to education and health care. According to The World Fact Book by CIA, Costa Rica has ~ 4M population (with ~0.5M legal and illegal immigrants!), ~51K sq Km and a purchasing power parity (PPP) based GDP of ~$51B, or per capita of $12,500 with quite good social security, universal health care and education system. To put in perspectives, Taiwan (and US) is about 1.4 (200) times in size, 5+ (80) times in population, with a GDP per capita of ~$30,000 ($44,000) and spends about ~$10B (~$500B, respectively) in defense budget. Not bad at all for a small country without much resources!

Of course there are several other historical factors shaped the country as well since its discovery by Columbus in 1502. Apparently, it was “left alone” by the major powers due to its lack of highly desired natural resources, the rugged terrain with little arable land, and lastly, independent-minded free spirited people who would rather retreated into the high mountains than being slaved. As a result, the country is primarily made of a large number of smaller farms and communities with no apparent class structure and limited economic parity although there are some well-off groups and elites.

We had a wonderful time and learned a bit about yet another country. Talk to you soon!