IN THIS ISSUE:
-- FREEDOM BY THE NILE
--TGG OLD SCHOOL JAM OF THE WEEK
--TGG BONUS OLD SCHOOL JAM OF THE WEEK
-- SUPER BOWL FOLLIES
-- ONLY ON FOX: "THE CHICAGO CODE"
-- KOBE VS. MICHAEL: WHO iS THE BEST?
-- WORLD SOCCER REPORT:
THE MOST EXPENSIVE GAME IN THE WORLD?
This week began as last week ended, with the world's eyes on Egypt,
watching to see if President-For-Life Hosni Mubarak had
yet realized that his time appeared
to have run out....
 |
| The Sands of Time |
Ground Zero remained Cairo's Tahrir Square, where hundreds of thousands gathered on Thursday night
expecting to hear Mubarak's announcement that he was leaving office after 30 years...
 |
| Had The Moment Arrived? |
 |
| "I Am Still The Father of The Egyptian People" |
Mubarak, in other words, was channeling TGG's Old School Jam of The Week.
You, Dear Reader, have by now already guessed which jam that would be.
No, Really --- think about it again for just a minute. This one really is perfect.
Still stumped? OK. Think Broadway.
Think Divas. With the eyes of the world upon them, how would they have expressed themselves to
Think Divas. With the eyes of the world upon them, how would they have expressed themselves to
the Egyptian people?
And this gives us occasion to announce a new TGG regular feature:
"Why Old School Is Better Than New School"
Here, Part 1 -- and trust us, you want to spend the 8 minutes it will take to enjoy this remarkable 1982 clip (even if only on background as you scroll through the rest of The Global Game)
WHY OLD SCHOOL
IS BETTER
THAN NEW SCHOOL
--- PART I
Egyptians were infuriated by President Mubarak's intransigence. In the Arab world's universal sign of utter contempt and disrepect, they showed the bottom of their shoes to the President:
 |
| "Not Going? We'll See About That...." |
By Friday, however, as the pressure mounted, Mubarak, in a shocking development, decided, that the time had indeed come...
The People, Triumphant!
 |
| Freedom's Moment |
 |
| Dawn of a New Day |
The two questions now on everyone's mind were: Who's Next? (Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen) and What Happens Next?
Global Gamer Jami Floyd offered a smart take on what should happen next, capsulized in this quote:
"Together the new leadership will need to start from scratch, building new institutions and, I would humbly suggest, drafting a new constitution ---
so lacking in legitimacy is the current one"
God Bless The People of Egypt.
We Pray for their Next Thousand Years.
Meanwhile, back home in the USA, much of the week had revolved around the Super Bowl's matchup of two Old School powerhouses, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. By Sunday night, QB Aaron Rodgers and the Packers would reign triumphant in a game that came right down to the last series....
 |
| How Sweet It Is |
Rodgers, although too classy to say it out loud, appeared to have finally gotten the monkey of The 'Ol Gunslinger off of his back....
 |
| "Now We Each Have One Ring, Hoss... --- and I've Got 10 More Years To Play" |
Meanwhile, around the country, certain fans (aka "women") could not hide their delight that the game had not resulted in a Steelers' victory and "redemption" for Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger, who many felt had skated and continued to skate on charges of sexual assault and other misbehavior...
 |
| "Maybe This Is Not What Commissioner Gooddell Had In Mind When He Said, "Ben, I Want You to Be a Role Model"" |
 |
| "Americans Are a Forgiving People --- Right?" |
As usual, the Super Bowl entertainment had been a sideshow in itself, as Cristina Aguilera "forgot" the lyrics to the national anthem......
 |
| "By The Twilight's Last, umm...." |
And while TGG wants to know --- how exactly does that happen?
We still think the criticism of Cristina was a little bit harsh, given recent Super Bowl history. At least she was visibly alive, unlike aging rockers The Who at last year's contest...
 |
| "We Won't Be Fooled Again!" |
And while cultural criticism is not exactly TGG's forte,
the biggest question of all had to be ---
who kidnapped the real Black Eyed Peas?
 |
| "It's All Downhill From Here" |
 |
| "Tonight Might Not Be Such A Good Night...." |
The Global Game's tip to next year's halftime performers:
NFL Entertainment and their "stage notes" are not your friends...
The other main purpose of the Super Bowl, of course, is for whichever network happens to be hosting the game to heavily promote its leading mid-season replacement series.
In this case, it was Fox, and the series was "The Chicago Code," the story of a crusading
female police Superintendent who goes after a Black Chicago alderman who has
"built an empire of corruption"
 |
| "Fair and Balanced" --- Just Like Our News Division |
TGG was puzzled. While we were certainly familiar with the sordid history of corruption in Illinois politics, prior to the premiere of "The Chicago Code" we had never been aware that the problem was, well, corrupt Chicago politicians who"happened to be Black."
The Global Game Gallery:
Famous Corrupt Illinois Politicians
 |
| Blago |
 |
| Governor George Ryan -- Convicted |
 |
| Governor Dan Walker -- Convicted |
 |
| Congressman Dan Rostenkowski -- Convicted |
 |
| Governor Otto Kerner -- Convicted |
T
TGG's First Pop Quiz....
Accordingly, in its continuing effort to bring Knowledge to the People, TGG announces its first-ever Pop Quiz aimed at testing the reader's understanding of the above material.
The quiz consists of just one question:
"What Do The Most Famous Corrupt Politicians in Illinois and Chicago History Have in Common?"
"Yes. You in the corner over there --
Mr. Blagojevich...."
 |
| "Ummm.....Let's See Now.... None of Them Happen to be Black?" |
Even curiouser (that's a Chicago word) was Fox's choice in casting Jennifer Beals as crusading Superintendent of Police
Teresa Colvin...
 |
| She's The Boss |
As closely as we looked, The Global Game could find nothing in Beals' previous star turns in Flashdance and The L Word that would make her seem a credible
Windy City crimefighter
Windy City crimefighter
 |
| What A Feeling |
 |
| I Have Rhythm Now |
But then again, what do we know?
The big (and little) screens weren't all that had people talking this week, however. Kobe Bryant played in his 1,072nd NBA regular season game, meaning that he had now played the same number of games Michael Jordan had played in his entire NBA career. This of course, revived the "Kobe vs. Michael" debate, which
sportswriter Bruce Jenkins broke down brilliantly in a must-read piece for all basketball fans.
As a reader service, TGG presents Kobe and Michael's comparative stats below:
| Bryant | Stat | Jordan |
| REGULAR SEASON | ||
| 1,072 | Games played | 1,072 |
| 27,093 | Points scored | 32,292 |
| 25.3 | Scoring average | 30.1 |
| 5,672 | Rebounds | 6,672 |
| 5.3 | Rebounds per game | 6.2 |
| 5,020 | Assists | 5,633 |
| 4.7 | Assists per game | 5.3 |
| 1,617 | Steals | 2,514 |
| 1.5 | Steals per game | 2.3 |
| 45.5 | Field goal pct | 49.7 |
| 33.8 | 3-pt FG pct. | 32.7 |
| 83.7 | Free throw pct | 83.5 |
| 711-361 | Wins-losses | 706-366 |
| PLAYOFFS | ||
| 25.5 | Scoring | 33.4 |
| 5.2 | Rebounds | 6.4 |
| 4.8 | Assists | 5.7 |
| 126-72 | Record | 119-60 |
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||
| 24 | 50+ games | 31 |
| 106 | 40+ games | 173 |
| 81 | Most points/game | 69 |
| 17 | Triple doubles | 31 |
| 5 | NBA titles | 6 |
| 1 | NBA MVPs | 5 |
| 2 | Finals MVPs | 6 |
| 2 | Scoring titles | 10 |
| 13 | All-Star teams | 14 |
| 8 | First team All-NBA | 10 |
| 8 | First team All-Defense | 9 |
Jenkins concludes that "It's no contest" in favor of Jordan, because of defense, team cohesion, titles, reputation,
and "the spectacular." But maybe even that doesn't put the finger on it. Isn't it the moments that Michael gave us that we remember, the unsurpassed drama and competition always with the perfect foils? Moments like this:
and this.....
and the "Flu Game"....
 |
| That's What Friends Are For |
and the "3-Pointer Game"....
and so many, many others.
What unforgettable moments did Kobe have?
There was certainly Game 7
against Portland a few years back.....
but as much as anything else, when people thought of Kobe they thought of somebody or something that always seemed just a little bit off, such as the strange "Kobe face" that had surfaced in the past few years....
 |
| His Mother Never Told Him "If You Keep Making Faces It's Gonna Stay That Way" |
TGG realizes that this debate may never be settled. Not everything is as clear-cut in sports as The Best Basketball Play of All Time.....
(Readers may feel free to comment in
the comment box at the end of the post)
Finally, we bring you news from The Wall Street Journal, which reported on this week's Manchester United vs. Manchester City English Premier League match, aka
"The Most Expensive Game In History"
"The Most Expensive Game In History"
-- or "the richest match played in any sport, at any time, anywhere on the planet Earth" -- with the players on the field having cost their teams $850 Million to acquire. For comparison's sake, the Journal reported that when the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox meet, "there's only about $380 Million in player investments on display." In pro football, according to the newspaper, the NFL record belongs to the
Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins,
whose joint player costs total
Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins,
whose joint player costs total
$350 million.
No word if in compiling its data on the most expensive teams and games in the world, the Journal sent a reporter to Los Angeles to visit the USC football team's spring intra-squad scrimmage....
 |
| "I Had Absolutely No Knowledge That Any of My Players Were Paid Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars On My Watch... I Remain Shocked --- Shocked! By These Allegations" |
 |
| "Yeah, Right, Coach!" |
Stay tuned next Weekend for Volume 1, Issue 4 of TGG,
and be on the lookout for periodic updates
"as events warrant"
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