Bob Dylan - "Masters of War"

     With all these wars going on in the Middle East, it reminded me of a song by the great songwriter Bob Dylan called "Masters of War". This song was released in 1963. Even though this song was wrote about the Cold War, I think it still applies today.  The lyrical genius of this song transcends time with a story that is still true.

     “Masters of War” is one of many protest songs made in the 60’s and 70’s.  In the beginning, the song talks about people who build big bombs, guns, and planes.  When this song was written, it was intended to be about the Russians.  Now, these same Lyrics apply to the Muslim extremists in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. 

     In lines 25-32, the song accuses “you” of making other people go out and die while “you” just sit back and watch from “your” mansion.  To me, actually sounds a lot like Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts.  He squirreled himself away in his little compound for years.  Just as the Russians “fastened the triggers for others to fire”, Bin Laden convinced innocent men to strap bombs on their chests to go out and blow up innocent people.

     In the last lines of “Masters of War”, Bob Dylan condems “you” to die.  This is a lot like the US government going out and condemning and killing Osama Bin Laden.  These are just a few of the ways Bob Dylan’s song “Masters of War” is still applicable to our world today.




 

John Mackey (1941-2011) - The NFL great who helped build the modern game, and then suffered for it.

     Lately, there have been several stories in the news about head injuries in football being linked to dementia and other serious brain diseases.  John Mackey is a prime example of this condition as described in this week's Sports Illustrated article "He Gave His All.  Make It Matter" by Dick Friedman.  The author writes about how there were two versions of Mackey; the tight end breaking ankles and scoring touchdowns, and the lesser known elder Mackey who can barely remember his own name.  This all relates to the author's main idea that the players in the NFL should be less worried about getting a lot of money now as they should about getting better health and retirement benefits, because they may end up just like John Mackey.  I agree with the author in this regard, and love how he persuaded me to think the same as him.
     The author writes that Mackey's retirement pension was "less than $2,500 dollars a month."  That was not nearly enough to cover his health care cost.  This statement makes me wonder how many other former NFL stars are going through the same thing.  A few years ago that income amount was raised to $88,000 a year to help former players with Alzheimer's, but it is still not enough to cover all costs.  This is something current players should seriously consider when negotiating new benefits.
     Another major point the author makes is that only a handful of the current NFL players were even alive when Mackey was playing.  "You can just hear it: Why should we care about some old guys?  The young never think they'll end up like that."  The truth is, many of these players might just end up like John Mackey, so they had better be thinking about that while they're negotiating.