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Editorial, Opinion

The Trib likes it on Facebook only if it works

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McGill Tribune

If you’ve logged onto Facebook in the last week, you’ve likely seen at least one person with a status that reads “I like it on ______.”  Despite its sexual connotations, this status is supposed to refer to where a woman likes to put her purse, and is part of a viral campaign to raise awareness for breast cancer. While the intention behind this widespread meme is admirable, it does little to advance awareness of breast cancer or to motivate Internet users to donate money to the cause.

The link between where people like to have sex, where they put their purses, and breast cancer is non-existent. At least the bra colour campaign from last winter, which used a similar Facebook-centred strategy, was directly associated with breasts. This new campaign has absolutely nothing to do with breasts or cancer, which means people have to go searching to find out what the slogan means, and even then do not seem to go further than discovering the secret of the enigmatic Facebook statuses.

The campaign comes at a fitting time. October is breast cancer awareness month. However, by neglecting to include relevant, practical information, the anonymous organizers missed a huge opportunity. Most young women do not begin thinking about breast cancer until their doctor tells them it’s time to start getting regular mammograms. However, the disease does not discriminate based on age, and all women over the age of 18 should be conducting monthly self-exams. Facebook campaigns like this target the demographic most in need of this knowledge. In order to be effective, the status updates should have included a link to a website containing basic information on how to perform a self-exam, the importance of mammograms, and how to donate money. When people tried to figure out why their friend had seemingly shared their favorite sex location with the world, they should have been led to an informative website. Not everyone would have taken the time to read the page in its entirety, but if only a few people changed their behaviour due to the website it would be more effective than the current campaign.

The popularity and reach of this campaign proves that Facebook can be used for a more noble purpose than simply stalking your ex. However, it’s a waste of everyone’s time, effort, and attention if the strategy doesn’t include any easily accessible, useful information on the cause it’s attempting to promote.

Opinion

To the African in you

by Mohammed Ashour on

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McGill Tribune

“The darkest thing about Africa has always been our ignorance of it.” -George Kimbel

Five years remain for the United Nations to achieve an ambitious set of goals mapped out 10 years ago.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), ratified in September 2000, aimed to slash the percentage of people living in absolute poverty (under $1 per day) by half, eliminate gender disparity in all levels of education, and completely terminate the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria by 2015.

These are only three of the UN’s 21 targets. But hey, anything’s possible. So please stop rolling your eyes at the UN. Please ignore its embarrassing track record, its inability to put its foot down, and its infinite capacity to disappoint. This time, like always, things are different.

For example, in his recent progress report on the MDGs, economist Jeffrey Sachs, the director of the United Nations Millennium Project, made the heart-warming announcement that “a great deal has been achieved, with some of the most exciting breakthroughs occurring in Africa.” Sachs went on to disprove this statement by listing reason after reason and failure after failure to the contrary. This is not because he or the UN are not trying hard enough; it is because they set goals that are hard to measure.

Directing our attention to Africa, Sachs listed six reasons why the MDGs may not be achieved by the target date of 2015:

(1) Fewer donations than promised from high-income countries. (2) Human-induced climate change. (3) Rampant population growth. (4)    Excessive corruption, mostly engineered by relentless American, Asian, and European companies whose talent for exploitation knows no limits. (5) Foreign traders closing their markets to African agricultural products. (6) Ignorance.

Importantly—as Sachs notes in his work—not a single one of these setbacks to Africa’s prosperity has much to do with Africa itself. For example, human-induced climate change is usually the nasty byproduct of highly industrialized countries. Moreover, efforts at voluntary population control and family planning are severely hindered by the no-birth-control policy of an extremely influential Roman Catholic presence on the continent.

“Attaining these goals on a global scale may seem impossible,” as Sachs wrote in his 2008 book, Common Wealth, but rightly maintains that, “there is nothing inherent in global politics, technology, or the sheer availability of resources on the planet to prevent us from doing so.” So what is preventing us?

We are told that we live in a zero-sum world, where in order for some countries to prosper, others must not. However, the deterioration of African countries is no longer only relative to the prosperity of richer countries. “Many of these countries are not just falling behind,” says economist Robert Collier. “They are falling apart.”

Most economists and activists now agree that the problems within Africa can only be solved by Africans. Overreliance on agencies like the UN not only leads directly to disappointment, but also distracts from the real problems and their accompanying solutions.

Some experts reduce the issue to the language of poker, suggesting that Africa has a bad hand because of its poor location and Flintstones-esque technology. But perhaps it’s this very image of an eroding Africa, painted elaborately by many politicians and “experts,” that has pushed millions of intelligent and hopeful Africans to invest their energies not in developing their own usually resource-rich countries, but rather in escaping from them.

It is unacceptable for our leaders to take Africa no more seriously than a photo opportunity. It is unacceptable for us to stand by and watch our brave brothers and sisters trying desperately to reverse the corruption and violence in their countries without seriously committing ourselves to doing something about it. It is even more unacceptable for us to forget that as humans we all come from Africa, and that it is indeed our common and original home.

Student Life

The Diary of Gus

by Johanu Botha on

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McGill Tribune

One of the best ways to understand something is to analyze its exact opposite: throw it into a box, shake it around, and see what comes out. Let’s imagine that McGill is our something, this column the box. What follows is a diary entry from Gus, a McGill student and inhabitant of an alternate universe.

So I wake up this morning with a rager of a headache. I only realize where I am when I notice a McGill frat’s Greek letter logo blur in and out of focus above me on the ceiling. Last night’s beer pong tourney must’ve gone more vigorously than planned. Glancing at my watch I see I’m 10 minutes late for school. No worries, it’s not like Coach McAllister (the English prof) is bothered to take attendance. By the time I get the car out of the dorm’s garage and up Sherbrooke street there’ll be at least five minutes left of class time.

After parking my ride in one of the many spots at the Milton Gates, I grab a Bixi and bike into campus. Principal Munroe-Blum is in her usual place on the grass shooting the breeze with a couple students, listening attentively to any grievances. I give her a high five as I fly by.

As always, everyone is dressed the same. McGill hoodies everywhere. The entire campus is humming with school pride. Alumni sit on the Arts Building steps where they chat about the school’s accomplishments. It might be not produce any Nobel Prize winners, but it develops some solid football coaches.

I take the bike route that goes past the free textbook centre and towards the Architecture Café, where Head Chef Mendelson is shovelling bucketfuls of BigArch burgers down the throats of the never-ending line of students. After dropping the bike off I head to my class, taking care to pick up a copy of the McGill Daily on the way. As usual, McAllister is replacing Wuthering Heights with Canadiens reruns, so I open the paper. Page two announces that the new student club, Choose Boxers, recently consumed four kegs of beer with the opposing club, Choose Briefs, and they’ve decided to collaborate on a future project, tentatively titled Choose Neither. It’s clear from the pictures that love and laughter filled their evening.

McAllister ends the class by announcing that, upon student request, he’s cancelling the next two midterms. It’s been a long day. Maybe some studying will wake me up. But no, it’s always so lonely and empty at Cybertheque. I stroll back outside to catch up with Petey, a fellow Recreational Handshakes major. He’s pretty excited because apparently there’s a hipster on campus. Everyone’s trying to take a picture.

But that’s too much excitement for me. I have to meet with my advisor before heading home. The poor guy’s probably been sitting there all day waiting just for me. The tea he normally prepares will be getting cold. I’ll pop by, reinforce my streamlined career path, and then head to the car. If I’m lucky I’ll be able to power through traffic hit up the Reds game tonight. That’s if there are any tickets left.

Editorial, Opinion

Scrap the Montreal metro cars deal

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McGill Tribune

Last Thursday the Quebec National Assembly passed Bill 116, permitting the provincial government to hand a $1.22 billion contract for the construction of 468 new Montreal metro cars to a consortium led by Bombardier without going through a bidding process. This bill was proposed by the government and rushed through the legislature because a Spanish company, CAF, has argued it could build the same number of cars for nearly half the cost, as it is currently doing for the Chilean capital of Santiago. Many people have argued that Bill 116 may directly contravene international trade regulations, and could lead to reprisals, not least from Spain, whose prime minister has already written Charest “expressing his annoyance” about what he sees as unfair protectionist tactics. Additionally, the Bombardier contract wastes nearly half a billion taxpayer dollars—perhaps more should CAF successfully sue.  Montreal’s opposition council leader Richard Bergeron, who opposed the deal, has already guessed the company will seek to do so.

Proponents of the Bombardier deal argue that it will keep jobs in Quebec instead of giving them to foreigners. Specifically, Charest claims 775 jobs will be created by the contract, mostly in La Pocatière, a town in southeast Quebec with a large Bombardier plant. However, any economist or Quebecer acquainted with even basic mathematics must recognize this as complete bunk, and hardly more efficient than the Montreal Gazette’s facetious counterproposal of giving “each of those 775 workers $60,000 a year for the next five years to stay at home.” The newspaper claimed Quebec could even then afford to buy the new metro cars from the Spanish company, and still save money in the process. Moreover, in light of CAF’s offer to build a factory somewhere in Quebec in order to produce the cars, the Bombardier contract seems especially indefensible on economic grounds.

Another strain of argument, somewhat related to the first, though less frequently offered, is the typical nationalist “maîtres chez nous” routine: We must keep jobs in Quebec, we must keep Quebec financially viable, and we must reward Quebec companies, not foreigners. Quebec Solidaire Member of the National Assembly Amir Khadir, supposed darling of the provincial left, announced his party’s support for Bill 116 by gushing over the Bombardier corporation, which, he said, “respects our laws, the environment, pays its taxes, and respects our language.” However, it’s difficult to see what Bombardier, in dire fiscal straits as it already is, has done to deserve such a lavish gift from the people of Quebec. If a Spanish company is able to make the exact same cars—and within the necessary deadline, no less, as the Montreal Transit Society has warned that its current cars will be so that service will have to be cut in three or four years—for nearly half the price, Bombardier is doing something wrong. If a company has to rely on possibly illegal intervention from the government in order to win contracts, then it has much bigger problems. It would be better for Bombardier to lose this contract now and reorganize itself appropriately than to artificially keep their business going by resorting to inflated prices and favourable treatment from the provincial government.

Protectionist language from Quebec politicians seems additionally hazardous in light of the free trade agreement the province is currently negotiating with the European Union. Several commentators, arguing against the Bombardier contract and Bill 116, have imagined the Charest government would be none too happy if Bombardier or another Quebec corporation were treated by a European government the way Quebec has treated foreign companies in the course of this affair. It is also important to point out that many companies and countries outside Spain may be looking across the pond and not liking what they see. To hope there are no repercussions from such treatment would be to engage in wishful thinking.

The Tribune is not the first to suggest that the provincial government’s support for the Bombardier deal might have something to do with an upcoming special election in the riding where the company’s La Pocatière factory is located. If the Charest government’s position is motivated even if only in part by such political aims, it will not soon be forgiven by voters—nor by their enablers in the provincial opposition parties, the Montreal City Council, or the press.

Sports

Martlets open season with seven-goal fireworks display

by John Hui on

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Adam Scotti

It was a night to remember for Leslie Oles. In the first game of her university career, the rookie forward tallied a goal and a couple of helpers to propel the Martlets to a 7-4 win in their season opener against the Concordia Stingers.

Just 30 seconds into the game, captain Cathy Chartrand fired a hard, low slapper that bounced right to Oles, who didn’t falter on her first shot of the game.

“It was really exciting for me, especially being a rookie at my first game. Our captain just fired a really nice shot, and the next thing I know the puck was on my tape and I just tried to get it away as fast as I could,” said a beaming Oles.

  That goal sparked the Martlets’ five-goal explosion in the first period. Their speed forced the Stingers’ defence to back off, giving McGill shooters plenty of room to shoot and create second chance opportunities. When forward Lainie Smith surprised a Stinger’s power-play unit with a shorthanded beauty in the 19th minute, McGill fans couldn’t be blamed for thinking the game was already over.

But Concordia didn’t back down, coming back with determination in the second period. They were quick to get the puck out of their own zone and drive hard to the net. The Martlets’ defence was unable to support goaltender Taylor Salisbury and it cost them.

At the beginning of the third frame, an opportunistic Concordia attack stung McGill twice on three shots, bringing a rowdy crowd of mostly Concordia fans to their feet. But the Martlets regained composure, limiting Concordia to only two more shots.

“It was a good start to the season. I thought the girls played well tonight, but we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be,” said Martlets Head Coach Peter Smith.

It shouldn’t take long for the Martlets to get into a groove. This year’s team looks as promising as any in recent memory. Leslie Oles wasn’t the only impressive rookie; Rearguards Gillian Ferrari and Adrienne Crampton played with poise. Katia Clement-Heydra looked comfortable with star sniper Ann-Sophie Bettez and the creative Kim Ton-That.

“It was fun playing with those two girls. When you play with such great players, they push you and it forces my game up a notch,” Clement-Heydra said.

McGill plays exhibition matches against Princeton and Yale next weekend.

Sports

Record-breaking receiver reflects

by Mari Mesri on

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John Kelsey

On September 5, Redmen football wide-receiver Charles-Antoine Sinotte became the first player in the CIS football history to register 200 career catches.  During his five-year career, he has racked up 2,803 receiving yards, the 10th-most in CIS history.  He also holds the record for most receptions in a single season (72) which he broke in 2007.  The Tribune sat down with Sinotte to discuss his impressive career.

What does breaking the records mean for you?

Well it’s nice to be able to leave your name in the books, but at the same time that’s not what you play for. The fact that we haven’t been doing well this season so far makes me wonder what it really means to break records when you don’t actually win.   t’s definitely nice but you don’t play for stats, you play to win the games.

What do you enjoy the most about being on the team and playing football?

I like going through the highs and lows and knowing that you share those moments with 50 other guys.  

Also, I feel that football is a really complete sport. It [has] the physical aspect of sport but also the mental part. There is a lot of strategy involved, and there is so much you can learn.

What have you gained from playing at McGill?

It gave me a great education, which was one of my main objectives going into university. It also taught me a lot about self-control, discipline, and developing a good work ethic. Combining school and sport definitely made me more independent and gave me better structure.  

How have your teammates helped you become the player that you are today?

When I first came here, everything was new for me coming from a French city.  I didn’t know anyone, but football eased the transition from French to English because it gave me opportunities to meet people.  I’ve learnt from a lot of the guys who played my position before me and played with for my first couple years on the team. Learning from them and watching them has made me a more complete football player.

What has been the most memorable experience thus far in your McGill career?

For sure, last year when we won our first game.  After going winless for the previous two seasons, it was just unbelievable. I kind of forgot how it feels to win a game, so that was probably one of the highest points of my McGill career.

What has been the biggest challenge of your career?

When I played back at home in CEGEP, we won the provincial championships all three years so I was kind of used to winning no matter what. Winning was the only option. So when I came here it was completely different. We had to rebuild the program, there were a lot of weaknesses, and it taught me to build from losses. In the past, everything was already set for us and I just had to play, but here was a lot more work, especially in the off-season.  

Last year, you were invited to the CFL evaluation camp. What was it like to be amongst the other top athletes in the CIS?

It was a great experience because you get to compete against the best players in Canada. It required a lot of preparation and I put a lot of focus on it.  It didn’t work out the way I wanted, but I still gained a lot from it and it taught me a lot on how to bounce back from a disappointment.

Is playing in the CFL still something you’d like to pursue?

It would be an interesting career for sure. Getting paid to do what you love is a pretty great concept.  

It’s been a tough start this season, but what are your goals for the team, being one of its captains?

Our first goal is definitely to make the playoffs.  he beginning of the season has been hard, but we still have a shot at making the playoffs if we finish strong. We just want to finish on a good note and enjoy what we do because we dedicate so much time to it.

What is the team dynamic like?

One of our strengths I would say is that we have really good synergy. Our team is very close and it’s a great group of people on and off the field.

Before each game, are there any pre-game rituals that you perform?

I’m a pretty bad person on game days. I don’t like talking to anyone so I just put on music and try to focus on my stuff. Guys have asked me if I don’t like them before games but it’s really just that I like to do my final mental preparation.

Sports

OUA champs want national title

by Matt Chesser on

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In university sports, turnover is the norm. Good teams are dismantled every year as players graduate or exhaust their eligibility.

That’s why expectations are so high for the 2010-11 McGill Redmen, who have every key player from last year’s OUA championship team returning except for physical defenceman Yan Turcotte.

After posting a 22-6-0 regular season record and capturing the Queen’s Cup as OUA Champions last season, this year’s Redmen will look to improve upon a disappointing last-place finish at the National Championship Tournament.

“These guys are hungry,” said McGill Head Coach Kelly Nobes. “There’s a sense of some unfinished business with this group.”

Nobes is entering his first season as head coach, after being hired over the summer to replace interim Head Coach Jim Webster.

Nobes plans to continue employing the uptempo offence that made McGill one of the most exciting teams in the CIS, but he stressed the importance of improving team discipline. The Redmen were the third most-penalized team in the CIS last year and had a habit of taking selfish and undisciplined penalties.

“I felt that, especially at the National Championship [where the Redmen were shorthanded 14 times in two games], there was a lack of discipline in their play,” said Nobes. “That’s one of our standards this year—we expect our players to work hard but be disciplined.”

After leading the CIS with 156 goals last season, the Redmen offence looks as dangerous as any unit in the league. Francis Verreault-Paul returns after finishing second in the CIS with 56 points and winning OUA East Player of the Year honours last season. A gifted skater with a wicked wrist shot, Verreault-Paul brings equal measure skill and grit to the team—he’s racked up 226 penalty minutes and 80 points in two years at McGill.

“A lot of times you get really skilled guys who don’t work very hard—Verreault-Paul isn’t one of those guys,” said Nobes. “He’s a very talented player, but he’s also a fierce competitor and an on-ice leader for our team.”

Joining Verreault-Paul on the top line will be centre Alexandre Picard-Hooper, who had a league-leading 38 assists last season, and junior Andrew Wright, a six-foot-two winger who had 10 goals last season.

Anchoring the blue line is smooth skating Marc-André Dorion, winner of the 2009-10 CIS Defenceman of the Year award. Dorion attended the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie camp this fall, after leading OUA defencemen in points last season.

“Dorion has the poise that those top NHL defencemen have—that ability to draw a guy towards him and then make a tape-to-tape pass,” said Nobes. “He sees the ice extremely well and makes everyone around him better.”

In goal, Hubert Morin will receive the bulk of the starts after posting a 17-3-0 record and a .917 save percentage last season.

The Redmen opened the regular season with a pair of road victories. On Friday, McGill defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 3-2 in overtime. McKiernan’s first goal in Red ‘n’ White was the game-winner, while Wright and Genest chipped in with markers during regulation time. The following night, the Redmen hammered the Nipissing Lakers 9-4. Eight different Redmen scored goals, while Picard-Hooper and Maxime Langalier-Parent each tallied three assists.

The Redmen (2-0) travel to Trois-Rivieres on Thursday night to take on the perennial powerhouse UQTR Patriotes (1-1). McGill then hosts the Patriotes on Monday at 7 p.m. at McConnell Arena.

Opinion

Readers Are the New Writers

by Alex Hamilton & Daniel Sorger on

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The dissemination of news has always been intertwined with sensationalism and manipulation. There have been sex scandals and inflammatory whodunits since the dawn of the modern newspaper in 16th century Europe and even in the news-like outlets of ancient Rome. Similarly, everyone from kings to corporations to Glenn Beck has used the news to manipulate the public into thinking one way or another.

In 2010, with everyone prophesying the death of newspapers, the interesting question is how changing the medium changes the message, and also how it does not.

We’ve gradually come to see each change in technology—from print to screen to tweet—as “revolutionizing” the delivery of the message. While the impact can often be exaggerated, we can see how this new access to media can deliver on that promise. In fact, it already has.

Samuel Morse was basically the 19th century prototype of a Steve Jobs revolutionary. Newspaper outlets doubled within 20 years of the introduction of his telegraph. New ones were popping up faster than iPhone apps are today. And, of course, a lot of people made a lot of money (as with any good revolution).

The wire sparked the creation of the Associated Press and other centralized information agencies. For the first time journalism required expertise because places like the AP had to be accountable to multiple news sources. The average reporter could bring more food home to the table if he could report “the facts” rather than tell an elaborate story or go to battle for one side. There was a utility to truth-telling in the media that had never before existed. Since then, “the facts” have come to inform and influence the decisions of everyone from the politician to the labour leader to the housewife.

The philosopher Jurgen Habermas claims that we need an authentic press like we need electricity or gas. The more effectively it is distributed, the better society functions.

The first thing you see when you pick up a newspaper today is a photograph—the reason being the old truism that a picture is worth a thousand words. Those thousand words aren’t written by the journalist but by the reader, especially if he or she hasn’t even taken the time to read the accompanying article.

Additionally, Internet-exclusive news sources like the Drudge Report and the Huffington Post are not limited to geographical means of dissemination, but has the limitless power to dictate its own context. The reader can say: “I read this because I choose to—not because it’s simply available where I live. I’m in charge of this content.”

With hyperactive consumption of media, sensationalism and manipulation have certainly not disappeared. Only now they are caused by the readers themselves.

Alex Hamilton and Daniel Sorger are the Tribune’s newest bi-weeky columnists. Write them at [email protected].

Sports

Martlets title-hungry

by Mari Mesri on

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The Martlets Hockey team has been a longstanding source of pride for McGill, and they will continue making history this season.

As one of McGill’s most successful teams, the Martlets have made it to the National Championship game in each of the past three years, bringing home two consecutive golds (2008, 2009) and a silver (2010). The roster boasts members of the Canadian National Women’s team as well as the coach of the Vancouver Olympic gold-medal-winning team. The Martlets have 16  retuning veterans and have seven rookies this year.

The Martlets currently hold a remarkable 82-game win streak against their Quebec University Hockey League opponents that began February 10, 2007. The team had an 86-game win streak against all Canadian university teams, which the University of Alberta broke last year in the final game of the National Championships.

The Martlets looked strong against Concordia Friday, and s have the potential for another great season. Although a number of noteworthy players graduated last year, the arrival of talented recruits has established a competive dynamic for this year’s team.

“All of our first years are bringing a lot to the table this year”, said junior forward Lainie Smith. “They are all very skilled and it’s going to be tough to keep a spot this year. You just have to work as hard as you can because you’ll never know who won’t dress in a game”

The defence experienced only minor turnover and is led by newly elected captain, Cathy Chartrand, and two fifth-year veterans, Lisa Zane and Jasmine Sheehan. Chartrand played for the Canadian National team, and her experience and her ability to make plays will be crucial.

Rookie Gillian Ferrari is another defender who represented Canada on the national team. With an Olympic gold medal (Turin, 2006) amongst her many accomplishments, Ferrari will enrich the defence with her talent and expertise. Overall, the defence core is as deep as ever, with five returning players and two rookies.

The forward line is difficult to predict, because it has five newcombers this year. Senior forward and three-time all-Canadian Anne-Sophie Bettez is back for her fourth season. She is known for her speed and her shooting accuracy and will be a force to be reckoned with. Freshman Leslie Oles stole the spotlight on Friday as she racked up a goal and two assists, clearly showing what she is capable of. It will be interesting to see how the forward lineup takes shape in the early season.

There is a battle for the starting position in net. Taylor Salisbury and Andrea Weckman, the two backup goalies, will fight for starts as two-time Olympic gold medalist Charline Labonté is sidelined with an injury. Salisbury registered 16 saves in Friday’s opener.

The coaching staff will be led by Peter Smith, who has returned to McGill from a year spent coaching the Canadian National Women’s team to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Amey Doyle, who took over for Smith last season, along with Stewart McCarthey and Shauna Denis, will be the assistant coaches.

With a tremendous amount of pressure to perform up to expectations and a reputation to preserve,, the Martlets have a lot on their plate.

“Obviously, our main goal is the national championship but we don’t really discuss it. We go day-by-day. We set that as a goal at the beginning of the season and now we just look for what’s directly ahead of us.” says Smith, “So we just play game by game and [don’t] think of that because we have so much to overcome before we actually get to that game, if we get to that game.”

  The Martlets will resume regular season action against the University of Montreal on October 20.

Sports

When fantasy studs become studly fantasies

by Jon Rubenstein on

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You know that indescribable feeling you have towards an athlete?  The one that goes beyond admiration? You can’t quite put a finger on it, but you get the same jolt through your veins every time you see them on television or read about them on the Internet. You don’t just have a soft spot for this player—you really like them. This, my friends, is called a man-crush.

According to Urban Dictionary, a man-crush occurs “when a straight man has a ‘crush’ on another man, not sexual, but kind of idolizing him.” I have to admit—I have a huge man-crush. You probably do too, although you may be reluctant to come to terms with it. I’m here to tell you, though, that a man-crush is completely acceptable and is something you should be proud of.

My man-crush starts and ends with one man: Kevin Durant. You know, the guy who became the youngest scoring champion in NBA history last season. The guy who just led team USA to a gold medal at the FIBA world championship for the first time in 16 years. The guy who, amidst all the LeBron James ‘Decision’ bullshit, decided to sign a five-year extension with a small-market club that he helped build from the ground up.

My infatuation with Durant began at the beginning of last season, when I picked him sixth overall in our fantasy basketball draft. I wouldn’t call this a steal—I’d call it grand larceny. It’s normal to become obsessed with people on your fantasy team. Let’s just say I became obsessed with Durant over the course of the season as he single-handedly carried my fantasy squad to the championship match.

Checking his stats on a daily basis and seeing him put up huge numbers night-in, night-out made me proud of my man-crush. We were in this thing together—when he’d have a bad night, I would too. When he dropped 40 points on an inferior defender, I was part of that scoring outburst too.

But my man-crush on Durant goes a lot deeper than his contributions to my fantasy dominance.  KD is a breath of fresh air in a culture of egotistical, money-hungry superstars. He prefers to play in a small market because, as he says, “I’m not into the big city lights and the paparazzi. I just love playing basketball and chillin’ out.” That’s my boy.

Another alluring aspect of Durant is his humility. This man is so humble that he posted his cell phone number on his Twitter account last week in order for fans to text or call him. When have we ever been given such personal access to a player so dominant at his sport? Durant doesn’t think he’s better than the average fan in any way, and that’s what makes him such a likable player.

I’ve truly enjoyed my man-crush on Durant and I expect our relationship to flourish as time goes on. It doesn’t matter that the love is not reciprocated. It doesn’t matter that I will probably never speak to him face-to-face. I will continue to idolize him and bask in his success because he’s one of us. The dude is 22. He’s playing with all his friends on an NBA team and having a great time doing it.

Now that you know what a man-crush is all about, search through your list of favourite players and admit that there’s one that captures your soul. Be proud of your man-crush, but just remember, Durant is mine.

1 … 1,282 1,283 1,284 1,285 1,286 … 1,367

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