Daily Dose of Common Sense

Tiger Woods held a press conference today (that was streamed live on the Web, no less) to apologize to us.

In case you’ve been living under a rock with no TV, Woods has had some extramarital affairs. So, why do we need an apology in such a private matter? I’m not sure. Was it a PR move for his remaining sponsors? His wife’s idea? A dare? I would believe any of those reasons over just his need for the world’s forgiveness to get on with his life. Think about it… If a friend, co-worker, relative, or total (non-famous) stranger cheated on his or her spouse, would you get an apology? Absolutely not.

Tiger, go away and play golf. We don’t care about what you do in your free time. Really, we don’t.

Sometimes I envy the days when the media would look the other way on the transgressions of famous people (Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK, FDR, etc.). There are things that are just none of anyone else’s business. Think of how many tabloids would be out of business!

AdFreak has a great graphic of what you could buy instead of a Super Bowl commercial. While I don’t like some of the suggestions, the point remains clear: Super Bowl ads are a giant waste of money.

Yes, I know some of them are iconic and some of them are wildly popular. And, the ads are a main reason that people tune into the game. Agencies know the audience numbers are unbeatable on any other day in the modern television landscape. So, the ad dollars makes sense to some companies. (How else would GoDaddy be a household word?) But, most of the ads we’ll see on Super Bowl Sunday will only end up as a blip on our busy, over-programmed, short-attention-span radar.

I don’t begrudge the network for charging the amount they do for the airtime. I’m a firm believer that the free market should decide what the going rate is. If there are companies willing to pay it, then the network should reap the benefits. But, in this recession, does it really seem wise from the company’s perspective to pay $2.6 million for a 30-second spot during the game? Yes, that is over two and a half million dollars!

That’s why Pepsi’s decision to not place Super Bowl ads this year is so great. After almost 25 years of placing ads during the Super Bowl, they have decided to put the money towards a social media campaign. Pepsi usually purchases many 30-second spots during the game, so this is a huge chunk of change the company can use throughout 2010 and beyond. Plus, the announcement has been so startling that Pepsi is now getting more Super Bowl buzz than its rival Coke.

We’ll have to wait until next year to see what effect Pepsi’s pull-out will have on the ad rates. Could this be a trend other companies will follow? Until the economy bounces back and people have jobs again, I sure hope so.

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Stupid haircut? Yes, for sure.

But, worthy of getting suspended from school? Not even close.

This boy was suspended from a Cincinnati middle school because the school deemed the haircut as violating its “extreme and distracting hairstyles” code. The student is a Bengals fan and wanted to show his team spirit.

What kind of world are we living in where we refuse children the right to have any hairstyle or haircut they want? I had a mullet in middle school. For SURE that look should have been banned somehow. (I still have to live with the photos to this day.) Perhaps the school should realize that the future shame will be enough punishment for this haircut.

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Think your lottery money is going to a worthy cause? Think again. In Texas, a portion of your scratch-off lottery ticket revenue might be going to the Dallas Cowboys. That’s not a middle school or high school, or even a non-profit company. No, it’s THE Dallas Cowboys of Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach fame. The professional football team stands to make about $4.2 million from the new scratch-off tickets.

Yeah, they really need your money. What about asking those overpriced players to take a pay cut? Other people all over the country have taken pay cuts, unpaid furloughs, and many have lost their jobs. Football players should be no exception, even with contracts in place.

There are 14 NFL teams who have sponsored lottery games this fall. I’m sure they are all feeling the economic crunch and need to supplement their revenue. But, the lottery? That’s just a way to pick on the people who can least afford it.

If you know statistics, you’re probably not a lottery player. But, if you are still hoping your retirement will be funded by the MegaBall Jackpot, you might feel better knowing where your money goes.

Or, maybe not.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: dherrera_96

Many parents are reluctant to let their children play intense contact sports, such as tackle football, for fear of serious injury. Now, new statistics have revealed that cheerleading should also give parents serious pause. It is the leading cause of catastrophic injuries in young women.

Most accidents are still the muscle pull, strained ankle variety. However, cheerleading accounts for 60-66% of all catastrophic accidents in high school and college-aged girls. This includes head and spine trauma, which can leave the patient with life-long disabilities.

If you’ve seen a cheerleading competition recently, this information should come as no surprise.

Yes, this is now what cheerleading has become: throwing girls up in the air plus a high level of tumbling difficulty on hard surfaces while trying to remember frenetic choreography and avoid a man wearing a super large hat. (In this video, even the announcer comments on the unforgiving surface.)

Take into account the statistics. Educate yourself on the risks and know what your daughter could be getting herself into. It’s one thing to sprain your ankle; it’s another to be paralyzed for life.

We’re staying at a major beach resort that is very family oriented. We have two little kids, so we always get lots of swim diapers. These are diapers that hold any accidents inside, therefore protecting others in the pool from contamination. All the public pools I’ve been to require them for small kids.

Well, yesterday I saw a mother playing with her tiny NAKED daughter in the pool. So, not only did the child not have on a swim diaper, the infant was completely naked. Yep, not even a swim suit was there as a barrier between an accident and the pool water. This was not a potty-trained kid and the child wasn’t old enough to talk any more than coos and giggles. But, there she was–butt naked in a hotel pool.

I was surprised no one from the hotel staff said anything to the parents. Isn’t it a matter of public safety?

The effects of feces, vomitus or a dead animal in a public pool can be serious, if not life-threatening to pool users especially children, the elderly and people with suppressed immune systems. Feces and vomitus material can contain large numbers of pathogenic (harmful) microorganisms.

Swim diapers are sold everywhere, including within the resort. So there’s no question of their availability. I’m not sure whether these parents were clueless or just rude. Putting a diaper on your young child in the pool seems like a no brainer.

Even if you’re one of the parents who play by the rules, don’t swallow pool water. You never know what’s in there.

As the weather turns warmer, kids start breaking out bathing suits. And, sadly, this means a lot of kids will drown. In fact, drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S., and 3/4 of all drownings take place between May and September. It stands to reason, then, that teaching kids to swim is an important safety skill.

However, parents might also be tempted to rely on water wings or floaties for the safety of their water-loving tots. It may seem like a good way to keep kids above the water, but this plan of action is not recommended:

Do not use air-filled or foam toys, such as “water wings”, “noodles”, or inner-tubes, in place of life jackets (personal flotation devices). These toys are not designed to keep swimmers safe.

Many experts believe flotation devices have no place in helping a child learn to swim and should be used sparingly, if at all. Most importantly, these should not replace close and constant parental supervision. Children need to experience their own weight in the pool (while being held or closely supervised by an adult) in order to feel the buoyancy of the water. Always having a floatie or water wings on gives kids a false sense of security: they think they can swim when they really cannot. One of the best floatation device policies we’ve seen, complete with explanation, can be found here.

On separate occasions, I have witnessed two children, recently removed from toy flotation devices, jump into the pool and then flounder underwater. The kids forgot they didn’t have their water wings on and could not swim back up to the surface. Both episodes ended happily, with caregivers nearby pulling the children to safety.

Teach your kids to swim safely. And stay nearby. Even if they know how to swim, they could still get in trouble and need help.