Venezuela

Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic begins on Saturday at Dolphins Stadium in Florida, and Sunday at Petco Park in San Diego. Even though my Dominican team lasted about as long as Bill Richardson’s Commerce Secretary gig (thank you…wait for it…KINGDOM OF THE NETHELANDS), rest assured friends, Latin American countries are still representing in the tournament.

People use sports to escape.  After a long day of work we turn on ESPN to unwind.  On the weekends, we get together with friends to watch “the game” (especially Sundays during NFL season) and forget about the week that passed or the one that waits for us on Monday.  Sounds a little melodramatic, but seriously – whether watching, playing or talking about – we get away from regular life through sports.  Sometimes, however, the issues in the real world are too great to be ignored, and that seems to be the case with the Venezuelan team of the 2009 Wor

All right, using the “Reality TV Starlet Scale” the World Baseball Classic might be the Kourtney Kardashian to the World Cup’s Kim Kardashian, but don’t hate until you give the WBC a chance (if you gave it a chance and don’t like it…hate away). In only its second year, the tournament, which pits 16 international teams against each other in a bracket style format, needs to establish more of a history and legacy to matter to fans and players.

Yesterday, the people of Venezuela gave Hugo Chavez a big victory in eliminating term limits, which will allow him to run for reelection indefinitely. 94% of the vote has been counted, and 54% voted for the amendment to scrap the term limits.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of Hugo Chavez's presidency in Venezuela. Many credit him with inspiring the poor and encouraging civic participation in his country, although he does have his critics.