OPINION:

Whether or not you like it, we are in an era where everything revolves around technology. You use your cell phone every day, you have favorite TV shows, and some of us even have favorite video games.

Video games have been around for as long as I have been alive, but in the past couple of years, they are becoming more and more violent. With that concerns from parents also increase.

This is a major concern because there is no solid evidence for either side. No single study can definitively prove a point for either side of the argument. It boils down to opinion and parents’ choice.

From what I have seen, these violent video games do not have a major effect on behavior in children.

I have a gaming console and I do play M-rated games (ones you must be 17 or older to purchase) such as Battlefield 1 and GTA 5, but I have yet to see any significant harmful effect on myself or even my friends.

Another reason why I support these types of games is that it provides an opportunity for me to take my mind off of the real world for a while and just become immersed in the game.

I think everybody has some way of distracting themselves from the real world that it is healthy as long as they can control it.

If whoever is playing the game is mature enough to handle the content and realize that what they do in the game is completely unacceptable in real life, then they should be able to play whatever games they want to play.

SPORTS:

Most of the National Basketball Association (NBA) season is spent worrying about the on-court action. However, for the New York Knicks, their on the court problems are nowhere near as prevalent as their off the court problems, which is saying a lot.

Knicks’ owner James Dolan has, all of a sudden, attempted to wage war with one of the Knicks’ all-time fan-favorite players, Charles Oakley. The former forward-center was arrested and charged with three counts of assault following an altercation in the Garden with Dolan.

The problem here is not the incident. These things happen, and Oakley is by no means a saint, having made his living as one of the toughest guys to play in the NBA. However, it is the way Dolan is handling the incident that is more concerning.

“He may have a problem with alcohol, we don’t know. But those behaviors, being physically and verbally abusive, those are personality problems,” said Dolan on an interview with ESPN Radio.

Whether or not you like someone, you have no right to insinuate that someone is an alcohol abuser without really knowing. In order to resolve this situation you do not need to attack someone’s character. That is unacceptable.

Dolan has already proved to be a clown of an owner, meddling in the franchise every time they seem to try and move forward. However, in this case he has just proven to be a clown of a man. And it does not help that the Knick’s on the court performance resemble more the carnival than actual basketball.

SPORTS:

The Cincinnati Reds are the least talked about sports franchise in Cincinnati due to their lack of success since they hosted 2015 All-Star game.

They are currently in a rebuilding phase that would have been avoidable if Homer Bailey, who has been mostly unavailable for the past two seasons, was able to play and have a contract that better suits him.

Bailey’s recent surgery to fix bone chips in his elbow just adds fuel to my fire of why he does not deserve his contract, and how he has hurt the franchise more than he has helped.

The Reds and Bailey agreed to a six-year, 105 million dollar contract after the 2013 season. This mammoth signing puts the small-market Reds in a tight situation: because of the money spent on Bailey, they could not resign free agents or add new players in needed positions.

For the past few years, the Reds have had a major desire for a better bullpen, better bench players and a new left fielder, until they found Adam Duvall.

Since the signing, General Manager (GM) Walt Jocketty has been unable to get any player upgrades.

Jocketty even warned the franchise-owning Castinelli family of this mistake they were making.

Even though Bailey has two no-hitters to his name, he is and always has been extremely injury prone. Since his mega-contract, he has missed over a season of play due to Tommy John surgery.

Why the owners made that decision, instead of a world-class GM that knows how to win, and why they thought Bailey deserved this money in the first place is beyond me; this leaves me to question the direction that my beloved hometown Reds are moving in.