Let Cuba Play.

The World Baseball Classics will start next year, and US Politics has reared its' ugly head and has prevented Cuba from sending a team.

Baseball, like all sports, must be above Politics, and in the past, Cuban Teams have been allowed entry into the US..

Japan will send a team, a country that has responsibilty for many US War casualties, Cuba has done nothing excepy resist pressure to change its' government.

The repercussions from this US stand is the jeapordisation of any future Olympic Host Aspirations.

I want to see the Best Players from around the world play ball, not a winner by default.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Howard

The World Baseball Classics will start next year, and US Politics has reared its' ugly head and has prevented Cuba from sending a team.

Baseball, like all sports, must be above Politics, and in the past, Cuban Teams have been allowed entry into the US..

Japan will send a team, a country that has responsibilty for many US War casualties, Cuba has done nothing excepy resist pressure to change its' government.

The repercussions from this US stand is the jeapordisation of any future Olympic Host Aspirations.

I want to see the Best Players from around the world play ball, not a winner by default.

We need to engage Cuba like we engage China. Our policy has been short-sighted and needs to be changed. There is so much poverty and we have helped to keep it that way thru our embargo. 45 years and it has done nothing good.

My son's school sent their baseball team to Cuba in 2000. That for some reason was allowed.

http://www.ncaa.org/news/2000/20000214/briefly.html

[playaman]

The U.S.'s Cuba policy is dictated by a handful of anti-Castro militants in South Florida. One can understand their position, but it is illogical and counterproductive for the U.S. itself.

When we can open up to Vietnam and to China, we can open up to Cuba too.

[Nords]

Originally Posted by Howard

Baseball, like all sports, must be above Politics, and in the past, Cuban Teams have been allowed entry into the US.

I think the organizers were just afraid that Cuba would kick the other player's butts. Politics was a convenient excuse for stacking the draw...

Whodathunkit, China, Japan, Vietnam , all have played a direct role in killing Americans, rationalised by a war.

These countries are allowed free and open access to all that the US can provide, Cuba may have had a role in the murder of JFK(or the Mafia, or the CIA, depending upon which conspiracy you buy into), but that is anothr issue..

What better way to dethrone a dictator than to engage in dialogue with the citizens

Sports as displayed by the Olympic Games, should be above Politics, but I guess while the President's brother needs all the votes he can get, that is just idealistic thinking.

It will be like watching World soccer without Brasil.

[brewer12345]

Was it a full moon last night or something?

[Danny]

Originally Posted by brewer12345

Was it a full moon last night or something?

I think the moon is full. Who's at first, What's at second I Don't Know at third and I Don't Give A Darn at short. Play Ball!
Why do you ask? Are you feeling ok?

[REWahoo]

Cuban baseball reminds me of Saturday Night Live and Garret Morris as Chico Escuela:
"Baseball been berry, berry good to me."

[greg]

Originally Posted by WhodaThunkit

Hi, Howard. I agree that we should open up relations with Cuba.

But I have always been troubled by this question. Killing a sitting President is something special, never done by Vietnam, China, etc..

The likely suspects, at least on my list, have always been Oswald acting alone, Oswald acting with Cuban help, the Mafia, and LBJ/CIA.

OK, maybe the Warren Commission got it right. OTOH, many quite unlikely things had to come together to make this happen. For example, Ruby kills Oswald, and then conveniently dies himself. LBJ was a powerful man -- he had too much to lose by pulling such a stupid stunt. The Warren Commission had no reason to give either LBJ or the Mafia a free pass. That leaves me with Oswald, sponsored by Cuba. They got the free pass to prevent a nuclear war.

This all predates Jeb and George W. Bush by a long time. As far as I know, every President since Eisenhower has kept a fairly hard line on Cuba -- even Jimmy Carter (who I admire very much as a decent man). Maybe they have more information than we do about what really happened.

So . . . to make a short story very, very long, our relationship with Cuba may be more rational and complex than it seems at first glance. On the other hand, I may just be goofy on this issue !

Plus, you forgot about the second spitter.

[Nords]

Originally Posted by Apocalypse . . .um . . .SOON

Plus, you forgot about the second spitter.*

Is that the league that has the designated spitter?

[Texas Proud]

I do not believe that Cuba had anything to do with the assasination of Kennedy....

But, there was the Bay of Pigs that went bad for the US... the Cuban Missle Crisis...

AND the most important issue that keeps it under embargo (besides the powerful Cubans in the US)... we just don't care... it does not produce anything we need nor will it anytime in the near to mid future...

The others were war.. and there was an end to the war... and it took awhile for things to get better for all of the relationships (I have heard some 'old folks say they would never buy a Mitusbishi since they shot them down during WWII)... Cuba has not had an 'end'...

Look at Russia as an example... we boycotted them for 50 years until they 'changed'... when Cuba changes we will probably start the process of diplomatic recognition...

[brewer12345]

Originally Posted by Texas Proud

AND the most important issue that keeps it under embargo (besides the powerful Cubans in the US)...* we just don't care... it does not produce anything we need nor will it anytime in the near to mid future...

Sugar, cheaply and abundantly. Much more so than domestic producers, which is why there is lots of lobbyist pressure not to play nice with Cuba...

[Texas Proud]

Originally Posted by brewer12345

Sugar, cheaply and abundantly.* Much more so than domestic producers, which is why there is lots of lobbyist pressure not to play nice with Cuba...

We can get a lot of cheap sugar from other places... why we do not is they are a powerful lobby and will not let them include it on the 'free trade' agreements... Cuba would not change it much..

[justin]

Originally Posted by Texas Proud

We just don't care... it does not produce anything we need nor will it anytime in the near to mid future...

Cuban products that we need:

Beautiful women, baseball players, Cuban cigars, tropical vacation destination. Sure, there are substitutes for all, but why settle for substitutes when you can get the real thing?

[gratefuled]

Jeez, man...if not for skunky politics we might not have the following MLB players:

Danys Baez
Yuniesky Betancourt
Jose A. Contrerads
Livan Hernandez
Orlando Hernandez
Eli Marrero
Rafael Palmeiro
Alex Sanchez
Ramón Vázquez

That said, baseball is a sacrament, and should be treated as such. *Boycotting the Olympics was as dumb as a boxcar of Carolina salamanders, and so is this.

Ed

[Honkie]

I will consider this question while enjoying a "Cohiba Exquisito" after dinner this evening

Cheers

Honkie (Not affected by US sanctions on the World's finest cigars )