Eligible
The word I’d like to talk to you about today is “eligible.” When you’re eligible for something, you’re allowed to do it, or allowed to receive it. In American sports, we have what’s called a Hall of Fame, and it’s usually a museum, but more generally an institution, that recognizes the very best players in the history of a sport. In basketball, we have the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, named after the father of the sport, Joseph Naismith. And each year, several committees look at players around the world and decide who to admit into the Hall of Fame. Only the very best players get in.
The committees get to decide, subjectively, who is admitted to the Hall of Fame. But there one rule: a player must be retired for several full seasons before being admitted. A player cannot be admitted unless he (or she) has been retired for the required amount of time.
Kobe Bryant has not yet been eligible for the Basketball Hall of Fame. That means he had not yet waited the required amount of time. By rule, he was not allowed to be voted in, no matter how badly the committee wanted him. He was not eligible. He was not even allowed to be considered.
He will be eligible for inclusion in the Hall of Fame this year, and the ceremony will be over the summer. Several other players are eligible for the Hall of Fame this year, including Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Chris Bosh. I think it’s a good bet that Tim Duncan will be selected to the Hall of Fame. Chris Bosh is eligible, but he may not be chosen. That means, the rules allow Chris Bosh to be selected—but we don’t know if he will be selected.
That’s the key with “eligible for” … it doesn’t necessarily mean you are or will be something, it just means you’re allowed to try or be included. For example, I know a lot of people who are eligible to vote, but do not vote. They are permitted to—they are citizens, they are old enough—but they don’t do it. In New York, a lot of people don’t drive; they don’t even have driver’s licenses! They are eligible to apply for driver’s licenses—they could get it if they wanted to—but they don’t by choice.
In the United States, our constitution places only two conditions on a person’s eligibility for president. A person must be a natural-born citizen, and the person must be at least 35 years old. Hey, that means I’m eligible to be president! I won’t be, but I am eligible. I meet the minimum requirements by rule—actually achieving it is another story.
One of the big questions that governments face is, when should citizens be eligible for a public pension? Many public pension systems were created 50, 75, 100 years ago, when people didn’t live as long as they do today. Today, people live longer than ever—and yet, in many places, people are eligible to collect public pensions at age 62, sometimes even younger. They could live 30 more years! But it’s so hard for politicians to raise the age at which a person becomes eligible for a public pension.
Who is going to take home the Oscar for best picture this year? I don’t know, but I do know that it will be one of 344 films. That’s because only 344 films are eligible this year. If you’re not on that list, then you are not going to be considered for an award; by rule, you’re not allowed to win one. To be eligible for the Academy Awards, a film must be shown in a movie theater in Los Angeles before December 31 of any given year; it must run for at least seven consecutive days; and it must be 40 minutes or longer. A film that comes out in January is not eligible for the Academy Awards that same April, but it would be eligible for the Academy Awards the following year.
Quote of the week
Here’s your quote of the week. The American author Mark Twain once said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” Now, I don’t think that was advice to be taken literally, but he does have a point. If you’ve got something you have to do, and it’s unpleasant—get it over with first. Take care of it. Do the hardest thing early in the day, and then you won’t have to do anything harder the whole rest of the day. I kind of like that, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” American author, and a font of quotable snippets, Mark Twain.
That’s all for today. Coming up on Thursday—was it the big news in American politics or the big snooze? The impeachment of Donald Trump didn’t captivate American voters like many thought it would. That’s on Thursday—see you then.
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