NFL 12 week 16 abrev.ed

The Colts are going to the playoffs baby!  The game was messy, but we pulled it out.  Which is good, because I doubt we'll win next week, nor go any further in the playoffs.  We've gotten worse as we go along, especially in pass protection.

Rest of the League:
Pats-Jags.  The Patriots almost lost to one of the crappiest teams on their schedule (and that's saying something).  And do you know why?  Because Tom Brady is a chump.

Saints-Cowboys.  That was crap.  The Cowboys, who I don't even like, we cheated in OT.  Cheated badly, by a ref team either too stupid or too lazy to do their job.  That was not a catch.  That ball was moving all over the place.  He clearly did not have it in control at any point in time.  Yet they rule it a fumble, recovered again by the Saints down near the endzone for a chip shot.  Yet the rule is that the offense cannot advance the ball by a fumble, as evidenced that the Ravens could not vs the Giants in the next game.  It made no sense.  I'm not saying the Cowboys wouldn't have lost fair and square anyway, but they should have been given the chance.

That's all you get.  I've been spending time with my family and so should you.  Get off your computer!

Oh, and Merry Christmas.

Old fashioned way

"It's an old fashioned notion."
                                                            -Nick Fury, The Avengers

I'm an old fashioned sort of person.  Very old fashioned.  I'm an old-timer in a twenty-something body.  I don't text.  I don't have Internet at home or on my phone.  I've spent this Christmas vacation with my mother and my sister's family (my niece loves me).  As much as I've enjoyed the occasional game on my sister's iphone or the ease of the camera, I still have a phone that only makes phone calls, and not just because I'm cheap.

A perfect illustration is my flight out to my mother's house.  I was reading an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone interested in improving their church, Gary McIntosh's Taking Your Church to the Next Level.  I've so enjoyed the learning that comes from reading the book.  I've actually had to read the book slowly, to absorb the information.  I've also bled a highlighter dry reading its content.

The point being, I read a couple of chapters on the airplane.  The man in the same row as me pulled out his kindle, after the drinks were served.  He read a page or two when they said "We are now starting our descent.  Please switch off all of those electronic devices.  While I read on, that man sighed at the inconvenience.

This is but one small advantage of old fashioned ways.  Books also have a feel that you don't get on an e-reader.  Moreover, you don't get the smell of a new book, or even of an old musty one.  There is more than the simple absorbing of information.  It is the difference between a pic on instagram and actually being out in the woods.  It's the difference between an "lol" text and hearing the laughter of a loved one.  It's the difference between a "poke" handshake or a hug.

I guess another way to say it is that it is the difference between the electronic world or the real world.  Then again, it's an old fashioned notion.

Newtown Tragedy

How do you reconcile the innocents of Christmas with the horrifice nature of a madman walking into an elementary school and shooting children?  You can't.  A friend of mine put it well when seeking solutions.

"Bear with me. I'm trying to process a few things and have been sharing to help with that as well as hear others opinions. That being said I have a few thoughts on the Sandy Hook School Shooting. 1) controlling guns is not going to solve this issue. He was a crazed man who would have found a way regardless of laws. Yes we can make things harder for criminals, but if they want to do harm they are going to find a way.


"2) there are no right or wrong answers about how we can prevent this in the future. We simply have no answers as to why and only the killers have those answers. We can do our best to figure it out and hope it's enough to make a difference, but unless we start taking blinders off of our eyes and see that there are some people in this world that really are evil we can't change.

"3)we need to take an honest look at mental health in this country. We need to stop labeling those who do not need labels and HELPING those that need help. Parents need to stop pretending that children can never do wrong and see that they can. We need to learn the warning signs for potentially dangerous people and get them help. And we need to give law officials a chance to do the same.

"4) parents need to teach their children violence is NEVER a solution to their anger or fear. We need to teach them that anger and fear are healthy but that we need to address it appropriately and calmly."

She's right.  They didn't need guns in Oklahoma City.  They used common fertilizer.  People are shifting blame to guns.  To schools.  To video games.  (For the record, I won't play games like Call of Duty for this reason.  It's one thing to shoot aliens or zombies.  It's something else to go for realism that my friends have lived through.  There is something wrong about fantasizing about real deaths and tragedy.) 

The bottom line is evil just exists in the world sometimes.  Like 9-11, OK City, Aurora, and Newtown.  People like Osama bin Laden, Timothy McVay, Joseph Stalin, and Adolph Hitler.  Part of me thinks we will never truly understand these people.  At least I won't.  You can't legislate morality.  This boy didn't have a legal issue or a self-esteem issue.  He was not right in the head, and for some reason, did an act of great evil. 

The hope for this world isn't the law.  It isn't a political party.  It isn't video games, or lack thereof.  The only cure for evil is Jesus. 

Then again, that's what Christmas is really about, isn't it?

Putting the X back in Christmas

A lot of people react out of ignorance to stupid things.  Like the unions' reaction to the right to work.

For example, saying "Happy Holidays" is a crime to some.  Saying "Merry Christmas" is a crime to others.  When I was a boy, "Happy Holidays" meant have a nice Christmas and New Years.  No big deal.  Now, it's the biggest deal in the world.  And saying Merry Christmas?  That's intolerant.  Of what?  Would you rather me walk around saying "I hope you have a miserable December 25th" to everyone that doesn't believe in Jesus?

The latest scandal is over "Merry X-mas," which has been a traditional way to say "Merry Christmas" for decades.  Now it's considered "taking the 'Christ' out of Christmas."

That's ignorant.  As someone who studied Greek when getting my B.A. degree at Johnson university, let me straighten people out who revolt over this.

The X is not an x.  It is a Greek letter that looks like an x.  It's actually the Greek letter for the 'Ch' (pronounched kee).  It is the first letter in the greek word Christ. 

In other words, it's not taking the Christ out of Christmas.  It's going back to the origional languages.

So stop throwing a fit over nothing and have a Merry X-mas!

Right to Work?

There is a current story in the news that I find simply unbelievable. Michigan has become a right-to-work state. The home of the UAW is giving people a choice.


Now, President Obama said that this is “political.” Ironic that this is his complaint. The Campaigner-in-Chief still has no idea how to be a president, so all he’s done since winning, is campaign. Now he’s campaigning for the unions.

But once again, let’s step aside and look at the FACTS. Facts are this law does not make unions illegal. This gives people the choice to be a part of the union or not. How things have worked in the past is that unions formed to protest unsafe working conditions (though they have outlived that purpose). The problem is once a business unionized, they were unionized forever. You didn’t get to vote whether to have a union. You didn’t get a choice whether to be in the union. You were in the union period.

Here’s where the next level of history comes in. When Prohibition ended, the Chicago mafia needed a new area to maintain their lives. They bought Vegas. But once honest people took back Vegas, the mob took over--you guessed it--the unions. And as the mobsters have a habit of doing, they got in bed with politicians, paying for campaigns and organizing for politicians that they had in their pockets (Gee, what politician do we know with Chicago connections?).

If you don’t see the mafia connection, look to how they behaved yesterday as the bill was signed. Union reps rioted, violently. One punched out a reporter.  It's the same mafia strong-arm tactics that they always run (watch the movie "The Untouchables" sometime).

So what’s this all about? This is about freedom to choose. (wait, I though the DEMS were pro-choice? Nope.) Why are union reps so against choice? Because people will choose not to participate, and that less money in THEIR pockets.

The president said that this is “the right to work for less.” He’s right. Less union dues, less oversight, less bribery, less corruption. How can people get less, if they get to take home their money instead of passing it on to full time thugs?  Then again, since when do thugs worry about freedom. 

Dear Mr. Costas

Dear Mr. Costas,

Where were you this week Bob?  Where was your halftime rant?  Another week, another NFL player dead.  Why weren't you on TV proclaiming the evils of the car culture?  Last week, you talked about Dirty Harry.  Where were you criticizing Pixar's Cars? 

Oh, that's right.  This week didn't fit your political agenda.  You hypocrite!  Last week, a player got drunk, cheated on his girlfriend, came home, shot her, then shot him.  This week, another player got drunk, got behind a wheel, caused a wreck, and killed his friend and teammate.  But that narrative doesn't fit your politics.  It does fit the truth.

Here's an idea.  Next time instead of running your mouth, look at actually facts.  Why don't you go after Budweiser instead of Smith and Wesson?

But then again, I'm sorry.  I guess it's asking too much for someone on TV to give a crap about truth.

NFL 12 week 14 synopsis

Let’s just start with the end of the first half. Our O-line has struggled all season, but down 10-7, they seemed to enjoy letting TN through to luck (I actually had to go get my hat so I could throw it). That’s how it came to pass that when Luck was taking a fumble, he tried to throw the ball, which was intercepted and run back for a touchdown. The only problem was HIS KNEES WERE DOWN. BOTH of them actually. They reviewed it and still called it a Titans TD. But his knees were down. It was a bad call by a bad ref team.


Also in there, Carter fumbled. That’s no big surprise. ALL Carter does is fumble. So how come we cut all our good players but somehow managed to keep the fumble king? CUT HIM.

I don’t want to take anything away from the Titans D, but our line sucked and has sucked pretty well all season. That’s why Luck has thrown so many passes on the run, and why we struggled to run. We’ve got to come up some solutions up front (like maybe bringing Jeff Saturday back).

The second half started with a touchdown, forced a 3 and out, then one of the best punts I’ve ever seen (like out of a Madden game), resulting in an INT for a TD, and the Colts lead. I think this proves that the Colts do better when we have to come back after the half.

Then this inept ref team continued their stupidity, on both teams. They wouldn’t call pass interference at all on this drive, then extend the next by calling it for no reason. At least lean one way or the other. Don’t leave both teams scratching their heads trying to figure out what you want.

This turned into a good game despite the refs with a couple of lead changes, but I do have say Avery had a chance for a big TD, but dropped the ball, and again, he’s done a lot of that this season. Luckily, our defense made up for it and came up with a turnover with five and a half to go in the fourth.

Rest of the League:
Redskins-Ravens. One heck of a game. Both teams played with a lot of heart, but the Redskins had just a little more to lose, and therefore had a greater desire to win.

Panthers-Falcons. Hotlanta sure has cooled off. Cam Newton has warmed up. I’ll tell you, it seems like the Falcons have ruined their best chances for a conference championship this year, if they can’t get their momentum back.

Chargers-Steelers. Bring back Charlie Batch! If you lose to a San Diego team that is that bad…

Cowboys-Bengals. I can’t explain why Cincy was that bad this week. Maybe the Cowboys just needed after one of their players got drunk and killed another player (more on this later).

Browns-Chiefs. Why mention this? Browns were the only team in the AFC North to win this week.

Broncos-Raiders. Peyton Manning. Yeah.

Vikings-Bears. Anyone surprised that Cutler got hurt? You shouldn’t. Maybe the Bears should discover the concept of the offensive line.

Giants-Saints. I bELIeve in Eli! The Saints still struggle. They can put up big plays and are as dangerous as anybody, but all they can do is big plays, but still struggle finding identity. The Giants Defense did not struggle, and still play like beasts. That offense wasn’t bad either. Too bad its about a week too late.

Seahawks-Cards. Can you say “blowout”? Dang… I think that Packers game gave the Hawks a chip on their shoulder, and they’ve never quite recovered.

NFL 12 week 13 response

Well, if you're a regular follower of this blog, you'll notice a suspicious lack of a week 13 synopsis.  There is a good reason for that.  I didn't get to watch one single football game this week.  At all.

Yet, football has been the word in the news.  No, not because the Colts barely kept down the Lions.  Not because RGIII managed up upset Eli. 

No, because of Bob Costas. 

There is a saying that the news person should never be the story.  Like a debate moderator interjecting incorrect information in order to help their candidate, for example.

In this case, there was a tragedy as the linebacker for the KC Cheifs murdered his girlfriend, then shot himself.  This is a terrible tragedy.  That is enough said. 

But never let the truth get in the way of a political agenda.  No, Costas goes on air and declares that the problem is guns.  That's right.  It's all the gun's fault.

Really?  What about the nanny that stabbed the three kids she was watching, then herself?  We should outlaw kitchen knives.  And nannies.  And kids.  And while we're at it, kitchens!  What about the guy that was beaten to death as a part of a gang initiation.  We should outlaw kicking?  Shoes?

Do you see why this logic falls apart?  Cities that have stringent Gun Control laws have MORE violence.  Look at Chicago!  Their crime rate increases annually.  Because gun laws only take them away from citizens who now can't defend themselves.  Here's another stat, in 90% of cases where a gun is used to prevent a crime, the gun is not fired. 

And this linebacker?  He was wealthy and had no record.  So no gun laws would have prevented him from getting one.

Let me tell you straight up that I do not own a firearm.  But unlike most people who react emotionally to this issue, I studied FACTS (something Costas should try sometime).  The bottom line is simple math.  More gun=less gun crime.  Why?  Because criminals, by definition, do not obey the law.  In one city (as I recall, Atlanta GA, but I was unable to find the study again) they banned guns, and armed robbery skyrocketted.  So much so that they repealed the law.  When the did, restaurant owners posted signs saying "15% off if you carry a gun."  Crime hit new lows.  Why?  You're not going to stick up a place if you think everyone in there has a gun. 

Now you're thinking Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, right?  "I'm trying real hard to be the shepherd..."

Anyway, I did some independant research and made an informed decision as to where I stand.  Maybe Bob Costas should do the same...