Uh. . . . . Your Welcome?

Congratulations other 46 states in the Union, you've been very generous this Christmas season whether you knew it or not.

The Socialist Party of America managed to get a worst-of-all-options healthcare bill rammed through the Senate this morning before they ran like the cowards they are back to their homes for the holidays. Many thanks to the Architect of the Minority Mitch McConnell for making that vote happen in secret and expediently. Why fight when there's eggnog to be drunk.

The big winners in this sham are Louisiana, Nebraska, Vermont and Massachusetts. Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Landrieu (D-LA) let the nation off easy by only highjacking a few hundred million each of extra money for their states. What is extra money you say? Apparently, to the Senate, extra means money that you still have in your pocket. Nebraska and Vermont were the big winners though. All of those massive unfunded mandates in the Senate bill that will be crippling states for years to come? Not a worry for the cornhusker or maple syrup states. The Senate, in all it's charity, decided that these two states are special and should have all of their massive unfunded mandates paid for by the taxpayers of the other states. A high price for votes.

How very generous of us all! I kind of wish I lived in one of these select few states, but hey, the man in the black coat with the gun in my back says I should be happy to do my fair share and subsidized both the people of Colorado as well as Nebraska, Vermont, Louisiana and Massachusetts so who am I to argue? Hopefully I get some coal this Christmas, with all this "charity" and "goodwill" I may need it to heat my house.

Merry Christmas!

Gas-Can Jam Plays the Hits

There has never been a spark or a flame that was to faint, to weak or to insignificant for JaMarcus Russell to ignore.

After 11 solid weeks of head pounding, awe inducing and spirit destroying "performances" by our man Jam, which burned to the ground any remaining good will he had with the Raider faithful, Coach Tom the Merciful (with the blessing of Lord Al) finally pulled the plug on everybody's favorite arsonist and brought Bruce Gradkowski, of all people, into the chaos.

For three solid weeks, the chaos became a simple storm. Adversity seemed able to be overcome and the football once again resembled something professional. Down went the Bengals, down went the Steelers. Even the loss to the Cowboys, while lopsided, didn't seem like quite the Theater of the Damned that the losses under JaMarcus had been. A loss was now simply a loss instead of a public shaming.

Week 4 of the Era of Bruce started with promise as well. The Raiders managed to take a brief lead, 10-7, before falling behind. It was a rare occurrence where Oakland was actually playing much better than the score would indicate, giving hope to all Raider faithful that fortune would soon be with them yet again. Then the unspeakable happened. Bruce hurt not just one but two knees and was done for the game and maybe the season.

And there was the first spark of doubt and unease. It actually wasn't just a spark. Everybody in that stadium, watching on TV around the world knew exactly what was coming. We all new our man JaMarcus was back from exile, gas can in one hand, strike anywhere matches in the other, just waiting to lay waste to all the good that had been done in the past three weeks.

He never fails to deliver.

In what certainly was the final nail in his coffin in Oakland, Russell showed that he had learned nothing since being sent to the bench, throwing idiotic interceptions, holding the ball too long, fumbling near his own end-zone and basically showing none of the intangibles necessary to be a professional quarterback. The saddest part of the whole experience was how the entire team self destructed just by his presence. When Gradkowski is in the game, the team plays like it has a chance of winning. With Russell in there, they don't. Now we know for certain that those feelings are completely correct.

Hopefully next season will be an uncapped year. If so, Jam, Javon Walker and an number of other bad contracts should just be jettisoned from the team. After a record six straight seasons with 11+ losses, what's to lose?

Worlds Greatest FAIL

You've got to hand it Gary Bettman. Nobody can turn gold into lead any faster than he can.

Given a gift opportunity to do the NHL a solid by making sure the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes ended up in, say, Winnipeg, Hartford, Toronto 2, Wisconsin, Portland, etc. he decided to find a group of buyers who would contractually bind themselves to staying in Arizona until the end of their building lease. No early outs.

Contraction would have been a better option than this. If Wayne Gretzky couldn't find a way to make the team stable with his name power and a few good seasons mixed in, how can anybody else?

People like Bettman who constantly keep trying to move hockey in the sun belt just don't understand demographics. In large states like Florida or California, you can find enough fans to fill the stadium just because of transplants and sheer statistical probability. Arizona doesn't have quite that many people in it. What kind of people does Arizona have? Only two kinds, Mexicans (not into puck) and unmotivated, clothing averse people.

Seriously, Arizona is the place where good looking people who don't want to act (California) or be prostitutes/club owners (Nevada) go to marinate in the sun. The top majors at the University of Arizona and Arizona State are Stokiology (the science of getting stoked), Sunbathing, Trophy Wifing and Sociology. They are glorified community colleges at best.

The only time hockey could work in the Sun Devil state is during the dead of summer when it's a 105 degrees everyday, then you could at least advertise the stadium air conditioning. The fall/winter is when the temperatures are the most manageable and everybody is golfing, on a boat or just hammer brews on the porch. Why spend a hundred dollars to go sit in a cold stadium when for twenty bucks you can grab a case of Coors and go play beach volleyball with the coeds? Doesn't make any sense.

So sorry Canada and northern American cities, your promise of a rabid fan base and sold out stadiums wasn't enough to deter Bettmans expansionist march into the southland. Maybe when the 2020 NHL All Star game is being held in Costa Rica you can at least get a decent vacation out of it. Not much else for you to look forward to.

NFL Week 14 Predictions

Steelers -9.5 over BROWNS (L)
Saints -9.5 over FALCONS
Packers -3.5 over BEARS
COLTS -7.5 over Broncos
Bills +.5 over CHIEFS
Jets -3.5 over BUCS
Dolphins +2.5 over JAGUARS
RAVENS +13.5 over Lions
Seahawks +6.5 over TEXANS
Bengals +6.5 over VIKINGS
PATRIOTS +13.5 over Panthers
TITANS +12.5 over Rams
RAIDERS +1.5 over Redskins
COWBOYS -3.5 over Chargers
Eagles +.5 over GIANTS
Cardinals -3.5 over 49ERS

This Week
Overall 98-90

What A Special Time

The Carnival of the Damned was back in full force today as both Obama and the Senate took turns insulting out intelligence and making a mockery of the Constitution.

Where to begin. Obama is the Instigator in Chief so we might as well start there.

In a speech today, Obama took the time to blast the TARP package passed at the end of the Bush term, pat himself on the back for rescuing the economy and laid out his new plan to spend our way out of the recession.

Whew. First of all, I happen to agree that the TAP plan was a legislative abortion. I just wish Obama also felt this way back when he was voting for it as a Senator. I also wish Obama would not have appointed the architect of said abortion (Tim Geitner) as his Secretary of the Treasury. The most galling thing about Obama constantly hammering the spending explosion under Bush is that most of it happened since the Democrats took control of Congress in 2006 and wore out the credit line. With Obama's support the whole time. Obama should be trying to ignore discussing the economy at all given his complicit part in it's destruction. He's decided to try and spin 15% unemployment, 7 million jobs lost and absolute zero growth as "saving the economy." Very odd.

Most insulting though is his new plan to spend our way out of the recession. What exactly have we been doing? The TARP was meant to get banks lending credit again. Instead, Obama decided to buy up banks, lending firms and GM. The stimulus was meant to get people working by taking shovel ready jobs and funding them so they could be gin right away. So far, there isn't any evidence the stimulus has created one job. Most of that money has gone to states to cover various deficits, social programs or legal teams, if you live in Colorado. Whatever money is left is just sitting in a slush fund waiting for the Fed to send out to its political allies. So after two multi trillion dollar failures, Obama ow wants stimulus III to finally start getting people working. Yeah right buddy. You're a liar and a bad one at that. I know you're just daring the media to call you out on all this but what you don't seem to get is that even the most dim witted American can see the truth of your flawed ideology.
------------
In other news, the Senate has defeated the Benson Amendment banning federal health care reform from paying for abortions. That's right, your tax dollars might end up collapsing a fetal skull in the near future. The only question now is how much spine do the pro-life Democrats have now? Ben Nelson has drawn a pretty firm line in the sand on the abortion issue, much like Joe Lieberman has drawn an anti public plan line. If I had to make a prediction, Nelson would crumble as would all the other pro-life Dems and Lieberman can probably be bought off with some clever rewording of the socialist option. Then the elections will come and heads will roll.
-----------
From the world of sports, the Yankees are apparently close to sending Austin Jackson, Phil Coke and Ian Kennedy off into the wilderness to acquire Curtis Granderson. The WWL assumes that this might also mean the end of Johnny Damon in New York. I am mystified that seems to be a positive move in the eyes of the media heads. We must first throw out the Kennedy/Coke part. Nobody cares about those two. Essentially its Austin Jackson for Curtis Granderson. While certainly an upgrade defensively, Granderson hit a whopping .249 last year with 30 HR's and 71 RBI. Essentially he's Melky Cabrera with more pop and less average. And way more expensive. For years Yankee fans have been hearing about how great Austin Jackson could be. If the team believes his ceiling is batting .250 with 25 HRS and 50 RBI then the trade makes sense but it seems like the Yanks are trying to get the big name again hoping Granderson somehow recreates his 07 season (.302, 23 HR, 74 RBI) on a consistent basis. A risky proposition considering he has only done that once in his six year career.

Monday Night Head Shaker

Excuse me there Coach Harbaugh, have you met Andy Reid, Art Shell and Herm Edwards? The National Association of Terrible Clock Managers would like to welcome you to the club.

This weeks embarrassing moment in clock management came Monday night about ten seconds before the two minute warning at the end of the Packers-Ravens game. Baltimore was down by 14 or so and needed to conserve as much time as possible. Due to some clock snafu by the officials the play clock was reset without about 2:10 on the clock. This allowed Green Bay to run the clock all the way down to the break. Baltimore, who had one timeout left, should have used that timeout to force a play before the two minute break, saving some time on the other side. The Coaching staff was clearly upset at the resetting of the play clock, they were under the impression GB would have to run a play before the break and didn't notice the clock reset.

Fine.

Now pardon me for being critical but I've seen guys on the sidelines whose job seems to be nothing more than screaming "get it up!" or "you da man!" randomly. A valuable position indeed but it seems that if you've got that base covered it seems like somebody should be paid to keep track of the clock management issues. After all, play clocks get reset all the time, do you want to lose 20 seconds because everybody was staring off into space? Don't think so.

What's that you say? You say that's the job of the Head Coach?

OF COURSE IT IS!!!!!!

That's why it is so frustrating to watch. 15 year olds who have been playing Madden for a few years have far superior clock awareness than these head coaches. Andy Reid is the dean of this group of deficients as he manages to blow clock details without the burden of play calling to distract him. Harbaugh is fast on his heels though. What exactly did he think was going on when he saw the entire Packer team just standing around shootin the shit? Maybe they were just going to take the delay of game penalty rather than run out the clock? Even if you buy the idiotic rationale that the play clock reset caught them completely off guard, is everybody on that team, all the coaches, the active squad, the inactives, the fans, trainers, etc., did nobody panic when they saw the clock hit 2:02, 2:01 and just call the TO out of instinct? What the hell is going on on that sideline that is so fascinating that nobody can bother to alter their gaze six inches vertical to give the clock, your true enemy at this point, a quick looky-loo?

Even more ironic is that these inexcusable lapses in focus/intelligence/judgment come from some of the biggest control freaks on the planet. Except for Art Shell, he hasn't controlled anything related to football in about a decade.

So congratulations Coach Harbaugh, your ability to tun a seemingly simple calculation into Sophi's Choice is truly astounding. The Association welcomes you to their hallowed halls. As the newest member you are charged with bringing the Costco sized crate of ring dings and Mountain Dew, Meeting starts promptly at 7:30. Hah! Who are we kidding, if these guys show up on the right day we'll call it a victory. Just try not to smash your own face on the door on the way in.

Copa del Mundo 2010

The draw for the 2010 World Cup was today and I am now officially into it.

Don't get me wrong, soccer is still a communist sport only fit for the third world and over sensitive, granola munching little league coaches.

However, the World Cup is different because it has one element that your basic Galaxy or Real Madrid game doesn't, rampant nationalistic fervor. This one element should encourage every American to get involved in June. The combination of fanatically proud European fans plus a healthy dash of anti-American sentiment globally makes the outcomes of these games potentially devastating for the local population. As Americans, we should do all we can to back our boys as loud as possible, again, not because we like soccer but because we should all relish the opportunity to see an American go into hostile territory and beat the Euros at their own beloved game.

And what an opportunity we have right off the bat.

The Brits.

The Brits are by far a more accomplished futbol squad but if I know my history we have at least one World Cup win over the Queen's Finest and are 2-0 in wars against them. For reasons that even I can't fully comprehend, the idea of handing out star spangled beatdown to the Beckhams, that jackass Rooney and all those condescending Union Jackers that constantly attribute American disapproval of soccer to a lack of intelligence or refinement would be a sweet thing indeed. It would be even sweeter this time around as England has a better squad than they have in years.

So I encourage all Americans to get involved this summer. You have the rare opportunity to have a legitimate excuse to wake up at 4 in the morning on a Tuesday to get drunk, watch sports and have barbecue for breakfast. It's also the chance to do some legitimate, global trash talking. Aside from North Korea, you should be able to talk sh*t to any of the competing teams fans via the Internet. For the chance to have all this you have to almost nothing to lose, most Americans don't care about soccer anyway, so the losses will mean nothing but the victories will be savory.

In a related note, should the Americans get bounced early, you should feel morally obligated to root against the French and the Mexicans. The Mexicans are self explanatory, they are our biggest rival and their fans behave monstrously when we come to town. Going against them should be second nature. The French though earned scorn this year. They are a crappy team that pulled a bush league move on over achieving Irish team that got them in and kept the Irish out. FIFA apparently treats the French like NCAA officials treat Duke, except it's even more blatant.

Go Yanks!

Come Hither Lenny

In the days after the Presidents insulting and grating speech on Afghanistan Monday night, I have been fascinated by the reaction from the various talking heads in the political media.

All the leftists are busy doing what we expect them to; cry about the escalation and broken campaign promises, blaming Bush for everything and when all that fails, try and convince us that Obama's escalation of surrender is somehow a good idea.

The mesmerizing point is how many supposed conservatives are actually praising Obama for the decision. What is there to applaud? That it took Bama six months to decide to short General McCrystal 40 to 60 thousand troops that he requested or the fact that there is now an 18 month window to wrap it up. Even the 30,000 he is sending won't be at full force for four to six months (if they hurry) so the window is really a year and the rules of engagement are so weak they won't even get to kill any of the bad guys while they're there.

So why the tepid applause by some Republicans? First of all, many weak kneed Republicans just love being seen by the DC crowd as reasonable and willing to work with the opposition. It's their own personal ecstasy every time George Stephanopolous gives them a cookie. That's only part of it though, the other part involves two things i constantly rail on.

Stupidity and shame.

We have tons of one and not enough of the other. Let me elaborate.

Shame is a very powerful tool, especially when conducted in the public arena. It's one of the great hidden benefits to the First Amendment, incompetent people get empowered to speak freely, thus exposing their truly mediocre nature for all to see. The public, once alerted to the stupidity at hand, then proceed to shame the moron at hand to the back bench where they are then marginalized and therefore can do no harm to anybody. Former Presidents like Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Bush I for very valid reasons became complete jokes during their terms for being completely inept. Dan Quayle, John Kerry, etc. were also subsequently disposed of for incompetence and the list could go on for ages and Barak Obama should be added to that list as well.

He never will though, which brings us to the second point.

Shame is a difficult thing to do properly and it requires a semi-advanced level of intelligence to be done properly in the public arena and simply put, too many people in the public and private spheres are simply to stupid to handle the task. This involves all sides as well. The media, in addition to their built in liberal bias has some of the most ill-informed members in its ranks. Some of the responses by Mike Moore, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, etc. were almost as confounding as Obama's speech. They knew somethings wasn't quite right but what got articulate was unintelligible. Many of the FOX pundits showed similar lack of mental cohesion as they somehow deduced that Obama was committed to winning now. When asked what part of the speech made them feel that way the spring in the hamster wheel in their brain just snapped right in half. Most politicians are similarly unqualified to call out the opposition as well. We know this by their frank admission that they don't even read bills they vote on. Way to build that credibility. Guys like Jim DeMint, Judd Gregg (sometimes) and Joe Lieberman (sometimes) stand out as real ideological firebrands only because they are some of the few guys who have any real idea what they are talking about. Conversely, you could listen to hours of speeches by Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Barbara Boxer, Diane DeGette, etc. and not find one tangible thought. All those people just fall back on one issue (bipartisanship, maverickness, abortion/radical feminism) and scream about it until they get hoarse. People like this make up 97% of Congress. Sadly, because the media and Congress are so inept, it is very difficult for the voting public to be well informed. Information can be difficult to find, especially when most people have jobs, kids, etc. to focus on.

Many people don't like this theory of productive shaming, which applies to all walks of life not just politics. They buy into the theory that all people all unique snowflakes just waiting to dazzle us with their radiance. This is pure sophistry pushed by shallow minded people, the same people who decide not to keep score in little league games. This world is not all snowflakes, it is chock full of acid rain and tundra that needs to be pruned from society. Half the job is already done for us. Incompetent people always expose themselves sooner or later. All the rest of us have to do is wait for them to surface then take them out. This involves two things that need changing. First, the public must abandon any hope that media will keep them informed and seek independent information from numerous, conflicting sources. British journalism is a good place to go for some combative journalism and the Internet makes some basic fact checking easy. Getting the intellectual weaponry is key, if you try and expose a fraud without the firepower, you yourself become the fraud. Secondly, people must get bolder. Americans are generally nice people who don't like confrontation. This must change. Exposing stupidity where ever it may be may seem abrasive and you might feel like an a**hole afterward. I assure you this is normal but can be overcome. Just know that by helping to scrub clean the human debris from our wonderfully constructed civil society is the the most patriotic thing you can do. I would go so far as to say it is your civic obligation to rail against incompetence where ever it holds power. If enough people take my advice, these would be backbenchers will have no choice but to retreat into the shadows of irrelevance never to bother us again. Then the power will return to where it rightfully belongs, the public.

After all, it was Jefferson who said "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty." Nothing scares incompetence more than the threat of being exposed and it;s time we got back to making it standard practice.

NFL Week 13 Predictions

Jets -3.5 over BILLS (W)
Eagles -4.5 over FALCONS (W)
Rams +8.5 over BEARS (W)
BENGALS -13.5 over Lions (L)
Titans +6.5 over COLTS (L)
Broncos -4.5 over Chiefs (W)
REDSKINS +8.5 over Saints (W)
Bucs +6.5 over PANTHERS (L)
Texans +.5 over JAGUARS (W)
STEELERS -11.5 over Raiders (L)
DOLPHINS +6.5 over Patriots (W)
Chargers -12.5 over BROWNS (L)
49ers +.5 over SEAHAWWKS (L)
Cowboys -1.5 over GIANTS (L)
Vikings -3.5 over CARDINALS (L)
Ravens +3.5 over PACKERS (L)

This Week 7-9
Overall 98-90

Commander In Who Gives A Crap

The highly anticipated Obama announcement concerning Afghanistan should becoming this week, maybe even today and I must admit I feel a bit underwhelmed by the whole thing.

In the months leading up top this monumental decision (more so recently) we've been hearing through leaks that Obama will authorize somewhere in the range of 30,000 troops with the focus being turned to ending the war.

How inspiring.

This decision is classic Obama. It's weak, it tries to play both sides, it assumes the American people are morons and it will ultimately fail.

First of all, we should all now know that Obama was just lying during the campaign about this being a just war. As far as he is concerned, the only just war their is is one America will lose badly in.

How do we know he's lying? Because, as always, his policy doesn't match the stated goal. If the real goal is to end the war, then there is no need to send 30,000 more troops. The number of troops you need to not fight a war is zero. Everybody knows this and for Obama to make this move that is clearly designed to do nothing but endanger soldiers lives shows how little respect he has for the American public. He seems to think if he keeps repeating it enough than we must believe it because of the power of his persona. I guess he really doesn't check the polls.

So what does he think it'll do? He thinks by sending 30,000 more troops it will prevent pro-war conservatives from labeling him weak in a fight and therefore not tough enough to lead. He also assumes that by ordering 30,000 more troops into a battle so they can surrender, he will placate the Mike Moore/Dennis Kucinich wing of his own party. Both these propositions are of course absurd and will achieve the opposite result. I always thought Bill Clinton was a man of far less than average intelligence (I still do, actually) but he was able to triangulate issues in a masterful way that confounded Republicans for eight solid years. Watching Obama try and take all sides of an issue is an exercise in the painfully absurd. It's like listening to British people speak Spanish, it has all the fundamental elements required but is still horribly wrong.

I'm sure Obama will stride up to the podium in West Point (guess he needs some cover) like Patton addressing his troops and then give a speech that makes him look like Alan Alda in M*A*S*H* (not a compliment lefties). It should be high theater of a mind completely gripped in an egotistical delusion of its own making. Hopefully no soldiers get killed while this idiocy hashes itself out.

NFL Week 12 Predictions

Sometimes it helps to actually hit publish on these things:

Packers -10.5 over LIONS (W)
Raiders +13.5 over COWBOYS (L)
BRONCOS +6.5 over Giants (W)
Bucs +11.5 over FALCONS (W)
Dolphins -3.5 over BILLS (L)
BENGALS -13.5 over Browns (L)
RAMS +2.5 over Seahawks (L)
Panthers +3.5 over JETS (L)
EAGLES -9.5 over Redskins (L)
Colts -3.5 over TEXANS (W)
CHARGERS -13.5 over Chiefs (W)
Jaguars +3.5 over 49ERS (L)
Cardinals +.5 over TITANS (L)
Bears +10.5 over VIKINGS (L)
Steelers +2.5 over RAVENS (L)
SAINTS -3.5 over Patriots (W)

This Week 6-10
Overall 91-81

Two for Tuesday

I must admit to feeling vindicated by the response to the publication of email conforming that global warming data has long been manipulated and is fraudulent.

The response from the mainstream media has been virtually nonexistent which makes me happy. Don't get me wrong, it's frustrating that they won't report this story to all audiences but we should know better than that at this point. The silence is telling though. Usually when some data comes out to debunk global warming the media spin machine goes on full attack to slander whatever group or person found the contrarian data, calling them deniers and comparing them to Holocaust deniers.

This time? Silence. That's because even the MSM knows that they've been had this time. The emails from one of the worlds, supposed, premier global warming data centers debunk the entire theory that the Global Warming Hoax has been built on. There is no defending it so the media isn't even going to try. They hope that by ignoring it, it will simply pass on by where they can resume their agenda at some later date. They plan Copenhagen as if it is still a legitimate endeavor.

I suspect they won't be so lucky this time. Cap and Tax legislation is coming up in the Senate and there is an election year coming up. Suppose this will play a role in the debate?

-----------------------

Now that the health care bill is open for debate, we get to see just who has the stones in Democrat caucus. There seems to be two differing camps of thought with no middle ground.

You've got the Lieberman camp which is adamantly against a government plan. Supposedly Ben Nelson is in this camp as well but he's a flake so who knows. Lieberman is even against the trigger option that might at one time have gotten Olympia Snow on board although she seems against even that now (must have seen some polling). Mark Prior, Blanche Lincoln, Evan Bayh might also be in this camp but they are weak and can be bought off (see Landrieu Mary). Lieberman is the leader, if he holds some of others might follow.

The other camp is the very leftist pro-government plan and has just about every other Senator in it. We'll call it the Franken camp. The only question is how committed are they? If they mean it when they say government plan or nothing, does that mean they will let this thing die, wait for 2010 elections hoping that some of the Liebermans and Lincolns of the world get voted out? Seems like a risky proposition.

All of this ignores the House and Nancy Pelosi. She isn't going to approve a bill that isn't pro-abortion or has a government run health plan. If the senate liberals crumble to Lieberman, you can bet Nancy won't. If the Senate liberals win and the final bill is a government run health care plan without the Stupak amendment, it might lose the support it needs in the House.

All of the competing interest seem to opposed to ever really hash this thing out. I never put it past liberals to bribe each other off but this would take Louisiana Purchase, 300 mil+ buyoffs all over the Congress. Not impossible but you would think that there are enough people who are depending on economic issues to get reelected that would have to squash all those bribes just to survive.

I hope they fight like caged Wolverines over this. I've said it before but lb on lib crime is one of life's most hysterical displays. Add that to it being an election years and political infighting in the Dem party is only good for the GOP and it should be quite the show.

Friday Night Beatdown

Boy, the Syracuse Orangemen sure do know how to play with the affections of their fans.

There was guarded optimism before the season started mostly hinging on the abilities of newcomers Brandon Triche, Wesley Johnson and the return of Scoop Jardine from injury.

All of that was pretty much dashed in a season opening lose to LeMoyne. Even for Boeheim's notoriously inconsistent teams, losing to LeMoyne was more embarrassing then other losses to lesser teams (Colgate).

Integrity was then restored by soundly beating a top 20 California team. This win put the team back to respectability but not necessarily prominence. After all the Cal basketball team, much like the football, can be wildly inconsistent in their own right. Still, a trip to the finals of a preseason tournament is respectable, so the Cuse had come back from the low of the early season loss.

Then on Friday they moved the needle way, way the other way by soundly trouncing the hell out of No. 4 North Carolina. I don't recall the last time SU beat a top four team at all let alone badly unless it was against UConn. How a team can lose to LeMoyne and then beat UNC is beyond me.

Does this tournament tell us anything? Sure. Mostly that the Cuse will probably be all over the board this year, beating the UConn, Nova and ND's of the world mixed in with the occasional loss to DePaul or the Johnnies. Business as usual otherwise.

One thing is for certain though. Come tourney time, the Cuse won't have to worry about quality wins out of conference.

BullSh*t Radar

Being the naturally curious human being that I am (hence the name of this blog) I try my best to absorb all kinds of media and opinions. The best source for an all in one pu pu platter of opinion is on radio and I listen to as many hours as I can fit in a day.

A recent schedule change shifted my drive time to later in the day, which opened up a whole new slew of entertainment. I've been at this for about four months now and I think some opinions can be made about my new drive time listening.

First, the Mark Levin Show is just excellent, no complaints at all.

The other new show I get to hear is the Glenn Beck program (taped delayed to evening drive).

And I can't decided if he's the most emotional, passionate voice on the radio or just completely full of it and laying it on extra thick for dramatic effect.

It's not the content of the show that sets off my BS alarm. I generally agree with the points Beck makes about the corruption in government, failure of both parties and the need for drastic change. I just wonder if I believe it more than he does.

My suspicion lies in the delivery. Every time I hear the voice tremble, the tears flow, the overly dramatic (and lengthy) pauses and the deepening of tone I can't help but immediately think that it is the most contrived, calculated delivery on radio and that I'm being played by this guy.

These nuances/production qualities have recently become even more apparent as Beck has delved into lengthy discussions about saving THE REPUBLIC (always in all caps), about "The Plan" he is developing to save THE REPUBLIC and the various modifications to his timetable for deployment of said "Plan" due to changes occurring in THE REPUBLIC. These things all strike me in two ways, the first being that grassroots alterations to the way governments are elected and run are absolutely needed in this country but it also strikes me that Beck is either a) faking it for ratings b) emotionally unstable/paranoid or c) a raging narcissist who has way overvalued the import of his ideas and influence.

I readily admit that my initial problem is that I have a knee jerk suspicion of men who become emotional to the point of tears so quickly. You could convince me that Dick Vermeil was in the Taliban based on this fact alone. It strikes me that it is a smoke screen to conceal the individuals true motives or indicative of a mental weakness, either of which make the message being conveyed moot. Crying is right up there with doing things "for the children" on the list of tools for political contrivance.

I suspect that my suspicions will be resolved one way or the other in the coming year. Beck himself has built up his ideas on how to instigate resistance to the Statist assault on the Constitution that is currently taking place. If whatever Beck has been building up to turns out to be something truly substantial (able to effect the outcome of things) then I will happily eat my words, chalk up my spidey sense going off to simple stylistic issues and not say a word about it again. If in a year though Beck is still stuck in the vagaries of his new direction and dedication, purely speculative and secretive in nature and the 2010 elections come and go with nothing to show, then I will be content that my fears were right and the Beck is simply selling "Glen's Revitalizing Tonic" to the masses of people looking for a way to counteract the red wave coming from Washington.

Personally, I hope Beck proves me quite wrong. The things that are going on in our government these days is such an atrocity that the daily barrage of news assaults simply overwhelms the mind and crushes the spirit. I hope Beck delivers something tangible to his dedicated fans that gives the conservatives of the nation an outlet for constructive and effective opposition. You can never have to much help in a dogfight and I hope Beck is able to rise to the level of the truly genuine that his radio colleagues Rush, Levin and Hannity have. Otherwise he may further depress and disenfranchise the very group of people he hopes to inspire.

NFL Week 11 Predictions

I'm really getting hammered now, my once sizable positive is now crashing back toward .500 and beyond. As always, home team in CAPS

Dolphins +3.5 over PANTHERS(W)
LIONS -3.5 over Browns (W)
PACKERS -6.5 over 49 ers (L)
Steelers -9.5 over CHIEFS (L)
Redskins +11.5 over COWBOYS (W)
GIANTS -6.5 over Falcons (L)
BUCCANEERS +11.5 over Saints (L)
JAGUARS -8.5 over Bills (L)
Colts +0.5 over RAVENS (W)
VIKINGS -11.5 over Seahawks (W)
Cardinals -8.5 over RAMS (L)
BRONCOS +2.5 over Chargers (L)
Bengals -9.5 over RAIDERS (L)
PATRIOTS -10.5 over Jets (W)
Eagles -3.5 over BEARS (W)
TEXANS -4.5 over Titans (L)

This Week 7-9-0
Overall 86-71

Empire State Miracle

For those of you who were wondering why it rained frogs from an angry red sky this morning, we now have the answer. New York Governor David Patterson actually managed to say something intelligent and insightful during one of his smoke breaks from his usual inanity.

The good Governor was in the middle of a semi-rant against President Obama and Stooge General Holder's decision to try POW's in a civilian court when he actually made two points of interest.

The first was that he was told six months ago that this was going to happen, which pretty much means Eric Holder is a liar since he claimed to only discuss a matter of critical national security, constitutionalism and basic legal common sense with his wife and brother. Unless he's brothers with Clarence Thomas or married to Condoleezza Rice, then I can assume this advice was essentially worthless and we can now assume that Obama was the main influence, he certainly has pushed Patterson around before. But this only outs Holder as a little weasel, something we already knew.

The real gem was how Patterson noted that it was not a good idea to bring the terrorists to New York when they "still have been unable to rebuild that site." Referring to Ground Zero of course.

Patterson happens to by 100% correct on this matter. Eight years after the attacks, the site of the Twin Towers looks about like it did once they put the fires out just minus a bit of rubble. Maybe they've put in some skeleton infrastructure for a subway line but at the end of the day, what was once a monument to freedom and capitalism is now, still, just a hole in the ground cause by terrorists we now want to treat as citizens.

I'll ignore for the moment the fact that these terrorists should be decorating the inside of a hole in the ground by now as well as the fact that these scumbags are being treated just as well and I suspect better, than any of you or I would be in his shoes. If you think I'm exaggerating just remember how quick we killed off Tim McVeigh. No political correctness issues when you execute white christian men I guess. No problem calling them terrorists either.

But I digress.

How is it possible that in this technologically advanced age, with the federal government and the State of New York throwing money behind it, that there isn't a shiny new tower at least halfway done by now? We have destroyed, rebuilt and secured two entire nations in the middle east yet we can't build a monument of any kind in the spot where this monumental world shift was instigated? Absolutely disgraceful. Every day we allow that site to remain a scar on the land we show ourselves to be weaker and weaker across the globe. Don't doubt for a second that they don't keep track of these things in Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Russia, North Korea, etc.

So who is to blame for this atrocity? Certainly after September 11th the entire country would have applauded and donated to rebuilding efforts. It would have been a political trophy for any New York politician who could claim credit for its construction, so what is the problem?

It's really no shock when you see who runs that city and state. Governor = leftist, Mayor = leftist. Unions = leftists, civilian lobbyists who want to influence what is constructed and how = leftists, state legislature = leftists, Senators = leftists, Representatives = mostly leftists or moderates (I do like Pete King though).

Do we see a pattern? Yes we do. An entire state that has been run by liberals for years. What do we know about such states? Mostly that they only do two things really well; talk and raise taxes. This is exactly what is happening in New York. All of these various groups are trying to assert influence over the rebuilding plans so they can get whatever piece of the pie they want. As such, nothing ever gets done except for a constant redrawing of plans to be reviewed by various committees. That's another thing liberals excel at, forming committees. Even if all these special interests groups could agree on some kind of plan that would satisfy all the fringe groups wants as well as union demands, the politicians have created an economic environment where there will never be anybody to occupy or pay for the buildings. The State is so bankrupt that they might not make it until Christmas let alone subsidize tower construction. The taxes are currently so high that the the State can't get any more money from the people to try and close the gap. The high taxes are also causing businesses and people with potential investment money to flee the state. I bet Gov. Patterson wishes Rush Limbaugh was still working in Manhattan paying his millions of taxes to the State.

This kind of display is available for all to see in California, Michigan, Illinois, Mass., etc. States with dominant liberal control simply rot from the inside out. No creativity, no growth, just a massive explosion of debt and inspiration crippling stagnation. The opposite is also on display. While the entire nation is slowing somewhat, the states with conservative economic policies, like Texas, Colorado, New Hampshire, etc., seems to be humming along pretty well along. Certainly not drowning like the blue states.

Given the totality of data at hand, it should come as no shock to anybody what is taking place in New York, a once great state. What should truly be appalling is the irony that the home of Wall Street, the home of commerce, the home of the Twin Towers, the home of so many American dreams, the home of capitalism itself is being choked out of existence by a socialism that was created from within. Until the "leaders" of New York get this shame rectified and fill that hole with a building or monument fitting of the history of New York, we can't claim any kind of victory in this ideological struggle. Traditions, symbols and history matter to a cohesive nation state and our enemies know this, certainly better than we do and we need to get this solved ASAP before sheer embarrassment turns to apathy.

read the Patterson story here.

Deconstructing Bill

Last nights Pats-Colts game could not have gone much better. Bellicheat blows and easy one, Tom Brady takes the loss and if you took the Pats plus the points, you still won. If there was a way to remove a Manning win from the equation, everything would have been perfect. Either way, it was good times all around.

I must say though, the post game analysis leaves something to be desired. Everybody seems to be a hammering Bill on going for it, arguing the spot or beating a dead horse about blown timeouts.

The spot and the decision to go for it were both fine. The timeouts were indefensible but it shouldn't have mattered.

The only problem was the play called.

If you have a chance to put away the Colts by gaining two yards, you have to take it. No way Manning wasn't going to score after the punt. If you're going to man up and go for the win though, how about you call a play that is designed to get you, oh I don't know, three, four yards instead of 2 yards two inches? Seriously, the best you can come up with is a 2 yard out to Kevin Faulk? Does Wes Welker not no how to run a quick out? Maybe a play action pass to Moss?

If you're going to stake a game on one play you simply cannot cut it that close and count on a octogenarian running back to make the play, especially when Indianapolis was crowding the line looking for the quick snap and toss. That's just a little too cute Bellichek, lets hope nobody was stealing tape on that call.

Tragedy By The Bay

There was a unspeakable tragedy Thursday night in the Bay area and for once, it had nothing to do with Oakland.

As fans of San Fransisco's beloved 49ers flocked to the stadium to catch the game, all seemed well on this picturesque night.

Until the kickoff that is.

As soon as kicker Joe Nedney put foot to ball to start the contest, the entire playing field suddenly turned into a vast ocean of pure excrement, swallowing all aspects of humanity and, for tonight anyway, competitive sport.

The fans in attendance were shocked, stunned, appalled and driven to fits of physical violence and illness by the unholy display on what used to be hallowed gridiron.

San Fransisco PETA Chief and GLAAD enthusiast Maurice DeFranschitti, in attendance to protest the use of leather footballs on the field and blame George Bush for the increase in the price of water soluble lubricant, struggled to right his world. "These things NEVER happen in the animal kingdom. Only man can create a mountain of shit this big!" In an unfortunate twist of irony, DeFranschitti was then bitten by the rare Yellow-bellied marmot, driven insane by the intense methane fumes.

Many other fans simply had questions.

"Do you suppose they trucked in all this from Chicago or did they just borrow some of the excess in Sacramento?" one concerned conspiracy theorist asked, to nobody in particular.

The saddest event from a frightful night was the tale of an overweight, shit covered man wearing a tattered "6" Bears jersey. Early reports seem to indicate that the man is suffering from sever Downs Syndrome and his barely coherent rants seem to confirm that theory.

"HOW CAN YOU THROW 5 PICKS WHEN YOU ONLY ATTEMPT 4 PASSES?! IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! I LOVE SHEEP AND OYSTERS! TAKE ME BACK! TAKE ME BACK! I CAN GROW A BEARD!!!!!!"

A sad end to a miserable day. May God Almighty spare that man from the nightmare of his own existence.

Patrick T. McGarry, reporting.

NFL Week 10 Predictions

Home team in CAPS

49ERS -3.5 over Bears (W)
Saints -13.5 over RAMS (L)
Buccaneers +9.5 over DOLPHINS (W)
Lions +16.5 over VIKINGS (L)
Jaguars +6.5 over JETS (W)
TITANS -6.5 over Bills (W)
Bengals +6.5 over STEELERS(W)
Broncos -4.5 over REDSKINS (L)
Falcons -1.5 over PANTHERS (L)
RAIDERS -1.5 over Chiefs (L)
Eagles +2.5 over CHARGERS(L)
CARDINALS -8.5 over Seahawks (W)
Cowboys -2.5 over PACKERS (L)
Patriots +2.5 over COLTS (W)
Ravens -10.5 over BROWNS (W)

This Week 8-7-0
Overall 79-64

What, No Gays in the Steel City?

****UPDATE 11/12**** It appears the city of Pittsburg has decided to do the right thing and let LJ sit on his ass for a while. Cudos. ptm


Larry Johnson is quickly becoming the Hepatitis C of my sporting life.

As a long time Raiders fan I was introduced to LJ years ago when he came into the league as a Chief. Like many of the people who know LJ, I quickly came to regret it as he demolished my beloved Silver and Black, accelerating our descent into the gloom. I was as abused, battered and beleaguered.

The last few years have provided some relief from the onslaught. After LJ's momentous 400 carry season he aged faster than Goldie Hawn sans Botox. As got he got suckier and suckier, I became happier, culminating with his recent booting by the Chiefs in a homophobic, anti-social, coach killing, rampage. I, along with all the gay men and nightclub going women, rejoiced. No longer would I have to worry about the scourge of LJ and the Raiders now seem secure in their position as the third place team in the AFC West. Crappy to be sure but always better than those suckers in KC.

But the Hepatitis is not so easy to shake.

ESPN is reporting a rumour that LJ might in fact be in the plans for the Pittsburgh Steelers to get some of those "tough yards" and to replace the chalk outline that used to be Fast Willie Parker.

Tough yards means short yardage.

Short yardage means goaline.

Goaline means TD vulture for the love of god!

I JUST TRADED FOR RASHARD MENDENHALL, NOT THREE WEEKS AGO!!!!

There appears to be no way to shake this insidious condition known as LJ. How fitting is it that the Steelers would one again return to harass me. I remember the Immaculate Reception. We all remember that sham that cost Al his fourth ring and here you you are again, conspiring against me.

Only one conclusion can be drawn from this; if Virginia is for lovers, Pittsburgh is for bigots. That's right I said it! Why else would you so cavalierly ponder taking in such a worthless human being. I've defended Pitt and it's crumbling society, bad economy, weather and inability to count rivers (there isn't three rivers, there are two rivers that become one other river. they are subtractive in nature!) for far too long. You're no better than Detroit unless you're comparing QB's with outstanding rape cases and neckbeards. Adding LJ is just the final chain link in your anchor of mediocrity.

This fantasy league I'm in actually plays for some decent money and I'm currently in first due to the Mendenhall ascension/Parker convalescence. The choice is yours Pitt, do you want to be the capitol city of hate crimes, bigots and homophobia or do you want to let me win a few hundred bucks?

As ALCOA would say, "You Make The Call!"

Political Catfight

I must admit I've actually had a change of heart on the infamous Stupak amendment. Don't get me wrong, it's still a shortsighted political blunder by pro-lifers who should really know better than to believe that this amendments will mean anything in the end.

But oh man, how sweet is it to see lib on lib crime?

People with any common sense have always known that the Democratic Party is the Party of Tolerance in about the same way Islam is a Religion of Peace and that's through rumor only. Like radical Islamists, liberals are really only tolerant of people who are exactly like them. This hypocrisy is usually exposed when they turn on conservatives who no longer cross the aisle or the rouge free thinking Democrat. Think of poor Joe Liebermann who was drummed out of the party for daring to be pro war, Olympia Snowe who was cast aside because she favored a socialist trigger instead of direct socialism. No tolerance for them. The saddest example is John McCain who loved nothing more than leftist adoration and thought he could ride it all the way to the White House. Shocked he must have been to be attacked as a Bush-esque candidate.

This time it's different though. The radical leftist, pro-deathers have got their sights set solely on the merely liberal in their party. 41 Democrats, led by Colorado's own Diana DeGette, have written a letter flatly refusing to give the final ok to a bill that restricts abortions in any way. Read the letter here. They sound pretty serious to me. Now we know from Saturday's vote that there are enough Reps on the other side who will not vote for the healthcare package without the Stupak language. It wouldn't have been there in the first place if that wasn't true, so how does this play out?

Depends on how serious everybody is. Liberals by and large have no spine or principals on anything but this might be the one topic liberals are ready to go to the mattresses for. Consider; Speaker Pelosi has essentially ran the House with an iron hand. She managed to get the Cap and Trade bill passed which is amazing considering that it is an economy destroyer and we happen to be in the middle of a recession. Nobody in the Dem caucus outside of Jane Harmon has ever so much as publicly defied Speaker Pelosi and now we have to groups (Blue Dogs and Feminists) openly defying her to the point of issuing mandates.

The big trick though is that no matter who wins in the Dem party, Conservatives win overall. If both sides are serious, then it results in a stalemate killing any kind of reform that liberals want. This would infuriate the left wing base, they would attack their own and the blue wave of 2006 and 2008 would reverse itself. If the Blue Dogs win, feminists will go ballistic. They will also attack moderates in their own party, raise funds against them, etc. all to the benefit of the GOP. If pro-choicers win, it will cement the party as being solely the domain of the ideological far left. This won't make much difference in New England or the Pacific coast but moderate Democrats in the South and Sun Belt, who have more in common with conservatives already, will have to consider jumping ship or at least disengaging themselves from the Dems. Either way the GOP wins, one less Dem vote is the same as one more GOP vote.

The only way the libs can save this is if they hammer out some kind of bribe behind closed doors and have some kind of burying the hatchet, "we are family" type of mass press conference prior to passing legislation.

However, it seems neither side is interested in burying the hatchet unless it's to take out the other side completely, politically speaking of course.

Stupak may just turn out to be a great thing after all.

No I In Homo, Just One In DipSh*t

Well Larry Johnson finally got cut from the Kansas City Chiefs today after serving his two week suspension for tweeting gay slurs about his coach.

What's amazing about this story, aside from the Chiefs suspending somebody just to cut them, is that it finally solidifies Johnson's status in the pantheon of really stupid, really bad guys.

This guy has been a serious trainwreck his entire career. First he gets drafted and pouts about sitting behind 2000 yard season Priest Holmes. Then he gets in the doghouse of the world's most estrogen soaked head coach in Dick Vermeil. Finally given a chance to shine, Johnson puts up two great years, then starts demanding more money. That's just the on the field stuff. This colossal waste of oxygen has had numerous incidents involving abusing women, one where he spit a drink all over one for some perceived infraction. For the cherry on top, MENSA laureate Johnson decided to tweet is dislike of his coach all over the cyberspace, sprinkled liberally with gay slurs. How exactly does a person go do this and expect nobody to notice? Is he not aware of what Twitter is?

Either way, being cut couldn't happen to a more deserving guy. Most people would be done with for just one of Johnson's strikes but he went for the hat trick; abuse women, abuse coaches, selfish. It's good to know whatever unfortunate things happen to Larry in the future, and with a guy like Johnson you know they're coming, they will be well deserved.

Yeah, Lets Let These Guys Run Healthcare

Well, a completely depressing yet wholly predictable announcement came today in Connecticut.

It turns out that Pfizer is closing down a research facility in the New London area.

Aside from being another sign that businesses in liberal states are shutting down at an alarming rate, it's also a sign at the abject stupidity of government in general.

The Pfizer facility in question was the main attraction in the much hyped Kelo v. City of New London case where the United States Supreme Court decided that private property could be taken from an individual citizen and given over to another private citizen so long as the property is a "blight" (as defined by the government who wants to take the land) and that the new private citizen can generate more tax revenue for the city. Apparently that constitutes the common good of eminent domain.

What of that area now? After years of heartbreak and fighting that left many people displaced from their homes and bitter at being forced to leave a neighborhood their families had lived for years, that entire section seized by the City of New London is in ruins. The homes have all been bulldozed in anticipation of a massive new commercial complex, highlighted by the existing Pfizer plant. Now it is truly blighted, overgrown with weeds and with the departure of Pfizer, completely abandoned.

All of us who see the folly in the government taking private property can now shout from the rooftops about how right we are but what good does that do the people of the community who were forced from their homes? Nothing. Their lives were still uprooted and their communal history destroyed by the cold, clumsy hand of government. The same kind of leftist government that we now have nationally spouting its inane belief in community organizing, group think. It takes a village indeed. It seem as if the people of New London had a managing community long before the government decided to make a dandelion farm out of their property.

This is especially pertinent after the House's ill-conceived, ill-intentioned stab at Nationalized Healthcare Saturday night. What should be obvious is that the government does far worse than over hype and under deliver. Government is a degenerative force by nature. Even with the best intentions the government can only do a good deed for somebody or group by doing ill to somebody else. Big government activists sleep well at night by justifying taking the fruits of ones labor (and by extension their freedom) by employing the Robin Hood justification model, robbing the rich to give to the poor. Ignoring how this very practice robs people on both ends of their human ambition and dignity, the entire claim is a complete lie. The area in question, while not blighted by any means, was filled with lower income families. They were the victims, they had their property taken in an effort to give a gift to a big business pharmaceutical company. How very nice of the party of the liberal guy, the Democrats, to rob the poor to prop up the rich. All in the name of the liberals true goal in all things, taxes and control. I suspect Pfizer will be fine after this affair becomes nothing more than a curious historical footnote, the fate of the residents of New London is unknown and as far as I can tell, uncared about.

I suspect hoping any of the people involved in this atrocity to feel any sense of shame is far out of the realm of possibility, they've no doubt moved on to their next public fleecing scheme. At the very least can we not use this as a teachable example of government incompetence? Given the current plans dancing in the heads of ideological radicals in power currently, it seems more important than ever.

read the fully story here from the DC Examiner

They Do It For A Reason

I'm not sure what the most sickening aspect of Saturday nights vote in the House on the healthcare bill was.

Was it the fact that an American elected body voted to destroy a vast part of the economy, destroy jobs and nationalize an industry unconstitutionally, the standing ovation it got or the fact that a group of leftist women representatives got into a tearful screaming match when it became apparent that abortion would have to be cut from the bill to get it passed?

As appalling as the thought is of federal representatives being brought to tears because they won't get to pay to kill babies (for now) that isn't the right answer. There is no right answer, it's all a disgrace and reminds us why the framers decided to have House elections every two years.

Because the House if prone to do all kinds of nutjob things.

The very composition of the body ensures it. House Representatives only have to win the backing of a small number of people from a limited geographical area. Naturally this allows fringe candidates with radical ideas to get elected.

This is why Saturdays vote should be disappointing but not surprising to anybody. If anything was surprising about the vote, it's that it took so long and was so close given the extreme leftist composition of the House and its leader.

Sadly for some Dems, this vote may destroy them and be all for naught. The Stupak amendment was a sham and will provide no cover for moderate Dems in red districts. The amendment can very easily be removed when (if) the bill ever makes it to the reconciliation process and don't think Pelosi won't try to do it. Harry Reid is a jellyfish and Pelosi will bulldoze him if a bill ever makes it out of the Senate into reconciliation. Voters know this and the moderates won't be able to justify their votes based on the success of the Stupak amendment. Besides, many moderate Dems have always claimed they were moderate because of fiscal issues and this bill is still a trillion dollar plus atrocity.

I suspect these Dems who sided with Pelosi will greatly regret it as they end up being voted out of office and the bill they sacrificed their job for winds up dead in the Senate along with Cap and Tax.

Thankfully, the House is the one area where retribution by the people can occur swiftly and decisively. If the Senate were a collection of radicals (more than it is anyway) then the people could only institute change every six years, staggered. With the House, the people get the whole enchilada every two years, plenty close enough where Saturday won't be forgotten. To the ultimate demise of many.

2010 Elections - CO

Now that we've passed the off year governors races, lets take a quick peek at Colorado and what elections are in store.

Governor: Bill Ritter has horrible polling numbers and is going to be facing a tough primary opponent. If he surives that he will have an uphill fight to retain office, probably against Scott McInnis. Cook Political Rating-Toss Up.

Senate: The unpopular Ritter appointed an unknown who became unpopular in Michael Bennett. The last polling numbers I saw have him barely hanging on to 50% job approval. Jane Norton obviously saw blood as she entered the race late and has been a fundraising machine ever since. Her name recognition and Ritters downward trend could cause a party switch. Cook Political Rating-Toss Up.

Senate: Mark Udall (D) isn't up for reelection until 2014.

CO-1: Denver. Diana DeGette holds easily. No chance for a Republican takeover. Probably ever.

CO-2: Boulder. Jared Polis holds easy. If he gets booted it will be by another liberal in a primary.

CO-3: Pueblo/Western Slope. This Republican district (Cook rates R+5) seems to like John Salazar even though he is far more liberal than the population he represents. He is a classic vote holder, waiting until liberals have a clear lead in the House votes, then Pelosi clears him to vote conservative. When push comes to shove though, he sides with the Pelosi gang. If Republicans can find a good oppenent,the district could be had. Not this time though.

CO-4: Fort Collins, Greely, Eastern Plain. Betsy Markey is in big trouble. She only won this Republican district because Marilyn Musgrave is fairly detestable. If the GOP doesn't get this one back in the current climate, it would be a major disappointment.

CO-5: Colorado Springs. Heavy Republican. Doug Lamborn won't be sweating much.

CO-6: South Denver, Aurora. Republican district and Mike Coffman is popular. No sweat for the GOP.

Co-7: North Denver, Arvada. This could be the most interesting race. This young district (created after 2000 census) has been very competitive for years. Republican Bob Beauprez held the seat for a few terms but Democrat Ed Perlmutter took over when Beauprez ran for governor and has been cruising ever since. However, Perlmutter hasn't really been challenged by a viable GOP candidate. This cycle could be different as former Senate candidate and Aurora city councilman Ryan Frazier is ready to challenge him. Frazier has name recognition in the area and more importnantly has the backing of many pro-businness groups across the state. If the economy stays bad, his fiscal conservatism might get him into office. Also helping frazier is that he is a bit of a libertarian socially which fits in the Denver better than it would in southern or western Colorado. If Perlmutter wins by any sizeable margin though, look for this district to go dark blue for some time.

Outlook: In the House, the GOP should be able to take back the fourth district. The third and seventh are certainly possibilities but not a sure thing by any stretch. The seventh is more realistic than the third due to the presence of viable candidates. If Michael Bennett doesn't step up his effort soon, he's going to find himself on the outside looking in. Jane Norton is well known in the state, has held office before and can raise tons of cash. Bennett was appointed to his position and never generated much excitment.

NFL Week 9 Predictions

Home team in CAPS

FALCONS -10.5 over Redskins (W)
Cardinals +3.5 over BEARS (W)
BENGALS +2.5 over Ravens (W)
Texans +9.5 over COLTS (W)
PATRIOTS -10.5 over Dolphins (L)
Packers -10.5 over BUCCANEERS (L)
JAGUARS -6.5 over Chiefs (L)
SEAHAWKS -10.5 over Lions (W)
Panthers +14.5 over SAINTS (W)
Chargers +4.5 over GIANTS (W)
49ERS -4.5 over Titans (L)
EAGLES -3.5 over Cowboys (L)
Steelers -3.5 over BRONCOS (W)


This Week 8-5-0
Overall 71-57-0

Quick Hits: 11/5/2009

NJ GOV: Libs can try and spin this all they want but Corzine was an Obamanite and he got rolled by five percent by a real Republican in Chris Christie. This State is still deep blue so nobody should start expecting conservative senators or representatives but losing this governorship after millions spent and numerous Obama appeals should be very alarming and if the various democratic reelection groups have to spend any time or money defending the Garden State in 2010 you know the Dems are going to get whitewashed across the country.

VA GOV: Well, that blue surge lasted about three election cycles. Conservatives didn't just win the gov. they swept all statewide ballot positions. It appears the 2008 elections were the anomaly, not a voter shift in Virginia. The surge in Dem voter turnout appears to be solely related to Obama charisma. If that goes, what else is left?

NY 23: It would have been nice if Hoffman had won but lets be honest, he had both the GOP and DNC running ads against him. Besides, the second most conservative candidate won. Owens is way more conservative than Scozzafava could ever dream to be. The makeup of the House didn't really change either as the former Republican representative was a liberal anyway. Next year conservatives get another chance at this seat and a real primary should eliminate all the cross party fighting that occurred this year. The real lesson for party leaders is that the people do not like the party heads picking candidates in smoke filled rooms.

DONALD STERLING: Clippers owner Donald Sterling settled for almost three million dollars to end a lawsuit against him accusing him of deliberately excluding blacks and Hispanics from his rental properties in Koreatown, LA in violation of the Fair Housing Acts. Many people wonder why the NBA owners haven't condemned him for it. Are they delusional? Donald Sterling has figured out a way to lose every year, intentionally antagonize his limited fan base, spend all his time with call girls and still make millions and millions of dollars a year. Owners in every sport admire him and are trying to figure out how he does it.

THE RALLY: Michelle Bachmann's rally on the capitol steps against government run healthcare, planned in only four days or so, was a smashing success. I've heard estimates putting the crowd at 20,000+ and from the reports, quite a few of them wanted to talk to their reps about the upcoming vote. What I wouldn't give to see the faces of these reps having to face constituents in their own offices. The best part? The biggest disruption of the day was when some Code Pink activists were arrested for causing a scene in Sen. Lieberman's office. Liberals just can't quite master the art of peaceful demonstrations.

FORT HOOD, TEXAS: If a military psychiatrist who is Muslim, goes on verbal rampages against the United States, ponders whether we should have a Muslim uprising here, then gets his gun and starts randomly shooting innocent people at an Army base, it is only one of two things; a hate crime or a terrorist act. I don't care which but either way, so long as this guy isn't clinically insane or mentally ill in some way, if he is found guilty he should be lined up against a wall and shot as a traitor for turning on his fellow soldiers like a devious coward.

Timely. Poignant? Not So Much.

Quick, who said today that the possibility of failure in Afghanistan was a distinct possibility?

No, it wasn't my three year old daughter, it was razor sharp British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Now I know this is shocking. Not that he would say something so plainly obvious and ignorant but that he is still the PM. It seems like he has been running that country into the ground for damn near a generation. I guess bad times just move slower.

Clearly Mr. Brown is trying to drum up support for his Labour Party by beating the drums of war and trying to incite a little nationalistic excitement and pride but what exactly does he expect to achieve? The Conservatives are in a prime spot to make sure Brown and his Labour comrades never see the end of the Afghanistan conflict.

Even if they were still around how exactly will victory be achieved? The United States has completely back-burnered this issue. President Obama's handpicked NATO commander has set forth a plan of action which has been promptly ignored so that the administration can dive headfirst into the financial and social nightmare that Europe is currently trying to escape from. The United Kingdom is even broker than we are, public support is nil and apparently, their military isn't exactly a dynamic entity right now (another casualty of liberal policy). Germany isn't going to send more troops and possibly can't depending on how you interpret the Grundgesetz. France has no military capability to help even if they wanted to (they don't) unless NATO decides to drop a nuke on Kandahar. Italy is busy trying to convict its prime Minister of election crimes and Spain is still trying to hash out if they want to be full socialists or just partial.

Which brings us to the big problems for Afghanistan and by extension Mr. Brown.

NATO is a complete sham.

Any treaty organization whose members can enter or leave any conflict they want without reprisal from the other members is no organization at all. Many of its member nations cannot wage war. Many of the ones that can have absolutely no desire to do so for a variety of economic and political issues both foreign and domestic.

Why is this so bad for Gordon Brown and all the rest of his socialist democrat contemporaries around the globe, including here in the US? Because it shows the inherent weakness of the liberal international world view. Liberals like Brown and Obama constantly blame world conflict on the lack of global cooperation and understanding. They argue that peace can only be achieved through the greater globalization of all people around the world into one true global community through various multinational institutions such as NATO or the United Nations. This is pure theoretical folly. It makes the same mistake communism makes about the individual in believing that people are naturally cooperative and that a state of mutual respect and opportunity will eliminate all the worlds problems. It isn't so for people and it isn't so for nations states. At the end of the day, international law or treatises are only followed so long as they are beneficial to the individual nation state. When they cease to be beneficial, they are ignored and the nation, like the individual, takes whichever path leads to the most prosperity and security for them, the rest of the nations be damned. The competitive nature of man and the nations they create will always rule the day.

This is of course, the proper way it should be. After all, the French people elect leaders to protect their interests, not the entire worlds. If all the worlds leaders believed that then everything would be fine as all people would be represented on the world stage by their elected leaders and an honest competition could follow that would reward nations that excel while encouraging others that do not. Leaders like Brown and Obama are simply not content to mind the affairs of their own nation. They see an irresistible need to meddle in the affairs of other nations as well. They create massive, ineffective institutions to try and wedge all the worlds nations into one massive bureaucracy for the purpose of forced egalitarian equality, as defined by them of course. Unfortunately, the only place where this intended equality can exist is in the realm of mediocrity, which sounds about right for where Brown finds himself.

For the time being at least.

NFL Week 8 Predictions

Home team in CAPS

Texans -3.5 over BILLS (W)
BEARS -13.5 over Browns (W)
Seahawks +9.5 over COWBOYS (L)
LIONS -3.5 over Rams (L)
49ers +12.5 over COLTS (W)
JETS -3.5 over Dolphins (L)
RAVENS -3.5 over Broncos (W)
Giants +2.5 over EAGLES (L)
Jaguars +2.5 over TITANS (L)
CHARGERS -16.5 over Raiders (L)
PACKERS -3.5 over Vikings (L)
CARDINALS -9.5 over Panthers (L)
SAINTS -9.5 over Falcons (L)

This Week 4-9-0
Overall 63-52-0

It's Fantastic!

Welcome to another wonderful NBA season. Now 70% of you teams are playing for draft position already, 20% are hoping for a miracle and 10% are legitimate contenders, Awesome. Here's all you need to know until May:

EASTERN CONFERENCE: Contenders - Orlando, Boston. Dreamers - Cleveland, Miami, Chicago. The only way it isn't Boston or Orlando is if Bron Bron or D Wade have historical seasons. Adding a 400 pound offense anchor or having you second best player have a mental breakdown that surprised nobody isn't the way to do it. Worst team in the Conference - Washington. Agent Zero's days are done and they suck out loud.

WESTERN CONFERENCE: Contenders L.A. Lakers, San Antonio. Dreamers - New Orleans, Denver, Portland, Dallas. There are only three people who can change the inevitable San Antonio/Los Angeles conference finals. Father time, Kobe the Rapist and Chris Paul. Chris Anderson might play a role in all three scenarios. Seriously, how do you get a 2 year drug ban in the NBA? Filter your smack through the veins of virgin twelve year old Panamanian boys before you needle up? Whatever happened there needs to be an ESPN 30 for 30.

PREDICTIONS:
EAST- Orlando over Cleveland in 6.
WEST - San Antonio over LA in 7

FINALS - Orlando over San Antonio in 7.

The Drought Is Over

The New York Yankees moved on to the World Series by beating the Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim, San Jose, Silver Lake, Diamond Bar and El Cajon 5-2 Sunday night.

More impressively, they also beat their own manager, Joe Girardi who seemed to be actively working against them.

Girardi himself seemed surprised by the teams success. "Whew! I assumed I'd somehow manage to F@#! up this one too, that's why I decided to hold a fully rested Sabathia over to game 7. Figured it was inevitable." Girardi remarked.

When asked about a couple of tense moments during the game, Girardi recalled when "Andy threw a 0-2 ball to Figgens in the 1st. I thought maybe he didn't have his A game. Lucky thing Gaudin wasn't warm or I would've pulled his ass." In regards to how far he could stretch Rivera, Girardi said he had no problems stretching him out a bit. "My only question was if I could get six outs with Mo or 15."

When asked to comment, Riviera told MLB's Harold Reynolds. "I tried to hit him (Girardi) with a champagne cork during the celebration. I think I may have knocked Minka Kelly into the old stadium."

While Girardi's bizarre substitutional antics were seen as ALCS whimsy, don't expect the team to tolerate it during the World Series. "This is the big show" Captain Jeter said "if he tries to pinch run Guzman for A-Rod in the sixth, I'm paying a drifter to kill him."

Game 1 is Wednesday night in the stadium.

NFL Week 7 Predictions

Home team in CAPS

Packers -7.5 over BROWNS (W)
Chargers -4.5 over CHIEFS (W)
49ers +3.5 over TEXANS (W)
Colts -13.5 over RAMS (W)
Vikings +4.5 over STEELERS (L)
Patriots -14.5 over Buccaneers (W)
Bills +7.5 over PANTHERS (W)
Jets -6.5 over RAIDERS (W)
BENGALS -1.5 over Bears (W)
Falcons +3.5 over COWBOYS (L)
DOLPHINS +6.5 over Saints (L)
GIANTS -7.5 over Cardinals (L)
Eagles -7.5 over REDSKINS (W)

This Week 9-4-0
Overall 59-43-0

Yes, Yes! Wait . . . . Was That It?

Well one of President Obama's top economic advisers announced today that the 787 billion dollar stimulus package has already delivered its biggest boost to the economy and that next year will not see any significant growth due to the billions being spent.

Christina Romer also somehow managed to claim that 600,000 to 1.5 million jobs had been saved or created before reminding us that unemployment will stay above 9.5% until the end of 2010. At least.

You mean cluster f-ing 800 billion dollars to special interests instead of job creating measures doesn't result in a robust economy? Shocking.

What's more telling is that the administration, or one of its advisers, is calling this thing a massive failure when most of the money hasn't been spent yet. How can that be exactly? Only 194 of the 787 billion has been spent, so how do we know it's a failure? Because the rest of the money is no doubt going to be spent like the first 194 billion. That is to say it will be pissed away shoring up the budgets of failed state welfare programs, filling the pockets of all the lawyers hired to make sure the money was wasted legally and being used to buy votes in the 2010 elections.

After all 787 billion has been burned through and the results analyzed, congressional liberals will no doubt see the massive failure of their ideology, do some serious soul searching and come to the conclusion that they need to double down and really get serious for Stimulus 3.

Unfortunately, we will be completely out of cash, ink to print cash and credit to borrow cash so Stimulus 3 will simply consist of Barak annexing Cuba so the Flying Castro Brothers can show us how to do this thing on the cheap.

And Mrs. Romer may want to keep her negative opinion to herself before she gets Vernon Forested in some park in DC.

They don't call him Rahm-bo DeadFish for nothing.

I'm So Excited - Haiku Style

Napa cops say okay
Hit a sissy in the face
Tom Cable is free

full story

3 For The Road

How Many Times!
How many times can I possibly say the same things? Overmanaging loses baseball games! You Joe Girardi, I'm looking straight at you. After Aceves's failure of a postseason so far, what exactly inspired you to pull a smoking Robertson to pitch to Jeff Mathis? There can be no excuse. You pulled one no name pitcher, who was doing well, to put in another no name pitcher, who has sucked for the entire postseason. TO PITCH TO THE BACKUP CATCHER!! Why was Robertson gassed? After eleven pitches? Too tired to pitch to Jeff Mathis? Gimmie a break. Just so we can quantify the degree of the over management lets examine the numbers.
Pettitte - 19 outs on 95 pitches.
Joba - 1 out, 10 pitches
Marte - 1 out, one pitch
Coke - 1 out, 3 pitches
Hughes - 5 outs, 19 pitches
Riviera - 3 outs, 17 pitches
Robertson - 2 outs, 11 PITCHES, NO HITS, NO WALKS!!!!
Aceves - 0 outs, 7 pitches, 1 game lost.

If you want to bring in Rivera for Hughes fine, if you swapping out hot crap for cold, just leave it alone for god's sake.

Thank God For the Brits
This is an excellent speech by Christopher Lord Monckton, the 3rd Viscount of Monckton of Brenchley on global warming and the Copenhagen agreement. A little long but worth it if you've been looking for somebody to articulate what everybody knows, that global warming is a myth. (no, I do not know what that title means exactly.)



full story on the speech plus the slide show he refers to.

You Say Goodbye and I Say Get Lost
Yeah, I know Denver beat San Diego and has moved to 6-0. My response? So what. If you think I'm gonna pull a mea culpa and admit that the Broncos are any good then you've got another thing coming. The Raiders almost beat San Diego so how much does this win mean exactly? All your other wins are tainted. You can 16-0 my friends but if you keep padding the stats in Cleveland, Oakland and KC, you still suck.

Roundup!

Stampede
The University of Colorado finally beat a ranked team Saturday night, staving off a Kansas rally 34-30. It was going to be interesting to see how the team would respond to the coach benching his own son, then talking trash about him. Turns out poppa knows best as Tyler Hansen looked pretty good running the show. Win or no win, I think Coach Hawkins replacing his sons nameplate with one that say "Anchor" is completely uncalled for.

Destiny - Not Just A Name For Strippers
You know the Yankees are living a charmed life when they can actually beat the Angels. When the Angels seem to be actively trying to lose though, you know the gods have decided to intervene and end the Yankees nearly decade long title drought. My only real fear is that all this good luck will somehow end in the Yankees being beaten by the quadruple-A Dodgers in the world series. I remember all too well getting beat by the Marlins a few years ago and the shame of getting defeated by Los Angeles's original carpetbaggers would be too much to bear. Although Tommy Lasorda may just explode in a hail of delightful F-bombs during the postgame celebration which might be worth it.

By Me A Drink First
If the NFL were an HBO show then the Patriots are just about done tattooing a swastika on the ass of the Tennessee Titans. Aside from Randy Moss single handedly saving my fantasy day, this game does provoke many a question. How bad is Vince Young? He just took his first snap trailing 59-0 at the start of the fourth quarter. He must a complete wack job to not be starting for the atrocity of a team. Wow, real time update, VY just throws a pick. Nice. Now we know. This game might also provide the earliest example of an FU score in recorded history. Tom Brady throwing his fifth TD of the second quarter had FU written all over it. Gisele must have tied Tom's access to her body to his performance on the field because he played like a man possessed today. You would hardly know there was three feet of snow on the ground.

And On The Seventh Day Our Lord God Said - "No Dogfighting!"
If there was ever any doubt about how God felt about Mike Vick, now we know. Oakland 13 Philadelphia 9. This sort of righteous punishment seems a bit harsh to me. After all, not everybody on the team was dogfighting. The indignity of losing to Oakland seems like a punishment best saved for pedophiles and members of the Green Party. Having said that, as a long suffering member of Raider nation, I will now celebrate the unlikely victories of the Buffs, Stimulus Package (fantasy team), Yanks and Raiders, in the nude, up and down the streets of Colorado Springs. See you on the road and don't judge, it's winter.

The Week That Was and Will Be

Balloon Boy
Having endured the turmoil of experiencing a 50 mile, homemade space ship flight that was sold as a life or death matter for the alleged six year old pilot, we now know that it was probably a hoax or maybe just really bad parenting. I've go news for you nutjobs, Being on Wife Swap - strike 1, family storm chasing - strike 2, fake emotional roller coaster - strike 3. This now qualifies for child abuse. That entire family deserves to be tied up, drug out back and beaten with a large sack of oranges, let that be your last TV appearance, jackasses.

Boozy and Floozy
Just drink this artistic jewel in.



The best part of this picture, aside from the haggard looking, clearly broken and depraved Snow White, is what it's for. Any guesses?
...
Yep, it's an add to sell beer. In Australia of course. Apparently it was an attempt to sell some raspberry ale as "anything but sweet." Works for me but do you really need to advertise booze in Australia? That's like advertising light bulbs.

The ad campaign has been suspended because "there may be some copyright issues." Yeah, maybe.
Full Story

Future News
In an attempt to generate some action, Vegas changes the line for Sunday's Oakland/Philly game to Raiders +30. The public skepticism was proved correct as the Eagles easily cover, 58-2.

More Future News
Game one of the ALCS, which started Friday night, finally comes to an anticlimactic end Sunday afternoon as the Yankees pulled out the win. 25-24. Having depleted all available players to actually play the game, Angels owner Arte Moreno challenged the meanest looking Yankee fan to winner take all game of Roshambo to end it. After 3 or 4 spirited rounds, Moreno fell to the earth defeated while the herculean, bear of a Yankee fan was carried of by a loaded David Wells.

A stunned Vladamir Guerrero was heard to remark, to no one in particular, with a tone of both admiration and disappointment "That guy has brass balls man. Brass. Freakin. Balls."

A curiously restrained Alex Rodriguez was reported to have muttered "that was Goldie Hawn." Kurt Russell could not be reached for comment.

Game two of the ALCS is scheduled to be played Tuesday through Thursday, first pitch scheduled for 6:15 EST.

At Least Soccer Has A Time Limit

Major League Baseball is riding fast on a freight train straight to hell and Joe Torre is riding shotgun.

I used to think all those 5 hour Yankees - Red Sox marathons were the result of intense rivalry and the superhuman competitiveness of Jeter, Man Ram, Papi, etc. Now I know that's B.S.

MLB baseball games are excruciating long because of one thing: over managing. Not hitters adjusting their nuts, spitting, retightening their gloves or, in Papi's case, just taking a break to get a little fatter. Nope, the only culprit is mangers and Joe Torre is their Duce.

Game 1 of the NLCS just ended with the Phillies winning 8-6 over the Dodgers. They managed to squeeze this one in in just over four hours, a brisk pace considering that Torre and his despot protege Charlie Manuel used no less than 6,325 pitchers. I myself got the call to warm up in the sixth but I was already icing down my shoulder in anticipation of getting the call somewhere around hour six of tomorrows ALCS opener.

Tonight's disgusting display was all the more sickening in that it was the National League. Quadruple A, the Junior College of baseball. This is supposed to be the pure league, pitchers hit, second basemen suck and Bob Costas can wax on and on about the beautiful game until the end of time. That kind of boring crap is fine if you can wrap it up in two hours but once you get past that it just becomes the Carnival of the Damned.

How exactly are these control freak managers over managing games? Let's see. The Dodgers and Phillies used a combined 13 pitchers to get 54 outs. 30 of those were gotten by the two starters so the other 24 outs were claimed by eleven different pitchers. They didn't even average a full inning! For the Phillies, Chan Ho Park and J.A. Happ, both starters moved to the bullpen, threw a combined 26 pitches to get 4 outs. Durbin and Bastardo both threw four pitches to get an out apiece. For the Dodgers, Belisario and Troncoso managed to throw just 11 pitches to get four outs.

In an odd occurrence, the two relievers who actually put in some work were the ones that sucked the most. Ryan Madson (former starter) managed to last for 31 whole pitches, allowing four hits and two runs while George Sherrill managed to firebomb the Dodgers chances by allowing 3 runs in just 21 pitches. Impressive efficiency.

And this idiotic phenomenon applies to the American League as well. Year long starter Joba Chamberlain of the Yankees managed to enter a game against the Twins long enough to walk one batter, then make way for Joe Girardi's next overly aggressive move.

The only plausible excuse for this ridiculous coddling of major league pitchers is if you're trotting out a Jesse Orosco type who literally can only throw 5 pitches a day. Outside of that, let the players play! They're big boys, they can take the work. Goose Gossage threw more innings in one year than Phil Coke will throw in his entire career. Compounding this problem is the idiocy of the four out save. Everybody knows that when you bring in a Rivera, Lidge, Paplebon, Nathan, etc. in the eighth to get out of a jam and then expect to throw him in the ninth, bad things happen. Yet all these psycho managers do it constantly, results be damned. Why don't you guys use one of those other multi-millionaire pitchers to get one more out and push it to the ninth before you bring in the Hammer of God?

Sadly, this is all a result of manager cowardice. They are scared to death of the heavy criticism of leaving a guy in too long so they go nuts the other way, generating pitch limits, Joba rules, one hitter specialists and all the other crap that makes baseball god awful to watch. Today's kids have all the attention span of squirrel on meth and you expect them to develop any love for the game when it takes four hours plus? Jon Gruden doesn't even sleep for the average length of a baseball game!

Last thing I'm gonna say; you remember hockey, right MLB? Do you remember when their game got so long and boring because of the neutral zone trap that casual fans started watching lacrosse? It was a lost decade for the NHL in terms of fan growth. Learn the lesson. That's all I'm asking.

NFL Week 6 Defecations/Predictions

Vegas is now completely taking me to the woodshed. Not the good one either, the one where you get your ass kicked. Home team in CAPS.

Texans +4.5 over BENGALS (W)
Lions +13.5 over PACKERS (L)
Ravens +2.5 over VIKINGS (W)
SAINTS -3.5 over Giants (W)
Panthers -3.5 over BUCCANEERS (W)
Chiefs +6.5 over REDSKINS (W)
JAGUARS -9.5 over Rams (L)
STEELERS -14.5 over Browns (L)
Cardinals +2.5 over SEAHAWKS (W)
Eagles -14.5 over RAIDERS (L)
JETS -9.5 over Bills (L)
PATRIOTS -9.5 over Titans (W)
Bears +3.5 over FALCONS (L)
Broncos +4.5 over CHARGERS (W)

This Week: 8-6-0
Overall: 50-39-0

Golden State Rams

Congratulations Los Angeles, you're one step closer to getting an NFL team now that Rush Limbaugh is being lied right out of a bid to buy the team currently in St. Louis.

Too bad all of this has to come as the product of a poisonous slander campaign.

The alleged reason Rush is out is some allegedly racist comments he made in the past. Reality seems to have lost its place in the world, at least when it comes to minority ownership of football teams. To recap:

Quote #1 - Slavery wasn't all bad because it built the South and the streets were safer at night.
Quote #2 - James Earl Ray should be given an award posthumously for the good he did.

Now these aren't exact quotes but are close enough to what's being used in the media. One reason they aren't exact quotes is because they were never said by Rush. They are being sourced to Wikiquote by some jackass who used those fake quotes in a book. No other source but Wikiquote has been produced. Supposedly he said them in 1998. If he did say them it should be easy to find. Everything he has said in the last 20 years has been recorded or broadcast on TV. You can get every episode of Chico and The Man on DVD these days, I'm sure you can find the audio archives of Americas number one radio talkshow. So I will assume that these are all fraudulent until somebody produces some audio or video.

Quote #3 - NFL games often look like a fight between Crips and Bloods without the weapons.

This has long been a concern for both football and basketball and has been discussed publicly before. David Stern has been waging a media war for years trying to erase the idea that the NBA is just full of neck inked thugs. That's why the Artest in Detroit melee was such a big deal. Anybody ignoring this just isn't being realistic. So Rush gets a "no racism" pass on that too.

Who exactly are the main players here against Rush?
Race merchant Jesse Jackson - Cheats on his wife, Duke Lacrosse, Hymie Town!
Racist Al Sharpton - Tawana Brawley, Duke Lacrosse, Don Imus, Reggie's anti-hymie bonfire.
Sheila Jackson Lee - Politician using her position to attack a private citizen on the floor of Congress, numerous idiotic statements, accused capitol security of being racist for stopping her for failure to provide security clearance.
DeMaurice Smith - Active Obama supporter.
Some NFL players - If any of you listen to rap music, your opinions are null and void.

A person should be honored to be opposed by this group. It would be comical if the media didn't give this collection of race merchants legitimacy.

Aside from the politics, this is a bad move for the NFL.

Rush has everything you want in a minority owner. A large fan base, tons of money that is expanding (no trust funds or stock options, just cash) and most importantly, a passion for the game and a vested interest in keeping the team in St. Louis (Rush was born in Cape Girardeau, MO). Of all the potential owners, how many do you think are passionate about keeping the Rams in St. Louis? Less than the amount who want to move it, I'm willing to bet.

One of the biggest sports tragedies in recent memory was the theft of the Supersonics. They had a good fan base, team history and recent shots at the title. They were stolen away to Oklahoma City only because the city wouldn't highjack the taxpayers for a new stadium. St. Louis also has awesome fans and just recently had one of the most exciting teams in the history of the sport in The Greatest Show on Turf. And now they are in danger of being gone as well. Why? Because the owners are broke, like many other former rich guys in this economy. The list of St. Louis natives who have the dough to buy the Rams is short to nonexistent. But LA is just sitting there like a snake waiting to strike. Potential owners have been trying to get a team back there for years and they may now get the chance to do so on the cheap.

The sad irony is that I seem to be the only one to remember that St. Louis saved the Rams from total obscurity and irrelevance when they were playing in . . . . . wait for it . . . . . . LOS ANGELES! That's right, a city that bailed on the team once before may well get it back from the city that made it relevant again, just awesome.

Now it was no guarantee that the Checketts/Limbaugh bid would have won anyway. The team could just as easily have been sold to some LA based group even with Rush in the fold but the way this went down is disgraceful. It was pure politics, nothing more. Liberals wanted to hurt Rush, no more, no less. This shameful ordeal proved once again that liberals are only interested in open mindedness and freedom to be you and me if, and only if, you happen to be liberal as well. If somebody happens to be conservative though, then you can play the insidious racist card, which is one liberals love because there is no good defense to it, and just invent quotes out of thin air to support your already bogus argument. And because the media shills for leftists with a lack of shame that is becoming more and more galling by the day, this behavior is being rewarded.

So go ahead and gloat Jackson, Sharpton, etc. the media has handed you another fake victory upon which you can build your fraudulent credentials. The only victims are the truth, St. Louis and something called personal dignity. Things you folks care about very little.

And look out Minnesota, St. Louis is getting to ready to head back to the singles bar and they're already eyeballing your date.