The SoapBoxers

NFL officials returned to action last night.  Fans at the game gave then a standing ovation – quite possibly an unprecedented occurrence.  The league came to an agreement with officials just days after a bad call – the latest in a series – cost the Green Bay Packers a win.  The league said they wouldn’t cave to public pressure – but I think they did.  The NFL is a money making machine, and the replacement officials were possibly costing the NFL more (lost revenue due to fans turning off the TV) than the extra money the officials were asking for.

Let’s be careful not to place too much blame on the replacement officials.  If your star quarterback can’t play, and you’re forced to throw a seventh round draft pick into the fire,  the kid isn’t going to throw for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns.  Same situation here – the officials didn’t have the skill level necessary for the job, but they gave it their best effort.

Baseball

In the National League, the Cardinals now have a three game lead in the wild card with six games to go.  They’re in good position, but with the collapses of the Braves and Red Sox last year in their memory banks, they are sure to play hard until they have officially clinched a spot.

In the American League, the White Sox have been fading while the Tigers have been a bit stronger down the stretch.  The Tigers now have a two game lead.

The Rangers are on the brink of a playoff berth, but aren’t quite there yet.  If they lose their final six (three games each against contenders Oakland and Anaheim) they could drop into a tie for the last wild card spot.  It’s getting down the “must win” time for Anaheim and Tampa Bay, down two games in the wild card with six to go.  Personally, I’d like to see Oakland and Anaheim as the two wild cards, but that’s pretty unlikely. 

My Rockies just finished off a sweep of the Chicago Cubs.  The Rockies had been playing poorly in recent weeks and were careening toward their first 100 loss season.  Now the Rockies need just one more win to keep losses in the double digits.

Post-season award predictions:

I’ll make my guesses:

American League

MVP: Mike Trout.  Even if you ignore the fact that he’s 21, Trout is having an absolutely historic season, combining high batting average, power, speed, and defense.  The $200 million question is whether Trout has peaked of whether he can get even better.  Miguel Cabrera has had a great year, but the runs he gives away on defense come into play.

Rookie of the Year: Mike Trout, unanimous selection.  Nobody else is even in the room with Trout.

Cy Young: This may be tight, but I think David Price will edge out Dustin Verlander and Matt Harrison.

National League

MVP: I think Buster Posey will beat out Andrew McCutchen based on the Giants making the playoffs and the Pirates falling out of contention.  Really, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina should also be in the discussion, because of the value he provides with both glove and bat.

Rookie of the Year: I think the hype carries Bruce Harper to the win, even though Wade Miley is probably more deserving.  Who is leading NL rookies in homers and RBI?  The  answer will probably surprise you.  It’s rookie catcher Wilin Rosario of the Rockies with 27 bombs and 70 ribbies.

Cy Young: Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey notched his 20th win, and I think the narrative around his career will help him win the award.  Watch out for Braves closer Craig Kimbrel if Dickey and Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals split the starting pitcher vote.

 Angels rookie sensation Mike Trout has been a trendy pick for the American League MVP for a few months now.  Recently, however, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers has picked up steam as he has a shot at winning the triple crown (batting average, home runs, RBI).  Here are how the players stack up in those categories (note: Cabrera has 66 more at bats).

Mike Trout

Miguel Cabrera

Supporters of Cabrera point out the fact that Cabrera is leading Trout in all three categories, while Trout “just” leads in WAR (wins above replacement) – which he leads by a dominating margin.  While certainly WAR is not the perfect statistic, it’s a far better indicator of a player’s value than the triple crown stats are.  Cabrera has 50 more RBI than Trout.  Well, yeah.  He’s batting #3 in the lineup and Trout is batting leadoff.  There will be more players on base for Cabrera to drive in.  There have been 427 runners on base for Cabrera and 284 on base for Trout.  Trout has driven in 50/284 (17.6%) and Cabrera has driven in 91/427 (21.3%).  Still an edge to Cabrera, but much smaller.  RBI is as much a factor of the other players on your team as your own ability.  Throw me into the middle of the Rangers lineup and I could probably drive in 75 runs.

There are a couple of big factors that WAR accounts for and the triple crown numbers don’t:

• Trout has 47 steals (caught 4 times) compared to 4 for Cabrera (1 caught).
• Trout plays a premium defensive position (center field) and plays it well.  Cabrera players a corner infield position (less defensive value) and plays it poorly – so poorly that is defense costs his team wins.  There’s a huge difference between Trout’s defensive value and Cabrera’s.

The triple crown is indeed rare, but so is a 10+ WAR season.  Only two players since 1960 have posted a 10+ WAR season and failed to win the MVP that year.  Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. Just give the award to Trout.

National League Update:

The Nationals, Braves, Reds, and Giants have all clinched playoff berths.  The Reds and Giants have clinched the division, while the Nationals have a four game lead on the Braves.  The Cardinals have a 4.5 game lead on the Brewers and Dodgers in the wild card – probably a safe lead at this point in the season.

American League Update 

In the American league, zero teams have clinched a playoff spot.  In the Central, the White Sox and Tigers and tied, with the loser almost certainly left out of the playoffs.  The Yankees are 1.5 games up on Baltimore in the East.  In the West, all 8 remaining games for the Rangers are against the A’s (5 games) and Angels (3 games).  The lead the A’s by 4 games and the Angels by six games.  Any of those three teams could end up as the division champion, wild card team, or left completely out of the playoffs.  The Devil Rays are just 3 games back of the final playoff spot.  In total, eight American League teams remain in serious playoff contention in the final week of the season.

New playoff format

The playoffs are very different this year.  There is a second wild card team, and those two teams face off in a one game playoff to advance to the next round. This is commonly being referred to as the “coin flip round”.  The next round will be a five game series.  Instead of a typical 2-2-1 format (with the first two games and final game hosted by the better team) this is a 2-3 format, with the first two games hosted by the worse team.  The #1 seed in each league will actually have to wait until the end of the wild card game to know their first round opponent – and then need to jump on a plane and start the playoffs on the road, against a team that had some time off after winning the coin flip game.  The 2-3 format will only be used this year (because it’s a horrible idea) due to scheduling constraints.  MLB added the coin flip game after the regular season schedule had already been set.

World Baseball Classic

Canada and Spain won their qualifiers and advanced to the main tournament.  Canada romped through their games 11-1, 16-7, and 11-1.  Spain actually lose their second round game against Israel, but then advanced out of the loser’s bracket to face Israel in the finals.  They won that game and advanced.  The qualifiers are not true double elimination tournaments, so Israel was bounced despite only having one loss.  The other two qualifying tournaments are in November.

Much Ado About Nothing???

Golden Tate’s Disputed “Catch”

Ok, I get it, the “replacement” NFL officials are very poor. It is difficult to watch some of the calls, incorrect rules interpretations, and general comedy of errors that are occurring in many of the NFL games. It is clear that these guys are over their heads.

Last night might be just the straw the “real” officials are waiting for to end the lock out.

In case you missed it, or have not read a newspaper or listened to any sports talk radio or television today, the final play of the Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers game came down to a last second heave from Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson in the general direction of wide receiver Golden Tate on the final play of the game. The problem is that Green Bay Packer defensive back M.D. Jennings actually fell to the ground with possession of the ball, and then Tate – basically reached in with one arm and got a bit of the football and then the official on the field ruled it a simultaneous catch.

I remind you that I have no allegiance to either team, but I am sure the Packers and Seahawks fans see this play each in their own completely different light.

Where does this one rank?

If you look at sports in general there are a ton of lousy calls that could determine the outcome of games, or even titles or seasons for that matter. Here is a short list of my personal top 5 worst calls ever, but remember, my views are tainted by my team allegiances as well. Not sure where this call ranks on an all-time list, and you might get other arguments but here are my personal top 5 worst calls of all time.

1. Penn State vs. Nebraska – Beaver Stadium – 1982 – Keep in mind I was 12 years old at the time, and this one is still blazed into my memory 30 years later. During the final drive was aided by a Nebraska personal foul on the kickoff and the “questionable” call on the 15-yard sideline pass to tight end Mike McCloskey. Both McCloskey and Penn State Quarterback Todd Blackledge admitted years later what all Husker fans already knew long ago. He was like 2 yards out of bounds when he caught the ball to give them a first down and keep the drive alive. Then Blackledge hits Kirk Bowman on a catch…errrrr…trap….in the end zone to seal the win with 4 seconds left. Penn State eventually wins the National Title that Osborne should have garnered.
2. Colorado’s 5th Down – One of the worst ever (obviously or it would not be on my list!). Colorado is awarded not 4 but 5 chances to punch it in after a first and goal to beat Missouri on the last play of the game and go on to claim a share of the National Title. I would call them cheaters, but the officials made them do it!
3. Put Some Time Back on the Clock…TWICE – The U.S.S.R. somehow gets the officials to put time back on the clock – – not once, but TWICE at the end of the game allowing the Soviet Union a couple of do-overs to score a basket at the buzzer and win the gold medal with a 50-49 victory in the final of the 1972 Games.
4. Missouri’s Loved or Hated Man – The most controversial call in World Series history, first base umpire, Don Denkinger calls the Royals’ Jorge Orta safe at first base in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the 1985 Series against the Cardinals. Replays clearly show that St. Louis pitcher Todd Worrell clearly beat Orta to the bag. Denkinger’s call allows a two run rally by the Kansas City Royals who then pull off a 2-1 victory. Kansas City goes on to win the Series in seven games.
5. Head or Tails? – The easiest call in any football game is the coin flip, unless you are NFL official Phil Luckett. During the 1999 Thanksgiving Day game between the Steelers and Lions the teams come out for the overtime coin flip. Steelers captain Jerome Bettis calls “tails”, but Luckett hears “heads”.  I can still see the looks on Jerome Bettis’s face…”WTF” – The Lions win the toss and go on to win the game. The NFL changes its procedures forever after this monumental turkey day gaffe.

Bottom line when it comes to what all of us fans think is poor officiating…..If you don’t like getting screwed at the end of the game, play better and don’t put yourself in a position to get screwed.

Stat of the Weak (weak)

Johnny Goodman’s Fantasy Football teams, known for countless league titles and copious amounts of lifetime earnings are a combined 0-6 to start the year.

Heisman Trophy Watch

• Nick Florence – QB – Baylor – Can the Bears pull off back to back Heisman winners. Ni-Flo is on fire leading the NCAA is total offense with 174 rushing and 1004 passing in just 3 games.
• Stephon Jefferson – RB – Nevada. Explodes onto the list. Through four games he has 11 rushing TD’s and 699 yards rushing to lead the nation in yards per game rushing.
• Rakeem Cato – QB – Marshall – Stays on the list leading the nation in passing with 10 TD’s and just 2 interceptions along with 1481 yards through 4 games.
• Geno Smith – QB – West Virginia – Should be able to continue to pad his numbers in the normally wide open Big XII. Barely behind Florence of Baylor in total offense per game at this point, but has a much stronger supporting cast than the other candidates on this list.

Stay Classy Nashville, Tennessee (Golden Tate’s Hometown).
 

We’re about six weeks away from election day, and the debates are just around the corner.  While the national polls show the race fairly tight, these polls are completely irrelevant.  A candidate gets the same number of electoral votes if he wins a state by one vote or by ten million.  Large margins may help the national polling numbers, but they don’t actually change the chance that the candidate will win.

For years. my go-to site has been Electoral-Vote.com.  The site operator is very clear about the fact that he’s liberal, but I like the way the data is presented.  The site correctly predicted 48 of the 50 states in 2008, missing only Indiana and Missouri.

At this point, Electoral-Vote.com shows Obama with 328 electoral votes, Romney with 206, and New Hampshire tied.  Romney is expected to lose Massachusetts (where he was governor) convincingly.  That’s not surprising, considering how liberal the state is.  He’s also polling well behind in Michigan, where his father was governor.  While I haven’t researched this in great detail, I’d have to think that winning a presidential election while losing two states where you have deep personal ties would be a historic achievement.  Generally, a candidate can count on his home state to cast their votes for him.

One of my favorite features of the site is the tipping point state chart.  Essentially, this ranks the state from the ones where Obama is doing best (DC and Hawaii) to the states where he is doing worst (Utah and Wyoming).  If you’re a Romney fan, you can read from the bottom up.  The chart lets you see how far down (or up) a candidate must go in order to win.  In order for Romney to win, he’d have to pick up the tied state of New Hampshire, as well as Iowa, Nevada, Colorado, Florida, and Ohio – all states where Obama leads.  While it’s true that some of Obama’s leads are within the margin of error, this doesn’t mean that the poll results are wrong – it just means there is a greater likelihood that they are wrong.  Unless there is a systemic error affecting polling in multiple states, a candidate leading by less than the margin or error in large number of states is very likely to win a majority of those states.

How can Romney win?

1. Explain Paul Ryan’s voucher system to senior citizens.  If seniors think that the Republicans are trying to take Medicare away, they could switch their votes or simply not vote at all.  Traditionally, this is a group that leans heavily Republican; it’s hard to imaging a Romney win that doesn’t include winning a majority of the senior vote.
2. Capitalize on Obama gaffes in the debates.  However, it’s important to strike a chord with independent voters, and not simply preach to the choir.  This minds finding cases where the broader population disagrees with an Obama sentiment and hammering away.
3. Getting out the vote.  A great way to overcoming a polling deficit is to simply get more of your party’s voters to the poll. 

Other news:

Senate

Tomorrow is the deadline for Todd Akin to petition a judge to remove his name from the ballot in the Missouri senate race.  If he does this (and the judge agrees) he would have to pay for ballots to be reprinted (possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars), but the Republicans would be able to put a different candidate on the ballot.  Claire McCaskill is comfortable head (although it’s not a blowout), and an Akin pullout would basically start with a clean slate.  I do wonder is McCaskill has been holding back a bit, in order to make Akin think he has a chance (rather than having him drop out and facing a stronger candidate).  Will McCaskill release the hounds on the 26th?

It appears that the Senate will add another independent to its ranks.  Former governor Angus King has a big lead over the Republican candidate.  Since King is expected to caucus with Democrats (although he has not publicly stated this), the Democrats are not supporting their party’s candidate, Cynthia Dill, for fear of splitting the vote between Dill and King and allowing the Republican to win.  Republican PACS have actually run ads in favor of Dill – trying to achieve just such a split.

This story originally ran on October 1, 2011.  It was an enjoyable story to write.  I hope you enjoy reading it. 

April 28, 1888. 1:30 AM.
Gretchen blew out the candle, slipped beneath the quilt, and tried to go to sleep. She was exhausted from the work of tending to the party guests, but sleep would not come.

Instead, the vision kept returning. An infant being born into this household. The infant growing into a boy, and then into a man. The man assuming great power and bringing death upon millions. Her vision was quite clear. The man was pure evil.

Below her small attic room was the master bedroom, where master Alois and mistress Klara were sleeping. The mistress was with child.

Gretchen slept fitfully, unable to accept the message within the vision. The vision would recur many times, leaving horrible nightmares in its wake. Gretchen often awoke drenched in sweat.

May 24, 1888
Gretchen carried the tea to her mistress, remarking that this was a new variety from the market. Klara replied that it was sweeter than the ordinary tea. Gretchen was deeply disturbed by her own actions. She did not want to poison her mistress, but the visions were becoming stronger, the nightmares were becoming worse, and the message was crystal clear – the baby within Klara’s womb was pure evil and must not be allowed to live. She was being asked to intercede.

July 13, 1888
The house was in mourning after the miscarriage. Alois and Klara grieved the loss of their unborn child. Many had attended the funeral at the church in Ranshofen. The relatives had stayed for several days before returning to their own homes, leaving Alois and Klara alone.

During this time, Gretchen was the steady presence that Alois and Klara needed. She cooked, cleaned, and went to the market just as she always had. But she also comforted Klara, slowly bringing her out of the period of darkness until the briefest glimpses of happiness began to appear on occasion once again.

Two days after the funeral, Gretchen announced that they were out of the new variety of tea, and that the shopkeeper had not been able to get any more in stock. That afternoon, she discreetly discarded the arsenic. No longer would she be forced to poison her mistress.

July 30, 1888
The mistress had left at dawn to visit relatives in the Gmunden distict. Gretchen was cleaning the master bedroom when he came to her.

“You have been a great friend to Klara during this dark time. I owe you a great debt, Fräulein Gretchen” he began. “and I am a man who repays his debts.”

Alois looked into her eyes, and Gretchen knew how the debt would be repaid. She was filled with nervous excitement as he moved toward her. This was the moment she had longed for so many times over the years.

Gretchen fell back onto the bed, filled with desire and welcoming the advance of her master. He pulled up the skirt of her dirndl and within a moment was inside her. Gretchen gasped with pleasure as Herr Hitler’s seed was planted inside her.

Sandra Fluke speaks at the convention

Two weeks ago the Democrats held their Convention. The focus seemed to be auto bailouts, pandering to Unions, making fun of Republicans and, of course, free birth control. Please.

The issues that they should be focusing on important ones…our debt that is spiraling out of control, the unemployed and underemployed…you know, the REALLY important things.

I watched the Princess of the Democrat party, Sandra Fluke, discussing how her birth control should be paid for. I really wish she wouldn’t have used the collective “we” when referring to women because she didn’t represent me or my values.

Living in Iowa, I’ve seen all of the ads. The most pathetic one of all starts out, “It’s a scary time to be a woman.” Really? Because no one can find work? Oh, wait, you mean because Mitt Romney doesn’t believe that our tax dollars should go to a private “women’s health” business.

Look, ladies. Let’s think about this. It’s not scary just because you may have to pay a $9 co-pay on your birth control. I know that now, compared to 4 years ago, I spend more than $9 a month on the same amount of gas that I’d put in my minivan. I know that my grocery bill has increased more than $9 each trip for the same items.

Maybe it is a scary time to be a woman. I’m scared that some women are actually buying into this. But what makes my head spin is hearing the women on the left scream “My body, my choice” and yet, we’re expected to subsidize it? You can’t have it both ways. Either it is your body and you take care of it yourself, or it is not and you get free stuff.

I don’t want “free stuff” from the Government, because it’s not really free. Someone has paid for it. And I’d rather not be indebted to the Government for anything.

I prefer FREEDOM over free stuff.

My team, the Rockies, are not in contention for a playoff spots, so my mind has been wandering a bit.  I got to thinking about the 2013 World Baseball Classic (essentially, the World Cup for baseball).  I went online to check the schedule for the WBC.  To my surprise, the qualifying tournaments have already begun.  Israel picked up a 7-3 win against South Africa yesterday.

Since basball is no longer and Olympic sport, the WBC is now the only major international showcase for baseball.  The rules for player eligibility are fairly loose.  A nation may use a player whose ancestors came from that country, even that was several generations ago.  There is nothing (other than lack of talent) to prevent me from palying for the German team.  The Israeli team will use players of Jewish heritage, regardless of nationality.  Nations can also use players from their territories, which is why a number of players for The Netherlands in 2009 didn’t look very Dutch … they were from places like Curacao.

In 2009 and 2012, sixteen teams participated in the tournament.  The tournament was by invitation only.  This has changed for the 2013 WBC.  The eight teams who won at least one game in 2009 gained automatic bids to the 2013 WBC.  The other four teams were dropped into four qualifying tournaments, along with twelve new teams.  Thus, a total of 28 teams (12 automatic qualifers and 16 teams in the qualifying tournaments) have a chance to play in the WBC.

Here is the breakdown of teams :

Automatic qualifiers:

• Japan (2004 and 2009 champion)
• South Korea (2nd in 2009)
• Venezuela (3rd)
• USA (4th)
• Puerto Rico
• Cuba
• Netherlands
• Mexico
• Dominican Republic
• Italy
• China
• Australia

Qualifier 1 (Sept 19-23, 2012, Florida)

• Israel
• South Africa
• France
• Spain

South African was in the 2009 Classic, but they’ll have a tough row to hoe in order to get back.  The favorite in this group is Israel, which fields a team of players with significant experience in the minor leagues.  Very few of the players are actually from Israel, with most of the players being Jewish players from other nations.  Spain also has a decent team.

Qualifier 2 (Sept 20-24, 2012, Germany)

• Great Britain
• Canada
• Czech Republic
• Germany

Canada was 0-2 in 2009, but this is a good team.  They are ranked #5 in the International Baseball Federation rankings.  It will be an upset if the Canadians don’t win.

Qualifier 3 (Nov 15-17, 2012, Panama)

• Brazil
• Panama
• Nicaragua
• Colombia

Panama is was in the 2009 Classic, but they’ll be pushed by Colombia and Nicaragua.  I’d expect this to be the most competitive of the qualifiers.  I’ll give the nod to Panama, since the games will be played there.

Qualifier 4 (Nov 15-18. Taiwan)

• Thailand
• Phillippines
• New Zealand
• Chinese Tapei (Taiwan)

This is probably the least competitive group.  Chinese Tapei is the only team ranked in the world top 20 and should have a relatively easy path to victory.

Mitt Romney made the news when video from a private fundraiser surfaced this week.  In the video, he is having a candid chat with donors, telling him that 47% of Americans will never vote for him because they are dependent on the government – asserting that these people don’t pay income taxes and feel entitled to health care, food, and housing provided by government handouts.

The 47% number gets bandied about a lot.  You should ask yourself two main questions:

Is it true that 47% of people don’t pay income tax?

I addressed the topic of how many people don’t pay income taxes in greater detail in an earlier article.  A big problem is that people use the terms people, households, and filers interchangeably.  This is a mistake.  I’ll create an example household consist of a mom and dad (married filing jointly, with tax liability), elderly grandparent living with them (minimal taxable income, no tax liability), teenage son with a part time job (minimal taxable income, no tax liability), and a ten year old and four year old.  That’s one household, six people, three tax returns – only one of which has tax liability.  

If you’re using statistics about filers (such as IRS data), it is very inaccurate to substitute the word “people” or “households” for “filers”.  Yet, politicians and the mainstream media often do this, because it’s easier than trying to explain the nuances, even though there is a significant statistical difference.  When you see these quotes, go back to the source they used and verify that they are using the correct term.

Should “the 47%ers” pay taxes?

This is a more complex question.  Who are the 47% who don’t pay taxes, and why don’t they pax taxes?

The stereotype that some people are trying to construct is a family where nobody works, the kids run wild, and the parent use the welfare checks to buy Cheetos and Xbox games.  Certainly this sort of abuse of the system does exist, but let’s look at other examples of people who don’t pay taxes.  All of these fictional scenarios are using a very simplified tax situation of the standard deduction and exemptions, before taking any credits into account.

• The elderly – Abigail is 70 and a retired high school principal.  She works ten hours each week at the local library, earning $10 per hour.  She also spends twenty hours each week volunteering at various organization within her town.  Other than the $5200 per year she earns at the library, the rest of her income consists of a Roth IRA (taxes paid up front), her husband’s life insurance benefits (non-taxable) and Social Security.  Abigail currently doesn’t pay taxes … but she paid her fair share of taxes for decades when she was working full time.
• The young – Becky works with Abigail at the library.  Becky is sixteen years old and works ten hours per week.  Becky helps her parents with some of the bills and puts the rest toward college.  Becky doesn’t currently pay any taxes – but she expects to pay a lot of taxes when she graduates from law school.
• The working poor – Charles and Debra, age 24, have two year old twins.  Prior to the birth of the twins, both of them worked at the local grocery store.  Due to high costs of day care in the community, Charles quit to stay at home with the kids until they are in school.  Debra earns $12.50 per hour and is being groomed for a management position.  While Charles and Debra don’t currently pay taxes, their household income will jump when Charles returns to the workforce and will continue to grow as they move up in the organization.  In a few years, they’ll resume paying income tax and will do so until retirement.
• The unemployed – The factory where Edward worked shut down, resulting in hundreds of people losing their jobs.  The resulting glut of a particular skill set on the market has made it very difficult to find a job, and Edward has been unable to find work.  At this point, it would be difficult for Edward to move.  He has strong tied to the community and he’d take a financial loss if he sold his house at the moment.  Edward is no longer collecting unemployment and is burning through his nest egg and he attempts to find work.  Edward is not currently paying taxes – but he’d absolutely love to return to the ranks of the tax payers.

This is not a comprehensive list. 

As you can see, not everyone in the 47%ers is a “lifer”.  Depending on age and/or circumstance, you may end up paying no taxes some years and paying taxes in others.  Assuming that the 47%ers is a non-changing block of people is a dangerous fallacy for politicians. 

Another week in the books and overall there were some HORRIBLE games this past week.

Alabama and Arkansas was supposed to be a big game. That was until Arkansas lost to Louisiana Monroe and then proceeded to also lose their starting quarterback for the game against the Crimson Tide. In case anyone is doubting Nick Saban and the 52-zippo blanking of the Hogs, trust me, the Tide is good. How two voters in the polls still think otherwise is beyond me.

Paper Spartan???

Andrew Maxwell fumbles against Notre Dame

Michigan State proved finally to a national audience what Johnny G has been spreading around the water cooler all year – OVER-RATED. The problem is two-fold with their loss. One, it just further cements the fact the B1G 10 is not having a banner year and two, the fact that Notre Dame beat the Spartans just adds more fuel for the Gold Dome zealots who are proclaiming that Brian Kelly is the program savior. If he is that good of a coach, I just hope he is not as big of a cheater as Lou Holtz……

Meeeeeechigan versus Notre Dame

On the topic of Notre Dame, This upcoming week, (or should I say WEAK) is good time to go golfing with your buddies as there are a ton of barely watchable games filling the airwaves. We have Michigan and Notre Dame and then….not much else to look forward to except maybe Clemson against Florida State. I am not much of a fan of the ACC but this is the only other game likely to get much play nationally this week.

The highlight of week 4 from the National Spotlight will be Michigan versus Notre Dame – Mainly because…well…it is Notre Dame playing.

I am rooting for my buddy Aaron, (sorry Denis and K.R.) in a match-up of teams my friends root for. Go Blue. Johnny supports you!

Weak B1G 10

And since I mentioned a week of weak games, I might as well stay with the topic of weak – – – in the B1G 10, the Ohio State Bunkeyes barely crept out a win against the California Bears at home this past week. (Yes, that is right, I said Bunkeyes) Cal looked to have them on the ropes until a busted coverage late in the game gave Braxton Miller an easy long touchdown stat padding completion. I took Braxton off the Heisman 5 this week, mainly because some others needed props. Ohio State at this point is clearly the best team in the otherwise weak conference….too bad they can’t play for anything meaningful to end the season….cheaters.

A Tale of Two Mannings

Wow totally different ends of the spectrum for the Mannings in the NFL this week. Eli throws for 510 and 3 TD’s (also had three interceptions) in a win over the Buccaneers in a real life version of Tecmo SuperBowl, and Peyton throws 3 first quarter picks in a loss last night to the Falcons. A word of warning to the AFC. The NFC seems to have the cream of the early season crop of teams. Let’s see if everyone stays healthy and they are the ones to beat at the end of the year.

Heisman Watch – Week 3

1. Rakeem Cato – Quarterback – Marshall – Averaging a crazy 423 yards per game. Of course it is Marshall, but here is some love for the MAC – he leads the NCAA in total offense. Through three weeks that gets you top billing.
2. Geno Smith – Quarterback – West Virginia – Running roughshod with just two games under the belt, but is 2nd in the nation with an incredible 409 yards per game total offense. Finally might be showing he is legit since Matt “can’t ever beat Stanford” Barkley checked out last week.
3. Jonathan Franklin – Running Back – UCLA – Still leading the nation in rushing with 180+ a game, and still high on Johnny’s Heisman Watch list
4. Denard Robinson – adding some huge stat padders against Air Force and Massachusetts. This week he gets the Golden Domers…so if he is here next week, that means Big Blue fared better than those Spartans of East Lansing.
5. Darius Slay – DB- Mississippi State – What? A defensive guy on the Heisman top 5? He does lead the nation in interceptions with 4 in 3 games and he took one to the house for 6. Plus I love the last name. Slay just sounds like a bad ass defensive player doesn’t it?

Until Next Time, Stay Classy Homewood, Alabama

Last week, there were violent outbursts in the Muslim world.  The cause of this explosion was reported to be an internet video that is insulting to the Prophet.  This is hard to support since the video was weeks old and unknown to most of the world until an Egyptian television station broadcast it.  Somehow, this video provided an excuse to attack the United States, protesting at American facilities, storming American consulates and embassies, and killing of Americans including an Ambassador.  A video that was never condoned by any official of the United States, never broadcast by or in the United States, possibly not even made in America or by an American, is an excuse to burn and kill.  If this standard was held for all speech, then when Rachel Madow said that the Westborough Baptist Church was wrong to protest at fallen servicemen’s funerals, the Belgian Embassy should have been torched rockets should have been lobed into the economic mission of Nepal, after all, there is probably someone in those countries that do not like Baptists.

Last year I wrote an article defending the President for his decision to not intervene in Egypt.  I also wrote an article questioning his decision to intervene in Libya.  I also wrote an article questioning the media outcry to intervene in Syria.  I am grateful to the President for resisting that call for action.  In all of these situations, American intervention would have justified the people of those nations fighting America to keep their own identity.  The activities in Libya may actually be more closely related to our intervention than to the video.  The other outbursts show a culture that is too ready to be insulted and to ready to resort to violence at the slightest context.  That these events occurred on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the United States and the graffiti stating that there are thousands of Osamas attacking America would betray that the video is of no consequence.

So what is the reaction to these attacks?  First, the embassy in Egypt put out a message that the United States did not condone the video and condemned the violence in Libya.  The media only looked at the first part of this message, the right condemning it as weak and the left as an explanation of the violence.  Currently the United States is intervening.  We are arming the Marines who guard out embassies (why they guard without bullets is something that cannot be understood).  We are calling on host nations to protect our sovereignty and our people.  We are calling for the arrest and punishment of those people responsible for damage to property and life.  All of these are responsible reactions to the crimes that were committed against America.

What else can be done?  Evaluations will have to be made to test the intent of host nations.  If they are honestly trying to bring criminals to justice, then the United States should work with them.  If they appear to be supporting the criminals and concentrating on demand that the United States change their basic believes to shut down free speech, then other actions can be taken including cutting off financial support.  There have been calls for cutting the support without investigation, that would be irresponsible.  There has also been harassment of the supposed producer of the video, this is also irresponsible. My suggestion to anyone who is insulted by a video is DON’T WATCH IT.