It’s time for more of my random thoughts. Most of you will probably run away screaming at that proclamation, but to those of you brave enough to stay, you need mental help. Know how I know that? We can see our own. Anyways, here we go….
There are many sensations that take me back to my childhood. Most of them are musical. There are many songs that remind of a specific time in my life. Songs I clung to at that particular time.
Mostly, it’s music that takes me back. No tastes or smells take me back, really, because I don’t have the same tastes and smells around. I didn’t necessarily like the food I was raised on. It wasn’t that my mom was a bad cook (dad rarely cooked) although there were some adventures in the kitchen. She just made Italian food which, even though I’m part Italian, I really don’t care for. I don’t particularly care for any type of tomato sauce. So things like spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parmesan, and other classic Italian dishes aren’t things I eat. So I’m therefore never reminded much of my childhood by food or smell. Plus, my mom is diabetic and has heart disease so she can’t eat any of the food we were raised on anyway so she no longer makes it. Continue reading
Man. I haven’t done one of these posts in forever, mainly because they take so long to do. Someone once told me she loved these posts and liked to see my opinion on all the different things in the news, so here goes:
This is Robert Griffin III. He sure looks black to me. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Really? Aren’t skinny jeans bad enough?
It’s Jodi, not Lodi. Good thing it’s the thought that counts, huh? Or is that only for presents?
What the hell is this? It looks like she’s wearing a clear plastic bag over a 1940′s era bikini.
And there you have it. That’s all the randomness I can handle today. My head is spinning and my stomach is yelling at me because I should’ve eaten lunch a couple of hours ago. Hope you enjoyed it!
Bob Costas. He just looks like an arrogant prick. (Photo courtesy of LA Times)
Jovan Belcher (Photo courtesy of LA Times)
I’ve been trying not to bring this up because I just wrote a post about the 2nd amendment, but I just can’t NOT talk about it anymore.
I’m sure, by now, that most everyone has heard something about Bob Costas and his anti-gun speech during his halftime segment on Sunday Night Football.
For those of you in the dark, let me start from the beginning. This past Saturday, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend, and baby momma, Kasandra Perkins Saturday morning. He then drove to the Chiefs’ facility where he committed suicide in front of team officials by shooting himself in the head.
Before I start in on Costas, I’ll be up front and let you know that I’ve never really cared for him. I don’t like his commentating style, or the way he always seems so effin’ smug. I just don’t like him. Now? I can’t effin’ stand him.
So here’s what Costas had to say, courtesy of the LA Times:
“You knew it was coming. In the aftermath of the nearly unfathomable events in Kansas City, that most mindless of sports clichés was heard yet again, ‘Something like this really puts it all in perspective.’ Well if so, that sort of perspective has a very short shelf life since we will inevitably hear about the perspective we have supposedly again regained the next time ugly reality intrudes upon our games. Please. Those who need tragedies to continually recalibrate their sense of proportion about sports, would seem to have little hope of ever truly achieving perspective.
“You want some actual perspective on this? Well a bit of it comes from the Kansas City-based writer Jason Whitlock, with whom I do not always agree but who today, said it so well that we may as well just quote or paraphrase from the end of his article. “Our current gun culture,” Whitlock wrote, “ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead. Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it. In the coming days, Jovan Belcher’s actions, and its possible connection to football, will be analyzed. Who knows? But here is what I believe, If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”
My first problem with this is bringing in a hot political topic into sports. Is the fact that Belcher killed Perkins and himself sports-related news? Yes, but the editorial on gun control is not needed. That’s what CNN or MSNBC is for. Or Fox News, if that’s your cup of tea. Football Night in America is NOT where expect to find any sort of political commentary. Nor should I.
Secondly, Costas agrees with, and quotes, Jason Whitlock, who is normally as level-headed a sports reporter as there is. However, this time Jason, and thus Bob Costas, are both dead wrong. Our current gun culture, as Whitlock refers to it, is NOT ensuring that more and more domestic disputes end in the ultimate tragedy. If any culture ensures that I would venture to say it’s the hip-hop culture, a culture that advocates the thug life and solving things with guns and violence. I know many gun-owners and they are not violent people and don’t have criminal records and wouldn’t hurt a soul without provocation. There are a plethora of reasons these people own guns. Some collect them. Some enjoy shooting. Some have them for protection. Others have them for hunting. And some have them for all of the reasons listed above. But they don’t just randomly kill people because of some imagined gun culture or just because they have one.
Then, Whitlock, and Costas by quoting him, contend that “handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it.” This is an idiotic statement if I’ve ever heard one. Handguns in the hands of law-abiding citizens enhance the safety of said law-abiding citizen by providing a means of protection from those who don’t abide by our laws. And let’s face it, there are a lot of criminals out there preying on unsuspecting citizens. Moreover, owning a gun exacerbates no one’s flaws and does not tempt anyone to escalate arguments. Violent people are going to be violent no matter if they possess a gun or not. Peruse YouTube for a bit and do a search for fighting. You’ll find thousands, if not millions, of videos of all kinds of idiots fighting for inane reasons. And you’ll find that guns are not the reason those situations escalated. Most of the time you’ll find that it’s stupid people arguing over stupid shit. Embracing confrontation, Jason? No, people don’t back down or avoid confrontation today because they are more afraid of being called a pussy than of getting their ass kicked. Peer pressure is a bitch, isn’t it?
Then Whitlock, and Costas by extension, say the dumbest thing yet. That if Belcher didn’t have a gun that he and Perkins would still be alive. Really? I mean, really? How could you possible know that with absolute certainty? You both were speaking without the facts. Since you both weighed in on this topic without getting the facts first, consider this; since you both opined on this incident it has been reported that Belcher and Perkins were having a pretty intense argument prior to the shooting. Are you two both positive that the only reason Belcher grew angry enough to kill Perkins is because he had a gun? Or could it possibly be that Perkins had so enraged Belcher (rightly or wrongly) that he would have used anything at his disposal to kill her?
I find it both naive and stupid to blame an inanimate object for a person’s actions. Blaming Belcher’s gun for Belcher’s actions is like blaming my fork for me eating too much. A gun cannot think. It cannot speak. It certainly doesn’t have its own agenda. It most certainly didn’t say to Belcher, “You know what? I’m tired of this shit. Shoot her. Nine times.” A gun is like a computer or a TV. It only does what you tell it to. The trigger doesn’t pull itself. Somebody has to make a conscious decision to do so.
Instead of attacking our “gun culture,” why don’t you attack our violent culture instead? A culture that embraces and glorifies violence. MMA. UFC. Boxing. Hollywood blockbusters from which most of the entertainment is derived from violent encounters. Or why don’t you attack parenting? Most violent people are raised to embrace violence by their parents. The finger could be pointed in a multitude of directions, but is instead being pointed at the one thing that can’t possibly be faulted. The gun. I’m not going to make any absolute statements like Costas or Whitlock, but I don’t feel like I’m going out on a limb by saying that if Belcher had a Louisville Slugger instead of a gun he would’ve murdered her with that. Once he was to the point where murder was his intent he would’ve used whatever was within his grasp to carry it out. It just so happened that he had a gun.
Again, maybe gun control reform is needed. And maybe it isn’t. But one thing’s for sure: guns are not responsible for what they are used for. Violent people are going to be violent whether they have a gun or not. Murderers will find a way to murder without a gun if they can’t get one. This was indeed a terrible tragedy, but the fault for this lies with Belcher and Belcher alone. It’s not the gun’s fault.
And now, I’ll leave you with a few memes insired by Bob’s idiotic intrusion into the halftime show.
This one really drives the point home.
Fox Sports Video and Photo Gallery – The most-hated people in sports – FOX Sports List.
My three-day weekend is winding down. I’m getting ready to go to bed. I’m just catching up on some news when I stumble upon the article linked above and click my way through the 10 most-hated sports figures.
The list contained all of the usual suspects: Kurt Bush, A-Rod, T.O., Kobe Bryant (really? I don’t know why people hate him), LeBron, Kris Humphries (hey, you married a Kardashian, dumbass), Ndamukong Suh, Plaxico Burress (of he who shot himself in the leg fame), Tiger Woods, and Michael Vick.
Donte Stallworth (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I finished the list and realized that at least two people were missing from the list that shouldn’t have been: Leonard Little and Donte Stallworth.
Both Little and Stallworth have killed another human being. Not on purpose, though. They killed another human while driving drunk. And yet somehow failed to make this list.
I’m a little befuddled by the fact that a guy who cheated on his wife is more reviled than someone who committed involuntary manslaughter. I’m confused how idiots who talk so much as to inspire hatred are more frowned upon than drunken idiots who have taken a human life. I fail to understand how superstars on hated teams (who are hated merely because they win) are loathed more than a couple of idiots who couldn’t make a simple decision to NOT drive after having consumed too much alcohol. I just don’t get it.
I can’t say that the people on that list don’t deserve to be there. I can’t really stand any of them myself. They’ve all made idiots of themselves at one time or another. Some more than others. But I can say that I don’t hate (not really hate. that word is reserved only for my ex) any of them more than the two who have robbed two innocent people of their lives by making poor and negligent decisions.
Shame on the people who voted in this survey for not hating the correct people. You all suck at life.
The unthinkable has finally happened. It’s surreal. One of those things that if somebody brought it up, you’d backhand them, stage an intervention, and force a drug test upon them. Unfortunately, it’s no longer unthinkable. It has actually happened.
The Indianapolis Colts have released Peyton Manning.
Manning resurrected the Colts franchise with his stellar play. He had a rocket-like arm, pin-point accuracy, and an Enstein-like knowledge of football. He was a general on the field. He was the offensive coordinator and the quarterback. He called the plays. Often, he called them after the defense was lined up and called a play based on how they were lined up.
Manning won the MVP a record four times. He led the Colts to the Superbowl twice, bringing home the Lombardi trophy once. He and the Colts went to the playoffs 9 consecutive years under his leadership and 11 times total. He threw for 4000 yards 11 times and briefly held the single-season touchdown mark with 49 touchdown tosses in 2004. He had never missed a game prior to the 2011 season, playing in 237 straight games. The accolades could go on for miles if I listed them all.
Unfortunately, for Peyton and the Colts, Peyton sustained a hit a few years ago that has caused chronic neck problems. Owner Jim Irsay signed Peyton to a huge contract right after the lockout ended last year knowing that Peyton might not play at all last season. Peyton had surgery on his neck during the lockout, his third. He then required a fourth procedure on his neck during the preseason. Manning ended up not playing at all last season while earning $26 million for doing so.
Manning was due $28 million from the Colts this year if he was still on the roster at 4PM today. Without having any reason to know or believe that Peyton was healthy or could throw a football with any velocity or accuracy, owner Jim Irsay had to make the gut-wrenching business decision to cut Manning. He simply couldn’t throw away $28 million on a quarterback that may never play again, or a quarterback that may play again but play ineffectively. The release went down to the wire, I believe, because Irsay was attempting to convince Manning to either restructure his contract or delay the deadline that would trigger his $28 million payment so they could assess his health. It appears that Manning was not interested in doing either.
Irsay did what he had to do. It makes no sense to pay that much money for a product that’s not guaranteed to work properly.
As many as 14 teams are reportedly interested in acquiring Peyton’s rights. Some teams, such as the Seahawks and Redskins, are reportedly ready to fork over a colossal pile of cash for Peyton. I just don’t get it. Every report that has escaped from Peyton’s rehab efforts has stated that Peyton’s throws are not NFL caliber throws. He’s nowhere near 100% Do you think the Colts would’ve release him if he was?
Manning and Irsay held a joint press-conference yesterday to announce Peyton’s release. Irsay publicly thanked Manning for all 14 years of service and for all of the great things his done on and off the field. An emotional Manning thanked Irsay, his teammates, and the Indianapolis fans.
The Peyton Manning era is over in Indianapolis. I, no doubt along with all NFL fans, thought that the Manning era would only end with his retirement.
I wish Manning luck with his recovery and hopefully he is able to return to full strength. I truly believe that Manning deserves at least one more Superbowl trophy. He is, statistically, one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game.
Well, thank you Gregg Williams. We had all just forgotten about Spygate when the NFL discovered you have been running a bounty system with every team that has ever employed you.
For those unfamiliar with the situation, the NFL released a statement (Thursday, I think) that they had found evidence of a bounty program being run by the Saints in 2009, 2010, and 2011. All of those years Gregg Williams was the defensive coordinator.
The NFL expressly prohibits bounties. They found in their investigation that Saints defensive players could earn anywhere from $500 to $1500 for something as simple as an interception or causing a fumble all the way up to injuring an opponent and knocking him out of the game.
Many players from Williams’ past have said he ran similar programs in Washington, Buffalo, and Tennessee. All of these players said so anonymously.
I don’t have a problem with the majority of the NFL’s findings. I don’t think any competitive edge could be gained by putting extra incentive on things like recovering fumbles or intercepting a pass. Hell, a lot of NFL contracts have language in them in which a player earns bonuses if they reach certain statistical criteria.
My problem is with the bounties on injuring players. Saint’s defenders, while Williams was the defensive coordinator, ended Kurt Warner’s career. The beat the tar out of Brett Favre a week later. And it also came out this weekend that a Titans’ defender was responsible for the hit that allegedly has caused the chronic neck problems that Peyton Manning has been struggling with the past few years. Coincidentally, Williams was the defensive coordinator at the time.
Many of the anonymous players have defended Williams while saying there were no bounties for injuring other players. The findings of NFL security obviously contradict these players’ contentions.
Playing defense with the intent to injure your opponents is tantamount to cheating in my opinion. You will gain a competitive advantage if you are able to knock an opponent such as Kurt Warner or Peyton Manning out of a game.
In addition to being ethically wrong it’s also morally wrong. I understand that football can be an inherently violent sport, but the intent of the game is to tackle the ball-carrier, not injure him. That’s a huge distinction. Yes, fans love huge, violent hits, but those can be administered without injuring an opponent.
Currently, the NFL has found that Williams only ran this program in New Orleans, however he is being called to the principal’s office today to be questioned by commissioner Roger Goodell in regards to all of the reports over the weekend that he has run this bounty program everywhere he has coached.
Other Saints implicated in the program are head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis, who were evidently aware of the program yet chose not to end it.
It will be interesting to see how the NFL handles this, especially for Williams who has allegedly been running bounty programs at every stop of his NFL career.
It’s quite fitting that my Superbowl 46 thoughts come from here because that was a shitty experience.
I’ll address my predictions first. It seems like I should have followed my head instead of my heart with the pick, as the Giants pulled out the win in the end. The Pats let opportunities to win the game slip through their fingers throughout the game. The most noticeable of which were three fumbles by the Giants that the Giants recovered.
Prediction number two was that the half-time show would suck. Lo and behold, that came to fruition. Aside from Madonna very obviously lip-syncing her otherwise terrible “music”, Nikki Minage and Cee Lo and some other chick I didn’t recognize contributed to the suck. The show was overly elaborate, yet short on substance. And good music.
As to my third prediction, the commercials, save for a couple, were pretty awful. The Volkswagon one with Darth Vader was hilarious (and I’m not just saying that because it was Star Wars) and the Doritos commercials were pretty funny. Oh, the CareerBuilder one was pretty good, too. Otherwise, the commercials were a major letdown. Again.
My saving grace tonight was good food and good people. Friends and family came over to watch the game with us, and we all had a good time making fun of Chris Collinsworth who actually uttered the phrase, “His blind dad used to watch him.” No, Chris, he didn’t. He’s blind and can’t really watch much of anything.
Anyway, so the season is now officially over and I’ll have to suffer through the next six months seeing basketball, hockey, and baseball highlights. Ugh.
What did you think of the Superbowl?
I’m going to go on a rant here. I know some of you might say I’m only doing it because I’m an Ohio State fan, but that’s only part of it. The other part is just pure outrage at an injustice.
Once again, Cris Carter was passed over for the NFL Hall of Fame. How this keeps happening is beyond me, especially if you look at who did make it: Curtis Martin, Willie Roaf, Dermonti Dawson, Cortez Kennedy, and Chris Doleman. I’ll give them Doleman, Roaf, and maybe Dawson, but Martin and Kennedy? Really? To me, anyways, those guys were good, not great. Cris Carter was the 2nd best wide receiver in NFL history, behind Jerry Rice. That’s not just my opinion, his stats back it up. Were Martin or Kennedy the 2nd best at their respective positions? Nope. Martin’s not even in the top 10 of all time great running backs, and if Kennedy makes the top 10 at defensive tackle, it’s just barely.
Not only was Carter the 2nd best wide receiver in history, he did it with a bunch of crappy quarterbacks throwing it to him. Except for Warren Moon, who only played two-and-a-half seasons with the Vikings, Carter spent his career with below average QBs throwing the ball to him. Jerry Rice had 2 Hall of Fame QBs throwing the ball to him for 99% of his career (Montana and Young). Carter had Daunte Culpepper and Brad Johnson. There’s a Grand Canyon sized dropoff there.
Hall of Fame voters, I have two words for you: FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
