Monday, January 26, 2015

Deflategate?

Deflategate? The footballs were under inflated in the Patriots win over the Colts? I have no idea what to make of this one.

I mean, if the balls were purposely deflated, shouldn't this have benefited Andrew Luck as well as Tom Brady? The whole thing strikes me as silly unless there is some benefit in KNOWING that the balls are under inflated.

The latest is that the NFL is talking to a locker room attendant about having moved the footballs from the officials' locker room to a different area on the way to the field.

Was it his job to move the footballs from the locker room to the field? I mean, how long could them have been in a "different area" before someone noticed that the footballs hadn't arrived yet? Why isn't it the responsibility of an official to move the footballs from the locker room to the field?

Sounds like they're going to through some poor shnook under the bus so the team and the league can live happily ever after.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

The NFL Playoffs V

With the Pack ahead 16-0 I was feeling pretty good. Even though I had picked the Seahawks to win my heart wasn't in it. Even at 19-7 with less than four minutes to go it looked good,

Then bad things started to happen. The Seahawks made it 19-14 and an onside kick went right through Brandon Bostick's hands, hit him in the face and bounced into the arms of the Seahawks.

The Seahawks scored to make it 22-19 on a two point conversion that shouldn't have had a chance in hell. The Packers tied it 22-22 to send it into overtime but you just knew what was going to happen and it did. Seahawks win it 28-22.

At New England the Colts never really got into the game and got spanked by Brady and the Patriots 45-7.

Well, that makes me 9-1 with only one game left; the BIG one.

I'm going with the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX. Tom Brady finally gets his 4th ring.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Supreme Court will Act on Gay Marriage

The Supreme Court today announced that it will take up the issue of Gay Marriage.

Well it's about time Ollie.

I.m not going to guess what the court will do as that's something of an effort in futility. One can hope that they will side with the light and declare Gay Marriage legal across all 50 states.

At the other extreme would be to allow state bans of Gay Marriage. Why they would do that given the landslide of recent court decisions in favor of Gay Marriage and the delay in taking up the case until at least one circuit court ruled that state bans were OK would be beyond my understanding.

Are there other options somewhere between the two extremes? Perhaps, but I can't think of any off hand.

The decision is expected by June.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

The NFL Playoffs IV

In a battle of the future vs. the past, the future won. The Colts beat the Broncos 24-13 and Andrew Luck will move on to play Tom Brady.

Luck against Wilson in the Super Bowl would be very interesting.

So I get the last game wrong and I end up 7-1 through the divisional round. On to the championship games.

Packers at Seahawks - Seahawks

I hate the idea of the Seahawks going back to the Super Bowl and I'm really hoping Aaron Rodgers and the pack will humble them next week but I doubt it. I have to go with the Seahawks.

Colts at Patriots - Patriots

I don't think Luck, on consecutive weekends, is going to beat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady at home. I'm going with the Patriots.

Cowboys lose to Packers

The refs givith and the refs taketh away. Here's the rule that took away what was originally called a Dez Bryant catch.

"If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete."

Stick that one in your fat tub and smoke it Christie.

The Cowboys get sent home by the Pack 26-21.

The NFL Playoffs III

Hey, hey, hey, two for two in the divisional playoffs on Saturday making me 6-0 for the moment.

Unfortunately I have a sort of tradition of getting the two Saturday games right and the two Sunday games wrong.

I suppose we shall see what we shall see.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Atlanta Mayor Fires Fire Chief

The mayor of Atlanta, Kasim Reed, fired his fire chief Kelvin Cochran for self-publishing a book containing anti-gay comments. In the self-published book titled "Who Told You That You Were Naked?"

Cochran referred to homosexuality as "unclean," "a sexual perversion," "vulgar" and "inappropriate."  Cochran received a month long suspension in November and at that time Reed said, "I want to be clear that the material in Chief Cochran's book is not representative of my personal beliefs, and is inconsistent with the administration's work to make Atlanta a more welcoming city for all citizens — regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, race, and religious beliefs."

Cochran says that he checked with the city's ethics department on the book and didn't receive any "pushback."

Alex Wan, the only openly gay member of the Atlantic city council, issued a statement supporting the mayor's action. In that statement Wan claimed that Cochran's suspension came because of complaints from Cochran's employees over the distribution of the book to them.

This strikes me as being perilously close to a violation of Freedom of Speech. I suppose a possible mitigating circumstance could be that it's the mayor's administration and he can fire appointed officials that publicly disagree with him.

Some additional information came to light Friday when Mayor Reed acknowledged that Cochran was fired for distributing his book to employees which is apparently a violation of administrative rules.

What I have to wonder though is if Cochran's book hadn't contained controversial material would anyone have cared?

Sunday, January 04, 2015

The NFL Playoffs II

Wow, four for four on Wild Card weekend.

I have to put in my two cents about the pass interference flag against the Cowboys that was picked up in the 4th quarter. It looked to me like the right call and I don't understand why the hell the flag was picked up. It was an absolute disgrace that ruined a good game.

When something like that happens it soils the entire legitimacy of the league. Of course it was the Cowboys getting the benefit and setting up a Cowboys vs. Packers game next week which is going to be a much bigger TV draw than a Panthers vs. Packers game would be.

The whole thing is a disgrace and it stinks to high heaven. I mean seriously. They should be forced to pick up the game with the penalty enforced and a different officiating crew Monday night. Then they should tack on 15 yards for Dez Bryant running out onto the field without a helmet to argue with the ref over the call.

Like I said, the whole thing is a disgrace.

Bah, just part of the game they say. Moving on to the division round.

Ravens at Patriots - Patriots

I like the Patriots at home. Tom Brady is still the man in my humble opinion.

Panthers at Seahawks - Seahawks

There's little of no question in my mind about this one. As much as I hate Pete Carroll I can't see the Seahawks losing to Newton and the Panthers. I would sure like to be wrong about this one though. It would make me feel really good to see Cam send Carroll home.

Cowboys at Packers - Packers

I think Aaron Rodgers and the pack can take Romo and the boys but after seeing them come back against the Lions, I'm not all that sure any more. I might be more than a little influenced by that PI flag that was picked up and believe the Cowboys don't deserve to go any further.

Colts at Broncos - Broncos

I really, really, really want to see one more Manning vs. Brady championship game but I really don't think the Colts can take the Broncos in this one.

Saturday, January 03, 2015

The Problem with Facts

Facts are fine as long as you are not asking people hobbled by ideology to accept them.

Far too many people reject any fact that contradicts their ideology. If they don't reject the fact they reject the source of the fact as biased or lying.

When people start accusing anything that contradicts what they want to believe as a lie you know their mind is closed.

It has gotten to the point of being so ridiculous that it's not longer worth wasting breath on it. So, why am I wasting breath on it?

The NFL Playoffs

Ok, it's NFL Playoff time. Time for me to demonstrate how bad I am at predicting NFL games. Let's get right to it with the Wildcard round.

Cardinals at Panthers - Panthers

I don't think the Cards can overcome their injuries at QB and it's time for Cam Newton to win his first playoff game. If the Cardinals do pull it out it will be the defense earning the game ball.

Ravens at Steelers - Ravens

Neither team impresses me much but the Steelers strike me as even more inconsistent than the Ravens. Besides, Joe Flacco always seems to bring it up a notch in the post season.

Bengals at Colts - Colts

Luck has made me into a believer and I just don't think the Colts will lose at home.

Lions at Cowboys - Cowboys

I would really like the Lions to win this one but the Cowboys are too hot. Next week. at Green Bay, is where I'm betting the Cowboys meet their Waterloo.