Random Thoughts

Quote of the day: A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. - Thomas Jefferson

Found this web site linked from a printing company website: The History of Taxation.


Now that the Presidential candidates are declaring years ahead of the election, the cartoon above becomes even more true. My questions are:

• If being a United States Senator is so easy that you can do it in your spare time while doing years of campaigning and fund-raising, what are the rest of the Senators doing with all that free time (idle minds are the playgound of the devil...)? ...and why are we paying them so much?
  
• Even if they are only campaigning when the Senate is not in session, how are they representing their states? How are they studying up on key issues?
  
• If being a US Senator is a full time job, how can those running effectively do the jobs that we're paying them so highly to do?

I like that commercial that says "What if firefighters ran the country..." ... if only.

Maybe I missed something, suddenly I'm seeing Ken Griffey, Jr. listed as "Griffey Jr." in the box scores on ESPN. Has Senior come back to play? That's the only reason I can think that they would need to distinguish him that way. Similarly, I noticed Patrick Ewing, Jr's jersey actually says "Ewing, Jr." on it. Now I know that both Mr. Ewings went to the same school, Georgetown, but they are not playing together so I fail to see the need.

Which leads me to another sports peeve. Why does any team feel the need to put first initials on the jerseys of players who share the same last name? There is a GIGANTIC number on the front and back of the player's shirt that distinguishes the two. Are fans so lazy that they can't figure out that #85 is Chad Johnson and #32 is Rudi Johnson? It gets even worse when teams then start to spell out the first name and or middle name in order to clearly distinguish which player is which. Perhaps we should do away with numbers all together. I kind of like the attitude of the teams that refuse to put names on home jerseys. Fans know which player is which.

'nuff said.

How to Throw a Golf Club

Top 100 teacher Charlie King teaches how to properly launch a golf club.

Thanks, Vince

Evel Knievel Jumps Into the Sunset

This man was a hero, right or wrong, to every boy growing up in the 70's. Jumping trash cans in the back yard, fearless in our youth - we all wanted to be him in his blaze of red, white, and blue. Check the comments at the end of the story (one of the few times I'll say that). So long big fella.

Daredevil Evel Knievel dies at 69

An Interesting Take on Sean Taylor's Death

I was surprised to see a pointed social commentary like this on FoxSports.com. It ought to get all of us to stop and think about the societal evils we gloss over on a daily basis. Jason Whitlock makes some compelling points that ought to be the starting point for discussions about how to make life better. Unfortunately, it probably won't. Because no one is listening. Everyone is reacting. Our society has come to the point where everyone just reacts and blasts back at the thinker. Mr. Whitlock's "crab-in-barrel mentality" extends far beyond this scenario.

He'll probably be lambasted to the point where he offers the obligatory "I'm sorry to anyone I've offended" speech. His employers are probably already getting calls to fire him immediately. I hope he doesn't and I hope they don't. Read it. Think about it.

Taylor's death a grim reminder for us all

Football Ramblings

Some thoughts on football after a weekend of semi-attention. Some of these have been percolating in my noggin for a while and I'm just getting around to them.

• I think the NFL should adopt some version of two rules from college football. 1) Stop the clock on a first down in the last two minutes of the game. Reward the team for making a first down and allow for more excitement at the end of the game. 2) Allow a replay official to review any play in the game that (s)he deems necessary.
• I think college football should adopt some version of an NFL rule. 1) HAVE A PLAYOFF. I've listened to so many supposed experts claiming that college football is great without a playoff because "every game counts." What a lie. Tell that to the University of Hawaii Warriors. If they go undefeated, likely the only team in the nation, will all of their games have counted? Not. It's happened to big and small schools, get positioned wrong in the polls or come from the wrong conference and NONE of your games count.
• Why do they put first initials on the backs of football jerseys? The Cincinnati Bengals, for example, have C. Johnson, J. Johnson, L. Johnson, and R. Johnson. Are the initials supposed to help us tell them apart? Isn't that what those huge numbers on their chests and backs and shoulders are for? The only thing worse is when the spell parts of the first names because they have both have the same initial. Come on, Penn State has no names at all and we can figure out who's who.
• Is Bill Belichick the Darth Vader of the NFL?
• I clicked over to the Cowboys / Washington game this afternoon and had flashbacks to the Houston Oilers. When did the Cowboys go with powder blue pants? Are they hoping for the same kind of cult following the Chargers have with their powder blue jerseys? Yikes!
• I thoroughly dislike the allowable intentional grounding rule.
• I wonder what would it take for the Falcons to get Tim Tebow?
• The NFL and NCAA should go to high definition for ALL games by Thursday. I thought I was going blind watching the Georgia / Kentucky game on Saturday. They were just a bunch of red and blue blurry spots bounding around my screen. Fortunately, the red blurs won.