Weekend Musings

Thank you to the My Two Cents listeners who reached out through social media on Sunday to congratulate me on calling the Dez Bryant "non-catch" ruling all the way back on Monday of last week.  You can understand how the side judge would have thought it was a catch, seeing as how Bryant caught the ball, took two steps and then lunged for the end zone in what we like to call a "football move".  But incredibly compex, nuanced rules that can only be interpreted by slow-motion replay are "clear"--that was not a catch.  Props to Joe Buck from Fox Sports after the game saying "Common sense would tell you that was a catch--but those aren't the rules."  Anyway, I've got "Unsportsmanlike Conduct--Contact to the Head of the Quarterback" being the controversial call that decides next week's NFC Championship game.

Speaking of rules, look for MORE rules to be added to the books this off-season thanks to plays that happened on Saturday.  First off, "hiding eligible receivers" will be verboten now that New England's Bill Belicheck found that loophole in the rulebook and had "interior linemen" running free for a couple of series in the 3rd quarter after being dominated by Baltimore in the first half.  And then the field goal blocking technique of Kam Chancellor--hurdling the center after the snap--will be banned as well--even though it was the rule against lining up someone over the center that created the "running lane" for Chancellor to do that.  I noticed in the Indianapolis-Denver game one of the Colts tried to do the same thing and the center popped up and chucked him onto one of his teammates--which immediately led to Twitter outrage that "leaping" wasn't called.

On a totally different subject, I've read a number of Presidential autobiographies and memoirs, but I think President Obama's will be the most intriguing.  I really want to know when in his Presidency he stopped caring about the job.  Some would say it was after the Affordable Care Act was passed into law and his "legacy" was secure.  Others think it was after the "final campaign" of 2014--which is really the only thing that interested him--the campaigning.  We got another reminder of how detached the President is this weekend when the US sent NO representative to the Unity Rally in France--even though 44 other countries did (including German Chancellor Angela Merkel who HATES the French).  Attorney General Eric Holder--who has attended the funerals for young, black men killed by police officers here in the US--was IN PARIS this weekend--and still did not attend. 

Politico.com called the snub "Barack Obama's French Kiss-off" and quoted numerous former diplomats who are critical of the President's handling of the situation--along with his muted response to the attacks themselves.  Now this morning, Secretary of State John Kerry tweeted that he would go to Paris on Thursday because "our relationship with France is not about one day"--which serves as a nice shot at those who did attend on Saturday--like they were involved for just one day.  It wouldn't surprise me if the President went to Paris about a month from now to do a couple of photo ops of him looking plaintively at the Charlie Hebdo building or the kosher grocery store--all by himself--just the way he likes it.  

Whose Property Is It?

Put aside for a minute whatever doubts you have about the need for another convention center in the Fox Valley and focus on another aspect of the project that isn't getting much consideration: the fact that the majority of Appleton residents are paying to buy something they already own.  I'm talking about the purchase of property currently owned by Outagamie County by the City of Appleton for construction of the proposed Expo Hall.  (Just a heads up, I'm going to throw a lot of math at you here early in the morning.)

According to the last census, 60,000 of the 72,000 people who live in Appleton reside in Outagamie County.  The remaining 12,000 are split with just over 11,000 in Calumet County and about 1500 living in Winnebago County.  Technically, they do not "own" a share of the property where the Expo may go.  At the current offering price of $2-million dollars, those 12,500 Appleton residents are paying $160 each to "buy" their share of that property.  Those living in the Outagamie County portion of Appleton aren't paying anything--they already "own" a share.

Conversely, Outagamie County's total population is 177,000 people--meaning 117-thousand people live outside of Appleton--and will be "compensated" for selling their share of the property.  At a $2-million dollar sale price, they will "get" $17 per person from the sale.

Unfortunately, the money sitting in the accounts at City Hall and the County Building isn't earmarked like that--so that isn't how the sale price will be broken down.  Instead, Appleton residents will pay out of what they send to City Hall this month and get the "credit" on what they send to the County Building on the back end (maybe).  Doing that math, Outagamie County Appletonians will pay 83% of the cost (or $1.66-million to buy land they already own)--and will receive 33% of the revenue back (or $678,000 in return).  Meaning the deal on the table basically includes a one million dollar "title transfer fee" on Outagamie County Appleton residents.

Just something to think about the next time you hear County Exective Nelson and Mayor Hanna use terms like "our land" in discussions about the Expo Hall.

Give Them Equal Treatment

The outpouring of support for those killed and injured in yesterday's attack by practicers of the "Religion of Peace" in Paris yesterday is certainly comforting--but you know what would impress me more?  If we started treating Muslims the same way we treat Evangelical Christians and Catholics.  That would send a message.

In condemning such attacks, President Obama should tell Muslims to stop "clinging to their God and their guns".  In her campaign speeches, Hillary Clinton should say that the beliefs of Islam are "on the wrong side of history".  Same-sex couples should hold "kiss-ins" at mosques.  There should be calls to boycott Muslim-run businesses that don't provide 31-types of free birth control to their female employees.  Bare breasted women should march on Mecca demanding equal treatment under Sharia law.  The Mayor of Houston can demand that Imams turn over copies of their sermons to make sure they aren't "spreading hate".

Rachel Maddow could devote an hour of her show to parsing verses from the Koran and lecturing Muslims on how they "don't even understand their own religion".  Neil Tyson Degrasse can tweet facts about food, nutrition and digestion during the fasting month of Ramadan.  Salon.com can publish 10,000-word articles on how Islam is the greatest threat to the progress of humanity on the planet. 

Stephen Colbert can adopt an alter ego as a Militant Islamist talk show host and launch the "Daily Prayers Show".  Sitcoms can include devout Muslim characters who are portrayed as uneducated, bigoted and the butt of every joke.  Celebrities like Selena Gomez could take more pictures of their bared ankles in mosques and then NOT apologize to "anyone they may have offended".  Madonna could make a music video where she appears to have sex with Muhammed.  Trey Parker and Matt Stone should be allowed to put Muhammed back into the South Park episodes "Super Best Friends", "200" and "201".  What's more, they can write a Broadway musical entitled The Book of Koran that tells the story of a young Al Qaeda suicide bomber who dreams of blowing up Disney World--but instead is sent to attack a US embassy in some wretched East African country.  (The 72-Virgins dance number at the end of Act 2 is a showstopper!)

Of course, none of this is ever going to happen (except maybe for the South Park ideas) because that would be "culturally insensitive", "insulting" and "racist".  That and those mentioned above probably don't want to get gunned down in cold blood in their offices either.

The Hype Bowl Too

Can we all please stop calling Sunday's Packers-Cowboys game "The Ice Bowl II"?  To do so shows a disturbing lack of historical perspective and really serves to degrade the status of the original game.

For starters, the forecast temperature for kickoff this Sunday is 24-degrees.  That would make it 39-degrees warmer than it was the start of the game on December 31st, 1967--and not really that "icy".  In addition, the field heating system is much more reliable now, meaning the "frozen tundra" won't be as hard as the concrete parking lot and won't be a factor like it was 37-years ago.  Plus, this week's players will be wearing scientifically-designed cold gear under their jerseys and can sit on heated benches or near propane blowers on the sidelines--unlike the players in '67 who tried to stay warm by wearing panty hose, as many layers of cotton clothing as they could fit under the pads and Vaseline on their faces to prevent frostbite while sitting on wooden benches and huddling around charcoal grills on the sidelines.

And the stakes--while certainly high on Sunday--don't compare to what was on the line back then.  The Lombardi Packers were looking for an unprecedented third straight NFL title--and a return trip to the Super Bowl.  It would also be the last game that Vince would coach at Lambeau Field.  The Cowboys were the young, up-and-coming franchise that hadn't yet proven that it could win "the big one".  They have since won 5 Super Bowls--so a loss this Sunday isn't as "devastating" to the franchise.  It is also worth noting that 14 Hall of Famers took part in the "real" Ice Bowl--including both of the head coaches.  This Sunday 3 players--at most--are heading to Canton.  Cowboys tight end Jason Witten is a lock.  Aaron Rodgers should make it--barring further injury problems.  And maybe Julius Peppers gets in--since they have to take some defensive players from the "Fantasy Football Era".

We can also do away with calling this a "revenge game" as well.  The Packers and Cowboys haven't faced off in the playoffs since the 1990's.  What's more, NONE of the players involved this week were even born on December 31st, 1967--and I doubt they could even name more than a few of the 14 Hall of Famers I mentioned before.  If anything, the Ice Bowl itself was a "revenge game"--as the Packers had beaten the Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas in the 1966 NFL Championship game as Tom Brown intercepted "Dandy" Don Meredith in the end zone in the final seconds to seal a 34-27 victory.

So please, don't buy the "Ice Bowl II" t-shirts available on-line.  Don't make signs with that on them to bring to the game in hopes of getting on TV.  And don't save your ticket stub with dreams of telling your grandkids someday that you were at "The Second Ice Bowl"--because hopefully they will laugh at your foolishness and assume you have gone senile.  Just enjoy it for what it is, one of four divisional playoff games this weekend featuring two slightly-better than average teams, to decide who gets whipped in Seattle next week.

Buying Back Our Freedom

With several flights coming up soon at notoriously overcrowded and slow airports, my wife and I have become TSA Pre-Checked.  For a mere $85, the Federal Government will treat us just slightly better than any other "terror suspect" trying to board an airplane over the next five years who is not willing to pay that $85.  That extra $17 a year allows us to skip the longer line of "non-checked potential terror suspects", we get to keep our light jackets on as we head through security, we don't have to take off our shoes or belts, and our laptop computer can stay in the carry-on.  I'll admit that's not much for the money, but it does make me feel just a bit more like a law-abiding citizen with Constitutional rights against illegal search and seizure.

The real benefit is, of course, getting to skip the line.  If you've ever flown out of Orlando during the tourist season, you know that alone might be worth $850 as opposed to 85-bucks--given that every one ahead of you there is a family of five where every child has every purchase they made at Disney World as a carry-on and they are making their displeasure with having to stand in line apparent to everyone in the terminal.  The $85 might be worth it just to know that the parents of all those children are looking jealously at you as you breeze through the TSA area with a small carry-on and no need to help put on multiple pairs of shoes or to find dozens of toys in the trays at the "Re-combubulation Area".

In reality, my wife and I (and most other American air travelers) shouldn't have to pay a single red cent for this treatment.  Almost all of us should just be able to present our boarding pass and a legal ID, pass through a metal detector set to find items larger than your belt buckle and the support bars in your shoes, run your carry-on through a x-ray machine and head to the gate--instead of having a digital image of our bodies checked out by someone behind the curtain and "extra scrutiny" for those of us who don't fit the "profile" of known terrorists--but do belong to certain demographics that make it appear we aren't "profiling" the likely terror suspects.

Until that day comes--and we return to sane, logic-based security efforts in airports--I'll just have to be content with "buying back" some of my personal freedoms.

This IS What You Wanted

Boy, there sure are a lot of complaints about NFL referees today.  The consensus is that the Detroit Lions--a team no one outside of a three mile radius around Detroit itself actually likes anyway--got hosed on a pass interference call that was reversed on the field saving the bacon of the Dallas Cowboys.  Twitter and Facebook are filled with questions about how the refs could be so blind, or so inconsistent or downright unknowledgeable about the rules of the game.  Well the answer is simple: the NFL is giving the fans what they want, a game that is nearly impossible to officiate properly.

Rules changes meant to increase the amount of offense to appease the short attention spans of younger fans and to boost the interest of fantasy nerds who can't live without scoring 200-points every week--and all of the new rules on hitting players in the name of "safety" have given the guys in stripes so many things to be looking for on the field that the really important infractions can go un-noticed.

There are different rules for contact downfield for before the pass, for when the ball is in the air, for when the quarterback is in the pocket,  for when the QB has scrambled outside of the "tackle box" and for when he is past the line of scrimmage.  And then there are different rules for when a defender is looking at the ball, when he is attempting to make a play on the ball or when he has his back turned to the ball.  And then defenders can't hit receivers in certain positions because they are "defenseless" and hitting too high is a penalty anytime--unless you don't leave your feet or lead with your helmet or the guy with the ball lowers his head too--in which case leading with the helmet is legal.  And offenses now take advantage of these rules by intentionally underthrowing passes or going deep for the sole purpose of drawing contact and pass interference penalties.

Officials also have to determine if possession is maintained to the ground after a player has made a "football move" and was "being taken to the ground by a defender".  Or if the ball hit the ground but was still in possession of the receiver and did not substantially move due to the contact with the ground.  Or if both feet were inbounds before the receiver stepped out and maintained possession all the way to the ground even though they were already out of bounds.  And if the ball crossed the plane of the goal line while the receiver's feet were inbounds.

All of this is actually moot because teams can always challenge and force a replay review.  Or if it's a score or a turnover the booth review is automatic--unless the call is no touchdown or no turnover--in which case we are back to a challenge situation again--unless the team offended doesn't have any timeouts left in which case they cannot challenge or if they used up their two challenges for the game and don't have any of those left--or unless it's under two minutes left in the game in which case it's back to a booth review again and the officials are buzzed before the next play starts in which case all review is off.

So enjoy your over-regulated, live action version of Madden NFL '15 with its inconsistent standards and on-field calls.  This IS what you wanted.

When Perception Meets Reality

Normally, I wouldn't encourage you to check out another media outlet--but this might be a good day to tune into all of those ESPN talking head morning shows or other sports radio outlets.  The reason to tune in is to see these "experts" who have been touting the Southeastern Conference as the be-all and end-all of college football explain how and why their beloved powerhouses stunk up the joint in the bowl season this year.

See if the College Gameday guys can explain how a Wisconsin Badgers team that threw 3 interceptions and didn't have a wide receiver who could make a play down the field could beat an Auburn team that played for the National Championship last year and had many of the same guys back this year.  Listen to hear how they think number one seed Alabama with their "genius" head coach Nick Saban lost to an Ohio State team that few "experts" thought deserved to be in the playoffs--and who was starting their third-string quarterback.  Hopefully, they get around to rationalizing the absolute beatdowns that were administered to Mississippi State and Mississippi--who were at one point this year ranked numbers 1 and 2 for a couple of weeks.

The SEC West--which some "insiders" have joked would have beaten teams in the NFC South of the NFL and who some on ESPN argued could have had two teams in the final four at some points this season--went 2-5 in bowl games this year.   When the Big Ten goes 2-5 in bowl games, those same "experts" are killing the conference and talking about how they cannot be taken seriously as major college football powers anymore.

I already have an idea of what the excuses will be: "Well after you play as rugged a schedule as SEC teams have to all year long, you're bound to be beat up, tired or uninspired to play in a "meaningless" bowl game.  Or "it was just one day, anything can happen in any given game".  And of course "well, the SEC will have the majority of players drafted by the NFL in April and that will prove what a stacked conference it was."

This week's debacle will almost certainly be forgotten by the time next August rolls around and the SEC has four of the top five teams in the pre-season polls and ESPN is planning to take College Gameday on its annual tour of every city in the conference.  It will just provide even more incentive for the rest of the country to prove that it has more than "caught up to the big boys".