1.31.2006

No Mas Hamas?

The Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections represents - simply - the best possible outcome for the future of the Middle East.

This is not to say it is a step forward. (I do not think so, but time will tell.) But it is clarifying. Hamas will have to make choices that will have consequences for their people and themselves. (I am sure there are a few school girl giddy Israeli generals contemplating the idea of being able to decapitate the leadership in one fell swoop. "And I commit to you that we will engage in more suicide bombing to destroy the Zionist oppres... Boom.) The West contributes $9 out of $10 to the Palestinian authority. Well, used to. How do you pay those suicide bombers now? Further, there is still a heavily armed internal resistance - Fatah.

It is a kluge.

And contrary to the fantasy world of the Left, the Palestinians are generally considered the scum of the Arab world BY THE ARABS. (In my Mid East dealings, I have heard a racial slur beginning with "n" used when talking about the Palestinians. OUCH!)

I suspect, though, the reality will be much of the same with Fatah and Hamas exchanging roles. Hamas will "fix the potholes" and Fatah will supply the suicide bombers. It will take these organizations awhile to realize this, but they both have too much "invested" in Terror, Inc. to back out now.

Of course, the West encourages this, so why change?

1.17.2006

I've Seen Tilam's Sister

She could use a makeover, so getting a "sister kiss" is a truly, umm, less-than-exciting experience.

Steelers over Colts...wow, I was rooting for a good game, but in the midst of the exciting second half, the zebra MISSED the call badly. I have NO earthly idea what the heck that referee was looking at on the replay, but it sure wasn't that game. At that point, I shifted alliance to pull for the Steelers. And that is NOT because Mrs Thew is from Pittsburgh and I was hoping to get a little play. You just hate to see a game decided by a bad referee call. I can only imagine what the fallout would have been had Indy won the game.

Kudos to Mike Vanderjagt. He basically said "i missed it, there are no excuses, i get paid to make those kicks and i didn't perform". But I have to feel bad for him, he was complete jinxed the minute that the announcers said "Mike Vanderjagt is the most accurate kicker in NFL history". Don't those morons understand karma?

Denver over NE...ick, ugly Patriot game. But I tell you, it goes to show you what Jake the Snake Plummer can do with a quality supporting cast around him.

Upcoming weekend, I have to go with Pittsburgh's "we have destiny on our side" attitude, I think that Jake will fold a bit under the pressure of a championship game.

I tell you, I'm worried about Carolina if I'm a Seattle fan. Can anyone stop Steve Smith? As much as I'd like to see Seattle win, I have a feeling that Carolina will pull it off because they've been there and won it before. Heart goes with the Seahawks, but the betting head goes with Carolina.

So I guess in Thew's world, it's a Steelers-Panthers Super Bowl.

Peyton Manning get's the "whiner of the week award" for calling out his o-line and saying "we had a lot of trouble with protection". Umm, hello, did you notice the fact that you sucked? Maybe the o-line should say "well, we had some trouble at the QB position". Will Indy ever win "the big one"? Hmm, not sure after this year - without NE in their way, they still looked rusty and like a bunch of rookies, and basically screwed the pooch and didn't look in sync doing it. Thew wonders how many more opportunities they'll get - and Thew MUST agree with Tilam on his point; DO NOT rest the starters, you need to continue to work together and keep on the roll.

In other sports news, Terry O'Neill proved that he is a TRUE FAN. Check this out.

The best NHL team you've never heard of - yup, my Carolina Hurricanes, #1 in the league.

Thew out...

1.16.2006

A Sister Kiss

Okay, 2 out of 4. Seattle and Carolina advance, while NE and Indy do not.

NE just stunk. Enough said. Indy was doomed, I just was surprised it was the Steelers (who played very well, no knock intended on them).

I was pulling for Indy until they mailed it in the last two weeks. The Bye Week is meant to have you recuperate, not weeks 16 and 17. I understand the injury concern, but Manning played like he hadn't played in a nearly a month...which, well, he hadn't. Better luck next year.

The rookie quarterbacks (Manning, Simms, Grossman, Leftwich) performed unsurprisingly bad. (Carson Palmer never had a chance to break the trend.) But watching NE play this weekend was painful. Uncharacteristically sloppy. Brady, Vinatieri, Brown should have shown much more poise. Tom Brady throws for 341 yards and the Pats only score 13? Shows what 5 (count'em, 5) turnovers can do to your Super Bowl hopes.

As for next week, I still think Seattle will win and I expect Denver to be there also. But I think these are evenly matched teams.

1.13.2006

House Majority Leader

There is a battle brewing that the liberal main stream press do not give two bits about, but could be the most important battle in the last dozen years. With Tom DeLay resigning as Majority Leader in the House, there is an election for the new Majority Leader. The current candidates are Roy Blunt (MO), John Boehner (OH) and John Shadegg (AZ).

The reason this is important is that the Majority Leader in the House has a tremendous influence on the legislative agenda. (Bills are introduced only in the House, not the Senate.) Given the Abramoff "scandal" (which looms large) and, more importantly, the lack of fiscal discipline shown by the republicans recently, this may turn out to be critically important in the 2006 mid-term races.

In my humble opinion, Shadegg and maybe Boehner have the potential to be the next Newt Gingrich in terms of influencing reform. Roy Blunt has a ways to go to convince me that he is serious about reform.

Real conservatives (in the classic Reaganite mold) need to flex some muscles in the Republican Party. The current leadership is looking an awful lot like Jim Wright and the Democrats of the early 90s - and we know what happened there.

Stop the pork, stop the obscene level of spending growth, start being conservative again.

Today we mourn...

We mourn the passing of yet ANOTHER opportunity for the LPGA's resident side show freak, Michelle Wie, to make the cut at a men's event. I have stated this before, she NEEDS to win and prove that she can compete on the ladies tour before she make so many efforts at making the cut on the men's tour. Pretty soon, the sponsor's invites are going to stop coming in - yesterday she posted an embarassing 79 (good for the rest of us shluffs though), good enough for DEAD LAST. Michelle, take a step back, take a deep breath, and get out of the spotlight. It is shining too brightly on you and it is too hot. Stay in your OWN sandbox for a while, competing against the likes of Annika, Morgan, Paula, and the rest of the top notch players on the LPGA tour is going to harden your skill and mental game enough to where you will make a cut on the men's tour. Until then you are just a circus act, and a failure at that.

We mourn the passing of Marcus Vick's NFL contract and big signing bonus.

We mourn the passing of Steve Francis' class and professionalism, for refusing to enter a game with his team getting their asses kicked.

We mourn (and celebrate) the passing of NY Rangers' jersey number 11, aptly retired, never to be used again by anyone not named Messier.

We mourn the passing of the USC bullets, Leinart, Bush, and White...good luck at the next level boys.

1.12.2006

Common Sense Round-up of Other News

James Frey and Oprah: Okay, this is another scandal I have a tough time with. Frey exaggerated and made stuff up and called it non-fiction. Oprah was moved. Random House offers to refund money based on a misrepresentation of the genre. The fur flies. Sales pop.

I am not sure why I should give a crap. If the story is moving (it was for Oprah) and offers a powerful message (no argument that it does), what is the scandal? I guess Frey tried to peddle it as a fiction novel first, but did not get a bite. SO, he did what any recovering addict/convict would do and bent the truth a bit. In the realm of things he has done, I assume it was not a great leap.

Fiction represented as fact? Frey has got a future with the NY Times.

NSA: The only people who have their knickers in a bunch on this question are a) those with something to hide and b) partisan political opponents. This is one of those "scandals" that display the hypocrisy of the NY Times to its utmost. Does the NY Times really believe that the Echelon program is a grave threat to civil liberties? As you might suspect, it depends on who is President?

Sam Alito: We need to have a bit of a reality check here. Notwithstanding the high profile judicial appointments and a few sensational judicial rulings (such as 6 months jail term for child molestation because the judge now believes "punishment does not work") the VAST majority of judges, whether from the liberal or conservative side of the political spectrum, are like Sam Alito: hard working, conscientious and apolitical on the bench. Since they are like the rest of America (just doing their jobs), they do not make the news. It is the trend toward SEEKING activist judges that has caused such a sensation and has conservatives (who do not like judicial activism) in an uproar and Democrats (who are projecting their own agenda) desperate to block any conservative. But even so, the judiciary is, by and large, incredibly professional and understand that it is the legislature that sets the laws, not judges.

The confirmation spectacle gives a very different (and incorrect) version of reality.

UPDATE: Lots of typos to correct. And that was before the Friday afternoon Scotch...

1.11.2006

Marcus Vick

Well, that did not take long... Marcus Vick arrested for pulling a gun on some students who were taunting him. PULLING A GUN!

WTF? You simply have to shake your head and wonder what is going on in this kid's head. What the hell is he carrying a gun for? For Mo Clarett, it was a matter of months before he went from football loser to criminal. Marcus Vick did it in days.

BTW, if he manages to rehabilitate himself from this, someone should mention to him that there are a few defensive linemen in the NFL who might say an unkind word to him while he is over center. I hope his feelings won't be hurt...

1.09.2006

Puking Crow

Is this the opposite of eating crow?

A wise man once said, "I am a big believer in experience and coaching in the playoffs. That would make Washington, New England, Carolina and Pittsburgh winners this weekend." That wise man was me and that is Trip 4s for all you. (Four for four.)

I was especially sorry to see the G-men lose, but Eli is just not there yet. Four turnovers (3 picks and a fumble) in his post-season debut. I can say, though, that it will not be like this the next time.

Of course, I am too stupid to declare victory and walk away, so this week I see Indy, NE, Carolina and Seattle.

1.06.2006

Some People Just Shouldn't Procreate

Latest breaking news...Marcus Vick was unceremoniously tossed off the Va Tech football team for a string of asshole-ish behavior. Frankly, if I'm Michael, I'm taking his stupid ass out behind the treeline, where there are no witnesses, and giving him a whoopin. Goodbye round 1 of the NFL draft for that dumbass.

I'm sorry that Tilam leaves the college football predictions to me, cuz I seem to such at them. PSU over FSU was spot on, although it took a couple of tries. But USC? OMG, where do I start? The brain-fart of Reggie Bush's lateral? The assinine decision to go for it on 4th and 2 at MIDFIELD instead of punting (hey Pete, vY has been lighting you up all night, why give him a 30 yard head start?)? The stupid mistake of the "incidental face mask" penalty, giving Texas 5 yards after they fell 4 yards short? Sheesh. Good thing I wasn't a betting man...

Vince Young...not going to make it big in the bigs. Ultimately, he's a true Vick prototype, but you sense as he plays the game that he progresses through his reads way too quickly, then abandons, improvises, and usually runs the ball. Wait, same as Vick. Atheletes? Yes. Weapons? Yup. Quarterbacks? Nah. Prove me wrong...

Matt Leinart? He's a talent, but ultimately he has just shown that he can't win the "big one" against a tough, fast, and athletic defense. With a first half performance like that, I'm surprised his stock hasn't fallen a bit. But I think he'll be a good quality NFL QB.

Parenting...man, I have no idea where to start with this discussion. These days it seems that parents want to be their kids' best friend, not a parent. I know parents who allow their kids to sip beer at FOUR YEARS OLD! Other parents who let their kids drink at their house because "it's better than going out and drinking and driving". Unbelievable. Then, there's the ghastly example of the mother in NW USA who actually SPONSORED alcohol and sex parties for her high school son, even to the point of having sex with his friends! WHAT THE F**K? Did these people lose 100 point of IQ or all their common sense? I shake my head and just ponder the idiocy of it all. Where was euthanisa when you needed it for these people?

First New Year's Musings

I will leave all the NCAAFB predictions to Thew. I simply do not follow college football enough to opine. (I can hear it now..."that has not stopped you from blabbering about everything else")

UConn: Ouch. Nothing you can say about that. Time will tell if it was indicative of the talent or a character building fluke. What does not seem to be a fluke is Rudy Gay's performance. If that guy does not want to stay in college for another year, he better start stepping up. If he goes 3 for 12 with 5 turnovers with regularity he can kiss the first round (and the first round $$$) good bye.

Clarett: Stupid is as stupid does. It just shows that the guy was born for prison, it just took him a while to figure it out.

Lesbian Cheerleaders: Whatever happen to the girls? A quick Google search does not turn up anything new. Dang.

Herm Edwards: Seems to be the choice for the Chiefs. Herm make be a very good coach, but it not obvious to me that he is. Sure, the Jets had a wasted year with injuries and whatnot, but injuries are part of the game, and isn't a great coach someone who can overcome those obstacles? We'll see and good luck to him.

NFL Playoffs: I am a big believer in experience and coaching in the playoffs. That would make Washington, New England, Carolina and Pittsburgh winners this weekend.

Super Bowl: Current feeling is New England v. Seattle.

Taking Week 17 Off: What the hell was this trend of the top teams rolling over in the final week? Okay, okay, I hear you: why risk injuries in a meaningless game. But come on. Bunch of pussies.

Local News Goes National: A local story has hit it big: the Murphy sisters were two popular local girls who were killed when the older sister wrapped her folks Landrover 10 feet up a telephone pole in town. Read the story for why, in trying to keep the details private, it has blown up into national news.

There, of course, is a backstory here. One that noone seems to want to discuss and is frankly causing passions to flare in town. (Technically in two towns as we share a "regional" high school.) These sweet, young girls were part of a "group" of high school students were drinking was a major part of their lives. Okay. Fine. Now for the "no one shall discuss it" part: this culture was (and is) encouraged by a group of parents. (I am NOT saying the Murphys were part of this...I have no first hand knowledge of their attitudes or knowledge towards their daughters' drinking. But I am saying that it is "common knowledge" around town that certain parents are involved.)

It is unclear why the parents are not being responsible here: maybe because they do not want to seem "uncool" (Which is a big problem, because most of the parents I know around here WERE uncool in HS and seem to be over compensating with their kids.) But the fact is, these parents are playing roulette with their kid's lives. Further, I would like to say this is an isolated incident, but it is not either in the region or even at our HS. Unfortunately, it will not be the last time this happens.

When I was in high school, the legal age was 18. We did not lose any students to drunk driving. I have asked a number of early 40s adults and drunk driving fatalities were very rare in HS. A fluke? A sign of today's greater access to cars? Maybe, but I would posit that our parties had a lot more adult supervision. Nowadays, kids hide and sneak alcohol. Frankly, they are simple not responsible or mature enough to conduct this "clandestine" activity.

Now the drinking age is 21. I do not agree with this, but it is the law and I expect my kids (who are not yet 18) to live by it. Further, I expect the parents of my kids' friends to live by it. Unfortunately, there is a fair amount who don't.

Early indications are that no adult will held responsible. I only hope that this changes in the future. If not, this tragic story will be repeated.

1.03.2006

Not all THAT bad on predictions...

*burp*

Time to chow on some (not too much) humble pie...

Alabama - gotta remember that defense wins
Florida - Urban Meyer is the real deal
VA Tech - whoa, got this one right
Wisconsin - bye Barry, we'll miss ya :)
Ohio State - BAH, they killed me
Georgia - no comment...

Okay, I got 2 more chances to look marginally intelligent - PSU over FSU and USC over the 'Horns.

1.02.2006

Musing of the Big Bowl Day

We have a victory! We have redepmtion! We have Maurice Clarett arrested for robbery! You know, as much as I hate to say it, "time and public opinion prove us right, as always". Clarett is the poster boy for the...well, hell, the list goes on. You know the deal, spoiled punk athelete who has NOTHING besides his (lack of) talent to carry him forward, head up his ass, thinking he deserves everything. Now he's got nothing but his gang friends and a criminal record (see: Todd Marinovich, Ryan Leaf). We are redeemed here at Tilam's blog. :)

Charlie Weis won the Eddie Robinson award as the nation's top college coach. Who is against this? A great coach won the award named for a great man and coach. Perfect.

Thew's college bowl predictions:

Cotton Bowl - Texas Tech over Alabama
Outback Bowl - the Australians (both Iowa and Florida suck)
Gator Bowl - VA Tech (much as I hate to root for anyone named Vick) over Louisville
Capital One - Wisconsin over Auburn
Fiesta Bowl - Irish over Buckeyes
Sugar Bowl - GA over West Va (go DAWGS!)
Orange Bowl - Not sure how FSU got into this one, but Penn State will send 'em home unhappy
Rose Bowl - the advertisers and networks - USC will finish in second place, Texas in third (too one dimensional, even though Vince Young is a college football stud who won't amount to much in the pros)

Tilam and I are still (mostly) on the same page, the NFL is still Seahawks-Colts in the championship game. Look out for the Giants and Patriots, they have potential. All others are pretenders...