Quick Hits- Stream of Consciousness Edition

It's been a couple of days since my last post, and it's really time for me to say something to my legion(?) of followers....however, I really don't think I want to talk politics (at least not exclusively) or deal with anything of earth shaking substance, unless it concerns the National Football League. So I'll do what I always do in situations like this...I'll revert to QUICK HITS, a "Stream of Consciousness Edition"

(1) As I type this a monument is being unveiled in Monument Park in Yankee Stadium to the late George Steinbrenner. George's family is there, as are many dignitaries, and Joe Torre and Don Mattingly have flown in from Los Angeles. There was only one George...and for every crazy and irrational thing he did there were a dozen wonderful things he did anonymously for others. God bless...and part of him will always live on in Yankee lore.

(2). Lindsay Lohan has a warrant out for her arrest (for drug use while on probation) and Paris Hilton was sentenced today for possession of cocaine. Why am I not shocked by these two events?

(3). Back to the the Yankees and the Steinbrenner Monument....and it is spectacular, a large plaque rather than a free standing monument, a brass bas-relief. with George on the left, and a list of his accomplishments on the right. An awe inspiring ceremony. Kind of adrenaline flowing for the Yankee team, with the Tampa Bay Rays in for possession of first pace in the AL East. The ceremony closes with a recording of Frank Sinatra singing "My Way"....a song that sums up George better than any obituary could.

(4). The recession is OVER...so say the experts. I'll talk more about this in a day or so. You'd think Obama would get more credit for keeping the bus from falling completely off the proverbial cliff....but people want magical solutions to problems large and small. Maybe they should have Criss Angel as president.

(5). Head Coach of Michigan State Mark D'Antonio calls the college football play of the season (so far) with the fake field goal that was a touchdown pass in OT with the Spartans beating Notre Dame 34-31 on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, D'Antonio has a mild heart attack...he was treated, and will be OK. But are you still going to try to tell me that God isn't a Notre Dame fan?

(6). How about those Jets beating the Patriots? What a difference a week makes.

(7). How about those Giants stinking the place up against the Colts? What a difference a week makes.

(8). The one good thing about the Giants being blown out is that I had a chance to watch Boardwalk Empire with a clear conscience to change the channel. I'm sure the folks at HBO were happy for the blowout as well. "BE" was a must see....and watching it you had to ask....what were people in this country thinking by voting in prohibition? All that was accomplished was the setting in motion of the structure of organized crime in America for the next 60 years- Chicago was in the grips of rival gangs in the North and South sides (as was alluded to in the show), and New York had more than a few pockets of government corruption as well. Nucky Thompson was a fictionalized version of Atlantic City boss Nucky Johnson, but Arnold Rothstein, Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, Big Jim Colosimo, Johnny Torrio, and of course, Al Capone were real life gangsters of the era. And Torrio did order the hit on his own boss, Colosimo.....no one was ever prosecuted for Colosimo's murder.

(9).Madmen- Don and Faye are now an item....Joan and Roger had a relapse into a night of full throttle lust....Peggy and super lefty Abe hit it off, but it fizzles out quickly. Joyce seems to be getting close to Peggy. And I'm just wondering if Peggy, who is slowly turning into a Child of The Sixties, will "get adventurous" with gal pal Joyce? Also....poor Miss Blankenship! Roger hit it on the nose- her obituary should read "She Died At Her Post Taking Other People's Phone Calls". Her death on the job gave the episode a dark comic backdrop....with her body being taken out while the clients at the meeting had no idea what was going on.

(10). Is there any truth that Christine O'Donnell's campaign is dropping "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey as a musical theme for Season of the Witch?

Not even for Halloween?

Really?

Seeya later!

Quick Hits For November 30; Stop Tailing Tiger, And Other Assorted Rants and Raves

Once again I'm (a) too lazy or (b) too brain locked to spend a lot of time writing something coherent and substantive, so I'm going to resort to my old fallback, QUICK HITS.

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!!!

(1). Tiger Woods- Too bad about the accident. And I really don't give a damn about the other stuff; was it a domestic dispute, why he won't talk to the cops, was he fooling around with a female diversion in New York.

I don't care. Talk about the "silly season", as a certain college football head coach put it.

(2). Charlie Weis and Notre Dame- Once again America's premiere Catholic University, which stresses moral integrity and doing the right thing, shows how its really done. Its win more and win bigger, or your out. Not that this is a surprise; Weis' tenure was dead after he lost to Navy earlier this month- the following losses to Pitt, UCONN, and Stanford just made the firing a little more expedient. I'm not shedding any tears for this one ( as you'll see in the next segment). I'm not a Charlie Weis fan or a Notre Dame fan....but notice how they treated a loyal alum who just wanted to succeed on his dream job. Quite frankly, anybody who leaves a high profile Division One college job for ND next stop should be the funny farm- you'd have to be a complete whack to make the move.


(3)More Notre Dame Kudos to ESPN's Kirk Herbtreit who finally told it like it is on last Saturday's COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMEDAY. Herbie asked, "Why do people still care about Notre Dame"....and added that the program has been irrelevant since 1993. I agree- Notre Dame has not been a true player on the national stage since today's incoming freshmen were in preschool. Notre Dame demands and gets special handling from the media and the public, and they get it- and they don't deserve it. I said it before in another post, and I'll repeat it here- Notre Dame football is like Old World aristocracy. The Irish and their fans live off of memories of The Glory Days, off of the accomplishments of previous generations. There has not been one Notre Dame team to warrant the attention they demand since the tenure of Lou Holtz, which ended in 1996. Notre Dame has their own television network (NBC) broadcasting their games and shilling for them. They have an abysmally unfair arrangement with the Big East in which they are in the conference for all sports except football, where they maintain their independence. Yet, Notre Dame is included with the Big East when eligibility for the Gator Bowl is concerned- they can take a spot guaranteed to the Big East under certain conditions. They won't join the Big East for football, and yet- I'm doing this from memory- they have lost the last three games they've played against Big East members; Last year against Syracuse, and this year versus Pitt and UCONN. Don't even get me started on the BCS which continues to give the weight of one of the six power conferences when determining BCS bowl eligibility. This is a total joke and a travesty. Its time to bring them into the 21st century, at long last. They don't deserve or warrant special handling, and haven't since the beginning of the Clinton administration. If they want a BCS bid, let them have to win one in a conference just like other member schools do, or like the Boise States and TCU's have to, as an at large with no more kid gloves. I'm not speaking out of jealousy, I'm talking about fairness here.

4. Afghanistan Tomorrow night President Obama will unveil his Afghan strategy. And this has me scared to death. How long does he think we can withstand an open ended war after eight plus years of American presence? We keep asking the same people to do the same job year after year...less than one percent of the American public is affected by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Stop loss" keeps troops on active duty after their term is up. We've never fought a war this long using troops in this manner. Maybe its time for America and and Americans to reconsider the cost of war, and the fairness to those who will be involved and of their families. If a war is to be fought, the American public must be willing to go forth and sacrifice even more- if you support a war be prepared to pay more taxes or even see a draft reinstated. If you can't go for that, and your representatives won't go for it, then maybe it would be expedient to find an alternative to armed conflict.

5. "Good Will to ALL Men....and Women" Yesterday in The Home News Tribune I saw an article that said Catholic churches in New Jersey were sent a letter by the state's bishops asking the faithful to pray for our members of the State Senate and General Assembly to oppose a bill to allow gay marriage in New Jersey. At mass yesterday, it was not read, but maybe it will be in the future. It is interesting...the Church will not marry a Catholic and a member of another faith unless certain things are agreed to. That being the case, they could just refuse to sanction same sex marriage because it is against Church rules. Since the Church doesn't believe a Catholic's marriage in a ceremony outside of the Church is valid anyway, then I ask this.....what's your beef? They don't believe a civil ceremony is valid under the eyes of God, so doesn't it logically render their opposition as a moot point? Sadly, the Catholic Church has gotten on the same side as those on the far, far right on this one.

Maybe I won't be so blown away by the crassness of this hypocrisy if the Church did admit that "higher ups" did know more than they admitted during the priest sexual abuse scandal. Frankly, I find it very hard to believe that so few knew so little about something so widespread that hurt so many.....where was the leadership and the accountability? Part of the Church's response was to deny the priesthood to anyone who was homosexual, and not acknowledging the difference between homosexuality and pedophilia. The Church hierarchy got their convenient scapegoat.

And don't dare to try to tell them otherwise....because (God knows)...they know best.