This page has been neglected for far too long, so I am (attempting) to put something on here at least weekly. So in that light, here
is the first installment. Comments are always welcome at the email address at the bottom of the page.
The Presidential election has become continuous, and it leads to even more voter lethargy. With all of the states trying to beat the others
by moving up their primaries, we get earlier and more intense campaigning. By the time that we are down to the two candidates, I will certainly
just be ready for it to end. That leads to apathy and that is something we don't need. We have already been inundated with debates on both
sides and it will just get worse. Maybe instead of campaign finance reform, we might be better off trying to shorten the campaign length.
On Tuesday, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue took to the steps of the Capital and led several hundred people in prayer for rain during
our prolonged drought. While it may not do any good for ending the drought (God doesn't always answer prayers the way we would like), but it
certainly can't hurt. The rain is definitley needed. Of course some people would rather that the entire state shrivel up and die rather than have a
display of public prayer. Some outfit called the Atlanta Freethought Society promised to garner 150 protesters to show up in response to the
Governor. According to some published reports on the actual number of protesters who showed up was around 20. Maybe they were too busy
washing their cards or something. While the government shouldn't be involved in religion, having a prayer on the steps of the Capital is not
establishing a state religion. It might be more helpful if those who love to protest everything could put some of that energy into helping others
or working toward solutions to some of society's real problems.
When college football added overtime to eliminate tie games, I was all for it. The NFL "sudden death" version of overtime is flawed. but so is the NCAA version. I think some changes are in order. On Saturday, The Tennessee-Kentucky game went 4 overtimes and lasted nearly 5 hours. First, a couple of points on that game. In the scoreless second overtime, Tennessee blocked a Kentucky field goal, and during the run back, the Tennessee defender was pulled down with a vicious facemask penalty. The penalty was, by rule, ignored. However, in the third overtime, Tennessee's Arian Foster was called for a post play unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (a ticky call that shouldn't have been made), and the penalty was assessed in the fourth overtime. Even though the penalty turned out to be inconsequential, the inconsistency of the two situations seems wrong.
Now for my suggestions. Start the possesions further out. The 25-yard-line tends to make field goals too easy even if the team doesn't gain
a yard. I know that a 42-yard field goal isn't a "give me", but it is still pretty easy for today's kickers. If you want to start the first possession at the
25, then move the ball back 5 yards each subsequent overtime. Another suggestion is to make the teams go for 2 in every period, rather than just
starting in the third overtime. My favorite suggestion is to play the overtime like a regular quarter, but each team must have a possession. If the
team on defense first intercepts and scores they don't need an offensive possession. That would put special teams back into the game. Of course,
my suggestions will probably be about as popular as a playoff system.
It's that time of year again. I turn 47 on Monday, and getting older basically stinks. Not only does some part of my body always seem to hurt,
I just don't have the same energy and enthusiasm that I once did. The effects on ourselves is not the worst part of getting older, however. The worst part is
that those around us age as well. Those we know and love get older and more fragile. Death, injury, and illness strike more and more often. At
dinner recently, after a funeral, everyone sat at the table and talked about the drugs they have to take everyday. Blood pressure pills, pain pills,
insulin, and all sorts of other pills. Furtunately, I have been quite healthy throughout my life, but I realize I need to make some changes to keep that
record intact. I need to lose weight and exercise so I don't have to increase my pill intake in the future. It really is harder to make lifestyle changes
as you get older, so I need to start right away. I've always hated to take even an occasional aspirin, so I certainly don't want to take daily injections
or multiple pills a day. Turning 47 doesn't bother me. I am about to get my bachelor's degree and hopefully start a new career. I hope the future holds
wonderful new things, but I'll have to deal with the health conditions of those around me more often and that can be heartbreaking.
This has been one of the most trying years to be a Falcons fan. From the Mike Vick saga, to the Petrino betrayal, to the Tuna u-turn, to the
demotion of Rich McKay, and of course the terrible on-field performance, it has certainly been a year to forget. The Falcons are a mess both on
and off the field, and there seems to be no short term fixes available. Arthur Blank has obviously lost confidence in Rich McKay to run the football
part of the franchise and will be looking to hire his second GM in four years. The new GM and Blank would then be looking for the franchise's
second coach in a year and fourth in the last four years. Bill Parcells turning down the chance to run the football operations to take a similar job
with the Miami Dolphins means that Blank will have to turn elsewhere. Getting a new GM in place early enough to have a shot at the best coaching
candidates is essential. There have been numerous names thrown around about who might be in line for the coaching job, and some I could live
with and some I couldn't. I don't like the idea of trying another college coach and I also don't like the idea of some NFL assistants who have already
failed as head coaches. Maybe the worst name in the mix to me is Mike Martz. Martz totally ignored the defense and special teams while head
coach of the Rams. My suggestion would be to hire a very experienced football guy to be the GM and hire a young aggresive NFL assistant
as the head coach. Too bad the Falcons passed over Ken Whisenhunt last year. Somone like Jason Garrett could be the answer, but he might not
have enough experience to be a head coach. Whoever is hired, those few of us who are true Falcons fans will continue to support the team. It can't
get any worse?
2007 is on its way out, so it's time to take a look back. Personally it has been a decent year. On the bad side, I've had to change shifts at work
three times and now have to get up at 5 AM to get to work at 6. I have also failed to lose any weight or get in better shape, and I haven't accomplished
much on my house. On the better side, I have completed my course work at Dalton to graduate, but I still have to finish my two correspondence
courses. I'm still looking for a job to use my education, and I'm trying to learn some .Net programming since that is the one skill that keeps coming
up in my job searches. As for the rest of the world, it has definitely been an up-and-down year. The problems in Pakistan, the Middle East, and
other places show what a sorry world we live in. The housing crises hasn't affected me, but the price of gas sure has. The media tells us that
Americans are worried about the economy the most, which is partially due to the media constantly bombarding us with scary stories of impending
economic doom. If you read the news every day you are probably depressed, since it is always filled with death and destruction. In sports, it has been
tough year for my favorite teams. The Thrashers did make the playoffs for the first time, but then lost in four straight. The Braves showed some
early hope but finished out of the playoffs. The Falcons have had one of the worst years in the history of sports. The Tennessee football team had
some good moments and won the SEC East, but the losses to Florida and Alabama were embarrassing. My main fantasy team sucked again, but the
new team with my brother came in second in our league. The lone bright spot was the Tennessee basketball teams. The women won another
national championship and the men made it deeper in the tourney than anytime lately. Both are off to good starts again this season. Who knows what
the new year will bring?
The NFL regular season is over and my predictions for the season were pretty far off (See them here), but it won't keep me from playoff predictions. The Patriots perfect regular season was the big story of the year, and while I predicted they would do well, I was way off in predicting that Randy Moss would be a bust. I also missed on the Jets being a winning team and the Dolphins winning 5 games. I did fairly well in the AFC North, but I missed on the surprising Browns. In the AFC South, I missed on Tennessee being a playoff team, and in the West, Denver was less than I expected. One of my worst predictions was the Eagles winning the NFC East and the Championship. I had the Bears and the Packers upside down in the North, and the Rams disappointed in the West. I should have known that the NFC South would have a different winner than last year, since that is always the case. Enough bashing of my regular season predictions, so here are my playoff predictions.
In the AFC, the Patriots remind me of the team whose scoring record they broke. The 1998 Vikings went 17-1 in the regular season and looked
like a shoe-in to go to the Super Bowl, but the Falcons went into the Metrodome and beat them. In the first round, It should be the Chargers over
the Titans and the Jags over the Steelers in hte AFC, and the Giants over the Bucs and the Seahawks over the Redskins in the NFC. The Patriots
and the Colts should prevail in the AFC second round and the Colts should win the Championship Game. In the NFC, the Cowboys and the Packers
should meet in the Championship Game with the Cowboys winning due to home field advantage. The Colts win the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl XLII will be on Sunday February 3 in Arizona. There were some surprises throughout the Playoffs, and I started out really well with my predictions. I was right on all 4 Wild-Card Games, and I started well on the Divisional round, but the Sunday games got me. I had predicted a Manning would be in the Super Bowl, but I was wrong on which one it would be. The Giants have proven to be a magnificient road team. Ten straight on the road, including three in the playoffs is amazing. There is no surprise that the Patriots made it to Arizona, although I certainly would have liked for the Jags to knock them off. The fact that the Super Bowl is a rematch of one of the top games of the regular season may bode well for a good game. I will be rooting loudly for the Giants to win, but I realistically have to go with the Pats to finish a perfect season. I am not looking forward to all the praise for Belichick and Brady, but I have to admit that both are among the tops of all time if they do win.
A quick thought on the Falcons' hires. Dimitroff and Smith may turn out to be great choices for the Falcons, but neither is going to excite the
faithful very much.
The Atlanta Thrashers made the most significant trade before the trading deadline. While I hate to see Marion Hossa and Pascal Dupuis
go, I realize that Don Waddell had to trade Hossa or lose him at the end of the season and get nothing in return. When Hoss wouldn't agree to a
new deal with the Thrashers, he had to be traded. The Thrashers got a couple of good young players in return in Colby Armstrong and Eric
Christensen who can help this year, but it is probably too late. The only bad thing I can say about the trade is that they didn't get any desperately
needed help on defense.
I don't particularly care for my middle name and I rarely use it, but I certainly don't consider it off limits for other people to use. I realize that
there have been some people who have spread false rumors about Obama being a secret Muslim, but Hussein is his real middle name and using
it shouldn't be taboo. If he is ashamed of his name, maybe he should change it legally. It would seem to me that his best couse of action would be to
acknowledge his name and deal with the negative aspects. If he doesn't have the backbone to deal with something like this, I don't have much
confidence in his ability to deal with the kinds of crises that a President faces often.
Last week I participated in one of the most important roles asked of an American citizen, jury duty. I was called for Federal jury duty in Rome.
I have known since January, when I recieved a questionaire, that I would be called for duty and I reported last Monday (5-5) along with other
prospective jurors. There was to have been two juries picked, but because of a snafu with the court's automated phone system the judge decided
there were only enough jurors for one. I knew my chances to get picked were pretty good when I was juror number four, and after a long
"voir dire", got the feeling they were even better. Sure enough I was picked for the jury, and had to report back on Tuesday for the start of the trial.
More on the trial later, but first some comments about the jury duty in general. I was fortunate to be on a panel with eleven other people who were
pleasant and easy to tolerate. That is important since you do spend quite a bit of time in the jury room throughout the trial and the task at hand is
fairly difficult anyway. Being charged with deciding someone's fate is not easy, and sitting and listening to sometimes boring and constantly
repeated testimony requires a lot more energy than you would think. One of the things that amazed me throughout the trial was how physically
exhausted I was, and many of my fellow jurors expressed the same sentiment. Although the deliberations were sometimes emotional and heated,
there were no real personal attacks, and that is a testiment to the people in the jury room. Although we failed to reach a verdict, resulting in a
mistrial, we were able to leave the courthouse feeling we had given it our best shot. For information on the trial itself and my thoughts on it
click here.
232 years ago today, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and created a new nation. Of course, there
was still a war for Independence to be won and a lot of work left to be done after the war to make this new nation a reality. The war would take another
seven years and another six years would pass until the Constitution would be written. With this new nation came many new ideas in governance. Never
had a republic been tried in such a large scale. Over the years since then this government referred to by many as a "great experiment" was begun
it remains a work in progress. There have been speed bumps both large and small along the way, and we certainly still have our problems, but it
remains the best place in the world to live. There are still a whole lot more people trying to get into the country than want out, and no matter how this
year's election turns out we will continue to not only survive but thrive.
Unless you live under a rock you probably know that beginning in February of 2009 TV stations will cease analog broadcasting. If you have a
TV without a digital tuner, you won't be able to get over-the-air broadcasts without a set-top box. If you don't know about the change to digital TV,
you obviously have not seen TV this year. Not only are there spots about the change from the networks and local stations, they are running crawls
across the screen in just about every program on the local stations. I have heard and seen about the change so many times that I now want to yell
at the TV every time I see a crawl. Tonight, I was watching Jeopardy and during the show the customary crawl ran not once but twice. The second
time came during Final Jeopardy and was over the answer and then over the contestants wagers. Since I had turned over to Andy Griffith during
the commercial break and had turned back to late to see the answer, I was hoping to see the question while the contestants were writing down their
anwers but all I could see was the first two of at least four lines. I wouldn't have gotten the question right anyway, but I would have at least liked to have
the opportunity. I would like to say to the industry, "Please, Please lay off the multiple crawls. We get it already."
The announcement last week that Volkswagen would be building its new U.S. plant in Chattanooga came as a surprise. I figured that Huntsville
would be the choice and Chattanooga would be the bridesmaid again, but this time Chattanooga gets to walk down the aisle last. The plant
will mean some good jobs both during construction and when the plant opens. The local can't help but benefit, and the prestige associated with
winning the plant is another plus. Chattanooga certainly has its drawbacks, but this is just another reason the city is a pretty good place to live.
More industry will probably follow the VW plant, bringing more jobs, and helping the economy even more. So let's throw open our arms and welcome
the Germans to town.
The 2008 Summer Olympics begin in a few days, and I truly believe they will be one for the record books. Yes, I think we will see a record number
of problems with these games. I think we're in for a big debacle. There will almost certainly be protests of some kind over Tibet and overall human
rights violations of the Chinese government. I know they have been lucky with the weather keeping the smog down so far, but the only hope of keeping
it in check is for rain and that's hardly what you wish for if you're a competitor or a spectator. There are a lot of other potential problems as well, and
if the Chinese deal with things in a heavy-handed manner the Olympic committee will get a black eye. The one thing I don't think will happen is for
any kind of terrorist attack since the security is so heavy. I may end up being wrong and these will be games may be memorable for what happens
in the actual competition, but I just don't see it.
On Sunday afternoon, broadcasting, baseball, and the Atlanta Braves lost one of the greats when Skip Caray passed away at the age of 68.
Skip had been in poor health lately, but his death was still unexpected. After initial reports that he had died while taking a nap, it turns out that he
actually died while refilling a bird feeder in his back yard. My earliest memories of Skip were from Atlanta Hawks games. We moved to a house
with cable TV shortly after Ted Turner decided to start his "superstation" and Skip and Pete Van Wieren joined Ernie Johnson to broadcast Braves
games. Skip was always my favorite baseball and especially basketball announcer. He could make even a blowout game interesting with his wit
and intelligence. I will always remember times like when Hawks coach Hubie Brown was having a rather heated discussion with a fan behind the
bench and Skip opined "Hubie 'visiting' with some of the fans." His low-key sense of humor was similar to my own and Skip became one of my heroes.
I had the opportunity to meet Skip when I was at West Georgia College and had press passes to Hawks and Braves games. He was one of the
reasons I decided to change my major to journalism and want to become a sports broadcaster myself. Sadly, that didn't work out. While I no longer
follow the Braves closely, I always stopped on the game to listen a while when Skip was doing the game. The people who now run Turner Broadcasting
tried to remove Skip and Pete from the Braves telecasts on TBS a few years ago, and the overwhelming response from the fans forced them to
bring them back by mid-season. Skip came to Atlanta to escape his father's shadow and he succeeded spectacularly. It is a shame that the Baseball
Hall of Fame never honored Skip in his lifetime. Skip Caray was one of a kind and he will surely be missed by me and fans everywhere.
The 2008 Olympics are over and they can't be categorized as a debacle, since the Chinese Government did not allow any protest whatsoever.
The sports action included a lot of hightlight, from Micahel Phelps 8 gold medals and 7 world records to the "redeem team" winning gold, but the
rest of the story should be told. The Chinese offered more political freedom and better human rights to obtain these games, and they of course did
not fulfill their promise. Ordinary people were uprooted for venues, activists were arrested, and the three official "protest areas" went completely
unused. Over 70 permits were applied for and none were granted, but the IOC and most everyone else sat silent. China will benefit from the games
in increased tourism and enhanced reputation in some circles, but the smog will return and the masses will continue to suffer from an oppressive
regime.
The Democrats have concluded their party in Denver and we still have no idea exactly where Obama stands on the real issues. Yeah, he's
going to break our dependence on foreign oil, give us a tax break, end the war in Iraq, reign in the Russians, end poverty, and probably find a cure
for the common cold, but just exactly how is going to do these things and how will he pay for them... It looks as though both parties are going to
ignore the South in their President and VP nominations. The Dems figure they can win the South by getting out the black vote, and the GOP seems
to think they have such a hold over us they can't lose here. No matter who wins, history will be made. Either we will have a black President, or a
woman VP... You would think our society was going to fall apart because some youth baseball league won't let a 9 year-old pitch because he
throws too hard. The media have jumped all over this story and I've heard and read so much condemnation of the league. It of couse turns out that
the kid shouldn't be pitching in that league since he is more advanced than his competitors and that he is in fact in a more advanced league as
well, but he isn't overpowering in that league so his parents want him to pitch in a league he can dominate... It's football time again, and I'll be
posting my annual preview and predictions next week...
Kevin Redstrom was back in Federal Court last week, and pleaded guilty and recieved 1 year in prison. Redstrom pled to a charge that was
not in the original indictment of using a phone to facilitate a drug transaction by reserving a hotel room for Jimmy Collins to count money. Redstrom
never admitted to being a part of the criminal operation beyond making the reservation. The sentence seems to be about right considering Redstrom's
involvement in the case. I really kind of expected him to go to trial another time considering the jury votes in the first trial, but I realize that would have
been more expensive and any time you go before a jury, you never know what they'll do. He and his attorneys may have felt that the prosecution would
present a better case than in the original trial, and decided to just get some closure on the case. I found it interesting that when his attorney asked the
judge to recommend he spend his time in a prison in Texas that Judge Vining told him the bureau of prisons had never taken his suggestion in 23
years on the bench. I'm sure that many of my fellow jurors from the trial would be upset that Kevin Redstrom will spend time in jail, but I still feel that
I was in the right and have no feelings of guilt.
The state of officiating in SEC football has reached rock bottom. Every time I watch an SEC game this year, I see some instance of not just a
bad call, but a horrible one. During Saturday's Georgia-Tennessee game, there were two bad calls that went against Tennessee in the first half. A
pass interference call helped keep a Georgia drive alive, and the replay clearly showed there was absolutely no contact by the Tennessee defender.
An unnecessary roughness penalty, a supposed helmet-to-helmet hit, helped Georgia score a touchdownlater in the half. The replay again showed
that the call was wrong. Tennessee did commit a personal foul later in that some drive, but it wouldn't have occurred had the first one not been called.
Tennessee is not a very good team this year and as such cannot overcome bad calls by the officials. I will admit I'm a Tennessee fan, and therefore
biased on those calls, but it isn't just Tennessee that is being hurt by the poor officiating. Week after week and game after game, the official continue
to miss obvious calls. Mike Slive needs to get his head out of the sand and do something to improve the officiating, or he faces the prospect that
fans will start to believe that he and other conference officials just don't care how the league's officials are percieved. One other thing I want to point
out is that Chattanooga Times-Free Press sports columnist Mark Wiedmer is an IDIOT. He not only seems to relish when Tennessee teams struggle,
but he also does not appear to know sports. In his column on Sunday, he spoke about the personal foul calls in Saturday's game and wrote that
Vols defensive coordinator John Chavis' was an embarrassment since he defended his players. Wiedmer seems to think officials make no mistakes
since he wrote that the helmet-to-helmet hit must have been a penalty since it was called. The Times-Free Press is a joke anyway, and Mr. Wiedmer
is its poster child.
Some random thoughts. Pete Van Wieren has announced his retirement as a Braves announcer, and it marks the end of an era. The death of
his long-time partner Skip Caray coupled with Pete's retirement pretty much leaves no ties to the Braves days as lovable losers turned eternal division
winners. Many of us who lived and died by those Braves teams will always have a spot in our hearts for Pete and Skip... Once again I have to harp
on the state of football officiating. The NFL is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, yet refuses to spend the money for full-time officials. Week after week
there are horrible calls that factor into the outcome of games, and the Atlanta Falcons get more than their share. On Sunday, the Falcons got burned
by another bad call that cost them any chance to win the game, and unlike the notorious blown call by Ed Hochuli there was no outcry by the media.
In fact, there was more made of a correct call that went the Falcons way in the Carolina game than over this atrocious call... I voted early last week
and it makes having to put up with all the political ads on TV and radio even worse. I have recieved at least 10 different fliers from local office seekers since I
voted. These candidates should remember that more and more voters are voting early, and they should probably get their mailers out earlier...