The Sad State of Pro Sports

Long term readers of this blog know that I am a fan of the NFL. The huge numbers NFL rookies make are investments. It is acceptable to do all types of medical and mental health tests. However, it is just wrong to ask if a player is gay. In a league where criminal behavior is not uncommon and having scores of kids out of wedlock are common a gay player is a minor issue at best.

The NFL researches the players and their families. The fact that a player comes from a family where his mother may be a drug addict is a real situation. There are tactful ways to talk about these issues and some of the NFL scouts miss the point.

The NFL is a crazy game and it is sad that your most valuable personnel may be Sid in accounting to manage the salary cap, Lisa in human resources to psychoanalyze which players may be worth the risk
and Victor the team lawyer who helps keep players out of jail.   

This may sound unpopular but given the investments some players should be working with mental health professionals. Perhaps if there had been close supervision and early treatment noted talented failures like Lawrence Phillips and Charles Rodgers might have had better careers.

Obama Fatigue

Note the one item China will never hack is Obama's teleprompter. The Chinese, Iranians and Russians must be laughing at our clueless President slashing defense and wrecking the economy with a health plan that has killed jobs.

I can envision some Chinese Hacker inserting Buy Chinese into the teleprompter or my underwear is three sizes to small and Obama reading it. Obama is akin to electing Ted Baxter President. 

Your future

It is always tempting to look abroad to Europe for what lies ahead. In the next ten years as Europe becomes more Islamic polygamy will become legal. Already at the furthest reaches of the left in Sweden this is being discussed.

The USA will not likely get to that stage for another 30 years or so.

On a liberty based standpoint those on the left are a tad odd. It is acceptable to limit the size of a beverage and tax fast food but sexual liberty is a given.

Societies adapt and change but life seems best when households are basic couples that want to stay together long term. Larger groups just seem inherently more unstable but that will be for future generations to decide.

Tour of Duty

I am up to episode 30 out of 58. The second season is interesting but one of the mistakes the show made was by writing out the Baker character for comic relief. Now I do remember watching the entire season in first run . At the time I watched the second season and expected more action from the two part opener. The second season is more about psychology and the episodes are still worth watching but are not as good as the first season. The exception is episode 27 with the deranged sniper Sgt Block, The episodes are good because they are fresh. I never viewed them so they remain interesting.

Thus far the best episodes

1) The episode that tells the tale of the Montangards. Communists feign outrage about the treatment of indigenous people in American history but abuse them in the present.

2) The Season One finale that has the platoon capturing the same hill 3x. The war objector saves his peers and is badly injured. This is the last time we see Horn who was the best scripted part of season one.

3) The USO episode where the singer Long John looked and reminded some of Jim Morrison. In this case an epileptic becomes a rock musician after flunking out basic. He participates in a firefight and thinks he is invincible. He gets a friend killed trying to retrieve a saxophone. He sacrifices his life to save Taylor.

4 Sgt Block. The sniper becomes psychotic and has to be put out of his misery.

5) The episode where the Communist Doctor is ordered to kill Prisoner Taylor. The tunnels are portrayed pretty well.

Spent some time with my daughter

It is just amazing watching her grow and being there. I took her to the Greek place up the block. Being Dad is the best part of life.

I watched the first three episodes of Tour of Duty. Back in the days the guys would get together get a pizza or a couple of Blimpie sandwiches and watch the show. It holds up well over time and I am amazed the show didn't run longer.

A Note To Harry's Place Visitors

This blog is basically a diary. There are sometimes political posts or comments on the times. The topics
are varied and there is everything from book reviews, satire and personal stories.

The intent of the blog was to do comedic comments on the political scene. Amazingly, at the start we were attacked by Gay Palestinian Activists from the UK. The blog grew more political and found a niche.

There are very few rules here and you will notice the blog is in moderation. It was placed in moderation because a criminal leftist spammed this site, violated my privacy and threatened the family members of my friends. You are free to do as you like as long as you respect the privacy of others and refrain from criminal threats. You are free to comment whatever attacks you like so long as they stay within those rules.

Writing the Final Chapter

I am not a Catholic but I applaud the Pope for showing us an example of grace dignity and humanity. All of us deal with aging and the issues that come up as the end of life nears. The Pope is a modest man who chose the needs of his congregants over shallow egotism. He made a personal decision he felt best for his congregants and himself.

Let him enjoy what time he has remaining to pursue whatever he wishes.

All of us should remember this as we write our own final chapters.

Wow

I took a ride home on the Ferry. The fog was so bad I could see nothing in the harbor. Normally, I can hear the progress by listening to buoys and terminal signals. Unfortunately some Central American clown went haywire. His panicking got others upset and if it were a real emergency would have caused a stampede.

I am reading Prisoner of Second Avenue

As I get older I want to read the plays of Neil Simon who captured the era of NYC in the late 60's and 70's in his plays. Prisoner of Second Avenue is especially poignant in the Obama train wreck economy where hope of better days is a pipe dream.

I will write my own Beakerkin spoof with the mighty Beakerkin Art players called Prisoner of Union Square. Union Square is gentrifying and techno hipsters are replacing commies and gays. An aging Communist film professor finds himself laid off in the Obama economy. There will be all types of cameos by A listers and perhaps even an appearance of Beakerambo.

Making the NFL Safer

Contrary to popular opinion the risk of concussion is not exactly where people think it is. Defensive players who lead with their heads especially safeties and LB who run up and tackle  people  headfirst bear the brunt of the risk. Changing kickoff rules for players who seldom play is not the answer.

The NFL has to rethink its head gear and type of game. As deep posts and high impact hits are the norm the problem will get worse. Those looking at Earl Campbell should take note. His ailments are not concision related they are orthopedic. Walter Payton died way to young to evaluate his health. It would be interesting to see the impact on Running Backs, WR who tend to fare better then defensive players.

The NFL is a great game but it needs to rethink its equipment.

The Jeep Ad

Isn't great for a vocal Obama supporter to rail about bringing the troops home in a Jeep ad. The left undermined the war effort and cut the armed forces and wraps themselves in the flag.

Welcome home to an America where you have been downsized after your efforts. Welcome home to a nation where jobs are like leprechauns and Obama is looking to legalize millions to compete for those jobs that don't exist.

You could go to college on the GI bill except Obama's University fat cats jacked the price up. When you get there expect verbal abuse from Obama's cronies in higher ed. If by some miracle you find a job
your paycheck will go to Obama care that was supposed to cost less.

America will be back when Obama gets another job.

Arabian decline

Oddly, the Saudis alone appear to have understood about overplaying the oil card. The problem is when a commodity is too highly priced alternatives become reality. Thus when gas was cheap there was no need to develop alternatives.

Arabs used the oil weapon to fund their allies in the left.

Now with the advent of Shale Oil the demands of the Oil exporters are over. The first casualty should be Venezuela when oil revenue dries up Chavezism should go with it.

Just Scary

My niece is doing a paper on conditions in the garment factories. Her focus was the era of my Grandmother in the mid twenties. It was scary that I could fill in many of the blank spaces from my days in the 90's. The faces of the people working in the sweat shops had changed and the locations had changed but I could describe the places. For the most part I worked in the warehouses and visited from time to time. However, I was there enough to understand the conditions. I didn't think much of it then but now these factories are overseas and the conditions are likely worse.

RIP Ed Koch

Ed Koch was the rare Democrat you could respect for their integrity. He started NYC in the direction of recovery but was undermined by the media following the death of Yussuf Hawkins. The media allowed Jesse Jackson and a few other race hustler to inject racial garbage into the mayoral campaign.
The city narrowly elected the dignified but incompetent David Dinkins. He meant well but couldn't run anything. His actions in the Crown Heights riots led to the victory of Rudy.

Koch made an error in endorsing Obama. Obama made some phone calls to get Koch into a hospital and Koch felt a debt of gratitude. Koch looked at the appointments of Obama and stated I expected Obama to betray Israel but not this soon.

RIP Ed Koch who quoted Daniel Pearl on his headstone.

Hagel beat down

I have never seen a beat down as bad as the one's Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham delivered to Hagel.
Of course this circus clown will get by on professional courtesy.