Category Archives: Sports

There Is No Place Like Nebraska…

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Terry| Leave a comment
Jack Hoffman - Nebraska

In a state crazy for their beloved Huskers, the 70,000 screaming fans who showed up at Memorial Stadium today for the annual Spring Game were treated to an emotional moment, when 7-year old Jack Hoffman, a young Nebraskan battling brain cancer, was inserted in the game at a crucial point, and sprinted for a 69-yard touchdown run. It's nice to know that as seriously as Nebraskans take their football, there are things in life that are one HELL of a lot more important.

After the last post about AGAIN coming across the aftermath of crazed rednecks with guns blasting away the local wildlife, a positive post is in order.  Nothing could be more positive than this story.

 Today, Nebraska held their spring game.  While the spring game for many football programs is a little-attended after-thought, something which may only merit a few paragraphs on the sports page, in Nebraska, it’s a big tradition.  70,000 fans attended the spring game today, eager to view the progress of the team and scout their chances for this fall’s football season.  Instead of fans worrying about the progress of the defense or wondering if quarterback Taylor Martinez continues to improve as a passer, the story of the day was 7-year old Jack Hoffman.

http://www.huskermax.com/games/2013/vid/00/08hoffman.html

Jack Hoffman is a young 7-year old Nebraskan with brain cancer. The Nebraska football team has “adopted” Jack, a Husker fan, encouraging him as he undergoes endless weeks of treatment.  Today, in a spring game taken VERY seriously by the staff, players, and state as a whole, Jack Hoffman’s touchdown run was the highlight of the day.  In a remarkable display of football prowess, Hoffman bobbed and weaved his way through the mighty Nebraska “Blackshirt” defense, sprinting 69-yards for a breathtaking touchdown. 

As a born and bred Nebraskan, I am VERY proud to say…THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE NEBRASKA…

Posted in Sports

College Bowl Season – Yawn

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Terry| 1 Comment

Last night, I was doing other things when I remembered that the national championship game between Alabama and Notre Dame was on TV.  While playing around on my iPad, I turned the game on with half-hearted interest, paying more attention to the iPad than the TV.  I did end up having the game on for about the first 3 quarters, bring the total number of college bowl games that I watched to a grand total of….one.

One.  This, from a born-and-bred Nebraskan, someone with college football in my blood.  On fall Saturdays, I used to love watching college football.  It didn’t matter who was playing, I still enjoyed watching the big games, and watching games in the Big 8 and then Big 12 conference.  I still have the interest in the Huskers, but even that has changed compared to what it once was.  Throughout the entire college football season, there were very few times I even watched part of a game that didn’t involve Nebraska. 

How does college football largely “lose” a diehard Nebraskan?  I have no doubt that much of it is just changing priorities in life.  I used to take Nebraska football too seriously, letting losses fester and getting way too worked up about the games.  As I’ve gotten older, you realize…it’s a game, played by a bunch of kids you don’t know.  The whole thought of team sports in general is a curious one.  Why SHOULD people have an interest in watching other people play a game?  Deep stuff!! But as things happen in life and as I’ve matured (Ok, gotten old), I’ve certainly come to realize what’s important in life, and what’s not.

Other than changing priorities though, college football has done a lot to ruin what was once special about the sport…the tradition.  When I was growing up and through college, the tradition in the Big 8 winner going to the Orange Bowl was special.  National championships were of course treasured, but just winning the Big 8 and going to the Orange Bowl made any season succesful.  Nebraska/Oklahoma games usually decided the Big 8, and if the home team won, a response by some was often oranges being thrown onto the field.  New Year’s Day would came, and it would be an orgy of college football, with ALL the big bowl games being played on the one day.  New Year’s Day for me and most college football fans was always a 12-hour marathon of bowl games, with multiple bowl games on at once, and the ability to choose the best game happening at the time.

Now?  January 7th…well over 3 weeks after the first bowl game…and we finally had the national championship game.  New Year’s Day?  Yes, there were some of the big games on, but come 4:00 or so when the Rose Bowl started, the big BCS bowl games were the only games on, and they were played in sequence, with one at a time on.  Come January 2nd, most people go back to work…school starts again very soon…and it no longer feels like a holiday.  It no longer feels “special”.  Pardon me if I don’t get too excited over a Sugar Bowl game or Orange Bowl game played during a weeknight after the New Year.

It’s not just the changing of the bowl schedules that has made college football less unique, less special.  As I had the game on last night, at one point they showed a picture of Nick Saban, Alabama head coach, with his salary and bonuses.  A college football coach, and his BASE salary is $5.3 million, with a few hundred thousand dollars in “change” being given for winning his conference or national championship.  College football coaches have become the highest paid folks on college campuses, by far.  The entire identity of colleges has often become synonymous with the success of their college football team.  When Ohio State’s former coach, Jim Tressel, ran afoul of NCAA regulations a few years ago, the Ohio State president Gordon Gee had a press conference where he was asked if he were going to fire Tressel.  Gee’s infamous response was “I hope he doesn’t fire ME!!!”.   At Penn State, the infamous Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal was handled by a football staff and by the university president as if the reputation of the football team was what was at stake…not the lives of the victims. 

I used to be an NFL fan growing up.  I rarely watch NFL games any more, even playoff games or the Super Bowl.  As I grew up, I realized that the NFL simply couldn’t compare to the tradition of college football.  The NFL wasn’t “special” like college football was.

As I’ve come to realize, college football isn’t “special” either.  It’s a for-profit business that for all intents and purposes, is another version of the NFL.  College bowl season?  It’s over?  Yawn.  I missed most of it, but I certainly didn’t “miss” watching a holiday (and post-holiday) bowl season designed for the sole purpose of raking in as much money as possible.

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Ohio State demonstrates what they stand for

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Terry| Leave a comment

Ohio State completed a perfect season in college football today.  No, you don’t hear the hype of Ohio State playing for the national title in a bowl game, for Ohio State is ineligible to win the Big 10 this year, and they are ineligible to participate in a bowl game.  Jim Tressel, the Ohio State coach who was fired 2 years ago, left his “legacy” by being fired for trying to hide NCAA rules violations.  For Tressel, keeping his important players on the field was more important than following the rules.

Today, before the game, Ohio State administrators arranged for a celebration of the Ohio State 2002 team that won a National Championship. Ohio State administrators also somehow thought that it would be a good idea to invite Jim Tressel to the celebration, despite him leading the program into probation and being run out of town by the NCAA. 

Ohio State fans responded as you’d expect Ohio State fans to respond…they of course gave Tressel a standing ovation, and cheered loudly when the members of the 2002 team lifted Tressel up onto their shoulders and marched him around the stadium before the game.  Given the reaction of the Ohio State administration when the Tressel scandal first broke, where the university president first cracked jokes about hoping Tressel didn’t fire HIM, it’s not a surprise to see the University itself sponsor this event before today’s game.  Given the reaction of Ohio State FANS when the Tressel scandal broke, it’s not a surprise at all to see them cheer wildly for Tressel the cheater, Tressel the liar, Tressel the “winner”.

It’s the last one of course that is ALL that matters to far too many…winning at all costs, and circling the wagons and thumbing your nose at the rest of the world when accusations of cheating and coverups are revealed. Ohio State, your administration and your fans revealed EXACTLY what you stand for today.  The fact that you openly CELEBRATE the man and his “achievements” demonstrates that winning is more important than character. 

Disgusting.  Now there are 2 fan bases in the Big 10 that have openly thumbed their noses at the rest of the college football world.  Now there are 2 fan bases that have let it be known that WINNING is all that matters, damn the consequences.  The Penn State administration and Penn State fans embarrassed their university by celebrating a man in Joe Paterno who WON…but did so under a veil of secrecy so strong, under an atmosphere where PROTECTING THE PROGRAM was more important than even protecting the lives of the innocent children who fell victim to Jerry Sandusky.

Way to go Ohio State.  Way to go Penn State.  It makes me “proud” to know that my Nebraska Cornhuskers are now fellow members in the Big 10.  I just hope to god that my university will never put winning above all other considerations.

Posted in Culture Wars, Sports

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Husker Football, And Woodpeckers

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Pileated Woodpecker - By Terry Sohl

Great day, first getting photos of this Pileated Woodpecker, and then watching the other "Big Red" get a win against the Michigan Wolverines.

A wonderful day yesterday, on multiple fronts!   As with any football Saturday where the Huskers are playing at home, thousands make the trek to Lincoln for the game.  But I bet there are very few that made it a combined football/birding day, like I did!

I left yesterday morning and stopped at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge on the Nebraska/Iowa border.  It’s a beautiful, heavily wooded area along the Missouri River with a series of sloughs and ponds along the river, as well as with some large open grassy and weedy areas.  From a birding standpoint, it’s known for large numbers of waterfowl that utilize it in migration, often including thousands of Snow Geese.  Given the diversity of habitats there though, it’s a very good birding destination for all sorts of species.

I really didn’t have any particular “target” species in mind yesterday, but was thrilled to death when I came across a big Pileated Woodpecker, foraging low in the forest canopy, right after I got to the NWR.  Pileated Woodpeckers are the largest remaining woodpecker in North America…if you believe the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is extinct (I don’t).  In South Dakota, there are tiny numbers of Pileated Woodpeckers in the northeast part of the state, and there are sightings every once in a great while in my part of the state in the southeast, but I’ve never seen one in South Dakota.  Not only did I get great looks at this bird, but I was able to get a series of very nice, close photographs.  Great way to spend a chilly fall morning!

Then the game!  Nebraska!  The mighty Michigan Wolverines, the team with the most wins in the history of college football!  At night!  It was a wonderful, big-time college atmosphere, and a great game for a Husker fan.  Very nice to see Nebraska play well against a big-time opponent.

Nebraska beating Michigan, AND a “life” photo bird!  Great day overall!

Posted in Birds, Photo Story, Sports

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Perusin’ and Musin’

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Terry| 4 Comments

Some random thoughts from perusin’ the web…

Jobs Report Doesn’t Bode Well for Obama – Not a good jobs report today.  Unemployment inched down, but only because so many people have left the work force.  It’s a damned tough environment for a sitting president to win re-election.  Frankly though, there’s just not much Obama can do to get things going on the economic front.  This is a global downturn, and U.S. government economic policy isn’t the key to our economy.   Romney says he’ll create 500,000 jobs a months and drop unemployment to 4%.  That’s about as likely as Gingrich’s promises to lower gas prices to below $2.00 a gallon.   However, it’s pretty obvious Republicans SHOULD have the edge given 1) the down economy, and 2) an American public who is stupid enough to actually BELIEVE some of the crap Republicans shovel down their throats.   The only thing working against them is 1) their OWN ineptitude and 2) a complete lack of any strong candidates.

Redneck Massachusetts Man Attacks Hawk - No South Dakota, we do NOT have a monopoly on redneck losers.  In Massachusetts, a man was arrested when he attacked a Red-tailed Hawk who had captured a pigeon…presumably to “protect” the pigeons in the park?  The story also notes other memorable Massachusetts losers, such as a fish hatchery operator who shot herons, Osprey, and even Eagles that hung around his hatchery. Never underestimate just how incredibly cruel, selfish, and evil people can be.

Sioux Falls Man found Guilty of Raping 7-year Old – See the story above, multiply the horror and disgust by a factor of, oh, around 1,000, and you have this story of a Sioux Falls man raping a 7-year old.  About 99% of the time, I’m against capital punishment….but BOY do stories like this make me at least pause and consider it for a second. 

First Hummingbird of the Year - Like clockwork since we’ve moved into our current house, the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the year arrives sometime during the first week of May.  Today was the day for 2012, when I saw a beautiful male hummingbird flitting around the yard much of the day.  The link at the top of the paragraph shows the migratory progress of the Hummingbirds for this spring.  I will GREATLY enjoy having them around my yard for the next 4 1/2 months, until they depart by mid- to late-September.

Read more »

Posted in Birds, Politics, Sports

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Perusin’ & Musin’

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Terry| Leave a comment

Some random thoughts from perusin’ the web:

Obama Caught with Open Mic - In a story the GOP is sure to play up from now through the election, Obama was caught saying something to Russian president Medvedev about the European missile defense system, asking the Russian to give him “space” on the issue until after the election.  It’s not exactly surprising to hear that when (seemingly) out of the range of an open mic, this is how a politician would talk.  There’s no doubt Republicans will act indignant on the story, and will righteously declare that all Obama cares about is getting re-elected, and is just playing politics until the election.  And…they’re probably right.  Obama can take heart though that 1) Republicans are JUST as apt to put politics over the welfare of the country, and 2) in the short news cycles we have, it’s only a matter of time before Romney makes a verbal gaffe and pushes this off the front pages.  The real losers in all of this are all the voters. I can already picture scads of Republican ads this fall that feature this Obama comment, just as I can already see scads of Democratic ads this fall that feature stupid Romney comments.

When do plants know to bloom in Spring? - This story is definitely relevant this spring!  Interesting read if you get a chance.  We’ve already got things blooming here, in South Dakota, in March, in response to the incredibly warm weather we’re having.  There have even been Hummingbirds spotted in adjacent states of Nebraska and Minnesota!  I don’t usually see them at my house until the first week of May! But as this story notes, for some plants, day length doesn’t matter, temperature alone can trigger blooming. As such…my hummingbird feeder is going up this week!!  Who knows??

Tim Tebow welcomed in New York - Few things bother me more in life than our incredibly shallow American culture, and what passes for being a “celebrity”.  We have “celebrities” who have done nothing more than be participants in a “reality” (hah!) TV show, or are simply famous for being complete jackasses.   In the sports world, the artificial nature of being a “celebrity” was quite obvious over the past week, when the Denver Broncos signed Peyton Manning to be their QB, and subsequently traded Tim Tebow to the New York Jets.  Manning is a Super Bowl winner and an NFL MVP.  Tim Tebow?  He was one of the poorest rated quarterbacks in the NFL last year.  But yet, the stories have at LEAST been 5 to 1 about Tebow instead of about Manning.  Tebow to me is one of those “artificial” celebrities, now that his college career is well in the past.  He CERTAINLY doesn’t deserve the attention for what he’s accomplished on the field in the NFL.  He gets attention simply because of his very public, very over-the-top profession of his religious faith.  In America…THAT’s what gets you noticed…acting outside-the-box.  Peyton Manning’s accomplishments?  Unimportant compared to Tebow’s unusual personal life.  I wish I could say it was just sports, but this story is a microcosm of America in general.  Working hard and achieving great things in your line of work?  That’ll get you nowhere!! What you NEED is a viral video! What you NEED is to be a wacky, vocal jackass!  THAT’S the kind of thing that gets you noticed in today’s America!

Supreme Court Tackles Obamacare - The Supreme Court today started hearing arguments regarding the legality of ObamaCare.   In a poll, 56% of Americans believe Supreme Court Justices will rule according to their own personal politics, while only 27% believe that ObamaCare will be judged according to the law.   I can’t say as I disagree.  What’s always baffled me…why SUPREME COURT JUSTICES are either categorized as “Liberal” or “Conservative”.  Isn’t the LAW above politics?  Why the HELL should LAW be judged according to one’s own personal politics?  Are American laws SO poorly written, are they SO open to personal interpretation, that Supreme Court decisions are (seemingly) always split according to perceived political persuasion of the Justices?   In the end, what I FULLY expect…a 5-4 decision to repeal the mandate component of Obamacare. Why?  Not because of any legal precedent or ruling.  No, I expect a 5-4 ruling to repeal much of Obamacare, simply because 5 current justices are considered “Conservative”.  Hey…I TELL you that I’m a CYNICAL scientist.  Unfortunately, when it comes to my cynicism in matters such as this, I also have a hell of a lot of evidence to back me up.

Posted in Climate Change, Perusin' & Musin', Politics, Sports

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All for the sake of “entertainment”

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
Horse Race Start

And they're off!! Unfortunately, all too often in the U.S., the question often isn't who is going to finish first, it's which of these beautiful animals may give its life, all for the sake of "sport".

I’ve always been a sports fan. Growing up in Nebraska, it’s practically a given that you must become a Nebraska Cornhusker football fan (I hear they have other sports at Nebraska as well, but I don’t think that’s ever been confirmed).  I played a lot of baseball as a kid, and still am a baseball fan.  However, even for Nebraska football and baseball, my passion for sports just continues to fade over time. I still pay attention to Nebraska football, but I’m no longer riveted in front of the TV on a fall Saturday, watching college football all day.  The NFL?  I used to be a big fan as a kid, but last year, I watched a little of the Super Bowl, and that was it.  “March Madness”?  Another sports event I used to really pay attention to, but I’ve only watched one half of one game in this tournament, and that was more out of sheer curiosity than anything else (South Dakota State University making their first NCAA appearance).

I guess what has turned me off sports as I’ve gotten older is the emphasis that SO many people seem to place on sports in this country.  Pure “sport” has given way to fanaticism and a lack of respect for your opponent. Even worse, “sport” has become all about the money, and not about the competition itself.

So, when I see a story such as this one about horse racing in the United States, I’m utterly shocked to see how much carnage is going on at race tracks, but not surprised as to the motivation behind it all.  As the story notes, on AVERAGE, 24 horses die every WEEK in the U.S., all for the sake of “sport”.  It’s almost like the stories you see about “puppy mills” that crank out puppies for the pet trade, with little concern for anything but the money that can be made.  The stories notes the issues with drugs being used in horse racing, the lack of oversight, and the treatment of horses as a “throw-away” commodity from which a fast buck can be made.

Read the story I’ve linked to for more.  If you’re even have the tiniest hint of an animal lover in you, it’s sure to provoke some outrage.   I guess it doesn’t matter in the U.S. if it’s a horse, or if it’s a college football or basketball player.  The horse, the college football or basketball player, they’re just commodities…something from which money can be made.  The welfare of the sports participant, be it a person or a horse?  The competition ITSELF?  Unimportant, at least in comparison to the monetary aspect.   I wonder where we’ll be 100 years from now?  I wonder what the term “sportsmanship” will mean, given where things are headed?

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Doesn’t Congress have anything better to do?

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
Senator Dick Durbin

Dick, Dick, Dick...what the hell are you doing? Doesn't Congress have anything better to do than meddle with the NFL?

Congressional approval is hovering around 10%. They seem incapable of governing, incapable of passing the most straightforward piece of legislation.  Given how little time they actually DO spend in Washington, you’d think the time spent there would be pretty busy, and they’d have to focus on the most important issues facing the country today.

Uh, no.  Sen. Dick Durbin today announced that he was going to conduct hearings on the scandal in the NFL regarding “bounty” systems, where NFL players have been given monetary awards for injuring players on the opposing team, with the intent of rendering them incapable of continuing in a game.  Disgusting, yes.  Not surprising, given the nature of the game itself, but disgusting nonetheless.

But seriously, is it something that Congress should interfere in?  Do we really need Congress spending any time dealing with an issue that’s internal to a professional sports league?  It reminds me of the Congressional hearings that were held regarding steroids in baseball, complete with a now infamous line-up of famous major leaguers coming in to testify.  Do these buffoons in Congress think this is REALLY what they should be worried about?  Are steroids in baseball, or this bounty thing in the NFL, some of the most pressing issues facing our country?  Are they issues the Federal government should have ANY involvement in?

I’m obviously liberal on most matters.  One of the conservative talking points that bugs me the most are those who whine about how intrusive the Federal government is in our lives.  Really?  REALLY?  I find it laughable that people complain about government intrusion in the lives of Americans, given how freely we live our lives and how little interaction most Americans have with government.  However, completely pointless hearings such as these certainly feed into the conservatives’ storyline about government being needlessly involved in private affairs.

Let it go, Sen. Durbin.  Let the NFL worry about policing themselves.  I don’t think this is exactly a threat to national security or well-being.

Posted in Politics, Sports

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Money Ruining College Football

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Terry| Leave a comment
The "Sea of Red" - Nebrask Fans

Hey!! Remember us!? The actual college football fans? The Nebraska "sea of red" on game day in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln...THIS is what college football is about. Passion. Love of team, and state. AMATEUR SPORTS. It's not about a 3-week long, corporate sponsored, bloated series of 30, three-hour infomercials.

I was born and raised in Beatrice, Nebraska, a town of about 12,000 that’s just 40 miles south of Lincoln.  If you are born and raised in Nebraska, your genetics, coupled with some mysterious element in the ground water, automatically makes you a lifetime college football nut.   You live and die with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  I also got my B.S. and M.S. at the University of Nebraska, and met my wife there, further strengthening the Cornhusker link.   Oh yes, there are obviously other sports at Nebraska than football.  But nothing stirs the passions of a Nebraskan more than a crisp fall day at Memorial Stadium.

I still am a Nebraska football fan.  Increasingly though, I am less and less of a fan of college football in general.  I used to love the bowl season.  I used to love New Year’s Day, with an endless procession of games, typically with multiple games on at the same time.  However, it’s just not the same anymore.  There is only one bowl game I watched this entire bowl season, and that was the Cornhuskers (rather forgettable) game in the Capital One bowl.  Other than that?  I watched snippets of a few games on New Year’s Day, but that’s it.  The supposed “National Championship” game was played last night…and I couldn’t have cared less.

To start…IT WAS FREAKIN’ JANUARY 9th!!!!   What the heck?   The first bowl games were played before Christmas, but the supposed national championship game isn’t played until January 9th?!??!!?  It’s DAMNED hard to maintain any continuity, any momentum in terms of fan interest when the bowl games are stretched out over a 3 week period.  Just like everything else in America these days, it’s now all about the $$$$$$.   Bowls used to MEAN something.  They were a great reward for a good season, a chance for your team and your fans to celebrate one last game in a warm location.  It didn’t matter if your team was playing in the Astro Bluebonnet Bowl or the Rose Bowl, it MEANT something to your team and your fans.

Then along game the BCS, and an “improved” bowl system.  Instead of January 1 representing THE day of celebrating college football, the BCS demanded that the “big” bowls (Fiesta, Rose, Sugar, and Orange) never be played simultaneously.  God FORBID two games be on at once and split college football viewing, and the related advertising $$$$!!   No, all of the major bowl games HAD to be played at times when no other football games were on, so now we have bowl games being played on January 1st…2nd…4th…9th….etc.   Corporate sponsorship also meant that tradition no longer mattered with the names of bowls.  Instead of the Sugar Bowl, it’s the “Allstate Sugar Bowl”.  Instead of the Gator Bowl, it’s the “Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl”.  Some bowls just dropped the pretense all together and basically admitted it’s all about the money, hence the “Beef-O’Brady’s Bowl”, the “Little Ceasar’s Bowl”, the “Chick-Fil-A Bowl”, etc.  Who needs  the actual old bowl names?  Let’s just call it the Little Ceasar’s Bowl and use a giant wad of cheesy-bread instead of a football!!  Let’s have the players wear Little Ceasar’s logos on their uniforms instead of their school logo!!!  Let just take those 3 hours and make it one big infomercial, and dispense with the game itself!!

So as the (supposed) National Championship game was played last night, I turned the TV on, and…ended up watching “The Horse Whisperer”.   I didn’t watch a single play of the game, and didn’t know (or care about) the outcome until looking at the news this morning.  On January 9th, one week after getting back to work after the holidays, college football has already been long forgotten for me.  After January 1 (actually January 2 this year, since GOD FORBID we keep tradition and play the bowl games on January 1 if it falls on a Sunday), I mentally check out of the college football mindset for another 8 months.

I’m sorry, AllState, AT&T, Discover, GoDaddy, etc….your bowl sponsorship in the post-January 1 games was wasted on me.  I’m sorry, TV networks, but your attempts to spur interest in your regular TV shows during the bowl games were wasted on me.  One of your network “stars” (hah) from some “reality” TV show singing the National Anthem?  Missed it.   Cutting away in the middle of a game to show one of your “stars” on the sidelines or in the stands?  Missed it.  Showing the game stats during the game, with the stats “sponsored” by an insurance company or car company?  Missed it.

The sad thing is that I AM what should be your core audience.  College football has some serious issues, if the direction college football is going can turn off a die-hard, born-and-bred Nebraska Cornhusker.

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Perusin’ & Musin’

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Terry| Leave a comment

Some random thoughts from perusing the web…

GOP Chooses Millionaires over Federal Employees – Democrats have been trying to extend the federal payroll tax, and in their plan, said they’d pay for it by a slight increase in taxes for people making over $1 million a year.  Sounds fair, right, in a time when the wealth gap in the U.S. continually grows?  Not for the GOP, who again have shown they will protect their rich sugar-daddies at all costs.  In response to the Democrats plan, Republicans countered by removing the tax increase for millionaires, and instead extending a pay freeze for Federal employees to help pay for it.  Federal employees already are in a 2-year pay freeze, and this would extend it another year.  Occupy Wall Street protesters, you have yet more ammo.  Again the GOP shows its true colors.

ESPN “Sports” News of the Day - One of my pet peeves is just how negative the media is in the U.S.  Stories with a negative tilt seem to be what the public craves though.  The negative tilt on news even extends to sports news.  This evening I visited the ESPN.com main page.  On the right, they have about 10 major headlines.  The top headlines in all of sports included 1) Jerry Sandusky sex scandal updates 2) Football player fined for endzone dance 3) Feds conducting search of another sex-scandal coach 4) Another story about a NFL player fine…well, you get the idea.  I would find it very depressing to be a sports reporter, only to get into the business and find myself always reporting on scandals. 

Newt Gingrich – “I helped defeat Communism” - Wow.  Gingrich says he helped defeat Communism, and also helped develop supply-side economics.  The man certainly has an ego.  Given that “occupy” movements continue to grow though, I’m not sure I’d be trying to identify myself as a supposed creator of Reagan-esque, trickle-down economics.  If it were such a success, you’d think the economy would be booming right now, given that the rich continue to greatly expand their share of the Nation’s wealth. 

Viruses Survive For Long Periods in Environment – I currently have the most god-awful cold that I’ve had in many years.  I really don’t want my wife and son to get what I have, so I’ve tried to be very careful.  I’ve stayed sequestered in a corner of the house, washed my hands constantly, and tried like heck to not spread my germs all over creation.  I always assumed that viruses and bacteria really can’t live for long outside the body.  However, the study in this story notes that flu viruses can actually live up to several months outside the body, if conditions are right.  After reading this story, I have decided to personally take over our basement, lock the door, and keep the family away until mid-2012.  Better safe than sorry.

Cain Blasts “Character Assassination” - Cain says “they” are conducting a character assassination on him. I assume “they” are not only the legions of women stepping forward to level accusations of disgusting sexual behavior against him, but also the media for carrying the stories.  If Cain wants to accuse anyone of character assassination, all he really needs to do is look in a mirror.  The man is a pig.   Thankfully, he’s also a horrible politician, and unlike slick politicians who seem to often have negative press just roll off their backs, Cain’s campaign has been pretty clueless in terms of trying to respond to all of the allegations.  Bye-bye Mr. Cain, your moment at the top is over.  Now I just hope Gingrich’s run at the top of the GOP race is just as temporary.

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