Riley Cooper and the true idiots

If it wasn't so pitiful, and obviously meant to stir up a hornet's nest that should be left alone -- it would be comical. That would be the talking heads trying to breathe new life into the Riley Cooper story. It appears their motto is whatever it takes to (re)sensationalize that which is otherwise old news.

You remember Riley Cooper. He's the Philadelphia Eagle wide receiver that got caught on camera at a public event a while back saying the word "nigger". Because Cooper happens to be white, this was considered an outrage by many of different stripes. Nevermind the fact that particular word is quite commonplace and acceptable amongst others -- Cooper was taken to the media/public woodshed. Evidently, such terms are OK for some people to use, but taboo for others. Nevertheless, Cooper quickly "faced the music" and issued a public apology. That's pretty much all he could do. Most of those concerned found it acceptable and moved on -- but some still look for ways to drag it on -- and on -- and on. Draw your own conclusions as to who are the true race baiters. Anything for publicity, regardless of whether it has merit.

On that note, the latest issue of Sports Illustrated has an article by one Jack Dickey (page 20) that shows how far some are willing to blindly reach in pursuit of the non-story. The article started off about Cooper, then cited his "idiot defenders, who crafted false equivalencies and mangled the Constitution", while daring to claim first amendment rights to free speech. Sure, that argument is certainly debatable in some cases, but like others now seem to prone to do, Dickey then proceeded to extrapolate into la-la land in pursuit of his own agenda.

Somehow, Dickey took Riley Cooper saying the "N" word and tied it into the 2014 Olympic Games, which will be played in Sochi, Russia. According to Dickey, Russian leaders aren't fond of homosexuality. Though it's legal, such things that might promote it in public, like hand-holding, rainbow flags, and any associated media coverage of same would be construed as "damaging to minors". Such "gay propaganda" is highly frowned upon, at the risk of foreigners risking detention or deportation.

Dickey ranted on about whether Russian authorities would or would not enforce such non-laws during the Olympics. While he was at it, Dickey also found a way to disparage China's bad record of human rights and environmental protection when they hosted the 2008 Olympics. Then he went on to project Rio de Janeiro, host of the 2016 Olympics, being swarmed by protesters over high taxes and corruption. Incredibly, Dickey even went so far as to include Istanbul, merely a finalist for the 2020 games, but not a done deal, as having their own protest movement going on. How Dickey can profess to know what may or may not be going on in Istanbul 7 years from now would seem to be Nostradamic indeed.

All of which leave yours truly with just one question....

What the HELL does all that have to do with Riley Cooper saying the "N" word at a concert a couple months ago?

I'm telling ya. Give some people a peanut, and because they're predominantly grown in the south, which was once the home for slavery, which was an issue during the Civil War, which eventually led to segregation, Jim Crow laws, mass demonstrations, landmark integration legislation, Supreme Court rulings, affirmative action, etc --  and they'll find a way to blow it up into the absurd.

Hey, it was only a silly peanut to start with. Eat it or don't, but I see no need to start another war over such a trivial thing.

And such would seem to be the case of Riley Cooper. Just leave it be and everything will be alright.

PS. Now that the NFL pre-season games have started, there's a few talking heads yapping about how Cooper might get popped by defensive backs. True, the vast majority of defensive backs in the NFL are black. But guess what? Show me a defensive back that doesn't try to punish a receiver after he's caught the ball -- and I'll show you a defensive back that will quickly be looking for another job, because he won't be on the team for long. It goes with the territory and every wide receiver knows it, regardless of what color he is. Who's kidding who?

Tigers. The good, the bad, the ugly

Though it took them two-thirds of the season -- finally-- the Detroit Tigers have put some distance between themselves and those pesky Cleveland Indians in the AL Central Division. It wasn't supposed to be this close for this long. Barring a major swoon in the next couple months, Jim Leyland's boys should cruise into the playoffs.

Then it becomes a crap shoot. Looking back at last year, many were likely surprised when the Tigers swept the NY Yankees in the ALCS. Equally surprising was the SF Giants brooming the Tigers in the World Series. Currently, the defending world champion Giants find themselves mired in the cellar of the NL West, 13 games behind, and hopelessly out of playoff contention. Funny, or maybe not, how that works out sometimes. As this is written, the Tigers are tearing it up riding a 12 game win streak. Right now -- these guys are good.

But for every good, there has to be an equally bad. It's like when somebody makes a pile of money. Somewhere, somehow, somebody else is losing it. And that just might be a decent analogy to another form of Tiger.

That would be Eldrick Woods. That Tiger seems to have lost his once famed ability to win a golfing "major". Sure, Woods is still ranked the #1 player in the world and, yes, he continues to win tournaments. On some of his favorite courses over the years, Eldrick remains all but unbeatable.

But over the last 5 years, Woods has stunk it up in the majors. In 2008, most thought Tiger was a lock to easily pass Jack Nicklaus' record of winning 18 such events. Now one is left to wonder if he'll ever win another one. Further, Tiger himself used to say winning majors was the yardstick he wanted to be measured by. Excuse the pun, and with all due respect to his current flame Lindsey Vonn, it appears her man has been coming up woefully short.

Once again, Tiger will have an early tee time on Saturday. That's because he's 10 shots behind, and only made a rather generous cut by a couple strokes. Woods will be in the clubhouse after his round is complete before the leaders even tee off. When it comes to Tiger's expectations of himself, this is bad.

Of course, the Tiger groupies remain ever hopeful that their hero will mount a monumental charge on Saturday to get back into contention. Four words.

Don't count on it.

Amongst the army of golfers ahead of him are a slew of world class players, and they aren't ALL going to choke when the pressure ratchets up. These guys have been there, done that before too. For that matter, with few exceptions, it's been Tiger himself that's racked up a recent history of his wheels falling off on the weekends in major tournaments.

Bottom line?

Stick a fork in him. He is not -- repeat NOT -- going to win the 2013 PGA. Not even close.

Before the season started, there were those (hi Al) that predicted Woods would not only win a major this year, but maybe two, three, or gasp, even the Grand Slam. Yours truly remained dubious of his winning just one, and scoffed at the notion of winning them all.

What the future bodes for one Eldrick Tont Woods is certainly unknown. He might very well continue to win some tournaments, remain #1, lead the money list, and have various other accolades showered upon him.

But from what I've seen over the last 5 years, it appears Tiger has developed this unenviable tendency to choke on the weekends in majors. Maybe he's thinking too much about those chicken bones that were suggested by Fuzzy Zoeller and Sergio Garcia getting lodged in his throat. Beats me.

But of late, his major play has become decidedly minor.

And that's ugly.

So who cares?

Sometimes I think we were better off back in the old days, when we only had 5 or 6 TV channels to pick from. At least there always seemed to be something decent to tune into. These days, I have a couple thousand choices available and everything's boring. Or maybe I'm just getting old and senile.

The talking sports heads are all a-flutter over who will be the Philadelphia Eagles' starting QB this year. Mike Vick or Nick Foles. Guess what? Who cares? With a rookie NFL head coach (Chip Kelly) bringing in his own brand new coaching staff and installing a different system -- the Eagles aren't going anywhere this year. They'll be lucky to wind up 8-8. Wake me up when they win a playoff game, which brings me to...

The Detroit Lions. Even Rip Van Winkle didn't sleep as long (20 years) since the Lions last won a playoff game (1991). In fact, they've only ever won one PERIOD since Super Bowls started way back when LBJ was President and the Viet Nam war was just starting to heat up. And come to think of it, those were the days of the 5-6 TV channels mentioned above. And 8-track audio tapes. And the Beatles were still the rage. Yours truly had just been blessed with his first great-grandchild. You know -- a LONG time ago.

Now the Lions have picked up cast-off free agent running back Reggie Bush and drafted a defensive end named Ziggie, who played a grand total of one year of football in college. But this will be the year, chant the Honolulu blue and silver koolaid addicts. Right. They still have the Matthew Stafford to Calvin Johnson stat show and not much else. So I say, who cares? They ain't going anywhere either. For that matter, I'm thinking the Eagles will win another playoff game before the Puddytats.

Evidently, there's a massive manhunt going on in northern California and Oregon for some guy suspected of murder and kidnapping a kid. I live thousands of miles away. Shoot me a bulletin when he crosses the Mississippi heading east, and maybe I'll keep an eye out for him. Until then -- why should I care? I've got enough evil-doings happening within a 25 mile radius of my house to be concerned with, so excuse me if I don't get overly worked up about something that's happening on the other side of the continent.

With the PGA tournament, the last "major" of the year upon us, the golf talkies are already handicapping Phil and Tiger. Phil won the British Open a couple months ago. Tiger hasn't won a major since 2008. Tiger has more major wins (14) than Phil (5). But in the last five years when they've been paired together on Sunday, Phil has outplayed Tiger every time, to the tune of 19 strokes. That's a lot. So when you add it all up -- what do you have?

Who cares? First, they both have to make the cut on Friday -- no given. Then they both have to get to the top of the leader board on Saturday, before they would constitute the final pairing on Sunday. The odds against that are very high, considering all the best golfers in the world will be participating. Look at how many different players have won the recent majors. Of the last 16 events, there's been 15 different names. The competition is brutal these days.

So let's see. Obama and Putin are diplomatically hissy-fitting again. Congress went on summer vacation while obviously learning (and accomplishing) nothing during their last semester. The turmoil in the Middle East rages on as lives continue to be lost, and this innocuous blog post will no doubt be scanned by some nerd in an intelligence agency somewhere. Just in case.

But I'm supposed to be concerned over who wins an MVP, whether the Lakers or Yankees make the playoffs, Kobe or Lebron tweets, Shaq's latest body spray, or Wes Welker's take on former coach Bill Belichick? Please.

Do I really need to say it again?

Suspension quirks and questions

Yeah, I know. Enough with ranting about Major League Baseball's suspensions for alleged PED users. Move on already. I get that but, A-Rod's appeal notwithstanding, now that the dust is beginning to clear, a few questions remain.

One of those slapped with a 50 game suspension as a first time drug policy offender was Jordan Norberto, formerly a pitcher for the Oakland A's. By formerly I mean he was released by the A's on May 8th of this year. No other club has picked him up in the meanwhile, so Norberto hasn't played a Major League game in 3 months. That's about as free as a free agent gets.

Question: Even though he isn't on a Major League roster, is Norberto's 50 game suspension currently ticking down as the games go by? Or if another club signs him some time in the future, will the suspension begin then? Beats me.

Same thing with Alex Rodriguez. He was given a 211 game suspension, obviously designed to keep him off the field until the 2015 season. But A-Rod is allowed to keep playing pending the outcome of his appeal. Knowledgable baseball sources say arbitrator Fredric Horowitz likely won't issue his final ruling until November or December. In other words, A-Rod will be able to finish this season with the NY Yankees.

Question: If Rodriguez's suspension is ultimately upheld by Horowitz, which is the equivalent of a Supreme Court ruling -- no more appeals allowed by either side -- then how does the original 211 game suspension play out? Would it start on opening day next year and last a couple months into the 2015 season? Or would A-Rod get credit for "time served" this year, even though he never served it while continuing to draw his ridiculous salary, to boot? Beats me.

Looking at the bigger picture, yours truly is still at a loss trying to understand why MLB imposed a suspension over 4 times longer on A-Rod than they did the others.

Question: Do you think if MLB had given Rodriguez the same 50 game suspension as all the others, he might have accepted it, and all the bound to get messy appeal stuff could have been avoided? Beats me.

Moral of the story. Methinks MLB went overboard in their vendetta against Rodriguez. Now they've opened up a Pandora's box. What will come out of it remains to be seen. Had they exercised a bit of restraint and common sense, what will likely happen in the future regarding A-Rod and possibly a precedent setting case could very well have been avoided.

If Bud Selig and Co. prevail, that's one thing. If they lose -- God help them. The inmates might very well wind up running the asylum again, like they did a generation ago.

And I suspect that would not be a good thing for baseball.

A-Rod's suspension travesty. The kangaroo court has ruled.

There's so many things wrong with how the whole Alex Rodriguez scenario has played out that's it's hard to know where to start. But let's take a look at it anyway.

In case you haven't noticed, it seems nowadays the majority of lemmings that readily believe anything they read, or see/hear on TV or the internet, with the media being the biggest culprits by fanning the flames, wants to be a "witness for the prosecution". Nevermind trivial stuff like having hard evidence of wrong-doing, many just can't seem to wait to join a lynch mob. Keep piling on the innuendos, embellishment, and allegations long enough, and next thing you know the masses will swallow it -- hook, line, and sinker. He must be guilty. Get the rope, pick out a big tree, and we're gonna have ourselves a hangin'. Yee-ha.

But that doesn't make it right. Consider.....

Many are now saying Major League Baseball came down so hard on A-Rod because he denied ever using performance enhancing drugs, ala Lance Armstrong. That's just a flat-out lie. In 2009, of his own free will and accord, Rodriguez admitted using PEDs when he was with the Texas Rangers, but stopped using them circa 2003. After his voluntary mea culpa in 2009, MLB sat pat and took no action. Nothing happened. Rodriguez played on.

In the interim, few would doubt A-Rod has been "tested" often, but never turned up a positive sample. Sure, the same could be said for Lance Armstrong, but continually testing negative hardly goes to proof of substance abuse. That's absurd. Only a kangaroo court that had already reached a verdict before any evidence was presented could jump to such a conclusion.

And that's just it. There was no court. Just allegations made and a sentence handed down. Excuse me, but didn't we leave out a big step here? You know, like that pesky little thing called a trial, where both sides have to put their cards on the table, and a supposedly impartial judge or jury deliberates before rendering a verdict?

MLB issued an official statement saying A-Rod's punishment was for his use and possession of various substances over a period of years. Really? Well gee, he told them that 4 years ago. And it's been a decade since he claimed he stopped with, so far, no evidence shown to contradict him. Perhaps the players' union would be wise to include some form of a statute of limitations in the next collective bargaining agreement. Right now, it appears MLB can go back as many years as they feel like to punish someone at their whim.

It gets worse. The hypesters would have us believe Rodriguez "obstructed" MLB's investigation. Translation? If someone accused of a crime exercises their right to remain silent, they will be labelled "uncooperative". Let the piling on begin. If they advise others to do the same, then they're some sort of evil conspirators that are "obstructing justice". The feeding frenzy will be on. All to often, the original presumption of innocence until proven guilty gets chucked out the window in the process. They've even gone so far as to insinuate Rodriguez was recruiting others to takes PEDs. In other words, he was a "pusher". Excuse me, but somehow I find that hard to believe.

But few seem to notice -- or care. And that's a scary thought. Yeah, it's easy to lay back and pile on out of ignorance when it's happening to somebody else -- but I dare say one would see it from a whole different perspective if it was happening to them, or a loved one. Especially if they were innocent.

This is not say A-Rod is innocent. What he's done or not since 2003 is unknown to yours truly. Likely to anyone reading this, as well. You may think you know -- but if you're honest with yourself -- deep down you know you really don't.

I've heard the talking heads say MLB has paper trails and mountains of evidence against Rodriguez  but, ironically, never heard MLB make that same claim. Maybe they do, and maybe they don't.

Thing is, A-Rod can continue playing because he's appealing his suspension. The first step will be to Commissioner Bud Selig and MLB itself, which will likely be a slam-dunk affirmation of the original sentence.

But eventually, if Rodriguez sticks to his guns, this whole mess will wind up in front of an arbitrator. Like a real court. At that point, MLB will have to show their supposed mountain of evidence. It will be put up or shut up time. Selig and his henchmen better hope they have the goods beyond a reasonable doubt, or the entire state of Wisconsin won't be able to supply the eggs that will be thrown in their face.

The vast majority of the other players on MLB's hit-list accepted their 50 game suspensions as first time drug policy violators. One could surmise that rather than fight it, and risk the further fury of MLB in the future, they just want to get it over with. Take the whupping, go away for a while and, most importantly, fall off the radar screen of the media vultures. Come back next year with a clean slate. It makes perfectly good sense.

Yet A-Rod poses a unique case. If he rolled over and accepted the suspension, he'd be pushing 40 before he was allowed back on the field, and would have been away from that level of competition for a year and a half. Whatever skills he stills possesses likely would have eroded away to next to nothing by that time -- the considerable money the Yankees still owe him be damned.

Two things. Obviously, Rodriguez wants to play -- now. And second, why not fight? At this point he really has nothing to lose.

Instead of all the rumors, suspicions, and heresay that we're being bombarded with -- here's a novel idea. Have everybody put their cards on the table and let the chips fall where they may. By appealing his suspension, basically this is all A-Rod is asking. He got convicted and sentenced without a trial and wants an open and fair hearing. Seems fair enough to me.

The horde of armchair prosecutors will get over it -- eventually. They will no doubt find a slew of other fish to gut and fry along the way in their minds -- even if they've never dropped a line in the water.

Though I must admit they're world class when it comes to baiting hooks.

Johnny Manziel and the Raven

First things first. Here's a shout-out to a certain lady that has recently checked out my lunacy in this forum. She's known as the Raven and hails from North Carolina -- not far from Charlotte. Serious NASCAR country. Always did have a thing for southern girls. They get my motor red-lining every time I hear their drawl. What a fine upstanding southern belle like the Raven could possibly find interesting in my rants would seem to be a mystery. But it is hoped yours truly can hold her interest for a while longer. Perhaps even nevermore. And feel free to quoth me on that. Besides, she promised me lunch. Hold the grits, please. I suspect even the deep, dark Edgar Allan Poe would have cowered when confronted with a bowl of that stuff.

Now Texas A&M quarterback, and last year's Heisman trophy winner Johnny Manziel is front and center in the sports news. Evidently, for all the wrong reasons.

Well, let's see. He tweeted something negative about his school a while back. My answer? Who cares? This is America. He can pretty well say whatever he wants. And besides, those who live and die by tweets issued by others should really consider getting a life.

Johnny Football pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of being involved in a bar fight a few years ago. Answer? This is a big deal? When I was his age, it was the rare exception NOT to get into a scuffle once in a while.

Manziel left the Manning quarterback camp early. So what? It's not like he deserted and went over to the other side while in the military. Peyton and Eli may very well be field generals on the gridiron, but I'm pretty sure they don't have the power and wherewithal to confine someone within one of their camps. Manziel could come. He did. He could go. He did, when he felt like it. This is a big deal?

Ah, but now the talking heads are all a-twitter over Manziel possibly making money over autographing football paraphernalia. The dreaded NCAA infraction committee is looking into it. Early unsubstantiated reports (sound familiar?) have it that Manziel might have agreed to a 5-figure deal with a shady character to provide his John Hancocks. Well, that shouldn't be too hard to check out. Unless he's got a whole lot of Ben Franklin's stuffed in a coffee can or buried in his back yard, one would think bank records would quickly tell the story.

Here's what people tend to forget. Manziel comes from a rather well-to-do family. Do they hand out penalties for that these days too? A while back, the media made a big deal over Manziel sitting courtside at an NBA playoff game. Some of those idiots still do. If they'd have looked a little deeper before their usual hatchet jobs, they'd have discovered his parents provided him with the ticket. Maybe his parents should be water-boarded for having the financial means to give their son a present.

Yours truly has no idea where this whole latest investigation will go, but one thing strikes me as odd.

Why would Manziel put his college career in jeopardy, and likely fall far down the NFL draft boards next year, when a 5-figure payout would seem to be chump change to his family in the first place?

Something is wrong with this picture. And I think it just might be the media propaganda.

Grass, MLB, and A-Rod

So why is it that -- I can pay big bucks for a bag of Grade A guaranteed-to-grow in sun or shade grass seed, spread it in even more high dollar bags of Mircle-Gro topsoil, including covering it with the recommended 1/4 inch, and lovingly water it every day -- and no grass grows. But when wind-blown lawn clippings find their way into the vegetable garden, every last one of those suckers seems to take root and sprout up overnight like Jack's beanstalk? I dunno. Sometimes Mother Nature can be a real bi---, well, you know.

Enough with Bud Selig and Major League Baseball rattling their sabers and threatening this and that for the guys on their PED hit-list. It's been months now. Whatever incriminating evidence they may or may not have isn't going to change. Do something or shut up.

Thing is, they HAVE to do something. After all the hype, which they've likely generated themselves with various "leaks" through "anonymous sources", and the ensuing media circus, there's no way MLB can back down. They're in way too deep. Right or wrong, legally, contractually, or collective bargainly with the players' union, they have no choice but to keep their heads lowered and charge. Anything less than that would strip Bud Selig of whatever shred of credibility he may or may not have ever had amongst the masses. So SOMETHING has to happen. I just wish they'd quit with their ivory tower circle jerk and get on with it already.

At that, it's also been reported many of the players on MLB's list have already agreed to accept 50 game suspensions and not contest them. That's their choice. But nobody would doubt Alex Rodriguez headlines the marquis. He's their current poster child, and they want to make an example of him. The latest anonymous sources say MLB is going to slap A-Rod with a 214 game suspension. An arbitrary number picked out of a hat? Hardly. That just so happens to be how many games are left in this (Yankee) season combined with the 162 in 2014. So Rodriguez would be done until the 2015 campaign when he'd be approaching 40 years old.

Just one problem. It seems A-Rod doesn't want to roll over and play dead. After trying to negotiate a settlement with MLB, presumably for a much lesser penalty, talks broke down. Now both sides are digging in. MLB has the might of it's office and virtually unlimited financial resources to wage such a war. Rodriguez has 3 high-falootin legal firms in his own corner. A serious team of some mighty shrewd and likely cutthroat legal-eagles are raring to go.

This could get ugly.

They say something will likely happen in a couple days.

Yeah? Well the guy who sold me that grass seed keeps telling me the same thing.

Come to think of it -- he looked a lot like Bud Selig.

Hmmm.