Put a new San Diego stadium at Riverwalk (My LTTE to the San Diego UT)

Thank you UT San Diego for having a voice and taking a stance. I strongly believe that a new stadium is a significant benefit for San Diego.  As a local advertising, marketing and PR professional for 30 + years, the often overlooked value of our stadium are the impressions and the media exposure (advertising, in game, PR,) that events here make for our tourism industry and our general economy.  Imagine viewing late season football, playoffs, NCAA Bowls and Super Bowl games all shown from our beautiful, warm, welcoming city while you are literally freezing.

The doomsayers/naysayers/wet blanket no public money crowd will squawk, But I ask, why are cities across the country building stadiums for sports?  I believe that they realize sports teams, collegiate and professional, add to the quality of life for literally millions of people in a metro area.  Sport teams are a unifying point.  The market and desire for building stadiums and arenas is strong everywhere in the USA.  Most importantly, for San Diego, this is a marketing opportunity.

That said, I believe a potential site for a stadium has been overlooked.  It's hard to believe such a large parcel of land has not been considered but I have not seen it mentioned anywhere.

The option is Riverwalk Golf Course (sorry San Diego golfers).  While the property does not have the symmetry of the current stadium footprint, I believe that the acreage is similar, if not larger.  The trolley runs through the center of the property.  There is a need to do some flood mitigation work in that area and that could be done in conjunction with the project. It would also allow for work to be done to extend the public access trail system along the San Diego River further west from the current terminus.  Golf course land is not currently very expensive so the price to acquire the land should not be prohibitive.  I believe an exclusive access lane/road/exit could be built on the site from the current south bound 163, west bound 8 Hotel Circle North exit.  There is conceivably access from I-5 as well (I’m a Cal Trans believer).  Yes traffic would still be bad on game days, but that is inevitable and expected anywhere and in just about every other city that has a stadium.  There is a built in destination before and after the games with the Mission Valley malls within easy walking distance.  It is only about a mile as the crow flies to Old Town from there as well. 

Thank you for considering my idea.

Sorry Chris Kluwe fans, he's playing us and is a hypocrite.

Chris Kluwe calls out the coaches of the Vikings and says that they are cowards for 

#1 not standing up for what was right or 

#2 because they were afraid that if they did the right thing, their careers would be in jeopardy. 

I'll give Chris credit for taking a stance while he was a player. His statements and Comic Con lifestyle created buzz, was covered by many media outlets and made him the most covered punter in the NFL. His high profile lead to massive media attention including gigs writing for multiple media outlets including Sports Illustrated. 

After the Vikings, Chris was cut by the Oakland Raiders this Fall. He lost his job to a young, black punter with a stronger leg and was significantly less money. Chris went through the year, hoping to get back in to the NFL as a punter while keeping up his media profile. 

By the end of the year it became obvious that he was done - he's old (by NFL standards), expensive, marginally productive and ...yes ...controversial. 

So he calls Viking coach Leslie Frazier and GM Rick Spielman cowards because they wanted to lay low to presumably to protect their employment. But he only decides to write the article (which he acknowledges with kill any chance of a career) AFTER he and the entire football world comes to the conclusion that he will never play in the NFL again anyway. 

Therefore, he has nothing else to lose and he has no employment to jeopardize. By writing this well timed, post season, playoffs atmosphere, NFL withdrawal period article his "courage", celebrity and media desirability will be enhanced more than any other NFL player's calculated, post career spin campaign. 

He will get praises for the article, but how do you not see the hypocrisy? 

This smells like a very calculated self promotion.

The Vancouver Hockey Riots, Ben Johnson and my 2nd favorite city in the world..

Vancouver is my 2nd favorite city in the world, San Diego is my first.

I was in Seoul for the Olympics in 1988. While there I ran in to a Canadian journalist 3 times. Each conversation was a revelation for me, maybe for him.

The first time was early in the trip. Our conversation revolved around his contention that Americans were overly jingoistic. Americans were crazy emphatic about their country. They waved flags, wore their colors, were loud and overly proud. The underlying message was that Americans were scary, simplistic and embarrassingly patriotic. He thought that they were basically simple, stupid, mind numbed robots.

My explanation to him has (in my mind) proved to be incredibly prescient. I said, the Americans were not overly crazed about their country or athletes. As a matter of fact, in most instances we cared for our athletes and their performance much less than other countries. Brazil, Jamaica, Japan being just a few examples.

My point was American fans in Korea wanted to get on TV. Period.

American fans knew that if they wore their colors, went crazy, showed a sign that displayed NBC's letters or logo in some creative way, their friends and family would see them on TV from Korea. I said the American fan's ardor and passion were not signs of war mongering loyalty, they just were more media savvy and knew how to get noticed to get on television.

The Canadian journalist's reaction was perplexed. I think he thought I was smart and even tempered. I think he had a bit of a revelation and thought maybe this guy is right for SOME of the crazy Yankees. We toasted and parted.

The next time I saw him, (there were only so many bars to go to in Itaewon), Ben Johnson had won the 100 meter dash earlier in the day. He was about as pumped as the StayPuft dude in the last scene of Ghostbusters. A CANADIAN had won the 100 (IMO, a black, expat Jamaican, but whatever). He was buying drinks, woo hooing and having a great time. A sports fanatic knows what it's like when YOUR team wins. He was feeling it BIG TIME, +patriotism, + Canadian pride, +++ alchohol, +++ fellow Canadians. He was having a big, big night and I had a great time with the whole gang.

I think it was a day or two later, but I saw him the night they stripped Ben Johnson of his gold medal for testing positive for steroids. There are events that "legitimately" crush your spirit. They usually involve a real tragedy. You lose a love, a relative dies, your dog of 14 years passes, you get fired after 22 years, divorce, etc.

My Canadian journalist was inconsolable. He was crushed by something that many reasonable people would say he was crazy for even caring about in the first place. Examples include Red Sox fans before 2004, Ohioans after "The Decision", Cub fans and Skynard fans when they don't play "Freebird".

My Canadian journalist crashed, burned and flamed. For those two days HE was the crazy American he had contempt for. His joy in Ben Johnson was justified, righteous and superior because an underdog Canadian had WON. The highest of highs to the lowest of lows.

The Vancouver hockey riots reminded me of that Canadian journalist. The collective embarrassment of the Canadian media and citizens is like the crash of a 4 year old after an unlimited spree of Skittles and Red Vines. Canadians just are not like Americans. With stuff like this they are, well, just better than that.

The Vancouver citizens rioted because they were drunk, experienced in riots from the Olympics & that Global Capitalist meeting a few years ago, were sports heart broken, pride wounded, pissed off, without adult (police) supervision and it seemed like fun & good idea at the time.

Basically they rioted for the same reasons we celebrate/riot here in the USA - our teams win/lose or we kill Osama Bin Laden.

Our Canadian brothers and sisters are not better, worse or different than we are.

I love them even more for it.

I love it that President Obama golfs a lot.

I love it that our President Obama golfs a lot.

The fact that President Obama plays and loves the game I love makes me proud to be a golfer.

When I get a chance to play I play on San Diego courses, I pay $30 at Coronado, $29 at Balboa, $42 at Torrey Pines and $25 at some other courses. If I play twilight, I can pay less than $20 and often get in 18 holes. I always walk, so I do not pay cart fees.

The idea that golfers are all rich, country clubbers is one the most ignorant stereotypes that exist in the USA. I meet varied denizens of San Diego every color, creed, gender, sexual preference and income. I've made really good friends with people I have met on the course that I do other things with. I've met people who I enjoy golfing with because they share my love of the game, but off the course they are jerks and I'll have nothing to do with them.

Golf is a great physical challenge, it is hard to play well. Golf is decent exercise if you walk. Here in San Diego, golf is a beautiful experience, some times spiritual - Torrey Pines at sunset for example. For me, it is a contemplative, competitive, thought provoking sport/game/hobby/passion.

I think golf helps our President mentally. I am all for him playing as often as he can. My dream would be to join him, kick his butt and collect a few skins in the process.

My comment about hurricane possibility article in San Diego.

I read this story a week ago, it is really stupid and ill conceived.I lived in Honolulu and now San Diego, 1 and 2 on the list. Every USA coastal city and town in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and Atlantic should be listed ahead of San Diego and Honolulu even if they got hit by a hurricane yesterday.The warmest the Pacific on the West Coast will likely get in at least the next 10 years is maybe 75 degrees and that temperature might last for about a week. That plus the jet stream out here with the high altitude winds that shear off the tops of hurricanes make the likelihood of a Category 1 or higher storm hitting San Diego about 0.

Honolulu' odds are higher, but Pacific hurricanes are so much more random in motion than the Atlantic spawned storms. Their erratic motion, plus they have to get past the cold water east of Hawaii makes a Category 1 or higher storm hitting Oahu much lower than any US East Coast city in August or September. But, for any place in Hawaii, like any place on the East Coast of the USA, the danger is real.

For San Diego, we should not waste our time worrying about hurricanes. That guy should get his license and ability to write stupid stories like his revoked.

We are not going to run out of fresh drinking water.

Some technologies that could be used to mitigate future waters shortages and water wars.

Down-welling/Aquifer replenishment - take water when there is an excess i.e. this year from the river floods and pump it down in to the aquifers and wells we have. Yeah I know, the filtration process of the earth purifies the water so we might be polluting the aquifers and wells, how about we start with the dried up and polluted aquifers that currently exist.

Massive storage - when you are storing something thing that is non toxic, you can build flimsy, cheap storage vehicles. If one breaks, crakes, fails patch it or leave it. These can be above or below ground (better) think that Saudi Arabia or other oil rich, water poor countries can't build massive storage reserviours.?

Desalination - rising oceans from global warming, massive desalination to create water supplies that will keep ocean levels consistent

Ice and water mining - glaciers melting? Build massive ships that can move water from point A to point B. Again, since we are building ships to move a non toxic material, who cares about double hulls and other safety features. Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland, Norway can become the new Saudi Arabia.

Pipelines - Now build massive pipelines that move this water from Point A to Point B. For example, it is relatively flat from the Mississippi accross the fruited plain going west. Why not build really big pipes to take all that excess water west to our farm lands where they can use or store it? Pipes spring leak, no big deal. In our country we can use rail and freeway right of ways to run the pipes on the surface. Same elsewhere

New reservoirs - think like the Chinese. Build new reservoirs and pipe systems distribution systems. A big pipe system right down I-5 to take water from the Pacific Northwest to LA baby.

My comment about Augusta National article from Joe Posnanski

Joe, I believe you give Augusta no chance at innocence based upon your words - "I REALLY don’t want them (your daughters) to be members of Augusta National. A ludicrously rich group of men will not invite a ludicrously rich woman to join their ludicrously exclusive club with its shameful history of denying anyone even slightly different?” You suffer from pure financial/class envy. Augusta hires Pinkerton Guards (yes I know the labor history of the Pinkertons). Maybe one of these contractors made a mistake, was not informed, or even acted maliciously. You give that no credence and automatically attack Augusta and the wealthy. You, Barak Obama and many Liberals believe being very rich is “ludicrous” and a negative to society. With the exception of inherited wealth, I believe the vast majority people in this country earned their riches legally, ethically and the accumulation of their wealth did not get taken away but rather benefitted many, many people. Finally, you have no idea if Augusta has or does not have female members. Their membership is private. I strongly believe that Augusta already has female members but do not feel it necessary to disclose that. Wouldn’t it be ironic to you and Martha Burke if Sandra Dey O'Conner, Condoleezza Rice and other prominent female golfers already are members? Perhaps there are members who love and have contributed to golf, who have even less money than you? Capitalists who attain great wealth and in the aggregate leave the world a much better place are not "ludicrous". Your socialistic bias and petty jealously has made you a bearded, Kool-Aid drinking, bitter clinger of 60’s era left brain washing. This attitude is shared by the members of your own Augusta – the sports journalists of America are even more narrow minded than Augusta members.

John M. Dowd Response

Danny - The value of privacy to very public people is extremely valuable, Barak Obama himself says it is what he misses the most. So it is very plausible to me that a member of Augusta might not want to disclose they are a member even if it benefited the Club. The Club, I assume, does not want members who use their membership in a public manner to benefit themselves. Bottom line, we do not know who are their members and there is no benefit to Augusta to disclose it even if YOU believe you'd rather disclose than be a protest target. My point about Bill Gates is that if you are Augusta, it might be cool to let the world know Bill Gates is in your club and visa versa the fact is neither disclosed it. Lez, Mr. P specifically and vehemently identifies Augusta members a ludicrously "rich" and that is why he does want his daughters to join. I believe a contractor might have messed up. J.P assumes Augusta is guilty and ties that in with being rich. My point is that we don’t know anything, it is private. Lez, I don not listen to, watch or read Glen Beck, I am a Dittohead. J - Mr. P himself repeatedly said "ludicrously rich" was his x-factor in joining Augusta, nothing else. Therefore, my takeaway is he has a problem with the rich. I have also read his other columns and you get a sense of his core values through his writing. J, you wrote “You are beginning with a particular, biased reading of his statements." Of course I am. I am reading his article. He did not write negatively or even mention power, he only mentioned "rich". Eron, as I said before, we do not know about Augusta’s policies, you and Joe P choose to believe they are discriminatory, I choose to believe there is a possibility that you are wrong and they actually might have female members. If they invite me to join (on scholarship) and I find out there are female members, I will not tell a soul because it would be none of their business. Wanting to know is not the same as right to know. We have no right to know Augusta's business.

That said, I really enjoy reading your stories and I have nothing negative to say about your personal choice of seeking a perfect beard or maintaining a middle income lifestyle in flyover country.

My Comment Republican Mean Girls - Maureen Dowd's Column

Below is my response to Maureen Dowd's column about Republicans being "mean girls".

There is a surge of women running for office across the country who do not share Maureen's liberal/progressive, north-east mentality. They are asserting their own viewpoint and challenging feminists to decide if they are for women or just for liberal women. The same is happening with the NAACP. So far groups like NOW and the NAACP are showing low levels of tolerance if not outright hostility to people who are the right sex and color but just do not agree with them politically.

Maureen in this article lumps together many prominent Republican women who are not in lock step with 60's style feminism. I have seen this many times with liberal women who are alleged feminists. They are hostile and contemptuous of those who are on the other side of the aisle. They are the mean and intolerant ones. They sound petty, jealous, shrill and like they are deathly afraid of losing their monopoly.

Maureen, get used to it, there is a surge in women who have an opposite view of you, they can’t all be bad.

Boycott Arizona - You Will Hurt Women, Minorities and The Poor.

If the boycotts of AZ are successful, those hurt the most will be low wage workers, mainly women and minorities in the hospitality industry. These are the very people the "boycotters" are saying they are trying to protect.

The unintended consequences of "good" intentions more often than not wind up really bad.

Remember Jimmy Carter?

Profiling Is Like Privacy..."Get Over It"

According to the liberal left, we should make arresting illegal aliens who are questioned because they are usually doing something illegal, illegal?

Those of you who know me know that I am a huge proponent of immigration, immigrant rights, even mixed immigrant marriage!!! The fact that everyone in Arizona is being called racist because they want to control illegal activity that is threatening their safety is sickening.

If any of my well off friends, living in their beautiful communities had their home towns over run with illegal activity that threatened them, they would pass laws to protect their self, family and property. They would expect the police to enforce them and protect them. This is what is happening in Arizona.

I used to go to Mexico often for dinner with my father when I first moved to California in 1984. "Dad, want to go to TJ for seafood?" Out the door, in the car, 20 minutes seated, great meal, back to the border, 5-10 minutes in line, home in bed before 10.

For many San Diegans, going down to K 38 and K55 to surf for the day was the norm. The biggest complaint was that the line up got to crowded. I took my small children and Heidi to Mexico a lot. If you visited me in San Diego back then, more often than not, we took a trip to Mexico.

We do not currently go to Mexico at all right now because it is just not worth the risk. The same liberals who would not go to Mexico right now think that the bad things that happen there are not related to what happens here.

They are wrong.

Their naive, well intentioned but dangerously incompetent ideas are similar to Jimmy Carter's mindset.

Profiling people and saying they are like Jimmy Carter, now that is an insult.

The Olympics Are The Planet's Best Celebration.

I am old enough to have seen the transition from all amateurs (mostly) to all corporate. Overall, I think it is a very positive thing for the millions of athletes who fail to fulfill their dream of going to the Olympics. They win because they did dream and did try. I was a competitive swimmer growing up. From around 8-9 years old, I knew when my Olympic window was, what years and where. I did not get there. But, even paying attention, training, competing, keeping myself relatively healthy (trust me I was no monk in H.S. and after)was a good thing to go through and has been a good balance in my life. Also, for many people around the world, it is really a time to see the scope of the world we live in. The flags, foreign faces, costumes all are educational. Yeah, we should know all that stuff, but we don't. I guarantee that 99+++% of the people who watch an Opening Ceremony or any significant amount of competition learn something new and extraordinary about sport, people and places. Look at all the hope, joy and love on the young faces of the thousands of athletes who will not win gold, not get million$$$. It is the privilege of their lives just to be there. I revere the Olympic Games. They are not perfect, but they are the best thing we have in terms the celebration of the potential of humans.

My Fix For The NFL Pro Bowl.

Dear NFL,

I have the perfect, multi pronged, long term solution to your Pro Bowl challenges. I offer you these solutions to adopt with one caveat. If you choose to go down this yellow brick path that I have created for you, I have one request - I'd like to work on the event. Not a free pass, I'm not asking for full time with benefits, but a meaningful job setting all this up for you. The rest of my contribution is on me.

These are the challenges.

1. The Media Thinks The Pro Bowl Is Pinata. This is their big opportunity to show their readers that that they are not in the tank for the NFL. So, whatever you do, they get to write their annual condescending column. It's like restaurant reviewers who always beat up on the national chains. Even if they like the Pro Bowl, none of them will admit it. My solution takes care of that.
2. The Players Are Not Playing. They are coming up with reasons not to play. It is the worst case Swine Flu scenario come to life.
3. The Players Think It Is Cool Not To Play. The game has lost its MoJo.
4. The Players Families/Friends/Posse/Entourage Are Not Psyched To Go. They are not excited, motivated or interested in going to the game. It is one more chore at the end of a long grind. "I thought YOU were going to take the kids to school next week." "What do you mean you are canceling the job of being the starting gun for the Monster Truck Rally".
5. The Players That Are In The Super Bowl Are Out. This happens right now because the week before does not work and the week after is to soon. This automatically eliminates the best players, who are the most widely recognized brands from one of your marquee games.
6. The Destination Is Not A Motivator. Hawaii is something any player can do any off week of the year. The Super Bowl city rotation - B-O-R-I-N-G. The players know the towns, been there done that.
7. The Sponsors Could Use An Upgrade. The NFL does a great job with sponsors, but my proposal makes the sponsors part of the family and makes the experience WAY better.
8. The NFL Brand Gets Beat Up Locally And Generates ZERO Buzz Globally. The NFL has only have one overseas game a year.

So, here are the solutions.

• Super Size The Destination - Make the Pro Bowl an incredible once in a lifetime experience (every year) for the players, family, entourage coaches, sponsors, media and league. The reason the Pro Bowl went to Hawaii in the first place was that at one time it was a DESTINATION. Once upon a time, Pro Bowlers might not be able to afford, be willing to pay for or think it is a great reward to have a full, free, fun filled week in Hawaii. Times change. Today, NFL players that make the Pro Bowl can quit tomorrow and never work another day in their life. Let's make the Pro Bowl a dream vacation. Eye candy for the TV audiences and truly unique, once in a lifetime, inside the ropes reward for those who earn the trip.
• Invite & Pay For The Media. - Newspapers, magazines, local TV and Sports Radio are hurting. Select media representatives in NFL cities and pay for their on the ground trip plus 6 more passes for them. Even the most tight fisted Managing Editor can come up with the charter air fair. Give them access to everything on this dream trip. All of the outings, tours, dinners, practices, etc. They will have down time, encourage them to write glowing tributes to the host city and country in order to help the NFL justify the model and make sure more cities and countries bid to try and get the NFL Pro Bowl.
• Move it to Thursday Night 10 days after the Super Bowl. You want your stars to play. In order for that to happen, you have to let them heal their bodies, minds and psychs. Let them go to the parade of champions. All players go on Wed before the game, Super Bowl players and guests on Saturday before the game.
• 100 All Expenses Packages For The Players - For who ever they want to bring. This along with their extra pay day will make sure that it is really a bonus for the players. Their peers, agents, business managers and family will make sure they play. Every person who is close to them will pressure them to play because you have Super Sized The Destination.
• Copy The Olympic, US Open & Survivor Site Awarding Process - Make the Pro Bowl destination a competitive process. If the Pro Bowl can bring 25,000 - 50,000 people to a destination for a week, with all the attendant press coverage, local PR, visuals, etc. you can get countries to organize their bids and possibly augment the extra expenses that are incurred through the expanded award system for the players, sponsors and media. The focus should be on areas that the NFL want exposure in and places that the family and friends of the NFL players would absolutely not let their players say no to. Things that would offset the additional expenses for the NFL would include comp tours, hotel, meals, stadium rental, security, etc. There are a lot of concessions that the NFL can get from local governments who won't be protesting against PSLs, subsidizing stadiums, zoning laws and carbon footprints of a tailgate party. They will compete with each other and roll out the red carpet. Think taking the Super Bowl award process in turning it International.
• The Fraternity of The NFL - Whenever a group of people travel together they will for the most part bond. Most of the young NFL Pro Bowlers because of practice schedules and socio-economic circumstances did not tour Europe after their Senior year of college. For the vast majority of the players an overseas trip will be an eye opening experience. I can say the same for just about every constituent group with the exception of owners. A Super Sized Destination will really be a bonding experience for the elite of the league. Sponsors, media, other teams will get to know the young players on the trip and maybe get them thinking about what a big world this is and that there is a life to plan for after football.
• The Fans will love to watch one more game with the real stars of the NFL. Especially if the best players play, there are great stories, educational segments about foreign countries and cultures. For example, I need an excuse to turn on football during the week because of my no TV on weekdays for the kids rule.
• Start a Travel Company, Make Money off the tours. Nuff said.
• Some Locations:
• Pro Bowl Cruise - Everybody docks in a port during the day, practice, sail at night to their new destination. Game in Puerto Rico, Rome, Cairo, Honolulu, Sydney, Cape Town, Morocco, etc.
• The Base of the Pyramids in Egypt
• London, Paris, Munich everybody loves pop music.
• Rio
• The Birdsnest in Beijing
• Easter Island
• Yeah, Hawaii.
• Morocco
• Bali
• Inside the Diamond Head Crater
• Tokyo
• Korea
• Moscow
• Keep An Opt In Option For a Katrina/Haiti Type of Situation. - The best cure for a disaster is tourism. Not grants, not tax credits but old fashioned go there with a bunch of people spending.

After the Storm in Pacific Beach CA 1-22-09

This was a Friday afternoon after a week for high winds, really high surf and lots of rain. Then, the foam explosion. The dog is our pug Mochee. Kate likes the way the foam looks like the clouds in pictures 2 & 3.

Scott Brown, The New York Times & The Vast Chasm Between Right and Left.

I've been watching the Scott Brown election and noticing some very interesting explanations of his victory.

If you are on the Left - Scott Brown won because the Obama administration has not been Liberal enough. If you are on the Right - Scott Brown won because the Obama administration has been way to Liberal.

OK.

For me, the best short example of this vast discord has come from the New York Times. In an Op-Ed today they spoke of Scott Brown.

"He strives for 'total discipline' but can be prone to curious public statements ... he has fashioned a 'nice guy' image while sometimes offending ( saying, for instance, in 2001 that lesbians having children was 'not normal')".

For the record, I am in favor of gay couples being able to have the same rights as "married" couples.

But to the NY Times, Scott Brown saying Lesbians having children is not normal is akin to saying he is a reactionary, homophobic, Nazi, Fascist, war mongering, in favor of violence against women moron - (Keith Olbermann video) .

On the big planet we live on, without vast technology, money, time, laws and desire - lesbians having children is not something that happens in Haiti and most places on the planet. So, it is not "normal".

This is why the NY Times and Liberals have such a vast disconnect with people outside their demographic. For Scott Brown to say lesbians having children is not "normal" is a "normal" statement for a vast majority of people who live on this planet.

That is a simple fact.

For the NY Times to assume that a statement like that makes Scott Brown something other than a "nice guy" is out of the mainstream.

So for a person who wants responsible Republicans to once again be in charge I say to the Democrats- please, please, please follow the advice of Keith Olbermann, Racheal Madow, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, push for Health Care Reform, Cap & Trade, Climate Change legislation, Card Check, higher taxes, smaller military, Miranda rights for those who attack America, no profiling and of course much more Socialism.

GO FOR IT!!! PUSH, PUSH, PUSH THE ULTRA LIBERAL AGENDA. YOU'LL WIN.

IF YOU DON'T PUSH THE ULTRA LEFT AGENDA YOU ARE NOT NORMAL AND YOU ARE AND NOT NICE PEOPLE. GO LEFT, LEFT AND MORE LEFT FOR 2010!!!

January Weekend in San Diego

The "wall" arms linked, Allison Dowd left, teammate center, Kate Dowd on the right. 1-16-10.

I had to get up a bit early today to drive my twin girls to their soccer game this morning. Bit chilly for us 55 at 8 AM. But now I'm comfortable, windows open and we might even get some (gasp!) rain this week.

My adopted home town is playing the East Rutherford/swamp/landfill/hwy exit/Hoffa's grave Jets.

So do I go the beach, play golf, go for a hike, sun bathe, bike ride, surf or watch the game?

I remember watching these games (usually at 4 PM EST) when I was a kid in Staten Island, NY. I was an AFL fan, Jet fan. I could not get over the fact that while we were getting ice and snow cuts on our hands while playing football outside, the people on TV were in short sleeves, the sun was shining and the girls were hot (enough to wear short sleeves). I'll throw the USC and UCLA games in to the mix as well. Broadcast AFL games were probably part of the reason I am here in So Cal, chomping on fish tacos.

Happy January Sunday everyone.

Generation Look Down

We are seeing a generation that looks down and not around. They are focused on winking display screens and are missing the majestic mountains.

Is this the evolution of the television generations before them?

Are we seeing a generation that will be defined by what they watch others do on their little screens?

Is this necessarily bad?

Prime Number Family

All of my family members have prime number birthdays

• 1-29 - Kate & Allie
• 2-13 - Heidi
• 11-3 - Johnny

Not me though. 5-12 almost all prime, but not quite.

Jimmy Carter Is Why I Am A Republican

To paraphrase Jimmy Carter's idiotic rant about race last week - " I grew in the South in the 40's and 50's . I knew racists. Racists do not like black people. President Obama is black. President Obama is being criticized. The people who are criticizing him must be racists."

Jimmy, THE IDIOT, is just as naive as he always has been

When I was 18 I voted for Jimmy Carter in my first vote for a President. That was the stupidest vote I have ever and will ever cast.

Shortly after that vote, I realized that good intentions and supposed intelligence were NOT enough to run our country. Since then, Jimmy Carter has been a gift to the Republicans that just keeps on giving. He is the worst President of the past two centuries and possibly in our entire history. I can think of NOTHING worthwhile that this man has done. If it were not for him, we might have had real peace.

Some of Jimmy's other blunders:

• Boycotting The 1980 Olympics
• The Iranian Hostage Crisis & Botched Response
• Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Afghanistan
• Iran, Iran, Iran
  
• The Energy Crisis
• The Double Digit Inflation, Unemployment Rate and Energy Price Increases
• The Sweaters
• Muslim Appeasement at the Expense of Israel
• The ineptitude of Houses For Humanity - crappy construction, unsustainable model, but it felt good
• His worst sin and lasting contribution - symbolism over substance.
• Ironically his Anglo centric view of the world completely missed what was happening in Asia.
• HE was, still is and always will be THE RACIST.

His absolute most egregious evil, most profoundly asinine, cancerous, poisonous, loathsome, murderous, long range destructive impact on THE USA is his motto that

"Good intentions make it OK, even if bad results happen".

This alone is the worst idea that any American leader has EVER had.

The fact that this "motto" still exists in the minds of most Liberals is a testament of the damage that Jimmy Carter's incompetence has put upon this great world.

9-11 Hero, Chuck Margiotta - God Bless and Keep You Always

Chuck Margiotta gave his life on 9-11-01 trying to save others. He was off duty, a NYC Fireman, when the planes hit. He was on his way home. He turned around and went to help.

http://chuckmargiotta.com/

The stories, tributes, scholarships, memorials and love that are on his website are so emotional and heart felt. God bless his brother, Mike - my classmate, teammate and friend for keeping the glow from Chuck's soul alive and spreading.

Please take a look at the site and see for yourself the life of one of our heroes.

Chuck was my high school football teammate, one year my senior. When I first met Chuck, we were going through our Freshman hazing during summer training. We were happy we made the team, but we were now subject to standard rookie abuse. Chuck was hard on us, but he conveyed to me a feeling that this was tough, but fun, don't worry. I didn't.

I was trying something one day at practice, punting the ball so it would go backwards over my head. Don't ask me why, I don't know. Anyway, I kicked myself in the chin, and bit my tongue, hard, really hard. I was a mess. Poor Chuck is the first guy I saw and I said "Chuck, can you look at this?" I opened my mouth at him and he said "Let's go see coach" and walked me over. I have really no idea how I got to the hospital to get my 6 stitches, but I did. I heard somewhere once that the tongue does not scar. Whoever said that or believes it is wrong.

My memories of Chuck are:

• He was one tough cookie.
• He loved to swagger and was usually the center of the room.
• He was totally self aware.
• He used his stature to perfect effect with his wry sense of humor.
• He was the first guy I know that got an ear ring. when someone asked him why, he said "I wasn't getting in to enough fights!".
• He went to an Ivy League College - Brown University where he was loved.
• He graduated with a double major.
• He joined the New York City Fire Department.
• He lived and died a Staten Islander.

I personally knew at least 4 people who died on 9-11-01. I was in Hawaii at the time when my friend Stich called me to tell me what happened. I knew that I knew people in those buildings as soon as I turned on the TV at 4 AM local time.

Such evil.

The Badwill Games

In 1980, Jimmy Carter came up with the idea that boycotting the Olympics in Moscow would solve the problem of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Ted Turner did not like the USA leading a boycott of the Olympic Games. He created and then funded the Goodwill Games. He spent his own money to make sure that the athletes who had been training their entire sporting lives with the 1980 Olympics as their goal did not get totally stiffed by Carter's best intentioned, but 100% stupid boycott.

Since then we have had more drug stories about athletes than I can possibly put on a single blog.

So, here is my idea - The "BADWILL GAMES" - the ultimate series of Libertarian sporting events.

If I had all the money that Ted Turner had, I'd form a football, baseball, basketball and Olympic style leagues. Individual athletes would not be tested for anything. In the words of California's Governator they could smoke, snort, shoot, eat, insert anything they wanted to, as much as they wanted, as often as they desired.

The only rule would be, you have to be alive at the finish of your event.

Who ever wins, wins.

For example, in the 100 meter race, if you ran, exploded just after you crossed the finish line , your heirs would get their cash reward. Swimmers could have the water around them boil before they burst in to flames, bicyclers could ride with IV hookups on their handle bars, steroid and amphetamine fueled batters would try and rip the cover off of balls tossed by HGH enhanced pitchers who's arms fly off after they throw a 135 mph fastball.

How entertaining would that be?

The Games would be filled with chemically infused competitors going for it without any rules or regulations whatsoever.

Take what you want, when you want, as much as you want, as often as you want.

Let's see how fast, how high, how far, how much the human body could go using all of the pharmacological technology that we have available to us. I wonder what the 100 meter time would be? How many home runs could be hit? How far could a javelin be thrown?

The "Badwill Games" would truly test the limits of the human body, mind, spirit, self destructiveness in order to see what we are capable of as a species.

No rules would rule.