I will admit that I watch "Jersey Shore." In fact I haven't missed an episode. It renewed my faith in reality TV. And the creator, SallyAnn Salsano is a genius. Her newest project appears to be even better.
How is this not the best idea for a reality TV show ever? It's like Mean Girls in real life.
The amount of awkwardness and discomfort will be through the roof. And I will love every minute of it. Think about it. Mothers and daughters fight and that is entertaining. Now add the competing parent syndrome, the uncomfortable "I think I'm the same age as my daughter," and general bitchiness between young women that age and what you have is a napalm of endless unintentional comedy, entertainingly ridiculous drama, and good old fashioned American family dysfunction. I know I will tune it.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
My Last Nerve
I am a Washington Redskins fan. It has been mostly a painful experience, but since my first memory of watching pro football was watching the Redskins beat the Bills to win Super Bowl XXVI I have been a fan. I tried very hard to de-fan myself in the early 2000s when the outlook was bleak but I couldn't do it.
Well I am almost at that point now. One move could make me give up the Redskins for good: trading for Peyton Manning. This is the exact type of move that set the Skins back so many times, wasting valuable draft picks to get the immediate impact player, who is past their prime (see. Donovan McNabb, Bruce Smith, Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle-El, Alber Haynesworth, I can keep going but I would run out of page length). But this trade would be devastating.
The Colts would never trade Manning right? Ask Joe Montana about that and he actually won multiple Super Bowls. Since it is no secret the Colts are actively trying to go 0-16 so they can land the top pick you have to assume they want Andrew Luck. With the salary structure, Manning's contract, his age, his health, the smart move for the Colts is to get someone to over-reach for Manning. They could get multiple draft picks and a quality player to fill many of their other holes that Manning was able to paper over.
Why would this be a bad thing for the Redskins? Besides the McNabb experiment as an example I give you this. The Redskins, when healthy this year looked like a decent team. There is no depth in the secondary, or the offensive line, and we still need a quarterback. If we were getting Peyton Manning from 3 years ago maybe this would be an excuse. But we wouldn't. The Redskins would be getting a 36 year old who has had 3 neck surgeries in 2 years. And behind that offensive line, there is no chance he would stay healthy.
The other reason this would be bad is because of the way the new CBA locks rookies into teams for much cheaper than they have in years past. This means the best way to build a team is through the draft. This is one lesson the Redskins have failed at under Snyder. It is why they brought in Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan: they know that value comes in the draft because you build depth cheaply. To get Manning the Redskins would have to give up a lot of draft picks, which would set the team back on course to where it had been since 2000 when Snyder took over and began treating it like a fantasy football team.*
*This year's draft especially should have good depth in both the defensive backfield and offensive lines (two gaping holes), and there should be more than one QB (I'd like to see Kellen Moore as Drew Brees 2.0, undersized but smart, accurate, and a winner).
I can't go through that frustration again. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results (thank you Albert Einstein). If the Redskins start doing the same thing they used to and expecting it to be different, they are insane to think I can keep rooting for them.
Well I am almost at that point now. One move could make me give up the Redskins for good: trading for Peyton Manning. This is the exact type of move that set the Skins back so many times, wasting valuable draft picks to get the immediate impact player, who is past their prime (see. Donovan McNabb, Bruce Smith, Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle-El, Alber Haynesworth, I can keep going but I would run out of page length). But this trade would be devastating.
The Colts would never trade Manning right? Ask Joe Montana about that and he actually won multiple Super Bowls. Since it is no secret the Colts are actively trying to go 0-16 so they can land the top pick you have to assume they want Andrew Luck. With the salary structure, Manning's contract, his age, his health, the smart move for the Colts is to get someone to over-reach for Manning. They could get multiple draft picks and a quality player to fill many of their other holes that Manning was able to paper over.
Why would this be a bad thing for the Redskins? Besides the McNabb experiment as an example I give you this. The Redskins, when healthy this year looked like a decent team. There is no depth in the secondary, or the offensive line, and we still need a quarterback. If we were getting Peyton Manning from 3 years ago maybe this would be an excuse. But we wouldn't. The Redskins would be getting a 36 year old who has had 3 neck surgeries in 2 years. And behind that offensive line, there is no chance he would stay healthy.
The other reason this would be bad is because of the way the new CBA locks rookies into teams for much cheaper than they have in years past. This means the best way to build a team is through the draft. This is one lesson the Redskins have failed at under Snyder. It is why they brought in Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan: they know that value comes in the draft because you build depth cheaply. To get Manning the Redskins would have to give up a lot of draft picks, which would set the team back on course to where it had been since 2000 when Snyder took over and began treating it like a fantasy football team.*
*This year's draft especially should have good depth in both the defensive backfield and offensive lines (two gaping holes), and there should be more than one QB (I'd like to see Kellen Moore as Drew Brees 2.0, undersized but smart, accurate, and a winner).
I can't go through that frustration again. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results (thank you Albert Einstein). If the Redskins start doing the same thing they used to and expecting it to be different, they are insane to think I can keep rooting for them.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Trying to Understand Penn State
Everyone is quick to damn Joe Paterno. This makes no sense to me. Everyone loves Michael Jackson. It was the worst thing to ever happen when he died. His doctor deserved to rot in jail for his part in it. Everyone conveniently forgot that Mr. Jackson was the one touching the kids. Joe Paterno never once laid hands on any of the alleged victims here. In fact I would venture to say he probably doesn't even remember seeing them.
What is hard to stomach is that Joe Paterno was a coach dedicated to the true purpose of college football. His players graduated. His players didn't take money. His program was clean. The entire athletic department had never been found guilty of an NCAA violation. Yet coaches like Lane Kiffin, John Calipari, Nick Saban, Mack Brown they all get to keep their jobs despite putting winning before the rules and even worse academics. Those coaches chew their players up, get what they want out of them, tell them they will go pro so class doesn't matter (even though a majority won't), don't prepare them for life after sports. JoePa not only put his players first, but in doing so he was successful. That is not something you see in college sports today.
Today you win by buying the best junior college QB. You win by having someone take the SAT for your star recruit so he can remain eligible. You win by paying the mortgage of you running back's parents' house. Then you split town when as soon as trouble shows up leaving the school to pay for your crimes. Paterno not only played within the rules, but he did it with steadfast loyalty and success. And how did the Penn State trustees repay him: a phone call telling him he was fired. All as a knee jerk reaction to public misconception.
Judging from 90% of the statuses on Facebook, most people did not know the facts of this story. Most people believed that Joe was standing there watching as his defensive coordinator did unspeakable things to children. That simply is not true. Joe Paterno was told by an graduate assistant of suspicious behavior of a former employee. He did not witness anything. He is not the police. His job is to coach football. He told his superiors the information he was told. Those two men were the ones who failed to act. Those two men were the ones who decided to cover it up. Not Joe Paterno.
Can you make the case that Paterno should have done more? Yes, of course. It is easy to sit back almost 10 years later and say he made a mistake. And that is where the tragedy is: one mistake brings what should be considered a shining model of how to be a college coach crashing down as some sort of devil. One instance of not doing quite enough is enough to destroy a man's otherwise spotless legacy.
For 46 years Paterno did things the right way. That kind of loyalty and success is unprecedented. I am not saying that he should have kept his job, I am simply saying that he is being treated totally unfairly. If anything his resume earned him the benefit of the doubt to at least be told in person he was getting let go, if not let him finish the season out.
I guess Harvey Dent got it right: you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
What is hard to stomach is that Joe Paterno was a coach dedicated to the true purpose of college football. His players graduated. His players didn't take money. His program was clean. The entire athletic department had never been found guilty of an NCAA violation. Yet coaches like Lane Kiffin, John Calipari, Nick Saban, Mack Brown they all get to keep their jobs despite putting winning before the rules and even worse academics. Those coaches chew their players up, get what they want out of them, tell them they will go pro so class doesn't matter (even though a majority won't), don't prepare them for life after sports. JoePa not only put his players first, but in doing so he was successful. That is not something you see in college sports today.
Today you win by buying the best junior college QB. You win by having someone take the SAT for your star recruit so he can remain eligible. You win by paying the mortgage of you running back's parents' house. Then you split town when as soon as trouble shows up leaving the school to pay for your crimes. Paterno not only played within the rules, but he did it with steadfast loyalty and success. And how did the Penn State trustees repay him: a phone call telling him he was fired. All as a knee jerk reaction to public misconception.
Judging from 90% of the statuses on Facebook, most people did not know the facts of this story. Most people believed that Joe was standing there watching as his defensive coordinator did unspeakable things to children. That simply is not true. Joe Paterno was told by an graduate assistant of suspicious behavior of a former employee. He did not witness anything. He is not the police. His job is to coach football. He told his superiors the information he was told. Those two men were the ones who failed to act. Those two men were the ones who decided to cover it up. Not Joe Paterno.
Can you make the case that Paterno should have done more? Yes, of course. It is easy to sit back almost 10 years later and say he made a mistake. And that is where the tragedy is: one mistake brings what should be considered a shining model of how to be a college coach crashing down as some sort of devil. One instance of not doing quite enough is enough to destroy a man's otherwise spotless legacy.
For 46 years Paterno did things the right way. That kind of loyalty and success is unprecedented. I am not saying that he should have kept his job, I am simply saying that he is being treated totally unfairly. If anything his resume earned him the benefit of the doubt to at least be told in person he was getting let go, if not let him finish the season out.
I guess Harvey Dent got it right: you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
