Bud Lea, writer emeritus for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, made an interesting observation. He said that watching the Packers practice the day Brett left wasn't any fun.
He put his finger on one aspect of sports that we all know but often overlook. Brett is an entertainer. He may not be conscious of it but he is willing to show enthusiasm, smile, and play. Yes, I mean "play." It's all a game, really. And his style of play, whatever skills he had, didn't have, or lost, made winning and losing almost irrelevant.
That spontaneity is probably why Commissioner Goodell leaned so hard on Brett and the Packers to resolve this thing in a way that kept Brett playing as long as possible.
Those old enough to remember Gorman Thomas who played for the Brewers some years ago may also remember that the Brewers lost some of their spark when he was traded to Cleveland. "Crash," as he was sometimes called, never saw an outfield wall he felt should stop him in his effort to catch a fly ball. He was the club house clown. The Brewers smiled a lot in those days before he was traded.
Milwaukee had great crowds when he played for them. Things went south for the next couple years and the team worked out a trade that brought Gorman back.
Others will have to say whether or not his spirit perked up the team again. I was out of the state.
But any sports franchise that has an "entertainer" draws those who appreciate that kind of entertainment. The whole country appreciated Brett's kind of humor and childlikeness. Goodell is smart enough to want that kind of spirit alive and well, not only for the positive aspect of it but for the fact it counters the negative attention-grabbing stuff some players use to entertain "their" fans.
That raises two questions. 1) Will a new clubhouse clown step up and bring smiles back to the Packer lockerroom? 2) Will Favre be eaten alive by the stress of the Commissioner's expectations, especially on the East Coast stage and also after a spring and summer of little athletic training to be ready for the NFL?
We'll see. . . .
Friday, August 8, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Good Luck, Brett
Brett Favre is going to need all the luck he can get.
There is a real possibility that he will not be welcome in Tampa Bay or any place else right now.
I heard part of an interview on the NFL Channel with Steve Mariucci. "Mooch" is a personal friend of Brett's and called him this morning. After that forty minute talk between the two, "Mooch" called in to the TV channel. He described the group including Frank Winters, Deana, and Bus Cook sitting on the couch in Brett's Green Bay home. After Brett reported how he felt unwanted and unwilling to play for Green Bay any more because of the hurt, "Mooch" said to him, "You need to get off your butt and get to training."
He said Brett laughed and said, "You want me to start running down the street here with the neighbor kids running along like Rocky Balboa?"
I confess to not remembering how "Mooch" responded. I was so struck by that response that my brain went numb. "Yes!" I wanted to yell at Brett. "That's exactly what a champion is willing to do if he really cares about getting in shape. You have to start somewhere!"
I do wish I had listened to find out what "Mooch" did. How do you tell a good friend who has spoken to you whenever you needed something for the NFL network that he needed to grow up and get his butt in gear if he wanted to be a professional athlete?
Brett now has to live with the attitude he has taken. Maybe Jon Gruden can to get through to him.
I suspect Brett is looking for a coach who will let him have his way as he did under Mike Sherman. I do not think that is "Chuckie," who has a stinger nearly every player who has been coached by him has felt at one time or another. That may be why Ted Thompson was unable to do the press conference this morning. Gruden may have talked to Brett and discovered what so many of us have seen, a lack of commitment to do the work it now takes to be an NFL quarterback.
He either will have to be lucky to get to play with another team or he will have to get real.
If he gets real, he will return to the Packers, put aside his hurt against Ted Thompson and anyone else who told him he was no longer prepared to work professionally, go to work to get into playing shape, start at the bottom, and be ready to play when the chance comes along.
I do not know what lucky thing will happen to bring about that result. Whatever that would be, I wish it for Brett.
There is a real possibility that he will not be welcome in Tampa Bay or any place else right now.
I heard part of an interview on the NFL Channel with Steve Mariucci. "Mooch" is a personal friend of Brett's and called him this morning. After that forty minute talk between the two, "Mooch" called in to the TV channel. He described the group including Frank Winters, Deana, and Bus Cook sitting on the couch in Brett's Green Bay home. After Brett reported how he felt unwanted and unwilling to play for Green Bay any more because of the hurt, "Mooch" said to him, "You need to get off your butt and get to training."
He said Brett laughed and said, "You want me to start running down the street here with the neighbor kids running along like Rocky Balboa?"
I confess to not remembering how "Mooch" responded. I was so struck by that response that my brain went numb. "Yes!" I wanted to yell at Brett. "That's exactly what a champion is willing to do if he really cares about getting in shape. You have to start somewhere!"
I do wish I had listened to find out what "Mooch" did. How do you tell a good friend who has spoken to you whenever you needed something for the NFL network that he needed to grow up and get his butt in gear if he wanted to be a professional athlete?
Brett now has to live with the attitude he has taken. Maybe Jon Gruden can to get through to him.
I suspect Brett is looking for a coach who will let him have his way as he did under Mike Sherman. I do not think that is "Chuckie," who has a stinger nearly every player who has been coached by him has felt at one time or another. That may be why Ted Thompson was unable to do the press conference this morning. Gruden may have talked to Brett and discovered what so many of us have seen, a lack of commitment to do the work it now takes to be an NFL quarterback.
He either will have to be lucky to get to play with another team or he will have to get real.
If he gets real, he will return to the Packers, put aside his hurt against Ted Thompson and anyone else who told him he was no longer prepared to work professionally, go to work to get into playing shape, start at the bottom, and be ready to play when the chance comes along.
I do not know what lucky thing will happen to bring about that result. Whatever that would be, I wish it for Brett.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Good Old Harry
A friend received the following from a friend so I can't vouch for its accuracy. But I sure like it. I heard him speak and the quotes in this essay sound just like him. If you can verify any of it, let me know. Thanks.
-----
When President Truman retired from office in 1952, his income was substantially a U. S. Army pension, $13,507.72 a year.
Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an allowance and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.
When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the president, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."
On May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."
Today, many in Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now clearly for sale.
Was good old Harry correct when he observed, "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference anymore. I, for one, believe the piano player to be much more honorable than many current politicians."
Too bad we can't come up with someone like Harry today.
-----
When President Truman retired from office in 1952, his income was substantially a U. S. Army pension, $13,507.72 a year.
Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an allowance and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.
When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the president, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."
On May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."
Today, many in Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now clearly for sale.
Was good old Harry correct when he observed, "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference anymore. I, for one, believe the piano player to be much more honorable than many current politicians."
Too bad we can't come up with someone like Harry today.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Propaganda
A friend sent me a copy of a letter circulating through e-mails that makes Obama look bad. Here, in part, is what it says:
Hello everyone,
As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to 'The War Zone'. I wanted to share with you what happened. He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area
to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram. As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn't say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the
opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service.
It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.
What you see in the news is all fake.
In service,
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
Battle Captain
TF Wasatch
American Soldier
Really sounds plausible and looks authentic to the average reader.
But you may also have spotted a few things that should raise questions as to its veracity.
1. You know the press was on top of the Obama trip to see if this greenhorn would make any gaffes. The one time they made a fuss was over his not talking to the troops at the German hospital. They never mentioned his walking past soldiers in Bagram. In addition, I remember seeing Obama shaking hands with lots of soldiers.
2. "You know that I am not political." I don't know that at all. I do not know the man who signed this letter. Add to it that he feels it necessary to include "American Soldier" at the end, so it seems like he is "protesting too much." That makes me uncomfortable.
3. He closes with a classic line, "What you see in the news is all fake." He is trying to make you disbelieve what you may have seen with your own eyes. Oh we must "test every spirit" but we must also test the spirit of this writer!
The plausibility of this story is that visiting dignitaries often are there for photo ops and cut out everything in between. Part of that is the tight schedule and part is security.
But the realitry is that no one else reports the events the way this letter writer does.
Okay, so I've picked up on a few things that are more like propaganda than a true letter.
There are at least three places you can check to see if this letter has a history that has been checked for being factual: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/, http://www.vil.mcafee.com/hoaxasp/, and http://www.urbanlegends.about.com/. There are others.
Check to see if they will fact-check something you can send them.
I also received an e-mail from a dear friend that showed ANWR in gorgeous pictures which included a bear walking on an oil pipeline and all kinds of elk on oil fields in another part of Alaska. The claim was that ANWR would hardly be touched and that the current kind of oil extraction programs are immensely wildlife friendly.
It was persuasive until I noticed no credits given to the photographers. Then I remembered "photoshopping," the simple technique where with your computer you can move items in one picture into another. That bear picture began to look phony. And finally, no one took credit for putting together this sophisticated piece of work. It was unsigned.
Propaganda looks very plausible. But it usually tries to cover its tracks so it is hard to blame the ones who did it or to really check back.
I don't always document every source for my opinions. That puts this blog on the verge of being propaganda!
But at least you know who wrote it and can challenge me.
Feel free!
-----
From the first comment:
"I also suggest www.snopes.com to test the validity of such emails."
Hello everyone,
As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to 'The War Zone'. I wanted to share with you what happened. He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area
to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram. As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn't say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the
opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service.
It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.
What you see in the news is all fake.
In service,
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
Battle Captain
TF Wasatch
American Soldier
Really sounds plausible and looks authentic to the average reader.
But you may also have spotted a few things that should raise questions as to its veracity.
1. You know the press was on top of the Obama trip to see if this greenhorn would make any gaffes. The one time they made a fuss was over his not talking to the troops at the German hospital. They never mentioned his walking past soldiers in Bagram. In addition, I remember seeing Obama shaking hands with lots of soldiers.
2. "You know that I am not political." I don't know that at all. I do not know the man who signed this letter. Add to it that he feels it necessary to include "American Soldier" at the end, so it seems like he is "protesting too much." That makes me uncomfortable.
3. He closes with a classic line, "What you see in the news is all fake." He is trying to make you disbelieve what you may have seen with your own eyes. Oh we must "test every spirit" but we must also test the spirit of this writer!
The plausibility of this story is that visiting dignitaries often are there for photo ops and cut out everything in between. Part of that is the tight schedule and part is security.
But the realitry is that no one else reports the events the way this letter writer does.
Okay, so I've picked up on a few things that are more like propaganda than a true letter.
There are at least three places you can check to see if this letter has a history that has been checked for being factual: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/, http://www.vil.mcafee.com/hoaxasp/, and http://www.urbanlegends.about.com/. There are others.
Check to see if they will fact-check something you can send them.
I also received an e-mail from a dear friend that showed ANWR in gorgeous pictures which included a bear walking on an oil pipeline and all kinds of elk on oil fields in another part of Alaska. The claim was that ANWR would hardly be touched and that the current kind of oil extraction programs are immensely wildlife friendly.
It was persuasive until I noticed no credits given to the photographers. Then I remembered "photoshopping," the simple technique where with your computer you can move items in one picture into another. That bear picture began to look phony. And finally, no one took credit for putting together this sophisticated piece of work. It was unsigned.
Propaganda looks very plausible. But it usually tries to cover its tracks so it is hard to blame the ones who did it or to really check back.
I don't always document every source for my opinions. That puts this blog on the verge of being propaganda!
But at least you know who wrote it and can challenge me.
Feel free!
-----
From the first comment:
"I also suggest www.snopes.com to test the validity of such emails."
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Out in 16 months?
I'm against the occupation. I believe the only reason we are still in Iraq is because the Administration wants to get rights to Iraqi oil.
The Iraqis are smart enough to wait till we withdraw before settling their regional differences over oil revenues.
So maybe in 16 months, we will have withdrawn over 100,000 troops, leaving 10,000 to 15,000 for special ops and training and guarding the most expensive American embassy ever built anywhere!
I'm thinking most of them should also be out but I'm open to considering need for some very modest presence.
I'm open to allowing those troops who are working as volunteers on schools, hospitals, etc. to be able to be there, preferably under some international charity group auspices.
But the ones I really think need to leave as soon as possible are the 150,000 contract soldiers, mercenaries hired by Halliburton, Blackwater, and all the other corporations that won no bid contracts to provide security paid for by US taxpayers . . . at ten times per person the cost of enlisted US military personnel!
No one talks about them. And they are the ones under the least control and are most hated in Iraq. THEY REPRESENT THE U. S. in the eyes of the Iraqis as much as our regular military.
Get them out of Iraq.
The Iraqis are smart enough to wait till we withdraw before settling their regional differences over oil revenues.
So maybe in 16 months, we will have withdrawn over 100,000 troops, leaving 10,000 to 15,000 for special ops and training and guarding the most expensive American embassy ever built anywhere!
I'm thinking most of them should also be out but I'm open to considering need for some very modest presence.
I'm open to allowing those troops who are working as volunteers on schools, hospitals, etc. to be able to be there, preferably under some international charity group auspices.
But the ones I really think need to leave as soon as possible are the 150,000 contract soldiers, mercenaries hired by Halliburton, Blackwater, and all the other corporations that won no bid contracts to provide security paid for by US taxpayers . . . at ten times per person the cost of enlisted US military personnel!
No one talks about them. And they are the ones under the least control and are most hated in Iraq. THEY REPRESENT THE U. S. in the eyes of the Iraqis as much as our regular military.
Get them out of Iraq.
The Mainstream Media takes another look
Maybe the real journalists finally talked back to their producers. Maybe the advertisers spoke up to the executives. Maybe the Bush-McCain messages have finally become so unreal that even Republican-sympathizers among media circles are offended. Maybe the liberal blogosphere is finally being heard and supported more than the mainstream media.
Or, maybe the reality of the Obama change is finally sinking in and the corporations are wanting not to be on his bad side.
They know what it is like to get on the bad side of the Bush Administration. They are seeing what it is to be in the bad side of McCain. Now they may actually hope that Obama will win, knowing they will then have less to fear in terms of retaliation.
Now if only the Jim Adkissons of the world (the folks who think it is open season on anything liberal, even Unitarians), can somehow be reached and dissuaded from fulfilling the fantasies of O'Reilly, Limbaugh, and some of the other outspoken commentators. . . .
Or, maybe the reality of the Obama change is finally sinking in and the corporations are wanting not to be on his bad side.
They know what it is like to get on the bad side of the Bush Administration. They are seeing what it is to be in the bad side of McCain. Now they may actually hope that Obama will win, knowing they will then have less to fear in terms of retaliation.
Now if only the Jim Adkissons of the world (the folks who think it is open season on anything liberal, even Unitarians), can somehow be reached and dissuaded from fulfilling the fantasies of O'Reilly, Limbaugh, and some of the other outspoken commentators. . . .
Monday, July 21, 2008
"Big Men Avoid War"
In a review of a new book about the Cuban Missile Crisis, Jackie Kennedy Onassis is quoted as saying, “Small men start wars. Big men avoid them.”
The reference, of course, was to the decisions made when the Russians were shipping missiles to Cuba.
At the time, America had a major strategic advantage over the USSR with its missiles and atomic warheads. There were several key military leaders who felt that if we attempted a pre-emptive war with the reds, we’d easily win.
President Kennedy asked what would happen if even one Russian missile made it through. He was told that it would mean a half million deaths. He is said to have responded, “We lost that many during the Civil War a hundred years ago and the nation still has not recovered.”
He chose not to go with his military leaders.
He found some US missiles in Turkey that America had promised to remove years before but the military had dragged its feet. When he negotiated with Secretary Kruschev, he was able to “swap” missiles in Turkey for missiles in Cuba. Both men knew this was a face saving agreement but they knew it was used it for the larger goal of avoiding the deaths of millions of people.
It was to this decision that Jackie was speaking.
The impact of her words on me were very relevant to what I see in our rush to war in Iraq. Did our President ask how many people could be killed if we undertook the war? Would he have considered the Iraqis who would die? Did anyone anticipate the estimated million Iraqis killed and injured because of our invasion, many the “collateral damage” resulting from our military actions?
If no one had that foresight, it does not matter. Iraqis will not forget.
Big men avoid wars.
The reference, of course, was to the decisions made when the Russians were shipping missiles to Cuba.
At the time, America had a major strategic advantage over the USSR with its missiles and atomic warheads. There were several key military leaders who felt that if we attempted a pre-emptive war with the reds, we’d easily win.
President Kennedy asked what would happen if even one Russian missile made it through. He was told that it would mean a half million deaths. He is said to have responded, “We lost that many during the Civil War a hundred years ago and the nation still has not recovered.”
He chose not to go with his military leaders.
He found some US missiles in Turkey that America had promised to remove years before but the military had dragged its feet. When he negotiated with Secretary Kruschev, he was able to “swap” missiles in Turkey for missiles in Cuba. Both men knew this was a face saving agreement but they knew it was used it for the larger goal of avoiding the deaths of millions of people.
It was to this decision that Jackie was speaking.
The impact of her words on me were very relevant to what I see in our rush to war in Iraq. Did our President ask how many people could be killed if we undertook the war? Would he have considered the Iraqis who would die? Did anyone anticipate the estimated million Iraqis killed and injured because of our invasion, many the “collateral damage” resulting from our military actions?
If no one had that foresight, it does not matter. Iraqis will not forget.
Big men avoid wars.
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