Monday, October 28, 2013

T-Pain (Terrelle Pryor) Pierces Through Pittsburgh Armor

How else to describe the explosive offensive play, the Raiders first of the game, that shocked the Pittsburgh Steelers and sent the Oakland Coliseum into a jubilant ovation that didn't seem to settle until half-time.


Let's face it, if Wikipedia has it listed on its informational website, then it happened right? 


In Week 8 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pryor opened the game with a 93-yard run for touchdown, the longest in NFL history for a quarterback.[48] It was also the longest run of any player in Raiders history. The previous record for Oakland was a 92-yarder set by Bo Jackson on 11/5/1989. Pryor finished with 9 carries for 106 yards and finished 10 of 19 passing for just 88 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Pittsburgh Steelers Defender:  “Even if you’re excited about stopping McFadden, you have to understand the beast that’s playing quarterback,” Clark said. “Once a guy like him gets a in front of the whole defense, he’s a legit 4.4 (speed in 40-yard dash). It just looks slow because he’s 6-6 but he was moving.”

The Oakland Raiders have plenty of work to do if they want to contend for titles, but yesterday's win and T-Pain's play are proff that these are not our "too painful to watch" Raiders of recent seasons past.  Oh no, these Raiders are exciting to watch and feverish for a win.  And the Defense is downright nasty. Don't believe me, just ask Steelers QB Big Ben Roethlisberger, who survived 5 Raiders sacks yesterday.  Sorry Ben, nothing personal, just bizzzznessss!

 Final Score
Steelers 18
Raiders 21

NASCAR'S Drive For Diversity Picks A WInner

Years ago I saw a movie based on the life of Wendell Scott, the Jackie Robinson of American race car driving.  The movie, Greased Lightening, featured the late great comedian Richard Pryor as the mechanic/ former moonshine runner who'd fight racism to compete in the early NASCAR racing circuit.  I remember Pryor bringing a comic seriousness to the role, something that only Pryor could pull off.  

This weekend, almost 50 years from the day that Wendell overcame racism and prejudice to win his first major race, a black driver by the name of Darrell Wallace Jr. became the second NASCAR driver of color to win at the national level.

Ironically, it was due in part to Wendell Scott Jr. and the Drive for Diversity program, that Wallace would even be in the position to compete.  Hat's off to NASCAR for not only acknowledging a great professional driver in Wendell Scott the senior, but also for promoting diversity and making the dreams of many a child of color reachable through diversity programs and change in the culture of NASCAR.  The fact that its taken 50 years to get to this point is proof that the wheels of change move slowly, but with time they do move.  

Diversity in sports should be a lesson for diversity in all facets of life.  I don't understand how in 2013 some find it acceptable to play, watch or invest in sports that feature men of color yet those same persons couldn't bear living near, working under or socializing with a man or woman who's skin is of a darker pigmentation.  Our society is still working towards living the Martin Luther King dream of judging one by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. 

With the promotion of the NFL's "Why I Love Football" contest, the one that'll send some lucky sports fan to the Super Bowl, I wondered what if the question was posed to the professional football players of color. I'm sure a few would be forced to answer in truth that its been the one place in our society that their skills are accepted and applauded by all in spite of their color.  

Its taken time for the NFL to reach this point of color blindness, and as with all sports there's still room for improvement in diversity.  But again, its sure reassuring to know that the wheel of time turns attitudes and beliefs around, no matter how slowly. 

Let not the younger generation try turning back the hands of time.  It takes way too long and is much too painful overcoming the ignorance of prejudice and racism. Most importantly, prejudice and racism hinders childhood dreams of hope and can set off a ticking time bomb of hatred and despair. We owe it to our children to pass on the gift of diversity, as well as, warn about the devastation brought about by hatred. 

With courageous actions and unified strength, maybe we can diffuse some of today's explosive prejudicial beliefs that still linger from a society once segregated based on ideas of racial superiority and inferiority.


Drafting The Circuits: The Day I Met Wendell Scott

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Crying In Baseball?

Tonight's world series game 3 was a classic.  The game was great, the ending controversial and the crying was downright pathetic.


Come'on baseball world, you know the rules.  There's simply no crying in baseball!

The St. Louis Cardinals won the game on a bad throw to third base by the Red Sox catcher period.  Sure their third baseman was called for obstruction of the base path and the throwout at home was nullified.  Sure its a tough way to have a world series game end.  But come'on everybody, what do you want baseball to do, change the rules of baseball for the postseason?  Get rid of obstruction rules altogether?  Major league baseball made the right call; a body was in the path of the base runner obstructing his route to the next base.  

There was no hesitation on the umpire's call. There was no doubt that the base path was not being obstructed, whether intentional or unintentional doesn't matter.  Stop all the tears baseball fans, NOW!

I love baseball even more for having a rule like this, and more so for having the guts to make the call and stand by it.  The umps did the right thing.  True baseball fans should not feel cheated out of a good game. Sorry Boston Red Sox, you have much more than an obstruction call to blame this loss on.  Even a return of The Curse is being thrown out their as a reason the play even happened.  But we must give the St. Louis Cardinals credit for making the hits, pitches and plays to win this game.

Final Score (game 3)
Red Sox 4
Cardinals 5

The rule can be found in the Official Rules of Major League Baseball, Section 2.00, Definition of Terms:

"Obstruction is the act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner.

"Rule 2.00 (Obstruction) Comment: ... After a fielder has made an attempt to field a ball and missed, he can no longer be in the 'act of fielding' the ball. For example, an infielder dives at a ground ball and the ball passes him and he continues to lie on the ground and delays the progress of the runner, he very likely has obstructed the runner."

Friday, October 25, 2013

St. Louis Cards Even Series @ 99mph




After a disastrous World Series game 1 loss to Boston, the St. Louis Cardinals came back in game 2 and showed that they too can take advantage of mistakes made by their opponent.  You can read about those mistakes at espn.  I write about the game mainly as a reminder to myself and those thinking the AL will dominate the series, that the NL champs have just as good a chance of winning it all, if not better.  Why? Ask the scorching baseball trailing heat above.

St. Louis has got pitching and good pitching has been known to win over good hitting.  I don't understand why the Cardinals keep pitching to Dave Ortiz though.  The big P has a home run in each game so far.  Between pitchers Wacha, Martinez and closer Trevor Rosenthal, who I consider the baddest hurler on the mound, the Cards were dominant in striking out a combined twelve Red Sox hitters. They allowed only 4 hits. Winning equation; keep men off the bases and lessen the blow of big P. Strike him out and make his presence meaningless.


Trevor Rosenthal closing out the 9th with Heat

So far each game has gone to the team with the least amount of errors and mistakes.  After game 1, I thought maybe the Red Sox were in a lucky, destiny rides again, groove and would possibly make quick work of the struggling Cardinals team.  But game 2 has shown that on any given night of the series, the ball can bounce either way for either team.  

Gotta tune in and watch Saturday's game 3, the first game hosted by the Cardinals.  If the pattern holds, the team that gets the kiss of luck first will most likely win the game.  The big doubt in this series is the pattern; its as unpredictable as an earthquake. Does no DH for Boston saturday mean no Dave Ortiz? uh ohh!

Final Score (Game 2)
Cardinals 4
Red Sox 2

series tied 1-1

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Rejoice And Be Glad



Life is the silent teacher. 
Behold and learn well its meaning.  
For today is the day made for worldwide rejoicing. 
Be glad in this day.


RIP ABP 10/18/1934-2004

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Prince Fielder Base-Running Flop

I first must congratulate the Boston Red Sox on their ALCS victory last night over the Detroit Tigers.  The Sox showed they're the best American League team and earned their way to representing it in the World Series.

That being said, did you see the blown base running and fielding plays by Detroit that fall under the heading of "Atrocious?"  The fielding play might be excused as a physically unable to perform play, but the Fielder play had all the symptoms of a brain-fart on the field and exposed the big man's mental capacity, or lack thereof, in grasping all aspects of the game of baseball.  I won't say that the misplay was all on Prince, but that big flopping body coming up short in an attempt to get back to third base was appalling and embarrassing to watch.  Forget the fact the slugger hasn't had an RBI in his last three post season series, not games, series.   "COME'ON MAN!"

But enough about a clueless Fielder, the ALCS Champion Boston Red Sox baited their time against Tigers pitching ace Max Scherzer, who in 6 1/3 innings allowed one run and had the Sox hitters flabbergasted. Credit the Sox defense and pitching for keeping them in it. Many are questioning why manager Jim Leyland didn't keep Scherzer in the game with a 2-1 lead.  After 110 pitches, Scherzer was still throwing 94mph with decent location.  The Tigers have a gem in the 29yr old Cy Young candidate. I expect he'll use this post season as a spring board for future appearances.

Final Score
Tigers 2
Red Sox 5




Friday, October 18, 2013

Cardinals Rain All Over Dodgers NLCS Parade

 
His name is Clayton Kershaw. He's been called a beast of a pitcher, a thrilling two-time Cy Young Award winner for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  

Its now the top of the 6th in game 6 of the NLCS and the thrill is gone, knocked out of the game in the 5th. The high salaried Dodgers are down 9-0 and the only fan I see wearing blue is the Fat Lady.  

A win and the St. Louis Cardinals earn a trip to the World Series.  Right about now Dodger Fans worldwide are crying Blue as the Cardinals introduce them to some down home St. Louis Blues.   


SF High School Football - Mustangs & Lions

Nothing Like Friday High School Football in San Francisco.


The Friday afternoon match-up between the top two San Francisco Section teams, (2-0) Galileo Lions and visiting (2-0) Lincoln Mustangs, was a fall classic full of fireworks.  

The offenses put up 67 pts while defenses had goal line stands, interception returns for points and a blocked extra point.  The Lions and Mustangs are two teams that are coached well with good player discipline. We may see them clash again come Turkey Day.

The game itself was a beauty.  There in the cool autumn breeze of Galileo's aquatic park gridiron, the no-huddle Lions struck first using one of the many good-hands receivers in their arsenal.  The Mustangs struck right back with a ground game march down field that culminated in a short yardage score.  It was that way throughout, a passing game versus a running game. Sooner or later someone had to blink.

After a 13-13 halftime tie the Lions combined ground and passing game gave them a surprising 27-13 lead. It appeared they then took their foot off the pedal just enough for the Mustangs to get back in it with a defensive score, a long one (90 yard int return) and a Mustang offensive assault that chewed up yardage and tied the game 27-27.  

Then it was the Lions who pounced, turning on the juice with passing, rushing and scoring their final touchdown with 5:30 remaining in the game. 

Mustangs took over trailing 34-27.  A big rushing play that got them down around the 30 with approx. 1:50 left. Their rushing game got them inside the 5 yd line for a first down with under a minute left.  Of course the Mustangs scored but chose to go for the win with a 2 pt. conversion.  Conversion failed, Lions celebrate once, then recover an on-side kick to ice the game and celebrate a final victory.

A well played game between two evenly matched opponents.  A few officiating goofs but nothing that cost either team the game.  Some questionable play calling at times, but I've come to accept those calls as good'ol high school coaching.  I suppose you could say the blocked extra point by the Lions was the difference that won it for them.  I'd like to congratulate both teams on a hard fought, cleanly played competition that was a joy to witness from the stands.  I can still hear the family of Lions #40, "La-La" , cheering him on toward victory.


Final Score

Mustangs 33
Lions 34

SF Chronicle Preview

SF Chronicle Showdown

Examiner Review

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

INVASION

Why am I writing about the recently resigned mayor of San Diego?  No, not because his resignation came on the heels of a guilty plea to false imprisonment and battery.  Wrong again, its not because his plea agreement to a felony only carries three months home confinement and three years probation.  And of course its not because he's prohibited from ever seeking public office or voting, jury duty and ownership of a firearm while on probation.

Oh no no no, the reason I chose to write about former Democratic Congressman Bob Filner, is simply because his face reminds me of a very scary yet real dream I had not long ago.  

In the nightmare, world leaders are being abducted and their bodies replaced by replica alien life forms.  Yes folks, if dreams are a sign of things to come, then I'd have to say we've arrived upon the days of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." 

And how do I know its an alien life form?  Well, Just look at it! 





Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Building A Village of Men - (The Early Mail Delivery Airplane Pilots)

We were haunted for hours by this vision of a plane in distress.  Slowly, the truth was borne in upon us that our comrades would never return, that they were sleeping in that South Atlantic whose skies they had so often ploughed.  Mermoz had done his job and slipped away to rest, like a gleaner who, having carefully bound his sheaf, lies down in the field to sleep.

When a pilot dies in the harness his death seems something that inheres in the craft itself, and in the beginning the hurt it brings is perhaps less than the pain sprung of a different death.  Assuredly he has vanished, has undergone his ultimate mutation; but his presence is still not missed as deeply as we might miss bread.  For in this craft we take it for granted that we shall meet together only rarely.

Airline pilots are widely dispersed over the face of the world.  They land alone at scattered and remote airports, isolated from each other rather in the manner of sentinels between whom no words can be spoken.  It needs the accident of journeyings to bring together here or there the dispersed members of this great professional family.

Round the table in the evenings, at Casablanca, at Dakar, at Buenso Aires, we take up conversations interrupted by years of silence, we resume friendships to the accompaniment of buried memories.  And then we are off again.

Thus is the earth at once a desert and a paradise, rich in secret hidden gardens, gardens inaccessible, but to which the craft leads us ever back, one day or another.  Life may scatter us and keep us apart; it may prevent us from thinking very often of one another;  but we know that our comrades are somewhere "out there' - where, one can hardly say  - silent, forgotten, but deeply faithful.  And when our path crosses theirs, they greet us with such manifest joy, shake us so gaily by the shoulders!  Indeed we are accustomed to waiting.

Bit by bit, nevertheless, it comes over us that we shall never again hear the laughter of our friend, that this one garden is forever locked against us.  And at that moment begins our true mourning, which, though it may not be rending, is yet a little bitter. For nothing, in truth, can replace that companion.  Old friends cannot be created out of hand.  Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions.  It is idle, having planted an acorn in the morning, to expect that afternoon to sit in the shade of the oak.

So life goes on.  For years we plant the seed, we feel ourselves rich; and then come other years when time does its work and our plantation is made sparse and thin.  One by one, our comrades slip away, deprive us of their shade.


This, then is the moral taught us by Mermoz and his kind.  We understand better, because of him, that what constitutes the dignity of a craft is that it creates a fellowship, that it binds men together and fashions for them a common language.  For there is but one veritable problem - the problem of human relations.

We forget that there is no hope of joy except in human relations.  If I summon up those memories that have left with me an enduring savor, if I draw up the balance sheet of the hours in my life that have truly counted, surely I find only those that no wealth could have procured me.  True riches cannot be bought.  One cannot buy the friendship of a Mermoz, of a companion to whom one is bound forever by ordeals suffered in common.  There is no buying the night flight with its hundred thousand stars, its serenity, its few hours of sovereignty.  It is not money that can procure for us that new vision of the word won through hardship - those trees, flowers, women, those treasures made fresh by the dew and color of life which the dawn restores to us, this concert of little things that sustain us and constitute our compensation.

Nor that night we lived through in the land of the unconquered tribes of the Sahara, which now floats into my memory.

Three crews of Aeropostale men had come down at the fall of day on the Rio de Oro coast in a part of the Sahara whose denizens acknowledge no European rule.  Riguelle had landed first, with a broken connecting rod.  Bourgat had come along to pick up Riguelle's crew, but a minor accident had nailed him to earth.  Finally, as night was beginning to fall, I arrived.  We decided to salvage Bourgat's ship, but we should have to spend the night and do the job of repair by daylight.

Exactly on this spot two of our comrades, Gourp and Erable, had been murdered by the tribesmen a year earlier.  We knew that a raiding party of three hundred rifles was at this moment encamped somewhere near by, round Cape Bojador.  Our three landings had been visible from a great distance and the Moors must have seen us.  We began a vigil which might turn out to be our last.

Altogether, there were about ten of us, pillots and mechanics, when we made ready for the night.  We unloaded five or six wooden cases of merchandise out of the hold, emptied them, and set them about in a circle.  At the deep end of each case, as in a sentry-box, we set a lighted candle, its flame poorly sheltered from the wind.  So in the heart of the desert, on the naked rind of the planet, in an isolation like that of the beginnings of the world, we built a village of men.

Sitting in the flickering light of the candles on this kerchief of sand, on this village square, we waited in the night.  We were waiting for the rescuing dawn - or for the Moors.  Something, I know not what, lent this night a savor of Christmas.  We told stories, we joked, we sang songs.  And yet we were infinitely poor.  Wind, sand, and stars.  The austerity of Trappists.  But on this badly lighted cloth, a handful of men who possessed nothing in the world but their memories were sharing invisible riches.

We had met at last.  Men travel side by side for years, each locked up in his own silence or exchanging those words which carry no freight - till danger comes.  Then they stand shoulder to shoulder.  They discover that they belong to the same family.  They wax and bloom in the recognition of fellow beings.  They look at one another and smile.  They are like the prisoner set free who marvels at the immensity of the sea.

Happiness!  It is useless to seek it elsewhere than in this warmth of human relations.  Our sordid interests imprison us within their walls.  Only a comrade can grasp us by the hand and haul us free.

And these human relations must be created.  One must go through an apprenticeship to learn the job.  Games and risk are a help here.  When we exchange manly handshakes, compete in races, join together to save one of us who is in trouble, cry aloud for help in the hour of danger - only then do we learn that we are not alone on earth.

Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life.  It is not something discovered: it is something moulded.  These prison walls that this age of trade has built up round us, we can break down.  We can still run free, call to our comrades, and marvel to hear once more, in response to our call, the pathetic chant of the human voice.

Wind, Sand and Stars
by Antoine de Saint Exupery
copyright 1939
pgs 43-48

In tribute to Jean Mermoz, pioneer aviator

Monday, October 14, 2013

Not Everyone Wearing Raiders Black is a Raiders Fan

On an airport tarmac in Manchester, England a tipsy man in a Raiders T-shirt (any fool can wear a Raiders t-shirt) strips down to his birthday suit and invites the pilot to a fist fight. Sure is more fun writing about one man in silver & black attire who was more threatening this weekend than the team was in their loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City. Raiders 7 Chiefs 24.

Actually, the Raiders played a good first half of Defensive football.  But back to our Offensive man in black. 

Once the man stripped out of his Raiders T-shirt and matching black skivvies, basically pulling a "you wanna piece of me" Deniro move, his woman took over trying to slap some sense into him, literally. When she was unsuccessful the airport security had no choice but to put into action their version of "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" ending the embarrassing episode with a well placed double-tap taser blast. 

I assume the alleged drunken blob of humanity was scooped up off the tarmac and hauled away to a "drunk tank." Nobody was injured but the Raider image might've taken a kick to the cojones.  The Raiders are scheduled to play a game in England next season.  

In the infamous words of former NFL player Terrell Owens, "Get your popcorn ready."




John Dooms
That is one of the best examples of a Raider fan that I've ever seen. Looks like you guys are getting beat down by your women too - LMFAO!


DrewReggSton
What the hell was SeaBass doing in Malta?


I will not click video, I will not click video, I will not click video.... I clicked video

jumparound

I don't see the big deal with this. Typical over reaction by police too eager to pull the trigger.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Verlander Ends Oakland A's Postseason

Its definitely a "wait till next year" feeling in the bay area.  The Oakland A's put up a good fight trying to get to the American League Championship, but in game 5 of the divisional series Detroit's Justin Verlander, the A's killer, delivered the knockout punch with a 3-0 Tigers win.

In 2012 the A's season ended in the exact same manner, Verlander winning a 3-0 game 5.  At least in 2012 the cross-bay team was able to revenge the loss with a sweep of Detroit in the World Series.  Unfortunately, this year's champion will not hail from the Oakland-San Francisco region.

Congratulations Oakland Athletics for a great baseball season.  I can't wait till next season when a Verlander silencer steps up to the plate.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

How Sleeps The Beast, Don Tracy 1937

Jim, a Negro sitting in a small town jail in the south for a rape and murder he may or may not have done while drunk, is about to be lynched.  

White southerners from near and far arrive in town by the thousands when word got out that they'd "caught the nigger who did it." The town sheriff is in the unenviable position of carrying out his duties to the word of the law.  

Problem is the Sheriff is up for re-election in a year and many of the folks who wanna come in and "snatch the nigger and string'em up" are voters he'll be soliciting again come election time, folks who live next door to him, merchants who give him credit.  Even the sheriff's deputy has abandoned him to his fate.  He's got three options and none include calling in the National Guard for outside help. He's already told a higher up that he can handle the situation. And the situation is quickly coming to climax.

Option 1. Try to protect the jail and Jim, facing the lynch mob alone
Option 2. Rush Jim out of town and up to Baltimore where he'd be safe
Option 3. Hand Jim over to the lynch mob and let them do what they do

Meanwhile, one of the men from the town who'd gone to school up north and has recently returned is concerned for Jim and appalled by the injustice about to be carried out.  Al grew up with Jim as a boy, knows Jim's Aunt Ruby well and knows Jim to be a "good boy."  Al remembers Jim saving him once when he fell into a frozen pond while hunting.

The scene I'm about to share below has Al at home, sympathetic to Jim's situation, telling his elderly mother what's about to take place in town come sundown.  His mother is set in the old ways of the south and after hearing Al's accusations against speedy southern justice and uncivil behavior, berates him for being brainwashed by northern radicals and forgetting how his late father had raised him. Mother still believes a good lynching keeps the niggers in check and in their place.

Pulp-Fiction Writer Don Tracy captured what I'm sure many a white lawmen and townsfolk from the south must've faced during the dark days of lynch mob justice; the choice to side with civil justice or southern injustice.  The Negro had no choice in the matter. None!



How Sleeps The Beast, by Don Tracy
copyright 1937, 1938  
pgs. 53-56

"Justice!  Justice to give a man over to a blood-crazed mob to torture? You call that justice?


"But what purpose can this thing that's going to happen tonight possibly serve?  Do you think it'll reform bad niggers?  It won't!  There never was a lynching that wasn't followed by a crime wave.  Figures show that.  You can't change a bad man, a bad nigger, into a good man, simply by lynching another bad nigger.  It makes them worse.  They plan and scheme, determined to pay brutality with more brutality."

His mother's thin fingers tapped on the tablecloth.

"You give them credit for too great a mental capacity, Alan.  After all, they're little more than children or intelligent animals.  They don't reason as we do.  They have only one strong urge outside of the instincts of physical existence.  They all want domination, power, authority over the white race.  It's born in them.  In some the urge never is apparent to us.  In others it's stronger.  In a few it crops out in cases like today's murder."

"It's a natural urge," her son argued.  "If the situation were reversed, we whites would have the same urge."

"But the situation is not reversed.  And to prevent the situation from being reversed we must, at times, act swiftly and with force.  We must deal with primitives in a primitive fashion.  They need something like this to remind them that we can act.  That when they get out of hand, there's this waiting for them."

He stared at the white-haired woman across the table.
"Mother! he said.  "I never thought I'd ever hear you talk like that!  And about Jim!  Aunt Ruby's boy!  Jim!  He did everything but eat and sleep with me when we were kids.  You can sit there and say that about Jim?"

His mother pushed back her chair and rose.

"You're young, Alan.  You've been North to school and you've accepted as facts the things you've heard said by people who never lived in this part of the country.  Who know only what they've read in books about things like this.  Who have dealt with the problem only in the abstract."

"But they're the only ones who can be faithful to facts," he answered.  "They aren't obsessed by the pride that makes a shiftless, drunken oysterman hold himself worlds above a clean, industrious Negro."

His mother's knuckles rapped the table.

"That's enough, Alan!  I won't have you talking like that.  You were born on the Eastern Shore.  These people are your people.  Jim was a good boy when you two were children.  Now he's a murderer and a violator of a white woman.  He showed that girl no mercy when he attacked her.  Now he deserves nothing more than what he's going to get.  You've let your gratitude for what he once did for you unsettle your saner judgment."

"I'd feel the same way about any nigger," he answered.  "I'm sick of this rotten system that" -

His mother was a slender, quivering figure.  The chair which she had been sitting fell backward, thudding against the carpeted floor.

"I said that was enough!  If your college taught you only to condemn your home, your family, your friends, to become the defender of a drunken Negro murderer, then I'm sorry you ever went to school.  I'm glad your father isn't alive to hear all this.  He loved the Shore and the people here.  He'd throw you out of this house."

She left the dining room.  Al stood still, hands resting on the back of his chair, looking at his plate.  Kernels of corn were scattered around the edge of the slab of pot roast.  The coffee in his cups still steamed - but Perky would know.  Perky would understand.


The Girl Was a White Prostitute!
The Charge Was Rape
How Sleeps The Beast does not take place in the deep south,  but in middle-eastern civilized America.  It could take place, and maybe it did, in your own home town.

My Amazon Review 


Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Hear A Tiger Roar: C-L-E-M-S-O-N



The 2013 NCAA Football Season will bring to an end the Bowl Championship Series, to be replaced by a College Football Playoff.  As of this week the Clemson Tigers are ranked #3 on two of the three top college football polls.  It just might be the year for that long awaited second Tigers championship.  

The team and their fans are feelin it.  Tradition  has them primed and ready as they run down "The Hill," rub "The Rock," and do battle on the "Death Valley" gridiron to show their one of the best and/or thee best college football team in the nation.  Time will tell as these "Fighting Tigers" roar through a challenging season with glaring eyes focused on prey & prize; a championship.





Monday, October 07, 2013

Raiders Apply Rule #2 - Double Tap



Rule #2 of Zombieland – Double Tap.

You think it’s dead (technically it was before you shot it), one more makes 100% sure.

Last night's Oakland Raiders game was truly a thing of beauty, watching the underdog silver & black put together a complete game against rival San Diego with its so called high-powered offense.  In an unusual 8:35pm Sunday night showdown at the Coliseum, thanks to the Oakland A's postseason play, the two teams met to decide which would go chasing after the AFC West division leaders and which would take a seat in the division cellar.

It would turn out that the (2-3) Oakland Raiders, led by electrifying QB Terrelle Pryor, are the better team and deserving of going after the two (5-0) division leaders.  The Raiders jumped on the Chargers early in all phases of the game.  In the second half they let up a bit, allowing Chargers QB Phillip Rivers to infuse his team with new life that was enough to bring back thoughts of last week's Redskins comeback against the Raiders.

But the Raiders would not allow themselves to be bitten again by an opponent who they'd subdued early.  This week's second half would find the Raiders applying Zombieland's Rule #2 as they caused fumbles, intercepted passes, converted key first downs and continued to put points on the board to ensure that the crusty, stinking corpse did not recharge.  The double tap never fails. Just follow the rules baby!
Chargers 17
Raiders 27

note: Josh Freeman signs with the Minnesota Vikings

Friday, October 04, 2013

Intervention Works - Combat Alcohol & Drug Addiction With Love


I awoke to a short piece on BBC radio about former first lady Betty Ford's battle with prescription drug and alcohol addiction. The show, titled "Witness" gives a quick rundown on what it took for the first lady to eventually seek help for her crisis. The method that seemed to reach her best and convince her to go outside for help and treatment was family intervention.

I myself have been involved with one intervention of a loved one.  As with the first lady's intervention, we the loved ones began and ended everything said to our victim of addiction with the words "I Love You."  For those who are choosing the intervention method of reaching out to someone in need, it is essential that the one you are trying to help knows and feels they are loved.  

Amazing that first lady Betty Ford would not only win her battle but also co-found the residential chemical dependency recovery hospital named after her (BettyFordCenter.)

Imagine the courage it must've taken for this woman, a first lady married to a non-elected President who'd taken over after one of the worse scandal's in Presidential history (Watergate), to come out of the closet and seek treatment in public?  

For those unsure soul's out there suffering alone and fearful of what their job, family, friends or strangers will think when they let the cat out of the bag to seek outside treatment for drugs and/or alcohol, I point you to this courageous first lady and all that she had riding on the line.  

For Betty Ford it wasn't about position, gossip or doing the politically correct or incorrect thing at the time; it was about reclaiming a healthy life and being able to return the love of family and friends. It was a courageous act by a person under a magnifying glass who probably felt small, scared and anything but courageous.

First Lady Betty Ford, I Salute You!

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Ticket Scam Advisory - A's Fans Beware

I came across this post on craigslist.  If it can save one poor soul from being scammed, then its worth the repost. Good Luck!

 

A's fans be advised: Hard tickets purchased for cash are NOT safe - $2 (So know who you are buying from or ..)



get them electronically. All Athletics tickets can be sent by ticket-relay by anyone. Once that is done the hard tickets are dead. Just as if they had been used for entrance. So unless you are buying from someone you know or a ticket-broker, be careful. When I do, I always enter the ticket codes into my relay account to validate them. This will just tell you whether the ticket is still good. It will not protect you from someone entering the ticket codes into ticket-relay and relaying to tickets to someone else. Again if they do that, your tickets will be dead. So to really protect yourself have the seller relay the tickets to you. This generates a new bar code and only you will have it.

I guarantee this post will be flagged and deleted quickly by all the crooks and scammers out there. That is because they do not want the truth to get out. If you read this post check back later to see if is still here. I will try to re-post it when I can.

The $2 refers the small charge they used to charge for ticket-relay. Now they do not charge. Since anyone can do ticket-relay there is now no reason not to.

Many of you have seen this same post regarding Giants tickets. Since the Oakland Athletics are in the playoffs, their tickets will the focus of the scammers. Same principal here. They will sell the hard tickets that have already been transferred. So they are dead and there is nothing you can do about it. Like the Giants, the A's will say they are sorry for your loss but not replace the tickets. If you had paid by Paypal at least you would get your money back. Make sure you get acknowledgement from Ticket Services that you had the tickets. They will not give them back to you.
 
 
Have any of you ever heard of Giants Ticket relay? It allows a ticket holder/person to code into the site the ticket serial numbers and then email or "relay" the tickets to somebody else. But, guess what happens to the hardcopy ticket that was just relayed? It gets resold as a hardcopy ticket. Now there are two tickets. If one ticket beeps through the turnstile then the other one becomes invalid because the first person is already in the park......get it?

Oakland A'S Playoff Baseball

The Oakland Athletics, AL Wesr champions, will be taking on the Detroit Tigers in a MLB Divisional Series that begins Friday in Oakland.  I could easily find myself camping out at the coliseum this weekend in between A's and Raiders games.

The NFL has pushed Sunday's game between the Chargers and Raiders back, back, back, back, back to 8:30pm pst in order to give the coliseum crew time to convert the place from a baseball venue to football venue.  the coliseum is the last remaining two sport stadium in professional football. 

So get ready Raiders Fans for a Sunday Night showdown that could run into Monday morning.  I'll be there and i'm sure the silver & black faithful will throw caution to the wind when it comes to choosing between work monday morning or Raiders sunday night.  

And A's fans, its payback time for a Tigers team that ended your post-season dreams last fall. get to the coliseum early and stay late, because the green & gold are gonna put on a show that'll have The place rocking and warmed up for the Raiders closing act sunday night.

Does it get any better than this for sports fans? Don't pinch me, I wanna bask in this dream a while longer.



If you are unable to view this message correctly, click here

Dear Fans,
Sunday night football under the lights in Oakland.
We would like to inform you of a scheduling change for the Raiders vs. Chargers game.
Due to MLB’s Playoff scheduling, kickoff time for the Raiders vs. Chargers game will be moved to Sunday, October 6, 2013 at 8:35 p.m
Important Information:

•  Your tickets and parking passes (if applicable) will remain valid for this game;
•  Parking lot gates open at 3:00 p.m.;
•  Raiderville will open at 3:30 p.m.;
•  Club and Suite stadium gates open at 5:00 p.m.; and
•  Reserved seating stadium gates open at 6:00 p.m.
For more information please visit www.Raiders.com/Gameday. 
Go Raiders!