Courage is life's only measure

A quote attributed to Danish philosopher Kierkegaard in the 2010 Swedish movie "Pure."

I thought the quote brilliant, but the movie itself, slow with limited dialogue, held my interest just enough to make it to the end. The young actress playing the lead, Alicia Vikander, did a knockout job portraying a 20 year old girl facing the challenges of life choices and relationships. The classical music, with Mozart's Requiem as its theme, might've out-starred all actors. As foreign independent films go, its success was its simplicity and realness. 


Since I'm talking movies of late let me list two other films viewed recently that I thought deserve praise.

The Physician.  Epic historical period drama that takes viewers back to 11th century medical practices and religious differences between the east and west. Mostly superb acting, but as always a young love story that wreaked of Hollywood looked pretentious. All in all its realistic plot and descriptive scenes convince you of what it might have been like as a doctor (barber) or patient in the middle ages.  Had everything but the smell of those plagued times.  Loved it!

Crossroad.  A faith based thriller that convinces viewers of God being everywhere and in everything. As the coincidences and confessions mount, you realize just how connected strangers in a Diner can be with God battling evil in their midst.  Definitely not your average Christian movie.  I liked it very much and hope to watch it again.

Golden State Blows Up San Antonio Spurs

Damn Those Golden State Warriors are Good!

Final Score
Warriors 120
Spurs 90

Stephen Curry led scorers with 37 points as all but one player on the roster scored. And he only played three quarters. The Spurs, without 39 year old Tim Duncan, looked confused and over-matched, turning the ball over throughout the night. They simply had no answer for the Champions.  

As for those Golden State Warriors, they showed up and manhandled what many considered the best team in the league. What's the saying, if you wanna be the best you have to beat the best?

It was a game that would determine just how good the Warriors really are and every basketball fan alive was tuned in to see this one. 

Well, if they didn't know, now they know.  Sure its only one regular season game, but the way the Warriors dominated leaves the burden on the San Antonio Spurs shoulders to prove they can hang with the World Champions.  I believe they meet again in April.  

And If I hear any basketball analyst question the Championship caliber of the Warriors after seeing them annihilate a good Spurs team tonight, I'm calling him out. And that includes Mr. Charles Barkley.  It's a wrap. The only team that can stop the Warriors are the Warriors.

Can You Dig IT!

The best quote I heard was on Tom Tolbert's after-game show that said teams are having to guard Steph Curry at the half-court Logo. That's how much of a threat he is.  Steph has changed the way NBA basketball is coached and played.  He's revolutionized the game. Can You Dig That!

The Super Bowl Party Is On!

Defense Stuffs Patriots, Cam Picking Apart Cardinals

Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton throws Patriots QB Tom Brady to the ground for a sack in the third quarter Sunday. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

The AFC Championship game was a defensive battle from start to finish.  The Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning did just enough to end the New England Patriots hopes of returning to the Super Bowl.

Who knew that a Patriots missed extra point kick in the first quarter would play a huge part in the final minutes of the game.  

Trailing in the fourth quarter the Patriots scored on a 4 yard pass from Brady to Gronkowski with 12 seconds left in regulation. Down 20-18, in part because of the missed extra point, the Patriots had to go for two points. The Broncos defense, with five sacks and one interception on the day, got another interception in the end zone and all but sealed the fate of the Patriots.

Sometime during the game (actually twice in the fourth quarter) Patriots coach Bill Belichick decided to go for it, unsuccessfully, on 4th down instead of kicking the field goal. The field goals that wasn't could've changed the strategy and chances for the Patriots down the stretch, but hindsight is a painful viewing point from the seat of the losing team. 

It'll be the Denver Broncos with 39 year old Peyton Manning trying to cap his great career with a championship.

As I finish writing that last line the Carolina Panthers quarterback just completed a long precision pass to former 49er receiver Ted Ginn, again.  Both Panthers players are having a helluva first half as Carolina leads the game 27-7.  

Carolina defense has all but shutdown Carson Palmer and the Cardinals offense.  I'd say this game is over, unless Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald can find a way to play defense effectively, because Cam Newton is performing like........Superman!

Wow, Cam just ran past and through Arizona defenders for a first down and now a diving touchdown.  And wouldn't you know it, the Carolina stadium is playing the theme song to "Superman the Movie."

34-7 Panthers with 2:08 left in the 3rd quarter.
(Final Score Panthers 49 Cardinals 15)

Panthers vs Broncos Super Bowl here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  

WarriorTrotting Through Cleveland

The Harlem Globetrotters are in town performing at Oracle Arena in Oakland. But they just might have a hard time impressing Bay Area fans with their gravity-defying basketball skills. Why?  Because Oracle (RoaR-acle) is the lair of the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, best basketball team on the planet. 

Last night the Warriors air show returned to Cleveland, home of the best basketball player on the planet.  By the end of the first quarter they led by 13 points. By half-time the lead was 26 points.  By the end of the night they'd dazzled the Cleveland crowd with their championship caliber play, silencing any who doubted their win over Cleveland in last year's finals. No excuses from the Cavaliers this time as they came into the game at full strength with a healthy squad.

The best player on the planet had a pedestrian 16 point night and no highlights to think of.  Meanwhile, the best team on the planet was simply on fire after losing their previous game to the upstart Detroit Pistons. As usual, the team was led by the Human Torch, Steph Curry, who was launching shots from what looked like Meadowlark Lemon distance, may his soul rest in peace.

Where the heck was Charles Barkley last night? Oh, here he is:
TNT studio analyst Charles Barkley said: "I don't think the Cavs realized that Golden State wanted to send a message. Golden State is letting them know: If we see you in the Finals, this is what you can expect.''

Last year's finals MVP, Andre Iguodala, this time around scorched the Cavaliers for 20 points off the bench and did it in globetrotting fashion; flying through the air with the greatest of ease. Even the Brazilian Blur, Leandro Barbosa, had a few Harlem Globetrotter moments showing off his speed and ball handling skills.

It was a night best summed up by Steph stating in his after-game interview that the win was a good message to themselves of what they're capable of. "Scary" is the message to the rest of the league; scary to think what the Warriors are capable of, on the road, against the best, after a loss.     SCARY!

Final Score
Warriors 132
Cavaliers 98

NFL Divisional Playoffs Weekend

So either Alex Smith manages the game well or Tom Brady takes over the game. It's the Patriots and Chiefs in a divisional playoff game.  The Patriots will need all that Tom Terrific magic against a very good Chiefs team. The Chiefs are the hottest team entering the playoffs.

Should be a good game, but there's one Pats player who can make Andy Reid and his team sorry they ever saw the dawn's early light. That be wide receiver Julian Edelman. If the Chiefs defense don't spy and short circuit the little dynamo in the #11 Jersey, expect the Patriots to sizzle and shine on their way to another AFC championship showdown.

It's the Patriots and the Chiefs kicking off this afternoon's second round of the NFL playoffs. I personally want the Patriots to lose just so I can get a good look at that grim, ghostly losing reaction on the mug of the ever inspirational coach Bill Belichick. He's one of a kind, Patriots coach Belichick is.

Before You Bet Again - Checkout Lottery Fixing Scandal

Wanna hear something that looks and sounds like a conspiracy cover-up?  I go to check the news for the winning $1 billion plus powerball drawing and the first story I come across is this:

Lottery Fixing Scandal Spreads Nationwide

The convicted criminal behind the fixing is Eddie Tipton, a former security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association. Fast Eddie has already been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for a high-tech scheme that installs software into the lottery selection program to manipulate the numbers.

Prosecutors say Tipton installed software known as a root kit that enabled him to manipulate numbers without a trace. What tripped him up, investigators say, was his decision to buy the winning ticket himself at a service station near the headquarters of the association, whose workers are prohibited from trying their luck.

Fast Eddie must have paid millions to a good lawyer to get himself out of jail on an appeal. But I'm not hating on Eddie, I'm mad at the Multi-State Lottery Association who oversaw Wednesday's $1 billion drawing.  Why didn't they and/or the media spill the beans on Fast Eddie and other scammers that have been attacking lotteries nationwide?

Makes you think they're in on the scam doesn't it? You encourage millions of citizens throughout 46 United States to run out and bet the farm on a chance to win a Billion dollars and you don't inform them of a rogue former employee and the risk that lottery scammers might pose to the drawing? Come'on Man! That's just foul........

Did I mention that Fast Eddie's brother, Tough Tommy Tipton, is under investigation for Lottery Fraud as well.  Yep, Authorities say in 2005 Tommy collected  $537,000 as his cut from $4.5 million jackpot split in Colorado.

Imagine, these cats have been scheming and scamming lotteries nationwide for at least ten years. There are other names coming up in the ongoing investigations.

My advice to you suckers still playing the lottery straight, google the term "RootKit" and learn as much about it as you can before plopping down anymore on lotteries.  Its obviously worked for Tough Tommy and Fast Eddie for years, and I suspect its also filling the pockets of those pimping the lottery to the public. If you can't beat'em.......

So come the next big Lotto Jackpot, don't be a sucker and play it straight, let Eddie and Tommy Tipton educate you on how to really become a billionaire. Get the kit, get creative and then get busy greasing some hands brother. It's the American way.

Inside The Biggest Lottery Scam Ever 

Kill RootKits (Malware)

Raiders To L.A. IF Chargers Opt-Out

Regional loyalty? Humbug!  It's just Bizness Baby 

The NFL Owners voted 30-2 in favor of the Rams moving to Los Angeles and playing games there in the 2016 season.  The Rams accepted and will play games in the old Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum until a new $1.89 billion dollar stadium in Inglewood is completed in 2019.

The NFL offered the San Diego Chargers a share in the new stadium and they can join the Rams in old Memorial Coliseum beginning the 2017 season. The Chargers have until January 2017 to accept the NFL offer.  

IF

If the Chargers do not agree to the move/share offer by January 2017, the offer transfers over to the Raiders to join the Rams in Los Angeles beginning the 2017 season.

IF

If both the Chargers and Raiders choose not to accept the offer, the Rams will continue play as the Los Angeles Rams in L.A.. The team that does not move to Los Angeles will receive $100M from the NFL toward a new stadium in their market.

This is all I know as of now.  The Raiders option to share in the new Los Angeles stadium with the Rams hinges on a Chargers 'yea' or 'nay', which the bolts have a year to voice.

So what do the USC Trojans, who play games at the old Memorial Coliseum, think about the move.


Better yet, what do the silver & black clad L.A. Temptation, the all female flag team of the LFL, think about it. 


Time and pressure friends.  Time......and......pressure!


Legends Football League 

Jayne Kennedy Sports Salute

For those of us watching sports in the late 1970's, Jayne Kennedy, a former beauty pageant title-holder, made viewing the football pregame show NFL Today a blast.  She was young, smart, articulate, fine as heck and could talk football with the best of men.  

Her story of rising to the top as a female African-American broadcast host and celebrity actress before being brought down by a leaked sex tape, an unthinkable and unforgivable celebrity sin at the time, is a story full of many firsts in sports and broadcast tv.

I came across an article, Revisiting the first celeb sex tape, that gives Jayne's story and does it in a way that makes one wonder if she was just too smart, sexy and ethnic for CBS in that era.  They could probably handle her being one, but smart, sexy and ethnic all together might of threatened perceptions. All her co-hosts were ugly, older males.

She wasn't the first pretty female broadcaster on the sports show; she'd replaced former Miss America beauty Phyllis George.  Phyllis was one of the first females to have a prominent role in national sports coverage.  She was pretty and smart, but Jayne just had that charm and sex appeal which put her in a league of her own.

Fans of football and television were easy to forgive Jayne, seeing it really as her doing nothing wrong. No scandal could smear her beauty in our eyes. Might've even added to her appeal. But network television and the NFL weren't so liberal and forgiving and her career in sports and television fizzled afterward.   

In 1988 a former co-host of The NFL Show, Jimmy 'the Greek' Snyder, would also see his career ended by an over-sensitive NFL Today as he made a racial remark on-air that was not intended to offend. 

But the Greek was nothing pretty to look at. Sports television could afford to lose his services. But Jayne was the heart throb to young and old men across the nation. She was the beauty that somehow effortlessly tamed the beast in football men.  She was beauty and brains pioneering a way for women and people of color in sports broadcasting.  You'd swear the television set turned High Definition when Jayne was on the air; and HD wouldn't exist for another decade or more. That was how buttery and lovely her skin looked on television; in color or black & white.

If they haven't already, I'd like to see the NFL honor Jayne Kennedy for her contributions to NFL football and sports broadcasting.  Jayne is a legend to many of us sports fans.  She fits right in with the nostalgia of that era's professional football.

Thanks for being our Beauty in the broadcast booth Jayne.  You were that and so much more. 

Raider Nation Salutes You!

It's Football Playoffs Time

With two teams from the AFC West representin' in the NFL Playoffs, I should feel better about my Raiders 7-9 regular season. It means they had four divisional games against teams good enough to make the playoffs, not to mention the four non-divisional playoff teams they played (bengals, steelers, vikings, packers). The Raiders will be back in playoff contention next season; I guarantee it! (thanks Broadway Joe)

I'm not sure who to cheer for in this year's Playoffs. I suppose for the AFC I'd like to see Peyton Manning get another shot at the title.  Of course I'd like to see Cam Newton and the Panthers get there also for the NFC, but something about seeing Vikings RB Adrian Peterson doing his thing in the Super Bowl excites me. 

Speaking of AP, there was an interview where he acknowledged Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch as being the best running back in the league today, " hands down". 

Now that's one hell of an endorsement coming from a great player like Adrian Peterson.  It shows how much respect Peterson has for the game and the players he competes against.  

Wait a minute; correction. AP called Lynch the second best running back?  Second to AP, I suppose. Oh shucks! Oh well, there's no room for humbleness in football, and Peterson just might've put his arrogant foot in his mouth and awakened a Beast. 

Imagine a playoffs showdown between AP and Beast Mode?  I'd pay Floyd Mayweather Fight money to see it, with money down on Oaktown's Lynch.

Well, tomorrow I get that wish, minus the Money May pay-per-view robbery, as their two teams (vikings & seahawks) faceoff against one another in a wild card game. It's the beginning of the second season as the NFL Playoffs take over the sports world in a last team standing tournament.

Good Luck gentleman, "and may the odds be ever in your favor."


Raiders News: Khalil Mack has made All-Pro history.

Raiders End Season With A Loss

Just Stay Baby

Cheer up Raiders fans, it could be worse.  We could've been the New York Jets blowing a chance to clinch a playoff birth.

#29 David Amerson

The Raiders lost in Kansas City to the Chiefs 23-17. So long Charles Woodson and hello David Amerson, who provided the Raiders defensive highlight of the day, a pick six.

The best things that can be said about this Raiders squad is that they're young and they never quit. Obviously there's some talent, but we've seen teams with talent in the past who couldn't produce on the field. Not being able to pinpoint the Raiders offensive drop-off in play ever since the Pittsburgh game, I'm a bit skeptical about next season being a breakout year for them. Carr and Cooper gotta get better.

When they can give me a dominating running game with an offensive front that can push defenders backwards, then I'll believe the hype.  Same with the improved defense, it needs more D-line push to be consistently effective. A defensive line that can quickly get to the passer is a defensive backfield's best friend.

So here we are at the end of the regular season. The Oakland Raiders finish with a 7-9 record.  It's improvement. It's promise. But then again, it's 7-9.

Win, Lose or Tie

Thanks for a competitive season Raiders. Now get better.

College Bowl Comeback

Today's college football bowl game between #11 TCU and #15 Oregon went from a 31-point Oregon Ducks first half rout to a TCU comeback of unbelievable proportions.

It took the TCU Horned Frogs a full game of regulation along with three over-time periods, but they pulled off one of the most improbable come-from-behind wins in college bowl history.

The football analysts will be talking for days about what went so wrong for the Ducks and so right for the Horned Frogs in a game that was truly a tale of two halves and more. 

Was it coaching, fatigue, over confidence or just plain bad luck that saw the Ducks squander a 31-point lead and lose the game.  I'm convinced it was the Frogs bruised pride responsible for the Ducks misfortunes after halftime. Time and pressure can move mountains.

TCU was embarrassingly out-coached and outplayed in the first half by a lesser ranked team. Their coach must've reminded them of what got them to the bowl game and all the hard work they'd put in over the season.  The comeback was epic.

It takes a smart and passionate coach to lift the heart and spirit of an underachieving team up to their level of full potential in so short a time. Somebody out there has the coach's half-time speech. If its you, TMZ will pay a fortune for an exclusive I'm sure.

The Horned Frogs are Alamo Bowl Champions with the scent of never-say-die still emanating from the scoreboard.

	1	2	3	4	OT	OT	OT		Total
Oregon	21	10	0	0	7	3	0		41
TCU	0	0	17	14	7	3	6		47