MLB: How Much Is Left To Be Decided?

The road to the World Series goes through New Yankee Stadium and St. Louis.

Three weeks from today, the season will be over and the playoff field set. For the casual observer, it looks like the American League is set and the National League rests on the National League West where the Dodgers are three games up on the Colorado Rockies whose push got slightly slowed up losing their last two games.

The Wild Card races show Boston having a four game lead over Texas. In the National League, Colorado leads San Francisco by 4 ½, Florida by 5 ½ and the Braves by 6 ½ games. At first blush, these don’t look like nail biters.

Boston still has to play the California Angels, their likely playoff match at home this week then play the Yankees the next to last weekend of the season. The Rangers play the Angels both at home and away. Realistically, this makes the task tough on Texas unless they get incredibly red hot where if they were to sweep the Angels, something better than the Wild Card could be in store for them.

The National League contest between the Dodgers and the Rockies could come down to the last weekend of the season when the Rockies come to Dodger town to decide it all. In the meantime, the Dodgers entertain the Giants next weekend, but face Pittsburgh this week. They have an east coast road trip. That’s the bad news. The good news is they face the Nationals and the Pirates then come west to face the Padres, a run of three series against three last place teams. Joe Torre has to like that! Meanwhile, Colorado visits the San Francisco Giants, a team they must put away, starting tonight. They’ll go out to the desert to face Arizona before coming home to play San Diego, St. Louis, a possible playoff match up, and Milwaukee. The remainder of the schedule coupled with a three game lead would favor the Dodgers.

Are there other possibilities?

Consider this, the Detroit Tigers are the only team in their division with a winning record 5 ½ games up on the Minnesota Twins with the White Sox lurking just another game behind. Before we close the book on the AL Central, the Tigers play both Minnesota and Chicago at home and away with the Twins coming to Motor City as the next to last series and Chicago finishing the year in Motown. While that would look to open things up, Minnesota and Chicago could eliminate each other when they play a three game series in Chicago next week.

Are the Philadelphia Phillies safe? They play the Florida Marlins 6 ½ games back first in Miami before finishing with a three game set in Philadelphia the last weekend. Given the way the Phillies bullpen has collapsed and Florida’s ability to go on hot streaks, they can’t print their postseason tickets yet, but Florida’s next opponent is St. Louis in St. Louis.

The view in the crystal ball says the Yankees will host the Tigers and the Angels will host the Red Sox in the American League. The Cardinals will host the Rockies while it’s too close to call who will be the host but the Phillies and Dodgers, a game apart in the los column advantage Dodgers, will play in the other bracket.

While the Yankees look strong in the American League, the one team that has their number is the Angels who have a 4-2 edge over the Bronx bombers who host the Angels in a make up game tonight and will travel to Anaheim on September 21st for a three game series. In what looks like another playoff matchup, the Angels begin three games against Boston in Fenway Park tomorrow night.

A Yankees/St. Louis World Series is looking more likely with each passing week.

RANT: Maybe RMF Watched Too Much Sports This Weekend

Advertisers think this asshole can sell us pickup trucks

and DirectTV. God help us!

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Two Orioles games, four NFL games, two college football games (HOORAY FOR MICHIGAN!), and two NASCAR races while wanting to be able to watch some of the PGA action, more baseball, and USC versus Ohio State, it was just another typical weekend for the All-American guy in Chesapeake Country, but damned those damned advertisements are getting more annoying every season.

Sports Fans: Who Do They Think We Are?

Advertising is supposed to influence our opinion of products and motivate us to but them. However, when we consider what’s going into the marketing behind the ads, what better way to judge what a sponsor thinks of its customers?

Corporate America spends billions on market research to figure out who buys their products and what their interests and push buttons are that could be manipulated to get customers to buy everything from beer to health insurance.

Look at the advertisements you watch on your favorite television programs, and you’ll get a good snapshot of how they assess us, what their opinion is of their viewers.

I conclude particularly for sports fans, they think we’re boorish and stupid. How else can you explain Dennis Leary selling Direct TV with its special NFL programming and Ford F-150 pickup trucks? Excuse me, I don’t want to have anything to do with Dennis Leary. I hate his public persona. Why would anyone find such an insensitive, rude, lout so appealing?

Beer commercials used to be a riot. Remember the Budweiser frogs and lizards or the cat fight in the fountain for Miller Lite? Of course, they were blasted for using cartoon like figures for they might entice children to want to drink beer and surely the feminists went bonkers over the cat fight.

These days, beer ads are more inclined to show the kinds of fellows they think drink their beer and these aren’t exactly the sharpest fellows. They come across as Animal House rejects who’d never make it into the frat because they’d never get accepted to college in the first place. Think of the Heineken Light ad where two goofballs spill their beer, are pitied by the usher, led to the fancy seats, served a couple Heinekens, and then a sharp brown-eyed girl asks, “Hey guys, pass me one. PLEASE!” You get the impression they’re so into admiring their victory and guzzling their brews they’re going to completely blow off this lovely lady. Of course, we could talk about the Coors Light ads where the yahoos question pro-football coaches. Again, they’re not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer.

Locally in the mid-Atlantic, MASN has been airing their “defining moment” series to promote Orioles and Nationals games on TV. In this series, MASN presents typical fans standing in front of a video display that looks a little like Camden Yards’ scoreboard raving about something that makes them worship their hometown team. The selection of characters provides a broad cross section ethnically, by age, and gender supposed to show the wide appeal of baseball. Fair enough, but obviously most of them were white males from teen to golden years.

How could they find such obnoxious specimens to represent Chesapeake area baseball fans? We’ll even go as far to say that the Washington Nationals fans are definitely more appealing than the Orioles fans. While watching these ads, it wasn’t hard to think of those folks out at the ball yard who think they are the world’s greatest and smartest fans ever to show up with their sacred Elysian Fields before them sitting way too close for comfort who are all too eager to engage every paying customer sitting near them as subjects to their lectures about all they know (or truly don’t know) about baseball as if the very fate of mankind rested on their words. One could also think of the boorish blabber mouth at the local watering hole or sports bar who won’t stop blabbering in a loud obnoxious voice acting like everyone in the facility is his best buddy as long as those persons just quietly nod and bob like a bobble head as long as the self-appointed sports expert feels some kind of enabler’s support for his blathering. These are the kinds of folks, as so well depicted in these ads who make the unwilling subject of their rants just think, “Where can I run and hide?”

If fans made the association these are the kind of people who pack the stands at the ballparks in Baltimore and DC, is it any wonder attendance is so low?

Advertising has always run spots that completely miss their marks, but there are certain trends today that give rise to particularly offensive advertisements. First, the media is so detached and elitist; it feels far superior to its patrons whether it’s how the media covers the news, its programming or advertising. Second, the culture of political correctness and identity politics has invaded Madison Avenue where it’s just as damaging as it is to Wall Street. The only certain result is bland mediocrity and intellectual vapidity.

The irony is the audience for sports consists largely of male viewers in the prime demographics where customers for everything from beer to pickup trucks to financial services are riveted to football, baseball, basketball, and hockey games, NASCAR races, and the PGA tour. Few audiences are more steady viewers. However, in this new multicultural society where all hell breaks loose every time someone of a particular identity is offended, the only people who are allowed to be portrayed as idiots are white men or very attractive blonde females. Yes, men are the dum-dums who depend on their daughters to know when they need to touch up their gray hair and learn how to tie their neckties. Of course look at the burglars portrayed in ads for home security systems. They’re all white guys from 20-40 generally needing a shave. Imagine if an African American were portrayed as a home intruder?

Get the picture. Soon we’ll have the technology to push a button on our TV’s to program in quickie little videos that we can punch up every time there’s an ad break during our favorite telecasts. What device is more personally empowering than the remote control?

Column in Forbes Sets Record Straight on Obama Health Takeover Speech

RMF hasn't weighed in on Obama's demogoguery from Wednesday night because RMF is just too angry to write something cogent wanting to say things that would make Rep. Jim Wilson (R-SC) look mild. The lies, the distortions, the finger-pointing and self-congratulation was beyond belief trying to make one of the most dangerous proposals ever to be considered in Washington look palpable.

We came across this column from Forbes magazine which adds some great perspective on Obama's totalitarian megalomania. Isn't it interesting how casually the radical extremist rattles off false assertions as if they are verifiable facts and figures? Can we not see his total contempt for private business and any profit making enterprise? Is it not powefully clear that a person surrounded by radicals, political machine operatives, union thugs, and ground level hacks has no perspective on how the major institutions like health care, the financial sector, and corporate America operate?

http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/10/health-care-speech-obama-economics-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html
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Diane Auer Jones Weighs in on Health Care Debate

Once again, one of our most respected Washington "insiders" though she would probably reject this characterization, former White House Science advisor and Asst. Ed. Secretary, Diane Auer Jones, a life long Catonsville resident, weighs in on the health insurance issue.

Read this article for some sound philosophical reasoning on how the current approach is off base.

http://www.chroniclecareers.com/blogPost/Mandatory-Health-Insurance-Is/7996/
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Sprint Cup: The Chase is On!!

Here they come!

Here's the field for the 2009 Sprint Cup "Chase for the Championship."

1. Mark Martin, Chevy, 5040 pts.
2. Tony Stewart, Chevy, 5030 pts.
3. Jimmie Johnson, Chevy, 5030 pts.
4. Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 5020 pts.
5. Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 5020 pts.
6. Jeff Gordon, Chevy, 5010 pts.
7. Kurt Busch, Dodge, 5010 pts.
8. Brian Vickers, Toyota, 5010 pts.
9. Carl Edwards, Ford, 5000 pts.
10. Ryan Newman, Chevy, 5000 pts.
11. Juan Montoya, Chevy, 5000, pts.
12. Greg Biffle, Ford, 5000 pts.

Matt Kenseth, winner of the Daytona 500 and the first race in California in February missed the Chase for the first time since the Chase format was adopted. Kyle Busch who tied Mark Martin for the most wins also did not make the field. The field included no drivers from Richard Childress racing who ran three teams in the Chase in 2008 driven by Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in last year's field but his struggles in '09 have been well documented. With Kyle Busch not making the lineup and Tony Stewart now racing for his own team, only one team, Denny Hamlin, represents Joe Gibbs Racing.

This year's "Chase" marks the first entries by Brian Vickers for Red Bull Racing and Juan Pablo Montoya who represents the merged operation Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. With the merger of Gillette/Evernham and Petty Enterprises, this is the first Chase to have the Petty name in competition as Kasey Kahne races for Richard Petty Racing.

Surely the success of Stewart-Haas racing has to be one of the major story lines for this year's chase. Though Stewart has not raced well for the past few races, no driver has dominated the season the way his new #14 team with crew chief, Darian Grubb. While Ryan Newman won no races, his consistency brought him into the field as the second entry for the first year operation.

For those who did not make the field, winning races still has its rewards. Many drivers and crew chiefs are racing for jobs next year as sponsorship dollars are tight. Will there be more stories like the merger of Yates into Richard Petty racing on the horizon? Might we find out that next year's NASCAR season could gain a woman's touch as the rumors about Danica Patrick's possible move to NASCAR grow louder, but would she start at the Sprint Cup level or get her apprenticeship racing in the Nationwide or Camping World Trucks series?

Mark Martin leading the field surely must most popular with NASCAR fans. Surely, if any driver is capable of running off a series of wins, the cagey old veteran is as good as they come. Naturally, Jimmie Johnson would be a hard one not to pick given his team's ability to find a little something extra as the series transitions into fall. There's no telling how powerful Tony Stewart's team could be if they get a second win, and oh by the way, there's a fellow in the Chase who has four championships, Jeff Gordon.

More thoughts as the drivers head to New Hampshire next weekend.

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Kick Off in Baltimore

Today, 1:00 am, M&T Bank Stadium, the Baltimore Ravens kick off the 2009 season versus the Kansas City Chiefs after a highly successful 2008 campaign. Many of the key players return: Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata, and Ed Reed will lead one of the NFL's most proven defenses with a swift attack of organized chaos to rattle even the stoutest offense. Joe Flacco and Ray Rice will build on their successful rookie start with veterans Derek Mason and Todd Heap, but there will be one fixture in Baltimore football missing, the original Raven, the lone hold over from Cleveland, Matt Stover will not be the team's field goal specialist.

Baltimore fans need not whine about this team not getting respect by national media. They are well known and feared. They will compete with the best this year besides Pittsburgh facing Indianapolis here in Baltimore and New England.

Here's to the success and good health of our beloved Ravens. The dogs are in the house and they're growling!!!

Congratulations to Derek Jeter

On a damp dreary night when the decision to play baseball seemed to be pushing it, Yankee shortstop and captain, Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig's mark for the most hits by a career New York Yankee en route to surely hitting well over 3,000 in his career and then enshrinement with his number retired in monument park and a trip to Cooperstown joining figures like Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Joe Dimagio, Mickey Mantle, and all the other Yankees legends.

Perhaps there is some small irony he would accomplish this feat against the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken's former team, a player Jeter emulates with such professionalism. Like Ripken, Jeter is a model citizen in the sport who leads by example who shows up to work every day, approaches the game with respect, demonstrates the right work habits, and knows at heart baseball is a kid's game where playing every day should be fun.

Is it any wonder Derek Jeter is perhaps the most respected player in the game today?

The Democrats Are at It Again: Punishing Joe Wilson

The House Democrats Need to Chill

Get a load of this, Rep. Joe Wilson yelled out, “you lie!” during President Barack Obama’s health care sales pitch to Congress. While he was correct in pointing out the President was lying and yelling “BULLSHIT” would have been every bit as accurate, in civil society our elected officials should not behave in such an uncivil manner and behave like grown ups.

Mr. Wilson issued an apology. He said what needed to be said. Apparently, the White House accepted the apology though don’t be surprised if they don’t try to score political points for this episode later. The Democrats demand more. Wilson must make a formal apology on the House floor. Meanwhile the party leaders have activated the democratic Congressional Campaign to go wild raising money for his challenger, Rob Miller. Wilson maintains he’s apologized sufficiently and will not give into partisan demands that he apologize more publicly. CASE CLOSED!!!!

If we are to criticize inappropriate behavior making accusations of lying, let’s look at the accusations Nancy Pelosi hurled at the CIA on the record. Now there’s a charge that demands some major action and if she weren’t the mother hen of the House, surely she’d deserve a strong rebuke, possibly censure for her idiocy. WHEN IS NANCY PELOSI GOING TO APOLOGIZE TO THE FINE PROFESSIONALS IN THE CIA SHE TRASHED?

The difference between Wilson and Pelosi is that Wilson attacked a political target while Pelosi attacked a group of highly dedicated non-partisan professionals some of whom lay their lives on the line for our nation’s security which is more than anyone could ever suggest of the House Speaker with her sense of royal entitlement.

It’s always fascinating to see the Democrats play the “my shit doesn’t stink” game. There isn’t a sane person in the world who wouldn’t want to avoid a partisan farting contest, the elephant versus the jackass.

Here’s the article:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/11/democrats-wilson-ultimatum-apology-punishment/?test=latestnews

Meanwhile, back home in South Carolina where Joe Wilson’s behavior really matters, some folks are just fine with his situation. Within 48 hours of his outburst during Obama’s speech, he raised close to $750,000 for his reelection campaign.

The Democrats must be confident the press will cover their back when it comes to vicious accusations of lying. Run the tapes and see what folks like Barney Frank, Harry Reid and others have had to say about George W. Bush when they were in the minority party. At least there is substantial truth in Joe Wilson’s charge based on the track record of the efforts in congress to seize control of the nation’s health care.

If it’s fair to ask for Wilson’s apology, we demand the same of the Democrats for Nancy Pelosi accusing the CIA of lying and the many instances where similar accusations were hurled by several prominent Democrats at George W. Bush and Dick Chaney. In this farting contest, they’ll find out whose shit stinks the most.

Sprint Cup 2009, Race 26: Bubble Busters at Richmond

Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth along with their owner, Jack Roush, must be sweating bullets as tonight's race in Richmond approaches. Here's some simple math. If they were to finish in their qualifying positions opposite Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch, Biffle would hang on by a thread, Brian Vickers would get in, Matt Kenseth would be running for pride for the rest of the year, and Kyle Busch would still be pouting and screaming blaming somebody for not getting in the show. Brian Vickers starts 6th while "Shrub" starts 8th. The Blue Oval boys start with Biffle in 24th position and Kenseth in 28th.

Meanwhile, Mark "the Kid" Martin would appear to be able to breathe a little easier having won the poll. How many fans would have seen him well positioned to top the Chase field with the driver having the most wins. It could happen!

Sprint Cup: Petty Racing to Merge with Yates

Things were looking bad for Ford racing. The Roush/Fenway team must shed one car for next year. The 26 car will race no more. Yates in its alliance with Hall-of-Fame Racing appeared in chaos as Bobby Labonte was removed from several remaining races in a sponsorship deal. With the Yates organization and Roush cut but one team, where did that leave the "Blue Oval Boys" for 2010?

Meanwhile, the alliance created by Gillette/Evernham essentially buying out Richard Petty Enterprises but bringing on "the King" for his leadership, expertise, and public relations capacity, has had limited success outside the #9 team, Budweiser sponsorship, with Kasey Kahne as its driver who is well-positioned to make "The Chase."

Given the cars are essentially the same regardless of nameplate, the only real difference is the engine. Where Petty has struggled has been bringing on the new Dodge engine which has been part of the Penske Dodge operation's success with Kurt Busch. If nothing else, NASCAR knows Yates builds horsepower. This merger could result in a potentially strong team. Kasey Kahne is a first class talent who could benefit tremendously from first rate horsepower. Paul Menard, Elliot Sadler, and A.J. Allmendinger will round out the team. Reed Sorenson and Bobby Labonte's future is unclear.

Some other intriguing questions need to be answered. For instance, who will run the #43 car? Will this team bring back the legendary #28 for one of its rides, a number associated with Yates success in the past and Ford history going back to Fred Lorenzen's run in the winning Holman-Moody Ford in the mid 60's.

While it might seem strange to see Richard Petty's name associated with Fords, we think of him racing Dodges and Chryslers, then GM cars predominantly Pontiacs before his retirement in 1992. Richard Petty was a Ford driver in a fastback Torino in 1969. Back then, that light Petty blue paint job and the #43 on the side of the car spelled doom for other competitors regardless of whose sheetmetal or engine NASCAR's greatest driver raced.

Ford will have eight full time cars racing next year that should have adequate funding and sponsorship. Richard Petty's legend is kept alive and remains on an American nameplate. We can imagine some would find something unsettling about "The King's" legend turned over to Toyota while we remind our readers the Toyota Camry is the only car in Sprint Cup competition that is assembled in the United States.

The odd-man out is Bobby Labonte. His brother went through a long dry spell between his championships, so for the sake of younger brother, Bobby, we hope opportunities lie ahead for him. His presence was supposed to envigorate the Petty garage, but that organization simply did not have the resources to race to win during his tenure. Then much hope surfaced as Labonte joined Hall-of-Fame racing teaming up with Yates and champion crew chief, Todd Parrott, but the results have been dreadful this year. Unless there's something about Bobby Labonte we don't know, he'd be a welcome addition to any team looking for a driver upgrade.

How this will play out for the remainder of the season is unknown. Surely, the Richard Petty Racing operation must do all it can to ensure Kasey Kahne's success in "The Chase." Meanwhile, Paul Menard can race assured he has a ride, perhaps in part to the Menard's sponsorship, next year. One has to believe he has not had the chance to show his potential in a floundering DEI operation or what he's struggled with this year racing for Yates.

Elliot Sadler must also be a winner in this deal. It was this past off-season he looked like a man pushed out of a ride from the Petty/Gillette-Evernham merger.

Finally, what does this move say for Dodge in Sprint Cup? Only Penske's three car operation remains Dodge for now. Will Penske's rides still be Dodges or some other nameplate next year?

September 11, 2009

Right Minded Fellow strives to give our readers an alternative view of the day's events from what's going on in Washington to more joyful pursuits in sports and the arts; however, on this 8th anniversary of our great national nightmare, we will ask our readers to please read the three postings we have written on this most dreadful event and encourage everyone to use this day to deepen our resolve to defend our culture for all its blessings we receive and to stand firm against those who would destroy us. In respect and observance of the day that changed our lives, we will have nothing else to say today. We want all our collective thoughts and energy to ponder the lessons learned from that dark day eight years ago and contemplate the path that lies before us.

Allow yourself a moment of silence. Listen for the voice within and the great voice from beyond. Heed those words and be free.

Celebrate life.

Reflections on Our Darkest Day Eight Years Ago

How has your life changed because of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001?

People living in the New York City area, around the nation’s Capitol, and those connected with the four airline flights involved whose family, friends, and associates were killed or injured, their lives will never be the same hurt beyond repair in some ways. Those who’ve been called to arms to fight the war on terror continue to pay a tremendous price. Between those killed from the attacks and in our military, the death toll stands at over 7,000. Considering tens of thousands of people worked in the twin towers of the World Trade Center, how much bravery and little miracles kept the count from escalating higher.

One cannot travel by air and not be aware of greater restrictions to assure passenger safety from potential terrorists. We can also look at many public facilities see the barriers put in place to create a safety zone that could hopefully thwart truck bombers and other threats. We’ve also had to go through more security entering everything from office buildings, sports events, and rock concerts for fear that large assemblies make desirable targets.

However, perhaps what’s most alarming is how little we have been affected, how quickly life returned to normal, how little we have been interrupted in any way, and how easy the lessons of that horrible event are ignored.

How horrible it is that much of the energy generated against what happened to us is not being directed at the Islamic extremists behind this most wicked event but has been turned inward whether its those hateful sick bastards who perpetuate 9/11 conspiracy theories, the attempts to gloss over the events behind a wall of political correctness, or just simple complacency as if no one wants to be bothered distracted from their day-to-day affairs.

Perhaps it would be better if those horrible events resulted in us having to do something at least a little differently in some ways. Don’t we need some little reminders to reinforce our resolve to continue the fight?

Thankfully, despite massive intelligence gathering operations, we have not lost our freedom. The instant that would start to happen would be the first stages of surrender to our hated enemy.

As we have stated along with many others, we did not choose this war; this war chose us. We can withdraw from Iraq or Afghanistan. We can call the war on terror by nicer names. We can talk around that we have a bitter enemy in radical Islam. Those who attacked us will continue to press on. They think in terms we do not. We are “now” people looking at the present and instant results. They see this as a struggle for the ages and will continue to spread their religion and politics of death. Until every last person on this earth is under their murderous control, anyone and anything in their way could be destroyed. We treasure life. They see no greater glory than dying for their wicked beliefs and nothing is more heroic than killing nonbelievers and dying a martyr.

We must have faith that because we choose life and they choose death, we will ultimately win. However, we cannot let somebody else do it. We cannot depend of the rest of the world. We cannot even depend on our government. Our government is a sickly reflection of ourselves. Unless they are constantly reminded and supported that we as a people stand strong, the ship of state will stray off course.

In the meantime, our life goes on, and nothing more than witnessing the deaths of so many Americans can remind us more just how precious our lives are and beautiful the love we share for those in our hearts. We are also reminded when we see the sick application of Islam as the blueprint for destruction, that God is alive, in our hearts, in our nature, and providing us a pathway to deal with this most horrible reality. If there has ever been a clearer battle of good against evil, we have found it just as the great generation fought Nazi Germany and the death culture of the Axis powers so few decades ago.

We look to our grandparents and great grandparents whose time on this earth is rapidly passing for they knew what it took to unite, sacrifice and conquer a great evil. Their values and lessons of personal responsibility and shared sacrifice seem so alien to the “me” culture of baby boomers and Generation X. It’s time for baby boomers on the twilight of their golden years to grow up and for Generation X to step up. Future generations depend on our resolve.

Do not let this day pass without saying a prayer connecting with the goodness of God and let your heart guide its content. Express your love and appreciation to someone special in your life. No matter your hardships, count your blessings.

We must also be realistic. Those who hate us will strike again. Can we be prepared?

9/11, the War on Terror, and the Enemy Within

White House “Green Jobs Czar” Van Jones, the self confessed communist who resigned this weekend signed a petition supporting the contention that the Bush administration either had prior knowledge of or was responsible for the 9-11 attacks. Actor Charlie Sheen, reported to be the highest paid actor on American television issued a plea to President Barack Obama urging an investigation into what Sheen believes was a Bush administration conspiracy claiming the official 9-11 report a fraud.

Earlier in the year, new Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano created Orwellian new speak to masquerade the horrors. Terrorist attacks were now “man made disasters.” The War on Terror would repeatedly be removed from the discussion and called among other things, an overseas contingency operation.

Bin Ladin still remains at large and the threat is real. Where’s the outrage and commitment eight years later?

For the almost 3000 Americans who died on that fateful day and thousands more servicemen fighting Islamic extremism, every one of us needs to come to grips with the hard reality no matter what our politicians decide to do, we did not chose this war. This war chose us.

We must condemn the cowards and traitors like Van Jones and Charlie Sheen for what they are. We cannot in anyway blame ourselves or our government’s policies for what happened on that dreadful morning. We can second guess all that could have been done to avoid the tragedy, but we face an evil enemy who studied our way of life and how we do things while we went on about our normal business. Their diabolical creativity found a weakness and exploited it to unimaginable consequences.

Until the wretched mindset that grows terrorism is destroyed, the war will continue. It could be years, decades, or even generations, but we must be resolved knowing that as horrible as America can be, at heart we are a just and good society while the Islamic terrorists who seek to destroy us are even more evil.

We can argue the tactics, but to deny the reality is sick, evil, and wrong.

Remembering September 11 Terrorists Attacks Eight Years Later

On a clear, beautiful morning like this...

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Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, 8:46 am EDT, couldn’t have been a more beautiful morning in the north eastern United States. The sky was clear; the weather warm. A week after Labor Day and the end of summer, folks were settling into school and their jobs. It was business as usual as daybreak gave way approaching 9:00 am when the whole working world is buckling down. The NFL season had just started. The New York Yankees were atop their division heading for another World Series. What could be more normal and seemingly perfect?

In Baltimore, Maryland, an employee for the finance department of a rising corporation pulled into the parking lot at his office listening to the local news-talk station, just prior to 9:00 the morning host interrupted his discussion, a plane had hit the New York World Trade Center. That seemed so odd. How could that happen? Surely it was as clear and lovely a couple hours up the highway from Baltimore. These kind of weather systems usually covered most of the northeast. By the time he walked into his office, his immediate area was bedlam. Fellow staff members were frantically talking on the phone. Others were tuning in radio stations and scrambling on the Internet. Everyone wanted to know what happened in New York. Did some pilot go hopelessly astray?

A moment later just after 9:00 am an office mate slammed down her phone and screamed, “Holy shit, a plane just hit the other tower.” Almost on impulse, the fellow who had just come in from the parking lot impulsively screamed, “Fucking Arabs.”

Nobody wanted to believe what happened, but intuitively not only did we know we were under attack, but at least had a pretty good idea by whom. Nobody else could be so dastardly and suicidal. Televisions were turned on the next floor up. The wretched images of the twin towers were bellowing dark demonic looking smoke as the reports came across of people hand in hand leaping to their deaths. There were tens of thousands of people working in that complex. How many would make it out alive?

As the horrible reality sank in more gravely came another shocker, and huge explosion in Washington, DC. Just across the river, there had been a blast at the Pentagon and quickly all knew a plane had crashed into the headquarters of American defense. Our country was under attack while that sinking feeling set in, “What next?”

That same fellow in Baltimore shed a tear thinking the White House or Capitol could be under attack. He once taught school. A former student he dearly loved was working on the professional staff for the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, everyone at his office was starting to come to grips with the situation wondering what in Baltimore might be a likely target. A huge high rise hotel had just opened two blocks away. It stood out like a sore thumb on the Baltimore skyline, but Baltimore had its own World Trade Center, much smaller than the one in New York. Quickly, Baltimore was going into emergency status. The expressways leading in and out of the city were closed down in case they’d be needed to move emergency vehicles. Schools were preparing to shut down as most businesses in the area closed down. Every station on television it seems turned into a news channel, even ESPN and ESPN2 were broadcasting the feed from ABC news. All events were cancelled and planes grounded until further notice. Then came the word of another episode in western Pennsylvania. Early reports indicated passengers were able to wrestle control of Flight 93 away from its hijackers and were able to force the plane to the ground. A new class of citizen warriors had become the first killed combatants in the war on terrorism.

Baltimore was absolute gridlock as the working life blood of the city’s downtown business district attempted to ride home with major arteries clogged with traffic. Similar stories were repeated from the east coast to the west, but those stuck in traffic for hours were the lucky ones. The horrors in lower Manhattan and Arlington, Virginia were beyond comprehension. Then came even another terrible report. One of the WTC towers collapsed and soon after that, the second tower collapsed. The whole nation had images of thousands of Americans crushed or burned to death. In the rubble of the twin towers in New York was buried America’s innocence. We were at war but no one had a clew how this would play out.

The President was in Florida promoting education reading a story to school children. His chief of staff whispered in his ear. For a moment he appeared as dumbstruck as the rest of us as he has scurried off to an undisclosed location. Security advisors did not want him returning to Washington DC, there could be more attacks. The Vice President was scurried off to a secret location which turned out to be a bunker in the Vice President’s residence. As afternoon set in, there was a mournful silence from coast to coast. No more attacks, but everyone was thinking, what next?

As the afternoon progressed, families assembled together many glued to the television. Military officials, intelligence experts, and prominent leaders weighed in on the retched tragedy. There was even the image of congressmen on Capitol hill who had been locked into vicious partisan fighting a day earlier joined together singing “God Bless America.” Baseball games and virtually all other events were called off. Americans travelling across country were stranded unable to get air service elsewhere.

We were quickly putting the horrors of the day into perspective. Many said this was this generation’s Pearl Harbor, but when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was a distant American territory and they attacked a military target, a naval base. On this horrible day, ordinary people simply going to work to earn a living in the Nation’s largest city and its Capitol were murdered in the most savage of circumstances.

The President turned up at the White House and prepared to address the nation that evening. He spoke calmly but forcefully urging calm and resolve among the American people determined to avenge the horrors of that day. As night settled in, chaos continued in New York and Arlington while the rest of the nation attempted to get an uneasy rest.

When they’d awaken on the morning of September 12, they would arise in a new, darker world. The horrors of death and war chilled the otherwise beautiful air. The United States would never be the same.

Sprint Cup 2009, Race 26: Anybody for an Old Fashioned Shootout

Sprint Cup gunslingers come to Richmond, Virginia.

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Richmond: It All Comes Down to This

When the checker flag drops on Saturday night at the conclusion of the Chevy Rock n Roll 400, twelve drivers will compete for the Sprint Cup trophy. The remainder will be pondering the what-if’s having ten races to still win races and work on things to improve next year. Many will be fighting for jobs, a tougher challenge this year than perhaps any time before.

Thinking back to February and how many fans would have foreseen the 2009 season, surely no one would be surprised that Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are near the top of the standings. Likewise, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, and Matt Kenseth in the top 12 would seem like safe bets. In fact, many would see Matt Kenseth in superb fighting shape after winning the first two races. Many probably figured Tony Stewart would be in there too. Somehow, he’d overcome the challenges of running his own team and scrap to get in there, but would anyone see him having a dominant lead in the points?

How about the surprises? Wasn’t Dale Earnhardt Jr. a sure bet to improve on last year getting settled in with the Hendricks operation? Surely Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, and probably Clint Bowyer would represent Richard Childress racing, but not a single RCR car remains in the hunt. Could a NASCAR fan envision Carl Edwards winless? Maybe some would scratch their heads and wonder how Kyle Busch could win four races and be fighting to make it into the top 12.

There are pleasant surprises too. Kasey Kahne looks like a chaser representing the Richard Petty – Gillette Evernham union. Juan Montoya is there when the future of DEI and Ganassi looked desperate as they merged to try to hang on. Mark Martin sure proved his fans hopes worthy tied for the lead in wins and in the top 12.

There’s much to be settled as drivers try to preserve their spot if they find themselves in position 12 or better. Three drivers below them have a shot to get in. The drivers in with their lead are: #5 Carl Edwards, 85 pts.; #6 Kasey Kahne, 76 pts.; #7 Kurt Busch, 75 pts.; #8 Juan Montoya, 68 pts.; #9 Ryan Newman, 61 pts.; #10 Mark Martin, 49 pts.; #11 Greg Biffle, 48 pts.; #12 Matt Kenseth, 0 pts. dividing line. The drivers attempting to make the field who can do so are: #13 Brian Vickers -20 pts.; #14 Kyle Busch, -37 pts.; and as a long shot, #15, David Reutimann.

What’s it all mean? Almost certainly, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are sweating bullets, a mediocre finish where Brian Vickers or Kyle Busch hit the top ten convincingly, they’re toast. For example, if Brian Vickers finished 5th and Matt Kenseth Finished 14th, it would be wait until next year for Kenseth. If Kyle Busch finished 10th and Greg Biffle finished 37th, Biffle would be out of action. Do the math. Oh, Mark Martin’s just a point ahead of Biffle, no time for whistling past the graveyard.

Given this has been a tough year for the Roush boys with only Matt Kenseth’s two wins to start the season in the trophy case, their guys must run for the top ten to feel secure of being successful. Mark Martin has his four wins, but when things have gone wrong, they’ve gone very wrong. Brian Vickers has been one of the hottest drivers in the sport over the past several weeks. No matter how bad things go for Kyle Busch, he can sneak up out of the bushes and score a dramatic win any time he starts his car. Richmond’s race will be an old fashioned shoot-out while these contenders have all to lose with bad race Saturday night. Meanwhile, the drivers in 6th through 9th might do well to race conservatively go for a respectable finish well within the top 20 but not do anything stupid that could cause a DNF. How bad things work out for drivers should they fail could be moderated a little by possible “start and park” drivers who would conceivably occupy the bottom. Right now 45 cars are entered so two will go home, but in the starting field. Here’s the clutter, #36 Patrick Carpentier, #37 Tony Raines, #66 Dave Blaney, #71 Mike Bliss, #78 Regan Smith, and #87 Joe Nemechek. Chase contenders can look at their presence as a protective cushion as long as they don’t meet their doom within the first few laps of the race. Is this fair? Well the Detroit Lions will play on Sunday and the Pittsburgh Pirates have games scheduled this weekend, don’t they?

Richmond is one of the circuit’s most exciting and unique racetracks with its ¾ mile length, long back straight away and bump and grind short track racing for the rest of the track, any thing can happen and sparks fly. This will be one to watch for sure, but there will be some seriously broken hearts before the bewitching hour Saturday night.

Start ‘em up!

Obama and the Big Lie: Those Greedy Doctors

The hidden agenda behind the outrageous and dishonest quotes tells us loud and clear that we cannot support any effort the Obama regime pushes to alter our health care delivery in any way. The President does not know how the medical system operates on fairly frequent procedures. Then he uses his false assumptions to create wicked stereotypes of our as being motivated by making lots of money by railroading patients into unnecessary surgery.

Consider this:

In Obama’s view, doctors would yank a kid’s tonsils for the sake of some extra income…

“Right now, doctors a lot of times are forced to make decisions based on the fee payment schedule that's out there. ... The doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to himself, 'You know what? I make a lot more money if I take this kid's tonsils out,'” as the President addressed a prime time news conference, adding, "Now, that may be the right thing to do, but I'd rather have that doctor making those decisions just based on whether you really need your kid's tonsils out or whether it might make more sense just to change; maybe they have allergies. Maybe they have something else that would make a difference."

They’d also chop the foot off a diabetic who didn’t need the amputation for a nice big pay day.

“Let's take the example of something like diabetes, one of --- a disease that's skyrocketing, partly because of obesity, partly because it's not treated as effectively as it could be. Right now if we paid a family -- if a family care physician works with his or her patient to help them lose weight, modify diet, monitors whether they're taking their medications in a timely fashion, they might get reimbursed a pittance. But if that same diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that's $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 -- immediately the surgeon is reimbursed.”

What else can one conclude other than Obama is a dirty rotten lying bastard quick to stir up images of class warfare stereotyping doctors as greedy wealth driven ogres who need the big stick of the government to pound them into shape.

In the first instance, our closet Marxist ignores that a primary care doctor makes nothing on tonsil surgery. He would refer the child to a throat specialist if there were adequate rational to do so who would then conduct the proper evaluation to determine whether such surgery is necessary. The doctor makes no money off of referrals but in Obama-Nation where conspiracies run wild, perhaps he’d want us to believe he’d get kick backs from the throat surgeon.

Regardless, this is irresponsible garbage. How dare the President suggest to parents they’d better be careful taking their kids to see doctors for a sore throat, most likely strep which would simply be treated with antibiotics, for fear of unnecessary surgery.

The second example is equally disturbing suggesting doctors make huge payments for such surgeries. His alleged costs are way over the $740 to $1140 surgeons would typically receive for such a procedure. This goes right to the heart of what a detestable hateful leader Barack Obama is throwing out numbers to alarm to population to support his attempts for the government to seize control of private medicine. Implicit in his remarks are the doctors would steer away from proactive treatment knowing the big pay day comes when things don’t go right.

Consider the two quotations above. If anyone can call the President’s remarks as anything other than self-serving bold-faced lies, then what is this jibber-jabber?

Just as the President revealed his true colors in his accusations against the Cambridge Police Department and thus smearing an entire profession, law enforcement, these comments are inexcusable wicked portrayals of our health care providers.

His stereotyping of the professionals we entrust to protect our lives, police officers and doctors clearly reveals there is no real difference once the beautiful teleprompter speeches are pushed aside and we hear the unfiltered deliberate thoughts between Barack Obama’s attitude and his radical associates like Jeremiah Wright and Van Jones.

Meanwhile, try to find any reportage on Obama’s outrageous lies and wicked insinuations in the mainstream media: NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, or the New York Times.

Obama’s health care plans must fail. They are built on false assumptions serving his fundamental radical impulses not what’s good for those needing quality health care.

How can any Obama sicophants suggest reporting these remarks, his own public comments, are a smear campaign? His own words do the damage.

We must do all we can to keep the adminstration tied up and unable to push its radical agenda forward. Our future as a free society demands it.

2009 NFL Season: The Right Minded Preview

NFL 2009 Predictions

The following review is a careful consideration developed using the finest research available, thoughtful analysis and logic, and an ample amount of wishful thinking, but surely we invite our readers to compare our predictions to the big shots like Peter King, Chris Mortensen, and anybody's cousin or brother-in-law who claims to know the NFL better than any of them and see who's the smartest when February rolls around. The real genius, invariably, is the dude who makes good on a real off the wall pick, the Cinderella fellah. Our weekly predictions over the past few seasons have been between 67% and 70%. We'll stake our case on that.


AFC North

Pittsburgh
Baltimore
Cincinnati
Cleveland

We’re homers and want to see the Ravens win this division which is a possibility; however, the Steelers still rule until somebody beats them and what a difference it would make if the Ravens could beat the Steelers in at least one of their matchups this year. There’s another wrinkle; however, the schedule throws the Steelers an advantage based on the two teams they face based on last year’s strength of schedule finish. The Dolphins and Titans finished in first place, thus those are the teams the Steelers face. Who do the Ravens get? The Colts and the Patriots. Few think the Dolphins will be as strong as they were last year. Further, the Titans and Dolphins are teams the Ravens can whack. How well have they played against Indianapolis and New England? The battle for the bottom suggests Cleveland will finish last. Eric Mangini (or is it Man-Genius?) does some inexplicable things like not naming who his starting quarterback for the season is going into mid-week before their first game. Be real, does the opposing team really care if it’s going to be Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson? So it’s finally Brady Quinn. Either one of them will get the old ass whoopin’. The Cincinnati Bengals have talent. They also have zero chemistry and lots of problem players whose rap sheet has more details than their stat sheets.

AFC South

Indianapolis
Tennessee
Houston
Jacksonville

Some suggest Houston is ready for the big time, but we see this division as being between the Titans and Indianapolis with Jacksonville in the cellar. The Colts are aging and need to re-solidify in spots. The loss of Albert Haynesworth will seriously hurt the Titans’ defense. Neither team has made a move to gain a clear advantage over the other. Meanwhile, deep in the heart of Texas, Coach Gary Kubiak is scheming on how to make the world see the Texans as something other than an overdue expansion club. If new defense coordinator, Frank Bush, can get his unit to play effectively, then the dreamers might be ready for reward.

AFC East

New England
New York Jets
Miami
Buffalo

They’re back!!! Yes, the New England Patriots start off with Tom Brady healthy and while they are not the overwhelming elite team of their Super Bowl runs, they are still one tight, well-disciplined unit who understand what “do your job” means. Miami and New York are rebuilding teams working to emerge from the pack, but Miami will not finish in first place and must face Pittsburgh and Tennessee as their reward. Of course New England draws Baltimore and Indianapolis. One thing’s for sure for the New York Jets, they’ll be full of a lot more surprises with Rex Ryan leading the show. He brings a hungry Bart Scott and Jim Leonard as his defense disciples from Baltimore to help design their version of organized chaos. Mark Sanchez leads the offense, inexperienced but hungry. For Miami, 2009 could be a reality check with their tougher schedule and that they will be nobody’s surprise this year. How can Bill Parcells and his lieutenants assure their fans that the team is still moving in the right direction even if they don’t finish as well as they did in ’08? The “Fish” are a rebuilding team. They’re heading in the right direction. Considering they had just barely missed going 0-16 in 2007, the critics should not be too tough on them. Buffalo is a sympathetic team. It’s one of the NFL’s smallest markets playing in an obsolete stadium without the revenue generators of the modern venues most teams enjoy. Ralph Wilson, their owner, is one of the real good guys in the game who in his 90’s is running out of time to realize his dream of a Super Bowl win. They brought Terrell Owens in to add some sizzle on offense but the spark Owens provides could burn their house to the ground. Even when he’s trying to behave himself he creates a bad aura. For the loyal loving Buffalo fans, it certainly creates a sense of paranoia of what lies ahead after Ralph Wilson is gone with one home game in Toronto again this year.

AFC West

San Diego
Denver
Oakland
Kansas City

This is the weakest division in the AFC for sure. San Diego wins by default. The once proud Broncos fired coach Mike Shannahan and traded away quarterback, Jay Cutler, now have a coach who looks like he’d be carded at the local saloon and Brandon Marshall in full flameout mode who has no room for any misbehavior having gone way over the line in training camp and the possibility of being one bad scene in public or with another woman he thinks is a punching bag before getting kicked out of the league for a long time. How quickly a team noted for discipline and stability has fallen to pieces, but the Broncos do have Kansas City and Oakland beneath them. What hope is there for Kansas City with an injured quarterback and offensive coordinator fired right before the start of the season? Oakland, well Al Davis sure doesn’t know how to build a team the way he used to. They’re a mess.

AFC Wildcards

Baltimore, Tennessee

Baltimore and Tennessee look like the likely wildcards assuming they don’t win their divisions. Houston, Miami, and the New York Jets are the long shots.

NFC North

Minnesota
Green Bay
Chicago
Detroit

Three out of four ain’t bad? The one thing is for certain, the Detroit Lions will finish in dead last. It’s reasonable to pick any of the three remaining teams to win the division and possibly be the NFC Super Bowl representative.

The case for Minnesota is that they were darned close to being playoff ready last year and Brett Favre teamed up with their receiving corps and Adrian Peterson possibly the best runner in the business could give the Vikings just the right formula to be a killer team this year. Their defense is pretty solid too.

The Packers were perhaps an interception away from the Super Bowl in 2007. Aaron Rodgers is coming into his own as the heir to Brett Favre. The Cheese Heads are a good, well-balanced team ready to begin their next era.

The Chicago Bears have one of the league’s best defense, but the rap on “Dah Bears” has long been the lack of a top notch quarterback. Jay Cutler should answer that question. If Devin Hester can develop into the wide receiver he has shown the potential to become, Chicago could be nasty.

NFC South

Carolina
Atlanta
Tampa Bay
New Orleans

For folks who think the NFL is too hooked on parity, look at the NFC South. No team is all that good. No team is all that bad. It looks like the Carolina Panthers have the edge on talent, but hasn’t that been said quite often in recent years? No one would have seen Atlanta playing as well as they did last year. Will reality set in or do they have something to build on? New Orleans was a team hitting its peak a couple years ago, but they’re backsliding now. How much magic can Drew Breeze and Reggie Bush put into their offense? Tampa Bay got rid of coach, John Gruden. They’ve been trying to rebuild a winning team since their Super Bowl win in January, 2003. Can Carolina hold it together or fall by the wayside as under achievers once again?

NFC East

Philadelphia
New York
Dallas
Washington

No division draws the media attention the NFC East does, and one could make a case for any team in this division to finish first or last, though in all honesty, we don’t see the Redskins in the mix. From there, it’s “How ‘bout them Cowboys?” Well, how about them? This is a team that will be showing off its billion dollar plus new crib, the new fancy stadium where punters can routinely hit the giant HD scoreboard display hanging from the ceiling. The challenge to get in and advance in the playoffs is daunting for the ‘Boys. Recent history shows a dreadful record after Thanksgiving. The clubhouse should be calmer without Terrell Owens stirring up a mess, but is Tony Romo for real? He still has a long way to go before he is proven as a winning quarterback. Coach Wade Phillips is on thin ice. He’s a fine coordinator but has never delivered as a head coach.

So who is really in the driver’s seat, Philadelphia who played horribly up to Thanksgiving last year but then moved on to the conference championship game or the New York Giants who looked unstoppable until late in the season when they just fell apart? Philadelphia has as strong defense but a few holes on offense. No one knows what the Michael Vick acquisition means other than a lot of angry dog lovers. How much can Donovan McNabb take with all the distractions? He could be the Rodney Dangerfield of NFL QB’s. The Giants have shed some of the pieces that helped them win the Super Bowl but their receiving corps is left shaky especially with Plaxico Burress heading for jail.

NFC West

Arizona
Seattle
San Francisco
St. Louis

Arizona returns most of its Super Bowl team with more experience and confidence. They should be stronger this year. Seattle will attempt to regain respectability with son of Mora as their head coach. The 49er’s have to be reeling from the hold out from #1 draft pick Michael Crabtree. Coach Mike Singletary will be nursing a team that simply hasn’t had much to work with since its glory days. 2009 will be pivotal in determining if they are rebuilding into a contender or falling into the category of a mediocre organization. That leaves St. Louis as the cellar dwellers. There sure isn’t much to hope for when the Rams were looking at Kyle Boller substituting for Marc Bulger though it appears Bulger is cleared to start the season. St. Louis has not turned the corner since their “greatest show on turf” team got old. By now, the rebuilding should be showing a competitive team on the field. They have not turned that corner yet.

NFC Wildcards

Green Bay, New York Giants

The Green Bay Packers look like the number one choice with the New York Giants second. The Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons are in the picture. Perhaps the Cowboys have a shot but somehow there is just too much self destruct in that unit.

Super Bowl

Baltimore, Philadelphia

Sorry, we’re homers so we just can’t pick against the Ravens. How about a battle of the Birds with the Ravens beating the Eagles? This is the advantage of being an amateur blogger.

Champion

The Baltimore Ravens

NCAA '09 Football: Week 2

Week two of the college football season features most major schools playing cream puff ball with lesser schools to chalk up easy wins while gearing up for conference rivalries later in the season. While it's great for the small schools raising money, it's not good for competition.

All eyes will be on two games: one steeped in tradition, the other being one with BCS implications. Michigan hosting Notre Dame while their arch rival Ohio State hosts USC are the most interesting games this weekend. Here are the games we're tracking.

Clemson @ Georgia Tech (-5.5)
ACC battle Dixie style, but Georgia Tech should be strong enough to hold off Clemson at home in Atlanta.

North Carolina @ Connecticut
It’s nice to see Carolina football matters again. Going north to Connecticut to take care of business is one more building block toward becoming an ACC force once again. Carolina should cover the Huskies in black gooey tar.

Stanford @ Wake Forest (-2.5)
Stanford is not the nationally rated program it once was and Wake Forest, once considered too small to be a football school is improving as the darlings of the Greensboro/Winston-Salem area. Stanford won’t be able to digest the Carolina style home cooking and head back west with a loss.

Notre Dame (-3.5) @ Michigan
This great traditional rivalry finds both schools and their head coaches under the microscope with the Fighting Irish fielding its best team in years. Still they’re heading to the big house in Ann Arbor, and we’re hoping the Wolverines will be hungry enough to pull the upset.

Louisiana Tech @ Navy (-7.5)
Whoa, did the world see what Navy almost did to Ohio State last week? These sailors and Marines are pretty darned good and will defend the ship in Annapolis for sure this weekend.

South Carolina @ Georgia (-7)
The upstart Gamecocks under cranky coach, Steve Spurrier, will give the Bulldogs all they can handle, but Georgia’s talent playing at home should suffice to push South Carolina back over the state line with a loss.

USC (-7) @ Ohio State
Neither team started the season the way they would have hoped in less than stellar debuts. This could be a preview of January’s Rose Bowl matchup if neither team doesn’t wind up fighting for the National Championship which is possible for either team. With a rookie quarterback, the Trojans are not quite as fearsome as they would be in many recent years. Ohio State will be on a mission to undo the shame of last week’s near loss and at home in Columbus they should get the job done.

NFL 2009: Week 1 -- Let the Show Begin!!!

Are you ready for some football?

Hell yes!!!!

The one good thing about the days getting shorter and cooler is the dawn of the NFL season and for folks in Baltimore, we’re thinking PLAYOFFS!!! Here’s our picks for week one. We’re not so good at picking against the spread, but for straight up winners, we are accurate over 66% of the time.

Tennessee at Pittsburgh (-6)
Two playoff teams from 2008 kick off the season on national TV. The Super Bowl champs will whack the Titans.

Kansas City at Baltimore (-13)
The Chiefs are a team still trying to find the right rebuilding formula but are among the worst in the NFL right now. The Ravens will start off with a nice fat win.

Miami at Atlanta (-5)
We accept the conventional wisdom that Miami will fall back into the middle of the pack this year. Playing in the Georgia Dome, the Falcons should win and beat the spread.

Denver at Cincinnati (-4.5)
The Bengals should win this, no sweat. They’re going be an interesting team to watch. They have talent but such horrible chemistry resulting from some real head cases on their roster. We pity Marvin Lewis. We’re not sure his tenure in Cincinnati truly reflects his coaching skill where he’s almost had to be a parole officer. Denver could only wish they had it so good. Brandon Marshall appears intense on being a one man wrecking crew but wrecking his own team. It’s hard to believe how far this once proud team has fallen in one year.

Minnesota (-4) at Cleveland
So what’s with coach “Man-Genius” waiting so long to name his starting QB for the Browns. It doesn’t matter if it’s Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn, the Vikings are coming to town to kick their asses.

New York Jets at Houston (-4.5)
Houston should have enough stuff to make Rex Ryan’s coaching debut miserable, but if Ryan can work some magic with his defense, this could be a mild upset.

Jacksonville at Indianapolis (-7)
The Colts will use this game as a tune up. Jacksonville should pose no real threat. Why the NFL ever put a team in Jacksonville in the first place is one heck of a mystery even though the team has shown signs of brilliance at times.

Detroit at New Orleans (-13)
Well, the Lions probably won’t go winless this year, but they won’t break their streak in the Big Easy. “Norlins” wins.

Dallas (-4) at Tampa Bay
How about them Cowboys? Well, this is the team in the NFL hot seat this year, but they’re definitely good enough to have a nice Florida vacation.

Washington at New York Giants (-6.5)
We might be acting like homers and do like the Skins, but we will give them the upset over the Giants. The Giants have lost the punch that took them to the top in 2007. The Skins…what a tough team to size up. We just wish Maryland’s other team had an owner who was more in touch with on-the-field reality.

St. Louis at Seattle (-8.5)
Could be Kyle Boller starting for St. Louis. Scary thought, eh? The Starbuckers will win this one for sure.

San Francisco at Arizona (-6.5)
While the 49er’s could be a team to watch this year, Arizona has too many weapons not to win convincingly.

Chicago at Green Bay (-3.5)
This is an important division rivalry for these NFC north rivals. One could argue either one of them or the Vikings could be the top dog in January. Likewise, the NFC Wild Card could come from these three teams. Green Bay should prevail at home.

Buffalo at New England (-11)
Brady’s back and all is well in New England. They’re not quite the light’s out team of a few years back, but they are part of the NFL’s most elite. Buffalo is banking on T.O. to behave himself. Poor old Ralph Wilson. He deserves a Super Bowl trophy, but to be in his 90’s with Terrell Owens as the team’s star is scary. New England will prevail for sure.

San Diego (-9.5) at Oakland
San Diego looks like the winners of the AFC West by default and Monday night’s game will help to show why as they beat up on the Raiders.

The Beatles' Albums: Overview

Please Please Me, March 22, 1963

The Beatles early style for their first three albums was defined on this album. It also consists of a variety of cover songs which helped show the diversity of their influences from Motown and girl groups to the more pure pop of the Brill Building and Bacharach-David. How many music fans realize “Twist and Shout” was first a hit for the Isley Brothers?

Featured songs:
I Saw Her Standing There
Please Please Me
Love Me Do
P.S. I Love You
Do You Want to Know a Secret
Twist and Shout

With the Beatles, November 22, 1963

Here’s the album which defines Beatlemania style. This is the Fab Four at their cutest make the girls scream and faint style but beneath that pop glossy surface were signs of the incredible talent that was about to explode.

Featured songs:
All My Loving
Don’t Bother Me
I Want to Be Your Man
Not a Second Time

Covers:
Till There Was You
Please Mister Postman
Roll Over Beethoven
You Really Got a Hold of Me
Money

A Hard Day’s Night, July 10, 1964

Noteworthy for being the first album of all songs written by the Beatles and supporting their first film effort, while A Hard Day’s Night stays close to their “mania” signature sound, their performance and arrangements become increasingly more complex and creative.

Featured songs;
A Hard Day’s Night
I Should Have Known Better
If I Fell
Can’t Buy Me Love
And I Love Her
I’ll Cry Instead
Can’t Buy Me Love

Beatles for Sale, December 4, 1964

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This album marks the first departure from Beatlemania into more sophisticated music. Starting to embrace influences like Bob Dylan, the instrumental arrangements are far more complex and themes more varied. While not acclaimed as one of their best albums, it surely helps point toward Rubber Soul and beyond.

Featured Songs:
I’m a Loser
I’ll Follow the Sun
Eight Days a Week
I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party

Covers:
Rock N Roll Music
Kansas City
Words of Love

Help! April 13, 1965
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Though the movie, Help!, was considered far less sophisticated than A Hard Day’s Night, the album was a breakthrough on several counts. The first seven songs are all from the movie. They constituted side one of the album. Lyrics grew much more sophisticated from the angst expressed in “Help!” to the romantic melancholy of “Yesterday,” the most widely covered song in pop music history. While the last seven cuts lack any kind of connection of continuity, the Beatles go from Buck Owens’ Bakersfield country with “Act Naturally” to skillful songs far deeper and musically accomplished like “It’s Only Love” and “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” Most of the fundamentals of their later work were in play now. They only needed more time to put them to work.

Featured Songs:
Help!
The Night Before
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
Ticket to Ride
Yesterday
It’s Only Love
I’ve Just Seen a Face

Rubber Soul, December 3, 1965

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The Beatles truly came of age on this album. They are no longer a teenybopper hits band in any manner and are writing classic pop songs with provocative and introspective lyrics second to no tunesmith. The album features more acoustic guitar work and introduces George Harrison playing the Indian sitar for the first time. The British version of the album is far different than what was on the American LP. “It’s Only Love” and “I’ve Just Seen a Face” were already provided on Help! Four other tunes were released as singles or saved for an American compilation.

Featured Songs:
Norwegian Wood
Nowhere Man
Michelle
Girl
I’m Looking Through You
In My Life

Revolver, August 5, 1966

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The Beatles hit their creative peak with Revolver. “Eleanor Rigby” was accompanied by a classic string quartet. George Harrison’s “Love You To” featured a complete Indian ensemble with sitar and tabla. John Lennon explored psychedelic themes and music on several numbers most notably “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Paul McCartney’s ballads “Here There Everywhere” and “For No One” were written for far more mature relationships. The power of the studio became much more a creative extension of the band.

Featured Songs:
Taxman
Eleanor Rigby
I’m Only Sleeping
Here There Everywhere
Yellow Submarine
For No One
Got To Get You into My Life

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, June 1, 1967

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Sgt. Pepper is the album widely seen as the Beatles’ ultimate creative statement but over time it perhaps doesn’t hold up to the ground explored by Revolver. Nevertheless, it was a powerful album for its time that might be more significant for its cultural impact than musical expertise. Paul McCartney sought to have the Beatles attempt to create a new image. Once even the most casual listener heard this album, he or she would never see the Beatles in the same light again.

Featured Songs:
A Little Help from My Friends
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
When I’m Sixty Four
Lovely Rita
A Day in the Life

Magical Mystery Tour, November 27, 1967

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Originally released as an EP in the UK with only the six songs for the television comedy of the same title, it was released as a complete album with singles from the Sgt. Pepper time period to fill it out to a complete album. It would be released as the full album world wide in November, 1976. Musically, the album was essentially a continuation of Sgt. Pepper.

Featured Songs:
Fool on the Hill
I Am the Walrus
Hello Goodbye
Penny Lane
Strawberry Fields Forever
All You Need Is Love

The Beatles “The White Album,” November 22, 1968

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The “White” album was a sprawling two record set which unbeknown to fans at the time showed the band members heading in their separate directions. In essence, the songs were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison songs with other band members functioning as little more than studio musicians. In fact one of the most dramatic instrumental performances on the album, though never officially credited, was not by a member of the Beatles at all. It was Eric Clapton on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” The music covers much ground from hard rock to reflective ballads to comedy to just plain weirdness. Despite its nature, there are plenty of most enjoyable songs and one that introduces Ringo as a songwriter.

Featured Songs:
Back in the USSR
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Blackbird
Rocky Raccoon
Birthday
Yer Blues
Helter Skelter

Yellow Submarine, January 17, 1969
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Yellow Submarine features six songs by the Beatles, two previously released and the orchestral soundtrack music scored by George Martin for the animated film. The songs are likeable but of little consequence.

Featured Songs:
Yellow Submarine
Hey Bulldog
It’s All Too Much
All You Need Is Love

Abbey Road, September 26, 1969

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The Beatles final effort was named after the studio which had been their workshop for the vast majority of their material since their first album over six years previously. It’s a slickly produced, highly professional effort utilizing far improved recording technology than they had used over most of their career. George Harrison further stands up as a songwriter on par with Lennon and McCartney with their first hit, a Harrison composition, “Something” and also the highly popular, “Here Comes the Sun.” While John and Paul were going in very different directions on the “White” album somehow those differences mesh together more harmoniously on this album.

Featured Songs:
Come Together
Something
Octopus’s Garden
Here Comes the Sun
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window

Let it Be, May 8, 1970

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A Beatles album that was never consciously put together as an album, Let it Be was recorded in early 1969 prior to Abbey Road as part of a poorly conceived project with movie cameras running to capture the band at work rehearsing, recording, and finally performing a short live concert atop their Apple Studios rooftop in London. Lots of material was recorded, and one attempt to compile it as an album by engineer Glyn Johns was rejected. “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” and “Let it Be” produced by George Martin were released as singles. Bombastic legendary American producer, Phil Spector, was brought in largely at John’s and George’s urging to rescue an album from the sessions. The end result was quite a mixed bag with some songs sounding live and fresh while others got the Spector treatment including a dreadful remix of “Let it Be” with a raucous guitar solo overdubbed over the original. “Long and Winding Road” infuriated McCartney with its heavy orchestration and female choir. The album became a most peculiar swan song when truly Abbey Road provides the perfect punctuation to the band’s amazing run.

Featured songs:
Two of Us
Across the Universe
Let it Be
One After 909
Long and Winding Road
Get Back

Several compilations were issued to capture hits not appearing on original albums, the best of which was the two double album sets, The Beatles 1962-1966 and The Beatles 1967-1970; however, rather than re-issuing these which left out some singles and B sides, when the Beatles catalog was prepared for CD in 1988, two CD’s Past Masters Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 were released to provide all remaining songs not released.

Past Masters, Vol. 1 & 2, March 7, 1988

If it's not on one of the albums above and was released by EMI as a regular Beatles release, singles, EP's, some were released on American albums, they're on these compilations.

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Featured Songs:

Vol. 1

From Me to You

She Love's You

I Want to Hold Your Hand

I Feel Fine

She's a Woman

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Vol. 2

Day Tripper

We Can Work It Out

Paperback Writer

Rain

Lady Madonna

Hey Jude

Revolution

Don't Let Me Down