The System Sucks

College presidents are greedy. Otherwise they'd give us a Division 1A [excuse me, FBS] play-off. Instead we have the BCS and, besides those greedy presidents, no one is happy. Note yesterday's loss by Ohio State to upstart Illinois. Every analyst I've heard/read since yesterday said that the Buckeyes are now out of the championship picture, despite the fact that they are one of many one-loss teams. Honestly, that loss yesterday didn't surprise me. Ron Zook can recruit, his team played flawless football, and the Buckeyes young QB picked a bad time for his worst game. But instead of respecting that Illinois is better than "rankings" would say, we dog the Big Ten as weak compared to other BCS conferences.

So now, the way I see it, we'll get a Big 12 verses SEC championship game. Oregon could make a case, but since they lost to a now 6-4 Cal team, they'll get screwed. If West Virginia wins out [which won't happen 'cause UC will beat them Saturday] they won't be considered because the Big East is viewed as weak. All other one loss teams will be ignored if they don't play in the Southeast or the Great Plains. The Big 12 now has 3 teams ranked in the top 10. And LSU is the best team in the nation because they are the best team in the SEC? Make sense?

This is all crap because these rankings are totally subjective. Even the computer rankings are skewed as they have factored in certain strength of schedule based upon conference rankings. And no one likes to talk about the fact that the mighty SEC and Big 12 are afraid to play a strong non-conference schedule. "That's because getting through are league is brutal," they claim. Whatever. Getting through any league is brutal. Any team can win at any time, and this season has proved that.

This brings me back to Ohio State: they deserve to still be in the mix. Say what you will about league strengths but while the matched up poorly against Florida in last year's championship, they would manhandle whoever the Big 12 sends to the BCS. It's all about how a team matches up. And, unfortunately those match-ups are based on premonitions of supremacy that sports writers and coaches carry with them into the voting booth.

What this goes to show us is that one of the greatest American sports will never be THE greatest until we scrap this BCS crap and play some kind of playoff. Maybe this is the season it finally gets too ridiculous to ignore.

Old School

I don't usually hype what we're doing on Sunday nights at Echo because I look forward to every week, but tomorrow night will be very cool. Daesik, a native South Korean who is enrolled at the Conservatory of Music in a PhD program, will be playing the organ and piano. Our "hip, emerging" church will be singing from hymnals as we focus on the concept Future|Past.

It always takes a little more planning on my end when we do these kind of services but I'm really excited about how this will turn out.

So if you're not busy tomorrow night, we'd love to have you join us at 6:30.

Nice, Vikes

I'm not sure Mike Brown is even this cheap. The Minnesota Vikings docked Troy Williamson a week's pay for attending his grandmother's funeral. The Vikings normally give three days for bereavement but Williamson needed more time as he basically had to plan the arrangements himself as one of his brothers is in a coma and his other siblings are in the armed forces. No mercy from Minnesota's management, however. So they gloss over when their players get caught on a sex-boat cruise, but are hardcore when a player loses a loved one.

Makes sense, huh?

Something that puzzles me is that NFL players get paid "game checks;" So they take the players' salaries and divide it by sixteen. So what exactly are they getting paid for? Do they only get paid for working the weekend? If so, why is it a big deal if they miss practice? That's why I find this story even more ironic: how many guys get paid when they're hurt and sitting on the sideline? Isn't that basically what happened to Williamson?

Update: Like Sally stated, the Vikings reversed their decision and paid Williamson [too little, too late?]. Williamson, in turn, donated his game check to charity in his grandmother's name.

Happy Birthday, USMC

The Marine Corp is 232 years old today. When my father served he spent time at Paris Island and Camp Lejune, in addition to some time in Okinawa and a few tours in Vietnam. Surprisingly, neither I nor my brothers served in the armed forces.

Even Badder Dog

Haven't really kept up on all the latest Dog the Bounty Hunter screw-up news but Kelly and I decided to listen to his racist rant on YouTube [listening to YouTube?]. Stick a fork in his career; he's done. There's no recovery from that tirade. This got me thinking of a church in our brotherhood that brought in Dog on a Sunday morning to get people to visit. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, but does allowing a celeb in the pulpit prove as helpful when they go off the deep end?

Hey, there are no safe bets. Any minister can have a moral failure and that can definitely taint a church. But bringing in a high profile celebrity/politician just to get butts in the seats can do more harm than good.

One Flew Over The Atheist's Nest

From the New York Times: Antony Flew, a retired Oxford educated atheist, is now coming out in his old age as a believer in a higher power. Evangelicals shouldn't get too excited as he doesn't claim to believe in Christianity, but I do find it fascinating that a person can totally deviate from one's life beliefs like this. He has a book due out soon. Should be an interesting read.

Do As I Say

The crazy Pat Robertson news of the day should be concerning the news that China will ban Bibles from the Olympic Village for next year's games. Doesn't this seem perfectly tailored PR story where he can decry the adverse influences of the godless Chinese government? Instead, crazy Uncle Pat comes out and endorses Rudy Giuliani, a man with whom he has major philosophical/theological differences, for President. Basically, Robertson defends this decision because he sees Rudy as someone who "can win the general election.”

He picked the wrong horse. He should have endorsed Hillary. Here's how I arrive at this conclusion:

1) Basically, the way I read it, Pat picked Rudy because he thinks he can win the Presidency. So instead of holding to his (shaky) beliefs, he kicks them to the curb and goes for the "W." Well if that's how he chooses his endorsement, why not go all the way and pick the HRC?

2) I'm pretty confident in saying that the Robertson endorsement isn't what it once was, if it ever really was anything in the first place. I'll go even further and say that Rudy is actually worse off having Pat back him [no one really seeks out that Ted Kaczynski endorsement, do they?]. If Uncle Pat really wants the Republicans to win, he would've been better served to back Hillary.

In short, Robertson Endorsement = Black Death.

This ensures Rudy will not win in 2008.

Election Recap

I'm a day late in honor of the Board of Elections taking until 2am to announce results . . . for a local election. So for next year's presidential election, expect results December 3rd. Hamilton County voters said no to the jail tax and county officials responded by telling us that they'll stop picking up criminals and throw them back on the street. Way to endear yourselves to the public, guys. I imagine, despite the doomsday announcements dropped today, that the county will be just fine.

The Cincinnati Public school levy failed and this is no surprise. Here's to hoping that some new board members will make a difference.

The most interesting thing was that all nine incumbents were reelected to City Council. These folk weren't the most inept council ever, but they weren't anywhere near stellar either. I think they lucked out with the Banks deal coming so close to Election Day. I would predict that this bodes well for Mayor Mallory to be reelected in 2009.

And the biggest piece of news was the I was not denied the right to vote yesterday because my drivers license still bears my old address. I was ready to drop old Ohio Revised Code 3505.18A on them but was not hassled at all.

God Bless America.

Not A South Park Guy

. . . but tonight's espidode was about Guitar Hero so I had to watch. Very funny take. I still don't get why people flush so much time into to fake guitar playing. Also, this commercial kept coming on about a new video game called Assassin's Creed that takes place during Crusader era in the Holy Land. I am not a gamer, but it looks pretty sweet . . . probably cheaper than a Holy Land tour too.

Buffalo Owns Cincinnati

Congrats, Greg, to you and your entire city.

And the black cloud over our city grows larger. I couldn't tell watching today what year it was. It sure did feel like the 1990's. Why did I even think about making a bet? This will be up at least 24 hours on the front page here.

Until then, I will be vomiting.

I Need A Spray Bottle

Bad Dog. Kelly is crushed.

Almost Reality

Today the county commissioners approved the Banks deal, clearing the way for the land between Cincinnati's stadia to be developed. Construction should start at the beginning of the new year, and in a couple of years the development will shift the center of downtown towards the river. Areas south of Fifth Street [basically Fountain Square] will become the places to be. This means that streetcars will definitely be a necessity to keep the downtown/Over-The-Rhine relationship prosperous. With all the current available housing near the downtown area, I hope they concentrate more on commercial interests. Regardless, long-time complainers will now get their Newport on the Levee on the Ohio side of the river, just like they always wanted. And the Levee will be completely abandoned in five years, reversing the current flow of the Purple People Bridge.

So good news for Cincinnati means that it sucks to be Newport.

Back In Town . . .

. . . and I'm exhausted. We spent the last three days in Lexington, working on getting my brother-in-law married. After a long couple of days Scott and Jessica are finally hitched, we're home, and I'm feeling a little under the weather. I hear there are quite a few bugs going around, but I'm pretty sure it's not SARS. We missed Halloween but Echo Church did still have our third annual Trunk 'N' Treat; word on the street is that the hot chocolate was a hit. Kaelyn was a bee yesterday at the rehearsal dinner. My mother-in-law won costume of the night, though.

Decided to read through my RSS feeds tonight [almost 200] and found a couple items of note:

1) Emily is back in London but posted a couple of pictures from her trip. Her Kaelyn photo is awesome. That kid is photogenic.

2) Dan, a guy who also does Architrek tours, gave Beit Carr a shout out. I'm always leery of pushing new blogs as some people struggle to post consistently [that's what I meant, Jake, so prove me wrong] but Dan has come on strong. He posts frequently on all things Cincinnati and does some great posting on this city's history.

I love that Dan wrote, "I find [Beit Carr] and posts very interesting in spite of the fact, or maybe because, we are somewhat different." Different is good. Our city is a diverse place and that's one of the many reasons we love living here. So do yourself a favor, check his blog out, and add his RSS feed to your interweb diet.

Alright, I'm going to bed. I'll catch you up later.

A Whimpered, "Who-Dey?"

My old college RA [who's currently on vacation with his wife in California] is from Buffalo. He's a huge Bills fan, even operating a fan site/podcast. While we recently reconnected through the interwebs, I had circled next week's game on my calendar as the Bengals are traveling to Rich Stadium. Even though Cincinnati is horrible now, still contemplating on a 4th and 1 punt, I will back my boys and offer a challenge for this week's game. It's pretty simple one, Greg, so choose to accept if you wish.

Bengals win: you post a picture of a Bengals helmet on your blog with the caption, "Cincinnati owns Buffalo."

Bills win: I post a picture of a Bills helmet on this blog with the caption, "Buffalo owns Cincinnati."

No Skyline or Buffalo wings will exchange hands. Interested?

We Suck

I know this is a little preemptive, but with the Bengals down to the Steelers, knocking on the door for another score, I'm thinking this is another loss. They have to give the fans in this city someone's head. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing both offensive/defensive coordinators axed. I would predict though that nothing will happen.

Of course, as I typed that, the much over-rated Ben Rothlisucker threw an INT. Maybe the whole game turns around here.

My biggest fear, however, is another 8-8 season. Another opportunity for Mike Brown to claim that we're "almost there" could make me lose it. If they're going to lose, make it a 4-12 season so we realize that things are not good. We need some solid free agents. We need an actual general manager.

We'll see how this works out . . .

Issue 27

If you're not interested in Cincinnati news, this probably isn't the post for you. I'm fascinated with politics but am leery to comment about specific voting issues because of my role in a local congregation. We have Democrats and Republicans in our church, in addition to independents and non-voters and I think you could make a Biblical case for any of these perspectives [of course, you could probably make defend communism Biblically too, so what does it prove?]. So while I love to watch the American political process play out, I don't want to come out with official endorsements.

That said, I think things change a little bit when it comes to local politics. Usually there are no overlying Christian ethical issues at stake [ex: abortion] so it mostly boils down to opinion/preference. So the following is by no means an endorsement, but food for thought as election day nears.

The biggest issue facing the Cincinnati Metro area this November is Issue 27, a proposed "jail tax." Passage of this issue would raise the Hamilton County sales tax from 6.5% to 7% for eight years, reducing to 6.75% for the next seven years after that. The tax increase is supposed to raise $736million. A similar tax was voted down last year by county voters because the language was suspect [nowhere was the construction of a new jail even mentioned]. The county commissioners decided to overstep the voters and enacted the tax anyway, but a group of citizens petitioned to get the issue on the ballot for approval again this fall.

Support of this issue is pretty popular around here, because everyone wants to fight crime. The Hamilton County Sheriff, a long-time local politician with a solid base of supporters, has warned the public that voting down this referendum would put jailed criminals back on the streets. Somehow, in addition to their release, the Sheriff claims a slew of assault rifles would be back on the streets as well [which still confuses me: do they give guns to them when they leave the jail?]. The message coming across is simple: unless you want to see Snake Plissken roaming the streets of Cincy, pass this levy.

Now if it was totally necessary, I would vote for a jail without hesitation. But there are issues surrounding this issue that are indeed cloudy and need to be explored. Among them are . . .

• The city rents out jailspace to the US Government for their criminals, something that the county is not required to do. There is absolutely no benefit for the county for this except a stipend that is cheaper than what the county currently rents beds for from neighboring counties [so taxpayers lose money on the deal] and favors which the general public would never see anyway. So instead of looking out for the good of the local crime situation, the county loses jail space to the federal government who is responsible for that issue.
• We are told that the condition of the Queensgate jail is deteriorating to the point that it's unsafe. I've been all over this city and have seen some shoddy construction and this jail is in much better shape than people realize; the Queensgate jail has passed all building inspections and is in no danger of collapse. Interestingly enough, the sheriff has refused local media the opportunity to tour the structure with photographers to confirm this claim. So follow this reasoning: the jail is collapsing because we say it is. Trust us. Give us money.
• PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE COUNTY COURT SYSTEM. Only a very small percentage of criminals are there for long term periods of time. The purpose of the jail is to hold criminals until trial and sentencing until they are sentenced to a state facility. The biggest drain on housing is people forced to wait overnights/weekends to see a judge. The logical solution for this would be to institute a night court [remember Bull?] to process these claims immediately. This would be an investment but would still be more cost effective than this levy.
• Even worst case scenario, the people being "released early" are not dangerous criminals. They are people who are charged with low-grade misdemeanors such as public intoxication. These people still have their day in court.

You just have to ask yourself: is it worth three-quarters of A BILLION DOLLARS without making every effort to try other alternatives? But that was never investigated. Ironic that Republicans are usually known for lamenting the tax-and-spend Democrats but in this case a Republican has led the charge, with some Democrats supporting and others criticizing. This issue supersedes party affiliations. But, most importantly, proponents have the big money backing to make it work. And for that reason it will probably pass. Could you imagine if someone wanted to take that money and invest it into community education/jobs programs, into fighting the our horrendous infant mortality rate, or into affordable housing for the poor? It would be called "a handout" and quickly defeated.

But these are some of the root issues surrounding the crime problem in this county.

Instead: build bigger jails.

It might make sense to you, but it doesn't to me.

Simmer Down

Chris Mortensen's "insider info" that someone in the Bengals organization wants Chad Johnson traded has really sent this town into a tizzy. It's seems almost all the local media endorse the idea, thinking his antics too much [a losing streak requires someone to blame and they reckon it's Chad's fault the defense can't stop anyone]. I guess the guy having a little too much fun is the problem. The rest of the nation is catching wind of this, as even Jim Rome noted on his radio and television programs today how some people in this city are hating on CJ. Another example at the ignorance in some of our sports media representatives.. And it forces me to make a bold statement:

Chad Johnson could be the best wide receiver I've ever seen.

He's not the fastest. He can't jump higher than other receivers. But he catches ball that I've never seen people catch before.  He can contort his body to make catches that are amazing. That's why he's amazing. And that's why I'm glad he's a Bengal.

Without Chad, TJ Houshmandzadeh is just a guy with a long name. Without him the "high powered Bengals offense" is non-existent. Without him, Carson is still great, but with him Palmer is a superstar.

And some morons in the media want him out of town? Get a grip.

Chad, if you read this blog [and being a fellow Walnut Hills resident, I'm sure you do] the fans in Cincy love you. Stick with it here and we'll get your back.

The Little Incidents

So it rained a lot the past few days. We know this because water is leaking in our walls around our flue pipe. At least we won't have to pay for it because it should be covered with our condo fees.

But the rain altered Kelly and Kaelyn's daily routine of getting the mail from the mailbox.

I'm the man, I should get wet.

My neighbors were out by the mailbox and I started to explain to them our condo leakage, encouraging them to check their chimney area. As I stood their talking with them, I struggled to open our mailbox. The key wouldn't go in.

This is interesting too because we had a new mailbox installed a couple of weeks ago. The local post office is dragging its feet getting us the brand new keys so we're still using the old box. The box where the keys don't work well.

So my neighbors want to check to see if their place has water leakage and don't want to wait for me to get my mail so they go inside.

Immediately after they go inside, I finally get the box opened and pull out our mail. Prominently displayed on the top of my mail is a magazine.

A Playboy Magazine.

[Quick Sidebar: I can imagine the perverts doing a Google search for "Playboy Magazine" ending up at this blog post and being severly disappointed. Sorry, guys, no nekked pics here].

Understand that I do not subscribe to said magazine. It must have been sent to me by someone getting my name/address on a mailing list. I bet it was those people at Biblical Archaeology Review [now there's a link for the perverts].

And understand that I did not look at the contents of the magazine. I did what a self-respecting man would've done.

I gave it to my wife.

And I told her it wasn't mine.

Come to find out, it wasn't really a magazine but a catalog. Who knew they even had a catalog [be careful how you answer that]? But, honestly, you couldn't tell that from the cover. It looked identically like a Playboy magazine . . . or at least the ones I've seen portrayed on television.***

All this had me thinking all night [and not about nekked chics].

I'm trying to show my neighbors [the ones who I talked to at the mailbox], who aren't Christian, that our faith can be relevant to a normal life. Additionally, I'd like to exemplify that we can also live up to a certain moral standard. Does me getting Playboy Magazine hurt my [moral] reputation with them? Probably. At the very worst, if they saw me pull that magazine from our box I'd have to stutter about how "it's not really mine" [doesn't everyone claim that?] and awkwardly explain why it was in our box in the first place. So maybe it doesn't hurt my cause in their eyes, but I can't imagine that it would help.

And that's when I trace this whole thing back to a string of little incidents.

It was raining so I went to get the mail instead of Kelly and Kaelyn. Imagine her shock if she had gotten the mail, while holding our daughter, especially in front of those neighbors. It would probably have been embarrassing. But it didn't happen.

Of course, Kel and Kaelyn didn't go out to get the mail because of all the rain. The same rain that caused the leak in our house. And the rain was the conversation piece that I used with my neighbors, leaving them wondering about the dryness of their own condo so that they went inside. Otherwise, they might have kept talking with me and have seen my retrieve a Playboy from my mailbox. But it didn't happen.

Another thing that prolonged me from getting the mail out of the box was because I was fumbling with the key. It's an old key and doesn't work that well. We were supposed to be using those new mailboxes now, which would've used new keys. A new key would've probably worked perfectly. If the key worked the first time, my neighbors would've definitely seen a Playboy in my daily mail. But it didn't happen.

I'm not saying all this happened because God was looking out for me.

Well, maybe I am.

I just thought it was interesting how all these little incidents, however troubling, made my day.

And all that without having to see nekked chics.

***Just in case you're wondering, Kelly looked at how to get taken off their mailing list and it told you to send a letter snail mail with your full information and your customer order code. If you never ordered anything with them, why do you have a customer code in the first place?

Among Other Things . . .

. . . we've been busy.

Weekend Sports Recap

• I was so disappointed that UC lost to Pitt on Saturday. Even more disappointed that I couldn't get it on any cable channel but was forced to watch it online. Murderers Row is coming up for the Bearcats [South Florida, WV and, dare I see, UConn?] so it'll be interesting to see what Brian Kelly does with this team.
• Ohio State's defense is amazing. Say what you will about a weak Big Ten, but if this team can get back to that BCS title game they will go out of their way to redeem themselves from last year's blow-out loss to Florida.
• In a related note, Steve Spurrier is still a putz. His team gets punked by Vanderbilt and he uses it as an opportunity to try to rip on Ohio State. The Old Ball Coach needs to realize that Florida was all he had and he will never be relevant again.
• My buddy Alex is a huge LSU fan and even he would admit that this year's version of the Tigers aren't as good as every national commentator thinks they are. What we have this year in college football is a whole lot of medicority.
• Since we had church last night I really didn't watch the Bengals play. Listened to the first half on the radio before our gathering and it was depressing. While I'm excited for the win, this team is still in the cellar looking up at Cleveland. If they can pull off Pittsburgh this week, the face a suspect Bills team [sorry, Greg] and could be 4-4. If that happens, there's hope.
• My second favorite baseball team is the Boston Red Sox. And since I despise almost all things Cleveland, I loved the 3 games to 1 comeback they put up. Justin Dustin Pedroia, a rookie, has the biggest game of his life in a Game 7? Amazing. I'm pretty sure the Rockies dream run ends in Boston. Too much pitching.

And one last observation . . . well, more of a rant: Working out at Xavier this morning, I caught Keyshawn Johnson interview Chad Johnson on SportsCenter. Keyshawn makes me want to hurl. How ESPN justifies keeping this clown is beyond me. He is one of the most uninformed commentators I've ever seen and only detracts from any respectability they had. If they want to televise crap like this, don't call it journalism.

Keyshawn's whole career was "me" oriented [remember he authored a book entitled "Give Me The Damn Ball" before he had ever done anything in the league] and he's trying to paint Chad Johnson as a selfish player? A little pot/kettle action there Keyshawn. Listen, I like about 80% of Chad's antics, only get frustrated with some of his midweek press conferences, but his performance on game day had very little to do with the Bengals losing streak; FYI Bengals fans, Chad doesn't play defense. Despite all the negative attention the media wants to put on him, he still catches balls that I've seen no one else catch. If he wasn't walking the walk, I'd be angry with him. But I'm not.

And then Keyshawn comes in wearing a suit, brandishing an ESPN microphone and we're supposed to take him seriously? Youtube the interview and tell me if that interview wasn't anything more than an opportunity for Keyshawn to try to show Chad up. He's just jealous.

Memo to Keyshawn: just because Chad's going to eclipse Key's stats in every category, just because CJ already has one more Pro Bowl than you had in your entire career, just because he was smarter in marketing himself than you could've envisioned, just because he has all the endorsement deals you wish you would've had, and just because he's an all-around better player than you ever were doesn't mean he's gotta hate on him in your new role as a reporter. Oh, and don't go bragging about your championship ring you "earned" while playing for a team known as a defensive juggernaut. You were more selfish than Chad ever has been.

I would take Chad over Keyshawn any day, week, month or year. And I bet I'm not alone.