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Introduction To The House of Carr
Introduction To The House of Carr

Not So Amazing

In the midst of a writer's strike [which I really should comment on sometime] my hope was put in a good season of Amazing Race to hold my attention. Unfortunately, it seems the producers settled for parity this year instead of excellence. None of the teams on this year's edition could win in any other season. It makes for a race that any team could conceivably win, which could keep it interesting, but I'm thinking it will soon get annoying. From the typical beauty queens, to the brother/sister team that think they're the smartest, to the goth couple from Louisville that would get laughed at by goth people from a major metropolitan area [no real goth people continually talk about themselves like they do], it's set up to be a season of mediocrity.

Here's to hoping for a few compelling break-downs to keep me into it.

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.

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.

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One Flew Over The Atheist's Nest

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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.

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Do As I Say

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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.

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.

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A Whimpered, "Who-Dey?"

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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 . . .

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Issue 27

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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.