Why I'm Talking Today

I wanted to talk when our children were mowed down.  I wanted to talk when the uneducated and immovable objects in the congress wouldn't move.  I would like to say I wanted to talk when my mother went into the emergency room again during the holidays but it's become more of a hobby for her than an event in our lives.  I wanted to send out my Christmas letters and they're still on my desktop because I'm going there for the duration.

I'm so fucking sick of the word dysfunction. Is it because it sounds so clinical?  It's not clinical, it's a fundamental breakdown. I have too many friends from Canada and Europe to believe the lies about how we can't provide health care for everyone without the concessions our president has had to make in the face of so many obstacles.

My parents were teachers, my mother never taught full time.  She was the parent of 6 children.  My father was a teacher, coach and athletic director and worked up to three jobs to make sure we had what we needed and, when he could gather the funds, what we dearly wanted every once in a while.

They're elderly, I'm going to help care for them because I love them.  It's also the right thing to do.  That's what pisses me off about all this crap.  I don't have to run for re-election as a daughter.  But I treat my citizenship in that fashion.  That's why I'm a PCP (look it up, Lazies) and work my butt off for my causes.  I donate more than my husband would like to charity and progressive causes.  But try to find out the options available to your aging parents.  You'd better quit your job and make it a full time career.

This is sick. As sick as assault weapons and magazines that hold that can cut children in half. Sick as the fact that if our family lived just north of where they live now, we would be having family holidays and all the care my mother needed.  She would also be healthier because she would not have been allowed to have all the stupid and unnecessary procedures that she got because she could here in the good old U.S. of A.  Because old people are cash cows.

I'm also going home to try to inject some reason into this insanity.  It's beyond reason.  We need to sensibly care for our elderly and give them dignity and kindness.  We also need to allow them to escape life of pain, emergency rooms and the prospect of abject poverty to grasp at the last sucking breaths of life.  Enough.  With love and sorrow and loss and pain.  Enough.

THANK YOU, BOB COSTAS

I've long considered Bob Costas to be the poet of Sportscasting. I actually prefer listening to him during the months that entertain the boys of summer.  He describes my favorite sport with lyrical brilliance and when I hear his voice I know it's time to "play ball."

Many years ago I was at County Stadium in Milwaukee (now a parking lot that serves "Miller Park")  As I strolled through the crowd I passed someone with a face so familiar I just lit up with joy and said "Hey, how ya doing?"  I was struggling to come up with his name but couldn't.  He, in turn, grinned as if he'd known me forever and said, "Great!  Beautiful day."  I walked about 10 feet and stopped dead in my tracks.  I'd just said hello to Bob Costas.

Yes, he's an icon and has long been on my list of highest favor. But never have I been so impressed with a sportscaster as I was Sunday night, December 2nd, during halftime.  Knowing full well the blow-back that would ensue, Bob Costas spoke out about the tragedy of the Jovan Belcher murder/ suicide.  He stated the triteness of the "bringing it all into perspective" commentary and showed no fear in expressing what he knew was going to be a very controversial opinion.  (Why this opinion is controversial will always be beyond my grasp of reason and common sense.)

True to form, the right slammed him, misquoted him and even called for his immediate termination.  What's ironic is that Bob Costas, while expressing an opinion, was actually quoting a Kansas City Fox Sports writer - Jason Whitlock - whose commentary went much further than Costas' and whose article deserves a read.  http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/jovan-belcher-kansas-city-chiefs-murder-suicide-tragedy-girlfriend-self-leave-orphan-daughter-why-still-playing-sunday-120112

We need to make a serious assessment of our priorities and our attitudes.  Greed, misplaced hero worship, compassion deprivation, and our overall lack of sensitivity to violence is beyond disturbing.  We need to stand for something more.  We need to stand for one another.  And that's precisely what Bob Costas did last night. Yes, it takes courage to go out there and face those defenders on the football field.  It takes a lot more courage to take a stand, knowing full well that the repercussions could last for years to come and may well affect your career.

I'm proud of Bob Costas. I'm proud of Jason Whitlock. Seems to me that maybe these are the guys we should be emulating.

TOLD YA SO!!!

For all of you who thought I was over reacting to the absolute distraction and circus that the presence of Tim Tebow brings to any team stupid enough to sign him, please read the following editorial from “Fireman Ed.”  In case you don’t know who he is, he’s been a NY Fire Fighter for decades and has been a Jets fan and led the stadium in the J-E-T-S- JETS-JETS-JETS chant since 1975. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not crazy about “Papa” John Schnatter and his “Obamacare” nonsense talk coming out after he teamed up with my quarterback, Peyton Manning (OH THANK YOU, JESUS) to sell pizza.  However, if it ever came down to it and somewhere down the road there was a controversy as to whether Brock Osweiler or Peyton Manning should be the quarterback of the Broncos, I will bet not only my life but the life of my parents, my son, my three dogs, three cats, and my pristine collection of Frank Sinatra LP’s that have only been played once (and that was to dub them onto cassette…yeah, that long ago) that if I wore a Brock Osweiler jersey to the stadium pizza fanatics would not make it impossible for me to enjoy the game.  They would belch.  Some of them would, sadly, undo their belts, and even more of them would eat another slice. But they would not cause me to leave the stadium, though I might have to move over a seat or two, if you get my drift.  Cause I’d be getting theirs.

However, when Josh McAsshole drafted Tebow, any Broncos fan who dared to support Kyle Orton or wanted any quarterback other than Jesus Pants...like one who could actually throw a pass...was met with everything from outright confrontation to biblical quotes that somehow showed that God designated the righteous place Tebow owned as the leader of our team. For Christ's sake, Pat Robertson went so far as to predict that God might even want Peyton to have another neck injury!  REALLY???  It was a three ring circus with a Te-bot who spouted platitudes, all to the elation of dogmatic idiots when it was supposed to be about FOOTBALL!!! 

So, I completely understand and sympathize with Ed Anzalone  I had to live with this crap in Denver... endless shit that was supported by the wacko religious right from Colorado Springs just chanting and churning.  Believe me, I feel your pain.  I know what you mean about loving your team but reaching a point where you just can’t take it anymore.  It’s a load of garbage.  By the way, Ed…Mark Sanchez is a good quarterback. I wish that the Jacksonville/Tebow trade rumor had been true - or even the hints about that tight end or running back stuff - it would have been the best thing that could have happened for everyone and it's actually what should have happened in the first place. 

So, after all this time, I am facing some of the biggest decisions I'll make in my life...real things to blog about... and what do I choose?  Football.  I know it's total avoidance.  However, when I read Ed's editorial I just felt so VINDICATED!!!  I think it’s because I took a whole lot of crap last year about not being a good fan, and not supporting my team and “bringing politics into it” when I WASN’T THE ONE DOING IT!!  

So as Ed - whom I've never met, but with whom I've sadly shared the Tebow experience - and I will attest, here's the absolute truth:  if you show up at a stadium that happens to house Tebow, God ain’t gonna getcha but the loonies will.  Here’s the link to his editorial.

http://www.metro.us/newyork/sports/article/1156831--guest-column-fireman-ed-steps-away-but-not-as-fan 

Timmy might continue to Tebow, but I Manninged and God ANSWERED!

JESUS LOVES YOU, THIS I KNOW

Well, I guess Tom was Bradying harder than Tim was Tebowing.  If we use the thought process that's been recently applied to Denver Broncos football, the results would dictate that on Saturday, January  14, 2012 Jesus liked Tom Brady a whole lot more than he liked Timmy.

See how silly this is?  Perhaps we can all get back to reality now.  God loves us all, Jesus loves us all, Buddha loves us all, Allah loves us all, and the Great Spirit loves us all.  None of them care who wins a football game.

Now let's watch the playoffs and the Superbowl and wait for Baseball season to start.

Why I Detest Tim Tebow

People are having a difficult time understanding why I didn't enjoy seeing the Broncos defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday.  Well, it all has to do with the Bronco's illustrious quarterback.

These are portions of an article actually written by another very right wing, Southern Baptist preacher who has a blog - so it's not some liberal I'm quoting here.

"The problem Tom Krattenmaker, the writer of the article, has with Tebow is the staunchly conservative brand of Christianity that Tebow promotes. He points out that Tebow takes off-season missionary trips to Asia under the auspices of his father’s organization, The Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association. According to Krattenmaker, the bottom line of that organization is: “Only those who assent to its version of Christianity will avoid eternal punishment.” He then cites two examples of the concerns he has with the organization. First, the ministry boldly states, “We reject the modern ecumenical movement.” Second, the ministry’s literature estimates that 75% of the inhabitants of the Philippines “have never once heard the gospel of Christ,” even though more than 80% of Philippine citizens identify themselves as Roman Catholic."

In another passage, he discusses athletes and thanking Jesus.  These are the points I keep trying to make.  What kills me about this guy is that he then reiterates his agreement with the bigotry of fundamentalism and  gets in another dig at Catholics not being Christian:

"Tebow can talk all he wants about the power of the Lord, but when it came time for him to choose a college team to play for, this home-schooled son of a missionary didn’t pick a small, Christian, ultra conservative, non-ecumenical school that barely had a football team. He picked one of the most secular ”football factories” in the United States. Think about that. There’s the power of the Lord, and then there’s the power of incredibly gifted teammates. It’s easy to shine for Jesus when the greatest disappointment you have to face in a season is the gap between winning a national championship or having to settle for finishing second in your conference and in the top five nationally.

"My son Ryan is a Christian. His belief in Christ is real and he is a great kid. He’s also a good athlete whose best sport might very well be football. However, through no fault of his own, he suffers from attending a school system that rates very low in sports. He never won a football game during his 5th-grade season. Likewise for his 6th. That 6th-grade team scored three touchdowns total. Ryan ran for two and threw for the other one. This season was his middle-school, 7th-grade season. He made all-conference, but his team won one game.

"Since Ryan and Tim Tebow both claim the same Savior, why does that Savior work so hard to get Tebow his wins and acclaim but allows Ryan to get gang-tackled season after season? I submit that Tebow’s natural ability and otherworldly teammates have much more to do with his athletic success than Jesus. I say that Jesus isn’t nearly as personally involved in the outcome of sporting events as Christian athletes want to believe. Put a batter up against a pitcher and the outcome will depend much more upon how good the pitcher’s stuff is than how often the batter prays.

"Please understand that I’m not trying to completely eliminate Jesus from sports. After all, His sovereignty knows no limits. And let’s face it, any Savior who knows the number of hairs on a person’s head has to be interested in all of life, right down to the minutest details. But we need to get back into the realm of reality on this subject. If an athlete wants to thank Jesus for allowing him the health to compete, that’s fine. If He wants to give Him praise for dying on the cross for his sins, that’s a form of witnessing. When it comes to final scores, though, he needs to keep his mouth shut about Jesus. If Jesus was really that actively involved in that department, Notre Dame would never lose a game. Remember, that’s the school with the famous “Touchdown Jesus” shrine. Oh, wait, scratch what I just said. I forgot, they’re Catholics."

Now you know that I'm not someone who is exactly "Rah, rah Catholicism" but the audacity of any fundamentalist who proselytizes on a belief system that picks and chooses who gets to go to Heaven just frosts my ass. You can go online to research a complete list of those they find unworthy for Heaven but why get yourself as worked up as I am?  I find these people to be evil and dangerous. My 85 year old Mother has been a devout Catholic from birth.  I sincerely doubt that Tim Tebow gets to go to Heaven and my tiny Catholic mother is going to Hell.


I also wanted to make clear why Tebow's presence in Denver does not bring me any joy. I will use my own faith to pray for the day when he and his Jesus Pants head back to Florida. Jacksonville can have him, I'm sure he'd be happy there.

GO KYLE

I've loved the Broncos for so long, I can't remember.  Being an old broad, I remember when teams remained the same.  Bart Starr, Max McGee, Paul Hornung, and Ray Nitschke were the Packers.  Jane screamed into a pillow.  We drove to Milwaukee to watch the game.  I grew up and moved around and lived in many places.  I paid attention to and, of course, became a fan of the Broncos when I finally realized that I really did live in Colorado and not Wisconsin.  HOWEVER...after what that little dipshit Josh McDaniels did to our Broncos and then walked out leaving us with "Jesus Pants" in the first draft...thank CHRIST for the Packers because right now I'm so over all of it.  Except this.  Kyle Orton has been disrespected and totally screwed by every one of his alleged teams.  Team.  That means you work together and you know this guy's talent.  But what do we do.  Cave in to nutwad religious freak fans.

Tebow.  He's allowed to be perpetually in remedial quarterback school.  Oh, goodie, he was asked to throw 9 times and he completed 5 of those passes, some of which looked like they'd been shot from a T-shirt gun.  His nutjob followers want to get Bill Maher removed from the air because he made fun of Timmy.  For Christ's sake...literally...don't you think God and Jesus (Father and Son Team) have more important issues to deal with that are a bit more important than if Timmy actually throws a spiral?  I used to mourn the end of Football season.  Now I can't wait.  Especially if the Packers repeat.  Packer Superbowl, Come on Rockies and Brewers.

My sister, who lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, said she kinda likes Tebow.  I told her that I'd be glad to trade. She wasn't enthusiastic about that prospect.  It's almost Midnight.  I don't want Tebow to be my last thought of the year.  There are myriads of more important subjects.  Good night, 2011 and last year's crap.  Here's to 2012, health, love, a Walker recall, and a better year for us all.  Good night and good luck.

Well, I was right.  All that had to happen was for the Broncos to meet an elite team that watched college football and had a mediocre defense and so much for Tebow magic.  Good Lord...pun intended, Tesus...Kyle Orton, who got traded in lieu of Jesus Pants just helped the pathetic Kansas City Chiefs screw up Green Bay's perfect season.  I've seen Kyle Orton throw a football.  He's a quarterback.  I'm just happy that it came to fruition before we got to much further into the "playoff hunt."

Really...Tebow is allowed to screw up at least three quarters and run around like a crazy person to make up for the fact that he can't throw.  Timmy, Mommy and Daddy can't move you to another district any more so that they'll let you play the position you want to play.  You're a freakin' tight end.  Go get some joy and success and glory and quit trying to be the one thing you are not.  You're not John Elway and you're sure as Hell not Bart Starr.  Does the name Shannon Sharpe come to mind? Game over.

WELL, WE'RE WINNING

Nobody seems to understand why I'm not mesmerized by fucking Tebow Magic.  We're winning.  That's all that matters.  Really.  The fact that we have the Focus on Other People's Families wingnuts doing ad buys and Timmy Boy doing book promotions on Hannity's show shouldn't piss me off?  Add to that Underpants Jesus' response to Jake Plummer's observation that more people might be inclined to enjoy his accomplishments if he weren't doing ad-nauseum shout outs to Jesus.  Jesus Pants' response was that if you married a woman you wouldn't just tell her you loved once a day but every moment possible and that's his relationship with Jesus.  My response to you, Jesus Pants, is that I respect that but tell it to Jesus and not all of us!!

I'd like to see what would happen if one of the many NFL athletes who are black Muslims would say: "I just want to thank Allah for all His blessings."  The guy would receive death threats!  I would have said for Christ's sake but it's too ridiculous!

I don't freaking care if we're winning. Even if the brainwashed tight end wanna-be quarterback could actually complete even 30% of his passes, the crap he brings with him to this part of the world when we have to deal with Dobson's crew in Colorado Springs is intolerable.  I will never be a Tebow fan until he's one of two things:  1:A tight end or half back and not the face of the Bronco's; 2: Gone.

I don't care if we're winning.  His crew hurts people. They're  dangerous, right wing nut cases and they already have too much power. I shudder to think of the ad buys if the Broncos actually get to the playoffs.

Something I've wanted to say for over 12 years

FUCK DICK CHENEY.