Trash Talk: My Traffic Su@k$
JimWhite, who seems anxious to start the college season for some unknown reason, pointed out how remiss I was in not posting a trash talk for the first college games of the season. Oops. Sorry.
In college ball, I have three things to report:
First, for one whole quarter, Navy kept it close with OSU. Alas, one quarter does not make an upset.
Second, apparently those people driving to MI’s first game of the season are suffering from some first-game jitters. Specifically, all the suburbanites driving through my neighborhood to the game seem to never have driven through a traffic circle before. And with four straight home games (that’s what a 1AA schedule will get you in the Big House), I won’t be able to drive through said traffic circles on a Saturday for an entire month.
Third, for some reason Ann Arbor has broken the cardinal rule of city road construction: which is that you finish the major arteries before the first game. They’re starting road construction right out in front of my house on Monday. Now I’ve got wayward traffic circles and construction drivers to contend with.
As to MI football? I don’t have much to say about that.
In the pros, though, here’s an interesting development while we wait for the season to really start. Roger Goodell anticipates that next year (2010), there may be no salary cap (because they haven’t agreed to a new contract yet). So for those of you who want to talk about something else than JimWhite’s gloating, I invite you to consider who will make worse use of his opportunity to spend unlimited funds on big egos: Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder?
Here’s another puzzler. Does anyone doubt that the NFC North–the perennial laughingstock of the NFL–is going to be the most improved division this year? Frankly, with Dallas looking pretty crappy and the Gents looking dicey and the Iggles looking gimmicky, I wonder whether the NFC North might be the best NFC division this year? I understand that doesn’t mean the Kitties will win any games (though I think we’ve done far better off of stealing masaccio’s Titans’ Defensive Coordinator than we did off of stealing Christy’s Mountaineers’ Head Coach), but there are some seriously strong teams up here in the Midwest this year.
They play football in college??? Who knew? ; )
Speaking of the NFC North, I hear our Favre-ite player doesn’t know how to throw a legal block. I’m sure that will endear him to defenses everywhere — especially in Lambeau ; )
Yeah, WTF is a 40-year old QB with potentially broken ribs doing throwing crack blocks for anyway?
Oh–and thanks for coming up with a great vid for the post, Ms. Reigning Hupcap!
He throws those blocks so he can get his overstuffed wallet lightened to the tune of $10k.
Dang you’re fast. I strolled over to catch up (P)Arsecroft and came back to find Purple #4 earning a fine. I am duly impressed ; )
Sorry I can’t help you with the logic of having an old (possibly injured) man on the line, but I fail to see the logic of paying him $12M this year either. I can’t wait to hear Wilf start whining about how he needs the taxpayers of MN to pop for a new stadium ’cause he can’t make enough money in the Metrodome. Logic doesn’t seem to be in force in MN this year…
And did someone mention hubcap? : ) Don’t mind me while I go off to quietly hum Hail to the Chief to myself… ; )
Well, I’m glad you mentioned it bc I hadn’t seen the footage, just the report on the fine. So now we all get to see it and I can’t thikn of a better way to get bmaz all riled up than mock his Favray.
You are not giving proper respect to the Cheeseheads; Aaron Rodgers is going to carve up the Brears secondary like a Buterball turkey.
Whassamatter, bmaz? You already routing against your beloved
PackersJetsVikes?bmaz is still in the Favre camp? Don’t get me wrong, I loved Brett as a Packer and I bear him no ill will. If he wants to keep playing and can find someone to keep paying him to do so, that’s great. It’s just the annual waffle-fest that puts me into fits of giggles. The man is turning himself into a punchline, which is unfortunate for a future Hall of Famer.
Oh, you mean this? It makes good TV.
That’s hilarious! Thanks Jim — Go Crocs! ; )
I saw the footage – it was on either Deadspin or Yahoo Sports – and it was about as blatant a crack-back block as I ever recall seeing. The thing is, he was lined up out on a wing and took out the defender in the open field and right in front of an official.
Attention:
Now available for immediate purchase: One extra large headache. Comes equipped with optional sinus blockage. Inquire within. Quietly.
Hey, when does the big Florida Gators/Faber University game come on?
Sinus headaches definitely su@k.
Good one on the Gator scrimmage. Way back in my grad school days, the only “team” that played its home games in the Rose Bowl was the club team from Caltech. They played Tijuana Tech and a few prison teams. Maybe Foley can get one of those on the schedule for an opener in the future…
That explains why they have so much fun playing with the scoreboard there!
Aw, c’mon Marcy. It’s more like pre-gloating right now.
Anchors away! Navy only down by six in the big horseshoe to start the fourth quarter.
From the previous thread, why did the Tennessee orange color suddenly go Carolina blue in today’s broadcast? After all, that shade of orange was very carefully chosen so Tennessee fans don’t have to change clothes all weekend: hunting on Friday, the game on Saturday and picking up garbage on the side of the road on Sunday.
You know, I want Navy to pull that out. But if it happens, then I’m going to have to deal with drunkards in my already hazardous traffic circles later today.
Re: NFC North – that “most improved conference” seems to be a building consensus. I listened to some (quite responsible) radio talkers (one of them a journo for SI) predicting that both the Pack and the Vikes could easily win 10.
As I noted last week in my predictions: I have no idea which of them will win, but either one could be standing come Super Bowl time.
FWIW, folks, those talkers predicted a Packers-Chargers Super Bowl, with the Bolts winning.
re: Kitties. They’ll improve. They might win 3 or 4 this year.
re: College football. I went to a 1-AA school where football weekends were like something out of one of those idealized college-life B movies from the 30s-40s. I have no clue what “major college” football weekends are like, other than very crowded. Of course, I knew a couple football players from our school who went to first-rate med schools or law schools.
re: Stupid road construction. So, now you’re criticizing shovel-ready stimulus projects? Next thing we know you’ll be demanding Obama’s birth cert be submitted to forensic testing, and building a timeline about it.
re: tentative drivers in traffic circles. It’s a Midwestern thing. They all seem to act like the conversation in their mind is “OMG! I’m alive! And I’m staring at this round thing where my hands are! What am I supposed to do with it????? And I’m moving! OMG! OMG! OMG! Better slow down and hesitate!”
Also, I said last week I think Da Bears might win the division. I hate Cutler, but I think he’s found a good fit in Chicago. I know that’s crazy talk (and it depends on a mid-season Favre drama meltdown). But there you have it, for all the hubcaps.
Well, the mid-season Favre breakdown is guaranteed. Even after factoring that in, last week, I still came to the conclusion it was between the Vikes and the Pack.
Da Bears just lost a running back to an ankle injury.
As to the Kitties and their possessing 4 decent QB, only 2 injured – I’d say that’s something of an improvement. Now if they can cobble those 2 uninjured ones together and get one decent one out of it, they might outdo my prediction. They might win 5.
Oh, and FWIW, you all ought to hear the Jets fans calling in. They all sound like Mets fans after a good series of winning spring training games: “gonna go deep”, “this could be the year” – you know the drill. The callers all seem to have serious crushes on Mark Sanchez, which means Jet Karma is likely to result in him hitting the IR about week 10 or so after accumulating a QB rating in the 80s.
I agree, Favre su @ cks, and I am a Vikings fan. I mean, I have hated that WATB for 16 years, and now I have to root for him? No, I will root for a root canal before that happens. That said, the Vikes could win the division with Chili as the QB. Neither the Bears or Packers have the defense or running game to get it done. And nobody in the NFC North has the Vikes’ defense.
Oh, Packers have a good runner, but they don’ have AP AND C Taylor. And they do have a good but not great QB.
Bears? Well, they were good last year, and they do have Cutler, but he is almost as big a head case as Favre. He may melt down first if he perceives that the team doesn’t respect him enough.
Pack-Bolts SuperBowl??? Where’s randiego when I need him? ; ) Could be a good year, yes indeed…
You are delusional if you believe the pundits and that the Packers will win 10 games this year. They LOST ten games last year, remember? A realistic assessment is that they don’t go backwards into su @ kdom. I think they will cry in their curds while Jackson leads the Vikings to the promised land. Packers 8-8 Vikings 12-4 Bears 11-5 Lions 2-14.
Note: Favre will suffer a career ending knee injury at Lameau, leaving T-Jack to lead the Vikings to their first Super Bowl title ever. And Favre to wonder why he ever came out of retirement.
bmaz, I think UA plays a Michigan team today, a Michigan Central or something like that.
The Mildcats are capable of losing that kind of game – remember when they lost to NAU a couple of years ago in their opening game? Ugh.
Hey, EW!
How come you spell Sucks like this, “S@ck$”? You’re willing to say “blowjob” on national tv and too dainty to write “Sucks” in a title?
Dunno. It was pretty stupid, not least because I originally used a bracket in there that turned my entire page into a strike thru.
As I said in the last post, I should trust my instincts.
Also, I think the kitties will win more than 4. They’ve fixed their BY FAR biggest problem from last year–which was worse fitness than I’ve got. And they’re tackling very well. And they’ve got 4 marginally acceptable QBs, half injured.
Coming up in about 45 minutes is Georgia at Oklahoma State. That should be very interesting. Gonna pop some popcorn and enjoy…
Everybody hates on Favre. Oooh he’s old. Oooh he’s gonna break down. Yada, yada, yada.
Just for grins, how many quarterbacks have the Deetroit Lions had since the last time Brett Favre did not start a football game?
That would be 18 by the way.
Are you sure – I seem to recall he didn’t start one of the last games of his Jets contract last year.
Yep, I am sure; he started all NYJets games last year. Now whther he should have or not is probably a relevant question. Of course, Kellen Clemens would not have been any better than a wounded Favre, so maybe it was justified.
Favruh has started 269 straight games; two short of breaking Jim Marshall’s record
Is that why he came back? I thought Minnesota just needed a stadium and figured he was the best way to make that happen.
I think it’s a love/hate thing with him
As far as the Vikings. They really need a quarterback. And the conventional wisdom says he should help with winning which = getting a stadium (everybody loves a winner). Plus he’ll sell jerseys
Tarvaris Jackson is talented and incredibly athletic, but, his mechanics are horrible – throws off his back foot a lot, doesn’t step into his throws and flings the ball more than throws it which leads to inaccuracy and lack of touch. He seems to have a hard time reading defenses, grasping the base offense, and can’t run a hurry-up offense. He averages about 160 (?) yards passing and his best ever passing game was around 250 yards
And Sage Rosenfels is adequate but there was a reason he was only worth a 4th round draft choice
Re: Jackson.
He has been hurried into the starter role without the benefit of watching a mature leader run the offense. He reminds a LOT of Favre early in his career. Jackson, if the Vikings hold on to him, is the franchise quarterback. Knowing Chili, he’ll release him after today, and keep Sage Rosenfels, who couldn’t throw his way out of a wet paper bag. If Chili had any sense, and he doesn’t, he’d let Jackson study Favre this season, and release Favre next year.
TJ does have talent. But Chilly hurried him along too fast and hasn’t properly coached him
Oh yeah, Tavaris Freaking Jackson is really the second coming of Johnny Unitas and Favre always sucked. I want some of the gange you are smoking. Favre had the Packers one play away from the SuperBowl less than two years ago and has been named to the Pro Bowl each of the last two years. Oh yeah, and he has already won more SuperBowls than the Vikings have in their entire existence. You need to wake up and join the reality based community.
You’re right about Jackson; Chilly, like so many head coaches coming from the defensive side, prioritizes a quarterback eating the ball rather than making it a lottery ticket. But with TJ, the reason for that is less about prudence & more about an acute awareness of both his abilities in reading pro defenses on the rumble and his mechanics whenever he risks hurling; & not just acute, but accurate: he completely sucks at both. Plus he epitomizes risk aversion in a part of the game that requires risk management. He’s fine at everything else. I know this will appear nuts, but I actually thought the idea of blowing off anyone who looked remotely like he might be another Moss or Spidey made sense IF the plan was to accommodate TJ’s strengths, as essentially a wishbone/wing/option/gadget ball control QB. For a little while, until they went back to playing footsie with the bmaz’ ravre favre, I actually credited the Norske for that, figuring that might not win any Lombardis, but it sure would be sum fun. Anyway, $12M has pretty much put an end to that fantasy.
BTW, you’re just full of pithy analysis & cool wierdo links & qwik qwips on this thread; so I have to wonder why you haven’t taken on the essential criticism of your Favrite QB evuh by vaunted NFL expert analyst A. Kasparian, per the video posted by that other v.N.e.a., fearless leader: that the Great Reflexive Retiring Louisianan is “such a douche”. I was prepared to live with a near-no pass offense, and even the few weeks of the Drama Queen before Medicare intervenes to force his retirement to save going bankrupt; but there ain’t no cure for the douchebaggery blues.
Your public awaits with rebated breath.
Jackson seems like a nice kid, and he clearly has a lot of raw natural talent. But four years is enough time to start understanding and reading defenses and he really does not seem to have substantially gained all that much. I’ll tell you who he reminds me of very much, and that is Kordell Stewart; but Stewart never really panned out as an upper tier starting quarterback either. That is kind of how I see Jackson.
As to Favre, yeah the off season melodramatics are a bit annoying and ridiculous. I will say this much, I think the Packers by and through Ted Thompson, were just as much at fault a couple of years ago as Favre. They really were pushing him out and he deserved better from them. Bottom line for me is who actually comes to play during the regular season, and he always does. Always. And he still just looks like he is having fun and plays with passion and joy. A game with Favre in it is always good to watch; there is constantly the threat of something spectacular – good or very bad – happening. If the Vikes can keep the old man healthy (a not insubstantial if) and can keep from wearing him out like the Jets did by having him throw 30-40 times a game down the stretch, I think they are a significantly better team with him than with Jackson or Rosenfels. They thought so too. Let him play, he has always been willing to let his play speak for itself, and had quite a career of doing just that. If he sucks, he sucks; but he is there and I hope the best for the Vikes. I still think the Packers are the team to beat in the Norske if they have any defense at all.
Does this mean he will finally be able to retire after this season? I’ll believe it when I see it ; )
Nevermind, Feagles holds the record at 336. Brett would have to keep playing for awhile to beat that.
Feagles is a nice guy and a local kid from here in Phoenix….
But come on, punters don’t count!!
Ouch.
Marcy, it’s *your* fault Navy blew their chance at the tie in the 4th!
Feck. I’m making a pie so I wasn’t watching. What’d I do, jinx them?
Navy scored two quick late TD’s and was going for a two point conversion to tie the score with just over 2 minutes to go. OSU intercepted and returned for 2. Final OSU 31-27.
Double feck.
Now, now Marcy. Shame on you for taking your frustrations with MI coaching out on OSU like that. Remember, this OSU team is a very young team. I regret your Maize and Blue frustration.
Most Buckeyes are praying for a renewal up your way because we appreciate healthy competition. And if I recall, your team managed to do just fine yesterday. Congrats! And besides, our youth this year, could be your team’s gain.
As for the rest of you and your anti-OSU tilting…for progressives, you’re so-ooo status quo in that regard. No anti-establishment there. You all seem to echo the MSM’s hate for the Buckeyes! s/ Except for bmaz. He’s a good sport! (Yes, I know in reality, he does hate Ohio State but he did cheer them on for me once. So, I am indebted to his show of sportsmanship.)
(EW, I do appreciate the use of “feck” because younger klynn’s were reading over my shoulder.)
Anyway, good on Maize and Blue for winning over WMU!
(Us auto-state teams really need to stick together.)
I bet OSU is looking forward to Michigan, because they probably don’t want to think about next Saturday’s prospects. Cupcake season is over for the Buckeyes. Trouble is headed their way. And everybody knows what happens when the Big Ten plays the Pac Ten.
I think OSU fans have no illusions about next week after losing so many high value Jr.’s last year.
But we still stand by our team, Pac Ten, or not. And I think if the team can at least score a few points next week, I know I’ll be happy due to their youth. There is a great deal of potential in this young group.
I don’t think there’s an anti-OSU bias. We’re all just tired of them being built up as a BCS team and then getting blown out in a bowl game. I can’t believe they were like #6 preseason, and then that Navy powerhouse almost steals a win.
Maybe Favruh has his sights set on George Blanda
PS Just to clarify, my comment at 33 was about the record for games started
If anyone’s wondering, we’re doing much better against MAC teams this year than we did last year.
Probably best if Big Blue steers clear of powerhouse conferences like the WAC and Mountain West though.
you want the trash talk ???
You can’t handle the trash talk !!!
you’re fuckin right I ordered the code red …
oh, wait
got a little carried away there
here goes:
Western Michigan is no App State
in the past three years, during the month of November and December, favre has thrown 13 interceptions and 2 touchdowns
so the only real suspense in Minnesota is which game favre decides to give up, throw in the towel, and start lobbing the ball to any warm body
Tom Brady has three rings, Rothlisberger has two rings, and the goober brothers got one a piece
and you guys are thinking san diego versus minnesota ???
are you guys trying to get invited to Randiego’s house for a superbowl party ???
don’t believe him, the weather sucks in San Diego in January (temps in the low 50s, the horrors)
an Scribe, enjoy that hubcap while ya can. And pay no attention to those footsteps you hear (Your goin down, Pal)
Personally, I hope the Cards disappoint bmaz by reaching their second consecutive superbowl (that would really burn your ass, wouldn’t it)
I’m not sure whether Ben or Tom gets another ring, but when it happens, send the Hubcap to Cali
an I want a good hubcap, not some cheap toyota hubcap or somethin …
until then
YOU WANT ME ON THAT WALL
(wink)
Hahahahahaha, the Cardinals in the SuperBowl. Did ya get a bad batch of crack or something? The Cards play the games to lose the games.
He does have a problem with being less effective late in the season, but if you look at it objectively, so do other pro bowl caliber QB’s (scroll down). Then you have to ask if the Pack and Jets had an effective running game and how good the defense was; ie did he have to keep throwing the ball in order to keep his teams competitive?
na
I don’t gotta do that
I seen him throw the bad balls
he ain’t got it anymore
I jes know …
correction
an
Scribe, Phred, enjoy that hubcap while ya can. And pay no attention to those footsteps you hear (Your goin down, Pal)Footsteps? What footsteps? I thought you were sitting up on a wall somewhere, ya know like Humpty Dumpty… Jes’ waitin’ to fall ; )
The hubcap is mine all mine!!! Bwahahahahaha ; )
Actually, Marcy, Navy came within two points of tying it up in the closing minutes.
Their attempts at a two point conversion was not only foiled, but the ball was intercepted & run back for 2 points by OSU. [A really strange move/rule: if the defense runs back a two-point attempt, it gets two points, not the 6 you’d think from an “interception.”]
OSU’s gonna be falling a few rungs in the rankings.
yeah, but they’re so bad they’ll manage to fuck up the plan
it’s not like they’re competent or something
we ain’t talkin bout a great team like the 1919 whitesox
(duckin & runnin)
and on a similar note, the greatest movie ever made ???
Eight Men Out
Orsen Wells can kiss my ass, John Sayles RULZ
jes soes ya know …
yep
Wow. Anybody catching the book salon?
Either Tom Ridge is an incredibly slow reader or he’s clearing his answers with dead-eye before he responds
Jeebus, you guys gotta read this story. City fire chief goes to court to challenge an outrageous speeding ticket and the whole town police force shows up and they shoot the fire chief in the back in the court!
What say we take up a collection and send Chris Christie for a fun filled driving vacation to Jericho Arkansas!
somebody should construct a timeline of christie’s driving record/close encounters with law enforcement
jes sayin
btw, ya usually only have a traffic “record” if you’re really bad at driving, they don’t count the times ya didn’t get in an accident
Send in the sociologists. That place has to be one for the record books. (Please tell me that it isn’t unheard of for the midriff of the country.)
They aren’t usually that obvious about it, I have to admit.
In other news: ice cream potstickers.
Marcy, I fyou really cared about the Wolverines you would live close enough to the stadium to walk.
Oh I’m roughly within the range–2-3 miles. But I didn’t go to the game, you see.
Mary around? Rachel wins the Woodward!
Ruh roh, Okrahoma is in a 10-7 halftime dogfight with BYU and Sam Bradford is hurt and maybe out.
Yeah I was checking that game when he went down. My first thought was collarbone on his throwing side.
Back to New York…
Fucking Clemens finally loses… but owes Rusty big bucks…
MacNamee 1 Clemens zero
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/…..id=4448136
MacNamee is a pathetic leech of a human being and his suit is every bit as absurd as Clemens was (it should be noted that Clemens suit was affirmative pushback intended far more as a tactic in defending Clemens from possible prosecution than it ever was as a real damages case). MacNamee is a proven liar and he perjured himself in earlier affidavits. Calling MacNamee a liar is not defamation, it is the truth. I still do not think Clemens was clean, but I will take him any day over McNamee.
But McNamee was repentant, Clemens otherwise…
McNamee knows he is a shit-bum, Clemens still thinks he can throw heat…
Clemens is from Texas, McNamee from New York.
I rest my case…
MacNamee is not repentant in the least, he simply snitched out to save his own pathetic ass from going to prison and he has psychotically lied throughout the process of doing so. There are other matters aside from Clemens he has been involved in that do not make the news and ESPN like Clemens does, and his and Novitsky’s actions have been deplorable and patently fraudulent and malicious.
I just wanted to compliment you on that near brilliant question you asked Ridge in the book review.It brought the whole semantics driven argument about the concept of the war on terror into focus by equating it with the war on gangs angle and it’s relationship to the price the constitution has paid.
Great points and perfect timing
Heh, thanks. I am going to check back there on that post in a couple of weeks to see if Ridge has made it that far in the thread by then. Last I checked, the comment thread was up to about 225 comments and Ridge was still responding to comment number 34 or so. He’s only got another 50 or so to go before he gets to mine!
Atonement?
freep – you guys are letting BYU hang around, and their quarterback is shredding your D…
How ’bout them dawgs?
And – Cadillac – that’s the Hubcap I dream about…
In the days after Senator Kennedy’s death, there was a lot of hate talk re: the good senator. Well, when it comes to pro football, any organization that allows Michael Vick to be part of it does not need any of my time watching on TV.
Guess it is not just the Big Ten conference; Oklahoma needs to rethink scheduling Mountain West teams too. Bummer, Sooners.
I watched two HS football scrimmages this week. Both were worth totally worth it. I saw Hollistan v. Franklin and Hollistan v Brookline.
Everyone is running the spread offense. It’s exciting football. The HS season in Mass. opens Friday.
IVY and NESCAC football opens in a few weeks.
NFL plays Thur, Sun and on Monday Night Football, a double header
Patriots @ Bills @7 EDT
Bolts @ Raiders @10 EDT
Are you ready for some trash-talking!?
Bomber Release Involved Oil, British Minister Says
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09……html?_r=1
I watched Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill explain his decision to the Scottish legislative body on the late night CSPAN last week. I do appreciate the interrogatory style of those hearings. Kenny MacAskill defended his decision as a matter of law, compassionate release law. Why then this:
He can’t be so stupid as to respect the wishes of American diplomats and Families by not transferring Mr. Megrahi into Libyan custody but instead think releasing him altogether would be somehow more satisfactory to them. I went to high school with a guy who died on Pan Am 103 at age 29.
No, that wouldn’t be what he was thinking. He was keeping the U.S. State Department right out of it, for what seem to me obviously good reasons. I’m sure he meant no disrespect to American families.
The focus of the British (and I believe other European) families, who are organized, has been on keeping the investigation going. Most of them supported Megrahi’s release, although either that or his death means another frustration for them. I suspect that frustration will be temporary, although moving forward might require admissions from several governments involved, including the U.S. Some good journalist-historian is going to have to force them one day, yet again.
The political flap in the UK was just a case of Scottish Labour making points against the SNP government in Edinburgh, even though UK Labour supported the release. And then the Tories at Westminster will exploit anything they can.
For months, everyone in the UK has been watching the High Court struggle with the sheer perversity of the Miliband-Clinton collusion over state secrets in the Binyam Mohamed case, which just grows and grows and, if we’re lucky, may help to break open many other cases elsewhere. I expect that MacAskill had that sort of thing in mind when he chose to act on the basis of his independent powers under Scottish law and duck the diplomats. I also expect that Megrahi is getting excellent palliative care in Tripoli.
Thanks for that. Kenny MacAskill did meet with US families by video link and had conversations with Hillary Clinton and other state department officials who obviously objected to his release, whether as an exchange or on compassionate grounds – even if the issue of compassionate grounds was not specifically raised in the meetings.
Michael Vick paid his debt to society. Don’t we owe it to those who have done so – served their sentences – a chance for atonement in the way they live the rest of their life?
Mr. Megrahi did not pay his debt to society. He was sentenced to life in prison. (By the way, it was roundly acknowledges that he would receive better health care in Scotland than Tripoli.)
So you’d rather see an innocent man die in prison?
Is he innocent? I think we need to trust the rule of law to adjudicate that question. He was found guilty. He did get a date for an appeal. The appeal was not adjudicated. He was released on compassionate grounds, the basis of which is a law on the books in Scotland.
You know, I have mixed emotions about that deal. Leaving aside the question of whether there was some element of quid pro quo, if Megrahi is truly as near death as has been reported (and he at least seems to be I guess), then all the Scots have done is saved a lot of money and hassle by shifting the end of life care costs and supervision onto Libya. It is hard for a prison system to deal with that kind of hospice like situation with a capital subject. The thing that really troubles me though is the fact that the evidence against Megrahi was extremely flimsy in significant regards; there is truly a question as to his guilt, separate and distinct from the trial verdict, it appears to me. I guess the totality of those factors leave me ambivalent on the whole thing;
Wholeheartedly agree with you about Vick. I never cared for him, thought he was kind of thuggish as a person and really not a particularly great pro quarterback as a player. But he seems to be genuine, at least so far, about changing and being a decent citizen; more power to him if he can do just that. I really do not get the viewpoint of those with the thought expressed above. What would be enough? If Vick cannot play football, what jobs would he be okay to work at then? Would they ban him from construction work or from being a realtor or something too? Is he even entitled to work at all in their view? Should he just be put to death? When is enough punishment for his crimes?
I regret his appeal was not heard (eight years after his conviction?) prior to the time of his release. That is part of the fact set, found guilty and on appeal.
IMO all rests on the question of his guilt. The court found him guilty and until that is revisited and revised, I think it should be taken as a given.
His pending appeal or the assumption that he is innocent (not tested by due process) should not be part of the calculus that favors his release from prison.
I suppose I should understand the compassionate release law better before going on.
Ex-con Vick’s highly-compensated high profile job in the NFL does put the question to the test not only because of his high salary but also because of the size of the audience. I was proud of the owner and head coach for putting their political capital and business interests on the line to give Vick a chance to return and earn a place in public. He needs to fly right and if he does then he earns it.
The Alabama-VaTech game has been a slugfest, but the Tide looks to be too much for the Hokies.
OT, and if anyone is up late, thought you would be interested in this op-ed by Ali Soufan in the NYT talking about Zubaydah, KSM, Al-Nashiri,and the CIA IG report revelations. It’s very good in my opinion:
And Cheney should be confronted with this during his next interview:
Rut roh. DOn’t look now, randiego.
I think you might agree that Shawne Merriman is the most important person on the Bolts–maybe slightly after Rivers–to the Bolts fulfilling predictions of a SB bid.
And Merriman just got arrested for domestic violence allegations.
And in other news, BillBel traded Richard Seymour (which presumably means his knee is not back).
fookin mormans
they got lucky
and the new texas stadium:
a quarterback killer ???
we’ll see
Hey, I hear that the Sooners’ quarterback has been seen around town with Jessica Simpson!
Dude, that sucks. I like Sam Bradford, he seems like a good kid, and he’s a solid player. There was a lot of gloating here in the Texas side of the household, but not from me.
I agree that Bradford is a good kid and that his injury should be a gloat-free situation. I wish him a very speedy recovery.
To clarify, the gloating was over the OU loss, not the Bradford injury.
Tech beat OU two years ago – Bradford was knocked out of that game with a concussion.
I felt terrible, rooting for the Mormons, but watching Stoops piss and groan the whole game was fun. It’s appropriate that he and Mack Brown are in the same conference. They’re perennially one-two for the “Moaner of the year” award. Pick ‘em. :0)
First of all, why is Merriman dating Tila Tequila?? Seriously, have you seen that tramp’s show? At Merriman’s level, he should be dating Shakira.
Secondly, with their history with Chargers linebackers, at least the SDPD didn’t shoot him. (See Foley, Steve).
Be back later for more. Gonna go jump in the ocean.
Well, if you are looking for a sharp knife in the drawer, Merriman might be a soup spoon. By the way, what are the odds he did a “Lights Out” dance after the deed?
Chalk up another one for the Mountain West over the Big 12 tonight. Colorado St. 23, Colorado 17, Final. Spread was double digits Colorado.
No kidding – youth is absolutely wasted on the young. He should have been home in bed thinking about the Raiders instead of being out on the town… none of them ever seem to learn a lesson from the stuff their peers go through… the Chargers especially. The Steve Foley thing was BAD.
It looks like the original disturbance call was made at 3:45, after a night of partying in the gaslamp. There are so many bad things that can happen at that time of night after drinking, why risk everything?
There are witnesses, so this won’t be a he-said, she-said. I sincerely hope there isn’t any truth to it. I suppose it’s possible he was trying to prevent her from driving or something.
He’s had a very quiet pre-season, it’s felt he’s not fully recovered. Marcy’s right, he’s a player they can’t do without.
Best sports strip ever:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/tank-mcnamara