NFL-Random Thoughts

     After just finishing watching my beloved Browns beat the Bills, I have decided it was a good time for a little essay about America's TRUE pastime, the NFL. Sadly, most “journalism” is slanted one way or another, and sports isn't any different. I can assure you that isn't the case with me. During an Ohio State Buckeyes game in 2002, the year they won the national championship, they played a very tight game against Perdue. Sitting on the edge of my seat throughout I had the displeasure of watching OSU outside linebacker, Bobby Carpenter, thrust his hand into the throat of a Purdue player. Whether out of frustration or desperation it was a disgusting act and made me ashamed to be a Buckeye. Again, you wont get any bias from me, I don’t call it as I see it, I call it as it is. The ultimate mediator. So, without further ado, hut, hut, hike!

     Let us accept the stereotype that jocks are dumb. Granted there are plenty of exceptions, like Pat McInally, whom scored a perfect 50 on the Wonderlic Aptitude Test. (The best I have ever done was 38) But for the most part jocks are dumb. But that isn’t relevant. They are playing the sport of football and it isn't rocket science. Physical strength and conditioning, speed, and talent are the attributes these athletes are required to posses. But one position in particular does require a bit more than most. The quarterback. Between knowing and understanding the playbooks, to reading defenses, to willing his team to victory. Yes, quarterbacks SHOULD have a good head on their shoulders. 

     With that being said, let us get back to tonight’s Brown's game. Cleveland raised Brown's quarterback, Brian Hoyer, has electrified the souls of Brown's fans this past two weeks and there was a great deal of optimism coming into tonight’s game that he was our salvation from mediocrity. Fans reveled in the fact that finally we had a player with heart on par with the greatest fans in the NFL. Fast forward to the early part of the first quarter, Cleveland down by 7 points, Hoyer gets the snap, watches the pocket collapse, and without any viable targets, decides to run with it. After scrambling for 11 yards and a first down, he begins his slide. Then Buffalo linebacker, Kiko Alonso, commits what should have been ruled a personal foul, by not only tackling Hoyer after he went into his slide, but also hitting him helmet to helmet. On this play, Hoyer's knee was injured, possibly jeopardizing his season, and the hearts of Brown's fans were ripped out.

     Later, midway thru the third quarter, Bills quarterback EJ Manuel, scrambled for a 15 yard gain and a Buffalo first down. On this play, Manuel took a shot in the knee and would be out for the rest of the game. What was a highly exciting back and forth game became effectively sewn up as a win for the Browns upon the loss of Manuel for the Bills. And these injuries are why I brought up the intelligence issue. While I do believe Alonso's hit on Hoyer was a personal foul, Hoyer's injury is squarely to blame on his foolish decision. He was NOT running the final play of the Superbowl. It was the first half of the first quarter and the Browns were only down by seven. Why even take the unnecessary risk and unnecessary hit? Why not take 5 yards and slide? Why not just throw the ball away and punt? Hoyer sacrificed his knee and possibly his season over a single inconsequential first down. This was not smart football. Then again, neither was the play involving Manuel. On that play, Manuel needed around 11 yards for the first down. He got that and then some and all he had to do was step out of bounds. Instead, he got the “bright” idea to decide to break a tackle and score a touchdown. In reality, he almost broke his knee for 3 extra yards, as well as cost his team the game.

     Both of these plays were eerily similar to OSU's quarterback Braxton Miller's injury during week 2 of this college season. Miller shot himself in the foot, or should I say knee, by fighting for an inconsequential first down in a game that they could not lose even if they had wanted to. Thereby flushing his Heisman hopes down the drain. Whether it be by a desire to be on ESPN or some foolish pride, these three centerpieces all risked everything when there wasn’t even any prize at stake. I personally don’t wish to see any of these three drop like a sack of potatoes, ala Peyton Manning, at the first hint of contact. But I do wish to see all of them have long productive careers. And to that they just gotta play smart. Just know when to hold em, and know when to fold em.


Well, while I am at it, just some other random thoughts on the NFL:

• Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, hands down, not even close. And Nascar is the most “popular” sport in the USA, according to attendance and merchandise sales. Baseball consists of 2,430 regular season games, and I only needed to watch two of them, the Indians and Reds wild-card games, to see all that I needed to see. This wasn’t our year. But it is the NFL, and only the NFL, that is capable of bridging the gaps between races, gender, age and cultures, as well as have the most watched event, in the world, regardless as to whom is playing. Bottom line: Football IS America's past-time.
  
  
• Another year, another over-ranked San Diego Chargers team. And why? Because although I have known this for years, NFL “experts” have yet to catch on. Phillip Rivers SUCKS! Sure he has the physical tools, height, weight, and a rocket arm. And sure he is plenty capable of reading NFL defenses. Rivers sucks because he has no heart, no poise, and no leadership ability. Things that just cannot be taught. You either have them or you don't. Sure they can be acquired through maturity, but Rivers will always be a baby, a cry-baby. Maybe yall can trade him for say, Drew Brees?!?!
  
  
• Tim Tebow: OH, Timmy, poor, poor, Timmy. As an OSU fan I have plenty of reason to abhor this man, but alas I do not. He won it fair and square. And everyone should admire his conviction in being able to thwart the countless pairs of panties that were undoubtedly throw his way in college. But let us face that he ISN”T capable of being an NFL quarterback. He does not have the height. He does not have good mechanics. Actually, that was too nice, his throwing mechanics are ATTROCIOUS! And lastly he does NOT have the intelligence to be a NFL quarterback. Being a good Christian doesn't make you smart, or capable of playing in the NFL. Tebow's only hope would be to play at fullback, maybe.

• Stop hating on my beloved Cleveland Browns. Big deal if your team has 3, 4, 5, or even 6 Superbowl wins. If tomorrow they change the name of the Superbowl to “Megabowl” does it render your team's titles irrelevant? No it wouldn't. The Browns have 8, yes, EIGHT world titles. 4 AAFC and 4 NFL. And if you are under the impression that the AAFC was minor league football, so did everyone in the NFL at that time, at least until the merger. Then Cleveland came in and dominated the NFL as well. Not to mention an undefeated season in 1948. Home of the greatest football player EVER, Jim Brown, and the greatest coach EVER, Paul Brown. Bottom line: The people who don't respect the Browns get no respect from me, they don't know squat about football.
  

Government Stops Working (For Big Biz Anyway) "Business" As Usual For The Rest Of US...

Just reading through comments in regards to the government shutdown, just wanted to share a few of my favs:

Mac from ohio:

This shutdown should be about one thing -- funding the government or not funding the government. Obamacare is a separate issue. The Republicans could not get the votes to stop or change Obamacare, could not get the Supreme Court to reverse Obamacare so they are punishing the people of this great nation. To hold the people hostage to try to change a program they could not change during the political process is dead wrong. If elected officials ( either party ) think this is what you were elected for then you have no business in office.

*NOTES: Exactly, regardless as to your opinions of the ACA(Affordable Care Act) was LEGALLY passed, challenged twice legislatively and once judicially (Supreme Court) and was upheld all three times. So as a last ditch effort to circumvent law, the REPUBLICANS, and them alone, are holding America hostage. Pathetic.

Zeppelin4u:

What is sad is President Obama has changed the ACA frequently without approval from Congress and exempts the major unions he gave $60 billion dollars to support Obamacare but yet he thinks him and Harry Reid can put the burden on the middle class with this tax. Our representatives are getting subsidies to pay for their health care and it even provides for abortions which is against Federal law to fund. What Obama has done without approval from Congress is illegal and we are supposed to listen to this dictator in chief.

The President, Harry Reid, and the Democrats Shut down our government and I hope the Republicans who listened to the voters to defund Obamacare go on vacation until the President and Democrats stop doing things that are good for them and bad for the people.

Thank you Democrats for shutting down the Government. You should be ashamed but have no conscience.

With this law America is becoming a nation of Part-time workers and the President could care less that businesses are cutting employee hours because of this tax.. De-fund it and start over.

*NOTES: WTF!!! “Because of these taxes corporations are turning America into a part time work force.?” Taxes are a necessary component of government, as they have been since the beginnings of currency. Sometimes they go down, like under G. Bush Senior, (eye roll), and sometimes they go up. It is a part of life and it IS fair. What isn’t fair is that corporations offset these additional costs by cutting hours and benefits to their employees, usually starting from the bottom. Not only is this behavior unfair, it should be ILLEGAL. It would be no different than say a father who's hours were cut coming home from work and eating the same, (if not more) food for dinner as always, as his wife and children go hungry. This country is supposed to be of, for, and by the people, not corporations and stockholders. Profits before people has been the norm for quite some time and it needs to end. It is immoral and the anti-thesis of a proclaimed “Christian” country.

Roger-785733

The postponement was a tactic by the Republicans in hopes of gaining control of the Senate in 2014.. read between the lines. Guess what, it will not happen now....

*NOTES: Actually, it might happen. That all depends on which side is more motivated by this. The Republicans think, although incorrectly, that this is the Democrats fault and they will certainly show up full force on election day. What about the Dems? Are black people going to show up to the poles even though Obama isnt on the ballets?

kkwilson

It's expected that folks being impacted with the shutdown to be upset however, after they are impacted with ObamaCare they will understand the very reasons for the actions of the GOP. More and more people will be losing their healthcare at work in the next several months and will be paying astronomical premiums to keep their family coverage. The GOP is trying to halt this or reform it but the Democrats are opposed to doing anything for the average American. Sadly, on ObamaCare, the surprises are coming as we have already been lied to by the POTUS.

*NOTES: The average American??? Oh these silly republicans, the average American cannot afford healthcare now!!! Maybe if they were actually getting paid a livable wage. ($15 an hour X 40Hours) but they aren’t, so they take a second job, thereby throwing family values into the toilet, and whatever pittance they make “extra” they end up losing in food-stamps or daycare. The republicans are NOT fighting for the average American, they are fighting for the rich and the corporations. My brother is an average American and he is siding with the republicans because his hours are getting cut and insurance premiums are going up. But then again, he is a single man with no kids and is making $22 an hour, not rich by any means, but in accordance to the minimum “livable” wage of $9 (eye roll) he is at 244%, 2 and a half times, the amount of money he “needs” to live. Shoot, with all that “extra” he should be helping the seniors, the incapable, and the poor. Seems fair to me.

And although I don’t like contributing to the childish banter of name calling and buck passing, this one was too funny not to share:

FZknew

Things you gotta believe to be a Republican today

* Sending racy Tweets and pictures of yourself to a woman you aren't married to is a much more

serious crime than being a "pro-life" congressman who makes your wife and your mistress get

abortions.

* Michelle Bachmann, Louie Gohmert, Alan West, Todd Akin, Joe Walsh, Ted Cruz, and Steve Stockman are intelligent, rational human beings.

* Willard Mitt Romney lost the election because he wasn't conservative enough.

* The fact that business leaders can throw hundreds of millions of dollars at Karl Rove and other

SuperPACs to try and buy the election doesn't mean they can also afford to pay their employees

living wages with good benefits.

* Obamacare is the reason your hours are being cut and your pay is not going up; the CEO's $15

million bonus has nothing to do with it.

* Gun ownership is a right. Heath care is a privilege. If a kids die because of treatable cancer

or a nutcase gunning them down, oh well.

* You support drug testing of welfare recipients, but oppose criminal background checks and

mental health screening of gun buyers.

* The First Amendment shouldn't apply to TV, radio, video games, or the Internet because those

things didn't exist in 1787. The Second Amendment applies to automatic rifles and anti-personnel

ammunition even though those things didn't exist in 1787.

* You scream for federal disaster aid when your state catches fire or drowns in a hurricane, but

when it happens somewhere else in the country you vote against federal disaster aid.

* A guy who once shot his friend in the face, possibly while being roaring drunk at the time, has

the moral authority to speak out in opposition to gun control.

* Germany gets more sunlight than California.

* $250,000 a year is "poor", but the federal minimum wage is too high.

* Actually allowing black people to vote is "racial entitlement"

* You're a Birther who likes the idea of Ted Cruz (Canadian) running for President.


The bottom line is simple, “our” government doesn’t work, at least not for us. They work for the rich and therefore the corporations. And they get away with it year after year. And why? Because of sheople like you. Sheople whom believe that it is the other “side” causing the problem. Ted Cruz makes a fool of himself by bitching about something he has never tried and then ready Green Eggs and Ham. Now republicans want him for president even tho he admittedly wasn’t born in the United States. (yes, even after all that birther crap!!!) Anything to avoid siding with “them”. There is no unity. The man draws IMAGINARY lines in the sand, then demands, choose or die. Republicans/Democrats, Black/White, Christian/Muslim, American/Foreigner, what a joke. In reality there is only true two sides, the haves and the have nots. The 1%ers and the 99%ers. We should be the majority, unfortunately 99% divided 100 different ways is only 0.9% and they got all the money to boot. And people wonder why I cant sleep at night. They call me a liberal, a communist, and a socialist. Well call me crazy, because I do stand for the liberty of our society as a cohesive community. I am, after all, a TRUE Christian. All that we do SHOULD be for the greater good of all, and by all I mean all of humanity, not just self righteous Americans.

Abuse of Power

     Recently I got into a heated argument with a black conservative. I didn't think they existed either, but they indeed do. Anyway during this argument my man actually defended the cops involved with the Rodney King scandal and claimed that I needed to see the whole video to know the "truth". So, I did a little research...

Abuse of power isn't a new concept. Since the beginning of time individuals have desired to be in control, to be the man, to be looked up to and respected. Sadly, many choose t...o gain that respect by instilling fear in those whom they lead. There is just something about the human ego becoming inflated with the responsibility of authority. It happens in all walks of life, from monarchies to governments, to churches and even your local grocery store. Many of us have had great relationships with a co-worker, and as soon as this person gets a promotion they turn into a jerk. Maybe it has something to do with greed. Having the upper hand on another just makes people opportunistic. Maybe it has something to do with our capitalistic nature. Jesus could walk on water and miraculously cure diseases. Yet he chose not to use his power to exploit people or the system. Interesting...

I do not intend to disparage police officers, as I myself used to want to be one. But had I been, I would have spent all my time investigating the other officers. Through minimal research I obtained information on 80 cases of police brutality here in the United States. Also a few undocumented cases that I have first hand knowledge of. Sadly, these cases consist of only 28 of the 50 U.S. States and even sadder, 90% of them are from AFTER the year 1990, the “information” age of video cameras and internet. As one could imagine this isn’t just the tip of the iceberg, it is the tip of the tip. Here some of my favs:

ALABAMA: October 6, 2012- 18-year-old Gil Collar was student at the University of South Alabama. While naked the 5'4”, 140 lb student walked to the campus police station early on a Saturday morning. Collar attempted to open a locked door and banged on a window to the police station. An officer exited the building with gun drawn. Video shows that Collar approached the officer with arms outstretched and palms up. As Collar approached the officer, the officer backed away, then shot Collar once in the chest. Collar was never closer than four feet from the officer and didn't try to grab his weapon. A second officer arrived and assisted in handcuffing Collar. He died from the gunshot wound. It was later determined that Collar had taken LSD prior to the incident. The officer had both pepper spray and a baton with him.

*NOTES: This guy was white, and this is Alabama we are talking about, can you imagine the undocumented cases?!

CALIFORNIA: December 25,1951- Bloody Christmas, beating of 7 latino men at police station by 50 officers.
March 3, 1991- Rodney King case, Original acquittal, by a jury of 10 WHITES, 1 latino, and 1 asian, overturned by federal court.

*NOTES: R. King jury: Seriously, no black people in Cali?!

MICHIGAN: May 16, 2010-7-year-old Aiyana Jones was shot and killed by Detroit SWAT officers. Jones was shot in the head or neck area. Police claimed Jones' grandmother grabbed an officer's gun and set it off, but other witnesses said the officers threw a gas bomb into the house and fired into the house despite being told there were children in the house. The officer who shot Jones has been charged with manslaughter. Jones' family has filed suit against the city and police for Jones' wrongful death. Months after the incident, it was discovered that the same officer had been part of another controversial raid, which he pointed his gun into the faces of children as young as one year old.


NEW YORK: August 1997- Abner Louima was sodomized with a broken broomstick handle while detained in a New York City police station by Officer Justin Volpe. Louima was left bleeding from the rectum in a booking cell. Despite an initial cover-up by various members of the NYPD, Volpe was convicted of assault and sentenced to 30 years. Two officers were convicted of the cover-up while one was acquitted.
February 4, 1999- Amadou Diallo was shot and killed by New York City police officers while unarmed after the officers claimed they believed he was reaching for a gun. Four officers were indicted for second degree murder but later acquitted.
*NOTE: 4 cops + 41 shots + 19 strikes = why not just use a nuke?!

SOUTH CAROLINA: February 8, 1968 The Orangeburg Massacre, 9 highway patrol officers fired into an aggravated but unarmed mob protesting local segregation at a bowling alley, hitting most of them in their backs. Three men were killed and twenty-eight more injured. After the shooting stopped, two others were injured by police in the aftermath and one, a pregnant woman, later had a miscarriage due to the beating

Notice I dont have any documented cases from the notoriously racists states of Arkansas or Virginia. I also omitted documented cases of abuse and brutality from our military. That is a whole nother issue. I also want to note the shooting death in Connecticut of Malik Jones by the scumbag cop Robert Floodquist from the East Haven police department. On another occasion I witnessed a New Haven, CT police officer choke slam a 110 pound female, who was already handcuffed, and who's only “resistance” was verbal. There is also issues concerning law enforcement involvement in the assassinations of both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Oh, and of course the death of Jesus. Roman soldiers were the long arm of the law at the time.

These are not “isolated” incidents and sadly I feel that the only reason it isn't still a rampant issue is the advent of cameras and the internet. Again I don't mean to disparage or single out law enforcement it is just that I feel that people who choose that for a career should be held to a higher standard of morals. This is one issue where we can all take solace that “big brother” IS watching!!! The bottom line is simple, calling the cops is like playing Russian roulette, and if you happen to be black, like playing with 5 out of the 6 chambers loaded.

Introduction: The Answerman, Enyce

     Welcome, to the darkness and despair that is found deep inside the mind of a madman. My name is Enyce, the Answerman. I am a "nyce" guy, and I know I always will be. And the "Y", well, it represents the word why, or even why not, question everything, especially authority. And "answerman"? Well, I am certainly not claiming to have all of the answers, but I do have all the right questions and I am seeking all the answers. I am crazy, or so they say I am. But then again, I don't believe anything they say. And that is what brings me here. I am just a man, trying to figure it all out. The meaning of life, why am I here, my place in the universe. I had hoped that social networks like myspace/facebook would become an avenue for the sharing of ideas and knowledge in regards to things that matter in life, like religion and politics. Sadly those sites are nothing more than hook up hotlines and showrooms of shallowness. My rants and raves were either ill received or completely unnoticed. "Don't give advice, the wise don't need it, and fools won't heed it". Fair enough. I don't wish to ruffle any feathers, nor turn any more friends into enemies. But I do need to vent. I do need these thoughts out of my head and into a place where maybe one day they will be useful, even if just for a laugh. Be forewarned, I do not sugarcoat, nor beat around the bush. I am rough, rugged, and raw and some may say vulgar. But to me, anyone who finds words to be vulgar needs to remove their rose colored glasses and accept that it is our world that is truly vulgar. So, without any further adieu, time to rock out with my cock out...