GOP: The Greatest of All Time?

Found a USAToday/Gallup poll that asked people who they thought was the greatest president ever. The plurality of respondents picked Abraham Lincoln (18%); no huge surprise. But No. 2? Ronald Reagan garnered 16%. (JFK was third at 14%, and Bill Clinton was the last in double figures at 13%. FDR only got 9%.)

Heisman trophy namesake buried in Wisconsin

Just found out last week that John W. Heisman, former director of the Downtown Athletic Club, and for whom the Heisman Memorial Trophy is named, is buried in Rhinelander (Grave D, Lot 11, Block 3 of the city-owned Forest Home Cemetery). That's about 45 minutes north of Wausau.
Apparently his wife was a Rhinelander native.
That's a pretty cool get for Wisconsin, and definitely worth a roadie for any serious football fans who find themselves in the vicinity.

Favre hits record-setting TD pass

On Sunday, Brett Favre hit Greg Jennings on a 16-yard slant for a touchdown as part of the Packers' 23-16 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the dreaded Metrodome. It was the 421st of Favre's career, which broke Dan Marino's record of 420. The previous record-holder? Fran Tarkenton at 342. The next active player with a shot at breaking Favre's new mark? Peyton Manning, who moved to 283 on Sunday. In between are John Elway (300), Warren Moon (291) and Johnny Unitas (290).
If Manning doesn't catch Favre, it may be awhile before anyone else does. The next active players after Manning? Kerry Collins (a backup in Tennessee) and Steve McNair (starting in Baltimore), both at 174.

Also on Sunday, and lost in the hoopla surrounding the "home run" record, Favre surpassed Marino to become the all-time leader in pass attempts. Last week, in a 31-24 win over San Diego, Favre surpassed Marino for the lead in pass completions. And to claim the grandaddy of them all, passing yardage, Favre would need to finish this season with 3,861 yards; not unrealistic at all, as Favre was one of six QBs to surpass that mark in 2006. With two more INTs, he'll tie George Blanda for the all-time lead in that dubious category, too. According to a story in the Journal-Sentinel, Blanda may actually get a bit misty when Favre inevitably breaks Blanda's mark. Though Blanda's record for most INTs in a season (42) is probably safe, even from Favre.

Thing is, Favre is far from done. He hit No. 422 later in the Vikings game and is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, he's showing signs of a reversal from the direction he'd been heading the past two seasons. Touchdowns were down, interceptions were up; it appeared Favre was fading quickly to black.
Perhaps it's the youth around him re-energizing him, perhaps it's playing within the confines of Mike McCarthy's system ... or maybe he just wants to antagonize Bubba for one more season. Whatever it is, it has Favre leading the league both in completions and attempts, and among the leaders in passer rating, yardage and TDs.
And the best part about it is he has to be mentioned seriously as an early contender for league MVP, which of course would be No. 4 for No. 4.

Packer fans, enjoy it while it lasts. Our quarterback makes a little more history every time he takes the field, and we're blessed to watch it every week in our home market.

GOP misses opportunity at 'black' debate

I'm pretty disappointed in the Republican Party right now. Though the deadline for third-quarter filings was looming, the Big Four (Giuliani, McCain, Thompson and Romney) felt it necessary to skip the All-America Presidential Forum (see both the GOP and Dem debates here) hosted by Tavis Smiley on PBS on Thursday night.
This one night after the Dems debated in New Hampshire; a seemingly prime opportunity to grab back some headlines during this political preseason.
But instead of addressing this primarily black audience on primarily "black" issues, the Big Four decided to hopscotch around the country gladhanding for those few hundred thousand dollars that they hope will convey a sense of momentum among an electorate that probably doesn't much care at this point.

Anyway, I'm proud of the guys who did show - Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter. Oh, and Alan Keyes was there, too. I'm not sure why. Apparently someone left the back door ajar. (Incidentally, my disdain for Keyes has nothing to do with his race; it has everything to do with his intolerance.)
The reason I'm proud of them is because they acquitted the GOP well and, for the most part, said what I would have liked to in that setting. They shifted the focus from race to colorblind opportunity for ALL Americans.
The only way to get away from race being an issue in America is to stop MAKING it an issue.

Though I probably would've taken it a step further. When asked about the disproportionate number of young blacks who drop out of school and end up in jail, I would've placed a lot of blame on the Democrat Party. Reason? Because they foster a culture of dependency and consequence-free victimhood, to the degree that it's almost as if no black ever "deserves" to go to jail now. It's always racism.
Take the so-called "Jena 6." The alleged "civil rights leaders" are turning out in droves to scream into megaphones about how outraged they are about the six black teens charged with attempted murder for kicking the crap out of a white kid who called one of them an N. The white kid was treated and released in less than three hours.
Were those six black kids indicted because of racism? In this case, I think they actually were. But who's listening? Sharpton and Jackson have cried wolf about racism for so long about so many things, who pays attention when it really does rear its head?
The one kid who's become a poster child in all of this, Mychal Bell, a stud running back on the high school football team whose coach has touted his potential as a big-college recruit, also has the longest rap sheet and is probably the most deserving of jail time.

Blacks won't realize true emancipation until they divorce themselves from the Democrats and embrace the individualism espoused by the GOP.

Presidents and 'The War'

Two very cool things going on TV-wise right now (aside from the Packers going 3-0 by beating San Diego today):

The War - Wisconsin Public Television is airing this Ken Burns documentary in seven parts, the first of which I recorded tonight. Interspersed will be some Wisconsin-related war shows regarding WWII, Korea, and the USS Wisconsin. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Presidential Libraries - C-SPAN is airing a series on presidential libraries, 2 hours each Friday night. They started with Hoover and will proceed chronologically through Clinton. Learn more.

Patriots' act nabs Belichick for wiretapping

Oh, the wannabe-pundit sportswriters are having a field day with this one.
With Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots getting busted for, essentially, warrantless wiretapping of opposing coaches' signals, writers such as Bill Simmons of ESPN just can't help themselves:

"Spying on opponent's signals is just plain seedy. It's one step above playing footsie with someone in an airport men's room. It's a disgrace. It's embarrassing."

But without knowing the parameters allowed by the NFL's and NFLPA's collective-bargaining agreement, I think Belichick and the Pats have gotten off easy.

Yeah, Belichick will have to write a painful check of $500,000 to the league, and yes the Pats will have to turn over $250k to the league office, and the team will have to (most likely) give up a first-round draft pick in '08. But if the Patriots brazenly broke an expressly verboten rule, and gained an advantage over the Jets that allowed them to beat the Jets, 38-14 last Sunday, then they should have to forfeit the game to the Jets.

Now, the NFL's rule is that any team that forfeits a game will lose that game 2-0. So the irony in my scenario would be if the Jets needed the total-points tie-breaker at the end of the year and, despite the "win" they would have been awarded over the Pats, wound up MISSING the playoffs because of the points they would NOT have gotten by winning the forfeit 2-0.

At the very least, the Pats should have to give up BOTH first-round picks in '08, and Belichick should be suspended a game. Or at least forfeit one of those picks to the Jets, the team that was wronged by Belichick's misdeed.

Heard someone make an interesting point, though, that the league could eliminate the problem all together by allowing the defensive coordinator to radio plays in to the "QB" of his defense, usually his middle linebacker.
To that, I say why not let all offensive and defensive players have radios in their helmets.

Godspeed, Kevin Everett

Amid the blurred colors and barely controlled chaos of the opening weekend of NFL games, the world changed dramatically for one young man Sunday in Buffalo, N.Y.
Kevin Everett, No. 85, a backup tight end and a third-round draft pick out of Miami by the Buffalo Bills in 2005, lay motionless on the field.
Fans and players awaited some sign of movement from him. A kick, a twitch. A quick reassurance that he was all right.
Nothing.
Everett dislocated his neck and injured his spinal cord on the opening kickoff of the second half. He launched himself into the ballcarrier, the Denver Broncos' Dominik Hixon, and hit Hixon's left shoulder pad face-first. Everett displaced his third vertebrae, pushing it over his fourth and creating a scissor effect against his spinal cord. Doctors are saying the cord isn't damaged, so there may be some hope for Everett to walk again, though they're calling such chances "slim."

I can't imagine what went through Everett's head in the moments after he dropped to the turf at Ralph Wilson Stadium. He never lost consciousness; I'm not sure which would be preferable, given the circumstances. The fear would be unfathomable. The regret. The immediate sorrow for everything you've ever done wrong in your life. Instant bargaining with God (or any god) for every word, thought or action you've ever perpetrated in your life. Silently begging for this to be just another stinger; just another scare among the many that longtime football players experience.

Instead, it appears Everett will become the fourth NFL player paralyzed by an on-field hit during the modern (post-merger) era.
Mike Utley was rendered paraplegic after hitting the unforgiving turf at the Pontiac (Mich.) Silverdome while playing for the Detroit Lions in November 1991. Utley offered an inspiring thumbs-up while he was being wheeled off the field, something countless players have replicated since then, as a reassuring gesture to fans and teammates.
Darryl Stingley never got that chance, having been rendered quadriplegic in a collision with Oakland Raiders safety Jack Tatum during a 1978 preseason (read: meaningless) game. Stingley died in April at the age of 55.
New York Jets defensive tackle Dennis Byrd broke his neck and was paralyzed in a collision with teammate Scott Mersereau in 1992. But Byrd miraculously recovered, inspiring a book and movie titled, "Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story."

I find myself wanting to launch into some heartfelt plea for stem-cell research, and for the NFL and NFLPA to do more for players both current and retired to ensure they get the medical care they need ... but I won't lay out some chest-beating case for it here. My thoughts are still with Everett. And frankly, the circumstances should speak for themselves.

Here's hoping that the Bills place Everett in their stadium's Ring of Honor, perhaps next to Bob Kalsu, who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1970. Kalsu exhibited valor on the battlefield as the only active NFL player killed in Vietnam. But Everett will have effectively given his life embodying the courage of all football players.

UPDATE: Neurosurgeon says Everett could walk again.

Kicking off silliness

So I'm settling in to watch the Saints @ Colts in the Thursday night opener of the NFL season, and who do I see bounding across my television screen? Not Reggie Bush. Not Drew Brees. Not Peyton Manning or Marvin Harrison. Hell, not even John Madden's head and Al Michaels' ego vying for space in the booth. But that would've been preferable to what DID grace my screen; Kelly Clarkson.

I think.

I don't know my manufactured pop idols.

But what the hell is the NFL doing to us with this non-football pregame garbage? When did Kelly Clarkson become synonymous with "football"? (Unless there's something I'm missing about the "big tight end" and "eight men in the box".)

Obviously the NFL knows a bit more about marketing than I do, as hundreds of thousands of people are probably listening to her warble through her own pregame warm-ups, while my audience consists of ... well, you.

But honestly, who will tune in to watch both her AND the game? ... Then again, given the choice between watching her strut and gyrate across a stage, and being unable to remove my gaze from Chris Collinsworth's Adam's Apple ... maybe I know where MY pregame vote would lie after all.

The 'Hunt for a Fred November'

Fred Thompson, former Tennessee Senator and actor, just announced, on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", that he is indeed running for president. It ... is ... ON!

E85 comes to the Wausau area

I saw a big sign in front of the BP in Marathon today advertising E85 ethanol. First one I've seen in this area. Went for $2.65 a gallon today, whereas the regular stuff went for $3.07/3.17/3.27/D 3.12.
I know corn-based ethanol isn't the be-all end-all, as production isn't all that efficient, and widespread usage could cause a whole new set of problems with prices and shortages, but hopefully other forms of ethanol will catch on and help us alleviate our dependence on foreign oil.

Personally, I think we should ban tobacco and allow tobacco farmers to replace their crops with industrial hemp, which, incidentally, counts ethanol as one of its myriad uses.

Vintage Base Ball alive and well

Ran across a story today about former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton, who attained fame with his irreverent tell-all book, "Ball Four," in 1970. Bouton, it seems, has founded the Vintage Base Ball Federation, which held its first World Series in Westfield, Mass.
The VBBF is like a Civil War reenactment for washed-up jocks. The league, real baseball through and through, adheres to the rudimentary rules of the 1880s and immerses visitors like they just stepped out of the Wayback Machine.
Those paying (a thoroughly modern) $10 will pass by Keystone cops walking the beat, through wrought-iron gates, past newsboys hawking the day's paper, and even primly dressed ladies demanding their right to vote.

Games are played during the day - no electricity, of course - and players' equipment is as throwback as it gets. Fielding gloves about the size of an oven mitt. Bats with handles nearly as thick as the barrels. And uniforms with collars.

If you're a baseball fan, you gotta love this. Eat your heart out, Ray Kinsella!

Milwaukee even has a team (though it's in the VBBF's rival league, the Vintage Base Ball Association); the Cream Citys.
The oldest professional base ball team in Milwaukee is the Grays, who played one season (1878) in the National League. After that, Milwaukee began fielding its first incarnations of the Brewers, a one-season wonder in 1884 (Union Association), and another in 1891 (American Association). The Brewers came about again in 1901, before they moved to St. Louis and became the Browns. (They moved again in 1954, becoming the Baltimore Orioles.)

One last historical footnote; one that brings up an interesting point. Moses "Fleetwood" Walker was the first black professional baseball player. He took the field for the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association in 1884, their only season.
Which brings me to this: As cool as I think these vintage leagues are, I'd be curious to know how they would handle any black players wanting to play with them. With the exception of Walker (and his brother Welday, who joined Fleet on the Blue Stockings), blacks were largely shut out of the game during the era the Vintage leagues represent. And blacks were completely shut out with the dawn of the Negro Leagues in the late 19th century.
It's not unlike women wanting to join men in Civil War reenactments. Women fighting would've been unheard-of at the time, but several have expressed an interest in joining men for these exercises now.
Part of me says authenticity is authenticity and should be left alone. But another part of me thinks we should throw it open to whoever would want to indulge in the experience. Especially blacks and women, who never would've had that opportunity back then. (There IS a Vintage league strictly for women.)

Anyway, in thinking about it, I'd love to see something like this start up for Negro League teams. It seems like a fine way to honor the men who were relegated to those leagues. And the most beautiful part of it would be knowing that the men on the field are there because they chose to be, not because it was the only avenue our society allowed them.

Wisconsin's firsts are many

The Daily Reporter, a construction trade newspaper, ran a fascinating list of "firsts" associated with Wisconsin.
I hadn't realized that, among other things, Frank Lloyd Wright's son, John, invented Lincoln Logs here. I loved my Lincoln Logs.

Bonds ball and 'potential revenue'

So apparently Matt Murphy, the 21-year-old New Yorker who emerged from the melee with Barry Bonds' record-setting 756th home run ball on Aug. 7, will auction it off.
No surprise, considering he figures to make half a million or so on it.
What surprises me about this - and frankly torques me more than a little bit - is his contention that the IRS had designs on taxing him for the ball's "potential revenue." Basically, the IRS, according to Murphy, claimed it could tax him on the income he COULD GET from selling the ball.
This is outrageous. Thanks to eBay, we ALL have "potential revenue" just cluttering up our houses.
Didn't we fight a revolution in part due to unfair tax practices?

I have the solution for Murphy, though, should he decide to change his mind and keep it. He should tell the IRS, "OK, if you're going to charge me for an imaginary income, I'm going to pay you imaginary taxes. ... 100%, if you'd like."
And I'd go very very public with that, too.

He plans to auction it Aug. 28 to Sept. 15 through Sotheby's Auction House, split the money 51-49 with friend Amir Kamal, and use the money to pay his way to becoming a physical therapist.
After the scramble that netted him the ball in the first place, he may have some customers ... right off the bat.

Whites happier than minorities; nice work, liberals

An AP poll released Tuesday has found that white youths, 13-34, are generally happier with their lot in life than are minorities.

Good job, liberalism.

RIP, Michael Deaver

Michael Deaver died Saturday at the age of 69, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
I don't have any posters of Deaver up in my house or anything, but his work may be one reason why I have a picture of President Reagan hanging proudly on my Dead Legends wall.
You see, Deaver was the first of his kind; he often said, "The only thing I did was light him well."
It was Deaver's job to put Reagan in the best possible setting to help the Great Communicator properly shape and convey his message.
Reagan was the last president to escape the 24-hour news cycle that has reduced modern politics to an endless volley of beautiful hair and "which is worse" soundbytes. There were still only the Big Three networks, CNN hadn't reached any prominence yet, and Al Gore had not yet made the Internet accessible to us commoners. So supplementing Reagan's policies and speeches was that much more important.
It's unfortunate that politics has taken the superficial turn that it has, but Deaver deserves credit for being a visionary in that regard, and helping hone the image of a man beloved by so many.

McConnell: Why are we obsessed with sex predators?

Was listening to a little bit of Mike McConnell's radio show (listen online at his home station M-F 9-12, Sat 12-3) on WSAU, the local affiliate here that runs his show on Saturdays, and he raised an interesting point.
He asked why we treat sexual predators so much differently from other criminals, meaning that we require them to register and then allow people to track their every move, even online.
McConnell, a thinking man's conservative if ever there was one, went so far as to liken our obsession with sex criminals as a sexual titillation in itself.

I wouldn't go that far. But he has a point; why DO we require sexual predators to affix their names to a registry? Because they're still a danger to re-offend? Then why the hell are they out of prison?
As McConnell pointed out, isn't it just as much within our interest to know if our new neighbor has a history of burglary? Or arson? Or, for that matter, murder?

We require NONE of these felons to register. This leads me to think the law should be more consistent, in that either we recognize sexual registries as unconstitutional double jeopardy, or we require all felons to register.

I've long advocated for open-ended sentencing, where a sex criminal would get not the 10-20 years they usually get now, but rather they'd essentially get life in prison with parole a possibility in 10-20 years. Meaning, if after X amount of time, a panel of psychologists determines the person is a reasonable danger to reoffend, there is no reason to let him out. As our prison system is supposed to be about "rehabilitation," he clearly would not have "learned" anything behind bars.

Finally, I do think the mandates for sexual registration need to be tweaked. I recently learned that a childhood friend of mine is a registered sex offender. Knowing him how I do (or did, anyway), I have a hard time believing he would've "abducted a child not his own" for sexual reasons. In his case, it was more likely an ugly custody battle that took an unfortunate turn. But, sex crimes and mandatory sentencing being what they are, the judge probably had little to no leeway in convicting him of "abducting" the child, which, "zero tolerance" being what IT is, would've necessitated a trip to the registry for him.
It's possible he's really a twisted pervert who wanted to do something unspeakable to that child, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if he was actually the "victim" of legal wrangling. Which is unfortunate, in that it cheapens what registries were intended to do.

Having said all of that ... here is Wisconsin's sex offender registry.

Gas today: $2.92/3.02/3.12/D 3.06

Olbermann fumbles again

I could dedicate a whole separate blog to Keith Olbermann's hate-fueled fact-fumbling, but I'll just touch on one here.
He did it again last night on "Countdown." He misrepresented and omitted whatever was necessary to make President Bush look like a bungling murderer.

In a follow-up to the Crandall Canyon mine disaster, where six miners have been trapped since Aug. 6 and three would-be rescuers died this morning (Aug. 17) trying to get to them, Olbermann dedicated several minutes bashing the recess appointment of Richard Stickler to the head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, noting that his appointment was opposed by the AFL-CIO, Democrats, and enough Republicans to force Bush to make the end-around. Olbermann pretty much left it at that and went to Arianna Huffington, and the two picked at Bush thereafter.

Mix that with the fact that Stickler was an executive with Murray Energy, which donated $10,000 to Bush-Cheney and happens to own the Crandall Canyon mine, and the whole process sounds fishy enough to make people think, "Bush really F'd up this one."

What Olbermann DIDN'T tell us was that Stickler's agency did its job. The MSHA investigated that very mine July 5. According to Mineweb.com:

Federal mine inspectors have issued 325 citations against the mine since January 2004, according to CNN.
In 2007, inspectors issued 32 citations against the mine, 14 of them considered significant.An examination by Mineweb of MSHA records shows that MSHA's last regular inspection of Crandall took place on July 5. During that visit, inspectors cited Genwall Resources for violating a rule requiring at least two separate passageways be designated for escape in an emergency, reportedly the third instance in less than two years that the mine has been cited for the same problem.

The Deseret Morning News reported that the mine has been cited 176 times since early 2005. This predated Stickler's appointment by more than a year. And DURING Stickler's tenure - just this year, in fact - the MSHA has issued 33 citations to the mine, including three orders. This mine was clearly a problem for a long time, and Stickler - shady appointment though he may be - was doing his job as the head of the oversight body.

So again I'm forced to defend Bush in the face of overzealous, misguided attacks. My friends on the Left like to call Olbermann the Edward R. Murrow of our time ... when in reality, he's just a former sports hack with a political axe to grind.

Bubba's wedding

Went to a wedding Sunday I thought would never happen Sunday. Bubba finally decided to settle down. Got himself a nice girl, too.

He was big on this being a "nontraditional" wedding, as neither of them was big on the whole "church" thing. So we held the ceremony in the Shattuck Park pavilion in Neenah. It's a fairly new facility, and as you can see at the link, it's a beautiful setting for some summer nuptials. The festivities were held late in the afternoon, so the worst of the sun had passed. While it was still well into the 80s, the gentle breeze and the boats rocking in their Fox River moorings just yards from us made it all OK.

The ceremony was brief and to the point, and all in front of 40-some people. And all with a heavy emphasis on the post-ceremony dinner. Just the way Bubba wanted it.

That's not a "Bubba likes to eat" joke, either. He's just always been at his most comfortable when a group of friends (or in this case, family) can sit around at length for dinner, drinks and a steady stream of BS'ing.

Best of all, he gave me the opportunity to be his best man, which immediately told me a whole host of other guys must've had plans that weekend.

Actually, it was a pretty special gesture, as Bubba and I have known each other for just over 10 years. He began harrassing me ... ERRR, "making my acquaintance" when he was still advocating for students' rights to sleep late and graduate at UW-Oshkosh while I was the editor of the Advance-Titan.

He's held a long string of positions where his primary responsibility was to oversee the health and well-being of other people, before and since those days in the A-T's basement office in Reeve Union. Big and blustery as he is, few have cared more about their fellow man than Bubba. It was that sense of selflessness and altruism that I tried to convey in my Best Man Speech, and I think I did all right. Made everyone laugh a few times, at Bubba's expense, and had them groaning about what a sweet guy he was when it was all over. Mission accomplished.

So if you have a drink handy while you're reading this, raise your glass, mug or bottle in a toast to Bubba and his new wife.

Bully TR

Apparently I'm not the only one who admires Teddy Roosevelt. The AP has a story on how today's candidates are trying to liken themselves to him, no doubt perverting his legacy all over the political map.

For a long time I've tried to reserve my hero worship for legends who are dead. Why? Because they can't F up their legacy. Take it from a guy who as a child worshiped at the altar of Darryl Strawberry.

Tommy steps aside

And the campaign of Tommy Thompson for president is over. The Journal-Sentinel did a pretty comprehensive job of blogging his post-mortem.
After finishing sixth in the Iowa straw poll on Saturday, he acknowledged that he'd fallen well short of his goal of at least second. This, coupled with his ninth-place finish in fundraising for the last quarter, sounded the death knell.

I say good for him; it's time.

It's not that I don't think he would make a good president. As much as libs and Dems hate him, even they've acknowledged relative success with his BadgerCare, SeniorCare and welfare reform, and a reasonably gay-friendly record as governor and during his time in the legislature.
But even when given opportunities to directly discuss these hot-button issues, he ignored his health initiatives and stumbled all over himself by portraying himself as a discriminatory bigot by saying employers should be allowed to fire employees for being gay.

May his campaign manager, Steve Grubbs, never manage another campaign. Grubbs, who graduated from the University of Iowa in 1994, managed Bob Dole's 1996 campaign in the Hawkeye state. He lost that one, too, by 10 percent to Bill Clinton.