Stars and Stripes Forever - Muppet Style

Wow. The Muppets celebrate Independence Day in the manner they are accustomed.

(Hat tip to Deacon Greg)

Flag Day and Baseball

I spent a good part of Flag Day at a ballpark today (Go Captains!), so it seems appropriate to post this.



(H/T Jonah Goldberg at NRO)

Reagan's speech on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day

"[T]here is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer..."

Brad Daugherty

I'll preface this post by stating that I am not an NBA fan. At times like this, I sometimes wish I could get excited about the NBA, but I'm not the "bandwagon" type. That is not to say that I don't read articles about the Cavs, or listen to news reports, or even watch moments of a broadcast (I do like Joe Tate, and will listen on occasion).

Now to the issue.

After I poured my morning cup of coffee, I began to peruse the PD. When I turned to the "Sporty Page", I noticed the following headline above "Cavaliers Insider": Daugherty's Cavs come out a winner

That intrigued me. The article began, "Former Cleveland center Brad Daugherty thinks his Cavs teams would beat the current edition." Daugherty concluded by stating, "...there's just no way that they could have matched up with us to stop our offense because we were too efficient." The body of the article allowed that James would be a handfull, but that Price ran the perfect pick-and-roll and Harper would have been the "X-factor" (whatever that means).

What the....?

Daugherty wrote this gem on ESPN's Media Zone Water Cooler. In other words, he wasn't asked about this, he just came up with it on his own.

I'm certain that Brad knows much more about the NBA than I do, but I remember his "edition" of the Cavs. They were good, but never won a championship. Never came close. Odds are better than even that this edition will.

Perhaps he's been commenting on NASCAR too long.

My ACM recap

First of all I LOVE Reba. She is such a great host! I miss Vince Gill hosting. I think he hosts the CMA's. The opening song was cool with Brooks and Dunn sprinkled in with Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. I thought it was weird they were singing their hits that were from last year. Interesting tatoo on Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland. Didn't care for Kellie Pickler's dress. The gold matches her skin color making you wonder is there a dress on or not?? Jennifer Nettles dress when they accepted the Group of the Year award - wow - can really bend over at the waist on that one. When Jamey Johnson won song of the year the other nominees and people in the crowd looked shocked like who is this guy that one?? Brad Paisely gave a cute acceptance speech from home - can't blame him. I loved Matthew McConaughey's story and Carrie Underwood's acceptance speach for Entertainer of the Year. I must admit I didn't think she had a chance to win.

March Madness

So far very exciting. I can't believe Syracuse and UConn went 6 OT's and how about Pitt - they beat the #1 team twice and then stub their toe on West Virginia. I hope some of these teams don't peak too soon. I hope CSU makes it to the Sweet 16 again!

Enough with the dead chimp, please!

Every few news cycles (which is to say every few hours) there is a super hot story that I regard as a complete non-story. What I mean is there is no reason a serious news organization should cover it because there is no benefit to be had by sharing with the public in great detail every bit of information. 

Stay with me. The peanut processing plant/salmonella story is news. You could die if you eat the wrong brand of peanut butter and crackers. The recently passed legislation is news because it will either ruin or save the country. Depends if you are watching NBC or FOX.

One story that is headlining everywhere is the crazed chimp story. Why? What are the chances that 99 ^44/100 of us are ever going to bump into a domesticated chimp. You pretty much have to seek out an encounter with a lower primate living as a slacker man-child.

 So the minute-by-minute BREAKING NEWS and UPDATES are not really in the interest of public safety or edification. They are driven by entertainment . Sorry, news people, I'm not entertained by the 911 call.  I don't really care to hear what Travis' "mom" has to say in recounting the details. 

My breaking point came when I visited my favorite local station's website (WKYC.com) and saw splashed at the top of the page -  ALERT: Woman mauled by chimp being treated at Cleveland Clinic.

If you work at a modern broadcast news establishment I'd imagine you must be pretty demoralized by now. You probably went to school to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." Now you've been reduced to Bonzo Goes Berserk. 

And too think February sweeps were delayed this year.