January 29, 2013

1. Here’s all you need to know about Jerry Jones the GM—he announces he is replacing Jason Garrett as offensive play caller… and created an environment which led the press to Bill Callahan as the next play caller. He did this the same day Callahan was accused by some of his ex-players of sabotaging the 2003 Super Bowl—because his play calling had been so atrocious.

2. I was sorry to read that former Dallas Cowboy (and Cleveland Browns) quarterback Bernie Kosar has been suffering severely from head trauma due to numerous concussions during his playing career. The good news is he believes he has found a doctor who can helped him.

3. My head—no pun intended—tells me San Francisco wins the Super Bowl. My gut tells 

me Baltimore wins the Super Bowl. I’m going with my gut—Baltimore wins.

4. Abby middle daughter has been imploring me to see Les Miz since it came out. So far, it has 

been easy to resist.

5. I watched the first season of Downton Abbey on Netflix. I think I know now why it has been

 such a big hit, although I do think they could have easily edited out ten seconds of the first 

episode. Warning: skip over those ten seconds if you watch.

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this title.

January 22, 2013

1. I think first lady Michelle Obama was correct in affirming Walmart’s decision to offer jobs to all veterans who receive honorable discharges, “We all believe that no one who serves our country should have to fight for a job once they return home.” Kudos to Walmart, and I hope more corporations and businesses follow their cue.

2. I read in this week’s Time that humans throw away 50% of the world’s total food production—about 1.2 billion tons of food. Wow! You would think we could figure out a way not to waste so much.

3. Today marks the 40^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I tweeted and Facebooked this morning about the irony of the national conversation concerning the ban of assault weapons, while legalizing them when it comes to the tiniest of human creatures. Having said that, I want to say something more positive. I am encouraged by the small but growing trend for the Pro-life cause. Technology has changed the national conversation. It is much more emotional to destroy a living person, whom you can see so clearly in the womb. I predict someday civilization will view abortion the same way it views slavery.

4. RIP Abigail Van Buren. I’ve collected various columns (“Dear Abby”) she has written through the years. I’ll add another thanks to SI’s Peter King. He noted, “Abby was a woman-empowerer and common-sense-maker. I remember one of her responses, when a woman bemoaned how old she would be if she went back to school in her late '30s to get a college degree, and Abby wrote: ‘Well, how old will you be in five years if you don't go back to school?’” Wise words.

5. RIP as well, Stan Musial. I did not have an affection for him as a boy like I did Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, or that I later had for Ted Williams. However, in my adult years, I’ve grown to admire and appreciate Musial more. He had great baseball numbers—especially his batting average—and and from all accounts he was an amazing human being.

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this title.

January 15, 2013

1. E-cigs, anyone? I read this week in Time that electronic cigarettes are projected to generate $1 billion in sales this year. Targeting smokers who desire to quit, an E-cig works by using a sensor, microprocessor, battery, LED, heater, and nicotine cartridge to "atomize the cartridge’s liquid and produce a nicotine vapor." Wow! That is a sci-fi concept that even The Jetsons missed. So effective is the product, more and more smokers are dropping cigarettes and smoking E-cigs–without any intention to stop. Some marketers are forecasting a commercial success similar to the energy drink explosion. Still, I’ll pass on investing.

2. If you like business, can I recommend a book to you? I am not a Ted Turner fan, and I never have been. However, I found an unabridged audio version of his autobiography Call My Ted…

and loved it! It’s the story of his risk taking, adventurous, and visionary life. (Historian Harold 

Evans called Turner one of the most important innovators in American history.) What 

fascinated me was the fact that Turner spent the first 20 years of his adult life borrowing 

money for his new business endeavors. Every time his ideas came close to paying off, 

he would have a new vision, borrow more money, a place himself on the precipice of disaster. Finally, in the 90s when CNN and his other networks became financial and critical successes, 

he began to slow down. A few years later, he found deep disappointment in his merger with 

Time Warner and AOL. Turner reads the book himself, which lends itself to humor and 

authenticity. He also has associates, friends, and even enemies share stories along the way. 

Find yourself a copy of this book, and listen or read it.

3. I was saddened to read that two deaf brothers, living in Belgium, asked to be euthanized after discovering they were gradually growing blind. The brothers were only 45, yet doctors complied with their wish. Here is a link: http://news.yahoo.com/deaf-twins-going-blind-euthanized-165500992--abc-news-topstories.html;_ylt=ArESHGDvd538mN4GMaQDZW7yWed_;_ylu=X3oDMTUwYXZzYWZlBGNjb2RlA2N0LmMEbWl0A0FydGljbGUgTW9zdCBQb3B1bGFyBHBrZwMzNGRkMzA5Ni1jNjc1LTM0ZTgtYWRkZS1kN2IyOWQ1Y2Q3MDEEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQkxpc3RNaXhlZE1vc3RQb3B1bGFyQ0FUZW1wBHZlcgNkNzFiYmJjMy01ZTgwLTExZTItYmNmZi03MjRkYmRlNjBkNmQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTJ0ZDJucHEyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNDZmY2VhNTQtZTFhMC0zYTQ3LTgwZGMtMGIzNjI5ZjdkMzA5BHBzdGNhdAN3b3JsZHxhc2lhBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3

4. I was also saddened to read that ESPN veteran Stuart Scott’s cancer has returned. My prayers have gone out for him.

5. RG3, Russell Wilson, and Colin Kaepernick are living the life Tim Tebow dreamed of. Unfortunately for Tim, they all throw better than he does. I hope he takes solace knowing he helped pave the way for their success. We are seeing what experts said would never happen—pro offenses in the NFL dominated by running quarterbacks who can throw well. A new era in pro football has arrived.

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this title.

January 8, 2013

1. I think this week’s TIME magazine cover is remarkable: “40 YEARS AGO, ABORTION –RIGHTS ACTIVISTS WON AN EPIC VICTORY WITH ROE V. WADE… THEY’VE BEEN LOSING EVER SINCE.”

2. I think Pink, more than any other artist today, captures the essence of what lies inside the hearts of teenage girls. Let me explain.

            My opinion is based upon reading the most intimate thoughts of high school seniors and college freshmen–as expressed in their spiritual autobiographies and reflection papers for the past 12 years. Reading how some of these of these girls saw themselves, and reading about their wounds, makes you feel for them profoundly.

            As for Pink, here is a warning: warning: she can at times be profane and crude. Still, she is speaking to these girls. Her songs express their battles with low self-esteem, eating disorders, and reveal the pain they feel in their hearts. Here are some examples of her lyrics from a song her recording company cleaned up for radio:

You're so mean when you talk

About yourself, you are wrong

Change the voices in your head

Make them like you instead

Done looking for the critics 'cause they're everywhere

They don't like my genes, they don't get my hair

Strange ourselves and we do it all the time

Why do we do that? Why do I do that? Why do I do that?

Ooh, pretty, pretty, pretty

Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel

Like you're less than, less than perfect

Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel

Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me

You are perfect to me

            Everything is spiritual. I hope Pink can someday know the Lord.

3. Last week, I was drinking coffee in a Dallas Half Price bookstore when a funky song came on that haunted me. It must have been stuck in my subconscious mind. Fortunately, I pulled my handy iPhone out, which I stuck next to the speaker. The app identified the song as “Time to Pretend.” The group MGMT released it in 2008.

            The song is a masterpiece in that it critiques the 1960s psychedelic drug culture. The band performed the song on Letterman in 2008, ending it with a riff from Jim Morrison's “Light My Fire.” There was a reason for this. No one epitomized the decadent lifestyle of the sixties more than the Doors’ lead singer, Jim Morrison. Listen to these lyrics:

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.

We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.

Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.

Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends

We're fated to pretend…

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms

I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world

I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home

Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

There's really nothing, nothing we can do

Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.

The models will have children, we'll get a divorce

We'll find some more models, everything must run it's course.

We'll choke on our vomit and that will be the end

We were fated to pretend

To pretend

We're fated to pretend

            You may know that Jim Morrison traveled to Paris, dated models, shot up drugs, and died in a hotel bathtub in 1971, choking on his own vomit, after injecting himself with heroin. He was 27.

            If you care about these things, Rolling Stone lists the song as number 493 of their 500 greatest songs of all time.

            The video of the song is on YouTube. The one crude word in the song is silenced. Remember these are young rockers, they are not Christians. That is what makes the song’s critique so compelling to me. Incidentally, if you watch the video, you will see psychedelic artwork that evokes memories of the sixties. What I like, though, is their reference to the classic novel “Lord of the Flies”—probably a fitting symbol of the sixties. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/MGMTVEVO

4. I'm sticking with my preseason prediction of Houston and San Francisco facing each other in the Super Bowl. However, I must admit my confidence is lagging. I'm also the guy who predicted halfway through the season that Dallas would make the playoffs and play well. Obviously, I was wrong there. Having said that, I thought the Cowboys played amazingly during the stretch drive. They had a terrible toll of injuries, and in spite of this Tony Romo was magnificent—interceptions against Washington notwithstanding. Wait until next year!

5. Alabama, you have my respect. Especially, you, Nick Saban.

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this title.