Paterno State

Soooo.... The Freeh report.  Penn State.  Joe Paterno.  Sandusky.  This is truly a heinous tragedy. It is shocking. Upsetting and cuts to core byut what does it cut to the core of?  Somehow we are missing that altogether. Stupidly one of the things that cannot leave my mind is a beautiful Uncle Tupelo instrumental called "Sandusky" which they recorded back in 1992 when Joe Pa only had a 9-5 record and lost the Blockbuster Bowl to Stanford. Anyway, listen to the song on YouTube while you read this...make it a multi-media experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_wBf5zkxB8

Is this the fault of:
Penn State’s Board?
Sandusky himself?
The grad assistant who didn’t go to the cops?
The NCAA collegiate athloetic system?
The Sainted Jo Pa himself?

Wake up?  This is not about sports.  The damage that Sandusky did to all of these children and their families is so grotesque, so wrong and so villanous that it only has to do with one thing which is sin and brokenness.  This was a totally broken and fucked up man and he was able to do tremendouse, dramatic harm but all this is about is sin and brokenness.  Since we have now sent the bad guy to jail (which is hardly enough but all we can do) now we are in a hurry to find other people to blame.  Paterno did the lynch mob the disservice of dying (likely of shame more than anything else) and now we can site the University Board.

WTF?  What is all this about.  I keepo hearing these annoying, sanctimonious sports talk idiots talk about tearing down the paterno statue and shutting down the whole Penn State program.  Shiut, why not close the college?  Inseed why not close ALL NCAA affiliated colleges?  Why do we have this dramatic (overly dramatic) and self righteous response from all the talking heads?  That is a more interesting question.

I would put it out there that this brings up so much bile for several reasons:
1. The awfulness of the crime which is a 10.
2. The idiotic pedestal we place sports in our country which is only an embarrassment about once a month and each time we act dumbfounded that this could happen in athletics.
3. The sick fear that if we had been close to the situation we might not have done the obvious and only right thing which was to scream loudly that there was something wrong in Happy Valley.
4. Failure to have a Christian understanding and personal sense that Sandusky is just another broken person, in a broken world that needs God’s Grace.

I don’t even need to speak about number one above.  911 bombings... Jeffry Dahmer... this ranks as one of the most disgusting, saddening incidents in our country.  I am NOT overstating it.  The second point above is the galling one.  Why do we need to place these people on pedestals and revel in others vicories as our own with sporting teams?  Are our lives so meaningless?  Is it really any different than the Roman Coliseums?  I doubt it.  It is not just America either, it is worldwide.  Mankind likes the spectacle of others competing and makes literal gods out of the participants.  It is shameful.  There really is nothing glorious aboyut a 19 year old, 6’9” kid with a sweet jump shot and awesome work ethic.  If there is it certainly pales when compared to the gloriousness of a 57 year old mother of four who has been a school teacher for 35 years while raising a family and staying married.  On the other hand she is not going to be able to sell you a lot of beers but seriously, we gotta look at the place we put sports in our society and we need to examine the sports industrial complex and how it fits into our value system as a Christian nation.  There was only one race the Bible ever talks about winning.

The next thing is all these poeple making their living off of vilifying the people around him who did not do the right thing.  I absolutely agree that if they broke laws in their failure to report , they need to be prosecuted but I don’ know the laws there and I certainly do not know the circumstances of their “knowledge”.  But every talking head and idiot on the radio knows all about it and these people all need to be killed, fired, shamed, stoned and villified but I would like to see any of these sanctimnious pricks stand in their shoes.  Lets say you are the head of the Penn State athletic program and you get wind that Sandusky has a problem.  You don’t have first hand knowledge.  The police are not doing anything.  Paterno is not taking any action.  The guy is key to the program and is an absolute LION in the community doing all kinds of good things with his charity.  Are YOU going to be the guy who makes the phone call about an allegation?  We all like to think we would be but if you know people at all, if you have ANY self knowledge... at least admit that you are going to pause before very likely:
1. Damaging what has become a sacred institution (sadly)
2. Damaging your career and likely harming your own family because now you are tainted.
3. Impugning grotesquely the character of a local hero.
4. By doing so taking on god (Joe paterno) and the entire University.
5. Putting your own children in a poosition to be villified and beaten up and abused because of your actions doing the right thing.
The list goes on and on.  Sure, I like to think if I saw a man sodomizing a child in the shower, I would go straight to the police.  But if someone told me THEY had seen it, or had been told by someone who said they saw it?  Then I pause.  Then perhaps I do not do the right thing or do not do it right away.

All I am saying is that we are askibng the wrong questions.  Thje questions should not be “who is to blame?”  The question should be why we as a country make these broken, sad people we call human beings into gods in the first place?  When you make people gods they can do nothing but dissappoint.  Sandusky’s actions were unforgivable by anyone but God.  he will die in jail.  The rest of the people associated with that school will have to live the consequences (perhaps criminal and certainly reputational) but they, along with us should all have stains on our conscience regarding a society that allows monsters to go unreported so that our sports heros can continue to walk as gods and allow us to cheer for “OUR” team.

This a portrait of all of us and we should all feel shame at what happened to these children.  I know I do.

P.S. I wrote this over the weekend and in the interim Mr Gay at the Wall Street Journal Said it much better in the July 16th Journal but I cannot find a good link.

P.S.S. Buzz Bissinger might have had right in May. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/friday-night-lights-ban-college-football_n_1502787.html

Grumpy, Idiotic, Wrong Headed Self Righteousness Regarding The BCS

Sooooo....Nebraska broke my heart. If they would have beaten Texas then there was a chance that my undefeated alma mater the much vaunted Texas Christian University Horned Frogs would be playing the seemingly indomitable Alabama Crimson Tide for the national championship. Or perhaps do to the vagaries of the BCS computer system Cincinnati might have leap frogged my Horn Frogs to fight it out but alas we will never now. Texas won...after time ran out....but not really which allowed them to squeak out over a not all that great Nebraska team.

So we are left with Alabama Texas. Two undefeated teams from major BCS conferences get to duke it out and Bama will very likely smoke Texas. My Horned Frogs will be playing Boise State in the "We Get No Respect And Everyone Knows That We Should Have Been Given A Chance To Play The David And Goliath Bowl"! But now we never will know. Even more galling is that the winner of the Forida/Cincinnati game will likely be named the number 2 team in the country. That will make me sad. So in order to make me happy I want Texas to beat Alabama so both of them have one loss and for Florida to beat Cincinnati and then of course for TCU to beat hated and godless Boise State. That will leave the Horn Frogs as the only undefeated team in the nation and we will know who the best team in the country was... probable Alabama.

I am sad TCU will not be able to play (and perhaps be humiliated) by Alabama. It really does not matter. With out a playoff the BCS is BS which is stilted for the big conferences which were just, outside of the SEC, not that big. I do not wish for a playoff system but I do miss the old Bowl system which called for things like SEC=Sugar Bowl, Bog 8 (12) Orange Bowl and Big Ten/PAC 10 in the grandaddy of them all... The Rose Bowl. That was cool and had history and provided a lot of people with the claim they were the best in the land. The BCS bastardized it without really answering the question. Alabama should crush Texas and there will be no argument but I will be happy if the Frogs win and are ranked in the top 4, though will deserve number 2.

I can take some small comfort in that they are not playing in the Texas Bowl.

While I am on the subject kudos to the much hated Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was a move of impressive class to decline a bowl invitation. Seriously, it was the right thing to do and they did it. Playing in a bowl might have defrayed some of the cost of Charlie Weiss' dismissal. Now a nation waits and wonders who will trash their otherwise promising career with the thankless job of coaching the former icon.

So remember. On January 4, 2010... Go Frogs! And remember no matter how it ends up....TCU has already won.

Erata, My Head Wound, Hash Browns, Football, Work etc...

Sooooo a lazy Sunday of a little church, a little football, a lot of food. Not a bad day. Looking forward to a pizza party tonight with some crappy charity pizza. Seriously, why does charity pizza that they get together and make have to suck so much? I don't know either.

Watching the Rams play an excellent but what looks to be futile game against the hated New Orleans Saints. They are not really hated. I like Drew Breese and I am impressed that Reggie Bush looks to have gotten his head out of the hookah and it is something watching him accelerate. The Mizzou Tigers won yesterday convincingly breaking a hex that K-State had on them for 5 years. If they can win another they are bowl bound I would think but winning out would do it for them and it is conceivable that they might do so. There are 5 teams rolling on unbeaten right noiw with Alabama, Florida, Texas, Cincinnati, Boise State and.... wait for it....wait for it.... THE TEXAS CHRISTIAN HORN FROGS. TCU, terror of the Mountain West have been dismantling opponents all year. It is hard to argue that they are as good as Texas, Alabama or Florida but I will. The Frogs beat Virginia and Clemson early, had a quality win against a good Air Force team and dismantled BYU 38-7. Absent a stumble they will go undefeated. Cincy has Illinois and Pittburgh which are possible losses, But Boise State should also win out. This is wear the BCS sucks it but it would appear that TCU and Boise might get in BCS bowls. The SEC will force the Gators to play The Crimson Tide so someone will have a loss and Texas is likely to roll but could still lose a game. We will see how it shakes out.

My head wound seems to be healing with the excellent stitches that Dr. Hurst put in. I am looking forward to wearing a big stupid bandage on my head all week and being an even larger objet of derision (it could happen). The Doctor yelled at me for quite some time about keeping it covered and not letting the stitches dry out....yuck. My dogs have enjoyed the oozing of the wound (for any of you who remember "Horrible Head Wound Harry" from the old Saturday Night Live skit. Probably not the best way to keep the wound moist.











My intense battle with depression have been well documented, clinically studied and yet remain untreated. More often then not recently these bouts with the morose are brought on by my inability to cook hash browns for my own taste at my home. I have failed well over 20 times...maybe 30 over the past 5 years. Totally a disaster every time. I am reasonably certain (and I do not mean to offend) that I am much more likely to find a cure for cancer or solve global warming or... figure out how to get my kids not to text other people when talking to me, then make decent hash browns at home. As you will recall I have...issues, possibly religious issues regarding hash browns. I LIKE THEM SHREDDED! I like to have them in a rough patty shape and be crispy on both sides. Currently only two places in town have hash browns that I find pleasing. Spencers Grill in Kirkwood (thin, greasy, delicious) and Pomme in Clayton (classic rough cut steak house hash browns). Sadly I have been unable to replicate them at home. With the whole family (and the Kukla's) coming over for PORKFEST on Thanksgiving morning (including the venerable Pat Kukla of the Quad Cities) there is going to be a lot pressure to produce quality hash browns. Today I bought some red boiling potatoes. I boiled them. I let the cool to room temperature. I shredded them, I soaked them in a little salt water. I drained them. I heated a beautiful cast iron skillet to medium. I coated it with a little PAM spray on. I dropped them in. They sizzled. They sucked. I ended with a brownish, black...goop. Thus...further depression and despondance. It is hard to type with this gun in my mouth. Pray for me.

Tomorrow I have to go back to work. Very sad. And they say winter is coming back. Over the weekend the area seemed to be flooded with birds and I saw 7 different flights of geese heading south. They know. The party is over and it is time to start the long hard slog through St. Louis winter. The thought of those hours working downtown and staring out at the gray St. Louis skyline...chilling.

ALL STAR GUEST BLOGGER: THE BCS!

Commentary:

I grew up as an avid consumer of football. Literally, entire weekends were dedicated to playing and watching it at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. I loved, and still love most things about it: intense competition, strategy, top level athleticism, success of teams over "stars"; mostly, I love throwing, catching, hitting people in sandlot games. I've played with as many as 20 kids to a side (think 1990's style human waves from the Iraq/Iran wars), and with as few as 3 total (with an automatic 4 second pass rule in lieu of a pass rush). I read histories of Chuck Bednarik, Red Grange, Johnny Unitas, etc. and watched with a touch or regret as Joe Namath handed the reigns over to younger and better players.

In cutting what was considered to be the greatest broadcast deal at the time, Pete Rozelle indelibly made football "America's game" because he was willing to tailor the format, and in some cases the rules, to fit with the broadcasters needs; they, in turn, made sure that detailed market research was done into the continuum of consumer segmentation (corporate suite purchasers vs. people who buy season tickets vs. TV watchers) and price/value points, ancillary consumables (Jersey's, trading cards, etc.), export status (Europe, Japan, Canada have their own secondary leagues, and/or weakly accept exhibition games). The core point here that no one should contest, is that football, led by the sanctioned NFL monopoly, has been VERY successfully packaged as an American product and lifestyle.

While younger than baseball, football (not just professional) has used their more truncated legacy to their advantage. Baseball is saddled with break-even-at-best farm teams, while universities serve that role, efficiently and profitably for football. People accept you can more easily change rules in football than in baseball without perverting the comparability of outcomes. In a longer season, on a different playing surface (goal posts back of the endzone, largely artificial turf and indoor stadiums) with different equipment (yup, the ball of today is narrower than of 30 years ago), different rules (too many to enumerate here) and greater inter and intra-game competitive intelligence, people generally accept the legitimacy of comparing the 2007 Patriots perfect season with that of the 1972 Dolphins.

In a world of huge ego's and profits, all the children here seem to play nicely in the sandbox together. Sure, there are some issues: rampant recreational drug use, gangster-style behavior on and off the field, performance enhancing drug use, sub-20% graduation rates for student-athletes, etc. But, Professional Management, University AD's, Union labor, and marginally paid labor (student-athletes) have sliced the pie up well enough in a growing market for everyone to be happy. And, just like the adaptable rules on the field, the NCAA is now proposing to allow Universities to profit off of player profiles and likenesses. There is a rich vein to be mined beyond jersey's if University officials can swallow hard and admit that they, like the airlines, have product inventory with limited (4 years of eligibility) shelf-life, and they can either "sell" it or watch it expire. Watching Heisman trophy winners, or BCS bowl champion quarterbacks endorse products (burgers, balls, or the University itself) would certainly bring in more money, and no doubt the student-athlete's cut would either be put into a trust-fund for the little darlings dotage, or given to his proud mom and dad (like Hollywood child actors). Outside of the Ivy League and the military academies, the charade of the student athlete has long ago been cast aside; this rule change will be quietly and conveniently accepted.

So, what does this say about the game last night, or even the past season? Not a thing. It was a great game between two very well coached teams that could have gone either way. Much as I would have liked to see USC steam roll their way to a third (Vince Young shenanigans to the contrary) championship, I loved the game and the season. Think about how many times the "Number 1 ranked team" changed this year, and the diversity of teams ( the Mizzou Mudbloods had a shot at the championship late in the season) For me, this is just evidence of an abundance of talent, well-distributed among top-tier teams, coached by dedicated professionals. The LSU Tigers were fun to watch, unpredictable, winners. Tip of the hat to the team that could have imploded with the Michigan denial, or knowing the defensive coach was moving on to Nebraska at seasons end. They beat challenges on and off the field, and they are truly deserving champions.

Respectfully submitted this 8th day of January 2008 by Sargeant at Arms Douglas C. Niedermeier.

Mizzou Over KU: Rock Chalk... they suck

We take a break in our coverage of the Becker family vacation to say a words regarding the Mizzou Tigers. First of all.... what kind of topsy turvy mixed up world has Missouri and Kansas playing for the nations number one ranking this late in November? I mean... what the hell? Is this one of the signs of the apocalypse. I am 45. I actually saw Missouri play in an Orange Bowl. They were not playing for the national championship or anything like that but it was still exciting. There were plenty years of Liberty Bowl appearances and Independence Bowl and the like. The were many dark and long suffering years between Al Onofrio and Gary Pinkel. Nebraska and Oklahoma dominated the Big 8 and there were of course some very dark years where K-State had a team (sick and unnatural). The Big Twelve did not change things much accept now we had Texas and Texas A.M. to kick us around.

Pinkel came as a savior but we have seen so many saviors... Warren Powers, Woody Woodenhoffer to name just two and they all led us no where. Pinkel came in quietly and began to install a system but we had heard these excuses before. There was Brad Smith who he attempted to turn into a West Coast Offense drop back quarterback and almost lost his job. I actually thought he should have lost his job. I am of course, as we have said before... an idiot.

Last year they finished strong but once again we had seen that before too and although expectations were that we should be good, no one was talking about this. Sitting in my family room in front of a fire with my wife (we have no friends) watching Mizzou score twice and then watching KU miss a field goal starts me salivating about Sunday’s rankings but I still want to sit back and savor it as it is being played. On the second touchdown Chase Daniel ran about 40 yards before throwing the touchdown pass. What a great showcase to finally put him in the Heisman spotlight where he belongs.

KU’s Coach Mangino is a grotesque caricature of a man. He looks like he is 5 foot nothing and about 400 pounds. Seriously, the guy just looks ludicrous. How could this guy inspire a team to 11-0? He looks like an oompa loompa at best. Frightening and the pictures of him during the game made me laugh. A joke my brother in law told me.

Kansas City has a highway 435 serving as an outer-belt. Coach mangino has to pull off and get out of the car at a gas station to get direction and he asks, “Can you tell me how I get to 435?” The gas station attendent looks him up and down and says “How about just eating a fucking salad for lunch.” Made me laugh.

We went to a bar for the second half to watch with some friends who were Mizzou grads. The bar was packed and it looked like it would be a Mizzou blow out but KU stayed in the game even as Missouri racked up penalty after penalty. The game appeared questionably officiated but the point was slammed home when I added it up at the end and saw that Mizzou was penalized for 141 yards to KU’s 26. That is... quite a gap. The other thing to worry about going forward other then penalties was that KU never punted in the second half. They scored or turned it over every series. Mizzou will have to do a little better then that against the Sooners.
KU had problems getting into the end-zone but their poor kicker Scott Webb missed tow field goals in the first half, both make-able that frankly ended up being the difference. Still, KU played a good second half and made some touchdowns of their own but they just could not stop Mizzou’s offense. Still the game was touch and go into the last 2 minutes but Mizzou got a final sack to ice the whole thing. It was a sad image at the end to see their much beleaguered quarterback with turf sticking out of his helmet at the end. Priceless, Final score 36-28.

BCS Standings
 1. Missouri 11-1
 2. West Virginia 10-1
 3. Ohio State 11-1
 4. Georgia 10-2
 5. Kansas 11-1
 6. Virginia Tech 10-2
 7. LSU 10-2
 8. USC 9-2
 9. Oklahoma 10-2
10. Florida 9-3
Life is good! On to the Big 12 Championship and the Oklahoma game and whatever happens happens but what a great year. A gift to the whole state.