Sunday, December 9, 2012

Army-Navy Game

Wow.  What can I say?  Navy wins AGAIN! I am glad we won but an honest analysis of the game says that Army lost it more than Navy won it.  To lose on a fumble while making a final drive for a TD to try and win the game was a real heartbreaker and I honestly feel for the Woops.

That game once again proved that it doesn't matter what the records are or who has the better team, that game never goes according to script.  On paper, the game should have been over by halftime but Army had other ideas.  Their defense shut down Navy's offense for the most part but despite all of their yardage they couldn't convert them into points.

I can't believe I am writing this but Navy's defense won the game.  The offense had been carrying us through the season but when they had to deliver defense did.  

The football gods seemed to be pulling for Army.  With 29 seconds left in the half, a team with no passing game managed to get in FG range and the ball hit the upright but still managed to go in to tie the game.  I was not a happy camper during halftime.

I watched the game at a classmate's house with other families with my USNA company having a mini-reunion in Norfolk.  According to my wife, my behavior was much better than normal.  

As much as people keep pointing out the fumble, I have not heard a lot of talk about the missed FG.  If Army makes the previous FG, they were well within range to kick and win in the last two minutes.

Another highlight was seeing the patch of HSC-84 Red Wolves on uniform of Navy's QB MIDN Reynolds.  My oldest son immediately said "Dad, look at his patch" and my brother almost simultaneously texted me the same thing.



My father was the commanding officer of what was then HCS-4 during Desert Shield/Desert Storm and took the squadron to the Gulf for the war. Does anyone know the selection process for the patches?  Do the players get to pick them?

In the end, the CINC trophy is now:


Anyone who watched the game can see why it is one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.

To top of the weekend, the Redskins had a great comeback against Baltimore and were victors of the "Beltway Bowl" and kept their play-off hopes alive.

Until next year, let's keep the rivalry strong and play hard.
Army, I will be rooting for you next year.....against Air Force.

Go Navy!!
Beat Army!!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Navy-Air Force Game

OK.  For starters, let me go on the record and say that I could not be more thrilled that Navy was able to beat Air Force at Air Force on the path to regaining the Commander-in-Chief's cup.

On a side note, Air Force, we sell out Navy-Marine Corps Memorial stadium when we play any home game let alone another service academy.  I saw a lot of empty seats there in Colorado Springs, what's up with that?

That being said when you are 2 for 10 on third down conversions and you punt six times and your opponent punts once, you probably shouldn't be surprised if you don't when the game. 

I am NOT saying that the defense did not play with effort.  The fact remains that we could not stop the Air Force offense.  Barring the three turnovers we probably would have been taken to the woodshed or at least lost by two scores. 

But like every rivalry game, there is only one stat that matters and that's the score.  Since we probably should have one last year's game, I don't feel guilty taking this one away. 

Congratulations Navy on a good win and what may lead to you salvaging this season.  Normally I would say the CINC's cup is in the bag but after what Army did to Boston College who knows.

 And Air Force don't ever forget:

Sunday, September 16, 2012

My reaction to this football weekend

Ok.  Let's start with the positives.

1.  USC lost to Stanford.  I always appreciate a good rivalry especially when the underdog manages to win.  As an added bonus we no longer have to hear about USC and Lane Kiffin talk about making a run for the national championship.

2.  Va Tech got taken to the woodshed by Pitt.  Any talk about Tech making a run for the national championship will now officially be terminated.  Now best case scenario is that they win the ACC and subsequently lose the bowl game because that is their move.  In other bad news for the Hokies, they have dropped out of the AP top 25 for the first time since 2010. 

3.  Dallas got thrashed by Seattle and the Pats lost to the Cardinals which pretty much destroyed everyone's week 2 bracket.

Now the negatives:

1.  The replacement refs for the NFL can only be described as TERRIBLE.  Time for Goodell to end this charade and get the real refs back. As proof, courtesy of Steve Czaban who pointed me to Deadspin's top 21 mistakes of week one.  I am sure there will be another one for week 2. 

2.  While I don't believe the Redskins deserved to win the game in St. Louis, that was a terrible way to lose it.  It will be a long flight for Josh Morgan who by the way is a Virginia Tech graduate which explains pretty much EVERYTHING and according to wikipedia may or may not be "the dumbest player in the NFL."

Now let's talk about Navy football.

While we all look forward to the Navy Bird Dog breaking down the game, here are my thoughts:

As a Navy fan, when I looked at the schedule and saw we were playing Notre Dame and Penn State I was  pretty sure we would start the season 0-2.  However, at no point in time did I think we would be outscored by a total of 84-17.

By the second half, I found myself like Seinfeld watching the game not for enjoyment but out of spite.



It is hard to judge where we really are as a team.  Maybe we aren't that bad.  Maybe those teams are really that much better.   I have a hard time with that perspective.  It was just 2010 where we almost beat South Carolina and just last week Air Force nearly beat Michigan in the big house.  (As a side note: chances of getting CINC's cup this year not looking good)


So I guess the "real" season starts this Saturday against VMI.

I will hold off on the panic button for now.  But if we struggle against the Keydets, it may be time to warm it up. 




Sunday, September 2, 2012

I have a question

Yeah, I'm back from my summer slumber of not blogging.

Sometimes, providence or the heavens or fate or whatever you want to call it work out in your favor.  I am of course referring to the debacle previously known as the Navy-Notre Dame game in Ireland.

I had an engagement that prevented me from watching the event live as it unfolded and I think we can all agree that was a good thing.  Watching that game live would have put me in a foul mood. 

If you haven't seen or read about it yet SPOILER ALERT: Navy got its ass kicked on national television with a final score of 50-10.  That's right! Unless you had Navy +41 you lost your bet. 

To be honest, I got home at 1230. Fired up the computer and scanned through the first quarter.  I have watched enough Navy football to see once the score hit 20-0 the game was over.  So I did the smart thing, skipped to the end, checked the score, confirmed we were embarrassed and deleted the file off my computer.

No one likes to lose 50-10.
No one likes to lose 50-10 on national television.
No one likes to lose 50-10 on national television with the entire country watching because it is the FIRST game played of college football.

Which leads me to my question:

WHAT WAS THE POINT OF PLAYING IN IRELAND?

Seriously, we can lose by 5+ touchdowns at home.  I don't need to fly a team across the Atlantic to do it.  I don't see how this helps Navy.

I had no expectation that we would win the game.  I did have an expectation that it would be a competitive game and NOT be over at the end of the first quarter.

As an alum, I am embarrassed.  Not only did we lose but the lead of every SportsCenter was "Irish Crush Navy."

I think the the wheels on the car that Johnson built have officially fallen off.

I am not looking forward to all the BS redemption stories for Penn State in our next game.



I am not saying it's time to hit the Panic Button.  I am saying get ready to.    

P.S. If anyone can give me anything POSITIVE about Navy's team I would really appreciate it. 




Monday, July 23, 2012

Reality check for PSU

As I was driving home listening to the radio some Joepologist (credit to Steve Czaban for the phrase) couldn't understand why the NCAA had to get involved and didn't see what good would come from punishing PSU for the next four years.  He couldn't understand why the NCAA would destroy "northeastern football" and damage the identity of central Pennsylvania. 

Now I am the last person in the world to support the NCAA.  But this isn't about what good will come from this.  It is about PSU supporters like this radio caller still not getting it.  What Sandusky did and Joe Paterno ALLOWED is so egregious and such a huge travesty that it makes "northeastern football" irrelevant.  Football is a game.  This destroyed people's lives. 

Hey PSU supporters, let me spell out what Paterno's legacy is.  You may find this hard to believe but a majority of Americans don't follow college football and probably had no idea that Penn State played it.  But guess what at least 90% of all Americans know now?  They know that there was a football coach named Joe Paterno that covered up a child rapist and allowed him to continue to abuse children for years.  When people say Penn State for the next 25 years that is what they will think of.

This is Paterno's legacy.

Deal with it.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Not Positive

Tonight I was told that I was not a positive writer by my wife.
 
I, of course, immediately sent her to this blog (which I still don't think she has read) as proof of my positive and cheerful attitude.  A quick check on of this blog shows that I have been very positive about RSS feeds, ODU joining CUSA and Navy football.

Sure I've complained a little about light rail, city government and elections but most people that know me would say that I could be described as a "glass is half full" kind of guy. 

In addition, I am very excited and positive about the summer.  It means a couple of things:
1.  Taking kids to the pool
2.  Volleyball
3.  Fun

So the next time, someone accuses me of not being positive, I will simply smile and promptly send them to this post .

Saturday, June 9, 2012

RSS Feed/Productive Saturday

Hey, I finally configured the website for RSS Feed.  It is right over there ->
For those of you that have been bothering me for this, you're welcome.
For those of you that have no idea what I am talking about, simply ignore this post.

Hats off to the Norfolk Admirals for absolutely kicking ass and winning the Calder Cup.  I don't want to hear about the game three goal not counting.  Sh*t happens.  If the Marlies had taken care of business in the previous 69 minutes, it wouldn't have been decided by that call.  Like in football, if you lose a game based on one play you probably didn't deserve to win it.  Quite possibly the best team in AHL history.  Congratulations Admirals, you deserve it.

Have you ever noticed how it's the little things in life that sometimes mean the most?  Case in point, my brother-in-law and fellow blogger hooked me up with an old refrigerator which is currently in my garage.  It is awesome. 

Now if only the fireworks from Harborfest don't wake up my kids, it will be a great night.



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Random Thoughts

1. Tom Benson (owner of the Saints) is an idiot. He is quibbling over less than $2M a year with Drew Brees and not locking him up to a long term contract. Brees put the franchise on his shoulders and carried them to a Super Bowl. Benson just paid over $300M to purchase the NBA Hornets.  Benson needs to dig through his couch cushions and come up with the money and PAY THE MAN!  He has certainly earned it. 

2.  Virginia has been asking for a first amendment lawsuit every since they started issuing vanity plates.  If DMV is not going to follow their own procedure, then they should probably lose this case. Just because someone  may find a license plate offensive doesn't mean it should be revoked.

3.  I am so over sinus/ear/throat infections. 

4.  Don't stand on your recycling can to push down the trash.  You may end up causing a huge contusion on your right forearm and your wife will NEVER FORGET!



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The fix is in

Let me get this straight: the Virginia Beach city council after having a closed session meeting just paid $300,000 for a 30 foot wide strip of land with a total area of 1.3 acres that had been assessed for only $148,000 and happened to be in the path of the potential light rail line?  This is the same city that didn't have enough money for their school budget but they are buying land that can allegedly be used for other things besides light rail?  Man, it sounds like Norfolk city council was running this meeting. 

I am having a hard time buying what these politicians are selling.

Um, let me spell it out for all Virginia Beach residents: you are getting light rail whether you want it or not.  It doesn't matter what the results are of the referendum are this fall.  As this back door deal illustrates, the deal is done.

This reminds me of the Dell commercial:




Except this time it is: Dude, you are totally getting a light rail.

Welcome to the wonderful world of tax supported light rail, Virginia Beach.  You will "love" it as much as Norfolk does.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

It's on!

ODU is joining Conference USA!  Great news.  While this certainly isn't the path the Monarchs had in mind to get to the FBS division, it gets them there.

Will there be growing pains?  Yes!
Will the first couple of years be difficult?  Yes!
Will they have some losing seasons?  Unfortunately, yes.  But they will grow and become competitive. 

The plan probably had the Monarchs going up to division one in 2018 but times they are a changing.  And sometimes you have to get on-board or get left behind. 

Per Ed Miller's article"  "Old Dominion will join Virginia and Virginia Tech as the only state schools to compete at the FBS level."


Awesome!

The best part: the chances of ODU playing Navy just got a lot better. 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

CUSA is looking pretty good now!

OK.  It's official.  VCU is leaving the CAA to join the Atlantic10.  If that isn't a sign that ODU needs to leave and join the CUSA I don't know what is. 

So far it has been all quiet and no news is probably good news.  ODU has until June 30th to make a decision and if they wait until after June 1 to announce their departure they would still be eligible for the the play-offs.

This decision is rapidly becoming a no-brainer. 
Yes, I know it will be a big change.  Yes, I know it will cost more money for the school.  Yes, I know that Foreman Field is not nearly big enough to support division one ball.  However, these are all things that can be worked through. 

As I recall in Point Break, the great philosopher Bodhi told Johnny Utah: "If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price."

Well, ODU.  If you want to play with the big boys, you have to pay the price.  Working through the growing pains of an expanding football/athletic department is the first step.  


Accept the invitation and start paying the price. 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mother's Day

To all mothers out there, thank you.  Hope you had a great day.  Without mothers, none of us would be here. 
I always like remember Mother's day with this special video:


Enjoy.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Finishing 90 out of 100? Really?

Potentially NSFW topic/post.  If this bothers you close the page now.  

Recently Men's Health listed the top one hundred porn capitals in America  based on google searches, DVD purchases, streaming and Cinemax subscriptions. (I know it is nicknamed Skinemax but that seems a stretch)

Anyhow, Norfolk finished 90 out of 100.

As a former sailor I am having a hard time believing that one.  If it's one thing a ship in the United States Navy is not ever lacking, it is pornographic material.  Sorry.  Maybe things have changed but I doubt it. 

I will say this unlike some geographic areas, the Hampton Roads area is fairly clean.  Yes, there are gentlemen clubs but there are no stripper joints.  Unlike some metropolitan areas, (I am looking at your Orlando) Norfolk can actually claim to be family friendly. 

It just hit me though why Norfolk finished so low.  Look at the metrics!  With the exception of DVD purchases, everything else is a digital measurement.  You can't watch Cinemax underway and you can't stream porn to the ship.  But what you can do is bring hardcopy i.e. magazines.  This survey does not account for that nor does it account for the really disturbing material that sailors tend to pick up overseas.

Men's Health needs to take those factors into account and it would see that Norfolk easily finishes in the top quartile. It's simple math.  The average aircraft carrier has more porn on board than all of Madison, WI. 



Friday, May 4, 2012

ODU is still mulling

Well, it looks like the door for ODU to join CUSA has started to close but is not all the way shut.

It appears that ODU has some time to decide.  With the five announced additions, CUSA is up to 13 and they want an even number.  The decision has to be made by June 30th so the Monarchs have time but not a lot.  Those eight weeks will fly by.

There are a lot of things to consider here but if VCU and Mason are leaving the CAA what is point of staying with a sinking ship?

I think Crosby, Stills and Nash said it best:




Well, guess what ODU?  You may not love the CUSA, but she is here.  You better start loving her because you have no idea if anyone is coming back.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Holy ODU Division 1 football, Batman!

Conference USA is extending an invitation to ODU?!?!?!?

Interesting, very interesting.  I have mixed feelings on this.  As I have already talked about Navy becoming the Vanderbilt of the Big East, you would think I am completely against this possibility.

Well you would be WRONG. This is a completely different situation. 

Positives:
1.  More money.
2.  Faster move to division 1. 
3.  Better/more TV exposure

Negatives:
1.  Let's be honest.  This is Conference USA which makes the Big East look respectable.
2.  Lot more travel and loss of some built in CAA rivalries. 
3.  I'm not sure Foreman Field can handle the number of people this will require.  However, I don't think they would offer the invitation if they had not been assured it could.

Interesting times.  Things are moving fast for ODU football.  Maybe even faster than they expected.  

I hate it when I am right

As I predicted in my earlier post this election was over before it started.  Looks like Norfolk gets 4 more years of Barclay Winn with him winning but not by a majority:

CandidatesVotesPercentage

Barclay C. Winn
Barclay C. Winn4,32449.40%

John N. Amiral
John N. Amiral2,34126.74%

Jesse Scaccia
Jesse Scaccia1,73419.81%

Marcus A. Calabrese
Marcus A. Calabrese3393.87%






The upside is the demonstration that if he had been challenged by one opponent not three then maybe we would have a had a Tommy Smigiel like upset.  As it stands anytime there a multiple challengers to the incumbent, it is almost a guarantee that the incumbent will win.


























Friday, April 27, 2012

Why even bother?

I was out of town this past week and missed this article about the fundraising for Superward 6 in Norfolk but luckily for all of you my sister-in-law told me about it. 

Here is the summary:

Winn $163,000
Amiral $15,000
Calabrese $1,200
Scaccia $770

And no, I did not put an extra zero in Winn's column or take a zero  away from Scaccia.

Those numbers tell me two things.
1.  Winn certainly has the establishment support.
2.  Calabrese and Scaccia don't understand how elections work. 

Kids, put a fork in this election because it is done.

Sure, there is a lot of anti-incumbency sentiment out there.  However, with three candidates opposing him the anti-Winn vote will get split and he will cruise to an easy victory. 

Sorry, but that's the reality.  This joker will get re-elected and Norfolk voters will continue to wonder why things aren't getting better. 

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Random Observations

1.  The NFL schedule came out this past week.  Teams are allowed a maximum of five prime time games on TV.  Teams that have a winning history or a or a big fan following get all five.  Teams that do not have a history of winning or big fan bases (sorry Jacksonville but I am looking at you) are lucky to get a couple.  Denver with Peyton Manning at QB is scheduled for five prime time games. Do you think the NFL thinks Peyton won't be able to perform this year?

2.  I heard this weekend that city council members of Norfolk get a car allowance.  The amount is in question.  Figures ranging from $100-$800 per month were thrown out.  Wouldn't it just be cheaper to just have taxi cabs pick up the council members for the meetings?

3. Why do pre-teen boys not understand the concept of a clean kitchen or a properly loaded dishwasher? 

4.  The Avengers movie is coming out May 4th.



If you aren't pumped to see the movie after that trailer I can't help you.  As much as I am looking forward to this movie, I don't see myself seeing it opening weekend.  I hate crowds and I don't have a costume.  Does anyone plan on going that first weekend and which Avenger will you be dressed as?


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

My response


After yesterday’s post, there was a LOT of traffic.  After processing the comments on the page, the emails and conversations, this is my response:

Mr. Scaccia, I believe your sentiment is clear.  You regret the words that you used, but you stand by them.  You don’t like homeschoolers.  I get it.  I find it odd that you consider us arrogant and yet your post was extraordinarily arrogant.  I think bashing homeschoolers is going for the low hanging fruit.  It’s easy to make fun of those geeky homeschoolers, right?  I mean, they’re a weird bunch. 

Here’s an analogy.  If you wrote a ten point blog on why you hate gun owners but at the end say you support the second amendment and my right to carry, I am going to have a hard time buying the claim.  If you were in a position to limit gun ownership, you could not be trusted to vote in favor of gun owners.   So while I appreciate your immediate response to my post, your alleged support of school choice is not credible. 

I would like to offer a simple editing check for future posts where you talk about hating a group.  Whenever you feel the need to post an “I hate fill in the blank group” you need to replace the blank with the Jew or Christian or Muslim or whatever group strikes your fancy and then read it to yourself. 

Politically, Mr. Scaccia, you don’t get it.  I don’t know Barclay Winn’s stand on homeschooling.  He may also hate them with as much passion as you do.  But I do know that Norfolk is a fairly homeschool friendly city.  Norfolk has a number of homeschool programs, many of which have expanded each year.  My gut feeling is if you were on city council you wouldn’t support these excellent programs (which are, by the way, revenue sources for the city).  You might even oppose them because damn it there go those selfish, intolerant maybe even racist homeschoolers taking resources away from the public schools. 

To quote my wife, “I wonder what kind of public school teacher he was.  Given that post and his Alt Daily diatribes, I’d be concerned about him teaching our kids.”


The bottom line is I don’t trust you, and we won’t be having coffee. 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Politics 101

About until about twenty minutes ago I fully supported Jesse Scaccia for city council. He had posted some good stuff and he seemed like a better alternative to Barclay "Blow $150M on Light Rail" Winn. Then I read his blog post titled: The Case Against Homeschooling.

He has backtracked on the post saying it was satire and he respects the rights of parents to homeschool.

Now I am in a quandry.  Either, he doesn't believe what he writes (which I don't respect) or he does believe what he writes (in which case I really don't like).

Today's lesson in politics: You write it.  You own it.  Be prepared for the consequences.

You wrote:

"Homeschooling is selfish."
"Homeschooling parent/teachers are arrogant to the point of lunacy."
"Homeschooling could breed intolerance, and maybe even racism."
 

You can offend me.  That's OK and if you want to have a debate on the merits of homeschooling or deficit reduction or increasing taxes I am fine with that too.  But that post is insulting and demeaning to myself, my wife and a lot of my friends.

So Jesse I will not be supporting your campaign.  I can't trust someone who says they respect homeschoolers and then craps all over what they do.  
 

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Happy Easter/Passover

Here's wishing a Happy Easter and Passover to everyone.  In honor of this holiday weekend I would like to share with you Jim Gaffigan's excellent analysis of the origin of the Easter tradition.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

They don't get it

Wow.  In the middle of a budget crunch and lack of money for schools, Norfolk turns around and creates a military liaison job that pays $100K.

I am not going to argue the merits of whether or not this is a good idea.  It may be a great idea and something that the city desperately needs.  However, up until now the city has not had this position and we had been OK.  I am curious what the business case is for spending this money.  By what metric will CAPT Andrews' performance be measured?

The first thing you should do when you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.  By the same token, the first thing you should do when you don't have enough money to pay the bills is to stop racking up additional charges.     

You can't complain about not having money for schools on the one hand and then turn around and make up city jobs on the other. 

This isn't rocket science people.  It's plain common sense.   

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Only in Norfolk

Only the Norfolk city council would hold a closed door meeting to discuss FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests with a city lawyer present as the excuse to hold a closed door meeting.

The best part is what they did was in exact contradiction of the FOIA statute.  In fact, "Ginger Stanley, executive director of the Virginia Press Association, said she was part of a group that helped rewrite the FOIA laws in 1999. She said they were rewritten in part to bar exactly the kind of discussion the Norfolk council held Tuesday."

Of course, the only one who would talk about the it was Paul Riddick and not missing a beat he played the race card.  I wonder how Mr. Riddick is doing on the payment of his overdue taxes?  I also wonder if Mr. Riddick has a valid business license to operate this year?  Interesting.  

You stay classy, Norfolk City Council.  
I guess as long as we keep re-electing these bozos we deserve this kind of behavior.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Requests - Random Observation

So I have gotten a complete of requests for my blog and I don't want to disappoint my hundreds of loyal followers.

1.  My take on the local election in Norfolk.  This one is quick and easy.  It is just like the Presidential election.  Once someone has demonstrated monumental incompetence and a history of wasting taxpayer's money (I am looking at you Barry) that person probably should not be re-elected.  Given that stance my opinion about the re-election bid of Barclay Winn is really easy.  After spearheading light rail with questionable figures and throwing away $150M+ and as an added bonus put a financial burden on Norfolk for decades to come, he probably should not be re-elected.  I would at this point vote for Bill the Goat.   For the simple fact, Bill would do no worse than Barclay.  Nothing I write is going to change the mind of anyone who is ready to vote for someone has demonstrated he should should not have anything to do with the city's finances.  

2.  The second request is one of my loyal readers is a little upset about Norfolk public works.  Apparently, Norfolk public works is only open from 0730 and close at 3pm.  That is a 7.5 hour work day with lunch.  Sounds like our tax money is hard at work.  This is Norfolk.  We are about to take control of an agency that paid a woman for 12 years to not come to work.  A 7.5 hour work day does not surprise me in the least. 

3.  As I get older, things that were not a big deal when I was younger are really starting to annoy me.  I guess that is part of the process of aging.  Now if only those kids would get the hell off my lawn.  

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Crazy NFL week

Well, the first big news was that Peyton Manning has decided to QB for the Denver Broncos with a five year, $96M deal.   It is a good fit and Denver fans should be excited.  With that defense, you are going to the play-offs.

Then John Elway wasted no time in getting rid of the QB he never wanted.  Today, the big news was that Tim Tebow had been traded to the J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets!
Seriously?
The Jets?
I am sure there is a worse fit for Tebow but I am having a hard time thinking of one.  You already have a divided locker room and a QB on the hot seat that was just given a three year extension.  Are the Jets really going to bench Sanchez and let Tebow light it up?  I doubt it.  

But now the news is reporting that Denver and the Jets can't agree on the bonus money pay back in his contract and Denver wants to recapture some of the money.  Um, really?  Have these teams never been involved in a trade before?  Either both sides have incompetent lawyers and personnel managers or this is a publicity stunt.  I can't believe any professional football team would announce a trade and then go "my bad, I forgot about that $5M."

And now the Jaguars are back in the mix.  For Tim's sake, I hope he lands there.  It is a much better fit and he will be immensely popular there. 

More big news.  Roger Goodell decided to drop the hammer on the Saints and has suspended Sean Payton for a year, essentially ended Gregg Williams career, suspended the GM for half the season and the assistant coach for 6 games.  AND fined them $500K and took away the next two years second round draft picks.
Overreact much commissioner?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely do not condone the behavior and it needed to be punished.  However, this is going way overboard.  Roger is going to gut a team for stuff that is probably going on in every locker room.  Just like Redskin and Cowboy fans found out last week, Saints fans now know what it's like when Goodell decides to make an example out of your team.  



As Jackie Chiles said, it's outrageous, egregious, preposterous.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

You stay classy Norfolk

Well, just when you thought you had heard it all, Norfolk decides to take it to the next level.  Apparently, a city recreation center supervisor named Ricky Freeman has embezzled at least $62,000. 

It is not clear how much jail time, if any, Mr. Freeman is going to serve.

Apparently,  Norfolk is trying to convince me on at least a weekly basis that I need to consider moving to a less corrupt city like Chicago or New Orleans. 

Monday, March 12, 2012

NFL news

If I was a betting man, I would say that Peyton Manning is Denver bound.  It's the logical fit and solves a lot of John Elway's problems.  He gets a legitimate passer and no one can argue about him not starting Tebow with a hall of fame QB on the roster.  John Fox has demonstrated that he is willing to change his offense to work with his quarterback.  I am sure Fox and Elway would like to give Peyton the keys and let him drive to the play-offs.  It's the AFC West for goodness sake.  It is a very winnable division.

Now let's talk about my Redskins trading three firsts and a second for the Rams' second pick to get RG3 in the draft.  Wow.  That is a high price to pay indeed.  Steve Czaban has some great analysis on why this is a desperate move by a desperate coach and desperate owner.   I agree with his points.  But my reaction is simply this:  they had to do something.  It has been twenty years since Washington has had a QB of note.  In this league, without a franchise QB it is very hard to win.  Was it poor planning/drafting that got us into this mess? Yes. Do I wish we didn't have to give up so many draft picks? Yes. But we have sucked for so long something had to give.  I would rather them place all the chips on RG3 and see what happens vice spending another year waiting for next year to rebuild.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Rules for the gym

Guys, let's review a couple of quick etiquette rules for the gym.

1.  The shower is not your personal dressing room.  When you are done get out and let someone else in.  Don't preen and prep.  There are a limited number of showers.  You can get dressed somewhere else.

2.  I know some guys feel the need to drink those protein concoctions before they work out.  Prepping the drink by the locker is one step above prepping food in the bathroom. It's gross.  Take that stuff outside or at least away from the lockers.

3.  Don't take up the whole aisle when getting dressed.  Open the door enough to get your stuff in, place your stuff in and move out. 

Thank you.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Biggest Free Agent EVER!

Well, it looks like the Colts are going to release Peyton Manning which should come as a surprise to exactly no one.  The real question now is which team does he end up on? This analysis by ESPN is pretty good.  The biggest options are Miami, Washington and Arizona.  I am not sold that the Cardinals have to keep Kolb so I think it is more than a medium chance.  Also, if the 49ers have a chance to get Peyton and pass in favor of Alex Smith, they are crazy. 

I really think it comes down to Washington and Miami.  I don't think Peyton would put up with Kyle Shanahan as his OC, so DC doesn't look promising (although on a personal note I would love it.)

Peyton is a competitor and if he can go to a team in a division where he gets to play Tom Brady twice a season I think he would jump at that chance. From where I'm sitting it looks pretty clear to me that Peyton is South Beach bound. 

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Duh!

I want to make sure that I understand this.  A Norfolk councilman is conducting a poll and asking whether the people of Norfolk would rather have an elected school board or not.  Does this question really need to be asked?  Do we have to query the masses and get a consensus?  Would we rather have a school board that is accountable to the people or one that is beholden to the city council?  That's a really tough call. 

Paging Captain Obvious.  Please pick up on the courtesy phone. 

I am at a loss for why the poll is even being posted.  Why ask the question when you already know what the answer is? 

Here's a hint: any time power can be taken away from elected officials and given to the people is a good thing. 

Saturday, March 3, 2012

A start?

Well, at least Councilwoman Williams wants the CSB audited for all their financial missteps.  That's a good first step.  The bad news is that in July the CSB officially becomes a department of Norfolk.  So we are going to take a dysfunctional agency and make it part of what is clearly a dysfunctional city government?  Sounds like a marriage made in heaven.  Sometimes things are so bad that you have to wipe the slate clean and start over.  This is one of those times.  Norfolk should defund the CSB and try again because this is not going to end well.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Follow-up on recycling

I know everyone has been waiting with bated (is that even a word) breath on what happened with our recycling pick-up.  Well, it turns out that the third call is the charm (or fourth depending on how you count them). 

When last we left, it was Thursday and recycling still had not been picked up so I blogged about it.  I had already called twice.  So Friday morning I called public works again.  Once again the woman was very pleasant and took my address but this time I asked if there was anyone else I could call.  She gave me the number to waste management and told me to ask for a supervisor.  Which I did.  The lady who answered the phone said she would transfer me to a Reynold(?) Riddick but I got his voicemail.  Argh!  So I left a very detailed message and mentally prepared myself for the recycling to be full when I got home.  Well, my work phone rang an hour later with Mr. Riddick assuring me that it would be picked up and guess what?  It was.  And later that evening he called the house to make sure it had been picked up.

So I guess that is a happy ending.  But here is the odd part, Andrea had sent an email to HRSD asking for our account to be credited since we did not get a pick up.  A woman called us back and left us a voicemail saying that we don't get charged for recycling and subsequently we could not get a credit. 

WHAT?  No one (including the government) does anything for free.  That means someone or some entity out there is making money on recycling.  Does anyone know how this works in Hampton Roads?  Because to me this doesn't smell right and it is starting to sound like some sort of racket. 

CSB is wasting money.....again

So once again everyone's favorite quasi-city/state/federal governmental agency is back in the news.  It appears that by April the Norfolk Community Services Board will have wasted about $93K in taxpayer money on rent for a building that they aren't even occupying.  While that is a small amount compared to the $300K+ that they previously wasted paying an employee for 12 years for not coming in, it is still a significant chunk of change.  I am upset at the complete disregard that the CSB has for the taxpayer's money.  In addition, my lovely wife pointed out, that money for a year could have supported at least one full time employee or three part time counselors or paid for the outpatient treatment for at least eight people. 

This has gone past the point of lunacy.  Norfolk management will continue to wash their hands of this by claiming they don't control it since it is not a city agency.  And since we have already talked about how making it a city department is beyond stupid.  There really is only one solution.  SHUT IT DOWN.  Or at a minimum stop funding it.

I am not saying that the work they don't do is important.  What I am saying is that at this point in time, any other method used to provide mental health and drug abuse services to the poor has to be better than this.  Contract it out.  Ask Va Beach/Portsmouth/Chesapeake, how they do it.  Pick up the phone book and randomly call someone for advice.  I guarantee you that as of February 28, 2012 anything is better than the absolute fiasco that the current operations of the Norfolk CSB.     

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Why government should not provide services

With very few exceptions, government should not be responsible for providing services to people.  Capitalism is the worst system....except for all others. 

Here is my real life example.  It is small but very telling.  In Norfolk, recycling is only collected every other week.  Last Thursday was our collection day so I put the trash and the recycling out.  The trash was collected but for some odd reason the recycling for every house on my side of the block was not picked up. I left the can on the street and called HRSD at 3pm on Friday to tell them that recycling had not picked up.  The woman told me that was a city responsibility and gave me Norfolk's number.  I called Norfolk and the woman was very pleasant, asked for my address and said they would get it that day.  No one showed up. 

Thus began a three day weekend in which I knew no recycling would be picked up.  So I held onto my full recycling can and put it out again today for pick-up.  At 1pm I called home and asked if it had been collected.  My wife said no so I called Norfolk waste management again.  Like Friday, the woman was very pleasant and assured me that it would be collected.  As of this blog post, the recycling can still sits full and uncollected. 

Now here is the dilemma.  No one cares.  It is a government agency.  They will get paid regardless of how well or how poorly they perform.  They have a monopoly on trash collection.  What am I to do?  I will call again and complain but if they get to it so be it.  But if they don't life will go on.

If this was a commercial trash collection agency, I can say with 94% certainty the first time I complained they would be out here.  I can say with a 100% certainty that the second time I complained it would definitely be collected because if it wasn't I would FIRE THEM and move onto another company.  I don't have that option with a government monopoly. 

Given their performance record, I guess I shouldn't be surprised when I am hauling the recycling out in my truck this weekend.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Virginia politics

Ok. Let's step away from this alleged war on women by those evil, dastardly Republicans and tackle a political topic that we should all agree on. Specifically HB 947 which can be read here.   The Reader's Digest version is that it allows homeschooled children to participate in public school sports.  This is referred to as the Tebow bill after the football player Tim Tebow who was homeschooled but played football for his local high school and became one of the greatest college quarterbacks in recent history at Florida. 

Anyhow, this is real simple.  I pay taxes.  My taxes support the school system. My children should be able to participate in interscholastic programs that I help pay for.  Any questions?

The bill has passed the House and it on its way to the Senate.  In anticipation of that I sent the following email to my state Senator Ralph Northam


Senator Northam,

I trust that you will support and vote in favor of Delegate Bell’s House Bill 947 with regards to nonpublic school students being permitted to participate inn interscholastic programs when it comes to the Senate floor for passage. 

As a taxpayer and father of four homeschooled children, I certainly feel that my children should have fair and equal access to programs that my tax dollars are funding.

Sincerely,

Adam Kinnear

Norfolk, VA

 

I will let you know what his response is.
I would encourage other people that care to email and call their state Senators.  You can look up your Senator here

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Norfolk Naval Base Traffic

Remember the opening traffic scene in Office Space?  Where Peter is sitting in traffic and the man in the walker is making better time than he is in the car?  That was me this morning.  A woman was walking (not jogging) up the Lafayette River Bridge at the same time as I was driving.  She not only finished the bridge when I was only at the top going down the other side but she got such a big lead that I never caught up with her.  

The traffic situation going into Norfolk Naval Base has gone past ridiculous.  Ridiculous is too weak of a word to describe the situation.  It has now shifted to ludicrous and is beginning to approach out-fricking-rageous.

It should not take me an hour to travel less than four miles. 

Here's a couple of ideas that could be implemented almost immediately:

  1. All Gate 2 traffic could be inbound in the morning.  Outbound traffic is already closed.  Man the outbound gates and have traffic come in those gates.  There is plenty of room to merge.
  2. Double the guards on Gate 5.  The traffic can not move through quickly enough and backs up on Hampton Blvd which then backs up for miles.
  3. Turn off the lights on Taussig Blvd.  Don't allow people to cut through the NEX parking lot and keep the traffic following straight off 564 directly into gates 1 and 2.
This isn't a particularly complex situation.  We aren't launching the shuttle here.  The variables are relatively constant.  A couple of minor adjustments and people (like me) won't spend unnecessary time in the car wondering if the people running the show aren't in fact related to these guys:

Sunday, February 19, 2012

How good will the Avengers movie be?

OK.  Some of you may or may not know that I like comics and movies which do not involve death races.  So movies about comics should be a favorite of mine.  I thought both Iron Man and Captain America were really well done.  Robert Downey Jr did a great job of playing the character of Tony Stark.  I have four kids so going to the movies is at best a quarterly occurrence for me.  The Avengers movie is premiering this spring.  Here is the trailer if you haven't seen it yet:



Couple of questions:

  1. Should I plan on seeing this in the theater or wait until it comes out on DVD?
  2. Is the Captain America vs Iron Man ego going to be a big part of the plot?  Personally, I am not interested in that.  I would rather see some more fighting.
  3. Can we all agree that Hawkeye is the LAMEST superhero ever?  The best archer in the world?  Seriously?  Why don't we have the best fencer in the world join him?  We could call him the Dueler. 

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Is Norfolk's Commonwealth Attorney lazy or incompetent? I can't tell.

For everyone too lazy to read the article, here’s is the Reader’s Digest version: 
-       
  •  Woman for quasi-city agency that Norfolk supports financially but really isn’t in charge of gets paid for twelve years without actually working.
  •  Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney investigates, concludes no crime has been committed and tells everyone to “Move along. There is nothing to see here.”
  •  Now a Norfolk judge has empowered a special Grand Jury to investigate and see if an actual crime did occur.

I am not a lawyer.  I have not been to law school.  I have no real legal expertise.  However, I have watched Matlock and stayed in a Holiday Inn Express and I can say with pretty much 94% certainty that a crime did indeed occur.

Here is some free advice for the Norfolk city Attorney’s office.  At a MINIMUM, the person/persons who signed the time sheets and/or performance appraisal for the woman that never showed up probably committed some sort of financial fraud.  Again, I am not a lawyer so I don’t know the technical term is for the type of stealing but I would call it…..um….stealing.

It will be interesting to see what the Grand Jury says.   Assuming the members have some common sense, I suspect they will come back and say that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark Norfolk.”

Friday, February 10, 2012

Why my friend is wrong

I have a friend.  This fact alone may surprise you but I do.  For the purposes of this post let's call my friend "John."  Now John also went to that small college on the Severn and he is probably more passionate about Navy football than I am.

He keeps forwarding me articles that are positive about Navy's move to the Big East.  The last article he sent was from The Bird Dog who is a self proclaimed expert on Navy sports.   In fact the Bird Dog uses a phrase that I would like to borrow: "the Vanderbilt of the Big East."  He doesn't know if that will be Navy's fate.  I, however, am confident it will be.  We will be the perpetual 3-9 team that everyone looks forward playing on their schedule for the guaranteed W.

"John" keeps sending me texts and e-mails to the point that I think he is trying to convince himself this is a good move.  It's almost like a child who asks for a Transformer for Christmas but wakes up on the 25th and finds under the tree that Santa has brought him a Go-Bot.   The child keeps telling himself that the Go-Bot is just as good as a Transformer and it will be a great toy.  But secretly the child knows that Fitor Jet is not nearly as good as Starscream.

I think "John" and the Bird Dog are trying to swallow a bitter pill and convince themselves that it really doesn't taste that bad.  They would like to accept the reality of Navy in the Big East as a positive move.  I, however, am not a glass is half full kind of guy and I think it will be DISASTROUS.  Navy is not a BCS team.  We are a mid-level division one team that contends used to contend for mid-level bowls. And now thanks to the Navy AD Chet Gladchuk, we are about to become the "Vanderbilt of the Big East."

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Movie question

To change things up, I will not be talking about football or local politics.  Instead, I will ask a simple question.  Should I watch the movie Death Race?  If you don't remember this gem from 2008, here is the full length trailer:


The reason I ask this question is that my sister-in-law has remarked in the past that this is a great action movie. This past week when I was on travel I happened to be flipping through channels and caught about twenty minutes of the cinematic masterpiece that is Death Race.  From what I saw, it looked like a pretty bad movie.  And by bad, I don't mean bad as in good.  I mean bad as in terrible.

However, recently my sister-in-law, whose reviews of movies I respect and are generally very accurate, told me that Death Race is quite possibly in her top ten movies of all time.   

This has gotten me to think that I should reevaluate my stance and consider watching Death Race.  The downside is that I would have to invest 111 minutes into a bad movie.  The upside is that I may finally see and learn to appreciate the acting skills of Jason Statham.

What say you loyal blog readers?  What should I do?  Everyone but my sister-in-law gets a vote.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Let's talk about Eli

Before the play-offs started and we were talking about QBs, I asked who are the top five in the league.  We agree that Rodgers, Brees and Brady were clearly on the list.  Then the conversation drifted and the argument was made that a healthy Petyon Manning was in the list.  So as we were trying to come up with number five I said Eli Manning but I have a co-worker (who is a Chargers fan) that insisted it should be Philip Rivers. 

Now that the Super Bowl is over, there is no doubt that Eli is most definitely a top 5 QB.  His play-off record at away/neutral sites is 7-1.  His 4th quarter QB rating for the season is 110.  He is a cold-blooded killer when it comes to finishing games. 

Assuming he is healthy, Peyton is going to be playing catch-up and trying to match his little brother's second Super Bowl Ring.     It would be awesome if he could do it for team in the NFC East that is only a QB away from the competing.  If only there was a team with an owner that didn't mind spending money on veteran free agents. *cough* Washington Redskins *cough*

Two Manning bowls twice a year?  That is something everyone would like to see. 

Another well written response

I was expecting a response from Sharon McDonald and I was not disappointed.


Mr. Kinnear---you raise an interesting point.  But if you don't expect a business to be shut down for non payment of the BL, then what's to keep them from operating without a BL and not paying the BL tax PLUS the other delinquent taxes?  The point is that the City Treasurer has the responsibility to collect the delinquent taxes and has, for some time now, allowed these taxes, along with many others, to remain uncollected.  It is only this year, upon my recommendation to our new City Manager last February, that the CT initiated a new ordinance requiring that my office help him collect these taxes by not renewing BLs until all delinquencies are paid. 

I can't argue with her logic.  
So I sent her the following reply:

Ms. McDonald,
 I had not thought about the situation in those terms.  You are right.  Someone who is delinquent in their taxes probably is not too concerned about their business license.  So what is the enforcement mechanism for the city to stop a business for operating without a business license?  Is that the role of the city treasurer?

I will let you know what she says.  
The ten million dollar question is has Councilman Riddick paid his delinquent taxes and been issued a business license for 2012?

Friday, February 3, 2012

Peyton needs to tell Irsay good-bye

"There is growing speculation Irsay won't exercise the option bonus and many are thinking the relationship is heading to a divorce."

Growing speculation?  Um, no.  Irsay has fired the front office to include the GM and the head coach and has he is ready to do what is best for the Horseshoe.  Seriously?  The horseshoe?  Does anyone outside of Indy refer to the organization as the horseshoe?

When your boss tweets that you aren't medically qualified to play after other doctors say you are clear, it's a pretty clear sign that you aren't going to get paid $28M for next season. 

Irsay could not be more clearer if he rented a plane to fly over Lucas Oil Stadium towing a banner saying "I am drafting Luck and releasing Peyton for the good of the horseshoe."

Hopefully, Peyton tells Irsay to stick it when they meet next week and then stand by for possibly the biggest free agency signing ever.

Another response

You can say what you want about the commissioner of revenue of Norfolk, Sharon McDonald, but one thing is for sure.  Unlike the Mayor and City Manager she promptly answers her email and then follows-up!

I got this unsolicited email from her today:


Mr. Kinnear---just checking to be sure that you received a reply on this inquiry?  

I replied with the following:
Ms. McDonald,
 Thank you for following up.  To answer your question, the answer is no.  I have not gotten a response from Mr. Moss.
 I guess my issue is if I was delinquent $10K in 2009 and I applied to renew my business license for 2010, are you telling me that it would been renewed?  That seems pretty outrageous.  I don't expect your office to shut down a business but I would expect a person to not get issued a license if they were not current on their taxes.

Sincerely,
Adam Kinnear


I will let you know what she says when I get her reply because I know for a fact that I am going to get one.