Monthly Archives: November 2008

Black Friday Potpourri

Bad Football

The football games on Thanksgiving Day were pitiful. Tennessee beat Detroit by 37 points. Dallas beat Seattle by 25 points. Philadelphia beat Arizona by 28 points. Even in College football, Texas beat Texas A&M by 40 points. I found myself watching most of the games by myself, as others attending the Thanksgiving feast decided the games were not that entertaining to watch. Thankfully good food, friends, family and a bottle of wine made the day a nice one.

It would really be nice if the NFL would rotate some of these games so other cities could take part. We might even see an entertaining game or two.

Boring Football

What is it with bathrooms in Minnesota?

College Ball

The Great Falls Tribune published a nice story on Thanksgiving about Carroll College’s Luke Den Herder. You can read it here. Good story.

Deputy

Lee Newspapers did a story on President-elect Barack Obama’s new Deputy Chief of Staff, Jim Messina. He was Senator Baucus’ Chief of Staff. Politics aside, it’s always good to see local folks do well on the national scene. Besides, I think this is the same position Josh Lyman held on The West Wing, so it must be cool. Congrats!

Trampled

It’s black Friday, so let’s be careful out there.

Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

Dear Readers:

We are truly blessed! Please take a moment over the Thanksgiving holiday to remember what we’re thankful for as we enjoy our family and friends (food and football).

Right now, military men and women are serving our country, some in harm’s way, to protect our freedoms and liberties. Please take a moment to say a prayer for them and their families here at home.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. God bless America!

Derrick Thomas

Once again Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Derrick Thomas is up for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This is the fifth time. He is one of 25 chosen as semifinalists for the class of 2009. In looking over the list of 25 semifinalists, Derrick Thomas is, by far, a better candidate than all the rest.

I will always remember the day he died, where I was and what I was doing. When I watched him play during some of my trips to Arrowhead Stadium, I saw a man take over a game and create havoc with the offense.

A #58 Derrick Thomas jersey hangs proudly on the wall above my computer.

Here are some key points about Derrick Thomas’ career:
-Nine-time Pro Bowl performer (1989-97).
-A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s NFL All-Decade Team of the 1990s.
-No NFL player registered more sacks during the decade of the 1990s (116.5).
-Only two players in NFL history own more fumble return TDs (4) and safeties (3).
-Played in 10 postseason games in his 11 seasons with Kansas City.
-With Thomas on the field from 1989-99, Kansas City made seven playoff appearances, won three AFC West titles and reached the 1993 AFC Championship Game.
-Thomas finished his 11-year NFL career with 45 forced fumbles, 19 fumble recoveries and seven defensive scores (four touchdowns and three safeties).
-Hall of Fame LB Lawrence Taylor finished his 13-year NFL career with 33 forced fumbles, 12 fumble recoveries and two defensive scores (two TDs and no safeties).
-Thanks to Thomas, Kansas City boasted the league’s best turnover differential (+128) and the most takeaways (365) during the 1990s and led the NFL in turnover differential in 1990, 1992, 1995 & 1999.
-Established the NFL single-game sack record with 7.0 sacks vs. Seattle (11/11/90).
-Registered 27 multi-sack games and owns two of the top three games in NFL history.
-Led the NFL with a franchise-record 20.0 sacks in 1990.
-Finished his career with 728 tackles (558 solo), 34 passes defensed and 444 Quarterback pressures.

Enjoy the film:

Potholes

With gas prices drifting below $2.00 per gallon, I feel a tax increase coming on. There’s already some talk about it.

The new administration and the new congress will surely see this as a way to pay for the new infrastructure they have been talking about. I’m thinking 10 cents a gallon.

Here in Montana, the state legislature meets in January.

With all those promises made during the last election…and all those potholes…

The current federal tax is 18.4 cents a gallon. Montana is around 27 cents a gallon.

I kind of like paying $35 to fill up my tank, instead of the $80 I paid in June, but that’s just me.

Football

Heartbroken

I’ve followed the Kansas City Chiefs since I was a young child. It was heartbreaking to see my team give up the most points in the history of the franchise yesterday. The Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs 54-31. The Chiefs have been around since 1959 and had never given up this many points.

The lone bright spot was Chiefs’ Tight End Tony Gonzalez, who set another record for tight ends with 10 catches for 113 yards. It was his 25th 100 yard receiving game of his career which set a new record for tight ends. Gonzalez is also the only tight end ranked in the top ten for career receptions.

The Chiefs are now 1-10. There are some games left that the Chiefs can win. Who knows if they will stay the course or abandon ship and start new next season?

AFC West

If you are a San Diego Chargers fan, you must be a hurting today. The Colts/Chargers game last night was fun to watch. Head coach Norv Turner has taken the great team that Marty Schottenheimer built and in just two years they may not even be in the playoffs. Turner’s record as a head coach has not been too good. Turner is a better offensive coordinator than a head coach. But the good news for the Charger faithful is that the Denver Broncos don’t seem to want to win the division, either.

The Denver Broncos lost to the Oakland Raiders yesterday. The Broncos also lost to the Chiefs earlier this year. Broncos fans do not know which team will show up and the road may be bumpy to make the playoffs. They have a two game lead over the Chargers and they play the Chargers the last week. The Broncos also have to play the Chiefs again, as well as the Jets, Panthers and Bills. AFC West watchers would like some team to win this division and put us out of our misery.

J-E-T-S…Jets, Jets, JETS

How about those Jets? They walked into Nashville and gave the Titans their first loss. There seems to be something special about the Jets this year. They kind of remind me of the Packers of last season…

College Ball

The BCS nightmare is continuing again this year. The Big 12 Conference has five teams in the top 13 of the BCS standings. They have beat each other up, and I believe only two can make a BCS bowl game when probably all five deserve one. There are still some games left, which will either make the picture clearer or muddle it up even more.

Shout-Outs

The Carroll College Saints won their first playoff game and will continue their march for another National Championship this Saturday in Helena against Northwestern Oklahoma State.

The Montana Grizzlies made the playoffs and get to host a home game this Saturday against the Texas State Bobcats.

Hopefully these two games will be shown on TV at different times.

Lemons = Lemonade

There was a compelling story in yesterday’s Billings Gazette about the Stillwater Mining Company laying off employees. Particularly interesting to me was the story about the young man who moved from New York to Montana and spent one whole day on the job and was then laid off.

His situation brought back memories. Many years ago as a young man, I applied for a job with the Chicago and North Western Railroad (C&NW) in the Midwest. They were hiring people because the C&NW had purchased tracks from the bankrupt Rock Island Railroad.

After putting in my application, I was called and asked to show up at a hotel in Des Moines, Iowa. They gave about 300 of us a couple of tests. Those two tests cut the 300 down to about 40-50 applicants. Then we had a personal interview with one of the Human Resources people. After that, they said they would call me if they wanted me to take a physical.

A day later, I was called to take the physical exam the next week. I passed the physical and was cleared to start work.

The call came and they told me I would start “brakeman” school in two weeks. I was going to school to be a brakeman for the C&NW out of Des Moines, Iowa! The money was very good, so I was looking forward to a new life.

I gave my two weeks notice at my current job, and I prepared to move a few hundred miles to my new job. The day before I left, the railroad called and told me my class was delayed for a week. That was no problem. At the end of that week, they called me again and said school was delayed two more weeks. At the end of the two weeks, they called me again and said I was officially laid off.

I attempted to obtain unemployment benefits but because I had quit my last job voluntarily and never worked even one day for the C&NW, I was out of luck. I called the head of the Human Resources department for the C&NW and begged him to let me work there for one day, so I could at least draw unemployment. He said, “Sorry, I can’t do that.”

Hopefully the young man who was laid off from the Stillwater Mine on Monday will at least be able to obtain unemployment benefits.

As for me, the C&NW never called me to go to work. I guess after almost 25 years, I should give up on ever being a brakeman for the C&NW. After being laid off, I enlisted in the Air Force, which was by far a much better choice.

But every so often I hear a train in the middle of the night and think, “What if…”

Nice

We often hear about professional athletes getting into trouble. Today there’s a story roaming around the internet about a good deed done by Dallas Cowboy’s Quarterback, Tony Romo.

Romo recently took a homeless man to the movies. I know this is not as earth shattering as coming up with a cure for a disease or something like that, but it was just nice.

It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice in this world!

Good job Tony Romo!

58

That’s the number of Democrats in the U.S. Senate. That includes two independent Senators who caucus with the Democrats (Lieberman and Sanders).

Wow. This is historic. The Democrats gained seat number 58 last night when Democrat Mark Begich was declared the winner over long-time Republican Senator Ted Stevens. It was Stevens’ 85th birthday – a long and historic career ended by not disclosing items on the Senate’s annual financial disclosure forms. The 40 Republican Senators left are probably breathing a sigh of relief that Stevens was not re-elected, so they would not have to deal with his convictions. Stevens plans to appeal, and from what I have read, he stands a chance of winning on some of the seven convictions. That is all he can get is his name cleared. But in the end, that’s all that really matters. Now his Republican colleagues can cast him away like a piece of trash and feel OK about it.

So now the question is can the Democrats get to the magic number of 60? Some political “experts” are saying it does not matter because some moderate Republicans could be counted on to vote with the Democrats on many issues. 60 votes are important in the United States Senate to move legislation, especially if it’s controversial. In the House of Representatives, the Democrats have 255 seats to 175 for the Republicans. Five seats are undecided, according to CNN.

Two races in the Senate are yet to be decided; Georgia will have a run-off election December 2 and Minnesota will have a recount.

In Georgia, I would look for record money to be spent in the next couple of weeks. In Minnesota, look for it to be called, “the land of 10,000 lawyers” as the political parties will be sending every lawyer they can get their hands on to Minnesota to “monitor” the recount.

Political races are coming down to the wire. There’s jockeying for positions in the Obama Administration. The holidays are fast approaching. Football season is winding down. I like this time of year. God bless America!

Violation

According to this story, it looks like the Commissioner of Political Practices has determined that Montana “Gov. Brian Schweitzer violated state law by distributing a public service announcement after filing for re-election last spring.”

It looks like the Commissioner will now try to decide about a fine or something.

I previously wrote about this issue in April 2008 and in August 2008.

Frankly, I really don’t care now. I still agree with this editorial.

Pardon

Political junkies may remember that on the TV show, The West Wing, President Josiah Bartlet gave Toby Zeigler a pardon. I believe it was the last official act by President Bartlet. I loved that show.

The final weeks of a President’s term are always some of the most interesting because of rumors flying around about Presidential pardons and commutations. Who will get one, who wants one, and what criminal act did they commit. Interesting stuff. Sometimes it is friends rewarding friends. Other times it rights a wrong.

The President can pardon or commute sentences at any time throughout their term (remember Scooter), but some of the juicer ones are done at the end because the President will be gone, and he won’t have to answer questions about it.

So, since we’re approaching the end of the President Bush’s term, if you are going to seek a pardon or commutation from him before he leaves office it’s time to get your ducks in a row. Time is wasting!

Of course, the information is available on the Internet! The best place to start is checking out the rules listed on the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s Website. The Application Forms are available on the website, too.

January 20 is fast approaching. Good luck!