NFL record of major blown calls in the playoffs intact.

The NFL has the worst officials of any professional sport.  Once again they have blown a major call in the playoffs.  Up by a TD in the first quarter, the NYG recovered a fumble by GB.  After the commercial break, however, the ruling on the field of a fumble had somehow mysteriously been overruled, forcing the Giants to challenge the call.  The replay confirmed that it was clearly a fumble, but the replay official denied the challenge.  The Packers went on to score the tying TD.  This was just another travesty in officiating during the playoffs. 

Last week was even worse.  There were not one but TWO inadvertent whistles that cost teams a turnover!  An inadvertent whistle on a fumble lost by the Steelers let them keep the ball and score points. The officials almost cost Denver the game.
Incredibly, there was also an inadvertent whistle in the Lions/Saints game.  Detroit was winning 14-7 when they recovered a N.O. fumble.  But because an official blew a whistle before the play was over, even though the ball was recovered by the Lions, the Saints kept possession. If Detroit had rightly kept the ball and scored again to go up 21-7, it’s a completely different ballgame.  The bogus whistle by the officials completely changed the momentum and the outcome of the game. 

Atlanta also suffered at the hands of the officials.  Early in the game they went for it on 4th and short.  The officials spotted the ball and called for the chains. a minute or two later, right before the measurement was made, the head linesman moved the ball back about six inches, without any explanation or valid reason.  Then the officials measured for the first down, and it was short of a first down by two inches.  That one official’s action cost them possession of the football.  The Falcon’s offense would likely have gone on to score.  The delayed and unexplained move of the ball backwards right before the measurement changed the momentum and the outcome of the game. 
So in 3 out of 4 playoff games, the officials made startling, highly suspicious bogus decisions that cost the rightful team possession of the ball. Every year, beginning the year of the tuck rule (i.e. the Oakland/New England game), officials have blown a call that has given the win to the wrong team in at least one playoff game. 

My nightmare with the New York Times

The New York Times Circulation Department is run by a bunch of dishonest, fascist goons!!!!  Perhaps you heard about the 3 million ex-subscribers that got an e-mail “by mistake” offering a 12 week subscription renewal at a reduced rate (gee I wonder why there are so many ex-subscribers!).  I got one of those e-mails, and it brought back terrible memories of my experience with the circulation department at the Times.  I bought a gift subscription for my Grandmother using an introductory offer just like that one. After it expired, they still charged me for a full price annual subscription even though I refused their renewal order and they stopped delivery. The next month, they charged me again and I had to call customer service and cancel again. It happened again the third month!  For 8 months in a row I was forced to call their customer service and cancel the unwanted subscription and they kept telling me it was done, only to find another new charge for a year’s subscription on my credit card statement the next month!  Meanwhile, they were calling my Grandmother and threatening her with a bad credit report if she didn’t pay for a new subscription as well!!! The nerve of these people, trying to take advantage of a senior citizen!!! I finally sent a registered letter to the NYT head cheese, and three months later I finally got a reply to my complaint. It took his involvement to get the subscription canceled. Never, ever have anything to do with the NYT!!!!

Cain quits campaign for silly reason

Herman Cain just withdrew as a candidate for President.  Why?  Just because he cheated on his wife and lied about it?  Isn’t that a prerequisite for running for office?  Wait… you mean he isn’t secretly gay?  Then what the hell is he doing running for office as a Republican?
The Newt has suddenly risen in the polls.  Does he seriously think he can get into office with his baggage?  Perhaps he’s twice as qualified as Cain, because he had at least two affairs…  I smell a Vice-Presidency!

Why are we still paying aid to Pakistan? Our government is broken.

Congress is once again planning on sending millions in aid to Pakistan. We certainly don’t need the money here!  I think we ought to pay even more money to Pakistan, our good ally.  After all, they hid Bin Laden in their country for years, even though that whole time we were paying millions in aid every year to them, right?  And when a top-secret military craft crashed there, Pakistan gave a guided tour to the Chinese Communists. Why they love us!  And here we are, once again paying them more money.  If you ever needed proof that our government is completely broken, this is it!

Postal service delivers fatal blow …to itself

The USPS has announced it plans to cut services in half by closing half of its processing facilities, most small post offices and firing hundreds of thousands of workers. There will no longer be next day delivery for first class mail. The post office is cutting its own throat with this mind-boggling, incomprehensibly stupid maneuver.  They are cutting the basic services that provide them with most of their revenue.  I have to ask whether they are intentionally trying to put themselves out of business?  The real problem is that postal workers are grossly overpaid!  They get fat government benefit packages and retirement pensions, even though this is a private company.  The post office simply doesn’t earn enough money anymore to overpay people on such a huge scale, and Congress finally seems unwilling to shovel tax payer money at the problem.  Seriously, they make union wages when all they do is shove letters though a slot- and not even the right slot, much too often.  Minimum wage seems more than fair to me for a job that takes no skills at all and very little training.  If they paid their employees only what they were worth, the USPS would be profitable instantly.

Black Friday midnight madness at Walmart

Christmas shopping at the early Black Friday sale at Walmart was stupid crazy last night.  The aisles were so crowded that it was impossible to even move most of the time.  The problem was that some specials started at 10 pm, and others started at midnight.  People were waiting in the aisles at 10 for the specials that didn’t start until midnight, completely obstructing all traffic.  You literally could not move in any direction.  It was beyond pointless and stupid.  And every time you stopped to let someone turn in front of you or were forced to stop because of traffic, two or three people without carts that were behind you would blatantly cut right in front of you.  It took rudeness to new heights.  Walmart should have organized things much, much better.

And to add final insult to injury, the checkout lines were the slowest I have ever seen in my life, and I used to work a register at Toys R Us back when they used modems to approve credit card charges!  Now I expected to have to wait in line, but it took almost an hour to check out the ten people in front of me- and I mean an hour for just ten people!  Several of them bought warranties for electronics, and that alone added five or six minutes to every purchase.  Ridiculous!  Every other year I shop the Black Friday sale at Walmart, but this was the end for me.  Never again!

NFL should invoke morality clause on itself

On Sunday, the officials blew a call in the Giants/Cardinals game that cost Arizona the game. A player went down without being touched and dropped the ball on the field. In college football, the play would have been over. But in the NFL, it is a live ball. Arizona picked up the football. It should have been ruled a fumble, just as it has been in every other instance in the past. Instead, the player was ruled down and the officials would not allow the call to be reviewed. Everyone in the stadium, except for the officials, knew this was a bad call. But the league, led by Commissioner Goodell, once again chose to cover its own rear and lied to the public, claiming it was a legitimate call. Instead of standing up like a man and admitting that a mistake was made, the NFL chose deception clouded in double-talk. What message does this send to our youth? That it’s OK to lie, as long as you’re doing it to cover your own rear? The league has made it a policy to penalize immoral behavior by members of the NFL. I say this action was a violation of that morality clause, and that Goodell and the other responsible parties should be suspended for 3 weeks for immoral behavior. Stop the hypocrisy. It’s time to replace Goodell and stop the damage being done to the integrity of the game.

How to get a reply to your email

Are you frustrated by friends that just won’t keep in touch?  Do you send texts and emails to them, only to never hear back?  Frustrating, isn’t it?  Well try this multiple choice question, and see:

Please answer the following multiple choice: Since my last email to (your name here), I’ve been: A) dyeing my hair to look like Lady Gaga  B) abducted and “probed” by aliens  C) working on my Jersey Shore tan   D)  living a secret double life as Hillary Clinton.

Hopefully they will answer.  If they are like my friends, they will say E) none of the above.  Your reply, no matter what, might be:

Sorry, the obvious answer is B.  Your memory has been wiped, so you have no recollection of the abduction by aliens.  The fact that you can’t remember any of it proves that it happened!  Meep bloop slorp raknill!

Why penalizing hard hits is bad for football

Playing at top speed, you can’t always judge where you are going to hit a player, especially when he’s stretching out to make a catch.  As a defender, it is your job to stop that play. You’re just trying to make contact. Football is a contact sport.  It is all about hitting your opponent, and hitting him as hard as you can.  A single hard hit can change the outcome of a game.  Furthermore, the players know the risks.  They aren’t being forced to play, and they aren’t getting paid millions of dollars each year to play tag.  If you can’t play hard, you might as well not play at all.  Because there is no other way to win.  Oh and these new rules aren’t to protect players, but profits.   So if you want to be safe, get an office job.

I can’t drive 35

THAT DIRTY RAT Commissioner Goodell snuck in this rule change when the fans were not looking.  Kickoffs will be at the 35 and not the 30, so there will be alot fewer kickoff returns.  Why?  It’s just too dangerous to play football anymore, says Goodell.  Players get hurt.   He also passed another rule placing further penalties on hard hitting, so soon the only thing on the highlight reel will be the national anthem.  Boycott! Let everyone know how you feel! If you go to a game, bring a sign saying bring back the hits to football or “I can’t drive 35″.Make your voice heard!

Time to boot his sorry behind out of football before he ruins the sport forever!