The SoapBoxers

Like Stan and Kyle from South Park I’ve learned a lot this year. Politically this is arguably the most partisan and divided the US has ever been, and ultimately that’s not good for anyone … except maybe the 24 hour news organizations.

• In January Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary stepped down. I actually liked Dana Perino more, simply because she could go more than 4 words without uttering “ummmm … ” followed by a long pause. It boggles the mind that a smart dude like Obama could pick a guy who has a problem speaking in public as his main public speaker.
• In January Gabrielle Giffords was shot by a mentally ill gunman. Rather than ponder where we went wrong in not only allowing the ill shooter to get a gun but slip through the cracks, treatment-wise, we immediately sought to assign blame. Mental health parity is still an unsung issue in this country, but I guess we’d rather spend billions on erection drugs rather than help the millions who are clinically depressed.
• In March Japan was struck by an earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. In what might still turn out to be the world’s worst nuclear disaster, a nuclear power plant suffered at least a partial meltdown. It’s amusing that the people most for nuclear power (Republicans) are also the people who claim that government is mistake-prone and inefficient. Because nothing spells “safe” like mistake-prone and nuclear power.
• At some point in the first half of 2011 at least a few Republicans argue about the Bush Tax cuts, saying they should be kept because “tax cuts pay for themselves.” They need to clarify this statement because apparently tax cuts pay for themselves only if they’re not presented by a Democratic president and only if they’re not mainly for the middle class.
• In June yet another politician ignores the rule that if you’re caught with your hand in the cookie jar, admit it up front and things won’t be as bad. Who doesn’t still giggle that a politician named Wiener had to resign for showing his wiener. The really amusing part to me is all the outrage over his online exhibitionism. It’s horrible for a guy to show his privates yet a guy who divorced his wife because she had cancer and he wanted to upgrade is the leading Republican presidential candidate right now. I don’t get it.
• In yet another curious bit of hypocrisy the Republicans show it’s ok to vote for a debt ceiling increase unless it’s a president you really don’t like. Yes, the debt is a problem, but we spent a month and 1/2 arguing over something that’s been done dozens of times before with hardly an eyelash batted while the unemployment rate continued to be unacceptably high. I know now why congress has to take so many recesses – they must strain their arms patting themselves on the back for doing mundane things.
• In another interesting bit of hypocrisy, I learned that if a right-wing movement against government (the Tea Party) protests it’s considered patriotic, but if a left-wing movement against government (Occupy movement) protests they’re considered lazy and rabble-rousing.
• Finally I learned that Republicans really are conflicted over who they want to run for president. The guy that makes most sense to the general public (Jon Huntsman) is polling at around 1% and isn’t even invited to some debates. The guy that most people think has the best chance to defeat President Obama (Mitt Romney) is apparently horribly distasteful to Republicans. Is it the Mormon thing? Is it the flip-flopper from Massachusetts thing? The guy that has the most effed-up financial plan that would actually raise taxes on the middle class and lower them drastically on the rich was only brought down because he apparently wants to get in the pants of every woman out there. After that little revelation hs 9-9-9 plan might as well have been “nein, nein, nein!”

This holiday season I’m praying for something new. I’m going to pray that we somehow learn to overcome the widening divide in our country. I still firmly believe that most political problems could be solved by getting money out of politics. Pouring money into the political process benefits only the richest of the rich, and America was not created to benefit .09% of the country while the other 99.9% struggle on with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Happy holidays, everyone.
 

Sources around baseball believe that Albert Pujols will be making a decision about his future in the next few days – perhaps even today. One of the leading contenders for Pujols are the Miami (formerly Florida) Marlins. throwing $200 million at a player is a foreign concept to the Marlins, historically a very cheap organization.

Why do the Marlins want Pujols?
Obviously, Pujols is a great player.  But he’s also a Hispanic player, and 70% of Miami residents are hispanic.  Adding Pujols to current Marlin Hanley Ramirez and recently signed Jose Reyes would give the Marlins a trio of hispanic superstars.  In fact, all three are natives of the Dominican Republic.

The Marlins have been infamous for large expanses of empty orange seats.  Even with a new name, logo, stadium, and hispanic superstars, will the Marlins draw fans?  That’s the $200 million question at the moment.

Does the deal make sense for the Marlins?

Only if they are committed to building a winner around Pujols.  If they are forced to trade Pujols in mid-contract, they could be forced to pay a portion of the remaining contract in order to move him.  Big contracts are hard to move, even for great players.  Tom Hicks learned this the hard way when the Ranger unloaded Alex Rodriguez in mid-contract.  The Rangers were forced to subsidize the cost of A-Rod to the Yankees.

Then there’s the issue of money – likely to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $225 – $235 million over ten years.  That’s a ton of money, but the larger concerns is the length of the deal.  Pujols will officially be 32 when the season begins, although there has been speculation that he is older.  Even if he’s just 32, this means he’d be 41 in the last year of the deal.  There are a lot of great players who were washed up long before age 41.

Pujols is also rumored to be demanding a no trade clause.  He might accept a limited no-trade clause, but will likely want other concessions (or more money) to accept this.

Does the deal make sense for Pujols?

No.

Pujols has his hand in a lot of things in the St. Louis are.  He makes a lot more money than his baseball income.  He’s a revered figure, and companies line up to have Pujols endorse them.

Would Pujols also have a lot of endorsement opportunities in Miami?  Definitely.  However, as part of the trio, he might be splitting opportunities with Reyes and Ramirez.  In St. Louis, he’s clearly the main man, even in the presence of players such as Holliday, Carpenter, and Wainwright.  While the fact that he’s hispanic will play well in the hispanic community, it’s really never been an obstacle to marketing opportunities in St. Louis.

More importantly, the Cardinals are a franchise that has consistently shown a commitment to winning.  The Marlins, on the other hand, have often gone into slash-and-burn mode and cut loose high-priced players.  As a result, the Cardinals have a large and devoted fan base, while the Marlins do not.

Even if the money is a bit less, I think the experience will be better in St. Louis.

The Bowl Lineups are all set. This year we have 35 glorious bowl games until we then have to wait around for the NFL playoffs. Once the NFL gets out of the way, it is a whole bunch of dead air space until we hit the time known as March Madness (sorry Hockey fans, I am just not buying the NHL)

As always ESPN tries to make mountains out of molehills and stir up the pot before the over hyped BCS Selection Show, that was on Sunday evening. Did anyone really thing that Oklahoma State was going to leapfrog Alabama and take on Louisiana State in the BCS Title Game? Yawner here for me, I am not sure I would watch this game other than it is the only game on that night. To me, bowl game rematches are about as exciting as pulling staples out of large stacks of paper.

Large paper stacks make me think of one of my favorite sponsorships for the Bowl season this year. It has got to be the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl. I mean when I think of Football, I think of an accounting service with a supercharged name like TaxSlayer.

A general rule of thumb is that if someone has to do an internet search to see what the heck the sponsorship is, you need to be spending your money somewhere first other than on a Bowl Sponsorship. For those who are wondering, The Belk Bowl between Louisville and North Carolina State is some sort of retailer down south apparently. A northerner like me has never heard of this company. I guess that is why they are pitting two “southern” schools against one another – further optimizing their revenues.

Apparently, Meineke has downsized as now instead of being called the Meineke Car Care Bowl, as in the past – it is now the Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl. This just furthers my conspiracy theories that the Republic will continue to seek to leave the union and become independent once again. First the Longhorn Network, then the hanging on by the skin of your teeth to keep the Big XII together, and now this. What do all of the other Meineke outlets think about this. It is OUTRAGE I tell you!

Another one I had to look up on line was the BBVA Compass Bowl, which matches up SMU and Pittsburgh. I learned that BBVA is in fact not really the name. It is the accepted “trade name” of BBVA Compass Bancshares INC. I think for truth in advertising, the bowl should therefore be renamed the BBVA COMPASS BANCHARES INC dba BBVA Compass Bank Bowl. Does the NCAA have no input on truth in advertising? Do you think ESPN wants this potential mess of false advertising on their network? At the very least this would give this bowl a runaway lead for the longest bowl name by far which would be way more exciting than this game is going to be for anyone to watch outside of Mustang or Panther fans.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Not because of the name, but because of the situation involving the bowl game. Illinois Coach Ron Zook is fired. On the other side UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel is fired, and better yet, the Bruins are technically not bowl eligible (as they have a sub .500 record) as they are currently 6-7 on the year. If they lose this game, which I think they will, they will end the year at 6-8. EEEEEESSSSHHHHHH! The NCCA gave them an exemption to go to a bowl game with this record as they were forced to play in the first Pac 12 title game match-up – because the USC Trojans are on probation and not eligible to play this year. A true genius move by the NCCA.

Good luck in all of your office pools. Stay tuned next week for the Johnny G Bowl Prediction Show.

Until next time – Stay Classy Edmonton, Alberta Canada

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday; have you participated to the fullest?  We have been told to spend, and from the news reports we have.  The reports have not directly stated that the season is looking good for retailers, but since there are no stories on the collapse of the American economy, then by deduction, things are good.  Now if the Europeans would just start spending like Americans, the world economy will recover.  That was sarcasm for readers who missed it.

The news has been concentrating on the apparent melt down of the European economy that was “saved” by the United States Federal Reserve making it easier for European banks to convert U.S. Dollars and borrow more money.  I guess I need to go back to college to understand how borrowing more money will get people out of debt.  It has never worked for me, but then I am just a fool who tries to live within the salary I am earning.

I have heard several reports on various media claiming that the states that have implemented spending cuts over the last two years are either recovering dramatically from the economic slow down or collapsing even faster.  Since none of these reports include any source data, it is difficult to sort through the political posturing to figure out what is actually happening.  I am waiting form NPR or Front Line to put out a comprehensive report.  Those outlets usually include detailed references, but you have to wait until the noise has died down before they can complete the task.

I have always suggested living within your means, both at a personal level and through our representative governments.  I do hope that each of you did participate in the holiday push for retail sales, if you could afford it that is.  Spending, actually exchanging money for goods and services is how the economies of the world work and will recover.  We can each do our parts as long as we act responsibly.  This is true every day of the year, not just at Christmas, this is just when it is advertised most.

There is a second part to the holiday season, not just Christmas, but all of the major religious events of this season, and that is charity.  Charity is giving to the needy out of your perceived duty based on your code of morals, most often instilled through your family and church.  Charity, but definition, cannot come from government where the money is taken from citizens and then redistributed.  That is aid and is also necessary.  Charity is individual, both for the giver and the receiver.  Give what you can, support your favorite charities, but please, in the spirit of the season, do not tell people what the “have” to do.

Throwing a bunch of unrelated threads into this article.  Consider it an article casserole.

I’m in Iowa, so I’m hearing a lot of political ads these days. One of the most frequent seems to be a Rick Perry spot in which Perry says that if congress doesn’t pass a balanced budget “I say we cut their pay in half.”

This ad seems to underscore the God complex that seems to be prevalent with many (all?) presidential candidates. They don’t seem to realize that there is a separation of powers, and they can’t simply step in day one and impose their will upon congress (or the nation).

However, all presidential candidates have a big ego, almost by definition. If you think you’re qualified to lead the country, you likely have a pretty healthy ego.

Joran Vander Sloot, a suspect in the killings of Natalee Holloway and Stephany Flores, is suing Chile for $13 million, claiming that his human rights were violated when he was extradited to Peru. He goes on trial for the killing of Flores in January. If he’s found guilty, he might not have much need for $13 million. His lawyers, on the other hand, can probably find a way to spend their share.

Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine has been fired amid allegations of sexual abuse. I doubt that this will be the last case we hear about. With tens of thousands of head coaches and assistant coaches at the college level, it’s almost certain that there are at least a handful more predators lurking.

The Rockies traded catcher Chris Iannetta to the Angels on Wednesday. As a fan of Iannetta, I was a bit disappointed. Although Chris never posted a very strong batting average, his on base percentage and power numbers were very good for a catcher. If he can ever find a way to hit .260 on a regular basis, he’ll be an offensive force.

My advice to Denver Bronco fans – enjoy it while you can. At some point, Tim Tebow’s penchant for winning ugly is going to turn into losing ugly. it’s been a nice run, but it’s still a pretty small sample size – be wary of extrapolating.

I’m going to be a huge fan of Georgia football this weekend. I’m hoping the Bulldogs can hang half a hundred on LSU, to knock the Tigers out of the top two in the BCS. If LSU does win, and proceeds to lose a close game to Alabama in the BCS title game, expect LSU fans to gripe when Alabama is crowned the national champion. They’ll likely ponder this question: “Isn’t an LSU win at Alabama more impressive than an Alabama win on a neutral field.” That’s an interesting point.

Can Barnes & Noble’s new $250 Nook tablet win a head to head battle with the Kindle Fire?  Probably not.  However, the Nook does provide support for ePub files (the Kindle does not) and also has a microSD expansion slot.  Personally, I’d still lean toward the Kindle, but I think the Nook tablet is a solid option as well.  Barnes & Noble also offers free in-store tech support (although I haven’t tested the quality of the support), something that Amazon obviously can’t do.

A couple of bowl-eligible teams are attempting to set records.  UCLA will face Oregon in the Pac 12 title game – only because USC is banned from participating.  The NCAA has granted a waiver that would allow UCLA to play in a bowl game even if they lose to Oregon and finish with a losing record of 6-7.  If they’d lose a bowl game, they’d finish with 8 losses … as a bowl team.

And in Champaign, Illinois, the Fighting Illini are also bowl eligible at 6-6.  That doesn’t sound terrible … but once upon a time, the Illini were 6-0.  If they were to ride their six game losing streak into a bowl game and then proceeed to lose, I think they would be the first bowl team to ever finish the season on a seven game losing streak.

Of course, I can’t find definitive proof of this (they aren’t the sort of records people keep track of), but surely I’m right …

Christmas is around the corner, and people are turning to the internet more than ever before.  I’m a big fan of Amazon … are here are some gift ideas from the big A.

OK, that’s my motley selection of Christmas ideas from Amazon.  Are there any cool items you would recommend?