As I wrote above, the professional playoffs aren’t the only things where a fan whose team is not playing can question who to root for. On the college level, I was torn by the Alabama – Ohio State playoff game: are there two sleazier successful NCAA head coaches than Nick Saban and Urban Meyer? Much like yesterday’s NFC Semi-Final between the Cowboys and Packers, one has to wonder if there’s some way they both can lose.
The other playoff game pitted Oregon against Florida State. I have nothing much against Oregon except for the fact that this is the best team that Nike’s chairman Phil Knight can afford. He has spent a reported $300 million over the past several years on facilities and other luxuries for his alma mater, which just seems like the college version of the Koch Brothers buying Congress. Of course, Florida State’s reputation has always been one of a football factory whose players were either on their way to the NFL or jail. The rape allegations against quarterback Jameis Winston along with the botched investigation and apparent cover-up by school officials and local authorities made it very hard to root for them. So, it was good to see them lose to Oregon by a wide margin, and Winston is on his way to the NFL.
Which leaves us Oregon vs. Ohio State. There is a school of thought to root for the team that comes from your division (in the pros) or your conference in college. By that measure, I should be rooting for the Packers since they are in the same division as the Chicago Bears, but as the longest rivalry in the NFL going back the entire 95 year history of the league, there’s NO chance of that happening. The same argument could be made for Ohio State, the best team in my alma mater’s conference, the Big Ten. However, Ohio State fans are among the worst in the conference, about equal with Michigan and both just behind Michigan State. Add Meyer, the big time coach who won two national titles at Florida and Ohio State becomes even more of an NFL-lite team.
So, who to choose tonight? Conference vs. Nike? I don’t know. I guess I’ll go with the Big Ten team. But I’ll need to hold me nose and take a shower afterward…

If you are a fan of WXRT, let me apologize upfront: at the heart is, for all of the complaining that I have done about the station – that it is boring, playing the most artists of any station in the Midwest, but the same 3-4 songs by each – it sounds like my commentary has been aimed at the CBS “suits” that tell the station what to play and redundancy is key. I have described it as wrapping yourself in an old blanket, which may be comfortable, even when the blanket is rotting, smells, and has developed holes.
But, it is ultimately the listeners who are to blame. My friends and several people who have contacted my through this site have turned the station off (I only listen in the car and in the shower, but if I have a long drive (over 20 minutes), I bring my iPod. I blame the listeners, who I believe are people who own 100 CDs and only want to hear the same songs off those 100 CDs. For them, the station is nirvana (the state of being, not the band, which was much more interesting). To those of us with a bigger collection/broader taste, WXRT is deadly dull. No matter how much we may like the DJs personally (I have a recognizable relationship with Lin Brehmer, Tom Marker and Teri Hemmert), the fact is that the redundancy makes the station a shadow of its former self.
Still, I can’t help but take a look at the listener’s poll results each year, and once again, there are peeks of interest among the CBS chosen dreck, so I analyze how many of the top 35 titles on the station’s list I own, and how does this list compare with my list I posted here a couple of weeks ago.
First, I purchased 10 of the 35 titles (28.5%), one more than 2013, but 3 less than 2012. Of the 10 I own, seven ended up on my Top 10 list: Bryan Ferry’s “Avonmore” was number 8 on my list, number 33 on WXRT’s; Bob Mould’s “Beauty and Ruin was 25th to the listeners, compared with number 2 for me; Pink Floyd’s swan song “The Endless River came in 23rd on XRT, number 7 to me. Bruce Springsteen’s “High Hopes” was 19th on the station list, number 3 for me. Tweedy’s Sukierae was number 4 on my list, but finished just outside of the listener’s poll top 10 and number eleven. (I was a bit surprised considering how popular Wilco is here in town.) Other CDs that would be considered honorable mentions or not at all were also here: CDs by Smashing Pumpkins, The New Basement Tapes, John Hiatt, and Counting Crows.
As we got into the top 10 of WXRT’s list, I own 6 of the top 10 including all of the top 5 entries, but only one was in my top 10. U2’s “Songs of Innocence” was number 7, but even though I am a huge U2 fan, it couldn’t crack my top 10. Neither could Tom Petty (5), Beck (4), Foo Fighters (3) or top pick, The Black Keys. My personal number 1 came in at number 2 on the station’s list: “Lazaretto” by Jack White.
What of the rest of WXRT’s list, you ask? St. Vincent at 6 may be worth buying as might number 9’s “Lullaby and.. The Ceaseless Roar.” The Kongos at number 12 are a one-hit wonder, overplayed; Ryan Adams has never been my cut of tea; alt-J – who? Coldplay? No way! Phish? Nope.
As I’ve gotten older, I have tried to abstain from arguments about music and movies, coming right after religion and politics on the “not worth arguing about” list. Most of the time, I just go by the “different strokes” adage, but there are two entries on this list that are abhorrent and shows how the CBS suits have shoved songs down our collective throats. First, Milky Chance’s CD came in at number 25 but their “stolen Dance” single with the “Shouldn’t talk about it” line is the most annoying song of the year (yes, even worst that “All About That Bass.”). Finally, Hozier’s self-titled CD came in at number 10, and his semi-religious single “Take Me To Church” was the number one single. First, it is too easy to mistake the lyrics, which is about worshipping a lover, for actually going to a church. I’m sure that the Religious Right loves this song even though it doesn’t mean what they think it means (much like Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” which is far from being a patriotic anthem). To me, rock music should be pushing not going to church, and this maudlin piece of musical excrement was all over the radio.
Maybe that’s another thing – I remember when popular songs on WXRT would be played maybe by The Loop, but certainly not by the pop/Top 40 stations, but both Milky Chance and Hozier were on all of the other stations also. It seems to me that if you are trying to distinguish your station from the others, pumping the same singles would not be the way to do it.
So, once again, the people have spoken (within CBS’ corporate focus). Zzzzzzzzzz….

One of the biggest problems with college sports is the attitude by athletic departments, university senior officials, the local police and prosecutors, and sometimes even the student body that the football or basketball teams need to be protected when members do or are alleged of doing despicable things. It was this attitude that led to the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State and so many other criminal and possibly criminal actions by players and coaches.
Like the O.J. Simpson case, often the only way that justice can be done is by finding a way around the system which has exonerated or refused to indict these team members. Such an attempt has begun for the young woman who accused Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston of rape in 2012.
The young woman, listed as Jane Doe on the complaint, has filed a Federal lawsuit against Florida State University trustees for not supplying the necessary response to the alleged incident. The woman is seeking unspecified damages for Title IX violations. The complaint also argues Florida State purposely hindered an investigation by the Tallahassee Police Department to protect the football player. According to the Orlando Sentinel (quoted online by Bleacher Report), the complaint states FSU intentionally hindered the police investigation to protect Winston’s FSU football career. The complaint alleges that the FSU athletic department was in contact with TPD in January 2013 while Senior Associate Director of athletics Monk Bonasorte and football coach Jimbo Fisher had knowledge of the rape accusation.
Winston’s accuser wants a jury trial in the case. She is seeking compensation including, but not limited to, education reimbursement, payment for the expenses associated with the sexual assault, damages due to pain and suffering and a loss of future earnings. The complaint does not list Winston or the TPD as defendants. The case is solely based on FSU failing to comply to the Title IX standards. The complaint states that for the young woman “FSU became a sexually hostile environment where her rapist roamed free and could turn up at any moment, where she became the target of death threats and vilification campaigns.”The lawsuit alleges the university violated two counts of Title IX federal statutes, providing a ‘clearly unreasonable response’ and creating a ‘hostile education environment.’”
Like my blog yesterday about Ched Evans, the convicted rapist trying to play soccer in England, I am not an attorney, and do not have any inside information on this case. I do believe however, unlike Evans, who had his day in court and is facing an “appeal” of sorts, Winston will never be tried; the police botched the case so badly that even if a review of the evidence were possible despite the double indemnity rules. Like the failure to get indictments on the police shootings of unarmed people, this young woman is not getting her day in court. Perhaps Winston’s version of the event, that the sex was consensual, would have been proven? Perhaps Winston, instead of announcing his being available for the 2014 NFL Draft, perhaps the young man should have been facing jail time? Justice should be more important than whether or not FSU can win the NCAA national football championship.
I was a young black man once (yeah, I know, a LONG time ago), and I did some stupid stuff back then; things that I would be ashamed to admit if brought up now (and yes, Northwestern and high school friends, the hush payments will continue). However, I never did anything criminal, and I certainly never took advantage of women against their wishes. That is a line that no man should ever cross. If there is any question as to a woman’s intentions, put it back in your pants – if she wants to have sex with you, she will probably still want to have sex with you tomorrow, or the next day.
Again, I have also said that I feel for talented young male athletes – there are a lot of parasites looking to suck their money and fame away. I know that there are some bad women out there. This young lady does not seem to be among them. She is not suing for Winston’s impending fortune (although that may come). She is suing the power structure that protected the athlete and threw her under the bus. Based on what I have read of the whole affair, she has a very valid case. FSU should be trying to come up with a plea deal on this one.

It is a common joke that sports teams will employ anyone who can help them win. Michael Vick returned to the NFL after being convicted of running a dog fighting operation and killing dogs on a regular basis. Do you have any doubt that some team will take a chance on Ray Rice now that his suspension for domestic violence is over? Two other NFL players facing domestic violence charges finished the season on the active rosters, probably because there was no videotape of their alleged violence, unlike Rice.
Various coaches, especially college coaches over the years have been accused of being willing to suit up Charles Manson/Ted Bundy/John Wayne Gacy if the serial killer could hit a 3 pointer in basketball/hit a curve ball/or throw a football 50 years on the fly. (Favorite joke – what’s the difference between Rae Carruth, former Carolina Panther wide receiver serving a life sentence for killing his girlfriend and O.J. Simpson? You have to win a Heisman Trophy to get away with murder.)
Bad jokes aside, but it is apparent that in the United Kingdom, rape is a step too far in terms of playing soccer. Several clubs in the English Premier League have expressed interest in Ched Evans, who, on 8 August 2011, with Clayton McDonald was charged with raping a waitress who had drunk too much alcohol to be able to give permission for sex. McDonald was acquitted, but Evans was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison. The sentence however, called for Evans to only have to serve half of his sentence for good behavior, much like the U.S. Now, he needs a job, and I guess he was good enough for teams to be interested.
Sheffield United, Evans’ original team has already passed on Evans’ return, but fourth tier Oldham Athletic is reportedly contemplating hiring him. Evans has consistently maintained his innocence and is awaiting the outcome of a Criminal Cases Review Commission inquiry into his sentence. If they deny his appeal, Evans could be done, but if not, what happens then? While it appears that his future employment depends on the commission’s findings, but fans of the team aren’t happy and are letting them know about it.
More than 27,000 people have put their names to a petition calling on the club not to sign him in the space of 24 hours, with Oldham forced into a series of crisis meetings to further examine the issues. Much like this country, there are few people dumber and few people who crave the spotlight more than politicians.
The leader of the Labour party, Ed Miliband, the local Member of Parliament for Oldham East and Saddleworth, Debbie Abrahams, and Greater Manchester’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Lloyd have all come out against the move.
“I believe it would be wrong for Ched Evans to return to playing football for Oldham Athletic or any other club, as he has been convicted of rape, a violent crime for which he has neither apologized or acknowledged,” Abrahams said in a statement (quoted here from Bleacher Report). “It would send out an entirely inappropriate message to young fans and victims of sex crimes for him to be signed by Oldham or anyone.”
This isn’t even the first time the public has been against Evans. A petition with 165,000 signatures protested Evans’ request to just train with his old team, third tier Sheffield United. Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill told the club she wanted her name removed from one of the stands at its stadium should Evans play for it again.
I am no attorney; and I have even less knowledge of English jurisprudence. I cannot speak to Evans’ guilt or innocence and in the past, I have been all for giving men, especially young men who do stupid things, a second chance. However, rape and murder are in a far different category. I tend to say that in the “he said – she said” world of rape allegations, unless there is forensic evidence of innocence, no means no, find another way of making a living. (For that matter Jameis Winston, who announced that he is leaving Florida State and was the subject of a rape allegation that was ineptly investigated, is under a microscope. ANY word of sexual impropriety of any kind and he should be dropped by whatever NFL team decides to draft him.)
I am a fan: always have been and always will be. I want to see athletes compete, and I root unashamedly for my teams to win. But I would not want to win if there was a rapist on the team; no matter what.

For the first time in memory, I really don’t have a problem with the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, the body that votes on enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame. As expected, two first time eligible pitchers were elected, Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson and Pedro Martinez. While deserving, I was a bit surprised that John Smoltz joined them on the first try. Rounding out the biggest hall class in nearly 60 years is second baseman Craig Biggio.
With 549 votes cast, strikeout artist Johnson led the way by being named on 97.3 percent of all ballots, followed by Martinez (91.1 percent), Smoltz (82.9) and Biggio (82.7). Catcher Mike Piazza came close to the 75 percent threshold, but fell shy with 69.9 percent.
Johnson, still the tallest pitcher in baseball history, won five Cy Young awards, including a record-tying four straight from 1999-2002. He played 22 years in the majors, registering 303 wins and 4,875 strikeouts, second all-time to Nolan Ryan, and notching nine strikeout titles. M
Martinez was much smaller than Johnson, but was as dominating posted a .760 winning percentage (117-37) with a 2.52 earned-run average over seven seasons with the Red Sox, helping them end their 86-year championship drought in 2004 and adding another ring in ’07. He wound up with 219 victories and a .687 winning percentage.
Smoltz joins former Braves rotation mates Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who were elected on their first try in 2014. He ranks 16th in all-time strikeouts with 3,084, despite having to convert to the closer’s role late in his career after reconstructive elbow surgery. Smoltz also went 15-4 in 41 postseason appearances, with a 2.67 ERA and four saves. Smoltz probably joins Dennis Eckersley who were great starting pitchers who made the Hall of Fame. Finally, Biggio had more than 3,000 hits and consistently set the table for the Astros’ power hitters. Biggio was two votes shy of making the Hall last year, but as a member of the 3,000 hit club (without apparent steroid use), his enshrinement was probably guaranteed.
The other big news is that the players most identified with the “Steroid Era” continue to not only not make the Hall, but their support is declining. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa garnered even less votes than in prior years. Sosa may be off the ballot if the trend continues next year.
So, there will be four entrants into the Hall this summer, and for once, there is little controversy, and very deserving entrants.

I never write about my work to stay out of trouble, and besides, who wants to hear me bitch about my life? I work in banking and so I get e-mail alerts from various banking organizations. Honestly, sometimes there is no industry that is so pompous and deserving of being “taken down” than banking. Today, I got an e-mail that detailed the following industry event:

“Wisconsin will this year become the latest state to see its bankers associations merge, with the linkup of the Wisconsin Bankers Association and the Community Bankers of Wisconsin announced yesterday. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of February.”

I have nothing against these organizations; I know nothing about them and, as far as I know, know no one in either one. But I couldn’t help thinking about a scene from Monty Python’s “Life of Brian:”

REG (John Cleese): Listen. The only people we hate more than the Romans are the fucking Judean People’s Front.
People’s .Front of .Judea.: Yeah…
JUDITH (Sue Jones-Davies): Splitters.
P.F.J.: Splitters…
FRANCIS (Terry Giliam): And the Judean Popular People’s Front.
P.F.J.: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Splitters. Splitters…
STAN (NOW CALLED LORETTA) (Eric Idle): And the People’s Front of Judea.
P.F.J.:Yeah. Splitters. Splitters…
REG: What?
LORETTA: The People’s Front of Judea. Splitters.
REG: We’re the People’s Front of Judea!
LORETTA: Oh. I thought we were the Popular Front.
REG: People’s Front! C-huh.

People who know me well, certainly know that I’m never more than 10 seconds from a Python quote, so I guess this is to be expected…

I took some time off this holiday season and spent a lot of it chasing the Indignant Children and watching movies, both in theaters and at home on video. A lot of stuff happened, so let’s go over it:

• The well deserved Chicago Bear house cleaning by George McCaskey didn’t go far enough. Ted Phillips should have been cleaning his desk also.
• Everyone is yelling for Jay Cutler’s head, but Hub Arkush in today’s Sun-Times says that Brandon Marshall is the one Bear teammates would like to see leave.
• Brief theatrical rundown: Annie – not good, but not as bad as the reviews make out; The Hobbit – Five Armies – I enjoyed it, not as much as LOTR, but I liked it; Into The Woods – got drug to this by word of mouth between nine-year olds – wish I hadn’t,
• Like I wrote here several months ago: while Stuart Scott was never my cup of tea as a sportscaster, his death is a tragedy. He must have been a great person with all of the testimonials from the press (expected) but also from athletes (less so).
• Video note 1: I watched the second “Sin City” film – I liked it too. The only reason it didn’t do better is because it was nine years between sequels. It would have done better if it had come three years after the first one.
• I’m glad “The Interview” made it to theaters. I’m also glad I didn’t see it.
• That’s what I get for rooting for the Lions two weeks in a row.
• Ohio State defeated Alabama in the College Football Playoff, but looking at Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, I did root for a way for both teams to lose.
• However, I was happy to see the best team in the Big Ten make the final game. It doesn’t mean that the Big Ten is anywhere the other conferences, but it is nice.
• That said, there wasn’t a more exciting 4th quarter than in Michigan State’s win over Baylor.
• I will be watching the College Football Final game.
• Eight billionth reason hockey is the coolest sport in the world: former Blackhawk Troy Brower hears of the untimely death of Hawks’ trainer Cliff Reif and wants to put CR sticker on the Capitals’ helmets for the Winter Classic. That’s cool, but cooler is that after talking with Capitals Coach Barry Trotz, Trotz calls Hawks coach Joel Quenneville for permission.
• And after the game when Brower scores the game winner, several Hawks come over to congratulate him.
• Gas prices keep falling. It’s great, but why the hell did it ever get so high in the first place?
• It’s too damn cold, but it’s only supposed to last the week. Hey, we had a pretty mild December, and it’s better than last year’s snow and bitter cold weeks in a row.
• Donna Douglas from the Beverly Hillbillies died. She in her bathing suits and Diana Rigg in her leather suits did more to usher me into puberty than almost anyone else.
• The Lions were robbed in their game against the Cowboys, but their bad behavior led to too many penalties, and that is what killed them in the end.
• This Sunday, the Cowboys go into Lambeau Field to play the Packers in the NFC Conference Semi-Final. The last time the two teams were in a similar situation was 1967, the famous Ice Bowl game. It could get that cold again this weekend.
• What the hell was the Governor of New Jersey doing in the Dallas Cowboys owner’s box for yesterday’s Lions/Cowboys game? Chris Christie may be the most shameless media whore on earth, which is saying something when he’s jumping around with Jerry Jones.
• Note to Christie: the Cowboys have as many people who hate them as love them, so this might not be the smartest move in a possible race to the White House. The gargantuan red sweater that makes you look like ground zero on a military map doesn’t help either.
• Tomorrow we get the Baseball Hall of Fame entrants for 2015. Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez should make sure everyone has their cell phone numbers.
• Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Rafael Palmeiro don’t need to leave a forwarding number anywhere.
• I don’t care what anyone says, that penalty on Jonathan Toews in the Winter Classic was one of the worst make-up calls in recent memory. Still, it was a nice event.
• I don’t care how many games the team has won with him at QB – Joe Flacco is NOT an elite quarterback.

That wraps up a lot of what I had on my mind over my break. Now, on to 2015…