When I was younger, I used to feel never to leave a sporting event early. No matter how bad the game; how lopsided the score, you should never leave early. As I’ve gotten older, I have changed my opinion, if a team is sucking on the field, or not putting out effort. I have better things to do, like spend time with the Indignant Children.
This past weekend, I did exactly that, I went to the Northwestern homecoming football game against Indiana (I have NU football season tickets) and left at halftime. Of course, as most people know, Northwestern came from a 28-3 deficit in the middle of the 2nd Quarter to win 29-28, and you may think that I missed a lot. I didn’t and here’s why…
NU played like crap. It appeared that they took Indiana for granted. Yes, Indiana has been the weak sister in the conference for decades, but I saw them play earlier in the season and I saw great improvement. More important, we’re talking about Northwestern, a team that used to be Indiana. We should NEVER be overconfident, against anyone, ever!
The Indignant Children were going to a birthday party in the far southern suburbs; it was a long drive, and I figured the Indignant Wife needed help, so I called and told her I would go with them when the score was 28-3. I was disgusted and felt like I didn’t want to watch anymore. Before I left however, NU had scored 2 touchdowns (at which point I reminded all that sat around me that this was still Indiana, and that they could very easily blow the game), but I still wanted out. These were two lackluster teams playing on a cold day.
And Indiana did blow the game, despite NU’s quarterback Mike Kafka throwing 3 interceptions in the second half. NU’s defense showed up finally, allowing no more points, including a goal lines stand at 4th and goal from the 1-yard line. I listened to the game on the radio as I drove, and after each interception. I would turn the game off. When we reached our destination, Indiana was holding on 28-26, midway through the 4th quarter. I took the kids into the house for the party and forgot about it. Somewhere deep inside, I thought it entirely possible that the Wildcats had won, but I didn’t ask anyone, watched no television. I figured I’d find out after the party.
The Indignant Wife checked her Blackberry on the way home and read that Steven Dimos had kicked a field goal with .21 left to win the game. She wanted to know if I was happy; and I said that I was glad that they won, but it was an ugly win and the kind that teams shouldn’t count on in a tough conference like the Big Ten.
My worst fears were realized seeing the Sunday newspapers. The Sun-Times had a picture of a couple of NU players celebrating “the biggest comeback in school history,” but there is little to celebrate other than the fact that they remain in the hunt for a bowl game. Indiana almost came back to win; a last second, long range field goal was on target but short. NU players should have walked off the field embarrassed and happy with the win, but not smiling and partying with the other students on the back of the newspaper.
NU has Penn State next week at home, undefeated Iowa in Iowa City, Wisconsin and Illinois left on the schedule. If NU continues poor starts in their remaining games, they will be behind by 100 points, not just the 28 Indiana pasted on them. If this continues, they may not win again this season. That is what Pat Fitzgerald should be stressing this week,

Dear Mr. Delany,

I have been a season ticket holder for Northwestern University football since 1996, but been watching Big Ten athletics since 1976, the year before I entered NU. Since 1990, I have written for 2 sports television shows (“The Sportswriters on TV” and “The Back Table with Chet Coppock”) and various web sites. For the past 2 years, I’ve written for my site: evilopinion.com. In each venue, I have complained about the quality of the football officiating to no avail. Last Saturday’s NU Indiana game featured very poor officiating, but this is common to all of the conference’s officiating. At this point, I’m happily surprised when the officials do make the correct call.
You could say that I see the games through the prism of a long time NU fan, but the officials don’t show favoritism – they make poor calls for both teams (and as a long term sportswriter myself, I can be objective, even while rooting for Northwestern).
During last Saturday’s game, an official called a penalty against NU and promptly started marching off yardage against Indiana; they signaled an NU touchdown on the blocked punt instead of a safety; missed numerous holding penalties; and flat out failed on several clock and timeout issues. It was so bad that even the writer for the Chicago Tribune brought it out in Sunday’s coverage of the game.
But no one can say anything. If the coaches speak out publicly, they get massive fines. Players can be suspended; even we fans can be thrown out of games or have our season tickets revoked. No one can say anything to you about the lousy referees.
Mr. Delany, you have been Big Ten Commissioner for nearly two decades; you have boosted the coiffeurs of the universities; you have built the Big Ten Network (by the way, do we need so many long commercial timeouts at games, making them well over 3 hours long). Why have you done nothing to raise the competency of the officials? You have helped make the Big Ten a top flight college conference, what do you have to fear? Games will be reversed? That won’t happen. The universities will revolt? That won’t happen either.
Maybe you don’t want to spend any money to hire competent officials, but I propose that its money well spent (and I don’t suggest making them full time employees). We can’t be a top flight conference with second or even third rate officials.
Let’s bring fairness to the athletes and coaches who work so hard. They should have the best officials we can get, not this lot of weekend idiots.
Sincerely,
Tony Fernandez

Many times, especially now as I get older, there are people, books, music, that are popular but I either don’t like it/them, or, more often, I haven’t even heard of them/listened to their music/watched their television show or movie. It’s part of no longer being hip or “cutting edge.” This is natural, and I’ve more than comes to terms with it.
But what about something that is supposedly “beloved” by, they say, millions of people, targeted at kids, was written and released when I was a kid? Why did I have no more than a passing knowledge of it until recently? Where was I? What was I doing?
I ask because of the release of the film “Where The Wild Things Are,” a film that is one of the few films that is being both highly praised and regularly blasted by critics and parents. The book by Maurice Sendak was written and released in 1963, when I was 3-years-old. The book, which tells the story of a boy sent to his room which turns into another world where he meets and becomes leader of “the wild things.” I keep reading comments from all of these people who loved this book with its 10 sentences as being this beacon of childhood.
I never read it. I knew about it, but it wasn’t until I read it to the Indignant Oldest Daughter just a few weeks ago that I actually picked it up and read it (to her). And honestly, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. The art is fine, but it didn’t “transport me to another world;” I didn’t connect with it, and not just because I rapidly approach my 50th birthday. As a major reader of comic books and other forms of graphic media, I understand the power of pictures, and I read a lot of children’s books now due to the Indignant Children.
I have always read books; in fact, I grew up across the street from a library, but I never read it; wasn’t told about it by my parents (also voracious readers) or my friends or their parents. Which kids read this and found it enchanting? Maybe it was a suburban, Caucasian thing?
Much of the criticism of the film is that it doesn’t match the book; well of course it couldn’t. You couldn’t make a 94 minute film on a 10 sentence book without having to do some MAJOR addition of plot, characterization, etc. I have to give director Spike Jonze credit for even trying. I have admired him since his breakout film “Being John Malkovich,” especially doing the film without computer generated monsters. This makes it mildly intriguing to me, but since I don’t hold the book up to high esteem, it isn’t enough to make me want to spend money to see it.
The Indignant Older Daughter wasn’t a big fan of the book when I borrowed it from the library, and hasn’t expressed any interest in this film. And let me tell you, she is a television and movie fan. She has a full roster of the Disney and Pixar films on DVD, and she has commandeered her father’s copy of “Singin’ In The Rain.” She is much more interested in the upcoming “Princess and the Frog,” which suits me just fine.

It may be the fact that ESPN is covering sports all the time, but testosterone levels in its Bristol, CN. headquarters may be out of control, especially among the baseball announcers. Baseball analyst and former New York Mets General Manager Steve Phillips is the latest member of the “Baseball Tonight” group to be accused of sexual misadventures.
The New York Post reported that Phillips had an affair with 22-year-old production assistant Brooke Hundley. Ms. Hundley apparently didn’t take kindly to Phillips breaking off the relationship; she reportedly drove her car into Phillips’ home to deliver a letter to Phillips’ wife Marni a letter describing their relationship and a birthmark Phillips has on his crotch. She may have also have impersonated a 16-year-old to chat with Phillips’ son online. As one would expect, Marni Phillips has since filed for divorce. The Post reports that ESPN has suspended Phillips for one week over the scandal
This is the second member of the baseball broadcast team to get into trouble. Former second baseman Harold Reynolds was dropped by the network after being accused of sexual harassment with the production assistants and other women working at the network. (It should be noted that the accusations didn’t deter the MLB Network from hiring Reynolds as a studio analyst. Perhaps they only hire men there.)
Honestly, I’m a bit surprised that it’s the baseball guys having problems. I would think that the NFL studio show featuring former Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Michael Irvin, himself arrested for drugs and was known for various sexual escapades outside of his marriage; and Keyshawn Johnson, another man not known for his intellectual and moral acumen, would be the ones hitting on the women working at ESPN. Maybe it’s the long road trips away and 3-4 day stints in one city that make baseball players used to having affairs on the road?
All I know is: maybe they should have young women running away from analysts in the back of those ESPN office commercials?

This is what “Reality TV” hath wrought. The hours of coverage of the balloon flying over the central US reportedly with a young boy inside shows us what kind of voyeurs Americans have become. Instead of taking time to follow health care reform; or reports over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; Americans were concerned over whether a kid, actually hiding in his attic, could be saved from a hot air balloon.
I knew about what was going on, I saw coverage on CNN.com, and as a parent, I was interested, but all along, there were some troubling questions about the whole thing. First, who “builds” a balloon in their back yard? Someone who obviously wants to draw attention to himself. (OK, the same can be said of someone who spends money on his own website and rants to the Internet world, but let’s not go there.) Second, who would allow to have their children access to said balloon, much less the ability to launch the craft (which obviously not the case, since the kid did not take the balloon out by himself, it was an elaborate hoax). It seems that more and more people want to follow Jon and Kate and use one’s children as pawns in their own pathetic attempts at attention. It’s sad. I promise that you won’t see the Indignant Children on television unless it’s by accident.
As I’ve said many times, I spend too much time in my own life, my own “reality” that I really don’t care about other people’s lives. Sports is my reality TV – there’s winners and losers; it’s completely unscripted (or should be); there’s heartbreak and triumph. I have also said numerous times that I would watch “Survivor” religiously each week if, instead of voting someone off the island, they used weapons. Turn the show into a weekly installment of “Lord of the Flies,” with extra money if someone takes out Jeff Probst. Now, That’s Entertainment!

The documentary “The Corporation” shows that one of the weaknesses of American jurisprudence is the ability of corporations to act as “individuals” in a legal sense. As such, the government can’t give corporations the “death penalty” if they continually break the law, pollute, etc. Unfortunately, corporations can suffer the same “sins” of hubris, and pride as individuals. Such is the case between 2 media giants, whose pissing contest is creating more grief than necessary.
I am an avid hockey fan. I have a jersey for each team in the NHL; I have two replicas of the Stanley Cup on my desk at work along with an autographed picture of New York Islander Hall of Fame center/captain Brian Trottier. My wife is Canadian, which means that hockey flows in her blood.
I should also note that I am an even more avid fan of the NFL. To that end, for the past four years, I have subscribed to the NFL Sunday Ticket package, which brings every game into my home and is signed exclusively to DirecTV until 2014, I think. The Indignant Wife is also an NFL fan and likes to watch the best game of the weekend, not just what the simpletons that program the local CBS and Fox stations believe we Chicagoans want to watch.
In order to get the Sunday Ticket, it means that we must subscribe to DirecTV satellite television service. It has worked well; we only have problems during intense storms. We also subscribe to the NHL Centre Ice package, which is supposed to bring us every NHL game. That is, except for games that are exclusively broadcast of Versus.
Versus used to be the Outdoor Life Network, and most of its programming is still comprised of hunting and fishing shows (which bore me to no end). Anyway, when ESPN refused to pick up the NHL after the lockout, OLN picked it up. Many still rue the decision due to the network’s limited coverage from cable and satellite providers and the overall strength of the ESPN franchise. I didn’t, because hockey on ESPN was a one night a week (at best) proposition. The NHL had to be fit in around Major League Baseball, the NFL and college football in the Fall, and the NBA and college basketball in the winter. Even with extra stations, I liked having the NHL as the big fish in a much smaller pond rather than an afterthought on ESPN.
Well, as you might have read, DirecTV, the nation’s largest satellite provider, and Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider and owner of Versus, are in the midst of a battle over Versus. DirecTV says that Comcast is trying to charge DirecTV 20% more than other providers; Comcast says that DirecTV is trying to add Versus to a premium package. Both sides say that they are trying to “protect” the customer from higher charges.
Bulls#$t! They are both trying to paint the other side as the bad guy and the rates will increase anyway. If this was still the old OLN or Oxygen, I wouldn’t give a damn, but DirecTV customers, even those who are paying more for the NHL package can’t see games broadcast on Versus. I barely missed it; at least until last Monday night, when the Blackhawks fell behind the Calgary Flames 5-0 in the first 12 minutes of the 1st period only to battle back and win the game 6-5 in overtime. I would have like to seen this game, the biggest comeback in team and league history but couldn’t because Comcast and DirecTV, or more directly, their management teams are acting more like spoiled 4-year-olds than smart executives.
Only a few people give a crap about Versus, so, to them, it’s a good place to have a battle against the competition – there aren’t many hockey fans, they figure. And the NHL? The league that didn’t protest when EA Sports games pulled the NHL games from the Sony PSP game system while still selling it to Playstation 3, and still make baseball and other sports games for the PSP, quietly does nothing. Gary “Sesame Street’s The Count:” Bettman and his minions don’t want to ruffle any feathers, so nothing is said. Meanwhile, we hockey fans who already are paying more for total coverage are getting shortchanged.
It’s time for the children that run Comcast and DirecTV to act like big boys and girls and settle this – NOW, before we miss more great hockey.

Small minded bigots just won’t go the way of the dinosaur or the Edsel. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish’s 8th Ward, refused to issue a marriage license to Beth Humphrey, 30, and her boyfriend, Terence McKay, 32, both of Hammond, La. Ms. Humphrey is white and Mr. McKay is African-American.
While this idiot is refusing to speak to the national media, Bardwell told Hammond’s Daily Star newspaper that he refused to sign the marriage license because he was concerned for the children who might be born of the relationship and that, in his experience, most interracial marriages don’t last.
“I’m not a racist,” Bardwell told the newspaper. “I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children.” Bardwell, stressing that he couldn’t personally endorse the marriage, said his wife referred the couple to another justice of the peace.
Ms. Humphrey told CNN that she called Bardwell on October 6 to ask about getting a marriage license, and was asked by his wife whether it would be an interracial marriage. Humphrey said she was told that Bardwell does not sign off on interracial marriages.
Of course, as a public official, it isn’t his place to refuse anyone the right to marry (puts the argument for gay marriage in a new light – we can’t even get heterosexual marriages between people of different races performed). Local civil rights groups are urging Bardwell to resign.
This, of course, hits home to me as I am an African-American man married to a Canadian-born, Asian woman. And, as you know, we have two Indignant daughters: the most beautiful, sweetest things I have ever seen. I am, to quote Lou Gehrig, “the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” We want them to know, love and revel in their African and Asian heritage and identities. I hope that they will not have to face the racism that I have faced in my lifetime.
My wife and I have been married for over 10 years, and we have faced the same ups and downs as any married couple of whatever race. We also faced problems in her immigration to the United States, and numerous other problems but we’re still here. We have also bought a beautiful house; lived fairly harmoniously over this period. I cannot imagine being married to anyone else (and probably won’t ever be and I’m happy with that).
When we married in 1999, I sadly knew that we would have been breaking the law in the State of Georgia, which didn’t strike down its laws prohibiting interracial marriage until 2000. We have faced some interesting, and at times hostile reactions from people, but we thumb our noses at them (all too often, unfortunately, from black people, mostly women).
Fortunately, the number of people who react to us as an abnormality has declined significantly over the years. The most hopeful thing is that there are more and more teenagers and college students dating across racial boundaries. The cause of prejudice is ignorance and fear of the unknown “Other.” As we live together in communities and yes, date and marry one another, there will be more knowledge of others and ignorance and racism should disappear further.
This cretin is yet another of the dinosaurs (including “birthers” and “tax party” morons) who fear a country that is not completely controlled by white people. They know few minorities, or, the ones they know they see on television or the criminals on the news. They cringe, frightened of the future. I would pity them, but I’m too busy waiting for them to sink in the tar pits and disappear forever.