Let’s Take a Tebow

First, better luck next year Denver. The New England Patriots put an end to the Broncos’ season over the weekend, laying a 45-10 beat down on the Mile High kids. The loss has not put an end to the talk about Denver quarterback Tim Tebow. I’m okay with the deconstruction of his quarterbacking ability during the season. Perhaps his mechanics need work. Maybe John Elway should be spending more time talking to Tim about improving his work on field than telling the various media what he thinks Tebow needs to do. After all, he is the Bronco’s executive vice president of football operations. Anyway, the kid may not be the best technical QB out there, but he’s big, tough and has shown an ability to pull games out of the jaws of defeat.

Tim on one knee: From Reuters

So, honestly, if there’s enough stuff going on with Tebow on the field, why has there been so much attention paid to what he does off – by that, I mean the taking the knee business? I’ve been watching athletes pray, cross themselves, kneel, point to the heavens – any number of things during events for years. If an individual wants to make an exclamation of their faith, why should anybody else care? Sure, it takes attention away from the sporting event, but it’s a football game, nothing more. And haven’t we seen football players take a knee in seemingly dozens of football movies? “Rudy,” “Knute Rockne, All American,” John Wayne’s “Trouble Along the Way…” I think all three of those films also have priests encouraging the lads to say a prayer.

Maria "Tebowing" - From AP

Some people complain that Tim’s pushing his faith down our throats, but really – we’ve seen dozens of players from teams all over the league gather at the end of a game to join in prayer. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes have been saying prayers at stadiums all over the NFL. But for some reason, Tim’s knee work has gathered an almost absurd amount of attention. Maria Menounos, the host of “Extra,” was seen Tebowing on the red carpet on her way into the Golden Globes Sunday night. Okay, I don’t watch her show, so this is probably the only time I’m going to see Maria doing anything. I know there have been a lot of folks dropping to a knee to spoof the kid – but really, leave the kid alone. If he wants to pray, that’s his business. It’s not as if Tebow is asking God to ignore everything else to guide his throwing arm – and it’s not as if God would ignore everything to give Tim the hook up – although God could if He wanted, without ignoring anything else. Maybe if we all spent a little more time thanking whoever it is we pray to, we’d be a little more happy with who we are.

Starting Off 2012

It’s not like I didn’t have anything to say in 2011, I just didn’t take the time to put it in the form of a blog. I blog for work, so I have been blogging – it’s just been about stuff my employers have been interested in.

Locally, politics have not been as bats**t crazy as when the former city mayor was in office, so I haven’t had too much to say on the local occurrences. I will say that I’m glad that it’s finally caucus day in Iowa – it’s about time the Republicans narrow their field a little. It certainly seemed like Herman Cain had no idea what he was getting himself into. Having touched a couple of female backsides in my life (usually with at least tacit permission), I know enough that if someone wants to complain, it will most likely happen as soon as you get involved in the most important thing you’ll ever get involved in. Which is why I’m amazed that former House Speaker Gingrich lasted as long as he did. Way too much baggage

Here’s the thing. Since the networks are camping out in Des Moines, Gov. Terry Branstad has been using the attention on Iowa to be hypercritical of Pres. Obama, blaming him for jacking up the national debt “a trillion dollars a year.” No blame for the House Republicans who have been stonewalling any type of progress on fixing the economy. Just playing Fox News’ “class warfare” card, claiming the Administration is freezing job growth by demanding a tax hike for the “job creators.” Of course, while the president has been calling for higher taxes for the super rich, they’re still paying taxes at the Bush tax cut rate. That said, where the heck are the jobs they’re supposed to be creating? They’re not paying higher taxes right now, haven’t been for an Administration and a half – so where are those jobs, again?

Family Fun Time

Stephen and Maria Roberts (Thanks for coming!)

I’m finishing up five days off work, but they’ve been busy enough that it feels like I’ve been working. My sister and her husband were here for the holiday. My TV pal, Joe Larkins, and his lovely bride Bethany Smith, hooked us up with tickets to the Liberty Bowl. The incredibly unseasonable weather made it a nice way to spend an afternoon. After a nice dinner at the new restaurant in the Westin, we wandered over to Beale Street to watch some of the New Year’s Eve run-up. Okay, here’s the funny part. We had to show ID and get scanned to get onto the street. Not as bad as Times Square, but still a tiny hassle. But by the time we leave just before the Tigers game lets out and thousands of additional folks streamed onto the street, the security team had stopped screening people and was enjoying some pizza. I guess it was okay. I watched the Guitar Drop on TV later and everything went off without a hitch. One quibble. Back when WMC was covering NYE, it was a TV show about the event itself. The weird melange of a show WKNO is doing has some live coverage and taped pieces promoting stops along Beale Street. I’d rather have a completely live show. Then I wouldn’t have to turn to Kathy “Look at me, I’ve got a potty mouth” Griffin and Anderson “She embarrasses me every year, and I’m so easily embarrassed” Cooper on CNN. Kathy, don’t take your top off anymore – no one wants to see a 50-year old woman (and her 50-year old breasts) in Time Square.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. I hope to blog a few times in 2012 than I did in 2011.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,200 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Home for the Holidays

It’s always nice to go home for the holidays. Because of the years I spend working in local TV news, I’ve missed a few holidays with the family over the years. The nice thing about that is there are usually more than a few folks in the same boat, so there’s a bunch of folks willing to put together an ad hoc holiday event for people who can’t get home.

 

Older brother & younger brother (youngest couldn't make the trip)

About the time I got to CNN, it wasn’t a problem any more.  Even though in 8 years, I only had two weeks on a Monday-Friday schedule, I usually had Thursday and Friday off, so I could make a quick Wednesday run to get home for Thanksgiving and another Friday run to get back to work on Saturday. My problem is a little different now.  I can get the time off, but now that I’m involved with the delightful Pam Roberson, we have to deal with that “couple” issue of where and how to spend the holidays. She lives across the street from her parents, and a lot of extended family is in Memphis, so it’s very easy for them to get together (and they get together a lot).  Most of my family is about 600 miles away in Columbus, so there’s a little driving involved.

The Ladies

We were in Columbus together earlier this year, so I came up alone this time. Her daughter just moved back to Memphis, so I could understand her hanging out in Tennessee.  It’s always nice to come home to see how everyone is doing. Everyone’s a little older, which is a drag for the grown-ups, but good for kids, although it’s always kind of spooky to see a niece or nephew a few inches taller, or hear a voice start to change and such. Two of my brothers, my brother-in-law and I sat at the kids table this year and spent a few minutes talking about the aches, pains, creaks and groans that afflict us a little more each year.

Eddie, Kara & Lance

The passage of time is always too fast. One nephew already has a masters degree, the other is a few years away from that, but he’s a little bigger every time I see him. And my niece is already as tall as her mother. Still, they get a little older, their personalities develop a little more (not so much for Eddie, since he’s actually been an adult for several years now).

I haven’t lived in Columbus since 1986, but I do come back enough to keep up with a lot of what’s going on. Over 25 years, a lot of things do change, but it’s kind of interesting to see how many things don’t change over time. Skyline, local sights, things like that that are pretty much the same as when I left. Some of the TV stations are clinging to a small market look. I don’t think I’ll stay long enough for the big Ohio State-Michigan game on Saturday. This is probably one of those years that’s best forgotten for Buckeye fans. The good news is for Michigan fans. Barring disaster, they’ll notch their first win in the series in 8 games. I’m just waiting for OSU to name Urban Meyer to the head coaching job. If anything, it’s a shame that I don’t have more time off. A lot of times, these holiday visits seem like drive-bys, since I’ve only got a day or two to spend before heading back to the land o’ Elvis. Pam and I still have to discuss what we’re doing for Christmas, although I think I’ll probably be in Memphis with her family.

When the news isn’t good

On my way to Ohio, I got an email from a friend at CNN with some very bad news. A former co-worker and her were on the road, on their way to visit family for the holiday when a tractor-trailer jumped the dividing line and crashed into them head on. Her husband, a long-time anchor for CNN Radio, was killed in the crash. My friend Angi is in an Alabama hospital, waiting for surgery. Much of her family is there with her – but what terrible thing for all of them to have to cope with. I hope she’s heartened by the outpouring from her friends on Facebook. We love you kid, and hope you get through this.

Let’s See How Long This Lasts…

As I usually do after not blogging for a long while, I thought about opening this entry with a list of things that have been keeping me incredibly busy.  However, that would be disrespectful to those of you actually reading this.  I’m not that busy.  Go to work, go home, occasionally go to trivia, and occasionally go out east to see the gal-pal.  That’s life, but not so much that I couldn’t bang out 500 words on a particular topic from time to time.

Honestly, it’s not that I don’t have time to blog; it’s just determining what, if anything, I want to blog about.  I’ve done weight loss.  I’m fat, I want to be thin, but my thyroid makes losing weight very difficult.  Can’t think of a different way to say that.  I’m gainfully employed, so of course, I don’t want to kvetch too much about the working world.  I certainly want the bosses to think I’m happy.  Guys: I’m happy.  Thanks for the new computer.  I’m glad to see that some people in Memphis are embracing the idea of making it easier for bicyclists to get around – I’d just like to see smoother streets around more of downtown.  Front Street has been nice since it was resurfaced – but you just can’t pedal up and down Front – particularly on weekends when it’s busy at Gus’s Fried Chicken.  When people want their chicken, they don’t give a damn about some guy in bicycle shorts getting in their way.

Of course, there is that old mainstay, racial politics in Memphis.  I’ll be honest; I thought there would be rioting in the streets before county residents accepted the idea of a merged city-county school system.  Could the lack of fight be due to the fact that so many people had already left for DeSoto and Fayette Counties?  I admit to be tickled when I saw in the Commercial Appeal this week that Memphis City Schools superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash had given himself an exceedingly large number of “excellent” ratings on his self review.  Having had the opportunity to interview the doctor, I was quite aware that he has a high opinion of himself and his abilities.  After all, we’ve seen the supremely self-confident approach in that job before (it didn’t seem to hurt Dr. Herenton).  Anyway, would you really want someone in such a demanding position who wasn’t cocksure?  Perhaps not so willing to rub it into everyone’s faces though.

This just brings up an issue I’ve had with the HR world for some time – asking people to review themselves.  Now really, who is going to ding themselves during a self-review?  It’s disingenuous for an employer to put a worker on the spot like that; anyone doing a lousy job surely won’t admit it.  That affects the curve for anyone doing an excellent job and is willing to toot his or her own horn.  Performance reviews are subjective at best and potentially harmful at worst.  Most exist as a way for businesses to pay lip service to the idea of fairly measuring the work done by employees.  If the duties of a job are clearly defined in the first place, any competent supervisor should be able to sit down with an employee on a regular basis and be able to tell them whether they are or are not meeting expectations.  The “meets, partially meets or exceeds” and all the other stuff are ways to create a bell curve to base pay increases on.  I’ve worked in places where I’ve seen bosses work to stack their employees along that curve, and end up re-writing reviews to match those artificial placements.

Knucklehead.

Okay, I’m finishing this up just as Ohio State gave up an easy touchdown to Miami.  I’m not going to go on about the transgressions of the players who traded trinkets for tattoos; after all, college kids are notorious for having bad judgement.  Jim Tressel however, deserved to lose his job.  After winning a national championship, he could have run for governor of Ohio if he had wanted to.  But failing to report improper activity and then trying to get around it?  That is poor judgement.  It looks like the Bucks are about to give up another 6 to Miami.  This is going to be a loooong night.  I just hope Terrell Pryor  gets a lot of time on the field for Oakland.  It’s not the easiest place for a QB.

Coming Soon...

Here’s some good news; I took a quick ride over to Mud Island to pick up a couple of sundries from Miss Cordelia’s before Kroger reopens the Schnuck’s location on Union tomorrow.  I see the Bass Pro Shop folks have put a couple of semi trailers in the north and south parking lots of the Pyramid.  Doesn’t mean that they’re going to start building anytime soon – but it’s something.