Category: Uncategorized

Short Takes That You Will Not Necessarily Agree With…..

Syria is still a disaster in many ways – get it fixed or get the hell out. No grey area.

Celebrating MLK’s anniversary of his assassination (50 years ago) – let’s move a lot of that energy spent on the celebrating to generating greater paths to civil rights.

To Leandro Gonzalez Pirez – I was a bit harsh on you in last week’s post after your debacle in Minnesota.  Live and learn Leandro….and time to get yourself ready to get to the next level.

Alec Baldwin – nothing to do with your Saturday Night Live skits…but seeing you on the show last night reminded me of what a low life you really are.  Anyone want to question my POV?  Just ask me and I will give you some insight – and a discussion I had with him right after he publicly shamed his young daughter.

Bob Bradley – you were never known as a tactician and you proved it again last night.

The dichotomy of sports:  today’s final round duel at the Master’s between America’s Patrick Reed and Ireland’s superstar Rory McIlroy…….and then seeing Johnny Manziel at yet another NFL tryout.  Go away Johnny.

Snow in Chicago early this week and 100-degree temperatures in Palm Springs.  Damn, this is a big country.

The company name is Orion Span and they have developed concepts for the first space ‘hotel’.  I am very interested but I am not going first.  The #Jetson’s are becoming more and more a reality every day.

It was not a small fishing vessel or a 120′ yacht.  Went went missing, back on November 15, was the ARA San Juan, a German-built TR-1700 class submarine.  A six-month search off the coast of Argentina has turned up nothing. This submarine gone missing brings back memories of the Malaysian airliner, carrying 239 people, that vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing over four years ago.  I don’t get it.

Sports bars packed last last night to watch — UFC.  Who would have thought?

Doctors, health consultants, trainers, physio’s, nutritionists and just about everyone telling us to cut sugars out of our diet.  In one word:  Not.

Adios and have a Funday Sunday!!!!

 

 

 

 

Silver Bullet Bullshit.  20 Minutes to Remember.  Tactical Awareness.  

He has produced 34 albums and sold over 30 million records.  He has rocked audiences worldwide over 6,000 times and before leading his Silver Bullet Band he cut his teeth with the Amboy Dukes.  I won’t position him a hypocrite as Ted Nugent (think “Cat Scratch Fever”) has always been an activist on issues including the 2nd Amendment and is a NRA Board member.  So while the Right to Free Speech is a cornerstone of country why would Nugent dip so low to use the media, the same media that he calls out for ‘false news’, to attack the young kids who participated in last weekend’s “March For Our Lives”?  As previously mentioned I won’t comment on the politics of gun control but I will comment on a washed up rock star using the media to blatantly disrespect the high school kids who took the time and effort to make their feelings known to the world.  Here is what Nugent told the media:  “To attack the good law-abiding families of America when well known predictable murderers commit these horrors is deep in the category of soulless. These poor children, I’m afraid to say this and it hurts me to say this, but the evidence is irrefutable, they have no soul… These children can’t be critical of any of the propaganda that they’re fed and that’s just sad….they are mushy-brained children.” Really Ted, are you now beating your chest for telling children, who experienced terror that we can never imagine,  that they ‘have no soul’?   You should be ashamed.

He is 36 years-old and many call him way over-the-hill.  Journalists deemed his transfer to the L.A. Galaxy of Major League Soccer as a way to continue his career in a league sub par to the big leagues of Europe.  Maybe some of that is true as the man’s ego is a perfect fit with Tinsel Town.  Then you watch Zlatan Ibrahimovic come into yesterday’s match between the two L.A. teams and remarkably turn a game on a dime.  After Thursday night’s ten-hour flight to L.A. and a mere 48 hours after arriving, the L.A. Galaxy manager, losing 3-0 in the 70th minute, decided to put Ibrahimovic into the game.  Go to YouTube, watch what happens, and only hope the man called “Zlatan” has something better to do when the Galaxy host Atlanta United on April 21st.

Let’s be very clear:  I am a big supporter of Atlanta United defender Leandro Gonzalez Pirez (LGP).  I have told many that with some refinement he could be an excellent defender, maybe with a future with a club in Europe.  Last year, in Atlanta United’s inaugural year, LGP, while a big part of Atlanta United’s success, behaved at times like a rookie with unnecessary fouling, playing bad balls out of the defending third, and getting cautioned for silly reasons.  You would expect that after a year with the Club, his maturity would increase as well as his tactical awareness – the ability to understand the circumstances of the match at any one time.  Nope, as LGP once again has shown us (and more importantly Tata Martino), that while he may be a strong and a physical presence that is needed on the field, he ability to manage the game is nominal.  Last night, in an ugly but remarkable win at Minnesota United, LGP showed all of us why he has a long way to go with being a perennial defender in Major League Soccer.  Last night United is playing away in bitterly cold Minnesota with three of their key players unavailable to injury or illness.  Atlanta takes the lead early on but LGP had already been issued a caution in the 1st minute of the game.  So, with a 1-0 lead, three key players unavailable, and temperatures hovering around 20 degrees you would think LGP would defend with caution?  No, not exactly as in the 38th minute, for no apparent reason, he elects to go in on a hard tackle on a Minnesota player who is on the touch line (the sideline).  A ridiculous and stupid decision that we thought he had matured from – instead Atlanta is forced to play a man down for the balance of the match.  This stupidity cannot go on any longer.  Has Tata not convinced LGP to change his ways, play smart, and manage the game?  L.A. FC comes to Atlanta next Saturday and now LGP is suspended for the match. Let’s hope our sick and wounded recover quickly.   To LGP:  it is time to grow up young man.

It is Easter Sunday – enjoy the day and have a great week!

 

The March for Our Lives.  Top of Mind Things I Think.

Let there be no misunderstanding.  I am proud of all the people worldwide, especially the children, who gathered yesterday to make their voices heard regarding gun control.  I just wonder if their efforts are misguided?  As I stated in my February 18th post:  “I will not comment on why a 19-year old possessed a AR-15 rifle, groups of gun activists or gun control, nor our divided political system.  What I will comment on is school security.  Don’t get me wrong, I put no blame on the high school administrators where last week’s massacre took place.”  My bewilderment relates to the ability of someone, anyone, able to enter a school with little security in place.  I only wish that the protest would have been more focused on school safety than gun control.  With respect to the 2nd Amendment it is time for more controls to be put in place when purchasing a gun, but what would have been the difference if the sick 19 year-old had walked into Stoneman Douglas High School with a shotgun instead of an AR-15?  The importance of security and locking down our schools is still way more important than gun control.

Today is Palm Sunday.  Just as a reminder, Palm Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent, the beginning of Holy Week, and commemorates the triumphant arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, days before he was crucified.  I know all of you knew that.

The NCAA tournament committee:  nice job seeding Loyola-Chicago 11th.  The Ramblers destroyed Kansas State last night and go on to next weekend’s Final Four.  Yes, the 11th seed.

Juventus, who has won the Italian League (Serie A) a whopping 33 times, will play at  Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz stadium on August 1st.  That will be one hell of a summer party.

Ponce Inlet, located just south of Daytona Beach – one of the better beaches I have been on.  Relatively quiet, flat, and of course a beach bar or two.

Not that I have a deep understanding of basketball strategy, but what the heck was Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton thinking in the last two minutes of last night’s NCAA Elite Eight knockout game?  Weird tactics.

Next weekend: the Final Four, baseball season opens, Major League Soccer in full force and Easter Sunday.  Welcome to Spring.

Adios and have a Funday Sunday!

 

A Bridge Too Far.  Random Thoughts for Mid-March.

Growing up in a middle-class neighborhood of Miami, with the southwest section surrounded by Coral Gables to the east, Calle Ocho to the north, the Everglades to the west and Kendall to the south, my friends and I were able to use Tamiami Park and the brand new Florida International University (FIU) soccer fields to tone our skills.  FIU has grown to be a massive University, with world-class educational facilities supported by both private and public funds.  The school has helped the “Miami turnaround”, from the dark days of the “cocaine cowboys” to what is now one of the most vibrant metropolitan areas in the world.  Massive construction, new developments, and leading edge design have put Miami back in the media spotlight.  Unfortunately, the lack of due diligence, responsibility, testing, and oversight has again brought negative attention to South Florida.  On the heels of the Parkland tragedy, a pedestrian bridge, designed for rapid fabrication and installation, crashed onto a busy street last week killing six people and injuring many.  950 tons of steel and concrete crushing cars below as the ‘engineers’ were adjusting tension cables that support the bridge.  One engineer’s phone call to the State Authority mentioned cracks at one end of the bridge but stated that ‘no danger was imminent’ with adjusting the cables.  Sad, unfortunate and more importantly unnecessary sadness around the FIU campus and the Miami area for all the wrong reasons.  Was it too much pressure to get the bridge built, the lack of engineering, or the tactic of fabricating the bridge in one piece and ‘swinging into position”?  More importantly, when adjusting the cable tension of a new bridge, why was the road below not shut down for the hour or so when these adjustments were taking place?  Miami will overcome this tragedy – one that was senseless and avoidable.

The season started off with a bit of an alarming loss, but Atlanta United, led by manager Tata Martino’s shift in formation (or shape), has dominated their last two opponents in two easy wins.

One person in Pennsylvania is very happy this morning.  $457 million happy.

The NCAA tournament got off to the usual crazy start with Virginia, the #1 seed, crashing out to minnow UMBC.  March Madness true to the word.

Speaking of madness, are we already done with 2.5 months of 2018?

I thought most sectors of retail were stabilized and in some cases making a bit of a comeback?  Not so much.  Goodbye Toys “R” Us.

Pets on planes arriving in the wrong continent – so wrong.

86 degrees today in Orlando.  Summer has started.

Adios and Have a Funday Sunday!

 

 

Call It What You Want.

Trump & Kim Jong-Un:  Megalomaniacs

The 2nd Amendment: Confusing

Elon Musk:  Ballsy

March Madness:  Fun

BitCoins: Confusing

Putin: Shrewd

Syria: Hell

Chicago: Crime

Silicon Valley: Done

Stormy Daniels & Donald Trump:  Meh

Alexa: Obedient

Puerto Rico:  Forgotten

Atlanta United: Win

Daylight Savings Time: Thankful

Odell Beckham:  Bizarre

Spring Training Baseball:  Interesting

Regular Season Baseball:  Dull

Atlanta:  Traffic

Atlanta Hawks: Rebuild

Traffic:  I-4

Stock Market:  Uncertainty

International Women’s Day:  Passion

Canine Companions for Independence:  Amazing

Salvatore:  Entertaining

Adios and Have a Funday Sunday!

 

 

 

Just My Take.

Assault rifles are now coming out of the racks and cases at many retailers.  I support the Constitution including the 2nd Amendment but why did it take the tragedy in South Florida for these retailers to take action?

Major League Soccer, opening up it’s 23rd season today, has come a very long way.  Twenty-three years ago, USSF President Alan Rothenberg sat in my living room in Atlanta watching the inaugural MLS match on TV as his Atlanta hotel did not receive Univision.  The league has come a very long way.

A “Nor’easter” creating havoc this weekend in the New England area.  People killed and over a million people without power.  Thoughts and prayers for all of you dealing with this storm.

Tonight is the 90th Academy Awards.  Here is hoping that the Academy Award winners only thank the people who helped them and then get off the stage without political rants that dominated last year’s ceremony.   Maybe this time Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty can open the envelope and announce the real winner for best motion picture.  Meh.

Another March Madness and the NCAA basketball tournament – so fun to follow and watch the minnows upset the giants of college basketball.

Just when you think that our entire world has been discovered, a satellite has uncovered a “colony” of penguins living on an island located on the north side of Antarctica.  Maybe the word colony is the understatement of the year.  Scientists, who visited the remote island after the satellite’s discovery, found an estimated 1.5 million penguins enjoying the frozen tundra.  Sounds like this “colony” has found their paradise.

You would think Arsene Wegner, who has been Arsenal’s manager for 23 years, would like to leave his long tenure with the Club with dignity. Not that I really care about Arsenal but it is bit painful to see this man crashing out without significance.

The decision to “cord-cut” has now become mainstream.  In one of my earlier posts I had mentioned that cable operators were in disarray dealing with the number of monthly cancellations for cable service.  The more I talk with people, especially the under-40 crowd, the more I learn that services like YouTube TV,  Hulu and Netflix are becoming the go-to way to watch television content.  This practice will undoubtedly grow over time once fiber is installed nationwide.

Atlanta United:  the second season started similar to the inaugural season, with a loss at Houston.  Not much to discuss here but there is a silver lining to the 4-0 loss.  Thirty-three more games to go and yesterday’s game was a wake up call,  making the departures of Carlos Carmona and Yamil Asad a serious issue.  Focused training and NO more ball-watching will be a good start to correcting some of yesterday’s issues.

Trade wars and tariffs.  Per my no politics mantra, I will not go there……

Adios and Have a Funday Sunday! 

 

 

 

 

 

They Make It Look So Easy.  The Second Season.  Daylight Savings Time.

The “men of machismo” don’t always put men’s figure skating in the best light.  Maybe it is the costumes or the elegant flair that must be shown to differentiate your performance from others.  Maybe it is just the fact that the men are ‘simply’ ice skating and not competing in ski jumping, the luge, or on a 2-man bobsled team.  Though my baseline is zero as I have no clue how to even stand up on skates, I am one to hold these athletes in high regard.  Similar to gymnastics, the training begins early on and continues for many years.  Due to the lack of available ice time,  their first training session begins before dawn with the day ending in another late evening session.  The competition is fierce and culminates with the U.S. National Championships which is the qualification competition to make the Olympic Team.  One miscalculation, one chip in the ice that leads to a stumble, and after ten years of training, your chances of success go right down the drain.  They perform the infamous triple Salchow and the triple Axle….on ice.  I would enjoy seeing our infamous NBA, NFL, and MLB players trying these moves on a hard surface.  Maybe then the sport would receive the respect it deserves.  Scott Hamilton, a former gold medal-winning figure skater, who has survived four battles with cancer, estimates he fell over 4,000 times between training and his many years of competition.  He jumped back up 4,000 times.  Just for reference, here is the description of the Salchow move, named after figure skater Ulrich Salchow:  The Salchow is a figure skating jump with a takeoff from a back inside edge of one foot. The rotation in the air is made in the direction of the curve of the take-off edge. The landing is made on the back outside edge of the foot opposite the one used for take-off.  Really?  No thanks.

Speaking of lack of respect, I have heard many over the last two weeks crap all over the sport of curling.  “Shuffleboard on ice”, “stupid sport” and “what a joke” are some of the blurbs I have heard.  I will go down the same path as figure skating though the physicality necessary to figure skate and ‘curl’ are way different.  The technical aspects of curling are mind-boggling.  The ‘rock’ or ‘stone’ is sent down the ice with the designated pace and spin along with ‘sweepers’ warming the ice to move the stone down the targeted path. The objective is relatively simple: you want your stones to come closer to a bulls eye than your opponent when all the stones are thrown.  It sounds simple until you realize that the stone weighs 44 pounds and you must send it 150 feet down the ice to hopefully circumvent your opponents stones, or hit them out of the way to leave your stone closer to the bulls eye.  A bit weird to watch but it looks like a lot of fun to play.  That is, if you can stand and balance yourself on ice.

Atlanta United opens up their second season next Saturday afternoon at Houston.  Some new additions will add some additional fire power along with Josef Martinez and Miguel Almiron.  Watch for the pace when the counter-attack is on with newbies Darlington Nagbe, Ezequiel Barco and Franco Escobar. This should be a lot of fun to watch.

DST alert:  two weeks from today!

Have a Funday Sunday!

 

 

 

 

Access and Security.

On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution) were ratified by three-fourths of the States.  The second amendment is unfortunately top of mind these days with another school shooting, this time at a high school near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The Second Amendment reads: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.  Little did Thomas Jefferson know that when he authenticated and ratified the Bill of Rights, the second amendment would indirectly lead to many school tragedies including Sandy Hook, Columbine, Parkland, and many other shooting incidents at schools around the U.S.A.  Nor did he know how people of lesser minds would use the weapons allowed by the Second Amendment.

I will not comment on why a 19-year old possessed a AR-15 rifle, groups of gun activists or gun control, nor our divided political system.  What I will comment on is school security.  Don’t get me wrong, I put no blame on the high school administrators where last week’s massacre took place.  My bewilderment relates to the ability of someone, anyone, able to enter a school with little security in place.  As taxpayers, we support the use of schools using crossing guards to protect our students on a daily basis, but what about school security?  With the mental instability of so many, why are many schools left unprotected with the ability to enter a school with little deterrent?  I realize that based on the tax base every school system is different, but at a minimum, should we not employ off-duty police officers to protect our schools, no different than the school crossing guards who basically put their lives on the line every time they direct traffic?

I know these questions may be trivial, but not to the families and friends who lost loved ones last week.  No matter the politics, gun control will be an issue for many years to come.  So while our congressional leaders try to figure out what to do, can we not tackle the issue of security within our schools?

My heartfelt condolences to family and friends who lost their loved ones last week.  It should not be just another Funday Sunday.

Short Takes and DST Update.

Don’t let that measly ever-lasting smile alter your perception of her home ‘country’ of North Korea.  Kim Yo Jong,  sister of the young moron running that country,  has one purpose with her presence at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics – propaganda.  Detente?  Not a chance.

Nashville – great town, great music and now an MLS team coming on line in two years.  Definitely a destination anytime but especially when Atlanta United has an away game there.

Let’s hope that Tuscon’s maximum security prison provides Larry Nassar the misery and hell he deserves.

We all take it for granted.  You turn the faucet on and let it run for minutes while you rinse off dishes or scrub a pan.  Worse, we take showers that last way too long and use up way too much water.  No big deal until you understand that a few major cities around the world are now in a situation of water stress.  At first glance it does not make sense with 70% of the Earth’s surface covered by water.  Then we learn that only 3% of that water is fresh and that 3 billion people find water extremely scarce for at least one month of the year.  Cape Town is now in a precarious situation with their 4 million residents facing “Day Zero” as early as May.  “Day Zero” meaning all water is cutoff.  Someone way smarter than me (most) – please explain why the ocean’s water cannot be turned into fresh water to alleviate this problem.  My first thought: desalination – the process of removing salt from seawater.

It is maddening to get caught up in the craziness of the market over the last two weeks.  I hope what is happening is a ‘normal’ correction – the first correction in over two years.  Remember, the Dow was on a 7% rally year-to-date and enjoyed a record high on January 26th.  Let’s hope the correction corrects itself.

Early February is a rude awakening for many of us as we must wait until late August for the restart of football.  The silver lining:  only three weeks away from the start of Atlanta United’s season.  This is also the time of year that the Champions League match ups get interesting.  This week, check out Tottenham v. Juventus on Tuesday and PSG v Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Daylight Savings Time countdown:  4 weeks from today.

Adios and Have a Funday Sunday!  

 

 

 

Apathy.  Patton & Schwarzkopf.  DST Update.

My Super Bowl memories go way back – think Jerry Kramer’s block allowing Bart Starr to sneak into the end zone with thirteen seconds left in Super Bowl Two.  This was, and is to this day called the ‘Ice Bowl’ as it was 13 degrees below zero during most of the game.  My recall is even better with the Miami Dolphins and their back-to-back Super Bowl wins – especially the  1972 undefeated season.  Now skip forward to the Atlanta Falcons – a loss in Miami in the 1999 Super Bowl after their starting safety, with his family in the team hotel, was arrested at midnight before the game soliciting a prostitute.  Then, of course, last year’s Super Bowl where the Falcons forgot that it was a 60-minute game.  Later today, the 52nd Super Bowl kicks off and I have never experienced so much apathy towards the Super Bowl.  Is it the teams, is it their coaches and players, or did the behavior of many NFL players disenfranchise the core audience?  I will be watching the game, and the commercials, hoping that the Eagles can pull off an upset of Tom Brady and his Patriots.  As for the ratings, who really knows as the commercials and JT’s halftime show my trump the actual game.  No pun intended.

Three of my favorite leadership and courage quotes:                                                  “No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.”        “Sure, we all want to go home. We want to get this war over with. But you can’t win a war lying down. The quickest way to get it over with is to get the bastards who started it. We want to get the hell over there and clean the goddamn thing up, and then get at those purple-pissing Japs. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. So keep moving. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paper-hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler”.           “It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”

The Daylight Savings Time countdown:  5 weeks!

Adios and have a “Super” Sunday Funday.