Weekend Sports Recap

Well, to recap an interesting weekend in sports.
1) A freshman from Texas A&M won the Heisman Trophy. In my opinion, while his stats were Heisman-worthy, I would have voted for a number of different candidates. First would have been Collin Klein, Quarterback of Kansas State for leading his team to an 11-1 record and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl. I also would have voted for Manti Te'o of Notre Dame and even Kenjon Barner, Oregon's running back, over Johnny Manziel. Manziel won because of one big game, beating Alabama on the road.

2) Gonzaga lost to Illinois at home last night and my two LEAST favorite Pac-12 teams won, Arizona beat Clemson in Clemson and UCLA beat Texas in Houston at Reliant Stadium.
From the Illinois perspective, it was a big win for the new coach, John Groce. Illinois is 10-0 and worthy of a top ten ranking. Brandon Paul is a big-time player or as Dick Vitale calls it, a PTPer.
From the Gonzaga perspective, this game as well as the Saturday night game against Kansas State at Key Arena are two of the harder games or truer national tests. Gonzaga didn't fare well enough last night.
In order for Gonzaga to have a legitimate chance at the Final Four, they need to end up with 4-5 losses at most and 3-5 seed in the West, playing in San Jose or Salt Lake City and then in the Western Regional at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. I hope that can still happen.

3) Chicago Bears lost 21-14 to the Minnesota Vikings at the Metrodome and the Seattle Seahawks embarrassed the Arizona Cardinals 58-0. Seattle and Chicago are both 8-5. Given how they're playing, I think that the Seahawks stand a better chance of making the playoffs than the Bears. Maybe Detroit can do Chicago a favor and beat the Green Bay Packers tonight.

4) Chicago's NBA team beat the Knicks and Pistons over the weekend to reclaim first place in the Central Division, while the Pacers slipped to second. My hope is that Derrick Rose comes back in February or March and the team can get hot.

Civic Interest- Force Lincoln Out?

In my humble opinion, the stewardship of Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong as CEO and President of the Seattle Mariners Baseball Club has been pathetic. Since 2001, the Mariners haven't made the playoffs and in the last 9 years, they have had 2 winning seasons. No free agent worth his salt is going to come to Seattle. I doubt seriously that Josh Hamilton would want to come to Seattle. They haven't won and there are more "temptations" for him in Seattle than in Dallas, especially with all of the marijuana smokers who successfully pushed across the initiative to allow medical marijuana.

Who should replace these two individuals? Maybe Steve Ballmer or another Microsoft person. Perhaps Jeff Bezos of Amazon could do a better job than Howard Lincoln. One thing is for sure, the Mariners may be last on the sports plate in Seattle. I'd almost rather follow the Seattle Storm or Sounders than this pathetic franchise.

1) Seattle Seahawks
2) Washington Huskies Football
3) Washington Huskies Basketball
4) Seattle Mariners
Gaining rapidly are the Sounders and Storm. The Storm won two WNBA titles, in 2004 and 2010.

Honorable Mention: Gonzaga University Basketball.

Failure of Conservatives/Republicans

Based on the election results of a few weeks ago, I have come to some conclusions.

Why Sean Hannity and other Conservatives on Fox News should be Fired

Sean Hannity, as the unofficial leader of the anti-Obama crowd at Fox News, spent the last four years trying to get rid of Barack Obama. He did tons of stories and promoted guests dedicated to make Obama a one-term president. He promoted a few guests and candidates who proved to be worthless. Ultimately, this election showed that he has no influence and no one can take him seriously. He can not be trusted with a Television show, because it is a) unbalanced b) boring and tedious and c) his side lost.

I think that Hannity's time slot should be filled by a younger hipper host, someone like Greg Gutfeld.

What applies to Sean Hannity, applies to Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin as well. Your message didn't sell and you're too old to change. Bring in some younger fresh blood.

We should NEVER see Karl Rove again. We probably shouldn't see Newt Gingrich again either and same for a lot of the Bush 43 advisers because they helped sink the GOP.

Perhaps we need some more Libertarians or libertarian-leaning people, with some strong defense and national security people.

My political beliefs

I have voted Republican ever since I was old enough to vote, which was in 1992, when I was in college. I used to be more "socially conservative", now I'm socially moderate.

Here's what is important to me.

1) As a Jew, it is essential that America stands with Israel and supports it through thick and thin. Israel is surrounded by 20 countries who want to "drive it into the sea". The Republicans are more on Israel side than are the Democrats.

2) Fiscal reasons or budget. The Republicans are better about sticking to a budget than are the Democrats.

3) National Security and the Military: The Republicans back the military and the mission of the military and its' local National Guards to a much greater extent than the Democrats do.

4) Traditional values. While no party or human is perfect or even saintly, the Republicans in some fashion try to stick to traditional values. It isn't a great idea to shove same-sex marriage down regular folks' throats. If there are people who are attracted to members of their own gender, that's fine, but don't ask the rest of your society to foot the bill.

Washington Elected two worst candidates

The State of Washington elected the two least-qualified human beings to the position of Governor and Attorney General this week. Jay Inslee was elected Governor and Bob Ferguson was elected Attorney General. As best as I can tell, their qualifications consisted of a) being Democrats b) having a Law Degree and c) being bland enough to not say anything too controversial.

These two human beings are so INFERIOR to Rob McKenna and Reagan Dunn that it is mind-boggling how they got elected.

Any Jew in Washington State who voted for these two individuals has a lot of explaining to do to me.

We, people of the "Book" should be savvy enough to know that Rob McKenna and Reagan Dunn are much more qualified for the positions of Governor and Attorney General. Instead these "People of the Book" voted for the party above the individual. What a shame.

Josh Normand

Jewish Case for McKenna

Washington State has two important state-wide races this November. One is for Attorney General, the other is for Governor. In the Governor's race, the candidates are Rob McKenna, Republican and Jay Inslee, Democrat. I whole-heartedly support Rob McKenna for Governor. I will list the reasons why I support him and urge other Jewish people in Washington State.

1) Job Creation. Given the high unemployment rate in Washington state, Rob McKenna's plan for job creation has a good chance of working. Two of the largest barriers to the survival of small businesses are the sales tax system, which is based on destination and the fact that all revenues are taxed, not just net receipts.  With different counties and cities charging different sales tax rates, this rule is an administrative headache for small businesses. This requirement is a burden both at the start of a sale, as the proper tax rate must be determined to give customers accurate quotes, and after the sale, when detailed records must be kept and systems put in place to ensure that sales tax is applied to the correct taxing district. All of this adds to the complexity and expense of tax compliance for small businesses.  Rob's solution is  to return to origin-based sales tax collection, so small business owners need only be familiar with sales taxes rules in their location, not every location in the state. Or, consider relief such as offering a sales tax collection allowance to offset the costs of collecting sales tax. The second problem is the B&O (Business and Occupation) tax is a burden for small businesses which, collectively, are the largest employer in the state. Rob's solution is to Small businesses, particularly those with small profit margins, struggle to keep their doors open in this economy.  The flawed income tax initiative from 2010 (I‑1098) offered one good idea, increasing the Business & Occupation tax credit to $4,800 per year for small businesses in all categories. The estimated cost of this credit is less than two percent of the state's revenues, while more than 118,000 small businesses would be exempted from the cost and headaches of paying the B&O tax. This credit could be phased in over time, and funded in part by changing outdated or ineffective tax policies and preferences.

2) Rob McKenna has worked on cases to combat the problem of underage girls being exploited for sexual purposes. This effort of his shows his commitment to justice for all.

Unfortunately, sex trafficking is a big problem, and McKenna has worked to fight this as best as he can. Justice for all, not just a select few, is something that Jewish voters can identify with and support.

3) Education: McKenna's education plan will help Washington State students become more competitive state-wide and nationally. As we know, Washington State is an important player in the technology field as well as biotechnology. Having a governor who understands this is vital to our state's future success.

Seahawk loss on Defense

In the last 10 days, the Seattle Seahawks have lost two games, one to San Francisco by the score of 13-6 and today to Detroit by the score of 28-24. Today's loss belongs on the defense, the Defensive Coordinator and the head coach. For all of the talk that I've heard about how good the Seahawks' defense is and how they stopped Rodgers and Brady, who have been in 6 Super Bowls and won 4 of them, they allowed the Lions to go down the field in the last five minutes of the game and score the winning touchdown. A playoff-caliber team doesn't allow that to happen.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, the Chicago Bears came back from a 19-7 deficit to beat the Carolina Panthers 23-22 on a field goal by Pro Bowler Robbie Gould as time expired. I don't know if the Bears will be in the Super Bowl come February. I do know that they're better than Seattle.

Seattle sports- why they don't win

There are a few reasons why these Seattle sports teams don't win.

1) In football, we have a college coach who thinks that low-scoring wins enough games. He doesn't want an elite quarterback just someone who can manage the game and keep it close. That isn't the way to play today. What good receiver or quarterback would want to play for him? Not me. He does not coach the way that Walsh and Seifert would. Good coaches should emulate winners, not mediocre people who hold on to a job because they're buddies with the Owner and Executives of that particular team.

2) The distance between Seattle and San Francisco/Bay area, which is approximately 800 miles, makes it easy to accept mediocrity. Most of the Midwest and Eastern teams are bunched closer together. Yes, the Cubs have been horrendous for a while, but they have to compete with Milwaukee and St. Louis, in addition to their rivals to the South Side of the city. Chicago and Milwaukee are 93 miles apart. Big difference there.

Strength versus Kindness

It seems today that the virtue of strength has been minimized or pushed aside to make way for kindness. People want too much politeness and niceness and not enough of strength and manliness. We see this a lot in the educational system. The educational system is run by a bunch of nannies and do-gooders, who don't value old-fashioned masculinity and femininity. Even if I was educated outside of this way, it affects me when I work and interact with people who come from this school of thought.

Lincoln, Armstrong and Zdurencik failures

Assuming that the Seattle Mariners finish in last place again, I want the CEO, President and GM of the Mariners to be fired and thrown out of professional sports for good. These men are too old and slow-witted to be baseball executives in the 21st Century. Why are the Oakland Athletics, a terrible franchise with an awful ugly ballpark, better than the Mariners? Answer: Their brain and Owners care more and have a better farm system than Seattle's. For example, Jon Daniels of Texas and Andrew Friedman of Tampa Bay are younger and smarter than Zdurencik. That's why those teams have been to the World Series recently and the Mariners haven't.

Random Thoughts

1) Saw a disturbing story today on the news with these Little League Parents getting into a fight after a game in Georgia. Very deplorable. Makes me feel weird and guilty that I want one or two of the Seattle Mariners to get into a fight or altercation with one of their rivals, particularly the Texas Rangers and Anaheim Angels. However, no one on the Mariners has the type of internal fire necessary to get riled up enough. Interesting that these parents of Little Leaguers go crazy and their kids don't get paid to play.

2) As much as I love Fox News, I detest Fox Sports. They're AWFUL!!! Buck, McCarver, Rose, Albert, Siragusa, Aikman, all of them are second class sports journalists. Anyone who is good works for ESPN, MLBNetwork or NBC. Other than one of my friends who works for Fox Sports Radio, I can't see supporting that network too much.

3) Looking forward to seeing the Nationals and maybe Orioles in the baseball playoffs this year.

Hockey season over- Real Work Begins

Thankfully, the Los Angeles Kings won Game 6 tonight to win their first ever Stanley Cup. Now the real work begins. It's about time that the Owners and Executives of the NHL stand up and throw out Gary Bettman as commissioner. He has done an awful job and put the sport so far under the radar screen it's amazing. Because he's an American, he doesn't understand the culture of hockey. If the NHL needs a Commissioner or President, it should be someone who understands both the Canadian and American viewpoints. Shouldn't the Canadian teams get together and try to throw him out? I don't know if the American teams are as interested in getting rid of Bettman, as they seem to do well financially under him.

Recall Elections: Useful exercises or Waste of Money?

Tomorrow in the State of Wisconsin, they are having a recall election: While everyone is focusing on the Governor's race, Scott Walker versus Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch is also being recalled. Hopefully Walker and Kleefisch will win.

In my opinion, should the Democrats and Big Union bosses lose tomorrow, there should be some sort of penalty given to them, beyond the shame of losing a recall election. I don't know the laws of Wisconsin well enough, but either a hefty fine or jail time might do the trick and make people think twice before recalling someone, just because you don't like them.