Church and Synagogue- losing members?

I just read an interesting article on ClashDaily.com about how come men are leaving the Church. One theory is that there is too much touchy-feely effeminate messages being communicated at the pulpit, which turns off a lot of men. I was wondering if the Synagogue is suffering from a similar illness or are our challenges much different?

One question that would be good to ask is how many men in these churches are Single NBM's (Never Been Marrieds). Married men have more incentive to go to church (or synagogue) than single guys. Most of what single men do relates to their job or academic training and social life, and quite frankly, their social life is found at bars and clubs, not at places of worship.

What is important for both the Church and Synagogue is to keep the seats filled or stop losing members. Strong messages and male leadership is important for both Jews and Christians. Otherwise, there is very little point in attending a place of worship.

Cowboys not special- Prove it

In my humble opinion, the Dallas Cowboys are no longer America's team. They aren't worth all of this adulation. They shouldn't get 5 or 6 nationally televised games (NBC Sunday Night, Monday Night Football). So, what Fox Sports should do is FIRE all of the Cowboys and replace them with players from other teams. That means Jimmy Johnson, Troy Aikman and Darryl Johnston, see you later. Because there are former Cowboys in the media, that's why they get all of this attention.

Why I want Gonzaga to reach Final Four

I have followed Gonzaga's men's basketball team for a while. They have been consistently good, but have yet to reach the Final Four. The closest that they got was in 1999, when they made the Elite Eight and lost to Connecticut, who won the NCAA title that year.

What Gonzaga reaching the Final Four would do is the following. It would remove the monopoly that Washington enjoys. Since the Washington Huskies have been around for the longest time and had their glory football years, people assume that they will do so in basketball. To be truthful, Washington made the Final Four, in 1953. However, the NCAA Men's tournament of the 1950's was a far cry from what it is today. Television coverage of college sports was minimal, obviously this was before ESPN and other networks. Quite frankly, some of the pro-Husky sports talk show hosts on KJR 950, such as Dave Softy Mahler don't acknowledge Gonzaga's existence or like it when Gonzaga loses to a Butler or Ohio State. These people need to be put in their place and realize that Washington may have "NBA-Talent" but very little clue of the team concept necessary to win. Let's take last year. Washington had Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten Junior, two talented players. Yet, Washington didn't win a big road or neutral court game all year and was relegated to the NIT. Washington rode three home games to the NIT Final Four where they lost on a neutral floor again. This is so typical of Northwest teams, the inability to win a big road game. It would be nice for Gonzaga to demonstrate to the Husky honks how it's done and maybe, just maybe these clowns would learn the art of winning on the road.

GOP Outreach- Ocean Shores ideal location

It's interesting to me that there was a conference called The Roanoke Conference, held this past weekend in Ocean Shores, Washington on the Pacific Ocean coastline. The point of this conference was for the Washington State GOP and Conservative groups to get together and figure out what went wrong in November.

It seems to me that while it's important to get away to reflect on what went wrong and what went right, the GOP brand nationally is damaged. One solution is to make inroads with non-whites and to set up shop in the urban areas. I advocate for this. One of the things that impressed me about McKenna was the fact that he had an office in the International District, not too far from Rainier Avenue. Unfortunately, there needs to be more of this done by the Republicans in Washington State.

The GOP in Washington State, as well as nationally, has to get out of comfortable places such as Ocean Shores, Bellevue, etc. and get down and dirty in the urban areas and fight for the urban vote. If the Democrats want to hold fancy retreats, let them. We have to focus on our problems first.

Unless someone can convince me that today's Democrats will stand up for Israel and the Jewish state, as well as for free enterprise and growing the economy, I can't support them honestly. I suppose I could fake my support for the Democrats, but where do we agree? Taxes, Social Issues, the Environment? Because many other Jews in Orthodox and Conservative synagogues vote Democrat?

I need a legitimate opposition party philosophically, not just me-too ism to get along and have cushy jobs and pay lip service to "Republican" ideals.

Political ponderings

While a lot has happened since the Election, with the catastrophic loss of life at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December with the horrific shootings, the subsequent push for gun control and the inauguration, I have a few comments or thoughts.

1) The Republicans need to set up offices in the urban areas and do outreach to young and ethnic minorities, or people who aren't usually thought of as "Republican" if they wish to be a viable opposition party. I don't live and die with the GOP, but I do share common interests and values with them, so it's in my interest as a religiously committed Jew to have them succeed. I certainly don't want our country to turn into a larger Britain or Greece, which is where we are headed should the Democrats continue this run of theirs. Imagine if Romney had won, Chuck Hagel would be nowhere near the Secretary of Defense nomination. John Kerry wouldn't be considered for Secretary of State. We'd have an Attorney General who would be stronger on crime.

2) Jay Inslee really makes me sick to be a Washingtonian. What is his top priority? Talking to Eric Holder with the equally inept Bob Ferguson about exempting Washingtonians from being prosecuted for growing and smoking marijuana. Forget job creation or making public education effective. No, the pot smokers are more important to him.

I realize that McKenna may not be the ideal or dream Republican for the more socially conservatives in this state, however, sometimes you have to put the greater good of a state or nation ahead of your personal preferences. The good news for Washington State is that Kim Wyman is Secretary of State and that with the guy from Medina we control one of the houses of the legislature in Olympia, so it may be harder for Inslee to jam too many wacky things down our throats.

Red Sox Ruses

Recently, the Boston Red Sox have done some things that I find problematic. After a dramatic collapse in 2011, in which the team blew a seven-game lead to the Tampa Bay Rays for the wild card, they fired Terry Francona and had the "brilliant" idea of hiring ESPN announcer Bobby Valentine. In 2012, they had their worst year since the 1960's, going 69-93 and then canned Bobby Valentine. All of a sudden, they decided to get someone who is already managing, in John Farrell, their former pitching coach, and were able to get him for a backup middle infielder. This is unethical and bullying on the part of the Red Sox. Who are they to dictate who gets to be a manager and who doesn't? The commissioner should have stepped in and forced the Red Sox to give up a position player or starting pitcher and draft picks for a manager under contract. Good news for Toronto, they made a big trade with the Miami Marlins and are expected to contend in the AL East this year. Toronto re-hired John Gibbons as its manager. Gibbons managed the Blue Jays from 2004-2008. I would have liked to see Toronto hire Sandy Alomar, Jr. as manager. Maybe after Dale Sveum loses 96 games for the Cubs in 2013 he can go to Chicago and fix the Cubs.

Also, Boston recently traded for Pittsburgh's closer, Joel Hanrahan. They sent four nobodies to Pittsburgh for an All-Star Closer. This again is bullying. We're Boston and we can push you "small-market" teams around if we want to. Let Pittsburgh have a chance to win for once.

Boston's sports teams think that they're above the law, especially with some of the former Red Sox using Steroids and the Patriots spying on other teams. I wouldn't be surprised if the Celtics and Bruins engaged in shenanigans.

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.