And Justice For ALL!

It Could be a Miracle...
In a few short days, an African American man will move from his private residence into a much larger and infinitely more expensive one owned not by him but by the taxpayers. A vast lawn, a perimeter fence and many well trained security specialists will insulate him from the rest of us but the mere fact that this man will be residing in this house should make us all stop and count our blessings - because it proves that we live in a nation where anything is possible.
Many believed this day would never come. Most of us hoped and prayed that it would, but few of us actually believed we would live to see it. Racism is an ugly thing in all of it's forms and there is little doubt that if this man had moved into this house fifteen years ago, there would have been a great outcry - possibly even rioting in the streets.
Today, we can all be both grateful and proud that no such mayhem will take place when this man takes up residency in this house.
This man, moving into this house at this time in our nation's history is much more than a simple change of addresses for him - it is proof of a change in our attitude as a nation. It is an amends of sorts - the righting of a great wrong. It is a symbol of our growth, and of our willingness to "judge a man, not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character".
There can be little doubt now that the vast majority of us truly believe that this man has earned both his place in history and his new address. His time in this house will not be easy - it will be fraught with danger and he will face many challenges. I am sure there will be many times when he asks himself how in the world he ended up here and like all who have gone before him, the experience will age him greatly.
But I for one will not waste an ounce of worry for his sake - because in every way a man can, he asked for this. His whole life for the past fifteen years appears to have been inexorably leading this man toward this house. It is highly probable that that in the past, despite all of his actions, racism would have kept this man out of this house. Today, I thank the lord above that I am an American and that I live in a nation where wrongs are righted, where justice matters and where truly anything is possible.

That's right OJ is finally going to prison!
Who did you think I was talking about?

Noo Noos

If you know me (and I can't really imagine you'd be reading this if you don't) you know that I have three children. Ellie is 10, Cassie is 6 and Danny who is three. All three of my kids have very different personalities. The differences were apparent from a very early age. People told me just wait boys are different. Brandi and I sort of brushed that off and thought How different can it be when they're little. How on earth can gender specific personality traits be that evident at a young age. Oh brother!

One of these "little differences" is what we call his maneuvers. In Dannyspeak "Noonoos" these can take place in a variety of different ways. Jumping off anything he can climb on, landing on a bed/couch/pillow and going into a roll, jumping on you while seated/laying/sleeping/not at all expecting 35lbs to collide or land on you with all the gusto of a kamakaze pilot. Now some of these may be a little bit my fault. From a young age Danny watched movies, such as Rocky (aka Rockrock) with me. He then discover my boxing gloves. Now on occasion when he becomes frustrated with someone/something ie. me, his mother, his sisters, the dog, the battle cry "I go get my glove" can be heard, striking fear into the hearts of all in earshot. This results in the doleing out of crisp jabs or the round house right. The round house by the way if you are six foot tall, comes swiftly level with your groin. Fully awake I am usually faster than he is. But if I have not had enough coffee yet hilarity does not ensue. Another one of his signature moves is the "bows to the domepiece". This is when the elbow is raised and displayed, it is then tapped twice in a menacing fashion and hurled at the victims head. This happens to sleeping victims sometimes. So you see my point. My girls at this age were sweet considerate and loving. Not that Danny isn't all of those things, but there is definately a different type of energy there. I'm sure there will be a constructive outlet for it eventually, until then when I hear "I go get my glove" I'll cover my junk.

The Carolina Panthers

Anyone who has spent five minutes around me during a conversation about football knows I have thought Jake Delhomme sucks! I have been aware of this for several years. The Panthers have enjoyed a fair amount of success during his tenure at quaterback, however this is in spite of him. He had nothing to do with it. Well Saturday night the rest of the world ( Panthers fans in particular) saw what I noticed a few years ago. If the Panthers have to throw the ball they will lose.....badly! First of all they have one of the best recievers in football, Steve Smith. This guy is a bulldog. He wrestles more bad throws away from defenders than you can count. I just don't understand how anybody thinks Jake is any good. My wife who knows very little about football but has listened to my anti-Jake rants (god bless her) understands why he sucks. You have a staff of highly paid coaches, scouts and talent evaluators who have spent their entire lives around the game of football, they think he's ok. So Mr. Richardson (the Panthers owner) here is what you need to do to fix the Panthers.
1. Send Jake packing, now! Trade him for a big bag of used jock straps. He's going to cost you 11 million dollars next year. And he sucks!
2. Fire John Fox! Have you seen a press conference? He couldn't get a bunch of fat chicks excited about lunch. His play calling is geared towards boring. 3rd and 13 let's run a draw. He has one of the most dynamic playmakers of the last decade and does not utilize him. Plus he left Jake in the game long enough to commit 6 turnovers. At some point you realize it's not his night. That's why there is a big long bench just off to the side of the playing surface. Does he know that there are 3 quarterbacks on the roster?
3. Do not resign Julius Peppers, I know he's a local guy, and has all the physical potential in the world, but he's going to get a 50 million dollar contract this year make sure it's from someone else. You know what all that got you Saturday night? You how many tackles he made? 2!!!!! Yep that was two more than I made. I was asleep on the couch by halftime. If I could have stayed awake and made the trip into Charlotte I probably could've tripped two people.
4. The first 4 draft picks this year should be on defense, in the secondary. Preferably guys who on occasion cover someone and/or tackle memebers of the opposite team. Arizona due to an injury had one offensive weapon, Larry Fitzgerald. You know he's good, you know they will throw him the ball. Maybe, just maybe there should've been a little something in the defensive game plan to stop him. 8 catches 166 yards and two touchdowns! They didn't even slow him down.
This list is not all inclusive mind you but it is a good start. It was amazing the Panthers won 12 games this year but they did play: Detroit (0-16) Kansas City (4-12) Oakland(5-11). And by the way they barely beat Oakland and Detroit. Jake had one good game this year against KC. That was it. At least he's in the last year of his contract but I don't know why you let him play. As far as I can see the only thing he does well is make Bojangles commercials.
SHOW ME THE CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!!!

New Year!

Maybe I should've have called this thing "Almost quarterly thoughts" that may have been more accurate. Well the holidays are over, the tree is to the curb so to speak and a new year has begun. Some people use this time for resolutions or fresh starts, some as a time for reflection of the past year the good things and mistakes made. I started thinking about the past year and WHOA! it has been one hell of a year, both personally and on a much bigger stage. 2008 was a much better year than 07 for me, it started with a glimmer of hope. Hope is a wonderful thing, it's all some people have left, it's all some people cling to. But except in the most dire of circumstances I believe hope is not enough. That make sound a little odd but if you keep reading you'll get it. You see hope by itself is just hoping something will happen. In order for hope to grow into something larger it needs to be fed, by what you might ask? Action. You can hope something is going to happen to you, or you can do what you can to make it happen for you. What can you do everyday to make it happen. In the end it might not happen but if you did all you can you'll be ok with it. That being said my advice or approach for the new year will be the same as the last year. Being a Navy man I love nautical references and analogies, they translate pretty good to everyday life. So here it is Check your compass, set your heading, and stay the course. There will be heavy seas, they won't last forever, stay the course. Hurricane on the horizon? Stay the course. Don't be tempted by the siren's song, stay the course. Always know if you stay the course that you'll make it to port. See think about it the nautical thing works! (Jimmy Buffet gets it) Well thats it for now I wish everyone a happy new year filled with hope and promise and I hope you don't get scurvy!(or MRSA)