Ozzie Loves Fidel

"I love Fidel Castro. I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that son of a bitch is still there." - Ozzie Guillen

The Firing Of Bobby Petrino

And What It Says About The Public

At 7:15 CDT, University of Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long announced that head football coach Bobby Petrino would be terminated effective immediately. All of this stemming from an improper affair with an employee brought to light after a recent motorcycle crash involving Petrino and the woman.

Why My Son Won't be Playing Football Anytime Soon

"Momma said 'Knock you out!'"

One year. That's how long Saints coach Sean Payton has been suspended for lying about his knowledge of the bounty program under DC Gregg Williams (now with the Rams). Other punishments were handed down to the Saints, like a $500k fine and the loss of two second round picks (2012 and 2013). Payton will also lose over $7 million in salary. That's a lot of cheddar.

Ok, so enough with the news sounding part. You want that, just follow the link to ESPN where they pay people to be unbiased. Or at least, that's what they say.

Look, Goodell is not my favorite person. I think he's boorish and conniving. It's pretty obvious he doesn't really care about the players (18 games? Really?). The fact that this suspension is political because the NFL is currently facing 20 some odd lawsuits from former players regarding concussions and the lack of forethought by the league on that issue is quite evident. People are right to point out the hypocrisy of Goodell's decision.

But that doesn't mean the suspension is wrong. Or unjustified. Or even excessive. Honestly, I wish it would've gone further and included any players that were involved. If Gregg Williams had been expelled from the league, I would support it. This isn't about the hypocrisy of the league or Goodell. It's not.

COACHES ARE PAYING PLAYERS TO PURPOSELY HURT EACH OTHER!!! HOW THE HELL CAN WE ACT LIKE THAT ISN'T A HUGE FUCKING DEAL!!!

Football is a violent sport. It is. No getting around that. And I think the truth is most people in America get that. But this goes far above and beyond regular injuries. At least in my not so humble opinion. In the real world, paying someone to purposely hurt an individual is a crime. Purposely hurting an individual is a crime. It's called "assault and battery". It's a violation of property rights. It's wrong. Immoral. I hope you get where I'm headed here.

I never play organized football (no matter how much the coaches and I pestered my mother), so I don't really know if players go out there to hurt each other whether there is a bounty or not. But the fact that so many players came out and said they weren't surprised by this development is disconcerting as a fan. It seriously makes me not want to watch. And because so many players and coaches (and fans) seem to have such a nonchalant view to this, it will trickle down. Anything that happens in the NFL always trickles down to college and high school. Sometimes this is good (teams using concussion reducing helmets). In this case, it would be horrendous.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that players seem to have no problem with the bounty system, or that fans aren't just egregiously appalled by that fact. I'm appalled. I don't know if I'm going to watch the NFL at all next year. I probably will. Sports (strategy, really) is a bit of an obsession for me. Goodell really cracking down on this kind of shit would go a long way to restoring my somewhat limited faith on the NFL actually wanting to protect its players, even if coaches and they apparently don't care themselves.

But I can tell you a couple of things: 1) My mother may not have as been as uncool as I thought she was when she wouldn't let me play football in school, and that's because 2) I'm not letting my son play football.

You can follow me on Twitter at: @Jake_Collin.

Why I'm Starting This Blog

At one point, I had four blogs. I know. Excessive. It stems from my incessant need for compartmentalization. My first blog, One Man's Liberty, was political. I discussed every and any thing involved with politics, from the Federal Reserve and monetary policy to immigration to drug policies to foreign policy. Some people even read it! (Not many though)

My second blog, Jake's Studio, was about my writing. I posted original stories and reviews of any TV shows that I felt like reviewing along with any TV, movie, or book news I found interesting. Some people read it too. Mainly Russian and Chines bots.

As for the other two, Just 4 U (MIL's and SIL's invitation/fancy stuff business) and Academy of Free Thought (my education blog), I haven't actually posted any content to them yet, and I won't unless my MIL and SIL decide they want to start the website.

What I want to do with The Rantin' Arkansan is condense these blogs into one, plus add other areas. Basically, anything that interests me. I'll discuss politics. I'll discuss philosophy. I'll discuss education. I'll discuss writing. I'll discuss TV, movies and books. I'll discuss sports. I'll discuss family, life, and emotions. I'll post stuff bragging about my son (because he's awesome!), and I'll post stuff bragging about my wife (because she's awesome too!). I promise you that I won't always write like this. I am quite capable of varying sentence structure and syntax. I think.

WARNING: I will piss people off! Sometimes I curse. Sometimes I curse a lot. I'm a market anarchist. I will explain that later. I can be arrogant, indignant, and a complete jackass sometimes (or so my wife says). I hold many unpopular opinions, and I'm not afraid to put them out there. I will not kowtow to politically correct language. But, I also won't try to say things that are mean or overly insensitive. I do ask, when (more likely if) commenting, please don't attack people. I also do not tolerate trolling.

Essentially, I started this blog because I feel like I've got stuff to say, and my wife is tired of listening to me bitch about it all. I look forward to some fun discourse (if anyone ends up ever reading this).

-Jake