Why Blitz?: The Pilot Blog

For the Pilot Blog, let's get a few things out of the way:

I have opinions, but by no means are they profound. I'm a pretty smart guy, but I don't have expertise on any one subject . In this blog, I am not going to try to be sly or clever. I'm not going to write anything controversial for the sake of being controversial. In all honesty, this blog could turn out to be quite boring.

But what I am going to do is write about things I like to talk about. And those things could very well interest you.

If you need more, read the blog's description. It took me an hour just to figure out what the hell to describe this blog as in 500 characters or less.


Let's jump into today's topics:

As you will see, I am one of the most avid sports fans I know (ego check). I check espn.com probably about a dozen times a day. I think its an obsessive addiction. I have NFL Sunday Ticket and probably will get the NBA League Pass. Just so you know where I am coming from. But anyway let's start in the sports world.

Vince Young-Leave The Dude Alone

Last weekend's game against the Jaguars, Young threw two interceptions and was booed by his home crowd. He sat on the bench after the second interception and balked at going back into the game during the next possession. After the game, it was claimed that it was an "injury" issue. Then Monday it was reported that Young told his coach he didn't want to play anymore. Then that night, the police was summoned to find Vince Young because apparently he had gone missing. He was found several hours later eating buffalo wings and watching the Monday football game at a buddy's house. He had left his cell phone at home, probably on purpose.

ESPN's article about Vince Young

Today, Vince Young was forced to answer questions about still wanting to play football. While I drive around LA, I often listen to local LA Sports Talk Radio (I told you, I am obsessed). While they played a sound byte from Vince Young, the music underneath was Gnarls Barkley's song "Crazy".

I have always been a person who thinks professional athletes need to be held to a higher standard considering the money they are making and their place in society. But to publicly doubt a person's mental health who you don't even know and call him crazy and laugh about it is horrible.

Vince Young is not crazy, nor does he have "mental health issues" (and even if he did, that's not something to laugh and mock about). He is an insecure public figure who is struggling at something he had always thought he was the best at. We have all been at a place in our lives where we doubt ourselves and been confused on which way to turn.

The fact that Vince Young went to a buddy's house to watch a football game and eat wings means he handled whatever was going on inside in his head the right way. He relaxed, hung out with a friend, and wanted to be left alone. Good for him. He didn't get arrested. He didn't go to a strip club or have unmeaningful sex with groupies. He didn't destroy a hotel room. He didn't get into a fight nor tell anyone off. He simply left his cell phone at home. Good for you Vince Young. No one will give him credit for this, but that's how a role model should act in times of trouble. Take a break. We all need it sometimes.

McCain/Palin---I Miss the Old John McCain.

It's always disheartening when you see a politician change their view point or their opinions simply to be liked and to get votes. But this Sarah Palin thing has gone too far.

John McCain was once a senator that both Democrats and Republicans respected. He gave his views on the world. If you agreed, great. If you didn't, then so be it. He wasn't going to change. That's what made him so endearing to both side of the aisles. I am still convinced, if health issues for both himself and his wife didn't arise and he was able to run a much more focused campaign, he would have been the Republican nominee in 2000.

He has always been a war hawk (note: not monger...there's a difference). He has always been pro-life. He has always been pro-stem cell research. He was uniquely John McCain, a Republican who knew right from wrong (that can't be said for all those people).

But now I am confused and, frankly, distraught. A 44-year old attractive, ultra-conservative, 1st time governor from Alaska? I am by no sexist, but choosing Sarah Palin is a joke. If you wanted to go female, how about Kay Hutchinson from Texas (Kay Hutchinson's homepage)? She's a three-term senator from Texas who supported the war and has the same views on immigration as McCain. Or if he wanted a female governor, go with Connecticut governor M. Jodi Rell....a pro-life, pro-stem cell research Republican just like McCain.

This pick for VP was a thinly veiled attempt to attract voters who could give two s*** about policy and experience. They wanted a pretty face who could make speeches. Both attributes that McCain lacks. They wanted someone who will say all the right Republican things. Who is just happy to be here...in other words a lackey.

I thought McCain was better then that. And apparently he was....up until the final few days before Palin was annouced. By all reports McCain was leaning towards selecting the 2000 DEMOCRATIC VP Candidate Joe Liberman.

Article about McCain's near picking of Liberman

Joe Liberman, for everything he is (a staunch supported of censorship) and isn't (young and dynamic), he has respect, much like McCain did, across party lines. Some Democrats hate him for his torpedoing the 2000 election recount bid. But no one doubts his willingness to stand up and say what he thinks. Much like what McCain used to do. The fact that his party convinced him to go with a lackey as his running mate really makes me miss the old John McCain.

John Kerry said in his address to the DNC this year said that "I have known and been friends with John McCain for almost 22 years. But every day now I learn something new about candidate McCain."

I learned something too from the presidential candidate John McCain. He's not the same Senator McCain that we once respected.


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