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Rian: Tell us a little about yourself in general.
Laura: I was born in Minneapolis, which in retrospect was a wonderful city to be ejected into. As fate would have it, my mother was a successful Confession writer who basically supported the family.
I thought all mothers wrote love stories, so at the age of five asked the neighbor lady "Where's your typewriter?" Up until that age, I'd wanted to be a movie star. But when fate stepped in and I fell and ended up with a bad scar on my leg, my starlet hopes were dashed. "Now I can't be a movie star," I announced to my mother. "Oh, but they can put makeup on it," she'd consoled. "No, now I have to be a writer." Actually, I can't think of anything else I'd rather be. Through the years I've sold a couple of dozen romance stories as well as have worked as a copywriter and staff writer on a motivational magazine.
Rian: What made you decide to write your debut chick lit novel See Mommy Run?
Laura: It probably had something to do with raising four teenagers who believed their father and I were not particularly bright and felt sorry for themselves that were destined to a boring middle-class fate that exposed them to little more than school, the local Mexican restaurant, and the bowling alley. No, I never ran away, but there were times when I fervently wished I were on a beach in Tahiti drinking a cold O'Doul's.
Rian: Is the main character Margie based on you or your life (past, present or future), and if so, in what way?
Laura: I imagine there's a lot of Margie in me. Or a lot of me in Margie. I think it's impossible for an author to write about any character without throwing in her two-cents-worth. Margie and I agree about a lot of things: one being her philosophy about contemporary mothers who have been sold a bill of goods about the glories of combining motherhood and a career. I think motherhood is great! I think a career is great! But I also think today's mothers are killing themselves by attempting to be Super Mom and do both. My mother used to remind me there was a time when women actually had time to arrange little neighborhood luncheons at each other's homes. Now a woman can barely squeeze out fifteen minutes for lunch at her desk. Of course, like Margie, most mothers don't have a choice.
Margie and I agree about other things, too, whether it's food, clothes, men and losing weight. But there's one major thing we disagree about and that is that no matter what, I would have never left my children.
Rian: What are your favorite books and authors and why?
Laura: I like many authors and many genres. My favorite all-around writers have to be Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. They still make me laugh at novels they wrote one hundred and fifty years ago. Jumping from the 19th to the 20th century, I choose F. Scott Fitzgerald, P.G. Wodehouse and Gabriel Garcia Marquez to name a few. Twenty-first century choices would have to include Shadow of the Wind author Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Abraham Verghese who wrote Cutting for Stone. For a good laugh it's Janet Evanovich and Jennifer Weiner.
Rian: What are your feelings about the chick lit genre in general?
Laura: I love chick lit and think it frequently gets a bad rap. There are a lot of talented women writers out there —along with Janet Evanovich and Jennifer Weiner there are Lorna Landvik, Lauren Weisberger and Sophie Kinsella to name just a few.
Rian: What advice would you give an aspiring chick lit author. Any tips, suggestions or warnings?
Laura: As I mentioned, my mother was a successful romance writer. Anytime she'd start a new story, she'd read a romance by another author first. This would get her in the mood. I do the same thing. Before you start your chick lit novel, pick out a bestselling novel and read it. This will help set the right tone. Then write as well as you can, and edit!
Rian: Do you have plans for upcoming books, and if so, can you give us any teasers about them?
Laura: I have three other novels yet unpublished. Two are YA and one is chick lit, however, the characters are all from the same family. I'm in the process of rewriting the last scenes of the chick lit novel whose name has evolved from the Breeding of Lilacs (a line from T.S. Eliot's Waste Land) to Affairs and Fibs, to the current Lilacs, Lies and Liaisons. LLL is centered around an impulsive, funny wife and mother, Barbie Bentley, who lives in the fictitious beach town of Coral Cove, Florida. Unhappy in her marriage to a distracted, well-meaning but insensitive husband, she wanders into an affair with a young Greek Adonis. But there's karma around every corner. It's the old story of sin, suffer and repent.
Rian: When writing a novel, do you have any particular routines you follow, or any strange or interesting writing quirks?
Laura: I'm afraid not. My mother used to tie an old bra around her head to keep the hair out of her eyes when she wrote up in our hot attic. The bra cups fit rather niftily around her ears, while the straps tied around the top of her head. She had such a bra on her head one hot afternoon when my teenage brother brought his new girlfriend home to meet her. She also had the habit of fortifying herself with Coke, chewing gum, and Hershey bars. All I need is a cup of Earl Grey.
When I was writing See Mommy Run I'd have to psyche myself up to write after working all day and coming home to make dinner for a husband and four children. My pep talk as I lay exhausted on my bed went something like this: Laura, do you want to spend the rest of your life putting classified ads in the newspaper? No, I'd answer. Then get up off you're a__ and get to the typewriter. You only have to write half a page. Once in a vertical position in front of my old Royal, I'd generally write more. But the wonderful thing is that if you write only half a page a day, eventually you will have a book!
Rian: When you are not writing, what kind of things do you enjoy doing? Any hobbies in particular?
Laura: The joke around here is that I cook, clean, complain and write. I don't really have any hobbies. Who has the time? My friends all seem to be writers. As we frequently ask each other, what do non-writers talk about? Being a writer, I love to read, but it's a luxury I save for the evening.
Rian: And finally, if you got to travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Laura: So far I've been lucky enough to have visited parts of Europe. I absolutely adore Italy. I've also traveled to Bali and Singapore with my husband last summer for our anniversary. My next travel goal is Buenos Aires. Don't cry for me Argentina. One of the writers in my writing group lived in Peru for many years. His writing about South America has ignited a spark to visit.


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Remember the SMS bug in the Android OS which erroneously sent your text message to the wrong contact and all the hype surrounding it? Google has started rolling out an OTA update to fix the bug now.Read More
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz was a great phone with a decent hardware specification. What led to the failure of the phone was its operating system – the Symbian S60v5 OS which is not at all optimized for touch.Read More
The official Sony Ericsson product blog has explained all the camera improvements which the upcoming Xperia Arc will be incorporating. The Xperia Arc will feature a back illuminated sensor and a brand new camera UI.Read More
During the CES 2011, there were hardly Android phones which were running Android 2.3 – Gingerbread. Most of the handsets were based on Android 2.2 (Froyo). However, one handset which caught the attention of the media was the Sony Ericsson Arc.Read More
Steve Straughton – the guy who got MeeGo v1.1 up and running on a HTC HD2 has come up with another awesome hack. He has managed to get the Nokia's highly anticipated MeeGo OS running on the Google Nexus S.Read More
The Google Nexus S is the only device to be running on Android 2.3 officially. However, thanks to the modding community most of the popular phones out there including the Nokia N900, Droid Incredible and the Motorola Droid have got their Android 2.3 based Custom ROM.Read More
Verizon's press conference at the ongoing CES 2011 just got over, and the company announced a bunch of new Android based 4G LTE handsets including the HTC Thunderbolt and the LG Revolution.Read More
Sony Ericsson UK has confirmed that the Xperia X10, X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro and the X8 won't be getting the Android 2.2 update after all. This news is definitely not going to please all the Xperia owners out there.Read More
The Sony press conference at the CES 2011 just got over and the company announced its latest Xperia handset – the Xperia Arc. The Arc is the successor to the Xperia X10. The handset is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and has a 4.2-inch 'multi-touch' Sony Bravia powered display.Read More
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, a new Android smartphone previously known as the Anzu has been leaked ahead of its official CES announcement. It has a 4.2 inch display and comes with an 8 MP camera.Read More
LG just announced the world's slimmest Android handset – LG Optimus Black – at the ongoing CES 2011. The LG Optimus Black is even thinner than the iPhone 4 and is just 9.2mm thick. The handset features a 4-inch NOVA display, which according to LG, is the 'brightest, clearest and most readable' among mobile screens.Read More
Many people had hoped that the Nexus S will be equipped with a dual-core processor but sadly that did not turn out to be true. The Nexus S uses a 1 GHz SoC (Silicon-on-Chip) Hummingbird processor. The same processor is used across the different variants of the Galaxy S line-up. Now, an XDA member morfic has released a new kernel – Trinity – for the Nexus S which overclocks the processor to 1.2GHz.Read More
The great folks over at XDA have been porting Android 2.3 Gingerbread to the HTC Droid Eris. Nevertheless, XDA member punk.kaos has been leading the charge on porting Android 2.3 Gingerbread to the Eris. The most surprising news is that the Gingerbread ROM for the device is very near to a fully working state.Read More
HTC is rolling out a software update for the recently released Desire HD. Sadly; the OTA update is not an Android 2.3 Gingerbread update as many Desire HD owners are hoping for. The OTA software update bumps the Android version on the handset to 2.2.1 and brings with it performance improvements and bug fixes.Read More
The PlayStation Phone from Sony Ericsson is already one of the most anticipated handsets of 2011. We also know that Sony Ericsson will be launching the Anzu/X12 next year. However, the guys over at Blog Of Mobile, have managed to get their hands on leaked pictures of a never seen before Sony Ericsson handset. Along with this, they have also found tons of images shot from the phone and the phone seems to be sporting an 8MP camera.Read More

subset: commoncrawl


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Leevers Foods, one of two grocery stores in Valley City, has dropped its affiliation with SuperValu and is now carrying products from the Nash Finch Company. Dave Heisler, vice president of Leevers Foods, said the only significant change will be in the store brand label.
The Our Family brand, which has been around for 100 years, offers "a lot wider variety and high quality products," according to Heisler.
Leever's was formerly under the SuperValu affiliation with the Flavorite store brand label.
Other than the brand change customers shouldn't expect to see too many changes.
VC Vet, the Valley City veterinarian clinic, is offering a 15 percent discount to pet owners who bring their cats and dogs in to be spayed or neutered from September 17–20. The push to help control the pet population is from the Sheyenne Valley Friends of Animals, and specifically the spay/neuter committee.
"We want to get as many animals spayed and neutered as we possibly can, for people of whom cost is a factor," said SVFA member Angie Martin.
When the Barnes County Sheriff's Deputies and the Valley City State University freshmen played in the first annual Vikings vs. Deputies touch football game on Shelly Ellig Field at Lokken Stadium, it wasn't just the VCSU players making their public debut.
On the west end of the field, a video screen above the scoreboard lit up and spent the night displaying graphics as touchdowns were scored, interceptions caught, and big plays were made.
Area Students Receive VFW Scholarship
Special to the Times-Record
Area college students Cassandra Kunze and Leah Haak have each been selcected to receive a $250 scholarship from the VFW Post No. 2764 for the month of August.
Kunze is the daughter of Myron and Kathy Kunze of Dazey and attends Valley City State University. Haak is the daughter of Tim and Linda Haak of Valley City and attends North Dakota State University.
Shane Ost Receives V-500 Scholarship
Special to the Times-Record
Thirty local people volunteered their time to help gather the 13,452 signatures required state-wide to put an initiated measure on the general election ballot in November. Valley City petitioners collected almost 700 of the more than 21,000 signatures that were sent to Secretary of State Al Jaeger's office for approval on August 2.
"That's seven or eight thousand signatures more than required collected in just six weeks; this spread just like a prairie fire," Vicki Voldal Rosenau, tobacco coordinator for City-County Health District and supporter of the measure said.
Valley City's Monday and Thursday Farmers Market will feature free samples of grilled vegetables on Thursday, Aug. 23 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Pamida parking lot.
Dr. James Buhr, physician at Sanford Health in Valley City and Jerdan Ruff, a UND medical student working with Buhr will be the guest chefs.
Samples will include grilled zucchini squash, onions and peppers. In addition to the vegetables, there will be free samples of locally grown beef prepared in a crock pot and served on whole wheat buns prepared by members of the Farmers Market.
The Sheyenne River Valley National Scenic Byway know is a beautiful place and every year, the Sheyenne Valley Shuffle gives runners a chance to see that beauty up close.
"That's what we talk about with the runners when they go on the bus," said race director Mary Lee Nielson. "They talk about the byway."
But this year, the race is changing its format and will give runners a chance to see a different stretch of the byway than in previous years.
It's 9 a.m. Saturday, and, for the most part, Valley City is a quiet place.
Except, that is, on the practice field at Hanna Field, where the silence of the morning is broken by the sounds of whistles and shoulder pads making contact at full speed. A reminder that football season isn't far off.
Saturday's practice ended the first week of training for the Valley City High School football team, which has been running two-a-days since starting practice Wednesday.
The final evening of music at the courthouse is on Wednesday, August 15 at 7:15 p.m. featuring Stoney Run, a bluegrass band from SE North Dakota. Come early to enjoy ice cream floats provided by the Bridges Arts Council.
Stoney Run has been performing for four years in the region.
 Performances have included the Band Shell Concert Series in Valley City, the Fort Ransom Bluegrass Festival, and the Missouri River Bluegrass Festival at Cross Ranch State Park.  Two selections from the group are included on the 2011 Bluegrass Association of North Dakota's B.A.N.D. Sampler recording.Â
A proposal to route some Stump Lake water into a gravity-flow outlet into the Tolna coulee and onto the Sheyenne River may be shelved as a result of rising cost estimates for the structure.
Valley City Mayor Bob Werkhoven said Friday, "We're very pleased with the (board's) decision. We are happy that happened."
Werkhoven said a gravity-flow outlet from Stump Lake into the coulee "would have increased sulfates into the water and we (Valley City) would have to spend more at the water plant to remove them."


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Another Chapter for Tom Brady's Storybook
There were lots of new faces in the Patriots QB's latest adventure. But in a familiar end, Brady was able to dial up his trademark magic. Plus, my other thoughts on Week 6
— Tom Brady, in an early-morning email, some 11 hours after the unlikely 30-27 New England win over previously unbeaten New Orleans.
The latest chapter of the Book of Brady starts with a strange character, one who didn't play or coach Sunday and was getting roasted for sitting the game out: Rob Gronkowski.
We all thought the Gronk story was over when the pregame shows finished filleting the man and his strange habit of practicing like an Olympian decathlete during the week and then sitting on the couch to watch the game, not play in it. But it turns out he had a very big role in this game, after all. Troy Aikman, early in the second quarter of the Saints-Patriots game on FOX, gave us a pretty big clue with the blanket coverage of Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib shutting out New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham to that point.
"You mentioned Rob Gronkowski and his situation,'' Aikman said to partner Thom Brennaman, referring to Gronk's being inactive for the sixth straight week with his mystery forearm injury. "One of the, I guess, positives that comes with that is he ran scout team all week. So the Patriots couldn't have gotten a better look for having to face Jimmy Graham this week than what Rob Gronkowski showed them … When Bill Belichick decides he's going to take [an opponent] out of the game, he does it as well as anybody. The key coming into this game for New England was trying to slow down and eliminate Jimmy Graham. That has happened.''
As if on cue, the Saints snapped the ball two seconds later, with 12:44 left in the second quarter, and Graham ran a 10-yard cross on 3rd-and-10 from the Saints' 23. Drew Brees fired it to him, with Talib in tight coverage. Graham had the ball in his hands, and Talib hammered it out. Incomplete.
I sensed Aikman was onto something, brilliant football mind that I am.
Brady confirmed it in his email.
"All of us have seen how badly Rob wants to help us win,'' Brady wrote. "He has definitely given all he could in practice, especially on the scout teams to replicate the other teams' best receiver. Though they may seem insignificant during the week, they are a huge reason why teams win.''
What does this have to do with the scintillating end of game for Brady, the one that left Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan looking like his dog just died? Simple: In his previous four games, Graham rubbed out opponents with games of 179, 134, 100 and 135 yards (and five touchdowns). With Talib in his shirt, Graham was targeted six times by Drew Brees, with zero receptions. When you go from one guy accounting for 137 yards a game to zero, that's going to tend to keep an offense down … and in this era of garish passer ratings and yardage numbers, Drew Brees going three-and-out on seven series in a game is pretty amazing.
"The good teams get better every week,'' said Brady. "The mental toughness, the work ethic and discipline of all 53 guys on the roster matter."
That leads us to the end of the game meaning something.
Tom Brady's targets on New England's 13 plays in the final 3:29:
(The ball was spiked by Brady once.)
Check out that cast. He met Dobson and Thompkins right after the draft. He met Collie two weeks ago. Bolden and Hoomanuwanui are bit pieces, who, with the right players healthy, wouldn't have been playing this late in a game.
With 3:29 to play, New Orleans took a 24-23 lead, and the Patriots took the ball over. Hoomanawanui caught a four-yard one-hopper on first down (the officials missed the ball hitting the ground before the catch). Second-down karma: Bolden dropped what would have been a first-down conversion, because he ran before he caught it. And on fourth down, Dobson dropped another conversion throw. Belichick clearly figured—reminiscent of his gambit against the Colts in his own territory in 2009, the difference being here he trailed—his chances to make a first down here were better than his defense's chances to hold the Saints without points. And if the Patriots held the Saints to a field goal, it was still a one-score game.
The Patriots held New Orleans to a field goal, all right. Saints, 27-23. But on the first play with the ball, Brady went for a big chunk downfield, to Edelman up the seam. Beneath him, Dobson was running an incut. It appeared that Brady figured Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis would shadow Dobson underneath when Dobson broke under Edelman. But Lewis stuck with Edelman and intercepted the ball.
"I saw Julian running through the safety,'' Brady said, "and made a bad read. My worst play of the night."
With 2:16 left now, the Patriots had one timeout plus the two-minute warning to stop the clock. One Saints conversion and New England was doomed. But they couldn't convert. So Brady took over at the Pats' 30.
How often does a quarterback have a chance three times in the last 3:30 to drive his team to victory? Now Brady was taking his third shot, 70 yards away, with no timeouts, and 73 seconds left. Collie had played one snap in this, his first game as a Patriot. But now he'd be on for the duration. The Patriots put their fastest four receivers on the field, all knowing that time was critical. When they caught a ball in-bounds, they knew to run it to the umpire or head linesman so the spot could happen quickly. Thompkins lined up wide left and Collie in the left slot. Edelman was wide right, and Dobson in the slot. All ran vertical routes, and Brady hit Edelman and Collie on the first two throws for 38 yards, then Dobson for six. After two incompletions, it was 4th-and-4, with 16 seconds left.
Now, Collie had practiced with the team six times. He was in the game now because Danny Amendola was hurt again. "We've worked after practice on some things this past week so that he could be in position to help our team win,'' Brady wrote. "He runs great routes and I liked him on the option route he was running on that particular coverage."
On the biggest play of the game to this point (the seventh play of Collie's Patriot career), Brady saw he had the most advantageous matchup—against Malcolm Jenkins, and the Patriots thought the quick Collie could beat the bigger but not-as-quick safety on a little curl option route off the line. Brady's pass was spot on, Collie gained nine, and he ran the ball in a hurry to the umpire, who placed it down. Brady spiked it. Ten seconds left.
That's pretty good: A fourth-down conversion, receiver down, receiver pops up, runs the ball to the official, who spots it, the players get set, and Brady spikes it. All in six seconds.
With 10 seconds left at the 17, Brady knew he'd have two shots at the end zone, but he couldn't waste any time. Same four-wide formation: Thompkins, Collie, Dobson, Edelman. Brady didn't hide his intention. Thompkins, man to man with veteran Jabari Greer, got half a step on the defender, and Brady threw it a second after getting the snap. Perfect throw. The Patriots like the 6-1 Thompkins because he can be physical in going up to get the ball. He didn't need to be physical here, but he leaped above Greer and snatched it, getting his feet down cleanly seven yards deep in the corner of the end zone.
"You can't give Tom Brady three chances at a two-minute drill,'' said Brees.
Even when his team is as patchwork as he's played with in New England. In many ways, that makes this game, and this season, all the more rewarding for Brady. Peyton Manning has Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker; Brady has Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson. Manning has Julius Thomas. Brady has Michael Hoomanawanui. Manning's slot guy is Brady's beloved slot guy, Wes Welker. Brady's? Maybe Danny Amendola. Or Julian Edelman. Or Austin Collie.
What we love about sports is when we can't quantify the outcome of a game. This game in Foxboro, even with the Saints on the road, should have belonged to the Saints. But New England's defense is improving, and you always have a chance with Brady. And this morning, he took a minute to soak it in—before moving on to the next one. Just a minute.
"We have faced some pretty challenging circumstances these past few months,'' Brady wrote. "But no one has listened to the BS outside our football building. Guys have worked hard and have been ready when their number has been called.
"We have been grinding it out to get to 5-1. I would love to grind another one out to get to 6-1."
Patriots at Jets, Sunday at 1. The next chapter. It can't be as good as the last chapter. Can it?
And for the radio call …
Patriots radio analyst Scott Zolak's analysis after the Thompkins touchdown:
"BRADY'S BACK! That's your quarterback! Who left the building? Unicorns, show ponies, where's the beef!! Boy, when you thought you've seen it all, when it's total despair, 14 years in the league, this situation after situation he's been through, to elevate a rookie! My god!"
Could be the great non-sequitor radio call of all time.
The biggest reason Kansas City is 6-0: The D.
The only two unbeatens left are in the AFC West: Denver and Kansas City, both 6-0. The Broncos have gotten there with offense. But Kansas City's biggest spur has been a rebuilt defense by this week's coach of the week, defensive coordinator Bob Sutton, who has taken most of the same talent Romeo Crennel coached last season and made it a lean, attacking machine. Just six weeks into the season, the Chiefs have passed last year's sack total. The 10 sacks from Sunday's win over the Raiders boosted the total for the year to 31—four more than Kansas City had in 16 games last year.
For a detailed view of the Chiefs, read Robert Klemko's piece from the great Midwest on The MMQB. It's good and detailed.
For the defensive view, I asked outside linebacker Tamba Hali, who had 3.5 of the sacks against the Raiders, for the difference between this year's defense and last year's. The simplest way to look at it is the Chiefs, because Sutton's defense has some Rex Ryan tendencies (they worked together at the Jets), is a risk-embracing, odd-blitzing group. And it's working.
"We don't want to give the quarterback time to think,'' Hali said from Kansas City after the game. "We bring a lot of confusion. Sometimes it looks like all the pressure is coming from one gap.''
I told him Rex Ryan's defense, dating back to Baltimore, often featured two or three rushers flooding one gap. "Your rush looks like that sometimes—like organized insanity,'' I said.
"Insanity, yeah,'' he said. "Insanity is the right word."
But it must feel sane to Hali: By one measure, quarterback pressure and sacks, he too has surpassed his 2012 numbers. His combined sacks/pressures through six games is 46.5. Last year, he had 46 all season.
"As a pass rusher, I think the defense shows I can beat my man one on one, which is why I like it,'' said Hali. "Coach knows how to use us all, so we're all good in our roles."
But will it work?
Now we see the NFL's response to the month that set diversity back in the league. Last January, as you recall, NFL teams hired eight head coaches and seven general managers. All 15: white. (The Bills broke the schneid in May by hiring Doug Whaley, who is African-American, to be their general manager.] But in the months following, the league's executive vice president of human resources, Robert Gulliver, and senior vice president of player engagement, Troy Vincent, have cobbled together a list of eight former coaches and GMs, and the group had its first meeting Thursday in New York City to begin the process of improving the diversity scorecard.
The NFL Head Coach and General Manager Advisory Panel includes former GMs Ernie Accorsi, Ron Wolf, Charlie Casserly and Bill Polian, former Chiefs president Carl Peterson, and ex-coaches Tony Dungy, Dennis Green and John Madden.
One way that could help advance minority hiring, particularly of coaches, is to give owners and club executives involved in the hiring process blind resumes—that is, resumes with the background and accomplishments of candidates, but not their names. That way, the theory goes, those hiring could look at an impressive nameless resume and commit to pursue the candidate before knowing who the candidate is. Would it help to be told about a college head coach of a top-10 team who has won 69 percent of his games and been a defensive coordinator at three major-college programs? No one knows if a team would say, "Whoever that is, let's check him out." It would, though, render the process color-blind, theoretically, without knowing the candidate is Charlie Strong, the African-American coach at Louisville.
But no metrics or plans are near final form yet. The committee hopes to have a plan to help the process by late November, and it won't advance only the names of qualified African-American coaches, according to a league memo sent to the 32 teams.
The memo stated: "Through a series of facilitated panel meetings and individual discussions, the panel will assess potential head coach and general manager talent with the goal of identifying a viable short list of 'ready now' candidates. Panelists will consider both objective and subjective criteria. The panel is not intended to replace the work done by third parties such as search firms or advocacy groups like the Fritz Pollard Alliance, but rather, is intended to be a supplemental data point that can help owners and decision makers in the next hiring cycle. The panel will consider all talent, inclusive of diverse and non-diverse personnel."
That's some human-resource-speak right there. But the league knows it has a diversity problem on its hands after the January shutout, and something must be tried.
Fine Fifteen
1. Denver (6-0). Funny line, and apt, after Montee Ball dropped a pass in the 35-19 win over Jacksonville, from CBS color man Dan Fouts: "Do you think he eats with those hands? He'd starve to death."
2. Kansas City (6-0). Now the match of 9-0 titans in five weeks looks real. The Chiefs have Houston at home, Cleveland at home and the Bills on the road (and a bye) before traveling to Denver Nov. 17. Denver does have to get through an emotional Sunday nighter at Indy next week.
3. New England (5-1). Where does that rank on the Tom Brady all-time list of great wins? I say it's got to be in the top six or eight. Let's see. Three Super Bowls, and two AFC title wins over the Colts, then … what else?
4. New Orleans (5-1). In a couple of days, the utter shock of Patriots 30, Saints 27, will wear off, and the team will go on its bye week, and New Orleans coach Sean Payton will appreciate where the team is. Think of the Saints on Oct. 14, 2012: 1-5, in the midst of a horsecrap bye week with no hope. Think of the Saints on Oct. 14, 2013: 5-1, and in 14 days, they beat the 3-0 Dolphins by 21 at home, beat the 3-1 Bears by eight at Soldier Field, and almost beat the 4-1 Patriots by a point in Foxboro. This team's got a ticket to the NFC title game, minimum, barring a major injury streak.
5. Indianapolis (4-1). Comparing the first 21 games of the Indianapolis careers of Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck: Record—Luck 15-6, Manning 6-15. Passing yards—Luck 5,518, Manning 5,134. Touchdown-interception differential—Luck plus-10, Manning plus-2.
6. Seattle (5-1). Now for Arizona on Thursday night, on the road. Even without Calais Campbell (assuming the injured Bird doesn't play), the Seattle line is in for a tough night.
7. San Francisco (4-2). So this is what the 49ers have been waiting for: an 18-play, 89-yard drive led by Colin Kaepernick, lasting over nine minutes, in the fourth quarter of a 22-20 game against Arizona. That made it 29-20, and was exactly what Kaepernick, who has struggled often in the first six weeks of the season, needed.
8. Cincinnati (4-2). Taking overtime to beat Buffalo is a worry. But Andy Dalton made enough plays when Cincinnati needed them.
9. Green Bay (3-2). Pack's allowed 26 points in the last two games, showing signs of life on defense that have been missing for, oh, about a year.
10. Detroit (4-2). Waiting for the time when there's a dance in Grand Rapids called "The Fauria."
11. Chicago (4-2). Not saying Marc Trestman has completely overhauled Jay Cutler's game, because he hasn't. But I think Trestman is helping Cutler play smarter, and not taking some of the risky chances he's taken in the past. He's a 70 percent passer with no interceptions in the last two games, including the win over the Giants Thursday.
12. Dallas (3-3). The Cowboys are playing on offense (79 points in two games) the way Chip Kelly hoped his Eagles would be producing by now. Dallas at 3-3 Philly, Sunday at 1, for the NFC East lead. Looks like a Romo-Foles duel.
13. Miami (3-2). Out of the bye, Dolphins have the Bills at home, the Pats in Foxboro and the Bengals at home on a Thursday night.
14. Philadelphia (3-3). Finally, some impact plays from DeSean Jackson.
15. Baltimore (3-3). I don't know what the stranger stat line is. Ray Rice rushing (71 carries, 197 yards, 2.8 per carry) or Ray Rice receiving (20 catches, 87 yards, 4.4 yards per catch).
The Award Section
Offensive Players of the Week
Tom Brady, QB, New England. A meh day on the stat sheet (25 of 43, 269 yards, one TD, one pick, six drops), but the 30-27 victory over New Orleans was one of the great ones of a great player's career. Against one of the best defenses in the league, after two fruitless and frustrating late drives, Brady took the Patriots and their cast of newbies (Austin Collie, Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Thompkins, etc.) 70 yards in eight plays to the winning touchdown with five seconds left. While a third of the crowd was already on its way out of the place on Route 1, headed home.
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay. Down to two wide receivers after a spate of injuries in Baltimore, Rodgers was trying to add to a shaky 9-3 lead late in the third quarter. With Jordy Nelson split wide right against ace Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb, Nelson got a step on Webb, who was caught peeking into the backfield at play-action. Launching the ball from his 34, Rodgers threw a perfect pass 56 yards in the air. The ball landed in Nelson's arms at the Ravens' 11, and he sauntered in for the first touchdown of a defensive battle. Not Rodgers' best stat day (17 of 32 for 315 yards with one TD and one pick), but the mark of a great quarterback is coping in adverse conditions on the road—against the defending Super Bowl champs, I might add.
Defensive Players of the Week
Tamba Hali, OLB, Kansas City. For 40 minutes, KC and Oakland were cuffing each other around in a 7-7 tie at Arrowhead. But the pressure D, led by Hali's 3.5 sacks, finally made Terrelle Pryor crack. Pryor was sacked seven times in the last 29 minutes of the 24-7 Kansas City victory, three times by Hali.
Ryan Clark, FS, Pittsburgh. In a typically stingy game for the Steelers defense, Clark had the first Pittsburgh takeaway of the year—an interception of Geno Smith near the end zone, preventing a New York touchdown—and totaled eight tackles plus a pass defensed.
Special Teams Players of the Week
Garrison Sanborn, LS, Buffalo. Long-snappers don't get noticed much. But on the last play of the third quarter in a tight game with Cincinnati, Sanborn snapped from the Buffalo 44-yard line to punter Brian Moorman and took off sprinting. Sanborn ran 51 yards to the Cincinanti 5-yard line, where Adam Jones was trying to find the handle on the punt. Just as he did, Sanborn wrapped up Pacman and downed him at the 5. Great example of hustle and what a big factor a special-teams play can be.
Rodney McLeod, S, St. Louis. With the Rams up 24-6 in the third quarter over an increasingly desperate team of Texans, Greg Zuerlein kicked off, and McLeod came flying in from the left, popping Keshawn Martin and forcing a fumble. Fellow undrafted rookie free agent Daren Bates picked it up and ran 10 yards for the touchdown. That finished off Houston—maybe for the season.
Mason Crosby, K, Green Bay. He might have been one of two big misses from losing his job at a couple points in the last 12 months, but Crosby repaid Mike McCarthy's faith on Sunday in Baltimore. He hit on field goals in every quarter—from 45, 31, 50 and 31 yards—in a 19-17 Packers win.
Coach of the Week
Bob Sutton, defensive coordinator, Kansas City. Same cast, basically, as the 2012 defensive team that allowed 26.6 points a game. This year's D is allowing 10.8, and the defenders swear by Sutton's send-blitzers-from-anywhere scheme. Against the Raiders Sunday, it was typical 2013 Kansas City defense: 274 yards allowed, 10 sacks of Terrelle Pryor, three interceptions.
Goats of the Week
The Candlestick fans who did the Wave while Calais Campbell lay injured on the turf. Galling. Made worse because Campbell appeared to be seriously injured. As Niners CEO Jed York tweeted late Sunday night: "To say I'm disappointed some fans did the wave this afternoon while @Campbell93 was down is understatement. Hope you get well soon Calais."
Terence Newman, CB, Cincinnati. I know, I know. The Bengals came back to win in overtime. Lucky for them after Newman's fourth-quarter gaffe. How Newman, singled against rookie Marquise Goodwin with the Bengals nursing a seven-point lead, lets the kid get two steps on him to catch the tying touchdown pass and force overtime is beyond me. But he did, thus earning the goat horns.
Quotes of the Week
"We're at a very strange time. We know there's a problem. We've identified a problem. But we don't have many answers. So it's a really uncomfortable time knowing a little but not knowing enough."
—Dr. Ann McKee, who has studied 46 deceased former NFL players' brains and found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy—a crippling brain disease—in 45, at a speech Thursday night at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. The remarks were reported by the Birmingham News.
McKee, one of the medical stars of the PBS documentary League of Denial, is in my opinion a hero of this movement for pushing for more answers, and more studies of how football affects the brain. As she told the News: "It's very inconvenient. This is a big problem. It's not something you can easily solve. It's going to make your life much more complicated if you're involved in sports at all. It definitely has huge financial repercussions. And sometimes it's hard to change people's minds."
"Rob is going to know when he wants to play, and Rob loves the game of football. When Rob wants to play, when Rob can play, he'll play. No one here questions Rob's desire about the game, about his passion for the game, and wanting to play the game of football."
—Patriots president Jonathan Kraft, on the strange case of tight end Rob Gronkowski's injured forearm, to radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston.
—Houston linebacker Brian Cushing, opining on the Texans fans cheering at a time when embattled quarterback Matt Schaub was laying on the field at Reliant Stadium with an ankle injury Sunday.
"Never say never because then you become a hypocrite. I've seen too many other people in my profession say never and come back. Always keep doors open in life. That's the important thing to do."
—CBS NFL analyst Bill Cowher, to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, on his self-imposed exile from coaching, and his chances of returning to it now that he has a cushy job in TV and as a commercial spokesman.
I don't doubt a lucrative offer with the right team could tempt Cowher, but he's been out six years and nine months now. The earliest he could re-take a job, 2014, would be eight seasons after he last coached. That's an awful long time to be out of the game—to have seen all your assistant coaches from the Steelers years scatter with the wind, and to be accustomed to a totally different lifestyle than the all-consuming one a head coach experiences.
"It's going to be a long road."
—Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, to Derrick Gunn of CSNPhilly.com Saturday, on the rehab from a hamstring injury suffered last week against the Giants. The long road started with a day off at Tampa Bay Sunday, and could continue next week against Dallas at home.
Stat of the Week
Reggie Wayne needs four receptions tonight at San Diego to become the eighth wide receiver in NFL history to catch 1,000 passes. (He'll be the ninth player overall; tight end Tony Gonzalez has 1,275 receptions.)
Wayne will be inextricably tied to Marvin Harrison in history, and to Peyton Manning. For eight seasons, from 2001 to 2008, they were Manning's targets in a time of unprecedented regular-season prosperity—91 wins. Harrison played with Manning for 11 years, and Wayne was Manning's target for 10. Now, while Wayne would appear to be in the twilight of his Colts career with wunderkind Andrew Luck, don't tell him that. In training camp this year he told one Colts operative who asked him how many years he had left, "Infinity."
But as he approaches 1,000, the most impressive thing to me is his durability. Wayne has played every game since the last one of 2001, his rookie season: 200 in a row, including playoffs. And his production is getting better in his 30s. Wayne turned 30 during his eighth NFL season. So I've drawn a line of demarcation between year seven and eight, and here's how the six years before and six years after that look:
Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me
In 10 minutes, the Ole Miss quarterback depth chart from a decade ago had a very bad Thursday night.
Ten years ago, Eli Manning was the starting quarterback at Ole Miss and Seth Smith one of his backups. They've gone their separate sporting ways since, Manning to the NFL and Smith to major-league baseball. And they've had better Thursday nights. Within 10 minutes of each other, Manning threw his third interception of the night at Chicago, dooming the Giants to a 27-21 loss; and Smith made the final out of the American League Division Series against Detroit. The Giants went home 0-6. Smith went home for the winter.
Tweets of the Week
"Bob McNair wasn't available after the game. I didn't need him to know he'll fire Gary Kubiak if Texans continue to embarrass themselves."
—@McClain_on_NFL, veteran Houston scribe John McClain, referring to the owner (McNair) and coach (Kubiak) of Houston, after the Texans embarrassed themselves at home in an ugly loss to St. Louis.
"Weeden just threw such a careless interception it makes Brett Favre look conservative."
—@richeisen of NFL Network, after Cleveland QB Brandon Weeden's second of two interceptions against Detroit.
"Breaking: Jets trade eight first-round picks for Thad Lewis, prepare to unleash 'WildThad' offense by 2015"
—SI.com NFL analyst @SI_DougFarrar, after Thad Lewis, on the Bills' practice squad a week ago, drove the Bills through the Bengals for a first-quarter touchdown.
"Sentences I never thought I'd type: If the Giants go 0-16, I do not think they should take Teddy Bridgewater.''
—@StevePoliti, columnist for the Newark Star-Ledger.
Ten Things I Think I Think
1. I think this is what I liked about Week 6:
a. Linebacker Jon Beason, in his Giants debut, with a team-high 12 tackles. That's what you call looking on the bright side of an 0-6 team.
b. Brandon Marshall's green shoes in the win over the Giants Thursday night. Easy for me to say, "Take the silly $5,000 fine,'' but it was worth it to draw attention to the issue of mental health.
c. Adam Podlesh, the Chicago punter, who had but three boots Thursday—but they pinned the Giants back at their 8-, 9- and 11-yard lines.
d. Where did that 106-yard evening come from, Brandon Jacobs?
e. What a throw by Ben Roethlisberger to Heath Miller, up the seam, high, between two Jets.
f. And loved the backward pass from Ben to Antonio Brown, who rolled out and threw a quirky spiral to Felix Jones for a first down.
g. Ref Gene Steratore's explanation
h. Great catch by A.J. Green, high above the defense in the Buffalo end zone.
i. Nifty shovel pass by Andy Dalton to Gio Benard, which Bernard freelanced into a touchdown gallop.
j. Brandon Tate's 29-yard punt return in overtime, weaving and bobbing, to set up the winning field goal for Cincinnati in overtime.
k. An efficient day for Cam Newton: 20 of 26 with no picks. And a 35-10 stunner in Minneapolis.
l. John Fox after the 16-point win over the Jags. "There is resistance out there. It's called the other team." Love that.
m. The New York Times headline on the Denver-Jacksonville game: "Broncos beat Jaguars but not the spread."
2. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 6:
a. It's easy to pick on Eli Manning, because he's thrown 15 interceptions. But it's also hard to pick on Manning, because he's getting chased all over the field every week, and because it appeared his second interception Thursday was a result of Reuben Randle running the wrong route.
b. Love so much of what you've done, Terrelle Pryor. But there's no way you make that careless, risky interception in a 7-7 game.
c. Speaking of utterly preposterous, I bring you the interception of T.J. Yates, who threw to Janoris Jenkins in the end zone like he was the intended receiver.
d. Cover the man, Sam Shields, not some invisible person in the backfield.
e. The Houston Texans are in the most stunning free-fall west of Atlanta (I say the Texans are a bigger surprise than the Falcons). The Texans were clearly one of the three or four most talented teams I saw in training camp this summer. Losing by 25 at home to the Rams? One of the strangest results I've seen in my years covering the league.
f. Geno Smith's consistency. Or lack thereof.
g. The Tennessee running game. Chris Johnson at Seattle: 12 carries, 33 yards. Maybe he's channeling his inner Trent Richardson.
h. Brandon Weeden's self-proclaimed "bonehead" shovel pass intercepted by Detroit's DeAndre Levy. Just another brick in the wall to a first-round quarterback for Cleveland in 2014.
3. I think Andrea Kremer deserves applause for her story on Packers defensive tackle Johnny Jolly, back from prison and addictions to drinking and codeine. "At the rate I was going, I could've been dead,'' Jolly told Kremer. And a lot more.
4. I think you're not going to need a first-round quarterback, Raiders, from what I've seen out of Terrelle Pryor. And that comes after he made too many mistakes at Kansas City.
5. I think this is just a guess, but I Donte Whitner/Hitner's going to wake up one day at, say, 39 and say to himself: "I'm changing it back. Like, right now."
6. I think in case you missed it, Justin Blackmon showed in the 35-19 loss to Denver why he's the most important Jaguar. This is the game Jacksonville was supposed to lose by 40 and didn't because the Broncos couldn't cover the rangy and dangerous Blackmon (14 catches, 190 yards). It's is absolutely incumbent on the Jags that they corral Blackmon's personal life and make sure he stays out of trouble for the future. As long as the Jags put him on the field, they'll be no offensive pushovers.
7. I think, after watching a good bit of college football over the weekend, I can picture Marcus Mariota throwing to Justin Blackmon over the corners of the AFC South for years to come, if Blackmon can find a way to stay on the straight and narrow after his dangerous dalliances with alcohol. (You can tell I'm dubious.) But as I said on NBC Sunday night, what was once a virtual certainty—either Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater or South Carolina pass rusher Jadaveon Clowney being the first pick in the draft next May—is now in doubt. Mariota will be draft-eligible next May (as will many other attractive quarterbacks, including Johnny Manziel) because he's in his third college season out of high school. And at least two teams love Mariota to the point that I believe if he comes out those teams would have him higher on their board than Bridgewater.
8. I think forcing a team to do Hard Knocks, as the NFL suggested it could do last week to ensure the show going on each summer at some team's training camp, is just plain wrong.
9. I think the Giants should trade Hakeem Nicks. They're not going to sign him after this season, and some team would give them a draft choice to rent Nicks for the last 11 weeks of the season. No downside for either side, if you ask me.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. David Ortiz knows drama, I'll say that.
b. Seventeen months ago, Michael Wacha was pitching at Texas A&M. Amazing to think he'll likely have a better pro career than the far more famous Texas A&M thrower.
c. Wow. How impressive is Wacha? Striking out Yasiel Puig with the bases loaded on a 3-2 count, then getting one of the best clutch playoff hitters, Juan Uribe, on a K next. Good to watch.
d. And Anibal Sanchez? And Max Scherzer? Lord. What pitching over the weekend in the two championship series. If Detroit had a bullpen, the AL series would be just about over this morning.
e. And I don't want to hear about what a horrible job Joe West did behind the plate Saturday night. The check swings that enraged the Red Sox all checked out correct on replay, and none of the marginal strike calls was over-the-top bad, the replay showing them at least touching or very close to the strike zone.
f. Good decision to step away and get as healthy as you can with your epilepsy issues, Jerry Kill. And good support from the University of Minnesota to back you as strongly as it does.
g. Coffeenerdness: I have nothing to say about coffee this week, other than I drank a lot of it during the week. Can I have a week off?
h. Beernerdness: So it's October, and I wrote last week about the cool pumpkin ale from Harpoon. I've got a weakness for trying these pumpkin brews. So over the week I had the Southern Tier Imperial Pumking Ale. I've praised Southern Tier Hopsun in the past, and hear great things about this brewery. But Pumking Ale's not for me. It's a taste explosion—too much pumpkin, too many spices (and too strong), and too sweet. I'll take my pumpkin ale on the conservative side.
i. Congrats, Alice Munro. I love modest, humble and talented people winning awards they truly deserve.
Who I Like Tonight
Indianapolis 27, San Diego 23. The focus will be on two high-pick quarterbacks, which is understandable given the Monday night stage. But I hope you take time tonight to appreciate a quiet one, Indy wideout Reggie Wayne, who is four catches from 1,000. This is how Chuck Pagano praised him Saturday: "He takes a beginner's mentality every year that he shows up to training camp. All the great ones do that. Phil Jackson, coming off winning six championships, right? You read his book, all he ever talked about with his players every year, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, whoever: take a beginner's mentality. This is your rookie season. And that's what he's done. Every year he comes in, it's like starting over. He's got his iPad out, he's got his notepad and he treats it like his rookie year."
The Adieu Haiku
Sunday in Boston:
Brady first, then Big Papi
Worcester's hoarse today.
The Hoomanuwanui catch on the final drive was a catch, it bounced off his foot and up into his hands. When they went for it on fourth down if the Saints had scored a touchdown it still would've been a one possession game. Details Peter.
In regards to the diversity issue..
Whilst there may or may not have been racially motivated reasons for the hires (I am not in a position to say), perhaps the people hired were just the best people for the jobs.
Why do we have to assume that race had anything to do with it?
Want a good pumpkin beer, Mr. King? Rogue Brewery's Pumpkin Patch. Go get it. Now.
King and his love for Crybaby Brady is downright distributing
Come on. Last 3:29, 6 of 13 (with one spike) 6 different receivers. Final minute - 4/6 (with that spike) for 70 yards and a TD. Three of those guys have less than a season of experience. The Saints in comparison are loaded. On the throw to Edelman, the Saints had seven, yes, seven guys in coverage and didn't stop it. Second pass, it wasn't the Saints clock management (for you whiners) they went no huddle - they rushed three (hmmm...that's 8 guys looking to cover a pass) and another completion. Dobson gets six and gets pushed out (bad move by the db). Couple incompletes, another for Collie (yeah, he's been with them for five minutes) and then a perfect TD pass. That was a pretty good piece of work whether you hate Brady or not.
Eli Manning's had a number of picks this year that boinked off his receivers hands. And like you said, he's being chased all over the field. You need to look else where for a scape goat.
Well, it's starting early this year. Brady is showing signs of really going downhill now. Yes the receivers are dropping passes, but he's also thrown some really poor passes. Case in point was Sunday. Yes, he won the game, but did it have to take him three tries? There were two passes that point out both past issues and possibly future issues. Both passes were to Edelman.
One was near the goal line, with Edelman cutting over the middle. He was open, with room to run. Brady's pass forced him to slide to the ground to pull it in just off the grass. He would have had it, but the safety nailed him in the back, forcing him to cough it up. Had the ball been thrown properly, it would have been in on Edelman's hands, he would have had room to run, and the safety would not have been a factor. What also concerns me is that Brady stepped into the throw, threw it on a line, and the pass faded, losing some juice at the end. Could be his arm is fading even on the intermediate throws.
The second was the bomb down the middle into a secondary that had both safeties playing centerfield. Obvious double coverage, to a receiver who doesn't have a lot of speed, and not even on target. Another obvious Brady braincramp, just like the one to Matthew Slater in the 2012 AFC Championship vs. Baltimore.
Peter can shout about Brady all he wants, but it was the Pats defense that kept forcing 3 and outs until Brady finally got it right on the 3rd time. Biggest sign that Patriot nation has lost confidence in Brady? - The stadium was half-empty at the end of the game, something that never ever happens. Fans have seen too much of Brady's not being able to get things done.
Gronkowski. All the whining leaking out from the Patriots. The one thing every one knows, is that when he's on the field, his motor goes into high gear and stays there; that's just his mentality, he doesn't do half way. After all of his operations, these are the facts:
1. All of the operations. They indicate there were serious issues. That means the body has to take more time to heal. Given the nature of his play, he doesn't need to be rushing his recovery. This isn't like the low impact play of a lineman where everything's primarily strength on strength. Gronkowski puts himself in situations where he is going to get hammered, and he has to be ready.
2. Conditioning. Because of the operations, Gronk lost the entire off-season for work-outs. Yes, the healing of his injuries may have been done at the 6 week mark, but his conditioning would still lag behind his healing.
3. Given the issues with Amendola, if Belichick is trying to stretch this out so Gronk can be at 100% full speed at the appropriate time, it would be the smart thing to do. Gronk at full speed would be a hell of a counterpoint to Thompkins.
Amendola - final verdict is in on the Welker issue. Very sad.
I'm a huge fan of Peter King and this column, but have to say I'm disappointed to see no mention of the great special-teams performance of Dustin Harris in Sunday night's game against the Redskins.
Brady took a bunch of rag tags and beat what was probably the best overall team in the NFL. Manning struggled against the worst team in NFL history. Debate over.
Dear Peter,
Great week of football and I always appreciate your column. I was wondering if NE CB Aqib Talib entered your thinking for defensive player of the week? He shut down Jimmy Graham and got injured in the process. It was an amazing display of tough-nosed, old school coverage that was clearly a major factor in containing the explosive NO offense and Brees' production. What are yoru thoughts?
Sean Hall
Random thoughts:
1. Brady is something else. No-name receiving core and still keeps rolling.
2. Houston, the problem is solved, time to blow the whole thing up!
3. NY Giants, ditto with #2
4. Respect to the Jax, know go find your #1 QB in the draft!
5. Pryor says the Raiders still can make the playoffs. Crazy stuff. right? Not really, the AFC wildcard race is still wide open. He just needs to make sure his o-line is aware of the goal!
Too bad the Giants cut David Carr. He's used to dodging 300 bullets!
How can anyone have the Patriots in their top 5?
They are a fraud team.
With all dues respect, how is Dwyane (sp) Harris not a special teams player of the week. If a 90-yard kickoff return, an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown and a big punt return tackle in the 4th quarter doesn't get you there, I don't know what will.Travis from Ft.Lauderdale
King, it really surprises me that you can write effectively with both hands gripping Tom Brady's cock.
OPEN Letter Peter King and Website Designers.
Dear Peter,
I have always respected your writting and insight into the sport arena. Stories with a touch of experience and honesty in a world of 'more about me' is becoming a rare species on today's news headlines.
Having those thoughts in mind, I feel I am treated to the Geriatric Ward when visiting the new website. I truelly am NOT, NOT draw to the big font and BIG pictures to each and EVERY article. DID i mention the BIG picture and CLICK on me PICTURE.
If capital letters are screaming to shouting then new design website must implies your readers are visually impaired and lack reading skills.
Yes, I understand WINDOW is your $$ backer. But please, must you sell the farm to write your stories? I hope we have not reach that point in journalism.
Thank you for reading this far down in the comments posted field. Most folks don't get past the first 10 responses.
I hope refine the site to mirror more of your insight into sports and less of the marketing of windows software.
The officiating was one sided, I would agree. Allowing the Saints receiver to push off and get the last TD for the Saints was pretty egregious. Without that deliberate non-call, the rest of the game would not have mattered. Allowing the Saints to target the opponents head all night was pretty bad as well without the penalties. Multiple times Thompkins and Dobson were being held outside the 5 yard line and while running routes. So, of course the dimwit New Orleans fans will ignore those deliberate calls not being made. Poor girls got their panties in a knot because they lost.
@TigerFrankBurris I am a Patriots hater. But I don't see how anyone can NOT appreciate a win like this if you are a true football fan.
@TigerFrankBurris I just breeze over the NE stuff (both football and baseball), the anti-gun rants, and the liberal propaganda. I guess that leave the tweets that he repeats. After watching what NBC lets Costa get away with this will be my last time watching or reading anything that NBC has. I wonder how many viewer they are losing instead of gaining with this kind of stuff
@ESe Brady is increasingly inaccurate each year. Not many pat fans can acknowledge this reality. His inaccuracy has a lot to do with the postseason failings of recent years. Even when he had a "full arsenal of receivers" as some mindless fan said below about Brees.
I am curious would you have happened to have realized right away what an unbelievably stupid mistake it was to let Welker go and replace him with the injury prone Amendola? Probably not. All that "in Bill we trust" ridiculous mindless bs that comes out of Boston. Why pat fans believe in this guy is beyond any sensible person. He has rode Brady's coattails and ruined the best years of Brady's career with his egomaniacal personnel decisions.
See what Gronk is doing? He doesn't trust BB and why should he?
sorry about that - meant Dwayne Harris - Freudian slip for this Aggie.
@aidanfromworc Your post would be laughable other than that you clearly believe it. That makes it sad.
@SeanHall Of course he was thinking about Patriot players - it is ALL he thinks about, and writes about. And as a constant physical reminder for him, he has a 12" Patriot phallic device you know where.......
That AFC Wildcard race will be... well, wild. There are, at this point, quite a few teams w/some skills and records. I saw one projection that had the Bronco's (who are 6-0 right now) taking the first Wild Card spot, and there is a certain logic to it looking at the remaining schedule of the Chiefs and Bronco's - the Chiefs have to be a bit favored to take the AFC West. The Bronco's may finish 12-4 and be a wild card. The seeding looked like this (based on current standings and projections):
1. Chiefs (AFC W)
2. Patriots (AFC E)
3. Bengals (AFC N)
4. Colts (AFC S)
5. Broncos (AFC W/Wild Card)
6. Dolphins (AFC E/Wild Card)
You've still got, based on current standings, the Ravens, the Chargers, the Titans, the Browns to contend with before you get to the Raiders. It is crazy stuff and there is some open-ness there; but there is a lot of competition for those two open spots. The Raiders are in convention; but I'd be less surprised to see one of those other teams slide in there before them.
@Primecupcake - such old hat. Find a real excuse.
@Primecupcake 5-1 fraud team. Not a Pats fan, but doesn't your record count in this league?
@treddd How you ask? because he does not play for the Homer of a slob Peter's beloved Patriots. The only other team, in the NFL, that Peter is slightly aware of, on any given week, is whoever the Patriots are playing that week.
Hear, hear !!!
@Bostonctychamps1 im a saints fan who because of family commitments did not get to watch the game yet. Now what i DO know.. is 3 people sent me messages saying "what did you do to p**s off the refs", " Lucky you are not watching you would be p**sed off at the calls the refs are making", and " Holy S**t Brady must have bought off the refs".
Now.. me being a saints fan who did not see the game I think your little blinders may have been on when a Detroit fan, A Miami fan, and Atlanta fan.. all were saying how one sided the calls were AGAINST the saints.
Now I did see a couple of plays early and 2 first down spots were , shall we say, VERY generous for the Pats.. So take your homerism and go watch the game as a fan of football and come back and say that you think the refs were on the Saints side.
@Bostonctychamps1 Yeah, how unfortunate for you that people that are NOT Saints fans saw the same thing they saw. I am not a Saints fan. I just called it as it was. Did you see the critical jump offsides on the Pats defense that they called false start on the Saints? Yeah that penalty was irrelevant wasn't it? Such deep delusions.... they run deep.
@RichardWeed @TigerFrankBurris
you are seriously going to stop watching/reading because you disagree w/the commentary?
@mblack69 was about to say the same thing.
@SportPage @aidanfromworc Well, Manning continuously fails to deliver in clutch moments time after time. Brady is statistically better than Manning in all meaningful measurements other than straight yards and td's.
-Winning %
-TD - INT ratio
-Post Season Victories
-Super bowl appearances and victories
-Super bowl MVP's
-Ability to win in the elements (Manning has never won a playoff game with the temperature below 50 degrees: 0-4)
-Spreading the ball.
In the one year Brady did have super star talent at the WR and Slot receiver positions... He Broke Peyton's records.
I love both those guys. 1a and 1b Qb's of the 21st century. It's just that Brady beats Manning when you look at the data in all meaningful statistics.
The Reedster here has made a grand total of 16 comments. Fully half of these are whines about the Patriots. Sounds like he's really, really bitter.
Laces out, Reedster, laces out...
@blynder @AnthonyKlefas nah Cincy aint gonna make it. The Steelers will.
@blynder @AnthonyKlefas nah Cincy aint gonna make it. The Steelers will
@blynder @AnthonyKlefas One of the great reasons people love the NFL. So unpredictable.
He's a Packers fan. 'nuf said.
@mtoews @Bostonctychamps1 Your friends must be like you, and used to making excuses for their Patriots hate. Success does breed that. I was the same way with the Boston Celtics of old.
@mtoews @Bostonctychamps1 It is really amazing how many cant deal with Patriots success. Always trying to find excuses, cheating, the refs, etc. Stop whining and watch a good organization school the others.
@mtoews @Bostonctychamps1 They have no reply for you. Pat fans are incapable of handling reality or truth.
@randomdeletion @Bostonctychamps1 I also saw that play. The player from the Pats made a move. Before he got into the zone, the saints player moved. His move over took precedence. Like when you have a defensive and an offensive lane line violation. The offensive violation is immediately taken.
@randomdeletion @Bostonctychamps1
"I just called it as it was." Let me help you out. It should be "I just called it as I saw it". It's called OPINION. Your OPINION does not make it a FACT. They looked at it on replay and saw it for what it was, stemhead. They're not blind. He was out of the neutral zone when the ball was snapped.
But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of your OPINION.
@randomdeletion @Bostonctychamps1 I guess the 7 point push off was incidental. Poor thing, nothing better to do with your life than rant and rave on a keyboard? Your a legend in your own mind. Which is a small place to be.
@blynder He will be back reading next week. Its just a lot of talk.
@Dick You actually check other people's comments, do a count and come to a conclusion based on what you find? Interesting. Obviously you couldn't say the same about me after doing your "fact checking" so you didn't. Once you checked mine you found I speak on many a topic. Your defensiveness for your beloved team shows the depth of your insecurity. The same I have found in many a pat fan as they know the depths of the issues they have had being one.
@Dick @AnthonyKlefas @Primecupcake *rolls eyes* stupid is as stupid does
@Jimmyjam @randomdeletion @Bostonctychamps1 That isn't how the rule is written or how it is supposed to be enforced. If a defender makes a sudden movement that causes the offensive lineman to move, the penalty is against the defense regardless of whether they cross the line of scrimmage. This rule was put into place because for a long time defenders were twitching, jumping forward and making all kind of movements trying to get an offensive lineman to even twitch just a little and get a flag. The league decided they didn't want the defenders causing the offenses infraction and gaining benefit from it, so they made those actions by the defense against the rules. It was textbook violation against the Pats and the refs inexplicably called it on the Saints. Watch for this going forward in games this weekend and the rest of the season.
@Dick @randomdeletion @Bostonctychamps1 You obviously don't know football. They don't review penalties. Also, the penalty is not for being int eh neutral zone at the snap it is for jumping into the neutral zone and causing an offensive lineman to move, which is what happened and is a penalty against the defense. Watch some football and catch up on the rules. So let me repeat, I called it as it was, it is not based on opinion. It is a rule.
@Bostonctychamps1 @randomdeletion I am not a Saints fan. Just because you want to make assumptions and make unfounded claims that does not make them true.
The Saints receiver had his hand on the shoulder of the pats defender, but did not push off. Have you watched the replay? There is absolutely no momentum change in direction by either the defender or the receiver and that is what needs to take place to indicate there was a push off. Just simply touching the other player does not constitute a push off. Of course as a delusional pats fan, such as you are, it is a shameful penalty for any opposing player to touch a pat. Nevermind that the pats defensive backs were touching the Saints receivers more than 5 yards down field all game long.
As I said, as a fan of neither team, I saw the calls go the pats way and it was quite obvious.
@randomdeletion @Bostonctychamps1 Of course it did. Your team lost and you are looking for an excuse. Take your meds for your schizophrenia. If you want to see delusional behavior, go look in a mirror.
@randomdeletion @Bostonctychamps1 Of course it did. Your team lost and you are looking for an excuse. Take your meds for your schizophrenia. If you want to see delusional behavior, go look in a mirror. The calls were not one sided and the Saints benefited, most glaring example was the receiver pushing off for the TD.
@Bostonctychamps1 @randomdeletion You can't deny my point, that was most certainly a penalty on the pats or against any other team, but the pushoff you are complaining about didn't happen.
@Bostonctychamps1 @randomdeletion You mean the one you saw in your delusions?


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Beastly Adventurer
Joined: Oct 2006
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wheelied it just now on the street. And no you can't ride it after seeing your "jump" on the video from the bike night! IT is going to be stripped down this weekend. It needs the carb cleaned bad (hence the wheelie) and it is going to end up a nice flat green color with white pinstriping. Wife is going to ride this one to school. I got it in des moines last night. 2 hours out and 2 hours back. I am tired.
Bike/scooter #2 is getting picked up tonight for even cheaper... (I am a cheap turd ask my wife) You guys will have to wait to see it though, I don't want to ruin the surprise. This one I am getting tonight will be mine. It will be a four stroke and an antiquity ( is that a word) The one I am getting tonight is almost as old as I am.
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Marco Rubio Announces He is Running For President in 2016 … "I Can Lead This Country" … Calls Hillary Clinton "a Leader from Yesterday" … Yesterday is Over and we Are Never Going Back"
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) made it official, in a speech at Miami's Freedom Tower, Marco Rubio announced his 2016 presidential run. Rubio stressed a fresh approach to the future, telling supporters that "yesterday is over and we're never going back." The 43 year old Republican Florida Senator is all in and he has quite the story of only in America to tell We the People. As the son of poor Cuban immigrants, Marco Rubio spoke of The American Dream.
Both of my parents were born to poor families in Cuba. After his mother died when he was nine, my father left school to go work. My mother was one of seven girls raised by a disabled father who struggled to provide for his family.
When they were young, my parents had big dreams for themselves. But because they were not born into wealth or power, their future was destined to be defined by their past. So in 1956 they came here, to the one place on earth where the aspirations of people like them could be more than just dreams.
My father became a bartender. My mother a cashier, a maid and a Kmart stock clerk. They never made it big. But they were successful. Two immigrants with little money or education found stable jobs, owned a home, retired with security and gave all four of their children a life far better than their own.
My parents achieved what came to be known as the American Dream. But now, too many Americans are starting to doubt whether achieving that dream is still possible:
Notice how you never hear Rubio or his supporters say that a reason to vote for him is to be the first Hispanic president or the first Cuban-American one? It's about the dream, the American dream that he wants every American to have and to pay back America for all that he has received.
More from Marco Rubio's speech and his views for the future, not living or governing in the past.
Because while our people and economy are pushing the boundaries of the 21st century, too many of our leaders and their ideas are stuck in the twentieth century.
They are busy looking backward, so they do not see how jobs and prosperity today depend on our ability to compete in a global economy. So our leaders put us at a disadvantage by taxing, borrowing and regulating like it's 1999.
They look for solutions in yesterday, so they don't see that good-paying modern jobs require different skills and more education than the past. They blindly support an outdated higher education system that is too expensive and inaccessible to those who need it most.
And they have forgotten that when America fails to lead, global chaos inevitably follows, so they appease our enemies, betray our allies and weaken our military.[...]
Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for President by promising to take us back to yesterday.
But yesterday is over, and we are never going back. We Americans are proud of our history, but our country has always been about the future. Before us now is the opportunity to author the greatest chapter yet in the amazing story of America.
We can't do that by going back to the leaders and ideas of the past. We must change the decisions we are making by changing the people who are making them.
That is why today, grounded by the lessons of our history, and inspired by the promise of our future, I announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America.
But can Marco Rubio win, he better because he is not running for both Senate and the President? If he loses, he is out of politics. Although I have to believe that if he does not get the GOP nomination, he would be on the short list for VP.
Marco Rubio's full presidential announcement speech can be seen below.
Fantastic Presidential Announcement by Rubio
Posted April 14, 2015 by Scared Monkeys
2016 Elections, Conservatives, Florida, Marco Rubio (R-FL), Presidential Contenders, Primaries, Republican | 6 comments
State Senator Joni Ernst Wins GOP Iowa Primary Going Away … Faces Democrat Bruce Braley for Open Iowa Senate Seat
State Senator Joni Ernst wins Republican primary in Iowa, set to face Democrat Bruce Braley for US Senate race in pivotal battle in 2014 for the US Senate.
It did not take long last night after the polls closed in Iowa as the AP called the GOP US Senate primary for state senator Joni Ernst. With just 24% of precincts reporting, the AP made the call for Joni Ernst who had 53% of the vote, Conservative radio host Sam Clovis had 19%, businessman Mark Jacobs (R) had 17% and former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker (R) had 9%. However, by the time all the votes were counted Ernst would win the Iowa Republican senate primary by an even wider margin gaining 56.2% of the vote. Ernst easily cleared the 35 percent threshold necessary to avoid a convention nomination fight. Republican Joni Ernst will face Democrat Bruce Braley this November for the Iowa senate seat currently held by the retiring Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin.
Joni Ernst, who highlighted her ability to shoot guns and castrate hogs to overcome disinterest in a sleepy primary election, tonight racked up enough votes to become the first female GOP U.S. Senate nominee in Iowa history.
The Associated Press called the race shortly before 10 p.m.
The 43-year-old farmer's daughter turned state senator and military commander eclipsed the 35 percent necessary to claim victory over her four competitors, including retired businessman Mark Jacobs, who tried to overpower the rest of the field by self-funding his campaign with millions from his own wealth.
Vote for Jodi Ernst and let her trim the pork in Washington, DC … its a simple choice for Iowa voters.
Washington is full of big spenders, let's make them squeal
"This campaign will come down to a very simple choice: our shared Iowa values, versus Bruce Braley's liberal Washington values," Ernst said.
According to the statement, Ernst, a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who served a tour in Iraq, will start a statewide tour on Wednesday alongside Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. She's due to report for National Guard duty once that tour ends, the statement says without giving an exact time-frame.
Two More People (Mark Mayfield & Richard Sager) Arrested and Charged in Photo Case of Sen. Thad Cochran's (R-MS) Bedridden Wife Rose
Attorney Mark Mayfield, a vice chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party and an officer with the Central Mississippi Tea Party, and Richard Sager were arrested Thursday by Madison, Mississippi police in connection with the Rose Cochran photo scandal. Mayfield, a real estate attorney, was arrested and charged with conspiracy. Richard Sager was charged with evidence tampering and conspiracy. Mayfield and Sager appeared in court Thursday where Madison Municipal Judge Dale Danks set his bond at $250,000 for Mayfield and $250,000 per count per count for Sager, who faces one charge of conspiracy and one charge of tampering with evidence.
16 WAPT's Scott Simmons has learned that two people are facing charges in connection with the case. One of the two is Mark Mayfield, who is a member of the board of directors for the Central Mississippi Tea Party, said Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest.
Mayfield, a real estate attorney, was arrested Thursday by the Madison Police Department. Mayfield is charged with conspiracy.
Richard Sager, of Laurel, was also arrested Thursday, Guest said. Sager is charged with evidence tampering and conspiracy.
Clayton Kelly was arrested Friday and is charged with exploitation, filming without permission and conspiracy. He's accused of taking photos of Rose Cochran at St. Catherine's Village, the nursing home where she has lived for 13 years.
Erick Erickson of Red State reports that Tea Partiers can be idiots, but the McDaniel camp was not involved and then comes the money line, "There you have it. But way to go tea party types for largely sabotaging a campaign you support." And there you have it, a note to the Tea Party folks … you have to act far and away better than establishment Democrats and Republicans because you do one thing wrong and all will be branded. You do not get the benefit of the establishment because of their ability to cover up corruption and conspiracies and in the case of Democrats, have the MSM run cover for you. Of course there still remains the question of what on earth was there to gain by exploiting the bedridden, nursing home resident wife of a senator who suffers from progressive dementia. Talk about poor judgement and a questionable thought process.
Michael Guest, the district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties, told Simmons that he doesn't believe anyone with the McDaniel campaign is involved.
Posted May 23, 2014 by Scared Monkeys
2014 Elections, Arrest, Civility, Conspiracy, Crime, Gutter Politics, Politics, Primaries, Republican, Scandal, Senate, Tea Party, WTF | no comments
CNN/ORC International Poll: Sen. Rand Paul (KY-R) Rising to the Top in the GOP Field for 2016 Presidential Race
It is obviously way too early, but Sen. Rand Paul (KY-R) is trending upward and leading the pack for the 2016 Republican presidential race.
According to the most recent CNN poll, the Republican Kentucky Senator top the list of potential Republican presidential candidates for 2016 in a national poll. It is early in the game and one would think these polls are more about name recognition than what a candidate may actually stand for or be against. However, Paul's surge to the top may have more to do with his libertarian and Tea Party, anti-establishment roots, rather his popularity. One thing is for certain, Rand Paul is on a roll as he recently topped a Republican N.H. poll and overwhelmingly won the straw poll at CPAC. Could we please nominate a GOP candidate who actually believes in the US Constitution, the rule of law and making America that shining city on the hill, rather than just being concerned about their power?
Rand Paul has done something his father never did – top the list of potential Republican presidential candidates in a national poll.
According to a new CNN/ORC International survey, 16% of Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP say they would be likely to support the senator from Kentucky for the 2016 nomination.
Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, garnered 15%, with longtime Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who's considering another bid for the White House, at 11%.
One thing is for certain, there will be no candidate that we will agree with on 100%; however, it is so important to pick the most conservative and electable of the bunch as this country cannot afford another 4 years of this Democrat insanity as president. Something has to be done to reverse what has transpired during the past 6 years of Obama, before it is too late. Actually, it can begin by voting in non-establishment House and Senate Republicans this Fall in the 2014 midterm elections.
Posted March 16, 2014 by Scared Monkeys
2016 Elections, CNN Opinion Research, Conservatives, Polls, Presidential Contenders, Primaries, Rand Paul (KY-R), Republican, Restoring America, Senate, US Constitution, We the People, You Tube - VIDEO | no comments
Liz Cheney Dropping Out of GOP Senate Bid in Wyoming Against Enzi Citing Family Health Issues
Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney, is dropping out of her Republican Senate bid for Wyoming. Cheny cited family health issues as to the reason why she was discontinuing her run for Senate and her GOP primary challenge to current US Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY). According to a statement released by Liz Cheney via Politico, "Serious health issues have recently arisen in our family, and under the circumstances, I have decided to discontinue my campaign."
With Liz Cheney halting her primary challenge, this will all but ensure that 69 year old Mike Enzi will win a fourth term in 2014. Wyoming has been a safe GOP state for years, there is no reason to turn a safe state into a civil war and provide Democrats any ammunition to use it as a proxy vote for gay marriage.
Liz Cheney, whose upstart bid to unseat Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi sparked a round of warfare in the Republican Party and even within her own family, is dropping out of the Senate primary, she said in a prepared statement Monday morning.
"Serious health issues have recently arisen in our family, and under the circumstances, I have decided to discontinue my campaign," she said.
Phil and I want to thank the thousands of people in Wyoming and all across the country who have supported my campaign. As a mother and a patriot, I know that the work of defending freedom and protecting liberty must continue for each generation. Though this campaign stops today, my commitment to keep fighting with you and your families for the fundamental values that have made this nation and Wyoming great will never stop."
More analysis at Hot Air where they discuss that maybe her dropping out is best but ponder what the medial issue could be.
Perhaps it's just as well. This campaign always seemed a bit ill-considered. Enzi didn't have a particularly RINO-ish reputation until Cheney decided to go after him; the American Conservative Union (which hosts CPAC in March) rated Enzi at 92.73% for 2012, 89% in 2011, and 96% in 2010. On top of that, questions immediately arose as to Cheney's connection to Wyoming, where she had lived sparingly at best for the last several years. The sudden exit makes the decision to challenge Enzi even more questionable.
Posted January 6, 2014 by Scared Monkeys
2014 Elections, Primaries, Primary Challenge, Republican, Senate, Senate Elections | no comments
CNN/ORC Poll: NJ Governor Chris Christie Leads Possible 2016 GOP Contenders … Not Only is it Way too Early, Don't Count On It Christie
A new CNN poll has New Jersey governor Chris Christie as the front-runner of possible Republican contenders for the 2016 GOP presidential nominee. For the Democrats it would appear that Hillary Clinton is already being coronated their nominee. However, for the GOP not only is this poll way too early, I would doubt that Chris Christie will be the Republican nominee unless they plan on losing another presidential election. Polls at this point are merely a popularity contest and with Christie's recent landslide win for governor in NJ against a no-name opponent, he just happens to be the cause-celeb for today.
There is a long, long way to go and the potential winner for the GOP may not have even come forward yet. The same could be said for Democrats as well. Wasn't Hillary Clinton the presumptive Democrat nominee winner as well before a certain novice, unprepared, 2 year US Senator from Illinois named Obama got into the race?
Who actually thinks the GOP base would vote for Christie after this?
And according to a CNN/ORC International survey, if Hillary Clinton decides against making another bid for the White House, Vice President Joe Biden would be the initial favorite to capture the Democratic nomination.
The poll, released Friday morning, indicates that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, fresh off his Garden State re-election landslide victory and widespread national media attention, jumped to the top of the pack of potential contenders for the GOP nomination.
Twenty-four percent of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP questioned in the survey say they'd be likely to support Christie for the Republican nomination, up seven percentage points from a CNN poll in early September. Back then, Christie and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the House Budget chairman and the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, were virtually tied at the top of the GOP list, with Christie at 17% and Ryan at 16%.
But Ryan, who's stayed mostly away from the political spotlight the past few months, has dropped to 11%, putting him in third place, slightly behind Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, at 13%. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who like Paul has made multiple trips this year to the states that kick off the presidential primary and caucus calendar, like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, stands at 10% in the survey, the only other Republican White House hopeful to get double-digit support.
Sorry, but a win in New Jersey is hardly a microcosm of winning a primary in the Republican party or a national election. New Jersey is it's own animal, much like every state is. Much of the GOP base considered Chris Christie a "Benedict Arnold" when he went overboard gushing over Barack Obama after Hurricane Sandy, sabotaging any chance Mitt Romney may have had. The GOP have run two 'RINO's' in a row, the "mavericky" John McCain in 2008 and Mitt "Romneycare" Romney in 2012. Both candidates alienated the GOP base and in the end, really stood for nothing, except they ere not Obama. At what point will the establishment Republicans understand that the GOP electorate wants a candidate with substance and is not Democrat-light?
The focus this last week should have been on Obama's shameful conduct in Benghazi. Instead, the schizophrenic Christie allowed himself to be manipulated by Obama's camp so easily, that one has to question the reasoning for his desertion of Governor Romney. I believe the egomaniacal Christie would rather run for POTUS in 2016 than 2020. And chose to spend the last week stabbing Mitt in the back.
I understand that Christie had to "break bread" with Obama when Obama came to tour New Jersey for disaster relief for Hurricane Sandy. We all should be fine with that. But after Obama left, Christie has continued to act "star-struck" toward the liberal Democrat. Both men are frequent apologizers for Islam so that may also be a shared bond.
And Christie refused an invitation to attend a Sunday night rally with Mr. Romney in Pennsylvania, only 20 minutes from Trenton. You can google Benedict Arnold/Chris Christie or Traitor Chris Christie and see that the internet is abuzz with stories about how Christie the RINO has been selling out to Obama.
Linda McMahon Beats Christopher Shays in A WWE Smackdown 730-389 At GOP Convention
Could WWE nation provide the Nutmeg State with their first female US Senator ever?
Linda McMahon, the former WWE CEO, gave fellow GOP'er a smack down at the Republican state convention Friday night as she beat Christopher Shayes 730 to 389. However, the battle will continue against her rival Shayes until the Connecticut August primary. McMahon said she intends to focus her campaign on Chris Murphy, the Democrats' endorsed candidate, but will also continue to target Shays. "Chris Murphy and Chris Shays have very similar voting records. The November election will be a battle royal for the retiring Joe Liberman's US Senate seat.
Republican delegates at their state convention Friday night once again put their faith in U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon, although her contentious battle with rival Christopher Shays will continue until a mid-August primary.
McMahon, the former CEO of WWE, received 60.4 percent of the vote. Shays netted 32.2 percent, easily meeting the threshold — 15 percent of the total — to force a primary.
Linda McMahon said following her overwhelming victory:
"We're going to send the first woman senator to Washington in the history of Connecticut," she said in the speech that she said she would have made from the podium. "Connecticut, we're tired of waiting."
"We know our economy is not working because Americans are not working," McMahon said. "We are going to move Washington out of the doldrums that it's in. … We are going to get people back to work and get our economy stimulated."
LINDA FOR US SENATE 2012 website.
Posted May 19, 2012 by Scared Monkeys
2012 Elections, Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Primaries, Religion, Republican, Senate, Senate Elections, You Tube - VIDEO | 4 comments
Rick Sanorum Endorses GOP Rival Mitt Romney Republican Presidential Candidate
Rick Santorum endorses Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee for President, the party comes together … "Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated." Powerline has the written endorsement and aptly states, "This is a compelling case, and I expect that Romney will have the solid backing of Santorum supporters."
A reader forwards this email Rick Santorum is sending to his supporters in which he announces he's endorsing Mitt Romney.
Santorum makes clear that he felt Romney had answered questions about his commitment to principles the former senator cares about at their one-hour meeting in Pittsburgh. And his backing, while expected, comes at a time when Romney is trying to solidify his standing in the party, whose social conservative base remains uncertain about him.
"Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated," Santorum writes in the email. :The task will not be easy. It will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. Governor Romney will be that nominee and he has my endorsement and support to win this the most critical election of our lifetime."
It is going to take all to come together during this most important election of our lifetime to defeat Obama and his socialist, class warfare agenda.
Posted May 8, 2012 by Scared Monkeys
2012 Elections, Conservatives, Mitt Romney, Presidential Contenders, Presidential Election, Primaries, Republican, Rick Santorum | no comments
Mitt Romney … Clean Sweep in GOP Presidential Primary Wins in Wisconsin, Maryland and District of Columbia
It was a big night for Mitt Romney as the former Governor of Massachusetts swept through last nights GOP Presidential primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia.Romney was an easy winner in Maryland and DC; however, the big race of the night was in the Cheese head state of Wisconsin where Romney defeated Santorum.
Romney sweeps Wisconsin, Maryland & DC primaries … shortens the number of delegates needed for nomination
Mitt Romney won all three of Tuesday's Republican presidential primaries, putting more distance between himself and his closest contender, Rick Santorum, who indicated he plans to fight on to his home state of Pennsylvania and beyond.
Romney's wins in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia put him past the halfway mark to the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination and add to a wide delegate lead that he holds over the other major GOP presidential candidates, according to CNN estimates.
Yet Santorum indicated Tuesday night he would compete in the April 24 primaries in five states, including Pennsylvania, where his campaign hopes a win would be a gateway to a run of May primaries in states where he can capitalize on higher percentages of conservative voters.
Romney turns focus to Barack Obama following sweeping victories … VIDEO
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The total delegate count to date can be seen HERE. Romney is now more than half way to victory of the necessary delegates to get the GOP nomination. However, Rick Santorum stated following last night's sweep that he was not going away.
But Santorum has made it clear he'll continue on through the April 24 primaries, which include his home state of Pennsylvania as well as a number of states friendly to Romney: Connecticut, New York, Delaware and Rhode Island.
GOP strategists say it's unlikely Santorum could be swayed by any Romney endorsements, and that unless Romney beats him in both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania the race could continue on through the end of May. Romney has fallen behind Obama in the polls, a sign the long and nasty primary is hurting his campaign.
Posted April 4, 2012 by Scared Monkeys
2012 Elections, Mitt Romney, Presidential Contenders, Primaries, Primaries, Republican, Rick Santorum, Wisconsin, You Tube - VIDEO | one comment
GOP Presidential Primary: Mitt Romney Sweeps Night, Victorious in Michigan and Arizona
What was touted by many political pundits as a potential nightmare evening for Mitt Romney, in the end Romney won the primaries in both Michigan and Arizona. It was a runaway victory in Arizona; however, Michigan was a much closer race. But was it?Romney topped Santorum in AZ, 47% to 26%. Romney's victory in Michigan over Santorum was a much closer tally at a 41% to 38% margin. But was it really that close in Michigan? Not really, as Democrats who voted in the GOP primary went for Santorum heavily. There is no way these folks would ever vote for a Republican against the GOP Presidential candidate.
Romney wins Michigan and Arizona by this much …
The victory by Mr. Romney in Arizona, which awarded him the state's entire allotment of 29 delegates, was overshadowed by the battle in Michigan. He prevailed in the statewide popular vote by four percentage points, relying on large margins in the counties around Detroit where he spent his childhood, but the fight for delegates was closer.
Michigan awards its 30 delegates by Congressional district, which meant Mr. Santorum would either leave Michigan with nearly the same number as Mr. Romney or only slightly fewer. Mr. Santorum beamed when he took the stage before a cheering crowd in Grand Rapids and reminded his supporters of how far he had come.
Exit polls in Michigan say …
Just curious, if Obama won a state by a close margin, after having won so many in 2008 by a large margin … would the liberal MSM call the victory ugly? Of course not. If any one made such a comment, the liberal press would be posting articles that the GOP called Obama ugly.
In the end, a wins is a win and its onto the next state …
Posted February 29, 2012 by Scared Monkeys
2012 Elections, Mitt Romney, Presidential Contenders, Primaries, Primaries, Republican, Rick Santorum | 2 comments