I Love that Kid pt 2

Daddy:  "Devin, you done?"

Devin:  "Yes daddy but no poopoo..."

Daddy:  "You didn't go poopoo?"

Devin:  "No, maybe it needs batteries"

Daddy:  "Your poopoo needs batteries?"

Devin:  "Yea I think my poopoo needs batteries."

The Decline in Fanaticism

There was a time growing up when I knew where each of my friends stood with each sport. Chuck was a Pistons fan, Kenny was a Celtics fan, Chuck and I were Redskins fans.  None of us jumped ship . . . ever . . . . for any reason.  I hope that stands true for my Newgate Village homies to this day.

But ask a fan nowadays about the team they support in a single sport, and you'll likely get a litany of teams supported, with a plethora of reasons they support them.  People no longer are strong enough to stand by one team anymore.  No more loyalty to one college for all sports.  Everybody has their winner backup.  It's saddening.

The most common statement I hear goes something like this 'I'm a Hawks fan but the Cavaliers are my second favorite team.'  By definition, 'favorite' is a singular item.  By my definition of fan, there are no second favorites in the same league. That shows a new level of fairweatheredness that's either slightly above or slight below those NBA fans who haven't watched a game since Jordan left.  Oddly enough, I never hear the comment 'I'm a Browns fan but the Bills are my second favorite team.'  You know why I don't hear that kind of statement?  Because these so called fans never seem to pick a mediocre or outright bad team as their second favorite.

It really goes to the desire for today's fans to be associated with a winner.  Sports no longer hold that passion of my youth with the new generation of fans. From my teens up until my kids were born, if the Lakers, Redskins, or Hokies lost, the day and quite possibly the weekend were done.  Ruined. I felt it personally. I cared and loved that much.  I didn't rely on a second team.  I didn't support a player that didn't run with my squad.  Ask my friends what I said about Shaquille O'Neal once he left the Lakers.  In a nutshell, it was nothing nice.

What happened to those fans that felt the game?  That weren't afraid to lose?  That realized losing builds passion?  I actually have a friend who attended Virginia Tech but cheers for Duke basketball.  Her justification is that the Hokies have never been that good in basketball.  Besides berating her as a traitor, I should have asked her what happens if the basketball team runs into the good fortune that the once hapless football team did 16/17 years ago?  Would she forsake Duke basketball?  I doubt it . . . .sadly, I doubt it.

I have another friend who became a die-hard Falcons fan once they started winning.  He says he refused to support an organization in the state the organization was formerly in.  I'm a Redskins fan.  I support a team with an owner that has absolutely nothing to put on his mantelpiece in terms of achievement since he's owned the team. Blunder after blunder after blunder....still no excuse to jump ship.....

I just don't get it I guess.  Do these people also have second favorite wives?  I mean sports for me is about loyalty, about trust in the organization, about a love of the history of an organization.  Does any of that count for anything anymore?

Implementing a Hosted Solution - Lessons Learned

How's this for a change of pace?  A work related post that is more observation than bitching.

We have been in the process of implementing Oracle's CRM on Demand since September 2009.  I have implementation experience but this was a much more intense experience.  So, even though we are only in pilot with tons of work and sleep-deprived days ahead of us, I thought I'd make a point to take some notes -- a 'Lessons Learned' kind of assessment.

Lesson #1: Get the right people involved. . . .EARLY!

  Any time a technical product is being discussed, negotiated, or researched, the IT department and at least a few subject matter experts should be involved.  Case in point, a database company trying to sell you one of it's business applications will almost always say 'Our product can handle whatever your business process may be as well as introduce you to best practice business processes that you may find useful.'  Without IT input, questions such as does your application meet my business process specifications with little to no customization?  Or will I have a ton of customization with your product simply being the interface for my customizations?  Further, subject matter experts need to be available to verify that what your company reps are telling the vendor, in terms of how you do business, is correct.  Often, executives have a high level understanding of what occurs beneath them but you don't want to base a million dollar application purchase on a high level understanding.

Lesson #2: Understand the limitations of your decisions

The product chosen was a hosted solution.  In layman's terms this means we are buying software that we are not installing on machines within our company. Rather, the software will be hosted at, in this case, Oracle's site.  Oracle will be in charge of hardware and software maintenance and upkeep which logically presents a cost savings in terms of administration of the software. Undoubtedly, this was told to the executive team.  Also, undoubtedly, the ramifications of not having an actual product in your possession were not, I assume, weighed as heavily.  As a developer, what I desire most is access. Access to development environments, databases, and whatever else I need to do my job.  With a hosted solution, I am partially handcuffed.  I no longer have free reign to 'go in the backdoor' and fix something through the database.  I no longer have the power I once did.  Not only is that a culture change for the development team, it's also a change for the user base who by now has gotten used to knowing that their IT team could formerly do tons of things in the application and around the application (reporting for example) with less red tape and quicker turnaround.

Lesson #3:  Quality, Speed, Expense-- Pick Two

This is not so much a lesson learned as much as it is a personal project management guideline.  I forget where I heard it but it has stuck with me through the years and I find it just as relevant now as I did years ago.

With every project, you have three main considerations: Quality, Speed, and Expense.  You only get two of these three.  Two you get to request at the forsaking of the third.  If you want a project completed quickly and with good quality, expect to pay a handsome fee along the line to get that done.  If you want a project completed cheaply and quickly, quality will suffer.  And if you want a cheap project with quality work, it can be done but it will take time.

There are other lessons that I have taken from this project that I hope to xpine on here but it is saturday night.....

I Love That Kid

Devin: "Daddy?"
Daddy: (Silent cuz he's on a conference call)
Devin: "Daddy, you have candy?"
Daddy: "Why do you think daddy has candy?"
Devin: "There's no candy"
Daddy: "Does daddy always have candy?"
Devin: "mmmhmm"
Daddy: (Handing over a cherished bottle cap) "Don't tell mommy..."
Devin: "I'm going to tell"
Daddy: (Taking back a cherished bottle cap) "Shh, don't tell mommy!"
Devin: "Mommy, can I have candy"
Daddy: "SHHHH! Here take it"
Devin: "Candy"
Daddy: (Fist pump) "Gimme some"
Devin: (Returning the pound) "Davis Man!"

That's right....

Gathering My Senses

Work.  It doesn't fill me with a sense of accomplishment or pride. I don't work because I love it. My accomplishment is daily.  When that little boy runs full speed into my waiting arms, that's accomplishment.  That's fulfillment.  When my daughter's face lights up because she hasn't seen me all day, and the happiness on my wife's face watching the whole process?  Well that's accomplishment, fulfillment. 

Work is making sure that when those wrinkles have gatheredon our face 30 years from now, they are wrinkles caused by smiling. Work is when my son says 'Daddy we go buy my new video?' and I buy it or don't buy it based on something other than can I afford it. Work is interesting, but it is far from everything. It has this little box in my life where I like to store it.  And nearly every other box in my life is bigger than the work box.

Some may see this attitude as an issue with my work ethic.  I believe my efforts and results prove otherwise.  What I want to limit is the amount of stress, distraction, and loss work causes in my life. I don't ever want to wake up thinking about work.  If work has become my main passion, then something is missing in my life.  Don't misunderstand me, I enjoy what I do.  But if I were to win 100 million dollars tomorrow, I'd only be doing what I do for two more weeks.

Many folks have at one time or another made comments about my work ethic.  Not necessarily negative comments but more in the line of curiousity.  I rarely show stress at work. Nor do I ever seem too busy (until recently) to speak to someone who's stopped by my desk because they needed a break.  Co-workers have seen this and don't know what to make of it.  It's really very simple.  Work is work but it is not me.  I try to reduce it's effect on my mood and more importantly on my dealings with others (especially those not involved in any way with my work).  Lastly, we spend most of our day at work, the very least I can do is enjoy the people I work with.

I'll never be a CEO.  And I don't want to be one.  I like the position that work plays in my life right now.  Maybe down the road, money will be less important and having a fulfilling vocation will matter more to me.  But I don't see the exit for that road yet so in the words of Smokey and the Bandit -- East bound and down, loaded up and trucking!

Civic Conscious

A week ago today I was fretting over serving my civic duty.  It was an interruption. I was worried because I didn't have the time personally or professionally to deal with the ramifications of jury duty.  Not to mention they wanted me to report at 8am. I can't remember the last time I was showered, dressed, and functional at 8 am.  Maybe one of the three, maybe even two, but definitely can't remember all three occurring in the past three months at the least.

When I arrived at the Gwinnett County Justice Administration, I was like 99% of the 900 folks reporting that morning: praying I didn't get picked for a jury.  I see that I'm listed as number one in the second group of 50 for jury selection.  Though random, that didn't bode well to me.  Luckily, Jeff was a laid back fellow that I met five minutes ago so that made things a bit easier.

Needless to say if you follow me on facebook, I was selected.  The charges were for a 21 year old girl on an accident in 2006.  She had been charged with Homicide by Vehicle, Serious Injury by Vehicle, Driving Under the Influence, and Driving on a Suspended/Revoked license.  The irony of it all was that the accident occurred after a night drinking at a franchise of my former drinking hole.  IN fact, I could have very well been at the bar they left or the bar they were heading to on Aug 12/13, 2006. 

Without getting into a whole lot of details, we found her guilty of all charges except the Homicide by Vehicle.  Though the deceased could not speak for themselves,we felt there was a level of personal responsibility that played just as much a role in his death as did the accused female. 

I entered jury duty nonchalantly.  Get it over with kind of attitude.  After being picked, listening to two days worth of testimony, and approximately 8 hours of deliberation, I realize that this has been, as Bailiff Warren said it would, an experience that I'm likely to remember forever.  I coudn't help but question our decision when both when I heard the deceased family speak in the courtroom, then again when I saw the defendant break down upon hearing her sentence.   I gather that some part of me will always wonder if we did the right thing.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl Fun

A week ago today, I was excited beyond belief. I was headed to my first ever bowl game. Well, technically not my first. I did drive down to Miami for an Orange Bowl game against Nebraska only to find out that my girlfriend's brother (who never liked me) hadn't secured my ticket. So I sat in a bar outside of the Orange Bowl watching a game that I was supposed to go to drinking pitchers of beer (which apparently it was illegal to serve a single person a pitcher of beer but they thought I had friends coming) while Nebraska handed VT an arse-whipping.

[caption id="attachment_1570" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Walking to the dome"][/caption]

But I digress. I can't explain the feeling of a bowl game. In the scheme of college football this game meant nothing.  But to the fans in the packed CNN Center and later the packed Dome, there was indeed a lot more on the line.  

The Tennessee fans were there in droves.  The Hokies travel well, but as one drunken fan expressed about the Vols, 'They brought their whole state...they brought their whole state!' 

Per request of Vols friend, I purchased our tickets on the Vols side of the field.  As it turned out, looking at the crowd, everywhere was the Vols side of the field except for the Hokie Band.  It seems the band was the only place that Chicago maroon held a solid foothold.  

Well, there and on the field of course! 

The fans around me were good natured -- the sober ones anyway.  The drunk ones were victimized by my wit, including Lance the Tennessee fan with absolutely no Tennessee paraphernalia on but rocking his Wal-Mart nametag.  It's a lot easier to silence your foes when the footsoldiers on the field are doing it big.  Unfortunately, many of the drunkest fans whom I would have proudly gloated and toted my VT love for escaped at some point during the third quarter. 

Highlights of the day include: 

• Realizing 24 oz pints at the CNN Center were only six bucks


• Realizing the dome would be serving at the college game


• Starting a 'Lets Go...Hokies' cheer in the men's room at the CNN Center


• Having a Vols fan try to gobble at the end of the game


• Having a guy wearing a Vols t-shirt admit he was going for the Hokies but his girlfriend made him wear the t-shirt


• Having the VT band completely embarass the Vols band - they played after every play, during every commercial, after every score - hell they may have even gone to the restroom with their instruments at one point.  I can honestly say I did not hear the Vols band until midway into the Third quarter.  The Hokies band played even when Tenn scored.  Rocky Top did not make it to our section once!

This experience was awesome and I have to thank my boy Gary for being such a good sport though his team was embarassed on national TV.  In his words before the game 'Yall are ranked 11?  Why the hell are we playing yall?'  Exactly, my friend, exactly. 

[caption id="attachment_1572" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="MVP - Hokies Band!"][/caption]

BootyPop -- Keepin' it Real

'I just want a real man!'

How many times have I heard that mantra? A real man, a guy that isn't going to play games, blah blah blah. Ladies, if you want a real man, shouldn't you start your search for a real man by being a real woman?

When you see a man, you are pretty much seeing what you're getting. Unless you're on some internet dating site, the man standing before you physically will not change much. Maybe, he's wearing a toupee....maybe.

When you see a woman, there was a time when you were getting what you were seeing. Not anymore....the latest trend in dating trickery is bootypop panties. 'Turn that flat into fab!!!'


There was a time when a man's worse nightmare was finding out that the makeup a woman was wearing was doing more than giving her color. We accepted that as a risk. That this person we met in public may very well look considerably different 'unmade up'.

Then there was the padded bra. That appealing sweater the co-ed was wearing hid a dirty little secret. A secret that once it was discovered, it was too often too late to turn back.

Naturally, artificial breasts were the next big player. These weren't as bad because at least the tom foolery was pretty evident from the get-go. No surprises, just a matter of preference for the gentlemen.

Lo and behold, the 90's brought forth the transgender, transexual, trans whatever age. Now men were being tested daily not only only the physical attraction of the opposite sex. Rather they were being tested on whether the opposite sex was actually opposite at all or perhaps surgically opposite or perhaps
pre-op opposite.

Following that trend was botox and the assorted injections. The woman you are now dating has Angelina Jolie lips that magically grew from the Jodie Foster lips she had in her graduation photos?!?

Through all of these phases, one thing could be trusted. A pair of jeans! Yes, a pair of jeans was true to it's word. It hid nothing, it created nothing. What was in those jeans was, well, in those jeans. UNTIL NOW, now we have booty pop panties. Not only are they somewhat unnatural looking, imagine the disappointment for all the booty men in the world when they find out one of their main 'pros' is actually a pair drawers with padding. Her butt doesn't look like those once trusted jeans portrayed. Shenanigans! Shenanigans I say!

Ladies, if you want us to be real. Remember, it starts in your heart of hearts. Don't use of every trick in the book to gain our attraction if you're only setting us up for disappointment. It's not fair to us.....and it's not fair to you!

Another Frivolous Lawsuit

KISS bassist is being sued by a couple claiming he assaulted them as they videotaped him at a Mall in California.
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I am not a KISS fan.  Their Dr. Pepper commercial scares my son and quite frankly is a bit disturbing in its own peculiar way.  What brings this to my attention is the freedom with which the public thinks they can approach celebrities.  The freedom the public takes in speaking with celebrities. The couple approaches a rock and roll icon, with all that entails, and asks him his view on monogamy?  Is this a question they pose to all strangers they encounter? Is this their business? Is it not enough that you likely began video-taping him without his permission? 

And even with that video-taping and provocation, he stated get your shot and go.  According to the 'oh-so-innocent' couple, he then grabs the camera. That doesn't jibe with his statement of 'get your shot and go' which is what the couple stated occurred.  SO what's missing?  Between get your shot and lunging, something was said that the couple is conveniently leaving out.

25 grand isn't the largest frivolous suit we've seen.  But I think the following law should be passed.  If you file a civil lawsuit, and lose, you should be fined.  It serves as a deterrence to the 'I'll sue mindset' as well as help to recoup some of the administrative costs of conducting the trial.  This way litigants will need to think 'Can I afford to lose?'

Full Circle

The Hokies started the season in the Chick Fil A Classic at the Georgia Dome for the 2009 season and will end in the Chick Fil A Bowl at the Georgia Dome on the last evening of 2009.

In a season filled with resounding disappointment (Alabama, North Carolina) and stunning performances (Nebraska – even if a little late, Miami), the Virginia Tech Hokies hope to cap their season off in the Dome much differently than they started it. 

The Tennessee Volunteers will be the Hokies opponents under 1st year coach Lane Kiffin.  To be honest, I’ve no clue what to expect as I didn’t watch any of Tennessee’s games.  From what I’ve heard or at least determined from the scant words throughout the season was that this was more of a rebuilding year.  There had been some fiery words from Lane Kiffin but even those seemed almost like more ploy than anything. 

The Hokies in my oft-noted jaded opinion are still the best team the ACC has to offer.  Georgia Tech won the conference title this year and my hats go off to them.  I will leave it at that as I don’t want to add ‘buts’, ‘howevers’, and ‘what ifs’.  The Hokies have one statistic that has been the mantra since a conference championship became unattainable – 10wins.  The Hokies are one of three teams (Texas, USC) to win at least 10 games the past 5 seasons.  Impressive company and an impressive streak. 

Even better….I’m going to the game!  Yeah, the Hokies have been in town 3 times this year and this is my first game…I suck…I’m lazy..and we lost both games in our previous trips which is probably my fault….nonetheles…I’m going to this one and doing it with a Tennessee fan no less.  The last time I watched a game with an opposing fan, we lost to UNC…..suddenly I feel like I’m going about this bowl all the wrong way…..

Blogging for the sake of Blogging

I’m run down.  Tired.  Out of gas.  Nothing left. 

I got things I need to do professionally and personally but just can’t get the energy up to do a damn thing about it.  Spent.

Why?  Why is Chocolate Thunder down?  Why is Xpinionated hanging on to a thin rope (which is the best rope in this African American’s eyes – we had a bad experience)?  Hell if I know.  I just know I’m tired. 

Maybe I’m getting old and the ol’ body’s givin’ in on me.  See that last sentence?  Too tired to type out full words sometimes.

Or maybe I’m just griping.  I think I’m becoming a grouchy old man.  See, I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home full-time. The downside to that is very limited social interaction outside of mywife and kids.  Even more so this week as I’ve been too tired (see above) to hit the gym like I normally would.  All this is to say that my social skills are deteriorating at an unbelievable pace.

Oh gotta go put the young’un to bed…..

Top 5 Famous/Rich Folks Who Don't Deserve Their Fame

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Since I have never gone a month without at least one entry in Xpinionated, I bring to you the Top 5 Famous Rich Folks Who Don't Deserve Their Fame.

5) Jared from Subway. His diet and weight reduction plan was based on a Subway diet. Are we to believe it was due substantially to his diet and an insignificant amount of weight loss was due to exercise? And if that's the case, why aren't the The Biggest Loser episodes just a bunch of challenges to get to Subway, kinda like The Biggest Loser meets The Amazing Race...The Biggest Amazing Loser Race. Yeah, Jared shouldn't be rich and shouldn't be famous for doing what he should have been doing in the first place.

4) Flavor Flav. Quite possibly the most unattractive human being on TV. Scratch that, outside of Nene from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the most unattractive human being on TV. And close to the least talented. He was a hype man, not a rapper. Standing next to a rapper does not make one a rapper just as standing next to me does not make you funny. Out of nowhere, the part of Public Enemy that had no talent has returned to the limelight, searched for love from apparently blind and deaf women (that's the only way I can imagine they wanted Flav), and even starred (used very loosely) in his own bad (used very tightly) sitcom. Seriously, his fame hangs on the balance of an oversized clock gimmick.....

3) Kardashians. Ok, Kim is fine. Not have-her-own-show fine but fine nonetheless. The other Kardashian girls? Notoriety from what exactly?

2)Tila Tequila. Maybe I have the story wrong. I don't care enough to look it up and plus it wouldn't change her position on this list or my feelings about her one iota. But let's take a shot at this: girl opens myspace account, girl puts up progressively sexier pictures of herself on myspace, girl develops a myspace following due to pubescent nature of myspace clientele, MTV gives girl show based on myspace popularity. Meanwhile, there's some poor kid studying his butt off at a community college in between his two part time jobs that MTV, and the rest of the country could care less about.....

1) Lauren from the Hills/The Real OC. It is no coincidence that MTV plays a huge role in the top two personas on this list. Lauren's is a slightly different story. Rich kid living it up in Orange County. No particular talent. Just a willingness to let MTV cameras follow her around while she finds 1,231 ways to put the word 'like' into a sentence unnecessarily while working her way through MTV created drama. Woe is her life as her and her friends hop into the Escalade for another trip to the specialty Boutiques.....Her reward for being a rich kid with no real worries: a spin off show with the same high school drama...just without the high school..

P.S. Lauren excepts top honors in this list on behalf of the entire cast of the Real OC and the Hills.

Balloon Boy and The Great Hoax

A 6 year old boy, ironically named Falcon, flew off into the horizon a couple of days ago in a helium balloon.  Or so his father would have you think.
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Xpinionated is of the opinion that this was a big fat hoax.  One for which Daddy Henne should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  It is no coincidence that there was a recording of the balloon as it floated off.  It is no coincidence that the family was part of a reality show (Wife Swap) and the Richard Henne has been shopping a reality show about a crazy family.  It is no coincidence that Richard Henne was the one to call the news stations and the FAA.

It looks like this guy is simply an attention whore of the worst kind.  One that would employ his kids (ahem Kate, Jon) in his selfish efforts to get a cheap buck on 15 minutes of fame.  Hell, even the kid said, 'It was part of the show'.

On the Early Show this morning, Richard Henne placed a sign on his front door saying 'No more interviews.'  Minutes later he comes out to announce that he would like to hold an impromptu press conference on his front lawn at 10am....with a big announcement he says.

Unfortunately, our media, in its desperate quest for the next big story, will follow up on his press conference.  We will read, listen, watch, and discuss.  And though I doubt Henne will pimp this out into a reality show, he will have at least had his 5 minutes of fame.......
[polldaddy poll=2132295]

Documentary Hypocrisy

It was announced that Michael Vick's life will be made into an eight part mini-series on BET.  Needless to say, this has raised the ire of the anti-Vick crowd.

"People who abuse animals don't deserve to be rewarded," PETA's Dan Shannon said in a statement. "They shouldn't be given multimillion-dollar contracts . . . or given the privilege of being a role model."  But directors who drug and rape 13 year old girls should serve no time and live happily in Europe while receiving Academy awards and industry praise?  I wonder which crime our soceity considers worse......

Two points before I go:  1) Most of the more serious serial killers (of humans) have had documentaries, movies, books, etc made on their life.  2) It's on BET which automatically limits it's audience by quite a bit.  Personally, I don't think it's a good move for Vick at this point in his life.  Time heals.  There are going to be a certain set of the population that will thrive on the negative aspects of his life forever.  But the general population will not necessarily forget, but will move on.  By making a movie, you're just keeping the negative in the limelight.

And while I'm talking about Vick, let me make something ridiculously clear -- specifically to my fellow Georgians.  I understand your dislike of Michael Vick in terms of the affect his crimes affected your precious (when they are winning) Atlanta Falcons, but please do not misdirect your anger at Virginia Tech.  Vick did nothing at Virginia Tech.  He was a student athlete with a clean record (yeah maybe not so much for his brother but that's not the point here).  So when you see me rolling in the Mag rockin' my Hokies flag, don't glare at me like I killed your dog.  After all, we don't hate Ohio State University because Jeffrey Dahmer was a student......

Redskins Fan Farewell? Not a goodbye though!

Years ago, my mom made an announcement that I couldn't fathom, couldn't wrap my head around.  She said that she was no longer a Washington Redskins fan.  I don't recall what game or moment prompted the dissolution of the relationship between my mom and the only team my immediate family shared (barring my sister who could care less), I simply remember not being able to comprehend a member of my football watching family not being a Redskins fan.

FlashForward like ABC to find me sitting here realizing that I no longer have the fire in me to cheer for the Redskins.  Too many years of mismanagement have led to too much  heartbreak.  It's like I have battered fan syndrome.  And I keep coming back for more.  The Snyder years have been marred by inconsistency of the worst kind -- the inconsistency that leads to a sliver of hope.  Hope for either the next game or the next season.  Only to be slapped down by the angry villain that is reality.

As of right now, I'm still a Redskins fan.  I have to be.  I've spent far too many years, too many beers, too much money, too much passion, and too many good times not to be a Redskins fan.  Not to mention, those that know me know that I have a pet peeve for people that switch teams, that don't sweat out the bad times.  I can't be those that I talk about and sleep through the night.

However, I will not be investing my passion, not this season anyway.  Yeah, I know, if there's some miraculous turnaround I'll have to eat my fair share of crow.  But here's the thing, I used to get excited for the Redskins games, even in the Brunell years when I knew anything thrown over 5 yards was considered a deep pass for our crew. The Spurrier years held their own kind of disappointing magic as I just knew that somehow things would come together under the ol' ball coach. Each little era held something.  Now, not so much.  Watching virtually every team in the league get better in some way and seeing absolutely nothing in terms of progress at FedEx field leaves one depersonalized from his team.  I can't even build up the passion to hate Jim Zorn.  I think he's a horrible coach but I no longer seem to care enough to tell him how bad he is.

So for 2009, I'm done with the Redskins.  I'll watch their games if their on or follow the scoreboard online. And I truly hope they can turn this thing around.  But I'm not spending any time thinking about it.  I'm definitely not spending any money on it.  When they come to Atlanta this year, I won't be there like last time.  I don't have that kind of free time for something I half-heartedly believe in.  I'm certain my passion will come back one day (when Snyder sells, or becomes a deaf-mute), but for right now my focus will be the Hokies.

The Sucker....Punch

If you're any kind of sports fan, you've probably seen Boise St DE Byron Hout get remixed by LeGarrette Blount.  LeGarrette Blount has since been crucified publicly and nationally -- and deservedly so.  There was also a latent backlash at Byron Hout.

I will admit that when I first saw the punch, I was pleased.   I know this may anger some but quite frankly, let's look at this from the perspective of 5 seconds before the punch.  A deflated, embarassed, and probably still emotionally charged young man is walking off a hostile field in the midst of those that defeated him.  Another young man walks up, taps him on the shoulder to get his attention, and taunts him.  Was MMA'ing him the best decision?  Definitely not.  Was it a reaction, an instinct?  Probably.  But what's lost in this is why did Hout feel the need to rub it in his face?

The presumed logic is that since Blount spoke the words 'We owe this team an ass whooping' earlier in the week the mouthy Blount should have expected some backlash.  However, Blount's statement was in reference to last year's game where two Oregon player were hurt and taken out of the game on arguably dirty plays.  So for him to state that we owe a team an ass-whooping, in that context, isn't taunting. It is a reference to what many feel was dirty play last year.

All this is to say, the punch that sent Hout's spit flying was actually dirty repaying dirty.  Unfortunately, this could very well end Blount's football career.  For what it's worth, Blount had been suspended earlier in summer workouts for his aggression so he is no angel in this matter.  But for such an unnecessary event to happen and quite possibly ruin this young man's chances at doing and succeeding at his life's goals, well, that is the real tragedy.  Hout was Sucker punched indeed, but he was also a sucker and deserved the punch.

I wonder if the public's reaction would be the same if say Terrell Owens taunted Brian Urlacher and Urlacher hauled off and punched Owens when he wasn't looking?

Warmth

My wife and kids went to Florida Sunday for a mini vacation.  Due to work obligations, and the fact that I didn't want to drive to Florida so I could be stuck in a house working while everyone one else was upping their vitamin D intake, I stayed in Georgia.  I thought I would take advantage of the empty house by living pseudo-bachelor.  Work during the day, drink during the night.  All that I really did was learn that I'm no longer the drinker I once was.

Then came the trip back for Mrs. Xpinionated.  Natalia apparently had had enough of car travels and pitched a holy fit for 70% of the drive by my estimations based on phone calls from a slightly more than exasperated Mrs. Xpinionated.   To ease the situation, I drove out to meet my wife and take the fed up little angel.  As luck would have it, construction forbade us to meet as planned and as she headed north, she passed right on past her knight in slowing traffic.

Anyway, after miles and miles of dashed lines, we make the switch.  And their was this warmth in me.  Just seeing my little girl, then seeing the half smile of recognition on her face melted me.  She could have cried the rest of the way home (she did not) and I wouldn't have cared a single bit.

F

Later, as I'm taking my son out of the car in the sleepy kid fashion where every body part is virtually dead weight, he barely opens his eyes, smiles, and hugs my neck.  I felt so loved right at that moment.  He then fell asleep on my shoulder with a smile on his face.  I put him to bed and he wouldn't let go of my neck. . .  and I didn't want him to....

Cowards

Explicit Language below

Yet another gunman goes off killing people who had nothing to do with his woes.  Gun advocates wonder why folks are in favor of tougher gun control?  Because it is still apparently too easy to get guns and shoot innocent people because "you're lonely".

As it appears to me, this guy could have easily ended his own existence if he felt his life was so horrible.  I'm not an advocate of suicide, but I get pissed off at murder-suicides -- particularly murders of people you don't know, that don't know you, that have absolutely nothing to do with your pity party, and just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.  Instead of ending your life, you want everyone to know how sad you were, how picked on you were, how completely unable you were to cope with life.  Fuck you!

I want to be able to go to the gym and not worry about the poor guy that can't get a date shooting the place up.  Here's an idea, stop blogging about your preparations to kill and try to meet some live people somewhere.  Or, talk to a psychiatrist see if there's some social issue you're having (which apparently there was).   Or talk to a coworker.

I am refusing to place the names of these gunmen on my blog for the simple reason that to do so would give them the fame for which they killed.

I believe we need stricter gun laws in this country.  I know the right to bear arms is a constitutional right.  But, honestly, the doctrine was written when regular citizens were taking up arms against armies of foreign countries...so yeah it made sense then.  Now, not as much. Until gun advocates can come up with a way to limit guns getting in the hands of unstable people (and I don't have a solution myself but then again guns taken from everybody would be fine by me), then I think we need to limit guns as much as possible.  Guns don't kill, people kill.  But they would do it a helluva lot slower if they didn't have the gun!
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Racist vs Prejudiced

The post-racial harmony America was expected to bask in after President Obama was elected has fallen under a cloudy cover.  The latest story that caught my eye was concerning the Boston police officer who referred to Henry Louis Gates and/or Gates' actions as a 'banana-eating jungle monkey' in a mass email. . .  three different times.  In any case, the result was administrative leave for his words, something mass emails can do; especially if you're silly enough to send them to members of the National Guard and the BOSTON GLOBE!

As expected, he later stated that he was not racist and he has friends with race qualities yada yada yada.  The thing is, he was right.  He's not racist, he's prejudiced.  In fact, most of us are prejudiced to some degree.  But that's not my point here.

My point is we throw the word racist around quite often when in fact we mean prejudiced.  In order to be racist, you must have power over someone or some aspect of their being.  A boss can be racist. A boss can fire you because he does not like that you're Scandinavian.  A politician can be racist.  Enforcing policies that keep, say, the Native American trapped on a reservation.  And yes, a police officer can be racist as well.  However, in terms of what this guy did his actions were prejudiced.  He used a racial slur to insult and influence but ultimately his email held no power over anyone else's actions.

With that said, I am not surprised it was a Boston police officer.  I am surprised that they gave this guy a gun but not for the reasons you might suspect.  My surprise arises from the fact that his decision making in sending a strongly worded email to THE BOSTON GLOBE under his real name identifying his real job and not seeing the consequences makes me wonder who exactly he would be helping with a firearm in public. Officer, at least go to the library and create a fake email account...did you think the Globe would keep it all hush hush for you?

Back to my point, we throw the word racist around because it is seen as much more damaging to reputation and character.  Prejudice implies a pre-judging with a possibilty of changing.  In effect, it's admitting having opinions about a something or a group of people without having any hard facts to back them up.

Racist, on the other hand, is a principle.  It's a belief in some form of superiority based on something no human even gets to choose for themselves, race and/or skin color.  It implies a lifestyle almost.  There is little to no hope of change for a racist save for a life-changing event, and even then it's not guaranteed.

So the public, the media, and the leaders throw around the word 'racist' any time they can. It stirs the pot, moves the food around the plate, but it's not really accurate (much like my 'moves around the plate' analogy).

Xpinionated's Greatest Hits

Due to my own need to reassure myself of my greatness, I happened to realize that the special Xpinionated's Greatest Hits section was still linking to my old site that has passed on. Dead links be damned. Xpinionated's Greatest Hits has been restored...enjoy or detest....whatever