I just want to get a couple things off my chest; 1)the AWOL Marine just nabbed after two years on the lam, and 2)Mark Cuban’s insider trading… (more…)

You may have heard or read about this in the news, an elderly woman in Massachusetts was threatened to have her home siezed by the city if she didn’t pay a delinquent amount on her water bill–an amount totaling ONE CENT! 

The city manager’s office has recieved HUNDREDS of phone calls from all over the country, people IRKED at this thing.  We’re in an ugly mood right now, most of us–we have a bad attitude about the government anyway and something like this really strikes a chord of resentment.  A common sentiment among the calls to the city is the idea that government is willing to throw around BILLIONS of dollars to rescue companies driven to bankrupcy by bad decision making and greed of over-paid CEOs, yet when a poor senior citizen owes ONE CENT, they’re going to put a lien on her home!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

The city has not helped things by their public comments on the matter.  You’d think they’d be falling all over themselves apologizing, or at least make some sort of conciliatory gesture like canceling the bill or the lien.  Instead, the mayor issues a statement criticizing people for over-reacting, saying the whole thing has been blown out of proportion.  The city collector says, “My question is, how come the one cent wasn’t paid when the original bill came out?!”  HELLO!?  What a bone-headed thing to say.

Anyway, the elderly woman’s bill WAS paid, by a stranger.  I assume (hope) the stranger also let the city collector have it with both barrells. 

Just heard about a new pro sports league–the XSL!  The Extreme Soccer League!

I learned about this league in looking over the “transactions” section of the sports page–that’s the “fiine print” detail of all the trades, injuries, fines, waivers and so on that probably nobody reads except me!  There it was , an entry about player signings of one of the teams in the “XSL.”  As a junk sports junkie–see my list of the top ten under-appreciated team sports–it immediately grabbed my attention, and I HAD to learn more.  So I googled the name of the league, and it took me to the official league website.

As league websites go, it’s not that impressive.  Nor is it particularly informative.  It appears that there are four teams–the Milwaukee Wave, New Jersey Ironmen, Detroit Ignition, and Chicago Storm.  I wanted to know what exactly made it “Xtreme” soccer, but about all I could tell was that it appears that they have a three-point line much like basketball.  Hmmm–THAT’s kinda cool!   Other than that, though, I’m unclear about what makes it different than previous indoor soccer leagues. 

May I offer some suggestions?  Make it like hockey, except with a ball that you kick.  Pad these guys up and let ‘em hit. Fights?  Yeah, buddy.  No Red Cards.  Make the ball smaller, harder for the goalie to stop.  Let players pick the ball up and throw it, pass it to a team-mate.  Why not?  And yes, the three-point goal–that idea ROCKS.  Maybe get some former NHL players, or NFL fringe players to sign up for the “name value.” 

With a format like that, the XSL might get some attention.  Are you guys listening?!

Back before the NFL season started, I blogged about what I thought the season might hold.  I’m not ashamed to admit that on several things?  I was DEAD WRONG!!

I thought the Broncos would RUE the day they let Jason Elam go, especially given the performance last year of the guy they signed to replace him, Matt Prater.  Instead, Prater’s been AWESOME!  (I *do* think this is a stroke of good fortune for the Broncos, given how difficult it is to replace a steady kicker–just ask the Saints since they ditched John Carney two years ago; they’re on their fourth replacement kicker now, all of them erratic flops.)

I thought Brett Favre’s un-retirement with the Jets would be a disaster, and that he might not even make it through the season before retiring again.  Instead, Brett’s been healthy, playing pretty well, and has the Jets on top of hteir division after last night’s thriller over the Patriots!   NOTE: I’m HAPPY to admit my wrong-ness!  How can you NOT pull for the old guy?  And while we’re waxing poetic about Brett Favre, how about Kurt Warner of hte Cardinals?  Granted, he benefits from getting to play six games against the Niners, Seahawks and Rams, but STILL!  Nice to see the “old codger” having one more great season!

I thought the Bills and Texans would have solid seasons and make the playoffs.  Both clubs have had their moments where I thought I might’ve been right.  The Bills started out strong, but have lost four of their last five or something like that.  The Texans kind of got thrown for a loop by that hurricane, much like the Saints in ‘05.  Doesn’t look like either team will make it to “the dance.”  Oh well.  It’s not like I’m a FAN of either team.

I must comment about the four first-year coaches who have their teams in playoff contention.  Jim Zorn with the Redskins, John Harbaugh with the Ravens, and MOST improbably, Mike Smith of the Falcons and Tony Sparano with the Dolphins.  These guys–these LAST two, particularly–are making a shambles of the old thinking that you needed a couple years to get your “program” in place and start winning.  This is a trend that has been emerging over the last decade–think of Jim Mora Jr. with the Falcons and Sean Payton with the Saints.  Both took over BIG-TIME losing clubs and put them in the playoffs the following year.  I think this is more and more going to be the expectation.  However, it’s interesting to acknowledge how difficult it is to KEEP winning.  Jim Mora took the Falcons to the NFC title game his first season, then went 8-8 and 7-9 the next two seasons and promptly got fired.  Sean Payton is following that same script, almost to the letter.  You wonder if this year’s “Fab Four”–Smith, Sparano, Harbaugh and Zorn–will still be winning three years from now.  Based on recent history–doubtful!!

In the news today, the Salvation Army is going to experiment with credit card machines at select kettle locations!  I guess they’re going to start with some kettles in Colorado Springs, and then if it works well, they’ll expand to other areas.

I can see why they would want to do this.  First, it’ll mean bigger donations.  Instead of tossing fifty cents in the kettle, they’ll get to capitalize on the “it’s not real money, it’s a CREDIT card” mentality that makes people a lot looser with their dollars.  If you’re gonna whip out your credit card, are you only gonna put a dollar on it?  Probably more like ten or twenty, or fifty dollars.  Second, it increases the guilt factor–people can feel OK about passing the kettle when they really DON’T have any change in their pockets, but with a credit card reader, there’s no excuse, is there?  Well, except for the “I already GAVE at a DIFFERENT kettle” excuse.  I guess that one is still golden, huh?

I suppose my biggest reservation about using credit cards at a Salvation Army Kettle is the security risk–the potential upside for scam artists.  How difficult would it be to go to a sign shop, have a “Salvation Army” logo printed up, get a kettle from a garage sale or something, grab a credit card reader, set up on some busy corner and start stealing credit card numbers?  Call me a worry-wart, but this seems like an all-too-do-able rip-off, much simpler than other credit card number stealing scams I’ve heard of.

What do YOU think?  Would YOU give your credit card number to a Salvation Army Santa?   I think if I’m going to make a credit card donation, I’ll either call the office and do it over the phone, or get on-line and do it that way…