Thought this was rich!

I thought this needed to be inserted....A little long but worth the read. Courtesy of Steve Czaban on OnMilwaukee.com

Perhaps more amazing than the Pistons/Pacers/fans riot on Friday night, are the excuses, spin control and rationalization by many people regarding the primary culprits in the entire episode.

And by that, I mean, the players. Duh.

Let me try to explain this slowly for everyone. The NBA is a multi-billion dollar corporation. The players are employees. The fans are customers. Rule No. 1 in business? "The customer is always right." The rule doesn't say: "The customer is always polite." Or well behaved. Or reasonable.

So, let's close our eyes for a moment and pretend that the following story is true. When you are done, replace "mascot" with "NBA player" and tell me if you still think that there's room for "yeah, buts..."

ANAHEIM, CA -- A shocking melee erupted today at Disneyland when irate park mascot "Goofy" went after park guests in a rage when one of them threw a cup of ice on his costume.

The day was seemingly coming to a peaceful end just minutes before closing, when Goofy decided to shove fellow park mascot Mickey from behind as Mickey was entertaining one last group of park patrons. Apparently for Mickey, the attack was the last straw, as Goofy has been suspended from his duties at Disneyland more than half a dozen times for similar unprovoked attacks on fellow mascots.

Mickey got up quickly, and shoved Goofy back, before other mascots nearby rushed in to stop the fight. Cooler overstuffed heads were seemingly about to prevail, until one park guest, unhappy with Goofy's unprovoked assault on his favorite character Mickey, threw the remnants of a lemon ice cup, which hit Goofy from behind in the head.

Unable to see who had thrown the lemon ice, Goofy nonetheless ripped off his mascot head, and charged at a group of park guests standing nearby, shoving one innocent guest face first into a nearby fountain.

Then the action really started. Other park guests rushed to attack the now headless and enraged Goofy, while fellow mascot Donald Duck jumped in and started throwing haymakers with his webbed mascot hands at the guests.

Horrified guests mostly ran from the melee, but a handful of young Disneyland punks took delight in the opportunity to finally "jack up Goofy" without his big foam head on. Park security rushed in and tried to usher the group of angry mascots out of the park to safety, but several seemed intent on continuing the fight with whatever park patrons were still left.

Immediately following the fight, Doc, Sneezy, Dopey and Bashful went on the Disney Channel post-game show, and furiously defended the mascots, claiming that people have no idea how much harassment they get every day, and that the park guests basically got what they deserved.

Two days later, the multi-billion-dollar Disney Corp., which prides itself on having parks which are "the happiest place on earth," said it was suspending Goofy for the rest of the season, along with eight other mascots. The move was immediately opposed by the APMA (the Amusement Park Mascots of America union) which said the suspension should have been a lot less, especially since Goofy did get hit with a cup of lemon ice first.

Many wondered why Disney had stood behind the controversial Goofy for so long, who has had several park incidents leading up to this.

Goofy once smashed a park guest's new digital camera when he was asked to pose for a photo. He also physically intimidated a tour group chaperone during a visit to the park by repeatedly bumping into him and saying "you want a piece of me?"

Just recently, Goofy asked for two months off of work, reportedly in order to tour with the kids musical group "The Wiggles." He was suspended by Disneyland management for two days -- although with full pay.

Still, Disneyland had a hard time cutting him loose due to the fact that when he's not intimidating other park mascots or smashing cameras, he's one of the hardest working mascots in the business, working tirelessly on his "antics" from the moment the park opens, until the moment it closes.

He also has a $6 million a year guaranteed contract that runs through 2008. Firing Goofy would have meant having to pay him his full salary, while not allowing the park to hire a replacement mascot until 2009. Disney had explored trades for Goofy with other parks over the winter. Reportedly, a deal was close with Six Flags America to swap Goofy for Yogi Bear, but the deal fell through when Disney execs decided they had enough "bear characters" on their roster.

Reaction to the ugly melee has been mixed. Many parents who have grown tired of Goofy's often glorified bullying of other mascots, felt the suspension was appropriate, and hoped that it would lead to a more civil demeanor of Disneyland mascots. Some parents even said they feared for their kids' safety at Disneyland, and would consider going to different amusement parks if the situation is not corrected.

However, many Goofy fans around the country said the suspension was too harsh. And said that Disneyland should share some of the blame for not preventing park guests from throwing lemon ice at the mascots. Some even suggested that sales of lemon ice should be cut off after noon at Disney parks to avoid these kind of situations.

Others have gone as far as to say that Disneyland should shut the park down for a day as a punishment to guests involved in the fracas, and allow the mascots to perform their antics without anybody present.

Despite the suspensions, Disneyland is facing more than two dozen lawsuits from guests who were caught in the ugly mascot melee. Disneyland's stock price was down sharply in trading following the riot.

Overall, public opinion of amusement park mascots has taken a beating recently. Not only is the average mascot salary well over $1 million per year, but many of them have been getting into more and more trouble away from the park.

Kings Dominion's lead mascot was charged with rape last summer, but the case never made it to trial. A former mascot for Knott's Berry Farm shotgunned his limo driver to death, but was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter. Just this fall, the second most popular mascot at Six Flags Minnesota said he couldn't feed his family on a $10 million salary.

What's the point?

Ok people...I am going on almost a full month without a single comment....From anyone...I would at least expect my sopheava to make some smart ass comment every now and then....Since she gets on my case if I don't comment........whatever

Ok back to business,
so Dan Rather is stepping down from CBS evening news to....umm....spend more time doing investigative journalism for "60 Minutes"......ok that is rich...like he does any of his own investigation......and if he does lets hope that there is not a repeat of the fake documents showing up like on G.W.

In other news,
Well the job search has officially begun......I forgot the painful process this is. I have figured that if I send out 5 resumes' per day that is 25 resumes' a week and about a 100 in a month....Problem is finding 5 job listings per day.....The first day was great...I had about 15 to choose from but I noticed that on any particular day there is around 10 new postings.....You take out the nursing, accountant, engineering and janitorial postings it leaves me about 2-3 postings......Well game on dammit! I will find 5 postings per day even if I have to go outside my search area...Which is already including ,Milwaukee, green bay/Appleton, and northern Wisconsin. Just get me on a payroll!

Well happy thanksgiving to all! Don't need no belt tomorrow!

The Fight!

So now that everyone on the planet has seen the fight in Detroit 50 times on ESPN and every other network, I have a couple of comments....

First, you want a "OH SHIT" moment? How about the guy that Artest went after.....He went from cheer what was going on to a face that showed sheer horror. I mean how would you like a 6"5 black guy coming right at you throwing hay makers......OH FUCK!!!

Second, he wasn't even the guy that threw the cup of "beer"...Ok people how many of you put ice in beer....Let call it as it is...It was soda. Then he got it there on target, what are the chances? Then to top it off it was full! Nice job dude!

Third, the sheer comic value of Jermain O'Neal sliding like he was on ice trying to throw a punch at the dude in the overstuffing Pistons jersey.....Nice...Very nice.

I would like to know one thing...How come we didn't see any Pistons players in the brawl....Is it because they thought..."Hey there is no way I am getting involved in that!"....Now why can't the Pacers players think the same thing. Artest is a freak....Oh and did anyone notice that he changed his jersey number from last year to this year to 91? Yes Rodmans old number...He should have been suspended just for that!

so for your Mastercard moment:

Going to a pistons game in the 4th row?.........$150.00

food and drink?.............$75

purchasing program and the foam #1?............$55

Getting your ass kicked by a player for no reason and suing him for everything he is worth?..........Priceless

Can I get a moment of peace please........

It happened last night.......I guess you can only tug and pull on the power cord for so long before it has a adverse affect on the connection......Something about a motherboard........Whatever!

so we have no laptop now, and we have to share the computer upstairs. Dominic is mad because he can't play his games while I am doing homework, jenny is mad because she can't check her email and checking of the press....Since we can't afford to have it delivered.

Well at least Tommy doesn't seem to care...Although he was wondering why the laptop was on the kitchen table this morning.....I think he was showing some empathy.....At least as much as a 4 year old can.

Well we need to put to rest the machine, our freedom to the world of information and move on to working with a single machine and sharing computer time......Oh wowiees me, wooiess me!

Fantasy football collapse

As usually we got a fantasy football league together at the start of the season. I normally do pretty well in the leagues always competing for 1 or second most to the season.....Not this year.

after starting the season with Aaron brooks as my qb and derrick mason as one of my receivers along with Clinton portas as my running back I was loaded for another run for the championship....Until each decides to have crap for a year.....FUCK!!!

So now I am in 9th out of 10 places and just have given up....Can't make the playoffs and now my Sundays are just....Well....Sundays again.

other than that it has been pretty quite around here...Nothing of interest really, at least what I can publicly announce anyway......Just kidding......Maybe.

maybe something will come up over night.

School Update!

Ok all is right with the world......Instead of taking a econ stats class I get to take a math stats class.....Although I am not sure how I feel about this. I have not been overly successful in math courses but reality is that my grade point is high enough that even if I get a D I will still be graduating.

Well thanksgiving is coming up soon, which is a nice holiday where everyone gets together to eat and watch football...Maybe even a nap in between...It will be nice to have everyone there.

But more importantly it means that Christmas season is right around the corner..I love Christmas, hate when it ends. Some of the reasons for Christmas love is the wonderful movies that are out there to see. One of my favorites is "a Christmas story". It really captures Christmas past well and lets face it, it is just plain funny.

but how can anything be as good as sitting down with the one you love the most and watch "it is a wonderful life". Gives me tears everything I see it, in fact jenny makes fun of me for it but I don't care. I only cry at certain movies....."hoosiers" comes to mind but "it's a wonderful life" just reminds us of the impact we make on others.

Well after a wonderful weekend, we are back in real life for the week and need to press forward.

School

There is always one time every semester that re-confirms why I am in school and brings graduation back into perspective and that it is not so far away...For me this was Friday

My final meeting with my advisor to complete the last of my classes before graduation in may.

so do you want the good news or the bad news?............Bad news first...Ok

check this out...I need a economic stats class that is not being offered next semester!....WHAT THE FUCK! How can you not offer a class that is required to complete a degree!!!! That is the bad news...The good news is that there are other options that I can do, but won't know exactly what they are until this week.

Good news is that I am taking a Winterim, yep the dreaded 3 week class for 3 credits in January. I have been avoiding them like the plague, I liked by month and a half off between the semesters....But I couldn't resist this one...There are three benefits to taking this class...First and foremost is the money...I get a little financial aid during that time, second instead of taking 4 classes next semester I only need to take 3, which means that cash flow will be better cause I don't have to take out for that extra class from my pool of money and third....Get this....The class is "marital communications". Yep, it is all about marriage and the communication processes involved....I can handle this one!

will keep you all (if any) updated on my stats class I can tell your all as pissed as I am

Sick days

Dominic came into our room last night around 4 in the morning,,,,,,"mom, my stomach hurts"....Then precedes to puke all over the floor......What a way to wake up on a Monday morning.

But as I sit here with him, I realize that when we were sick as kids, after 9 am there was nothing on TV until 3 in the afternoon. I remember watching price is right, days of our lives, Love connection, and Donahue until scooby doo came on at 3 in the afternoon.

He gets cartoon network, nickalodian and boomerang all day long......Oh yea we didn't have a VCR yet, but he gets a DVD for movies if he gets bored.

Well the puke bucket is out and cartoons are on....Hopefully he will be able to keep down some food later today.

Donkey's

From Steve Czaban, a sports columnist in D.C.....thought it was very well put.

Donkey Shakeup?
If Democrats vs. Republicans were like a college football rivalry, then right now Bush and Co. are Michigan in the late 1990’s, while the Democrats are Ohio State under John Cooper. Which means it might be a good time for Team Donkey to clean house on “upper management.” And that’s not even accounting for ol’ Bob Shrum, who is now 0-8 on Presidential campaigns. Damn, you would think after like 0-6, the guy would be regarded as political poison. I’m talking more about Terry McAuliffe, who despite being able shake out lots of cash from people, has now presided over 3 consecutive losing election cycles as DNC chair. McAuliffe is a Clintonite, and supposed political “genius” because of this legacy. I dunno, but strikes me a lot like Norv Turner, who was supposed to be an offensive “genius” just because he happened to run an offense in Dallas with three future HOF’ers on offense in Aikman, Emmitt, and Irvin, not to mention a great head coach in Jimmy Johnson. Don’t get me wrong, we here at Team Elephant would love for McAuliffe to stay as long as possible (perhaps even strengthen his hold) but sober advice would suggest the opposite.

Also, I got an e-mail from my dad. While watching the packers on Sunday the broadcast couldn't stop talking about how for the last 17 elections, if the redskins win their last home game before the election the donkey's win and if they lose the elephants win. Well the packers won so Kerry should have won the election....Well dad put it so eloquently when he said that using a football game may be the stupidest predictor of an election ever.......So true.

There was much rejoicing!

There is much rejoicing! The day after!

4 million in the popular vote more than Kerry........That is huge.

Election Day!

My younger sister, about 2 weeks ago, made me promise to watch Fahrenheit 911. I couldn't talk to her about what was portrayed in the movie until I did, which is a fair request. But I promised and a promise is a promise.

Jen and I sat down last night and put the movie in and started to watch it. It was powerful, disturbing and thought provoking......Which was the intension I suppose.

It just happened that FarenHype 911 was at the video store also, so I picked up that one too. After Moore's movie I commented to jen that if we stopped and made our judgments right now it would decidedly be on the side of Moore's opinion. Hype came on and took every fact that Moore used and told the truth about it!

Now I know what you are thinking "it is a republican movie", no it was not. This was made with Dick Morse, who was Clinton's top advisor.....It was his addiction to the movie that sealed it for me.

Actually the most disturbing scene's for me were the interviews with the people that Moore stole footage of. Remember the guy with the blown off hands......HE WAS PISSED that Moore took his footage. Moore wasn't even there, it was just him explaining what phantom limbs felt like. He couldn't believe that he was part of moore's film and was embarrassed that he was associated.......With no repercussions.

Or how about that state patrol officer talking about "Bush's" budget cuts on Oregon's police force? Well they interview him also, again Moore was never there, it was actual footage of him telling about what the budget cuts were doing to their police force. Oh by the way the state police are paid for fully by the STATE, not federal government....Bush had nothing to do with the budget cuts.......Oh yea the coast is not their responsibility to guard....That would be the coast GUARD's job.

Or how about the newspaper headline that stated that gore had more votes. Turns out the paper he got that from was from a small town in Illinois that is suing Moore for taking the "letter to the editor", yep that is right not an actual article written by professionals just by a local reader, and not only changing the date on the article but rearranging the article all together.

Who ever you vote for please don't take one movie's point of view....Watch both. Moore's movie is not a documentary but rather propaganda.