Scotch Files: The Here & Now Edition

Can you believe it? Back to back posts. I must be dodging work again.

There is a lot going on, I may have to table some things for another day.


Football season is finally here and true to the new NFL mantra, expect the unexpected. Two teams that some pundits pegged for the Super Bowl have fallen flat on their faces out of the gate. Minnesota and Baltimore are looking like the '89 cowboys right now. I hope for my own personal sanity the Ravens aren't headed to a 1-15 season.

Anyway I was reading a column by a highly respected football writer about the Top-10 receivers in football today. Check it out here, it is quite interesting.

More football thoughts:

For everyone that thought that T.O. was crazy for wanting more guaranteed money look no further than another Drew Rosenhaus client to understand why it was so important. In the first game of the season, Javon Walker tor his ACL and is out for the remainder of the season and possibly into next season. He was another WR talking about holding out because he wanted more money than what the contract he signed as a rookie 3 years ago stipulated. So what happens if he is unable to play again? It will mean his livleyhood was taken away from him on the job, with a minimum dollar figure as a safety net. People are always quick to jump on these players for asking for more money, but you can see why. Walker has another year left on his contract, but the Packers could cut him in the off-season, WHILE HE STILL REHABBING, and move on. That would leave Walker without an employer coming off an injury. Someone ask Ty Law how fun that is. The difference being that Law would not take a decrease in pay. Walker on the other hand is a base money player, so there is no room to cut "the fat" off of his contract.

For the record, I am not saying this is reason to give T.O. the money he is demanding. But, Steveie Wonder should be able to see why it is imperative for players to get as much upfront and guaranteed money as possible. Some may see it as karma for Walker's antics leading up to training camp, but let's not forget that he did report on time and never caused an uproar in camp. He did everything the right way when it counted. It will be interesting to see if the Packers do the right thing in return.

Another instance where this occurred is in Minnesota where their All-Pro center, Matt Birk offered to play this year with a bad back on the condition that the this year of his deal be guaranteed. Management declined, so Birk decided to go on Injured Reserve and make his base salary while recovering from surgery. Now look at the Vikings. Birk was the heart of the O-line. They have played terribly in his absence.

I'm not saying Birk's absence is the only reason MN has plaed terribly, but you can't tell me if is not a significant piece. Of course, Randy Moss stretched the field which made the defense keep 8 out of the box and Culpepper has more completions to the other team as he does to his own teamtes. But, part of the urgency to throw is because they have no running game. I also take into consideration that Mike Bennett is terrible, but that O-line does not seem to be opening holes the way they can or picking up the blitzes defenses have thrown at them. Birk was the man in the middle who makes the O-line play to their potential.

These are just two examples of many to shed light on why players make contract demands.


- Note to ravens fans: Boller has not been the biggest problem. in the first game, Clarence Moore dropped like 8 balls that would have kept drives alive. More importantly, the defense played like they were in high school. Too many penalties negated great plays. There was an interception in the end zone and a crucial 3rd & 8 stop that were nullified by penalties.

I didn't see the second game, but apparently the D did holD Tennesse to well either. And that was the same Titans team that looked like a D-II college team against the Raven's division rivals in Pittsburgh.

Lastly, Jamal Lewis is running like he has rocks in his shoes. Hopefully, these rocks were not manufactured with the assistance of baking soda. Seriously though, he slow start was to be expected. He probably won't have his legs back until the 5th or 6th week of the season.

Selling Teamates to Remove Your Own Guilt

A while back I said I was going to take a "Wait & See" stance on Rafeal Palmeiro and his issue with steroids. I can say today with pride that I am done with him. Today is reports posted on ESPN, Palmeiro has pointed to teamate and Orioles team captain, Miguel Tejada as the person who gave him what turned out to be the steroid he tested positive for. Of course Palmeiro is going to deny that he sold Tejada out, but this situation has just gotten uglier than I ever thought it could get.

This is all speculation, but the reason I have my final decision on it is because Palmeiro has done nothing to right this "wrongdoing" that he has been claiming happened. He has never issued a statement with an explanation. And, we have been waiting on that for two months now. Sometimes I think players listen to their handlers a little too much. Sometimes you just have to man up and take the punishment.

Willingham and Revenge

Tomorrow Ty Willingham and his Washington Huskies will be facing off against his old team Notre Dame, from which he was fired this past off-season. Willingham, ever so careful with his words has denied thinking about this game and extracting revenge on a program that never gave him a chance to really do his thing. But I suspect different. It will be one of those unsaid things that the players will pick up on. This will be the most important game for the Huskies this season. And second only to a bowl game if they make one. He may not say it, but I am sure Willingham wants to win this game in a lopsided blowout. It probably won't happen, but I am sure he will be more than satisfied to get a win however it may come.

I am sure Notre Dame will be ready, especially after that tough lost to Michigan St. last week. Charlie Weiss has the team playing very well, but so did Willingham the first year he took the job. It will be interesting to see where Weiss is in three years and what his record looks like.

Scotch Files: The Rewind Edition

Three weeks since I last posted? Seems about right. Two weeks of me being in the office by myself. One week on travel for work. Damn, time goes extremely fast. And as you get older, it might not be due to having fun as the old adage states.

Anyway, I have a few things I wanted to touch that have probably been beaten to the ground by now. Who cares! As Common states on the last track on "BE," This is my world...


People like Omarion and Ashley Simpson better heed the warning...

Perhaps this is taking your presidency too serious. Maybe it is what we all need for our own auditory safety, but the President of Turkmenistan has apparanetly banned lip synching.

I really don't have much to say here, but maybe he is on to something. How many times have you been watching a big game or an awards show and wondered why the "artist" wasn't actually singing? Provided that many of the acts out today are terrible, we should be taking the baton that this small country has lit and be running straight to Pretty Ricky's house. Get it? We would all win! No lip synching means a decrease in these talentless idiots wasting space on the Billboard charts and retail shelves.

While I agree with the lip synching ban, I do think the gold teeth thing is way over the line. Please do not block my right to bling from the within! Paul Wall says it best, "The chandelier in my mouth insinuates I'm balling!"


Refugee. Everyone thought it was cool in '96

So folks were go crazy a few weeks ago about victims of Katrina being called "refugees." No one seemed to mind when Lauryn, Wyclef and that other dude (NOTE: I know his name, but it is not worth mentioning) were rocking "Ooh La La La" and "Killing Me Softly."

Seriously though, I didn't get the big deal. I think people were going too literal on the meaning. On an empirical level isn't "refugee" just a person that has to seek refuge from there home? Sometimes I wonder if people in general are becoming TOO sensitive. Sometimes I wonder if black people cry wolf before even seeing a wolf. Apparently, I was not alone in my thinking. In an article posted on Eurweb, I think the author breaks this subject down really well.

I think the author sums it up best by saying, "the refugee outrage among our folk seems less about the definition of the word itself, and more about the word coming from the mouths and pages of white media organizations."

There are also other points in the article I think are quite valid, but I will leave it up to you to read and take from it what you want because this is an ancient topic to many.


Bush & Jakes the new Batman & Robin?

A few weeks ago, I saw George Bush talking about the victims of Katrina and I noticed that T.D. Jakes was standing next to him. I wish I could take a picture of my face when I saw it. It wasn't really a shock because I knew Jakes was a Bush supporter. I guess what bothered me was that he is STILL a Bush supporter.

I wonder if Jakes called Bush after Kanye dropped his now infamous statement on Bush. I suspect he and Clarence Thomas rushed to the phone to assure Bush that they did not share the West sentiment. I know a lot of people respect Jakes to the utmost and hold him in high praise, but there is something about the dude that makes me skeptical.

I understand that he is shares the same position with Bush on "Faith Based Iniatives," but seriously. *Insert doubt face here* Is that really enough to align yourself with Bush? What exactly are "faith based iniatives and why are they deemed so great? Let's put things into perspective. Just because you state GOD as your reasoning for doing something, it does not mean it is a good thing.

If a crackhead tells you that he/she gets high because GOD wants them too, how would you react? Don't like the analogy, how's this one? As Bill Mahr put it so eloquently, "FLYING PLANES INTO BUILDINGS WAS A FAITH BASED INIATIVE!" Again, just cause you put a little GOD on it doesn't mean it is a good thing.

So anyway, back to Jakes. He is considered by many to be a community leader. His books, plays, CDs and sermons have touched millions of people. He weilds a lot of power, especially in churches where pastor's word is held in the highest regard like it is straight from the Bible. This is not to say that he is a complete false prophet and I am not placing him in Mase category, but something is not right about his beliefs. I am continually perplexed at how any black person can align themselves with Bush. And that is not to say that the democrats are the holy grail. I am getting into a whole nother rant, so I will stop here.

Scotch Files: "It's Obvious" Edition

To clarify the title, there is nothing more obvious to talk about than Katrina and her devastation of Mississippi, LA and other places. I have not been too much involved with everything going on, due to not being home. But considering the damage, it's not hard to keep somewhat abreast of what is going on.

As a matter of fact, there is too much going on. Katrina has exposed many things about this country that some people have dedicated their lives to upholding or ignoring. From news reports and footage alone, I have personally seen some very questionable things. Many survivors of Katrina's power were left homeless and hungry. A lot of those people have found themselves "finding" or "looting" various stores for neccessities that, I am taking for granted even as I type this.

There have been numerous media outlets covering this situation and there have been various adjectives used to describe the chaos that is going on in New Orleans. These adjectives have lead many in the black community to yell "foul" or pictures of African-American survivors being described as looters, while whites have been said to be "finding" food. I have yet to see one media outlet describe this same event in the two different manners, so I can not really fault one reporting service using one adjective while another uses a more "aggressive" description to report the story.

Either way you slice it, it is looting. The thing is, I can find no blame with anyone looking for necessities to continue surviving. There is this thing called "Relative Morality" which simply means your morals are relative to the situation at hand. This may not sit well with the "black and white" people of the world, but I am not one of them. So the thing is, people are instinctively surviving. Going off of human nature to enhance their chanes of seeing another day, engaging in another day of survival. The problem is, people always seem to take things too far. Maybe this is the stance of the aforementioned "black & whites." The fact that people took the liberty to steal TVs, guns, etc. is ridiculous. And it is not just relegated to the aftermath of tragedies. Folks did the same thing in the L.A. riots in the early 90s. It's almost like a Fox tv special, "When Human Nature Goes Wrong."

So now, already facing the remains of a city Katrina left behind, workers, volunteers, and civil servants are having to halt their recovery efforts because they are being assaulted and in some instances killed. This whole situation is just making me sick to my stomach. And I say that sitting in an air conditioned office building with clean, dry clothes and a full stomach. So what sense is that making?

I know bad things are nothing new, but when folks said, "it's a whole new world out there after graduating college," I would have never guessed so many things could happen in such a short 5 years. From 9/11 to Tsunamsis, snipers to war, we have been living in some "interesting" times as of late. But these are not the only reasons my stomach is feeling queasy. Look at the gas prices!

I am lucky and fortunate to be able to have enough financial flexibilty to sustain the sudden spike in gas prices. But, as I paid $2.85, all I could think about was the people who really don't have money "left over" from their paychecks. We could go into the debate about giving themselves a better chance to earn more money by going to school, etc., but that is another convo for another day. The fact remains that if things continue it will be cheaper for some folks to stay at home than go to work. Crazy right?

I remember last year, when gas prices approached $2, thinking that I would never pay more than $2 for gas. And at the time I was driving 50 miles one way to work. Now, a year later I am paying more than 40% more for a gallon of gas. I can't imagine living in CA or Chicago right now. Thank goodness I cut 20 miles off of my one way commute. Back to the point though, someone has to do something about the gas prices. Everything has a price before it completely prices itself out of the market place, I hope we never get there. Of course, that is an extreme circumstance, but how many other things would you have thought to be extreme last week? A year ago? Five years ago?

There is one other reason why I am scared of what Katrina has done to us. She/ it has made us focus on one thing and push everything else to the backburner. These are the times that important decisions are made. The tail has a natural disaster, so there is no need to "wag the dog." The dog is wagging back & forth in Katrina's treacherous winds.

To clear things up, "wagging the dog" is a metaphor for what a magician would call "creating a diversion" so they can pull of the trick "right before your eyes." There was a movie starring Robert Dinero and Dustin Hoffman called "Wag the Dog." The premise is simple. Create an illusion to focus the people's attention and while everyone is looking one way, conduct business that would generally cause an uproar.

I am not insinuating that this is actually taking place, but what better time than now to allocate more funds to a pointless war, send more troops, take away certain civil liberties for the sake of "national security." All I am saying is watch what the magician and his "beautiful assistants" are doing while we are suppossed to be looking at what Katrina left behind.

I pray for everyone being affected by Katrina and hope that things get better sooner rather than later.

Disclaimer: I know I touched on a lot of different topics. Hopefully, this post flows when you read it the way it did as I typed it. I will be back to touch some of the things more in-depth.

Stay up and keep your eyes on everything!