Random Thoughts

I have not had the opportunity to write in a little while, and I’m very excited to write this column. I will probably be all over the place so stick with me.

First off, I would like to say, after reading all of the August columns, I really enjoyed the Reflections column from August 29th. I’m not a Mets fan, and I pretty much hate all teams from NY, but just remembering 9/11/01 once again and reading about the Mets wearing hats of the services that helped the city and Mike Piazza hitting the winning home run brought tears to my eyes. And I don’t cry. Ever. It just doesn’t happen.

One of the greatest things about our country is our ability to come together and help each other. That’s what we do and as much as performers and the media wants to say that white people hate black people, that simply isn’t true (I know I’m way over exaggerating what happened, but I’ve been very upset by the way our government has been portrayed in all of this). Since I wrote my last sentence, I feel like I briefly need to explain my point. Before I do that, I really wish the worst to those people that were looting. They are the scum of the earth. I was in Hawaii this week for an amazing vacation (back to that later in the column), and I saw a little kid (circa 8 years old) with a sign that said, “I survived Hurricane Katrina, please give me money” and people were actually giving this kid money. No way in the world did that kid survive the hurricane and somehow make it to Hawaii. It didn’t work time wise. Earlier that morning we were watching how the Superdome was filled with homeless and starving people. Needless to say I ripped the sign out of the kids hand and gave him a quick talking to. No joke, within 30 seconds the kids dad showed up out of nowhere and started giving me shit. To my surprise some people were monitoring the situation (no one I knew and I was later told that I was about to get pummeled because everyone thought I was being insensitive) and just pummeled the dad for putting his kid up to their mischievous activity. I watched a cop just turn around like he wasn’t there. To me that says, you want to fuck with the U. S., go ahead, eventually we’ll get you back, even if you’re one of us.

In a quick defense of the government: it’s not possible to always be stocked with supplies for all “possible” natural disasters. The possibility is always there. Always. Hurricanes go through Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana all the time. There can be an earthquake in California at any time. Terrorists can attack at will. The list is endless. If the government were to be stocked with supplies at all times just for precautionary measures, the public would be enraged about how much tax money and man-power we were wasting just for precautions. New Orleans has been hit by so many hurricanes, that most of the residents don’t even evacuate any more. Some do, but some have gone through so many, they don’t even find it necessary to leave. And that’s what happened. They were told to evacuate and didn’t do it. The mayor of New Orleans has been complaining the most out of anybody, but how does he have any right? It was his job to evacuate the city and he didn’t get it done. He should be the first to blame. Regardless of that, once the government got the supplies they needed they moved. It was impossible to do it any faster. Does the government like black people? I don’t know, I’m not the government, but I know that taxpayers who elect the government like black people. The media and entertainment are so anti-government and have been for a long time, that they can sway public opinion for a limited time, but in the end, this country is still great because it’s opinions aren’t swayed purely by the media. If they were, Bush would not be the president. Sorry for the political rant. I hate talking politics, I just feel the government needs some defending.

Quick thought on Hawaii: How great would it be just to own a boat, fish for food, and sail the Hawaii islands, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Ocean for 2-5 years. I couldn’t imagine having a better time. There is one obvious problem, and I think it would be a major drawback for any one of us: the inability to watch sports on the daily and timely basis we currently can. But one day, not long from now, there will be a satellite in space that will transmit everywhere and then I could be in Heaven on a boat in the Pacific Ocean.

I went to the Dodgers game yesterday and Jeff Kent hit a 2 run bomb in the bottom of the tenth. There is almost nothing as good as a walk-off home run by the home team. I don’t like the Dodgers and the stadium was barely half-full but the pageantry involved with a game winning home run is remarkable.

USC has the best offense in college football history. It’s amazing. Everyone has been talking about how the Trojans are too confident and will lose a game just because of that. This team will NOT lose. For someone to beat the Trojans they are going to have to score 38+ points and the defense is simply too good to allow that. The toughest games are at Oregon and at Notre Dame and the UCLA game at home worries me a bit, but it still won’t happen.

This weekend I’ll be making stops at US Cellular Field, Busch Stadium, Miller Park, and Wrigley. I can’t wait. Four baseball games in 4 days with a bunch of friends. I’m like a little kid in front of a cotton candy machine right now.

The last thing I want to touch on today is the word “potential.” I feel that a lot of people completely forget that the word “potential” means the ability of someone to become great or something great to come to fruition. It does not mean that it will happen. I bring this up because everyone always talks about how great a player will be or how awesome a defense will be because they picked up a certain player, coach, or changed it’s scheme. And for every fan, “potential” is great. The belief in it allows a person to go into a season believing that your favorite team has a chance to win it all and allows you to be excited during the offseason. But rarely does “potential” ever max out. Those Chiefs and Vikings defenses that have so much potential, the Lions offense with all of its potential, may all achieve their “potential”, but chances are that higher that none of them will achieve that “potential”. That’s the beauty of sports: you don’t know what’s going to happen until it actually happens. That’s why we write these columns, argue among each other, and on the radio.

Sorry I was all over the place, just random thoughts and I could have written a lot more about each one of them, I just wanted to put all of them on the table.