MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS: THIS, THAT, AND SOME OTHER STUFF

 It was announced this week:   Pete Rose’s lifetime banishment from baseball in 1989 for betting on games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds will not be lifted.  The pros and cons of this decision have been argued back and forth but I hold the same opinion I had in 1989:  The ban is appropriate regardless of how times and attitudes have changed.  He knew better but made the bets anyway.  Time does not heal such a wound.  He betrayed the game that made him rich and famous………..

Are the number of college football bowl games getting out of control?  One look at the schedule should answer that instantly:  YES!  I understand the greed factor; it’s a way for schools to make a few extra bucks by being selected but do the fans of schools with 5-7 or 6-6 records really get excited over these games?  For example, if I lived in Minnesota I would not be thrilled to go to a garden spot like Detroit during the winter to see my 5-7 alma mater play Central Michigan, 7-5. There are 40 bowl games this year; that’s too many...…….. 

"Tinker" says "Merry Christmas"

Paul Messinger of Scottsdale recently mentioned how Levis were the overwhelming choice of blue jeans when he attended high school in the 1940’s.  It was wartime and acquiring a pair of those precious jeans was not easy but at Paul’s high school in Scottsdale, they were still a must if a guy wanted to be considered “cool.”   Some might say, “What about Wranglers?” Although they were a fine product, kids of the 1940’s were very brand conscious as they are today and nothing, including the otherwise fine Wranglers, would be accepted but Levis.   As a high school kid in the 1950’s, I can identify with that mentality.  Levis were still a ‘must” during that era………. 

I like this quote from writer Jonah Goldberg of the National Review.  He is referring to some of the college kids of today who think they need to change the scholastic attitudes to reflect a more liberal tone:  “You kids think it is somehow rebellious to be liberal. So, let me see if I get this right. The administrators at this school are liberal.  The professors are liberal. Your textbooks are, for the most part, liberal. Hollywood is liberal. The music industry is liberal. The fashion industry is liberal. The mainstream media are liberal, Silicon Valley is liberal. Believe it or not, most corporations and the overwhelming majority of charitable organizations are liberal.  And yet, you think you are sticking it to the man by agreeing with them?”  Goldberg’s comment reminds me of some of the 18 year old classmates I met after I returned to college after serving a hitch in the Air Force from 1961-1965. They felt a need to change the world even though it had already been changed to their liking; they just didn’t know it………..

Whether one likes or dislikes Donald Trump or hard rocker Ted Nugent, I think this is pretty funny if you have a sense of humor.  It was sent o me recently by one of my readers:   Ted Nugent walks into a Muslim bookstore in Chicago and asks the clerk if he has a copy of Trump’s book about the U. S. immigration policy regarding illegal Mexicans and Muslims.  The clerk angrily responds:  “GET OUT, GET OUT AND STAY OUT.”  Nugent replies, “Yes, that’s the one.  Do you have it in paperback?”……….

Have a wonderful Christmas holiday and New Year's.