Sing It Right Or Don't Sing It!

I am absolutely sick to death of these people who try to use their chance to sing the national anthem at a sporting event to get their entire 15 minutes of fame at one time! They drag it out like they are going to be executed the second they are finished. They are supposed to be musicians, yet they read every quarter-note as a full note, every half-note as a full note and every full-note as multiple notes! And no one in the stands can possibly sing along because no one has heard this particular rendition before! They make me long for Rosanne Barr!
The national anthem is supposed to be uplifting and inspiring. It is supposed to inspire chills of patriotism and a sense of pride. In short, IT IS AN ANTHEM, NOT A DIRGE!! So start singing it like an anthem, peppy and with obvious pride in your voice. And stop sounding like you are going to weep uncontrollably at any second.
I, for one, enjoy singing along to the national anthem and find it quite annoying when the singer makes that almost impossible by bastardising it to fit "their interpretation" of the song. Well, here's a newsflash for you all, you don't get to "interpret" this song. This song does not belong to you. This song belongs to all Americans and all Americans should be able to sing along whenever and wherever the national anthem is played. Forget about trying to best Whitney Houston's performance at Super Bowl XXV. Yes, Whitney did elongate the song somewhat, but she sang it with vigor and an obvious sense of pride in her voice with a smashing crescendo. It is by far the best national anthem presentation at a major sporting event that I can remember. You want to be remembered for your national anthem? Then listen to how Whitney sang it and emulate her. Make the hair on the backs of necks stand up! Make blood race into everyones face. Make people swell with pride and joy at being a citizen of this great country. Then, you won't just have fifteen minutes of fame, then you will be remembered for a long, long time.
If you can't do that, then just stay home and let some local high school student sing it. They usually do a better job, anyway.

Hamas Is The Problem

How can people be so two-faced? The whole world is aghast and appalled because Israel is defending their people against terrorists rocket attacks. They are being condemned at every turn for doing their job - protecting the populace. People are demonstrating in Europe, the U.S and even Canada, for crying out loud! What I want to know is, where the hell were these people and where the hell was all their anger when Hamas was lobbing rockets into Israel and killing civilians by DESIGN? Where the hell are they and where the hell is the anger everytime a suicide bomber explodes in a crowded market place, killing and maiming countless men, women and children? Hamas is putting the Palestinian people in harm's way and crying foul when some of them are killed. Where is the anger for that? Why is no one angry with Hamas? Well, I for one am very angry with Hamas, and I support the Israeli response 100%. I am also angry with the Palestinian people for allowing Hamas to operate in such a heinous way, and then complaining about it when someone else tries to put a stop to it.
I don't think that diplomacy will ever stop the war in the Middle East. Diplomacy requires people with reasoning powers. Hamas and the rest of their ilk are completely irrational when the subject is Israel, and one cannot reason with someone who is irrational. That leaves only one inevitable end to this conflict, and I shudder to think about it.

First Of Many

Welcome to Tommy Tuesday's first blog. The first of many, I fervently hope. These blogs will be mostly about things that just fry my ass! You know, the stories you read in the papers or see on the news that just defy all common sense. Or the ridiculous strategy by my favorite football team that cost us a game, or a season. (Nice going, Tressel!) Or just things that make no sense to me no matter how many different ways I look at it. Ah, what the hell, let's just start out on Tressel.
What in the name of Woody Hayes was he thinking? How do you bench a quarterback who took you to the national title game in a year when no one expected you to be there, including you? Not that I think Todd Boeckmann is a superstar, but the guy got the job done, for the most part, and he had a year of seasoning under his belt, so one would expect him to be much better this year.
Okay, I have heard all of the arguments about how immobile he is. So what? Want to hear some names of a few other quarterbacks who also weren't so nimble? Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, Johnny Unitas, Roman Gabriel, Don Meredith, Peyton Manning and Sonny Jurgenson, to name a few. Being able to scramble for first downs is a wonderful attribute to have, but it is not necessary to be a good, or even great, quarterback.
Here's my theory. When Beanie went down, Tressel had no running game to speak of. He needed Pryor in the lineup because Terrell could supply the running threat. I can understand that. With no running game, Boeckmann would have been blitzed into oblivion. But why did Tress install Pryor as the starter and leave Boeckmann molding on the bench, when Beanie came back? Here's my theory:
Tressel sacrificed the entire season just to get his freshman phenom experience! He used this season to build for next season and the season after that. I can come up with no other plausible explanation. All you have to do is remember how awful Pryor was passing the ball in the Fiesta Bowl, and think about how much better Boeckmann would have been, and you can see my point. If Boeckmann is the qb in the Fiesta Bowl, the Buckeyes win, because Texas would not have been able to crowd the line-of-scrimmage to stop the run they way they did in the second half. They would have been forced to respect the passing game, especially the DEEP ball, that Pryor just cannot throw with any consistency at all! And let us not forget the middle of the season when we went TWO straight games without scoring an offensive touchdown, both with Pryor at the controls. And one was against Purdue, for crying out loud!! Not exactly your bastion of great defense, now, are they?
And what about Hartline and Robiskie? They were almost unheard of with Pryor at quarterback. Two of the better deep threats in the Big Ten, maybe in all of college football, and they were reduced to blocking for Pryor on keepers.
So there you have it. Three of the best playmakers in the Big Ten taken out of the game in one fashion or another just to get a freshman some playing time. A sacrificed season (after the USC debacle) that didn't have to be. Good job, Tressel. If you keep this up, Michigan will be back on top in no time!!