Where is the honor?

I’m getting thoroughly disgusted with pro football. Cheating has become an integral part of the game. In the Vikings game yesterday and the Bears/Packers game tonight, the same deliberate foul occured, and the perpetrator got away with the foul. Even worse, both fouls were game-changing. Two pass-interference NON-calls, in which the defender held one arm of the receiver to prevent a reception.

Anyone who watched the TV replays KNOWS that both plays should have had interference called, so what is the lesson taught? It’s clear that the lesson to be learned is that fouls are OK if you don’t get caught.  Sure, it’s the official’s job to spot the foul, and they cannot see everything. That would make some sense if not for the fact that everyone in the TV audience can see the foul go unpunished.

Just once, I would like to see a player go to an official and admit to a foul that wasn’t called. I wouldn’t expect someone who deliberately committed a foul to fess up, but there are a lot of accidental fouls that an honorable man might admit to. No, it isn’t gonna happen, but that fact is part of what occasionally makes me hate pro sports.

Yeppir… real winter is here

OK… it’s not the winter of my childhood, which of course was legendary, but we’re past the initial snowfalls and the inexperienced drivers have either quickly learned or have hidden out until spring. I did quite a bit of driving this morning, in conditions requiring some care, and I saw hardly any bonehead moves. We’ve had about 4″ of snow today, added to a couple more, and Xmas shoppers are out in force, and coping well.

As anyone who has lived in snow country knows, a few bad drivers can really mess up traffic. Naturally, each year brings in a crop of winter-inexperienced drivers; those who are new drivers and those who moved here from warmer climates. Given that we have a lot of immigrants from Mexico and Africa, it is surprising that traffic isn’t a lot worse.

So… way to go Newbies! If you haven’t already discovered them, here are a couple of winter driving tips:

1. Don’t be in a hurry. I don’t mean poke along, but don’t make any quick moves. If a light turns yellow, move on through rather than slam your brakes. Slow down for turns.

2. Use your brake and accelerator like you had a Twinkie under your foot.

3. If you have to stop on an uphill slope, stop back a little further than normal, and let your car creep forward while you wait. It will keep your warm tires from creating ice under them.