It’s Deja Vu all over again

Some things, unfortunately, just don’t change. In the news, these repeat performances appear:

Nationally, following the domination of one political party in the last election, the other party is picking up steam and garnering more support. That is a direct result of having just two dominant parties, with few people satisfied with either. It’s the gnawing old “lesser of two evils” bugaboo. The majority party, regardless of which one happens to hold the majority, is increasingly viewed with disgust, and voters begin shifting to the other. With only two choices, and with neither producing anything worthwhile when in the majority, the pendulum simply shifts back and forth from one to the other.

University of Minnesota athletes are again causing a scandal. As usual, there is little comfort in knowing that these bad-boy players were recruited from other states, not the home of “Minnesota Nice”. As long as college sports are defined as what makes a college important, athletes will continue to be treated as pampered, glorified “stars”, regardless of their other attributes… many will continue to think that they are so important that they can get away with any behavior.

NBA referees continue to call fouls in favor of star players, especially in game-critical circumstances. Last night, the call was a jump ball rather than a foul on a reach-in by Kevin Garnett, now starring for the Celtics. If the players involved had been in opposite positions, I have no doubt that the call would have been a foul instead. It’s been going on for years, and will no doubt continue… that star players consistently get favorable calls that win games.

Oh, and the Yankees won another World Series, their 27th. Big surprise, with a line-up that reads like an All-Star roster. Money wins again.

Yet another case of a registered sex offender being able to commit many more crimes, literally under the nose of law enforcement, for years, without detection. Yes… these same cops who can spot an expired license from 100 feet, but, in this case, don’t notice perhaps 11 murders in the house of an Ohio convicted sex offender. Missing person reports and a putrid smell in the neighborhood weren’t enough to clue in the local cops. Oh yeah… Serve and Protect, for sure.

There was even good news that also isn’t new, but around here, in a state that seems to believe that government can fix problems, it was treated as news. In the midst of a depression, private companies are finding ways to increase productivity… by themselves and without government help. They’ve been doing that as long as there have been businesses… belt-tightening, and laying off all but truly needed workers. In the business world, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. In politics, when the going gets tough, leaders just spend us into more debt, to pretend that they’re fixing something. Let’s watch the administration find a way to pretend that they caused the increased productivity.

Some things never seem to change.

Iowa sports… a lot more than luck

I grew up in the Iowa City area. I attended the University of Iowa. At one time both my parents and I worked for the U of Iowa. Most of my relatives still reside in that area.

Despite all that, there is only one college team I root AGAINST… the University of Iowa. Why would that be?

Over many years, I have watched as Iowa teams, especially playing at home, have had the benefit of officiating in their favor.  In many cases, such as today, in football, against Indiana, the favoritism has been obvious and grievous.

College sports are typically played with high emotions. Very often, penalties can make a real emotional shift in games.  That is the worst effect of biased calls, especially if they occur on key plays. The result can be a terrible and obvious discouragement on the losing team.

Today’s football game was a near-perfect example. In the 3rd quarter, when Iowa could do nothing right, officials managed to keep the game within Iowa’s reach and depress the attitude of Indiana. Two touchdowns by Indiana were obliterated by officials, with challenged results that made no sense to those of us viewing slow-motion on TV.

I don’t know how Iowa manages to have control of officiating, but it’s clear to me that they do have control. As long as that seems to continue, I will root AGAINST my alma mater.