It's Friday night and you are a fan of University of Maryland Athletic Teams. In all probability, you were watching the Terrapin Basketball Team in the near-mythical ACC Basketball Tournament. You are very happy. What you missed, most likely, is the baseball team's victory over unbeaten and No. 12-ranked Florida State.
Maryland led from beginning to end in whacking No. 2 Duke. Dez Wells was nothing short of outstanding, scoring over 30 points and steadying his young teammates at many crucial junctures. Maryland has now beaten Wake Forest and Duke on consecutive nights to improve to 22-11. They are back in the national tournament discussion. But for all of the giddiness, Maryland still faces at least one and, hopefully, two more games in Greensboro, North Carolina. Tomorrow they play the winner of North Carolina and Florida State. Maryland has a serious score to settle with Florida State, having lost two nail-biters to the Seminoles during the regular season. I firmly believe Maryland will win that match-up. As for the Tar Heels, Maryland played them in College Park about two weeks ago, and the game did not go well. North Carolina led most of the way and in all candor, won easily. It seems that the Terps have match-up problems with the smaller, stronger, faster, better-shooting line-up that Roy Williams has been using since mid-season. But the Maryland team that played North Carolina just those few short games ago is not the same team that is in Greensboro. These Terps seem, finally, to be getting their hell-bent coach's message about brutal defense and smart play. Against Wake Forest on Thursday night they played a first-half that reminded all Terp fans why they came to Greensboro in need of at least three wins to get the attention of the lads picking the NCAA tournament field. But beginning after the half on Thursday, Maryland has been playing like a team on a serious mission. As they wait to see who they will play tomorrow afternoon (as I write, North Carolina has opened a ten-point lead on Florida State with about two minutes left in the first half), Maryland has to have more confidence than at any time this season. Their dismantling of Duke was complete. Although Mason Plumlee, to his credit, more than held his own in his match-up with the Terps' towering 7'1" center, Alex Len, his high-scoring teammate, Seth Curry, was shut-out in the first half and finished with 15. For the Terps, Wells had 33 and four other Terps - Alex Len, Seth Allen, Nick Faust and Jake Layman - each finished with ten points.
On the chilly baseball diamond Friday night (the game started at 6:30 pm), Maryland got eight outstanding innings from senior Jimmy Reed, and the Terps rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to defeat previously unbeaten Florda State, 5-3.
With the score tied, 3-3 in the 8th, Jordan Hagel tripled to leadoff and scored on a wild pitch. K. J. Hockaday, who had walked right after Hagel's triple, took second on the same wild pitch. He scored when Freshman Lamont Wade bashed a double.
In the ninth, first-year coach John Szefc summonsed Freshman Kevin Mooney to pitch against the 16-0 Seminoles. All that Mooney did was set down Florida State in order for his first save. In his last three outings, Mooney has started and pitched six shut-out innings to earn a win over Princeton, throw two and one-third shut-out innings in relief to earn a win at Virginia, and retire Florida State in order in the ninth to enable his team to win a second straight conference game. Maryland improves to 12-5 and 2-2 in the ACC.
The three-game series with the Seminoles continues tomorrow at 1:30 pm at Turtle Smith Stadium. The finale is Sunday afternoon.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
NCAA BASEBALL: Maryland Ends Virginia's Unbeaten Streak
Right off, let us admit that Virginia's undefeated (at the time) baseball team took two games from Maryland on Saturday. They won the day end of the twin bill, 7-6, with the winning run scoring in the bottom of the ninth. In the night end, Maryland outhit Virginia but failed with men on base and lost, 5-0. Those wins ran the ranked team's record to 14-0. Maryland fell to 9-5.
What worse, seemingly, is that after losing with its two proven starters on the hill, Maryland had to go into Sunday with two freshmen in the hole. Alex Robinson started, and handed off to fellow freshman Kevin Mooney in the third, after surrendering one run to the Cavaliers. All Mooney did was pitch two and one-third innings of shutout relief to gain his second win without a loss. He had started and threw six shutout innings to beat Princeton in his last outing.
After Mooney, Bobby Ruse pitched another two scoreless innings before Jake Sinnett came on to earn the save, despite allowing three hits and Virginia's other run. Maryland won the game, 4-2. Lamont Wade knocked in two of the runs on a triple and ground out and Charlie White had two hits, a run scored and an RBI from the leadoff spot to lead the Terps, who are now 10-5 overall and 1-2 in the conference. They are scheduled to play a twin bill today against Marist at College Park.
What worse, seemingly, is that after losing with its two proven starters on the hill, Maryland had to go into Sunday with two freshmen in the hole. Alex Robinson started, and handed off to fellow freshman Kevin Mooney in the third, after surrendering one run to the Cavaliers. All Mooney did was pitch two and one-third innings of shutout relief to gain his second win without a loss. He had started and threw six shutout innings to beat Princeton in his last outing.
After Mooney, Bobby Ruse pitched another two scoreless innings before Jake Sinnett came on to earn the save, despite allowing three hits and Virginia's other run. Maryland won the game, 4-2. Lamont Wade knocked in two of the runs on a triple and ground out and Charlie White had two hits, a run scored and an RBI from the leadoff spot to lead the Terps, who are now 10-5 overall and 1-2 in the conference. They are scheduled to play a twin bill today against Marist at College Park.
Valporaiso in Horizon Title Game
Green Bay had outplayed Valparaiso Saturday night. Playing on Valpo's home floor, the Phoenix had beaten back every Crusader challenge. Even when Valpo managed to tie the game at 64 in the final minutes, Green Bay and its hot shooting guard, Kiefer Sykes, were up for the challenge. With just six seconds left, the Phoenix still led, 66-64.
But that's when Valpo turned everything over to senior Ryan Broekhoff. With fellow senior Keven Van Wijk trying to battle through a hellacious sprained ankle, sustained immediately after he had gotten Valpo off to a fast start, Broekhoff was the only real choice.
Green Bay's Alec Brown went to the line with six seconds left and the Phoenix ahead by one. He made the first but missed the second. With no Green Bay players contesting the rebound, Van Wijk grabbed the rebound and flipped it to Broekhoff. The Austrailian native raced up court, and when Green Bay's hefty forward, Brennan Cougill moved to stop him at the top of the key, Broekhoff feinted to his right, hesitated a split-second, then faded away from about three feet beyond the three point line. After he shot, Broekhoff stumbled backward and was laying on the floor when the shot went through the net. Had he glanced to his right, he would have seen his coach, Bryce Drew, also on the floor, also on his back, his arms outstretched, allowing the crowd to reveal whether Broekhoff's shot was true. Boy was it ever!
Students and bench players stormed the court after Broekhoff, almost running over Drew in the process. But game officials insisted that the teams return to their benches so that they could conduct an inspection of the replay. For the record, they wanted to see if Broekhoff was completely beyond the three line. In reality, one figured they wanted to find the exit before they were mobbed a second time.
The Crusaders now play Wright State at Valpo on Tuesday night. One of the ESPN networks will have the game for the national audience. Wright State used a last second shot of their own to stun defending Horizon champ Detroit, 66-64.
'
But that's when Valpo turned everything over to senior Ryan Broekhoff. With fellow senior Keven Van Wijk trying to battle through a hellacious sprained ankle, sustained immediately after he had gotten Valpo off to a fast start, Broekhoff was the only real choice.
Green Bay's Alec Brown went to the line with six seconds left and the Phoenix ahead by one. He made the first but missed the second. With no Green Bay players contesting the rebound, Van Wijk grabbed the rebound and flipped it to Broekhoff. The Austrailian native raced up court, and when Green Bay's hefty forward, Brennan Cougill moved to stop him at the top of the key, Broekhoff feinted to his right, hesitated a split-second, then faded away from about three feet beyond the three point line. After he shot, Broekhoff stumbled backward and was laying on the floor when the shot went through the net. Had he glanced to his right, he would have seen his coach, Bryce Drew, also on the floor, also on his back, his arms outstretched, allowing the crowd to reveal whether Broekhoff's shot was true. Boy was it ever!
Students and bench players stormed the court after Broekhoff, almost running over Drew in the process. But game officials insisted that the teams return to their benches so that they could conduct an inspection of the replay. For the record, they wanted to see if Broekhoff was completely beyond the three line. In reality, one figured they wanted to find the exit before they were mobbed a second time.
The Crusaders now play Wright State at Valpo on Tuesday night. One of the ESPN networks will have the game for the national audience. Wright State used a last second shot of their own to stun defending Horizon champ Detroit, 66-64.
'
Monday, March 11, 2013
Shades of Obama! Towson President Even Lies About Why Baseball and Soccer are Being Eliminated
Towson University, in suburban Baltimore, has eliminated its baseball and soccer programs. The University President - Maravene Loeschke, who returned to Towson as president not so long ago amidst universal acclimation, made a decision that surprisingly smacked of ineptitude, stupidity and rank incompetence. It was also an unethical decision, arrived at in true Star Chamber fashion, and delivered to those most damaged in a way that would make a fascist proud.
This is how the decision was announced: Loeschke ordered players and coaches from the two affected teams to come to a meeting on campus at 10 am. The players were told about the 10 am meeting at 9:15 am the very same day. Many were in class. When Loeschke showed up she was surrounded by campus police, even though the meeting was, in fact, on campus and not at the county lock-up up on the hill. Another detachment of armed police waited outside surrounding Loeschke's car. Really, they surrounded her car like somebody was going to do something to it. I would like to hear her explain that. Why would that be necessary? Who paid for this over-saturation of campus police? Are so many campus police usually on duty on a Friday morning? I bet the lads on the two teams were glad to know that they were worthy of such high esteem. Will Ms Loeschke have police around her all the time now? I bet the folk paying the tuitions for the baseball and soccer team student\athletes - most weren't on full scholarships - were glad to know that the person getting their money held their sons in such high regard. Then, Loeschke spoke to the players for three entire minutes. She took no questions. She left.
When I first heard about this, I was flabbergasted and incensed. I was thinking she should resign. This is not the way things are done. First, you do not cut a successful, well-run, well-thought-of university program just so some other, probably less-well-run (can you say Pat Kennedy (former basketball coach?)) program can get the dollars. And when responsible folk step up to the plate and promise to assist in the effort to fund the well-run teams you are thinking of eliminating, you don't smack them down like this. Would allowing those dedicated souls who promised to help on such short notice, a few months to organize their efforts be against anyone's interest? Down the road at College Park, the University of Maryland announced two years ago that it was cutting eight sports. But none were of the prestige of soccer or baseball, and in each instance the University President and Athletic Director provided time for the backers of each sport to find alternate funding sources. In other words, the people who cared most about the sport were given time and resources to save the sport at the University. The University even assigned athletic department personnel to assist in the effort to save each sport. Now, nobody wants to have their sport placed in such a precarious place, but it was about ten million times better - and more responsible - than the "behind the iron curtain" hatchet job pulled off by Loeschke and Waddell.
Somebody is not playing straight at Towson. Even a moron understands that cutting two prestigious team sports at a school supposedly trying to increase the profile of its athletic program is not a good idea. And yet the school did so in the worst way imaginable. When responsible and well-intentioned souls stepped up to the plate to try to save the teams, they were told - by not being involved by the university - to bug off. The way the whole thing was handled makes it clear that the decision was made a long time ago and Loeschke and her functionary, Waddell, only wanted to paint some consternation on the outside so it seemed, well, not so sleezy. But that good old back door sleaziness bubbled right through the shallow intentions of the two administrators.
The courageous and correct thing for Ms Loeschke to do - as if she really needed some blogger to tell her - was to tell Waddell where to get off. There are many who wonder l if it was, in fact, his decision. But I don't get that from the way it was done. To be candid. I wonder if Loeschke didn't tell him to pick programs to cut if he wanted more money for football and basketball.
This is a terrible decision made in a disgraceful way. This is the first public decision that Loeschke has made and it is an embarrassment. Mike Waddell proves himself a flunky for the President and a flunky for money only. He wanted the budgets of the two well-run teams (the baseball team just took a weekend series from Duke and whacked Delaware yesterday) for his football and basketball teams. There are other ways - correct and ethical ways - of getting those funds. Just because the folk down in the nation's capital can be a national disgrace in the way they handle pubic money doesn't mean that copying those tactics is okay. Do the right thing and say that these two programs are model programs, run responsibly by two veteran, competent and qualified coaches. They kept within budgets and kept within NCAA guidelines. Mike Gottlieb and Frank Olszewski are to be emulated, not fired. Olszewski has been head coach since 1982 and has over 200 wins. It is disgraceful to treat these men like this. It was done disgracefully. We are told Towson sports is on the rise. If the 'rise" is fueled by such bad and unethical decisions, it will be no rise at all. Will five more football wins come at the expense of eliminating good programs run by good people? Instead, lets cut the salaries of two overpaid administrators. Quickly! Real Division I athletic programs do not cut the world's biggest sport or the national sport. Whoever thought that was a good idea is not competent.
Both Loeschke and Waddell should speak publicly about why the Towson community should not expect future decisions to be handled so ineptly and so embarrassingly. The decisions need to be reversed. The people involved need to apologize to everybody, especially the players, who were treated like criminals likely to attack the university president if she said something they didn't like. Does Towson assign police to professors when they tell a student that he or she is getting a D or F?
Bad decision, reached with profound incompetence. Pathetically announced. We need to be told that the two involved - Loeschke and Waddell - won't make this kind of mistake again. We need to know that they understand how ineptly and unethically they have acted. If they cannot bring themselves to do the right thing, the university police might have to be called again, this time to escort both of them down to Preston Street to file for unemployment.
This is how the decision was announced: Loeschke ordered players and coaches from the two affected teams to come to a meeting on campus at 10 am. The players were told about the 10 am meeting at 9:15 am the very same day. Many were in class. When Loeschke showed up she was surrounded by campus police, even though the meeting was, in fact, on campus and not at the county lock-up up on the hill. Another detachment of armed police waited outside surrounding Loeschke's car. Really, they surrounded her car like somebody was going to do something to it. I would like to hear her explain that. Why would that be necessary? Who paid for this over-saturation of campus police? Are so many campus police usually on duty on a Friday morning? I bet the lads on the two teams were glad to know that they were worthy of such high esteem. Will Ms Loeschke have police around her all the time now? I bet the folk paying the tuitions for the baseball and soccer team student\athletes - most weren't on full scholarships - were glad to know that the person getting their money held their sons in such high regard. Then, Loeschke spoke to the players for three entire minutes. She took no questions. She left.
When I first heard about this, I was flabbergasted and incensed. I was thinking she should resign. This is not the way things are done. First, you do not cut a successful, well-run, well-thought-of university program just so some other, probably less-well-run (can you say Pat Kennedy (former basketball coach?)) program can get the dollars. And when responsible folk step up to the plate and promise to assist in the effort to fund the well-run teams you are thinking of eliminating, you don't smack them down like this. Would allowing those dedicated souls who promised to help on such short notice, a few months to organize their efforts be against anyone's interest? Down the road at College Park, the University of Maryland announced two years ago that it was cutting eight sports. But none were of the prestige of soccer or baseball, and in each instance the University President and Athletic Director provided time for the backers of each sport to find alternate funding sources. In other words, the people who cared most about the sport were given time and resources to save the sport at the University. The University even assigned athletic department personnel to assist in the effort to save each sport. Now, nobody wants to have their sport placed in such a precarious place, but it was about ten million times better - and more responsible - than the "behind the iron curtain" hatchet job pulled off by Loeschke and Waddell.
Somebody is not playing straight at Towson. Even a moron understands that cutting two prestigious team sports at a school supposedly trying to increase the profile of its athletic program is not a good idea. And yet the school did so in the worst way imaginable. When responsible and well-intentioned souls stepped up to the plate to try to save the teams, they were told - by not being involved by the university - to bug off. The way the whole thing was handled makes it clear that the decision was made a long time ago and Loeschke and her functionary, Waddell, only wanted to paint some consternation on the outside so it seemed, well, not so sleezy. But that good old back door sleaziness bubbled right through the shallow intentions of the two administrators.
The courageous and correct thing for Ms Loeschke to do - as if she really needed some blogger to tell her - was to tell Waddell where to get off. There are many who wonder l if it was, in fact, his decision. But I don't get that from the way it was done. To be candid. I wonder if Loeschke didn't tell him to pick programs to cut if he wanted more money for football and basketball.
This is a terrible decision made in a disgraceful way. This is the first public decision that Loeschke has made and it is an embarrassment. Mike Waddell proves himself a flunky for the President and a flunky for money only. He wanted the budgets of the two well-run teams (the baseball team just took a weekend series from Duke and whacked Delaware yesterday) for his football and basketball teams. There are other ways - correct and ethical ways - of getting those funds. Just because the folk down in the nation's capital can be a national disgrace in the way they handle pubic money doesn't mean that copying those tactics is okay. Do the right thing and say that these two programs are model programs, run responsibly by two veteran, competent and qualified coaches. They kept within budgets and kept within NCAA guidelines. Mike Gottlieb and Frank Olszewski are to be emulated, not fired. Olszewski has been head coach since 1982 and has over 200 wins. It is disgraceful to treat these men like this. It was done disgracefully. We are told Towson sports is on the rise. If the 'rise" is fueled by such bad and unethical decisions, it will be no rise at all. Will five more football wins come at the expense of eliminating good programs run by good people? Instead, lets cut the salaries of two overpaid administrators. Quickly! Real Division I athletic programs do not cut the world's biggest sport or the national sport. Whoever thought that was a good idea is not competent.
Both Loeschke and Waddell should speak publicly about why the Towson community should not expect future decisions to be handled so ineptly and so embarrassingly. The decisions need to be reversed. The people involved need to apologize to everybody, especially the players, who were treated like criminals likely to attack the university president if she said something they didn't like. Does Towson assign police to professors when they tell a student that he or she is getting a D or F?
Bad decision, reached with profound incompetence. Pathetically announced. We need to be told that the two involved - Loeschke and Waddell - won't make this kind of mistake again. We need to know that they understand how ineptly and unethically they have acted. If they cannot bring themselves to do the right thing, the university police might have to be called again, this time to escort both of them down to Preston Street to file for unemployment.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
President Obama's Sinister plans
I wish....heck, I pray that some rational soul would point out to me why the very common sense conclusions announced to the world in these recent days by folk like Brit Hume and Rush Limbaugh and the folk at the Washington Post are not true. I really really would love to wake up in the morning in a world where the President actually was fond of the great nation he is so fortunate to lead. I would rejoice fervently if the day came when Obama had some modicum of appreciation for all that these United States and its people had accomplished. but, sadly, I have the feeling that this President is the first one to hold that office who has not one shred of appreciation for the fact that the literally thousands of incredible inventions, jaw-dropping technological breakthroughs, life-changing social and cultural initiatives that literally changed the course of human development, each and everyone dreamed up, thought out, authored and realized by common every-day Americans. American Exceptionalism is the tag some put on this reality. And it is just that: a reality. For some reason, the people who live in these United States, as opposed to people who live in other places, have come up with more ideas, invented more, thought up more, done more, accomplished more, give more or themselves an their money, than anywhere else on earth at any time in the history of man. It is a recognition of the fact that in America, as opposed to other places on earth, people have been free to think without worrying that the ruling junta, dictator or king will feel threatened by the change such an idea might bring about. A man or a woman can push forward and hope to realize the profit of their idea. The sky is the limit. Push away all the jumble, and you realize that in America we treasure and reward ideas. And it is the idea that matters, not who came up with it. People in other countries have ideas. But we have more, and not just because we have more people. We have more ideas because we treasure and reward ideas. Our democracy and way of life provides an environment that nurtures great thinking. And when somebody has an idea, we have the resources to get the idea off the ground. There is a commercial on TV you may have seen. It shows garages across the country and points out what great company started in that particular garage. A man or a woman did their 9 to 5 thing, then came home and, in his or her free time came up with this idea, and started to put that idea to work in the garage.
Americans invent, conjure up, aspire, all the while assured that what they 'dream up' will have an opportunity to be realized, even enhanced, because in America we nurture such thinking. without fear that at every turn someone else will take what they have done, that improved every citizen's life came about because the country as a whole was free to think, free to invent, free to experiment, free to dream, even free to think outside the box, and yes, even free to fail.
I want my America back. I'm not a gun-toting backwoods moron who yearns for the day when people who look like me ruled the world. I am an American who grew up praising and trying to emulate King, Kennedy, Roosevelt and Truman. I live in an integrated society where anyone can found a company that employs thousands, or worship, if he or she chooses, in whatever house of worship they desire. I am proud to live in a world where anyone can run for office and know, when they decide to do so, that if they do it right they will win regardless of their color, race or ethnic background, and regardless of whether they are a man or woman. I live in a country that treasures words like freedom and liberty, treasure them, fight for them, die for them. I live in a country that finds it very very difficult to come to grips with the cold reality that somebody they trust actually wants to take away their freedom and liberty. But there he is, in the White House, scheming for a nation with one-party rule, a nation that where he wants to start dictating where you and I can go when we're sick, a nation where he will purloin over half of what we earn for purposes we abhor.
I was smack-dab in the middle of the most liberal time of my life when President Reagan said that the obligation of a great nation like ours was to cast a wide safety net so that our weakest, sickest, most debilitated citizen can live in dignity and safety. I heard him say those words and I thought to myself that it was amazing that someone like him, thought of as being really conservative, can encapsulate one of the great truisms of my world, and I totally agree with him. That is my duty, and I believe it is our duty. In fact, I think it is our sacred duty. We are obligated as a country, to cast a wide and strong and sure net, and make absolutely sure nobody ever slips through it.
President Obama does not share these beliefs. He does not believe in American Exceptionalism. He was raised to think that we are a virtually evil country that has done few if any commendable things. He thinks we exploit and take advantage of other countries. He thinks that the richest among us are exceptionally evil. In his mind, no one gets rich except by stepping on the throats of others. He is hell bent - and 'hell bent' is exactly what he is - hell bent on taking as much of the rich's money as he can. He is hell bent on buckling America's knees. He is hell bent on instituting far left social and cultural policies no matter the devastation they bring to the country. Obamashame (i.e. Obamacare) will certainly devastate thousands, if not millions, of Americans. And because it is not accomplishing what its stated goals were - providing health insurance to each American - and, in fact, isn't even headed in that direction, one starts to wonder if the goal of Obamashame all along wasn't to visit economic devastation on corporations and individuals, and then using that money the government collects, for other far left initiatives. He is like an addict who will do anything for a world where well over half of what I make and you make will not be ours. This is the world where I work all week for wages and then, at the end of the week, have to stand there while he swoops in and takes over half of it. In Obama's world, the far left elites running the show make every decision, because they are smarter and more plugged in to what is far left and correct. He takes away our freedoms because we are too stupid to know what is best. He says one thing in public and then, with a sinister intent he can no longer conceal, acts to rule our nation in a manner virtually nobody except him and a few hundred leftist elites, would even think of hoisting on our country. In Obama's world, the people who create wealth, create jobs, create prosperity, are only to be permitted to keep "what we need." Everyone, if they were listening, have heard him say that individuals should not be allowed to keep more than "what they need." So if I work like a dog and earn some money, and even after he gets his 60%, I worked hard enough and still have quite a bit left, I don't get to buy a bigger house or a better car, or whatever else I choose to do. I only get to keep what I need. If my dream is to own a small condominium on the French Riviera, I need to forget it. I won't ever get there because I don't need that. And who decides what amount I need? Well of course, Obama does (or whatever other far left idealogue is in power). I can't be trusted to decide how much I should be allowed to have. I am neither smart enough or wise enough. But Obama is, so he'll decide. That has never been the test. And I ask Obama whether he "needed" to fly to Hawaii twice at Christmas? I ask whether the opulence he flaunts for his family means that only the ruling elite get to live a good life while the rest of us keep only what "we need." There have been others throughout history who spoke from a decadent pulpit. Their message never resounded with the people. Francis Scott Key wrote, in the ballad that became our National Anthem, "Oh say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave over the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?" In Obama's world, the answer is not clear. In fact, it isn't even clear what he thinks the answer should be.
This is a nation where tens of thousands of our best and brightest young men went off to protect us from tyranny, and for which they gave their very lives. They gave their lives because they wanted, more than anything, to live in a land that was free, where the people were free to do what they wished, when they wished. and, really, a president who understood just a little bit that the tens of thousands who have given their very lives to protect it didn't do so so he could terminate the country as we know it and love it and replace it with some god-awful marxist-looking state that punishes people who employ, invent, create and work. Now don't go and start saying you are this and you are that; the country that I love and live in has always aided the poor and downtrodden. The reality is that here in these United States, the poor are treated far better than are the poor of any other nation on earth. In fact, we treat our poor and downtrodden better than any nation in the history of civilization.
Obama isn't interested in helping the poor. He wants to bash the working class on the head with so much force that they drop down and take their place beside the poor. in Obama's world, today's rich will be tomorrow's nuveau poor.
Here is what Obama and his equally far left functionaries are up to: Obama has learned to avoid blame for his goofy and malfunctioning economic policies, the policies that have plunged the nation into trillions of dollars of debt, stagnated growth, sparked inflation and grotesque unemployment and all sorts of other awful realities. He does so by constantly campaigning against the evil his own policies have caused. He campaigns against unemployment as if somebody else is the cause of it. The cause of unemployment, to a great extent, is Obama. Companies are being regulated into oblivion. The anti-business regulation-writing combined with Obamashame and other capital-gorging social policies, have convinced most corporations to hunker down and try to survive Obama. They will not invest or hire because they have absolutely no confidence that their own government won't beat them back, either intentionally or unintentionally. As you read this, Obama's minions in the EPA are so busy making everything illegal that they hardly have time to sleep. They are hard at work making fracking illegal. They are very hard at work making every other plan to increase energy output illegal. [These rules that curtail energy production here are the height of hypocrisy for someone like Obama, because when we can't get our energy here, where the drilling practices and envionmental policies are the toughest on the planet, we go overseas, where they give not a second thought to the impact on the environment. Who has cleaner oil production, these United States, or Russia?] Obama is aided in his efforts to hoist a far left social agenda and draconian environmental rules on America by a complacent and equally far left media who absolutely refuse to print the news that it is Obama who is causing the economic catastrophe we are living in. Obama gets away with so much of what he does and has done because the media literally leaves out any bad news about Obama and also because so much of the country votes Democratic without giving it a second thought because they keep sending the checks.h
Obama intends to continue to blame the GOP for everything even though its only mistake is being too spineless to stand up to this American Nero. He wants to keep this debilitating charade up for another string of months, or until the 2014 mid-term elections, which he hopes will return control of the House of Representatives to his partners in crime - the current edition of the Democratic Party. (I, for one, would like to see someone sue those folk for slandering the name of my party). Then, with no meaningful check in place, Obama can rule like a dictator for two years, ramming every leftist idea down America's throats with ease. God Forbid, please! Imagine Obama back in control of both houses of Congress, introducing cap and trade, abolition of firearms, nationalized industries, abolition of gasoline-powered engines, a virtual elimination of private industry, 80% tax brackets for anyone earning $100,000, and who knows what else. As for foreign "policy," well, if I were an Israeli citizen and Obama had the kind of control he drools over, I'd move out very very quickly because there will be a nuclear bomb dropping on your nation sooner rather than later. National icons like Washington and Jefferson would be replaced by Castro and (may he rest in peace?) Chavez. Allies like England, France and India would be replaced by "friends" like Iran, Egypt and Venezuela.
The only thing that can prevent most of this is for the Republicans to start acting like Obama is the enemy, which he is. I should be able to add here that the problem could also be solved if the remaining patriotic Democrats would stand up to Obama and tell him they will no longer support his marxism. . Virtually all of them follow him like sheep heading off to slaughter. The evil intents Obama has must be explained to the electorate with passion and conviction. Incumbent GOP Congressmen must be supported with abandon and opponents of Obama's leftist agenda must be identified and supported just as vigorously.
Americans invent, conjure up, aspire, all the while assured that what they 'dream up' will have an opportunity to be realized, even enhanced, because in America we nurture such thinking. without fear that at every turn someone else will take what they have done, that improved every citizen's life came about because the country as a whole was free to think, free to invent, free to experiment, free to dream, even free to think outside the box, and yes, even free to fail.
I want my America back. I'm not a gun-toting backwoods moron who yearns for the day when people who look like me ruled the world. I am an American who grew up praising and trying to emulate King, Kennedy, Roosevelt and Truman. I live in an integrated society where anyone can found a company that employs thousands, or worship, if he or she chooses, in whatever house of worship they desire. I am proud to live in a world where anyone can run for office and know, when they decide to do so, that if they do it right they will win regardless of their color, race or ethnic background, and regardless of whether they are a man or woman. I live in a country that treasures words like freedom and liberty, treasure them, fight for them, die for them. I live in a country that finds it very very difficult to come to grips with the cold reality that somebody they trust actually wants to take away their freedom and liberty. But there he is, in the White House, scheming for a nation with one-party rule, a nation that where he wants to start dictating where you and I can go when we're sick, a nation where he will purloin over half of what we earn for purposes we abhor.
I was smack-dab in the middle of the most liberal time of my life when President Reagan said that the obligation of a great nation like ours was to cast a wide safety net so that our weakest, sickest, most debilitated citizen can live in dignity and safety. I heard him say those words and I thought to myself that it was amazing that someone like him, thought of as being really conservative, can encapsulate one of the great truisms of my world, and I totally agree with him. That is my duty, and I believe it is our duty. In fact, I think it is our sacred duty. We are obligated as a country, to cast a wide and strong and sure net, and make absolutely sure nobody ever slips through it.
President Obama does not share these beliefs. He does not believe in American Exceptionalism. He was raised to think that we are a virtually evil country that has done few if any commendable things. He thinks we exploit and take advantage of other countries. He thinks that the richest among us are exceptionally evil. In his mind, no one gets rich except by stepping on the throats of others. He is hell bent - and 'hell bent' is exactly what he is - hell bent on taking as much of the rich's money as he can. He is hell bent on buckling America's knees. He is hell bent on instituting far left social and cultural policies no matter the devastation they bring to the country. Obamashame (i.e. Obamacare) will certainly devastate thousands, if not millions, of Americans. And because it is not accomplishing what its stated goals were - providing health insurance to each American - and, in fact, isn't even headed in that direction, one starts to wonder if the goal of Obamashame all along wasn't to visit economic devastation on corporations and individuals, and then using that money the government collects, for other far left initiatives. He is like an addict who will do anything for a world where well over half of what I make and you make will not be ours. This is the world where I work all week for wages and then, at the end of the week, have to stand there while he swoops in and takes over half of it. In Obama's world, the far left elites running the show make every decision, because they are smarter and more plugged in to what is far left and correct. He takes away our freedoms because we are too stupid to know what is best. He says one thing in public and then, with a sinister intent he can no longer conceal, acts to rule our nation in a manner virtually nobody except him and a few hundred leftist elites, would even think of hoisting on our country. In Obama's world, the people who create wealth, create jobs, create prosperity, are only to be permitted to keep "what we need." Everyone, if they were listening, have heard him say that individuals should not be allowed to keep more than "what they need." So if I work like a dog and earn some money, and even after he gets his 60%, I worked hard enough and still have quite a bit left, I don't get to buy a bigger house or a better car, or whatever else I choose to do. I only get to keep what I need. If my dream is to own a small condominium on the French Riviera, I need to forget it. I won't ever get there because I don't need that. And who decides what amount I need? Well of course, Obama does (or whatever other far left idealogue is in power). I can't be trusted to decide how much I should be allowed to have. I am neither smart enough or wise enough. But Obama is, so he'll decide. That has never been the test. And I ask Obama whether he "needed" to fly to Hawaii twice at Christmas? I ask whether the opulence he flaunts for his family means that only the ruling elite get to live a good life while the rest of us keep only what "we need." There have been others throughout history who spoke from a decadent pulpit. Their message never resounded with the people. Francis Scott Key wrote, in the ballad that became our National Anthem, "Oh say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave over the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?" In Obama's world, the answer is not clear. In fact, it isn't even clear what he thinks the answer should be.
This is a nation where tens of thousands of our best and brightest young men went off to protect us from tyranny, and for which they gave their very lives. They gave their lives because they wanted, more than anything, to live in a land that was free, where the people were free to do what they wished, when they wished. and, really, a president who understood just a little bit that the tens of thousands who have given their very lives to protect it didn't do so so he could terminate the country as we know it and love it and replace it with some god-awful marxist-looking state that punishes people who employ, invent, create and work. Now don't go and start saying you are this and you are that; the country that I love and live in has always aided the poor and downtrodden. The reality is that here in these United States, the poor are treated far better than are the poor of any other nation on earth. In fact, we treat our poor and downtrodden better than any nation in the history of civilization.
Obama isn't interested in helping the poor. He wants to bash the working class on the head with so much force that they drop down and take their place beside the poor. in Obama's world, today's rich will be tomorrow's nuveau poor.
Here is what Obama and his equally far left functionaries are up to: Obama has learned to avoid blame for his goofy and malfunctioning economic policies, the policies that have plunged the nation into trillions of dollars of debt, stagnated growth, sparked inflation and grotesque unemployment and all sorts of other awful realities. He does so by constantly campaigning against the evil his own policies have caused. He campaigns against unemployment as if somebody else is the cause of it. The cause of unemployment, to a great extent, is Obama. Companies are being regulated into oblivion. The anti-business regulation-writing combined with Obamashame and other capital-gorging social policies, have convinced most corporations to hunker down and try to survive Obama. They will not invest or hire because they have absolutely no confidence that their own government won't beat them back, either intentionally or unintentionally. As you read this, Obama's minions in the EPA are so busy making everything illegal that they hardly have time to sleep. They are hard at work making fracking illegal. They are very hard at work making every other plan to increase energy output illegal. [These rules that curtail energy production here are the height of hypocrisy for someone like Obama, because when we can't get our energy here, where the drilling practices and envionmental policies are the toughest on the planet, we go overseas, where they give not a second thought to the impact on the environment. Who has cleaner oil production, these United States, or Russia?] Obama is aided in his efforts to hoist a far left social agenda and draconian environmental rules on America by a complacent and equally far left media who absolutely refuse to print the news that it is Obama who is causing the economic catastrophe we are living in. Obama gets away with so much of what he does and has done because the media literally leaves out any bad news about Obama and also because so much of the country votes Democratic without giving it a second thought because they keep sending the checks.h
Obama intends to continue to blame the GOP for everything even though its only mistake is being too spineless to stand up to this American Nero. He wants to keep this debilitating charade up for another string of months, or until the 2014 mid-term elections, which he hopes will return control of the House of Representatives to his partners in crime - the current edition of the Democratic Party. (I, for one, would like to see someone sue those folk for slandering the name of my party). Then, with no meaningful check in place, Obama can rule like a dictator for two years, ramming every leftist idea down America's throats with ease. God Forbid, please! Imagine Obama back in control of both houses of Congress, introducing cap and trade, abolition of firearms, nationalized industries, abolition of gasoline-powered engines, a virtual elimination of private industry, 80% tax brackets for anyone earning $100,000, and who knows what else. As for foreign "policy," well, if I were an Israeli citizen and Obama had the kind of control he drools over, I'd move out very very quickly because there will be a nuclear bomb dropping on your nation sooner rather than later. National icons like Washington and Jefferson would be replaced by Castro and (may he rest in peace?) Chavez. Allies like England, France and India would be replaced by "friends" like Iran, Egypt and Venezuela.
The only thing that can prevent most of this is for the Republicans to start acting like Obama is the enemy, which he is. I should be able to add here that the problem could also be solved if the remaining patriotic Democrats would stand up to Obama and tell him they will no longer support his marxism. . Virtually all of them follow him like sheep heading off to slaughter. The evil intents Obama has must be explained to the electorate with passion and conviction. Incumbent GOP Congressmen must be supported with abandon and opponents of Obama's leftist agenda must be identified and supported just as vigorously.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Maryland Baseball on Upward Trend
Maryland's baseball team is apparently one of its best in some time. In fact, a first hand look convinces anyone that this is a very good team by almost any measure. There was hope that last year's edition might also be good enough to finish above .500 after they broke from the gate strong, beating UCLA in California in two out of three on opening weekend and entering the ACC season in the national top 25 for the first time in forever. But once the ACC season started things went downhill fast. The very first weekend series at Wake Forest ended in a three-game sweep for the Deacons. Maryland was competitive in the ACC, but competitive doesn't mean successful. Once again the Terps finished below .500 overall and near the bottom of the powerful ACC. It is the numbing strength of the ACC that threatens to take a toll on a good team such as Maryland. Check the current records on the eve of the ACC regular season openers. Three teams are undefeated: Virginia (12-0), Florida State (10-0) and defending National Champion North Carolina (10-0), Maryland has won nine straight games, but their 9-3 record isn't even close to the best in the conference. Also with "better than Maryland" records are Georgia Tech (11-1), North Carolina State (10-1), Virginia Tech (11-2) and Miami (10-2). Six of those teams are ranked in the current Top 25, including Number One North Carolina. Virginia Tech, despite its record, isn't ranked, but would be No. 27 were the poll extended. Maryland, which didn't receive a single vote, swept a good Princeton team over the weekend, and did so with ease, Yet only a real optimist would predict Maryland as ACC champion. Maryland last won the conference baseball title in 1971.
Maryland has always been at a competitive disadvantage in what is, for the most part, a geographically southern conference. While schools such as Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, Clemson and even the Carolina Schools have the warm southern sun all winter long, Maryland and Boston College do not. The best baseball players see that as an incredible drawing card when choosing a school to attend. After last season's disappointment, new Athletic Director Kevin Anderson literally cleaned house. For 2013, the Terps have a new coach and an entirely new coaching staff. John Szefc became only the seventh head coach in the 120-year history of Maryland baseball. He spent the last two seasons as Assistant Head Coach at Kansas State after many very successful years as head coach at Marist. Known as a recruiter and a winner, he knows it will be a battle uphill and against the history of the conference as he takes over in College Park. If his first class of freshmen are any indication, he might be up to the task. This year's Terps are full of freshmen who have moved into the starting lineup. They ihclude Lamont Wade from St. Paul in Baltimore, who has started every game at first base and pitched in two games, Jose Cuas, another freshman who has started at shortstop and second base, and starting pitchers Alex Fernandez and Kevin Mooney. Another freshman, Kevin Martir, is catching behind Senior Jack Cleary, but has already made several starts.
Already in the third weekend of the regular season, Maryland hosted Princeton in a four-game set over this past weekend. Friday was cold enough, but Saturday's twin bill was played in a strong northwest wind that carried snow flakes on and off over both games. The couple of hundred fans in attendance were covered in blankets and the kind of outerwear one sees at late season football games in places like Green Bay.
Maryland entered the series on a five-game winning streak. After losing all three games on opening weekend at then No. 10 but now No. 3 LSU, the Terps had rebounded to sweep four from Oakland University and take a single game at James Madison. And, in truth, the opening losses had plenty of good news for Maryland. Number one starting pitcher Jimmy Reed was the hard luck loser on opening night when LSU won, 1-0. And Brady Kirkpatrick pitched well on Saturday when LSU scored late to win, 5-1. The Terps out-hit the Tigers, 9-6 but couldn't string the hits together. LSU was scoreless until the seventh inning in a game watched by over 7,000 fans. Against the Princeton Tigers, who finished second in the Ivy League last season, Maryland opened the weekend set with a 6-0 win on Friday evening. Jimmy Reed started and picked up the win, improving to 2-1. He pitched six scoreless innings while striking out ten Tigers, who were playing their opening game of the season. Jordan Hagel homered for Maryland.
On Saturday, Brady Kirkpatrick gave the Terps another great start, giving up only two hits over seven strong innings. He needed but 85 pitches to get through the seven, and was aided by sensational control. Kirkpatrick walked only one Princeton hitter. He also improved to 2-1. But it wasn't like the Maryland offense needed such sharp pitching on this bitterly cold early March day. The Terps erupted for eight runs in the first inning, then added five more over the next two frames en route to the 16-3 rout. Clean-up hitter Kyle Convissar went five for six and drove in five runs to lead Maryland.
The second game, which started at around 4 pm on this cloudy, windy, cold and snowy day, was actually a far better game. Maryland pushed across two runs in the third and again in the fourth innings to take a 4-0 lead, only to see the Tigers finally break through in the seventh to cut the Maryland lead in half. Freshman Kevin Mooney started for Maryland and, while giving up seven hits, kept Princeton at bay over six shutout innings. What did not bode well for Maryland, however, is that Princeton was outhitting the Terps, and even in defeat the Tigers had ten hits to Maryland's eight. The situation changed in the seventh when Mooney left. But with the Tigers breathing down Maryland's neck in the late innings, the Terps struck back and ended the suspense. In the bottom of the seventh, Maryland scored five times en route to a 9-2 win. Blake Schmitt and Charlie White each drove in two runs in the seventh.
On Sunday, Princeton finally took its first lead of the series in the the fifth inning when it scored three times to erase Maryland's 3-1 lead. But it didn't last. The Terps got a two-run single from Convissar and a base-clearing three-run double from Michael Montville in the bottom of the fifth for six runs and went on to a 9-4 win. Bobby Ruse threw two and one third innings of one-hit relief for Maryland, earning his team-high third win against no defeats. Left Fielder Montville led the Maryland offense with five runs batted in.
Maryland has now won nine straight games. Their game at Liberty, scheduled for Wednesday, has already been postponed until May because of a strong winter storm coming up the Atlantic Coast. Now, they will try to extend the winning streak when they start a three-game weekend series in Charlottesville against the Virginia Cavaliers, ranked number 19 in this week's coach's poll. It starts the 2013 ACC season.
Maryland has always been at a competitive disadvantage in what is, for the most part, a geographically southern conference. While schools such as Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, Clemson and even the Carolina Schools have the warm southern sun all winter long, Maryland and Boston College do not. The best baseball players see that as an incredible drawing card when choosing a school to attend. After last season's disappointment, new Athletic Director Kevin Anderson literally cleaned house. For 2013, the Terps have a new coach and an entirely new coaching staff. John Szefc became only the seventh head coach in the 120-year history of Maryland baseball. He spent the last two seasons as Assistant Head Coach at Kansas State after many very successful years as head coach at Marist. Known as a recruiter and a winner, he knows it will be a battle uphill and against the history of the conference as he takes over in College Park. If his first class of freshmen are any indication, he might be up to the task. This year's Terps are full of freshmen who have moved into the starting lineup. They ihclude Lamont Wade from St. Paul in Baltimore, who has started every game at first base and pitched in two games, Jose Cuas, another freshman who has started at shortstop and second base, and starting pitchers Alex Fernandez and Kevin Mooney. Another freshman, Kevin Martir, is catching behind Senior Jack Cleary, but has already made several starts.
Already in the third weekend of the regular season, Maryland hosted Princeton in a four-game set over this past weekend. Friday was cold enough, but Saturday's twin bill was played in a strong northwest wind that carried snow flakes on and off over both games. The couple of hundred fans in attendance were covered in blankets and the kind of outerwear one sees at late season football games in places like Green Bay.
Maryland entered the series on a five-game winning streak. After losing all three games on opening weekend at then No. 10 but now No. 3 LSU, the Terps had rebounded to sweep four from Oakland University and take a single game at James Madison. And, in truth, the opening losses had plenty of good news for Maryland. Number one starting pitcher Jimmy Reed was the hard luck loser on opening night when LSU won, 1-0. And Brady Kirkpatrick pitched well on Saturday when LSU scored late to win, 5-1. The Terps out-hit the Tigers, 9-6 but couldn't string the hits together. LSU was scoreless until the seventh inning in a game watched by over 7,000 fans. Against the Princeton Tigers, who finished second in the Ivy League last season, Maryland opened the weekend set with a 6-0 win on Friday evening. Jimmy Reed started and picked up the win, improving to 2-1. He pitched six scoreless innings while striking out ten Tigers, who were playing their opening game of the season. Jordan Hagel homered for Maryland.
On Saturday, Brady Kirkpatrick gave the Terps another great start, giving up only two hits over seven strong innings. He needed but 85 pitches to get through the seven, and was aided by sensational control. Kirkpatrick walked only one Princeton hitter. He also improved to 2-1. But it wasn't like the Maryland offense needed such sharp pitching on this bitterly cold early March day. The Terps erupted for eight runs in the first inning, then added five more over the next two frames en route to the 16-3 rout. Clean-up hitter Kyle Convissar went five for six and drove in five runs to lead Maryland.
The second game, which started at around 4 pm on this cloudy, windy, cold and snowy day, was actually a far better game. Maryland pushed across two runs in the third and again in the fourth innings to take a 4-0 lead, only to see the Tigers finally break through in the seventh to cut the Maryland lead in half. Freshman Kevin Mooney started for Maryland and, while giving up seven hits, kept Princeton at bay over six shutout innings. What did not bode well for Maryland, however, is that Princeton was outhitting the Terps, and even in defeat the Tigers had ten hits to Maryland's eight. The situation changed in the seventh when Mooney left. But with the Tigers breathing down Maryland's neck in the late innings, the Terps struck back and ended the suspense. In the bottom of the seventh, Maryland scored five times en route to a 9-2 win. Blake Schmitt and Charlie White each drove in two runs in the seventh.
On Sunday, Princeton finally took its first lead of the series in the the fifth inning when it scored three times to erase Maryland's 3-1 lead. But it didn't last. The Terps got a two-run single from Convissar and a base-clearing three-run double from Michael Montville in the bottom of the fifth for six runs and went on to a 9-4 win. Bobby Ruse threw two and one third innings of one-hit relief for Maryland, earning his team-high third win against no defeats. Left Fielder Montville led the Maryland offense with five runs batted in.
Maryland has now won nine straight games. Their game at Liberty, scheduled for Wednesday, has already been postponed until May because of a strong winter storm coming up the Atlantic Coast. Now, they will try to extend the winning streak when they start a three-game weekend series in Charlottesville against the Virginia Cavaliers, ranked number 19 in this week's coach's poll. It starts the 2013 ACC season.
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