Entries from July 2007 ↓

The great coach Bill Walsh has died at 75 years old after a long fight with leukemia.  Espn.com has more, Bill Walsh dies at 75; led 49ers to three Super Bowl titles:

SAN FRANCISCO — Bill Walsh changed the look of the NFL with his offensive innovations and legion of coaching disciples, breaking new ground and winning three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers in the process.

Nicknamed “The Genius” for his creative schemes that became known as the West Coast offense, Walsh died at his Woodside home Monday morning following a long battle with leukemia. He was 75.

Bill Walsh innovated the game he loved by being a revolutionary that brought the style of play now known as the West Coast Offense to the NFL.  There haven’t been too many great coaches like Coach Walsh in football; Walsh, Vince Lombardi, Joe Paterno, and Joe Gibbs would comprise my top foursome.  At the end of the day, the on field accomplishments don’t end up meaning a whole lot other than to sentimental fans.  The real achievement is to be respected, loved, and missed by those you coached and mentored; the ones who knew you outside of the game. 

“This is just a tremendous loss for all of us, especially to the Bay Area because of what he meant to the 49ers,” said the 49ers’ Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. “Outside of my dad he was probably the most influential person in my life. I am going to miss him.”

That probably sums up his legacy right there, one of the greatest hall of fame quarterbacks of all time speaking about one of the greatest hall of fame coaches of all time.  Coach Walsh’s contributions to the game of football on and off the field will be dearly missed.

Wow, here is a story I completely missed, from the AP. I came across the story this afternoon while reading Blackfive’s blog. It had been a year or so since I had last visited the blog and had really forgotten how much I enjoy the site. A great site that supports our military! Anyway, enough of my praise, head on over to Blackfive for the rest of Uncle Jimbo’s post: Pat Tillman shot in the head:

Since the Army did an investigation and I assume knows the answers to these questions, they were satisfied that this was an accident. Absent that understanding, I’m having a tough time reaching that same conclusion. I do not believe that this means his death was not an accident, but it raises serious questions about where the shooter was in relation to Tillman.

In reading the AP story, the first thing I realized was how quickly I had forgotten the details surrounding Pat’s death. With the spin the military had already put on his death, this new information really casts a very dark cloud on the entire investigation. The truth will hopefully come out, if what we have been told up till now turns out to be false, so that we can get past the controversy of Pat’s death and remember him as the hero that he is and was; one who sacrificed himself for the greater good of our nation.

Funny story day continues today with this story over at Breitbart.com, Cops: Man, 93, Shoots Violent Robber:

EL DORADO, Ark. (AP) - An elderly man beaten unconscious by an assailant wielding a soda can awoke and shot the man during an attempted robbery, police said.

Willie Lee Hill, 93, told police he saw the robber while in his bedroom Wednesday night. Hill confronted the man and was struck at least 50 times, police said. He was knocked unconscious.

Covered in blood, Hill regained consciousness a short time later and pulled a .38-caliber handgun on his attacker. The suspect, Douglas B. Williams Jr., saw the gun and charged the man, who fired a bullet that struck Williams in the throat, police said.

“I got what I deserved,” Williams, 24, told police when they arrived, officers said. Investigators reported finding, among other items, a Craftsman drill bit set, three pocket knives and two hearing aids inside his pockets.

Would love to hear the anti gun lobby whine about a 93 year old man defending his home after being beaten! (seriously though, what kind of inept robber steals hearing aids and uses a soda can as a weapon?)

Here is a fun story I hadn’t seen before, ‘Nerd’ taunt drove Navy man to arson on MSNBC.com:

ELM MOTT, Texas - A Navy man who got mad when someone mocked him as a “nerd” over the Internet climbed into his car and drove 1,300 miles from Virginia to Texas to teach the other guy a lesson.

As he made his way toward Texas, Fire Controlman 2nd Class Petty Officer Russell Tavares posted photos online showing the welcome signs at several states’ borders, as if to prove to his Internet friends that he meant business.

When he finally arrived, Tavares burned the guy’s trailer down.

What fun! I really enjoyed the nice touch of uploading photo’s of every state he drove through, plus it didn’t hurt that the victim lived in a trailer, adding to the laughs. Moral of the story, never call someone a nerd, racial slurs and momma jokes still ok. Remember this next time your on Xbox live kids.

I was watching the Military channel last night about the carrier Abraham Lincoln being deployed to the gulf right before the Iraq war started. As I watched these men and women go about their daily jobs and prepare for war, I started to wonder why we always let the lowest common denominator dictate our decision making (which is another topic I will get to later in another post.) The show got me thinking about our current political situation regarding the Iraq war and what comes next in this nation. What is the end game for cats like Harry “defeatist” Reid? If America fails at stabilizing Iraq and thus the Middle East, how do the anti war politicians gain in the long run? Obviously in the near term they are hoping for defeat to cause a regime change here in this country but are the long term ramifications of losing another war worth political gain?

As a nation we are in dire straits; the very core of our Republic is being questioned, debated, and twisted well beyond what previous generations of Americans would have allowed. Now that we are well past 60 plus years since the greatest generation pushed their way through the shores of Normandy to end Hitler’s Nazi regime and define their generation, how do we define ours? Do we define ourselves as a nation divided with one half clinging to the principals of our forefathers and the other half trying to rewrite the very history we so dearly cherish? Or will we define ourselves as the first generation in the last 50 years to look past our differences, past the “what’s in it for me” mentality, and start electing leaders that believe that our most defining moments still lay before us. Short sightedness should not and can not be a viable strategy for the future of our Republic.

More immigration happenings over at the California Conservative, Democrats Shortcircuit Border Enforcement, Demand Path to Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants:

I’ve asked this before but why should illegal immigrants ever be afforded a path to citizenship? Isn?t it enough that they get legal status? If it isn’t, why isn’t it enough? Frankly, I haven’t heard a thoughtful, logical explanation for providing illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. I doubt I ever will.

Very well said! Why does immigration debate always end up with citizenship? Oh yeah, because that is the only way politicians gain potential new voters. Check out California Conservative for the full article, the link is up top there.

According to the Miami Herald, inmates are now being prosecuted for masturbating in their jail cell Inmate found guilty in masturbation trial:

(Miami Herald) - A Broward prisoner accused of committing a sex act while he was alone in his jail cell was found guilty Tuesday of indecent exposure.

Terry Lee Alexander, 20, unsuccessfully fought the charge, which had been brought by a female Broward Sheriff’s Office detention deputy who saw him perform the sex act in his cell in November.

In reaching the guilty verdict, jurors found that an inmate’s jail cell is ”a limited access public place” where exposing oneself is against the law.

Uh how do they change into other clothes if “exposing” themselves is a crime. Also, wouldn’t it be better if prison rape was something Florida jails were trying to curb. Last time I checked no one is fearful of shower masturbation.

More great immigration news from Reuters: Court throws out city’s illegal immigration law:

HAZLETON, Pa (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday struck down as unconstitutional a local law designed to crack down on illegal immigration, dealing a blow to similar laws passed by dozens of towns and cities across the country.

U.S. District Judge James Munley said the city of Hazleton, 100 miles north of Philadelphia, was not allowed to implement a law that would fine businesses that hire illegal immigrants and penalize landlords who rent rooms to them.

What? Fine business that hire illegal aliens? That is preposterous!! Thank goodness for the federal courts looking out for those who broke a federal law to be here in the first place.

Yahoo news has a fun story about Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio and his illegal immigrant hotline he has setup. From Yahoo News, Sheriff urged to close immigrant hotline:

PHOENIX - Latino leaders and faith-based organizations want Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to disconnect the hotline he created for people to report information about undocumented immigrants, saying it raises the chance of racial profiling.

Hmm, typical activist whining there but the story takes a funny twist near the bottom when the activists decide to setup their own hotline:

Some Latino advocacy groups will launch a hotline of their own to take tips from people who believe they’ve been unfairly reported to Arpaio’s hotline, said activist Mary Rose Wilcox, a Maricopa County supervisor.

A typical phone call to the activists’ hotline will go something like this:

Activist phone rep: “Illegal Immigrant advocacy hotline, this is Ackbar, how can I help you?”

Illegal Immigrant caller: “Hola, I think the gringo’s are on to me, one of those American’s called a phone number. What do I do?”

Activist: “Do not worry, I will have my supervisor contact the ACLU. Please continue to wait at the Home Depot for further instructions.”

Of course in my scenario, the activists obviously contract out to a call center in Pakistan, how funny would that be? I wonder if it will be a 800 number or if they will have to use minutes off of their prepaid phone card?

Hollywood is coming out full force with its “America sucks, we are the bad guys” crap. While Real Bullets Fly, Movies Bring War Home from the New York Times:

Among the new films, ?Valley of Elah? is sure to be one of the most closely examined, thanks to Mr. Haggis?s credentials ? he shared an Oscar for writing ?Million Dollar Baby? and was nominated for another as co-writer of ?Letters From Iwo Jima? ? and because of his opposition to United States policy in Iraq.

?This is not one of our brighter moments in America,? Mr. Haggis said in a telephone interview from London, where he is still working on the film?s music. ?We should not have gotten involved.?

There seems to be at least a half dozen defeatists movies coming out over the next six to nine months. Personally I look forward to Hollywood producing future terrorist training video’s, maybe they will be able to budget for a real attack dummy and not a friggin ping pong paddle. So remember to go see a blockbuster this summer kids, that way the movie studios can take your money and use it for something good like telling you what a piece of crap they think your country is.