Daily Archives: January 23, 2012

 

This morning I would love to share some thoughts that came to me over the last several days.  Chalk this up to the ranting of one old man, but give them some thought all the same, please!

 

A few things I would love to see;

 

1.  I’d love to see the media wake up and realize how nasty they are to the Christian community.  This is a constant in my world, recognizing how the media marginalizes and demeans anyone who expresses their faith.  Examples?   Sarah Palin, Tim Tebow, former President George Bush, and the list goes on forever.  Over the weekend USA Today reviewed recent films, and as they do each weekend, did mini reviews of films released on DVD.  One of the films mentioned was Courageous which I recommended the other day on the blog.   They placed the review in the least likely spot to be seen, inside right edge of the left facing page in the middle in the fold of the paper.  I worked in newspapers in my past and it’s and old trick I’ve seen used many times!  That’s where you “bury” stories you don’t want anyone to see!  They further insulted the film by not giving it any star rating of any kind, and made sure to mention it was a “faith based” film several times, so as to warn readers to beware of it, it might mention Jesus!!!  I’m sick of it.  Certain parts of the media needs a good spanking, and to be put to bed without supper.  Well, that’s what my father would have done to me, if I acted like that……….

 

2. The sports media needs to get a life.  I’m a huge football fan, but the way in which athletes are portrayed has gotten down right silly. Early in the year, Aaron Rodgers was crowned by the media as “probably the best quarterback to ever play the game!”  Later, when they lost a game, (a single game), attention was moved to Tom Brady, “He was truly the best ever…”  Last night the latest ultimate quarterback was Eli Manning.  Give me a break, These are all fine athletes, and in any given moment they have looked like the best ever, but what does it matter?  It’s a game.  Why can’t we just enjoy watching these and many other players perform at a high level and appreciate their talent with out the endless need to rank everything and everyone!  Mark my words the next two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl  both Brady and Manning will be made out to be sports gods. The evening the super bowl ends one of them will be the bum that lost.  Shame on you sports media for acting like children fighting over your toys in the sand box. Sports is a wonderful thing to enjoy, why do you insist on demeaning it with your pettiness?  I know that sports is a huge industry, but surely we could find a better way to report on it!

 

3.  Someone at Penn State University needs to come forward and apologize for what was done to the late Joe Paterno.  The man just died from a broken heart, after a university sought to find someone to blame for their own incompetence and inaction when one of their employees commited a terrible crime on children.  Joe may have made a mistake in thinking the officials at Penn State would do the right thing, he might should have looked into it more deeply, when he saw the university was not taking care of business, and he may have been wrong to believe a long time friend, who swore to him that he was not guilty.  All those things may be true, but he deserved far better than being made a scapegoat for crimes committed and allowed to go on by others whose responsibility it was to investigate all the allegations.  I think Joe Paterno unselfishly lived for and faithfully served a university, that when the chips were down, walked away from him, and unfairly let him take the rap for something he didn’t do.   To me this is one of the saddest chapters in college sports.  Cowardess is an ugly spectacle.

 

4.  Ray Lewis needs to be given a real thank you by all sports fans, everywhere, that have half a brain.  In the post game coverage last night as the pious sports media played over an over the last second, missed kick that would have taken the game into overtime, and trashed the kicker. A kicker that by the way had been one of the best in the league all season.  He missed one kick, yes one kick, and yes it was a big one, but bless Ray’s heart, as he set one idiot reporter straight, “I told him to never hang his head, that no one man ever lost a football game, we are a team we all had many chances to win this game, his play happens to be the last one we saw, but he is no more responsible for our loss than every other member of this team…..”   (paraphrased, but that was the gist of what he said….)  Bless you brother Ray, for bringing a tiny bit of sanity into this world of sports.

 

5.  I’d like to see the politicians on both sides of the upcoming presidential battle pledge to speak only factually about the major issues and leave the personal mudslinging out of it.  We have become way to good at finding fault with one another in politics and ignoring the problems and calamities that are destroying our nation.  In a moment of unbelievable lunacy, after Newt Gingrich’s 2nd wife reported, allegedly, that he wanted an open marriage, (not verified), certain members of the opposition went crazy, this while their own two term President, Bill Clinton and his Secretary of State, wife,  Hillary may have had the most “open marriage” in history, in the open for all the world to see!!??  Hypocrisy on parade!  Come on guys lets talk about jobs, our gigantic national debt, our irrational spending, the welfare state, borders that leak like a sieve, countless politicians that have robbed the tax payers blind,  policies that are destroying America as we have known it, and educational system that from grade school to college, federally funded, and teaching students that America is the fault of all that is bad in the world.  I think we have bigger issues to tackle!  Grow up and act like adults!!!!!!!!  Shame on you, you’re in a time out!

 

Sorry about that, but I meant every word of it.  It seems to me that we all, every one of us, certainly, me included, needs to take a deep breath and act more like the adults we are supposed to be.  It may seem like an oversimplification,  but virtually all that I’ve mention could be fixed if we honestly lived by the Golden Rule, “What would the world be like if we really treated others, like we would like to be treated ourselves.”

 

Pretty radical thought………..

 

the pilgrim

 

No, I’m not announcing my candidacy …………