Opinions On Eveything

Yesterday.

I was reading some impressions of Saints Row on OS and it made me depressed because i'm still stuck in the current gen with a PS2. Oh well I should be making the jump to next-gen by Xmas.

Other then that not much to talk about. I watched the new show Justice. It's a pretty interesting show. I know i'm going to hate the lead defense attorney's guts tho as he comes across as a total cocky SOB. I didn't like all the quick cuts and fancy shmancy pacing that made the show feel like a video game. I then saw that Jerry Bruckheimer is involved in the show. That would explain that crazy style.

I'm trying to think of a good topic to write about after Labour Day. Maybe i'll do the post that's been floating in my brain about the future of propaganda.

We'll see.....

I was going to do this with a review of invincible but due to circumstances out of my control that won't be possible. At least I will have something to talk about here tho.

The broadcast team was Gary Bender (who is now the PHX Suns' TV voice) and Tom Matte. (the former Baltimore Colts great) It's interesting to note the minimalism that was employed in this broadcast as it was a very straightforward description of the game, some analysis of some big plays and even some not so big plays. Matte was a bit grating on the ears tho as he didn't really seem to have a very good broadcasting voice. This was offset by his explanations of some of the plays and how they were executed. He wasn't very fancy about it and explained things in a concise manner.

One reason why I picked this up was because I wanted to see Ron Jaworski at QB and Harold Carmichael at WR for the Eagles. I also wanted to see the Cardinals' Jim Hart at the helm. I also heard a lot about Mel Gray who was an excellent WR for the Cards.

Anyways it wasn't the greatest game for Jaworski as he made some poor reads that resulted in killing drives or an INT. There were some flashes of brilliance and you can tell there were some better days coming for him.

Harold Carmichael didn't get the ball very much. I think he was only thrown the ball 5 times or so. This absolutely baffled me as the guy was 6'8, 225 pounds and looked like a man amongst boys. He had some great speed and a long stride. I think he wasn't too happy that he didn't get the ball very much as he caught a TD in the 2nd half and looked a bit pissed off. I wouldn't blame him. I distinctly remember that he only got the ball thrown to him ONCE in the first half of the game.

As for the Cardinals players I wanted to look at well, Jim Hart was banged up but he didn't play that way! He made some great reads, coaxed the Eagles defense to go offsides a couple or so times and threw the ball with great accuracy.

Mel Gray didn't get TOO involved in the game. (both teams decided to play more ball control type of game) but he did make a spectacular catch at one point. He basically jumped up for the ball, caught it and got slammed down onto the turf. It wasn't a very violent hit but it sure had to hurt!

I did see a good young(ish) RB by the name of Terry Metcalf who made one of those kind of plays that makes you stand up and shake your head. He was carrying the ball and more or less LEAPED over the defender to get the first down. Bear in mind that this was in the open field as well.

I also got to see the great NFL Today halftime show (smirk) it had the feel of a news broadcast. I know it's 1977 but there was NO breakdown of the game you were watching. (this could be because it seemed like I got my hands on a master as all commercials were national ones) I didn't expect to get a Sammy Davis Jr. song thrown my way but hey that's an added bonus! Irv Cross intro'ed a video about the Cowboys and they had a Sammy Davis song called "I'm gonna build me a mountain" playing over the NFL Films clips.

As for the game itself? It was 21-17 St. Louis but the score is a bit misleading as the Cards had a commanding lead of 14-3 then 21-3 in the 4th QTR. The Eagles made a mad dash of it but they couldn't come back to win.

I'm going to be getting a helluva broadcast sometime in September tho as I am going to get my hands on the 1979 shootout between Steve Bartkowski and Dan Fouts as the Atlanta Falcons take on the San Diego Chargers.

I've fallen behind on my intended posts so we're going to do something a little different. I'm going to throw out different topics and do them "quick hit" style. If anyone wants me to elaborate by all means leave a comment. I'll see it sooner or later.

- Finally finished reading the 1st volume of Astro City TPB. Wow what a great read. My favourite story in the TPB was of the one about the criminal who feels like he's going to get caught by one of the superheros. (that's all i'll say about it) You really got the sense of dread and doom in the criminal character's psyche. Another great story was the one where the Editor of the major newspaper recounts his first brush with superherodom back in the '60s. Again it was pretty powerful stuff and I liked the atmospheric mood of the storytelling throughout the TPB. This is definitely among my favourite comic book works.

- Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer to ever play IMO but in some ways I feel he missed a great opportunity. Now don't get me wrong, he's the biggest cash cow in PGA history. Did you know that before Tiger there were only 3 millionaires on the tour. After Tiger there are 15(!) millionaires on the tour right now. Yet, Tiger Woods could've been an even bigger phenomenon. He had the golden opportunity to expand the game's popularity to people of all stripes. In the beginning it looked like that was going to be the case. Early in Woods' career he had a very raucous and loud gallery following him. He had a rock star quality to him and in many ways his fans were very much like "Arnie's Army" from the 1960s. Tiger Woods tapped into every available market and he was the catalyst for the short but so far very profitable boom period where it seemed every kid in North America was taking up the sport. Unfortunately, Tiger became a corporate entity once his status as a great PGA golfer was assured. Since then, Tiger has become aloof and while he's still a pretty good ambassador to the game he comes across as someone who is forced to make nice to the media.

- My birthday is coming up. I can't believe i'm turning 27! Already there are 3 or 4 grey hairs on my head. "sigh". I don't know what i'll be doing for the big day tho.

- As of this writing a 1977 broadcast of the St. Louis Cardinals vs. the Philadelphia Eagles is in transit to my house. As with some of my other discs i'll give this broadcast a write up on here. I'm going to have to find some kind of video capture software or whatever and put up pics on here.

Tony Kornheiser is no stranger to the world of sports. In fact, he's been a sports journalist for 35+ years. He has been hugely successful in print, radio and television. It's therefore somewhat surprising that he's only now getting his biggest break on the national stage as one of the comentators on ESPN's Monday Night Football.

I felt he did a great job in the spotlight and after watching some tape on Howard Cossell I think that Kornheiser has the opportunity to bring that kind of flavour to football broadcasting. Kornheiser won't be as bombastic as Cossell was but he'll bring a fresh perspective to the booth that will be a great change of pace.

Watching Kornheiser tonight I can already see something that will make listening to the games almost as exciting as the on-field product and that is his relationship or lack thereof with Joe Theismann. I love the fact that Kornheiser is not afraid to expose Theismann as the fraud that he is and bust his chops live on national TV. It's evidently clear that these two DON'T like each other and we could see Mike Tirico being the traffic cop between their verbal fisticuffs.

If Kornheiser gets more comfortable in his role then he could be the modern "provocateur" for the MNF broadcasts. If the tension between he and Theismann stays relatively high without leading to violence or becoming a manufactured thing then we could be seeing something special here.

Now before some people think that I'm some left wing nutjob let me just say that I think the general idea and purpose of the "Bush Doctrine" is actually pretty good but has been undermined due to Pollyanna, pie in the sky thinking by the Powers That Be. The general gist of the Doctrine is something I think anybody can agree on. The gist of the Doctrine is that the United States would always be against States of terror and/or states that harbour terrorism.

Sounds pretty good so far right?

Well there's another part of the Doctrine which is really the heart of it and something that has been so closely identified to George W. Bush that when things are going bad it directly comes back to bite him on the butt. This is simply the "democracy aspect". The theory behind this is that if the Middle East is given democracy that the people will rebel against what we in the west view as the yoke of theocratic dictatorships and governments that more or less sponsor terror.

This is where the Doctrine falls flat on its face. Bush has this naive notion that democratic elections will lead to a westernized Middle East that rejects Islam and/or religious control by those governments. The Bush administration seems to believe in a domino theory of one middle eastern nation becoming democratic then every other nation will follow. Unfortunately the United States has such a horrible reputation in the middle east that this is very unlikely.

In fact, it has gone the other way. It started with the War on Iraq which was nothing but a poorly executed invasion that had far too many assumptions on the part of the Pentagon. They believed the people in Iraq would be throwing flowers and worshipping the American troops. Instead, insurgent groups backed by Iran and also home grown Iraqi insurgents took the opportunity to attack an army that was too small in numbers to fully quash the rebellion. Now we're in a situation where Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites are waging a civil war with American Troops stuck in the middle.

Next we look at North Korea, one of the nations mentioned in the "Axis of Evil". You know, Kim Il-Jong's provocations and firing off missiles could've been avoided in many ways. Jong is a guy that in the grand scheme of things isn't THAT bad of a threat. All he wants is attention. Some people call him crazy but in fact he's crazy like a fox. He isn't stupid enough to wage nuclear war on the South or Japan but he's done these nuclear tests and such because he wants to be assured that he'll remain in power. Kim Il-Jong was not a threat when Bill Clinton was in office why? Because the Clinton administration recognized that face to face talks with Jong would be far more effective then having praxes in the region trying to isolate him. The Bush administration however, views face to face talks as a sign of weakness which is just silly because the US still has leverage by using the UN or taking unilateral action if Jong doesn't listen to them.

Next we have Iran. This has become the test of the entire Bush Doctrine. First of all, Iran had relatively democratic and free elections and look who they voted for! Instead of the young, progressive Iranians voting out the conservative elites the people voted for a guy who portrayed himself as "one of them". He has proven to be a thorn on the side of the US. There is growing evidence that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran has supplied weaponry to Hezbollah and has done everything it can to cause instability in Iraq. This guy is no fool, he wants to create a Middle East where Iran is the strongman of the region. He wants Iran to have the moral authority to stand up against the US and say "look what has happened in Lebanon. We need nuclear weapons as a deterrent for future attacks in the region." In many ways this very strategy may be working and it's going to cause further problems in the long run.

Finally, the Israel-Lebanon conflict is a direct result of "the Bush Doctrine". The US pushed for a UN resolution to get Israel out of Lebanon while at the same time allowing for free elections. Hezbollah, while not winning the election got enough of the votes to have a substantial say in what goes on. They portray themselves as liberators for the Lebanese and Muslims everywhere. They have taken this war as opportunity to win the hearts of the people of Lebanon by offering to rebuild homes that have been bombed, to help the people who need it most. Of course they have also taken the opportunity to put innocent civilians in harm's way then use those casualties to say that the evil Zionists are slaughtering their people.

So why has this all broken down for George Bush?

There are many reasons but I think these three facts alone should explain it pretty well:

1. Unfortunate use of language: After the 9/11 attacks Bush likened the future war on terror as a Crusade. This was immediately met with a mixture of fear and indignation by Muslims all over the world. These people have long memories and by calling the war a "crusade" Bush had inadvertently took it from a war against terror into a war against cultures. Yes, the statement was retracted but the cat has already leapt out of the bag. The other unfortunate use of language was the whole "Axis of Evil" speech which pitted western social and political ideals against other regimes which to one degree or another are harmful but by lumping them all together Bush again caused a stir. The "you're either with us or against us" tone of the speech also alienated most countries right off the bat as well.
2. Seeing the world in absolutes: There is no shades of grey in George W. Bush's world and this has led to quite a number of problems. The belief in democracy through free elections is admirable on the face of it but if one looks deeper they'll see that there has to be a willing participation by the people. As noted above elections in Iran and Lebanon went against the Bush Doctrine. The Iraq experiment was botched from the very beginning because of religious differences from different factions. The people used their voice to elect people and organizations that are anti-US for a reason. There's a long history of animosity against the United States for various reasons. The Bush admin. could've tried to extend an olive branch to the people but due to unfortunate statements and the wanton destruction of Baghdad through "shock and awe" has further entrenched the feeling among middle eastern people that the US is the "Devil".
3. Last but not least, the "black/white" nature of the Bush admin's policies has led to situations where they've looked mighty foolish. First, it was the Iraqi president getting booed during a state visit because he hasn't condemned the actions of Hezbollah. The Bush admin made the flimsy excuse that the president was facing political pressures at home which handcuffs him from speaking out against Hezbollah. Currently, the Bush admin CLEARLY dragged their feet when it came to the Israel-Lebanon conflict. It became transparent right away that the US would use Israel as a proxy to fight against Hezbollah. The whole world had seen about a week of fighting and had had enough but apparently the Bush admin. would NOT seek a cease-fire. Instead, they have allowed the fires of hatred burn even hotter then before. It has become such a precarious situation now that any misstep could very well cause World War III. This could've been avoided if the US had not made itself to be so blatantly on Israel's side. Now you have moderate Arab states grumbling about inaction. Luckily there is now a UN proposal on the table. We shall see how it goes but again the wheels of diplomacy is spinning TOO slowly as this proposal isn't supposed to be looked at until Wednesday or Thursday!

As you can see, almost every action by the Bush admin has had an equal but opposite reaction. I have no answers except to say that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Just a little update tonight as I am offered the opportunity to talk about 2 very interesting TPBs thanks to kindness and generosity of a fellow OS poster. He kindly sent me the first 2 volumes of Kurt Busiek's Astro City.

I have read and quite enjoyed Busiek's Marvels and i'm told this is in a similar vein but with completely new superheroes. I've already read the first issue in the first TPB and have enjoyed it immensely. (The first TPB contains stand alone stories and the 2nd is a continuing story arc)

Anyways you should look out for my thoughts on them in the coming weeks. As for other new content i'm thinking of doing a write up on the failure of the Bush Doctrine. It should be done no later then Monday.