This, That, and The Other Thing! October 17, 2006

THINGS SEEM TO BE HAPPENING at a rapid pace the last couple of days. Almost so fast, it's impossible to keep up with it all. Earthquakes, storms, floods, wacky world leaders, out of control football players, more border problems than anybody could imagine, and an election that is just around the corner......whew!!!! Almost makes you wanna go buy a cabin up in the mountains and hibernate for the winter doesn't it?

First off, I hope all my friends in Texas are ok after all the storms and heavy rain. The last couple of days have been kinda rough. Judging from what I've seen this evening, the folks down there still have a lot to deal with and probably will for a few days to come.

The North Koreans are at it again too....threatening to conduct more underground nuclear tests. I wonder how long we are going to have to listen to this before someone really does something about it. I don't necessarily think we should use the "military option." The playing field here is alot different than in the Middle East and many more lives hang in the balance should Kim Jong Il decide to start lobbing missles into Seoul or nearby Japan. If negotiations don't yield some progress soon, things could get ugly quickly....especially if Japan decides to go nuclear.

And if real life wasn't intriguing enough, Hollywood has decided to weigh in the North Korea issue with today's (Tuesday) release of "Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil." This is the straight-to-DVD sequel to the 2001 big screen hit starring Gene Hackman and Owen Wilson. The plot of the action film revolves around a group of Navy SEALs dropped into North Korea to destroy its long-range missile. Twentieth Century Fox, which released the DVD, said its timing was planned months in advance and was purely coincidental. Rumor has it though, the release was delayed twice with no apparent reason being given. I guess the conspiracy theorist out there will have fun with this one. As for the movie itself, I got to see a preview copy a few days ago and I must say it was kinda errie watching what a mix of real history (complete with actual news footage at the beginning) and potential future all wrapped up into a slickly produced Hollywood production. It was a pretty good movie that I would recomend if you don't mind the somewhat blurred lines between reality and fiction.And then there's this from the world of college footbrawl: THE MIAMI HURRICANES FOOTBALL PROGRAM SHOULD BE GIVEN THE DEATH PENALTY FOR A COUPLE OF SEASONS. Yes, I said the death penalty. Basically that's a phrase used to describe shutting down a college football program for a pre determined amount of time for extreme rules violations. Remember SMU from several years back? Many people believe it's time for the sports governing body to bring this form of institutional punishment back. The NCAA has it in it's power to do so and should in order to send a strong message to athletes around the nation that behavior like we saw Saturday on national television (from Miami and Florida International) will not be tolerated....period. Today we learned that a total (from both teams)of 31 players were suspended for 1 game. In addition, FIU kicked 2 players off the team (but let them keep their scholarships)and suspended 16 players indefinitely, with all attending 10 hrs anger managment and 50 hrs community service. Miami removed no one from their team and only suspended one indefinitely. University of Miami president Donna Shalala (remember that name???? Yep it's the same lady!) refused to comment publicly, but later issued a statement calling the incident outrageous. That's some great leadership there Ms Shalala! I guess some things never change. The University of Miami (who was responsible for starting this latest melee) has had a reputation for this punk thug like behavior for years. Most recently during last seasons 40 to 3 Peach Bowl loss to LSU and earlier this season at Louisville when Miami players tried to provoke the hometown Cardinals by stomping on the Cardinal logo at midfield during pre game warmups.

It doesn't appear that the University of Miami, its current president, athletic director, or head coach is interested in changing this situation. Considering the schools track record over the last 25 years or so, maybe the NCAA should step in and drop the hammer for a couple years and send a message that is long overdue in South Florida. What do you think?

Til next time..............

Should the University of Miami receive the "death penalty" for it continued brawling ways?(closed poll)

Yes 6

No 0

Don't Know 0

(originally posetd 10-17-06 on Yahoo360)