A Bizarre Case

There thankfully are not many abductions committed by strangers, and those there are are typically committed against children. Have you ever seen an elderly person "kidnapped" in America before this recent horror befalling the journalist's mother? This is crazy! And to have it linger so long without it being solved. I pray she is returned alive but with each passing day, the prospect of that lessens. 

America for Americans

If you want a Balkanized United States, promote a language that less than a third of the people speak and understand at major events. The mother tongue of this nation is English, and sharing it has been a unifying force. Do you expect Mexicans would tolerate a performance at a significant event entirely in English? 

Interpreting Bunny's Words

According to reports about the halftime show I refused to watch, Bad Bunny unleashed a cascade of obscenity in Spanish over the air of the broadcast. I have no interest in ever hearing or seeing the performance, and if I did, I am not sure I would understand much of it, although I did make it through Spanish III in high school so many decades back. If the allegedly sexual language was indeed transmitted, NBC should face fines and sanctions, as this was not late night cable but distributed to families with children, some of whom would obviously be capable of comprehending the offensive verbiage. I have never knowingly listened to Mr. Bunny and never will, but he has no license to pollute the airways with filth, and the broadcaster had an affirmative obligation to ensure that he did not. 

A Lame Game

The New England quarterback looked like a deer in the headlights as the championship game proved too big for him. The Seattle defense was outstanding as it had been most of the season, perhaps rivaling the 1985 Bears for dominance. The contest itself was a long way from entertaining, unless you are a Seahawks die-hard. The commercial with Tom Brady was indecipherable and certainly did NOT make me want to go buy a doughnut. I would have enjoyed watching a Bob Ross painting class more than this not-so-super bore.

Bowl or Bore

More often than not the Super Bowl has not been an especially competitive game. Some seasons, the advertisements are much more entertaining than the action on the field. I do not know whether Seattle or the Patriots will prevail, nor if it will be a close contest, but I am certain they can take the divisive "Black National Anthem" and their halftime show with the Trump-hater featured and shove them where the light will never shine. 

Pavia Versus Manziel

Diego Pavia and Johnny Manziel are both relatively short for the quarterback position in the NFL, but so are Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson, who both proved successful to varying degrees in the pro ranks. Pavia and Manziel could both sustain plays with their legs and were good downfield runners. Johnny had better talent and depth at Texas A & M than Diego ever did at Vandy. Without Manziel, the Aggies would have still had a winning record, but without Pavia, I doubt the Commodores would have prevailed in five games. In the right circumstance, I believe Pavia can be a winning professional quarterback, at least in the short term, while Manziel was not able to pull that off. 

Devil in Details

The devil might not be running around your neighborhood, but he does seem to have plenty of local representatives. I am not saying they are Satan incarnate or even always evil, but at the crucial moments, count on these folks to let you down. They are the ones who are fair-weather friends, but in the clutch, they look for an angle to exploit you. They may be strangers who come to help you after an ice storm has felled your tree and want to charge you $1,800 for a four hundred dollar job. There may be good people that come to the fore in crisis but do not count on it.