Tuesday, March 19, 2013

March Madness GOP 2016

I know it is kind of early for looking at the 2016 Presidential election, but I figured in the spirit of March Madness we should see where the GOP is right now.

1: Marco Rubio

16: Rob Portman/ John Huntsman


8: John Kasich

9: Scott Walker


5: Paul Ryan

12:  Rick Perry


4: Bobby Jindal

13: Kelly Ayotte


6: Nikki Haley

11: Ben Carson


3: Rand Paul

14: Newt Gingrich


7: Mike Huckabee

10: Condaleeza Rice


2: Chris Christie

15: Jeb Bush

Now, these brackets are as where the various possible candidates stand as of right now. The one person I have seeded probably too highly is Nikki Haley, but whenever she is in front of an audience, she really gets the crowd going. Now, Rubio should be able to get by either Huntsman or Portman at this point with his more conservative prowess and both Huntsman and Portman more moderate as of this point. 8 seeded Kasich and 9 seeded Walker is a very intriguing match up, both conservative governors in swing states. My bias leans toward Kasich for the fact that I am from Ohio and the fact that he has worked in Washington before as Budget Committee chairman. A lot will be decided here on the 2014 election, but this is where I stand right now, Kasich should squeak by. In the 5/12 match up between Ryan and Perry is really a no brainer. Perry has shown on the national stage he cannot speak, and Ryan is very good at speaking on the National stage. Ryan should win in a blowout. The match up between Jindal and Ayotte is also very intriguing, but I think that Jindal pulls it out with about ten percent to go. UPSET ALERT! That is what I am saying between Haley and Neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Carson is a rising star and a dark horse while Haley has not been able to get the attention she deserves. Carson should be able to actually upset pretty handily as of right now. Huckabee and Rand should pass by pretty easily. With the 2/15 match up between Bush and Christie largely depends on who the establishment decides to pour in the money for, right now I would say that it looks a lot like Christie, but that is libel to change. So here is how things look right now.

1: Rubio

8: Kasich


5: Ryan

4: Jindal


11: Carson

3: Paul


7: Huckabee

2: Christie

I am predicting that the final four will look like this:

Rubio

Jindal


Paul

Christie


I am predicting the championship will look like this:


Jindal

Paul


Champion (Right Now) Paul

Friday, March 1, 2013

Sequestration Blame Game

Now, I am puzzled right now. President Barack Obama just came of a victory over republicans not just in the Presidential election, but he got his way with the Fiscal cliff, got a controversial Chuck Hagel through the Senate to become secretary of Defense, and it seemed like he was having his way with Republicans. So why did he make it sound like the Sequester was the end of Western Civilization as we know it, and blamed the Republicans while at it.

First of all, the sequester will not be terribly devastating, especially considering we are living in a 3 trillion dollar budget and we will still add 15 billion in spending when all is said and done. I am not saying it is a good thing, but why make it sound like the most devastating thing in the history of America? What does he gain? Especially when everyone can look on the internet and see that it was his proposal.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Rubio or Obama

A couple of days ago, I watched President Obama's State of the Union Address, and I have to say, I was surprised. I wasn't surprised at how good he did, but rather how he said so much without actually saying anything. Contrast that with Marco Rubio, the Senator from Florida, and he took about a third of the time to say about three times the amount that Obama had said. His message was good, but no one really knows what it actually was because everyone focused on his little drink he took near the latter part of his speech. Is this right? No. Does it matter? No. Because the media holds complete control of the message in the country. Please comment on your thoughts.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Where is civility

If you have seen some of my earlier posts or any of my comments on other blogs, you will see a recurring idea I keep making is that the political and ideological world is no longer has the civility it used to, so I will back it up with this post.

To start with, I will give a couple of examples of older civility. The first example I have is Ronald Reagan with the Democrat speaker of the house Tip O'Neil.



Tip O'Neil fought Reagan tooth and nail in the talks through balancing the budget, but then they could have a good laugh together afterward.

Even in the 90s, Bill Clinton could work with the Republicans, like John Kasich, as long as Newt Gingrich wasn't involved.

But today in America, there is no civility. I mean, can you honestly see Paul Ryan and Barack Obama working together getting anything done? The only way to survive this time of division is if we become more civil with each other, so please comment on your thoughts, especially if you are a different ideology than me and see if we can begin to become more civil when we disagree.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Boy Scouts ending ban on Gays

Well, in the Liberal society of today, it isn't surprising that another traditional industry is about to be forced to change its rules from what they were created. It isn't official, but the Boy Scouts are just about ready to crumble before the liberal society of today. The traditional American organization is considering to open the door to reversing the ban on Gays, and merge with the growing trend of society today. I have always admired the Boy Scouts for how they would not crumble before society. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I believe that having gay men go into the Boy Scouts on camping trips and other activities is just asking for trouble, where they would get to see other boys change in a cabin or in the shower. I'm not saying the gays are bad people. In fact, I have met a few gay people in my life and I was actually friends with some of them, but that doesn't mean I agree with their life style. I think that another traditional American organization has just crumbled. Please comment on your thoughts below.

My Top 25-Men's Basketball week 13

I won't do this every week, but after 17 losses by ranked teams, 14 by unranked opponents, I want to. Here is my top 15.

1: Michigan
2: Kansas
3: Indiana
4: Florida
5: Syracuse
6: Arizona
7: Duke
8: Oregon
9: Ohio State
10: Butler
11: Gonzaga
12: Michigan State
13: Louisville
14: Creighton
15: Kansas State
16: Missouri
17: Wichita State
18: Kansas State
19: Ole Miss
20: Creighton
21: New Mexico
22: Minnesota
23: Cincinnati
24: Wisconsin
25: Marquette

Friday, January 25, 2013

Tim Tebow-Terrible?

I have read many articles recently talking about Tim Tebow, calling him 'Controversial' and 'Terrible'. I ask you one question. Why?

First of all, why would anyone call Tim Tebow a terrible quarterback? He is one of the best quarterbacks in College Football history by most accounts. Most people for some reason seem to question Tim Tebow being able to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, but why? When he started at Denver in 2011, he took a team that was 1-4 and turned them into an 8-8 team, leading them to a miraculous win against the Steelers in a wild card playoff game. Is this a quarterback who is actually terrible. All that matters is that a team wins, and Tim Tebow could win games. He may not be the most consistent quarterback in the NFL, but that is because he hasn't been given a single chance. In the season before 2011, there was the NFL lockout, and he barely got to practice in the preseason. He has never been yet in the preseason practiced as a starting quarterback. If he could 7 games in a season where he barely practiced and wasn't prepared to be a starting quarterback, isn't it possible if someone would give him a chance that he could be one of the greats?
His style of play is strange, and it needs a different type of offense. His style of play reflects that of Robert Griffin III of the Redskins and Russell Wilson of the Seahawks, and look at the success they have had. It is the way the sport of Football is going. Would someone tell me why they wouldn't accept Tim Tebow's style of play and give him a chance as starter?

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Duke, Fail

Now, I don't usually look at individual basketball games and comment about them, but this one I just have to. Now, Duke was once again ranked number one on the Associated Press Poll and the Coaches Poll, which I doubt will happen again this year. They face a Miami-Florida team that was on fire at Miami. It could have been predicted that they would lose, but this was overkill. Duke was absolutely destroyed at the hands of the Hurricanes. The final score was 90-63, which was the worst in Duke school history. Miami played like a championship team, and Duke played like a number two seed that loses in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Super Bowl XLVII

Ah, the super bowl. It is that time of year again, when people sit around the television stuffing their faces full of unhealthy food to watch a few Doritos and Bud Light commercials. But this year, the Super Bowl is interesting enough I think there will be a fair amount of people that tune in to see the actual game, including myself. Though neither the 49ers or the Ravens I really like or really dislike, I think the story line is a very interesting one. The two coaches are brothers, and fairly close ones at that. This is Ray Lewis's last Super Bowl, and Colin Kaepernick's first. Who will be MVP? Who knows. I don't have any prediction for this super bowl, because by the numbers the Ravens should have lost quite a while ago, but they are still riding high, and Kaepernick is explosive enough that they have as much of chance as any to win. I know I will tune in, and I hope you will too.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

State of the GOP/ The elephant in the Room

Now, many pundits on the news are saying how the Republican party is in disarray and needs to go more to the center of the aisle. You know what I say to that? Rubbish. When has a moderate candidate ever won the presidency on the Republican side? From Dole, to McCain, to Romney, they all lost. Now, the GOP does need to stop nominating the candidate with the most money I grant you, and it needs to change in general, but not how people are saying.

With that said, however, the Democratic party is just as divided, but people don't see it as much since they are in power. Look at how long it took them to get the health care passed, even with a super majority in the senate and a fair majority in the house it took a year and a half and some back room dealing. After Obama, who will Democrats pick to be their flag bearer? If it is Hillary, that is going back to a time when it was a different country, and she would surly lose against almost any GOP candidate.

Obama's second term

Well, our newly elected president has just been sworn in a couple of days ago, and I am fairly shocked at what he said at his inauguration. I, like most people, was expecting a message of unity after a long and drug out campaign that deeply divided the country. Instead, we got a liberal drawn agenda driven speech that basically said my way or no way. Is this the proper direction of the office of United States president? He said that government was the solution to the problem, where as Ronald Reagan thirty years ago said that government is the problem. It seems America has gone in a full circle. What will we look like in four years? I don't know, but right now I don't like the way things are looking.

                  

Monday, January 14, 2013

Tebow Time Again?

Is it Tebow Time again in Denver? Well, that is certainly what some people are asking after a rather disappointing loss to the Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs. The game basically ended with Peyton Manning throwing an interception in overtime which led to the Ravens scoring a field goal, ending the game. Now, I feel bad for Peyton Manning who kind of got caught up in the middle of the Tebowmania after his team, the Colts, drafted Andrew Luck. Here is a picture that shows not much hostility between the two teams.




That is Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning talking after the game. Now, this begs a question, who should be quarterback at Denver?
So far in the postseason, Tebow: 1, Manning: 0. While it is true that Manning had a more impressive regular season, let's not forget Tebow wasn't originally the starter last year. It was originally Kyle Orton, who was terrible and after starting the season 1-4, the Broncos decided to go with Tebow. He surprised everyone when he went 7-4 after that, winning six straight games. He hasn't practiced yet in the NFL in the offseason as a starter, and he will never reach his full potential as an NFL player until he does. Do I think Tebow will be the quarterback at Denver? No. Manning isn't the answer though either. I am a Manning fan, but I think his time in this league is just about up. Tebow, if he was smart, would not go back to Denver after what they did to him. Comment below on what you think.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Wild Card Playoff Results

Well, I admit now I was overestimating the power of Andy Dalton, who contrary to my previous post underpreformed and Matt Shaub overperformed, even though the one touchdown that the Bengals got was off of an interception.

Score: 19-13 Texans

I think that I was pretty close to right when I said, however, that the Packers were going to beat the Vikings.

Score: 24-10 Packers

I was way off on the Colts-Ravens game. While Andrew Luck did play well, they lost because of a factor of an inability to complete a drive, and the fact that the starting lineup is made up of mostly rookies. The Colts didn't play bad, they just let Joe Flacco get a couple of big plays.

Score: 24-9 Ravens


Seahawks-Redskins

Probably the most exciting playoff game this weekend, the Seahawks won it after the dismal first quarter, and the Redskins really lost RGIII soon in the second half.

Score: 24-14 Seahawks

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Stalling the Cliff-Not Avoiding

Congress has just gotten through one of the most annoying sessions ever. While the Democrats did technically get a deal passed, it wasn't a good one, nor did they really win. It simply kicked the can down the road for the next congress to deal with, and taxes will still go up on most people. There will be another "fiscal cliff" in a couple of months, and don't expect anything to get done until then. The paychecks will not be increased, and is actually still likely to decrease, and the partisanship of both parties has only gotten worse. This aide for Sandy bill that was just passed in the congress was just to get the new congress started, and it hasn't lasted. It is time for Congress to act as a whole, and it isn't just Democrats or Republicans that were being partisan, but rather both parties. Please Comment below.

NFC Wild Card Predictions

Well, if you have read my post for the AFC playoff predictions, here is my NFC predictions:

Vikings (6) vs Packers (3):

This is probably the easiest pick of the four matchups this weekend. As good as Adrian Peterson is as a runner, since he didn't break the record last week, they don't have the same momentum going into Green Bay and therefore don't have as much to play for, especially in the cold. Aaron Rodgers will have a good game, while Adrian Peterson will underpreform. My guess is Packers beat Vikings 35-17.

Seahawks (5) vs Redskins (4):

This is my overall favorite matchup, because it is with two rookie quarterbacks of very similar styles who have not lost a game in the last five weeks. It is also very difficult to pick the winner, and while my heart says RGIII, my mind has to go with Seattle, and it is simply because they have a better overall football team, if not a better quarterback. My guess is Seattle beats Washington 35-10.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

AFC Playoff Predictions

AFC Playoffs:

Bengals (6) vs Texans (3)

My prediction is simple. The Bengals have won 3 of their last 4 games while the Texans have lost 3 of their last 4 games. I think that Matt Shaub is going to underperform while Andy Dalton will overperform. In a simple few words, the Bengals are going to win 21-17.


Colts (5) vs Ravens (4)

Now, this could be the most difficult playoff game to choose. While the Ravens have lost 3 of their last 4 games as well, and the Colts have won 3 of their last 4 games, I still think that the game is pretty evenly matched. They each have more emotion than talent in reality, with the exception of Andrew Luck. Chuck Pagano is back as the coach of the Colts after being gone for a while for treatment for Lieukemia, and Ray Lewis just announced he was retiring. When all is said and done, however, I think the Colts will win it 20-19.