My New Dodge 2500 4X4 with a HEMI: The Bubba Truck Deluxe

How do you like my new Dodge? It’s a real Super Wyoming Bubba Truck Deluxe isn’t it? I shouldn’t say it’s new; it’s a 2007 2500 with a Hemi. I’d waited until I finished dressing it up before I took any photos. After I bought it I put the steps, toolbox and fender flairs on. I’ve been a Ford Pick-up truck guy all of my life and never owned any other brand until now. The price was right and next summer we want to buy a camp trailer. This truck will more than handle it. The gas mileage issue bugs me but I wanted something with power. I’m so happy to have my own personal vehicle be a truck again, despite the fuel mileage. Wanna race me?

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown: Book Review

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I understand how this book became a best seller. It’s a suspenseful mystery and it’s a real page turner. I understand how Feminists and Pagans would love it and Christians and Masons would hate it. It’s clearly a work of fiction but it’s laced with half truths and so called historical facts making it a perfect book for crazy conspiracy theorists, especially those that don’t believe in Christianity.

I just take the book for what it is a good work of fun fiction and that’s it.

I saw the movie when it came out in 2006 and it bored me to tears like it did almost everyone else who saw it whether they read the book or not. Tom Hanks was miscast and all I can’t remember about his character was a he had a super bad haircut. After getting through the book I completely understand why everyone was disappointed in the movie. The book is superior to the movie as most books are but in this case far superior.        

View all my reviews

Broncos Defense spoils Shanahan's Homecoming

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie pick 6 late in the 2nd half sealed the deal for the Broncos.

Mike Shanahan is the greatest Coach in the History of the Denver Broncos franchise and ranks as one the best in NFL History and one day he will be in the Hall of Fame. This week he came back to Denver hoping to remind Broncos Fans that he’s still one of the best in the NFL and capable of leading a team like the Redskins to a win over his old team.

During the first half and into the start of the second half the Redskins Defense seemed to have handcuffed Peyton Manning. If you combine this with some outstanding play in the Washington secondary and an aggressive pass rush through 2 ½ quarters it looked the Redskins might hang in there and make a game of it. After DeAngelo Hall intercepted a Manning pass and ran it in for a 26 yard pick 6 and a 21-7 Skins lead early in 3^rd Q Shanahan started to get away from a the game plan that could of helped him pull off a big upset.

Instead of pounding the ball down the Broncos throats with Alfred Morris and Roy Helu, to slow the game down, run time off the clock and keep the ball out of the hands of Manning he repeated his past history. He decided his large clever offense play book could fool the Broncos D by having a mix of run and Robert Griffin III passes to keep the chains moving, drives alive and thus scoring more points.  

It failed, just as is it failed late in his career in Denver when his offense unit’s biggest strength was playing smash mouth football and ball control offense. The last 2 or 3 years in Denver Shanahan seemed to think John Elway was still his starting QB and that Rod Smith, Eddie McCaffery and Shannon Sharpe was on the line of scrimmage. Shanny believed that running the ball well even when it was very successful and effective was boring. Balance was very important to him. He strongly believed that in his system Jay Cutler could execute the deep passing game but Cutler could never play consistently enough and the only real deep threat he had in those years at WR was Brandon Marshall.

Despite having one of the strongest running teams in the NFL those last few years in Denver Shanahan refused to alter his game plan. Had he just made the decision to run the ball in many of the close games the Broncos played in back then I’m convinced his Coaching stats in Denver would have included more regular season wins and playoff W’s. Shanahan’s ego and belief in his own system was blinding his ability to play to the strengths of the team he had before him. He needed to make adjustments to his offense that fit the talent of the team but he refused and it cost him his job.    

Yesterday was a repeat performance of his failed philosophy. RGIII still wasn’t a 100% with his injured knee and doesn’t have a stable of quality WR’s to throw to. TE Jordan Reed was taken 23^rd in the 3 round of this year’s draft and he was been RGIII’s only Receiver consistently catching any balls for him in the Redskins last 2 games. So it seemed fairly stupid to have RGIII drop back and attempt to throw the ball despite Denver’s secondary being dead last in pass defense coming in. The pass rush of the Broncos made up for it though and got after RGIII even so much as to injure his other healthy knee.

The Broncos Defense played as well in the second half of this game as they have all season and deserves much of the credit for this win getting 3 sacks and 1 pick 6 by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Last week the Broncos turned the ball over 4 times and lost. This week Manning didn't play his best game and turned it over 4 times and they won thanks to the D. He rebounded by passing well in the 2nd half and with the help of Knowshon Moreno adding 133 yards of total offense. Moreno had a few hiccups against the Colts last week but played hard again this week and made some key plays that helped the Broncos score 38 unanswered points in the 2^nd half. I was happy to see Montee Ball get more playing time and score his 1^st NFL TD. One day Ball is going to be a big stud for the Broncos.

The injuries to Julius Thomas, Duke Ihenacho and Chris Harris could be big for the Broncos in the second half of the season if serious. Hopefully Manning's ankles will get enough rest so that he’ll be stronger in 2 weeks. I know they were some other players dinged up for the Broncos but at this writing no injury report has been published.

All in all the Broncos had a great first half of the season. I just pray now that after they come back from the bye they finish just as well, especially in the playoffs and let’s hope the Super Bowl.  GO BRONCOS!!

Next weekend will be all about my wife Jenny Jacques since the Broncos don’t play. What’s on the calendar Babe? I’m all yours.

Marijuana should not be legalized in Oregon

Today was my first day as a paid journalist. This opinion piece appeared in The Daily Astorian today. You can also read it by clicking on the link below (Check out the Bio on the left of the page.):

Marijuana should not be legalized in Oregon

Mind altering drugs don’t discriminate, they don’t care if your family is on the surface a tight one or not or has a deep faith in God. Drugs don’t discriminate by the color of your skin, what religion you are or if you’re wealthy or poor. They don’t care how well educated you might be, what your sexual orientation is or your political ideology. Drugs can lay waste to any or every human being that has an addiction problem. I know because I’ve seen the devastation firsthand personally and professionally.

This is the reason I believe marijuana should never be legalized in Oregon. I also believe it shouldn’t be legalized for medical purposes either but if it is it must be tightly regulated to people who are terminally ill and/or have severe chronic pain that can be documented to the letter. Accountability and responsibility must be maintained a very high level.

Many regularly prescribed drugs, specifically painkillers, are just as big a problem but they’ve passed new laws recently regulating how you get prescriptions so that’s being addressed today. What happens when drug abusers can’t get painkillers legally? They turn to illegal marijuana and if they can’t get marijuana it’s onto heroin or worse meth (all are equally bad for you in my opinion). It’s happening right here in Astoria, black tar heroin is becoming the new drug of choice instead of meth because it’s cheaper and easier to produce. Heroin dealers are everywhere in NW Oregon, it’s an epidemic.

I don’t care what apologists say it’s a hard cold fact that MARIJUANA IS A GATEWAY DRUG for far too many. You could interview all of the poor souls that are addicted to heroin or meth and I’d bet the farm that all of them began with “harmless” pot, or so they would claim.

These drugs are the social scourge of our society not just in big cities but right here in small town America like Astoria. The attitude, the opinions but specifically the laws must change about their use and abuse just as they have with cigarettes. If not, it’s going to destroy countless lives and the lives connected to the abusers. The financial cost is enormous but by far the worst part is the human toll, especially to innocent children. It’s a guarantee that there will be more high school drop outs becoming dependents of the State.

Adults who do not graduate from high school tend to have lower paying jobs than those who do and thus are at greater risk for living in poverty, lacking health insurance, and suffering from poor health. Moreover, high school dropouts typically have higher rates of substance use than high school graduates. There will also be more domestic violence cases and the number of child abuse victims will increase as a result. As a consequence they will be more arrests, court costs, more detention costs, rehab costs etc. etc.

In a 2009 UC Santa Barbara Study it was determined that “marijuana use was a contributing factor in California’s alarming high school drop-out rate which costs taxpayers $45.4 billion dollars each year ($492,000 per drop-out).” Imagine what the cost is in Oregon today?

Something that seems to get lose here is currently Federal Law states that: “Possession of marijuana is punishable by up to one year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first conviction. For a second conviction, the penalties increase to a 15-day mandatory minimum sentence with a maximum of two years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500. Subsequent convictions carry a 90-day mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum of up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000."

So then my question is how can Colorado and the State of Washington have the authority to have their own set of laws on marijuana? They can’t and the federal law should supersede theirs. A federal court case must be introduced and won to repeal their laws.

I’m positive the Oregon State Police, the Clatsop County Sheriffs Dept. and the Astoria PD are furious about the new legalization laws in Washington. They’re just across the river from us and less than an hour car ride away for enterprising drug dealers. So now Oregon Law Enforcement must not only response to home grown dealers but the ones from Washington who can buy it legally and sell it illegally here. The long term cost to Oregon taxpayer’s is going to be astronomical. Anyone that actually believes that the tax revenue from legalized marijuana is going to be a budget surplus for Washington, Colorado or in Oregon if legalized is in complete denial of what the addiction problem will cost long term.

The argument that we should legalize marijuana because alcohol is legal is the most insane justification of all. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Why in the name of God would we purposely expose our children and people born with addictive personalities to have yet another temptation to destroy their lives? The answer, we should not and must not.

Another myth the marijuana smokers would have you believe is that it’s not as addictive as alcohol, meth or heroin, that’s baloney. I’ve had family and friends who have wrecked their marriages, their kid’s lives and lost their jobs because they’re addicted to it so that argument is an insulting falsehood.

The other argument pot apologists would have you believe is that it’s a “liberty” issue or “freedom” issue. If we allow pot to be legal any place at anytime does that really enhance freedom or liberty? Hell no, it enhances human slavery and addictive bondage not freedom for far too many who can’t control themselves.

I don’t expect to change people’s minds that regularly smoke marijuana and can’t be reached it’s the people who don’t that need to fully understand the incredible damage it’s causing us as a State and a nation that I wish to influence. Whether you want to believe it or not one day directly or indirectly your life most likely will be affected by this problem personally and financially. Stiffer laws and arrests alone will not alleviate this problem, education at very early age is critical to get a handle on it; we must not surrender to it and legalize another bad behavior. If you’ve never tried marijuana don’t and if comes up as ballot measure in Oregon vote against it.

Nothing is ever going to convince me that legalizing pot or any other kind of drug that’s sole purpose it is to alter the mind or check out on life is an OK or HARMLESS thing to do.

Bad News breeds Bad Vibs

Since I keep Vampire hours at work my dinner hour usually ends up being between 8:30 pm and 9:00 pm. Since I've had a self imposed ban on ANY network news on TV since after the 2012 elections I get my daily dose via the web from various sites while I set down to eat dinner in PDX.

I scan various stories on a half dozen or so websites for my daily national news fix. I spent about 25 to 30 minutes reading the headlines and stories then I've had enough and go back to work.

Tonight was different. I went to the Drudge website tonight and all I had to do was read the headlines on his page to get thoroughly angry and completely disgusted.

I read through a couple of the stories and pulled myself away from my daily news fix early because I just couldn't take the numerous headlines that touched on almost every negative political topic you could image.

This has nothing to do with the Drudge website by the way, you could find the same stories on any number of news websites. It had more to do with the news itself.

I can't think of night recently where I felt more separated and completely at odds with the people in our government that clearly are leading us all down a path of self destruction than at this moment. It wasn't just the dirty politics that got under my skin it was also the outrageous social chaos on the page that really disturbed me too. I really feel our leaders and to many of citizens today lack any kind of moral or spiritual compass whatsoever. 

Our nation is unraveling at an unbelievable pace and after looking at the Drudge site tonight it's one of those times when I wonder how we can survive what is being thrown in our faces daily and thrive as a free and prosperous nation. I honestly believe a citizens revolt isn't an impossibility in the near future if we continue down this path.

I tell myself that I can only control what goes on inside my own little hula hoop and that the rest of what happens outside it belongs to God. I believe in a Higher Power and I know he has a plan for me just as he does everyone else but I read the headlines tonight and wonder how much we good people can take before we break?

Ignorance is common and rampant but it's the numbness, the blind apathy and self centered attitude by to many people that terrifies me. 

It isn't just the career bureaucrats in DC that don't represent me nor respect me that's upsetting there's also a group of my fellow citizens that truly believe they have every right to take my money and property away from me because they think I or the federal government owes them something.

God help me overcome my fear, anger and disgust. Please God help my nation overcome this crisis of courage and honesty and bring the light of love, liberty and freedom to all us. We need you now more than every, I have to trust that your will, will be done. It's the only remedy, the only answer, the final solution.

Jim Irsay's comments on Manning were not unreasonable

If someone would have told me the Colts would have convincingly beat the Broncos after their miserable performance against the Chargers last week I’d of said they were crazy. But this is the NFL and week to week you never know what’s going to happen on any given Sunday. As it turns out the Colts wanted the game way worse than the Broncos. 4 turnovers, penalties, a flawed offensive game plan and the worst Defense unit by the numbers in the passing game in the NFL finally brought the high flying Broncos back to planet earth.

You combine this with Peyton Manning having his worse game of the 2013 season and even a worse game still by Knowshon Moreno and it was too much to overcome.

A lot credit has to go the defense unit of the Colts they shut down Moreno and got after Manning when he tried to throw downfield. The Manning fumble that went into the end zone was a big play but I don’t see that moment as the turning point. The real one came when Offensive Coordinator Adam Gase or maybe it was Manning called 2 running plays up the middle on 3rd and short to Moreno and he couldn’t convert either one. The Broncos had way too many quick 3 and outs and it never gave the Broncos weak Corners and Safety’s a chance to catch their breaths against Andrew Luck who played a great game.  

Up until this game Moreno had played well beyond anything he has in his career thus far but in this one he played like the old RB that was on the horrible Josh McDaniels teams when the best he could do was pick up one or two yards per carry, showed zero quickness, no cut back ability, no power and would go to the ground after the first hit. Why Manning kept calling his number is a mystery. Not only was he totally ineffective on the ground, he was even worse when Manning used him as a check off Receiver in the flat and he still couldn’t make a play.

I don’t know how many times Manning chucked the ball to Moreno but the play wasn’t working. I have a hard time believing that the coverage was so good downfield that he couldn’t find either D. Thomas, Welker, Decker or J. Thomas open.

Manning was clearly feeling the pressure of the game early and once the Broncos got behind in the first half the crowd noise and his emotions hurt his ability to run the hurry up or get into any kind of a groove. In this kind of environment I almost wonder if it wouldn’t be better to slow the game down a little and huddle up to make sure the Receivers know exactly which routes to run. When Manning was trying to change the play at the line of scrimmage it had to be next to impossible for them to hear what play was being called.

Make no mistake after Manning coughed up the football and was sacked 4 times his confidence was rattled. He was throwing the ball into tight coverage and many of his balls had too much air on them without much zip. The absence of LT Ryan Clady became crystal clear because his replacement Chris Carter had no answers for the hard charging Robert Mathis, he sacked Manning twice.

"We've changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these," Irsay says, flicking up his right hand to show his Super Bowl XLI championship ring. (Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these," Irsay adds. "Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated. You make the playoffs 11 times, and you're out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the Star Wars numbers from, Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love this."

As many of you know that regularly read my blog I’ve been very cynical and skeptical about Manning’s ability to get the Broncos to a Super Bowl and win it. The comments Jim Irsay made about Manning this week have been the same ones I’ve been making since they signed him.

This loss had to really have an effect on Manning's headgame; it gives fuel to the doubters and naysayers that claim Manning buckles in big pressure games and the playoffs. Can he recover; can he still lead the team to Super Bowl win? Maybe, but now he and Broncos Fans can see he isn’t infallible or unbreakable.

The 2 immediate solutions seem easy. I believe they have to get Montee Ball on the field as their primary RB even if he isn’t as good a Receiver as Moreno he’s a better power runner than he is and they need the threat of a running game to execute the offense. More important still is John Fox and Jack Del Rio must find a way to get better play out of the Defensive Secondary because without it the Broncos cannot and will not go deep in the playoffs.  

The Help by Kathryn Stockett: Book Review

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I’m fairly certain almost ever female in America has seen the movie and many have read the book. I doubt many guys have read it but they should. This is one of the rare instances where the movie screenplay did a superb job representing the book. I highly recommend the book even if you’ve seen the movie. 

View all my reviews

On the Disabled List for the Jaguars Game

I didn’t get to see the Broncos game because it wasn’t nationally televised this weekend. I had planned to go to a Sports Bar in Astoria Sunday and watch it but I got my butt kicked so bad by a cold over the weekend and put myself on the disabled list. I couldn’t drag myself out of the house. Now, I really regret having such a knee jerk reaction to the Tim Tebow trade 2 years ago and cancelling my NFL Sunday Ticket. I’d had it since 1998. Next summer my contract with Dish runs out and I’ll drop it and go back to DirecTV. I’m still not over my mad the way the Tebow situation was handled but missing any game just is totally unacceptable.

It doesn’t sound like I missed much of a game though. The Broncos predictable won but from what I saw from the highlights the Jags gave them some trouble in the 1^st half. I knew the crazy point spread was going to motivate them. Even though the Jags have been down this season you had to believe their pride if nothing else was on the line and that they would give the Broncos a challenge.

I’m sure Peyton Manning and the whole team couldn’t help thinking about the matchup against the Colts this weekend in Indianapolis, I know I was. But after watching the Colts horrible performance against a lousy Chargers team last night now I wonder if the Jags probably gave the Broncos a better game than the Colts will.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Von Miller plays. Since now he knows he’ll be suspended for a year if he screws up again, I think he’ll be more than highly motivated to redeem himself to the team this week.

I’d say the same for Manning, if you take away the Cowboys once in a franchise offensive performance against him he’s breezed through these first 6 games. I still believe it’ll be a win but it will be a stressful game for him. Andrew Luck will be feeling it too but since the expectation is the Broncos will run them off the field he may rise up and surprise them. I doubt it though; the Colts D has some injuries to key players so it’ll be a football miracle if they hang with Manning and company.

I have to give some kudos to Knowshon Moreno again this week. If he continues to play as well as he has for the remainder of the season, he has to be considered for the NFL Comeback Player of Year award. Whoever that player was that couldn’t break a single tackle or get the tough yards up the middle is dead and in his place a warrior has emerged. We all know he can catch a pass but this power running surge he’s been on this season is unbelievable. My hat is off to you Knowshon.

The Cowboys have had the Bronze Boot in Laramie the last 4 years.

It’ll be an exciting weekend of football; the Wyoming Cowboys will be playing Colorado State in the Border War for the Bronze Boot in Laramie Saturday. Currently the Cowboys are place in 1^st place in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference and 1 game up on Boise State. The Rams are the only rival left in the conference. They’ve been playing against each other since 1899 with CSU holding the series lead with 55 wins to the Cowboys 44 with 5 ties.  

Starting with CSU each game from here to the end of the season will be a considerable test to see if they’re worthy of getting a respectable postseason bowl seeding. CSU, then San Jose State, then they play Fresno State Nov. 9th.  If they pull out wins against CSU then SJSU then the match up against Fresno becomes a very significant game. FSU is currently leading the West Division in the Mountain West Conference with a 5-0 record. If they can get a win against them then the biggest game of the season becomes the Boise State game the following week.

The Cowboys have one of best running and passing QB’s in the nation in Brett Smith and he should be a leading All-America candidate in 2013. Smith is a Junior this year and through 6 games he has a total of 2,247 yards of total offense and 18 TD’s. Since starting as a true freshman at UW he has a career total of 8,691 yards of total offense, with a total of 81 TD’s, 62 through the air and 19 on the ground. He’s an amazing athlete and one of the best QB’s I’ve ever seen play at UW. He also runs the hurry up offense as well as any QB in college football today.

Unfortunately for Smith he doesn’t play on the Cowboys Defense. They’ve given up a lot of points and yards this season, especially late in the 4^th quarter of games. My hope is they can play the bend not break type opportunist Defense they’ll need to for the them to achieve a successful record the rest of the way.

It’s so difficult for me take the Cowboys games one at a time like I do with the Broncos. Their program has been in a painfully long slum and they are so due for some success and meanful bowl game.

GO BRONCOS! GO COWBOYS!!

Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon: Book Review

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The book’s focus was on the gathering the best scientists in the world for development and testing of the first atomic bomb and then intimately using the bomb on Japan near the end of World War II. Every story connected to its development is in the pages of the book.

The fear then was the Germans were close to developing their own nukes. It terrified the Americans and the Allies so the race was on to build it before they could. The, FBI, American and British Special Forces along with a Commando Group of Norwegians, searched Germany to find where their secret atomic lab was so they could destroy it and their capability to build a nuclear weapon.

Another subplot written about in the book is the Russian KGB’s attempts to steal the secrets of the bomb making process by using American moles to get the information.

It’s a great summary of the story of the birth of the atomic age and what future consequences lay ahead for the rest of the world. It’s a book worthy of consideration if you’re a history buff.

View all my reviews

Trevathan interception rescues the Broncos

Danny Trevathan makes the game saving interception against Tony Romo.

If your team scored 48 points in the 4^th quarter in any NFL game you’d fully expect to be winning that game, probably even embarrassing the other team. Yesterday in Dallas that score could only secure a tie. And if Danny Trevathan doesn’t make a sensational play with a diving interception with less than 7 minutes to go in the 4^th Quarter 48 points wouldn’t have been enough in this wild Arena Football like game.  

Thankfully for us Cowboys haters Tony Romo is still their QB and will be for the foreseeable future after signing a 6 year, $108 million contract extension with $55 million in guarantees and a $25 million signing bonus this off season. That deal makes Romo the highest paid player in Cowboys history and tops the $52 million in guarantees that Joe Flacco (the next big QB flop) received from the Ravens as part of his 6 year, $120.6 million contract. Hey Jerry Jones, thank you for cementing all your hopes on Romo it’s really working out well for you so far isn’t it?

The X factor in the game as it has been in so many games for the Cowboys is the checkered play of Romo. Despite having a career day throwing for 506 yards and 5 TD’s it took only one bad throw to erase the glory of all his gaudy stats. Romo is one of the most notoriously consistent chokers in the big games. This one has to hurt as bad as any he’s ever had in his career. It didn’t happen in the post season and the 2013 season hasn’t even reached the half way point yet but the devastation is no less humiliating and demoralizing.

Personally every time Romo’s name comes up in a conversation I think of this epic moment in 2006 when the Cowboys were playing the Seahawks in the playoffs.

  

Romo will never live this one down until he leads a Cowboys team to a Super Bowl win and frankly I believe that he’ll never come close to even making it to a Super Bowl game or even a playoff win which is fine with me. Next to the Raiders the Cowboys are 2^nd on the list of most hated teams so that's fine by me.

All of that said as Broncos Fans we come away from this win having serious concerns about the Defense. The Broncos gave up 522 yards of total offense. The Broncos had 4 sacks in the game (2 by Shaun Phillips) but take away those 4 plays and the Broncos were not getting enough pressure on Romo. The Broncos had 4 DL at the line of scrimmage most of the time and even when they blitzed they never really got to Romo or slowed down. The secondary was and still is the achilles heel of the D and they could not cover Jason Witten or Dez Bryant. Tony Carter and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie were beaten up like baby seals.  

It didn’t help that Wesley Woodyard, Chris Harris and Robert Ayers were hurt in the game but we have to expect better overall play by the team regardless.

The Broncos Defense has allowed 27.8 points per game. Once the playoffs start this isn’t going to be good enough and it certainly won’t be if they make it to the Super Bowl. Thankfully the Broncos play the down trodden Jaguars next week so they’ll get a breather. The word is Champ Bailey will be back next week which is good because they need his wisdom and experience but from a speed prospective I still think Harris is just as good a start as Bailey.

Thankfully Von Miller will return from his suspension just in time for the Colts game in Indianapolis. Let’s all hope he’s finally learned his lesson and he understands that the game could be taken away from him for good if he doesn’t fly right. His pass rushing skills and tackling have been sorely missed. The Colts are a good team and his services will be needed.

Knowshon Moreno continues to amaze me. He had a sensational game yesterday, breaking tackles, running with authority and he made key catches to keep drives alive. His performance was overshadowed by Romo and Peyton Manning but he was a big contributor in the win yesterday.

As for Manning he finally threw his first interception of the season but when you consider that he’s thrown 20 TD’s for an amazing 1884 yards you can cut him some slack. He's playing at level right now that is beyond what any QB has done before or since, let’s just hope he can carry it over to the playoffs and a Super Bowl.

If the Defense can regroup and start playing better in the secondary it doesn’t look like anything can stop the overwhelming and unstoppable juggernaut that is Peyton Manning.        

A Bright Shining Lie - John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam: Book Review

A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


After absorbing this book I'm mentally exhausted from the sheer size and scope of the information contained in it. It was a mind numbly daunting undertaking.

As much as I liked parts of it others became extremely taxing and confusing to follow. While I enjoy books with military engagements the endless stream of them, the personnel involved and the political intrigue around each of them in this one should have been significantly edited or removed altogether.

The same goes for some of the sections of the story that detailed the corrupt and bureaucratic mess of the leadership of the South Vietnamese Army and government. He documents the complete history of Vietnam from its origins before the war all the way up to its climax in the mid 70's.

Sheehan does an excellent job of weaving the Vietnam narrative around the life of John Paul Vann. From his humble and troubled beginnings Sheehan tells his life story in incredible detail.

Vann was one of the first military advisors sent to Vietnam before America committed combat forces and engaged in full scale war. He learned immediately that any attempt by the US to commit American troops to the war on North Vietnam was going to be a very bloody, expensive and risky affair.

As early as 1962 he was preaching that the sole responsibility for the military action taken there should be executed by the Army of South Vietnam alone. He had powerful friends in the military and in government that he tried repeatedly to convince that the key to success there had to be tied to humanitarian, social and political change not just a military success.

He didn't succeed at stopping the escalation of the War in the slightest but tried to work inside the framework of it to instill change. Later you learn how his position shifted and how it changed and then ended his life.

I have mixed feelings of Vann the man with boots on the ground fearlessly and tirelessly trying to help the South Vietnamese cause and Vann the man in his personal life. I respect and admired his passion, commitment and work ethic but was completely disgusted about how he conducted himself with his wife and family and in his personal affairs. His professional service in Vietnam was Heroic but by his own choice his personal life was a disaster and a disgrace.

I learned more about the Vietnam War from this book than any other single source I've researched so far. Sadly though there were episodes of the war I wish hadn't learned about too. The title of the book was apply titled, the Vietnam War was, “A Bright Shining Lie.” In many cases so was the life and career of John Paul Vann. His life was a tragedy and a triumph but a very interesting one to say the least.

View all my reviews

Manning 172.10 minus Spiller 25.45 = Epic Fail!

A big goose egg for wins and 4 losses in the Fantasy Money League I play in every year. The $700 payday for 1st place is slipping away from me fast. To think I had the opportunity and passed up Peyton Manning for CJ Spiller with the 5th pick in the 1st round of the draft is really haunting me. 

Going into the fantasy season Aaron Rodgers was the QB that was projected to be the first QB drafted and not until late in the 2nd round. Manning was going in the 3rd round on most draft boards I researched. If you’re keeping score at home Manning has 172.10 fantasy points and Spiller has a whooping 25.45 in the scoring format we use in our money league. Ugh! I have to get my mind around the idea that the NFL is a QB driven league and is in fantasy football too. The old school formula was always to draft RB's early and often, not anymore, at least not early this fantasy season.  

Another big mistake that I made and should have known better not to do was draft Rookies at the RB position. I took Eddie Lacy and Montee Ball, both have 11.65 points respectively in our scoring system. I really believed both would be starters on opening day and both would score big as the season progressed. Ball has been the odd man out in the 3 RB rotation that the Broncos employ and then Lacy fumbled his way out as a starter, and then gets a concussion.

I took CJ Spiller with my 1st pick, Eddie Lacy was my #2 pick and I took Russell Wilson as my QB in the 3rd round. The way he scored at the end of last season I thought Wilson was a great sleeper pick and could explode, instead he's imploded, through 4 games he has only 64.58 points. My backup QB is Andrew Luck. I sat Wilson in week in week 4 and Luck did get a few more points (Season total of 82.32 points) but not near enough to compensate for my under performing RB's

Maybe Lacy and Ball will emerge by mid-season but the lesson to be learned here is don’t draft Rookies high, they may not contribute anything until you're buried at the bottom of the standings.  

I’ll keep battling and hope I put enough wins together to make a run for the 4th and final playoff spot but right now I just hoping I can win at least one freaking game. Hey CJ, thanks Buddy you’re my Fantasy Hero.