Not all who wander are lost...

 
GOOD NIGHT NOW...

Gary Barnett... kiss your job goodbye.
posted by Sean McMahon at 12:02 PM

 
ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL...

With the Colorado University football program embroiled in a full blown scandal, a lot of people are starting to wonder just how much control Gary Barnett has over his players.

Count me as one of those people.

When a bunch of his players, and recruits, were accused of a gang rape back in 2001, Barnett vowed a crackdown on his team's wild behavior. The details of the gang rape allegations appeared to be pretty shady, so it seemed like an honest move at the time. As tragic as the whole gang rape situation was, at least Barnett, who had recruited numerous responsible athletes during his tenure at Northwestern, had credibility when he said he was going to fix things.

So in a program where everyone should be walking a fine line of best behavior, what happened last month? Current players took recruits to a strip club. Even worse, now it appears that the 'strippers for the recruits' practice had been going on for quite some time.

Barnett claims to have known nothing about all the sex his players, and recruits, were having. While I wouldn't expect him to know who is sleeping with who around Boulder, the one thing Barnett should know is the character of the players he recruits. He claims, the gang rape party was a "tremendous betrayal" by the players. Really? Remember Gary... you recruited those guys and you have, so far, failed to kick any of them off your team.

Some of the players have gotten one-game suspensions. Whoopie! One lousy game! That will teach them. Gang bang a drunk girl or take recruits to strip clubs, sit out one game. Skip practice or miss a team meeting, sit out one game. Ahh the steep price to pay for "tremendous betrayal."

What dumbfounds me the most, and perhaps the most telling sign of Barnett's apathy for the conduct of his players, is his reaction to an ESPN piece outlining the accusations swirling around Boulder. The nation's most-popular sports channel is airing an expose about Barnett's program that directly calls into question his character and that of his beloved players. What did Barnett do while such a damning broadcast aired???

He slept.
posted by Sean McMahon at 9:49 AM

 
BUMMER SUMMER...

It would have been fun to see these lads make a run in Athens...
posted by Sean McMahon at 8:43 AM

 
I REALLY WANNA MAKE THIS CLEAR...

What is simultaneuosly my favorite and least favorite thing about living in Washington, DC, is that so many people here are politically aware. Only in the District does George W. Bush on a Sunday morning talk show constitute Must See TV. The most enjoyable aspect is kicking back for a couple of days and listening to the various reactions such events garner.

When discussing Bush's dance with Tim Russert on Meet the Press with my Republican friends, I think the most common phrase I heard was very telling. "Hey, at least he didn't make too big of an ass out of himself!" This is the standard by which Republicans have come to judge the leader of the free world?

I really only had two reactions to Bush's Sunday morning quarterbacking. Well, maybe two and a half...


1. I loved Bush's response to Russert's questions about the election.

Russert: Are you prepared to lose?

President Bush: No, I'm not going to lose.

Russert: If you did, what would you do?

President Bush: Well, I don't plan on losing. I?ve got a vision for what I want to do for the country. See, I know exactly where I want to lead. I want to lead us ? I want to lead this world toward more peace and freedom. I want to lead this great country to work with others to change the world in positive ways, particularly as we fight the war on terror, and we got changing times here in America, too.
Does Bush's confidence and tone sound familiar to you? It's awfully similar to what he said about the planning for post-war Iraq. He had a plan and any other possible scenario was impossible.

Well, if Bush proves as unmovable on strategy during the campaign as he was on pre-war coalition building and post-war planning for Iraq, I reckon we will all have something to celebrate come November.


2. My new favorite Bush habit is the trouble he goes to to make things "perfectly clear". He can't speak clearly, and even when he tries to talk himself into speaking clearly, he fails miserably. Half a dozen times on Sunday, Bush began responses with phrases like... "I wanna make this clear to the American people" or "It's important that we all understand". Inevitably, whenever he offered such a caveat, he then trapsed all over cognizant speech and failed to make anything clear or understandable.

Here is an example from the transcript of Sunday's chat...

"It's important for people to understand the context in which I made a decision here in the Oval Office. I'm dealing with a world in which we have gotten struck by terrorists with airplanes, and we get intelligence saying that there is, you know, we want to harm America."

Huh?

Let me make this clear so the American people understand what I mean..."oiwrhgiorhgvavrpgnaoevv alkrnga"


1/2. Saddam Hussein is a madman. Did you hear Saddam Hussein is a madman? Hey, I heard Saddam Hussein is a madman. Billions of dollars of high-tech spying capabilities and intelligence gathering expertise suggests Saddam Hussein is a madman? Thanks for the tip Georgie...
posted by Sean McMahon at 9:46 AM

 
CBS' NEWFOUND PARTISANSHIP TO REAP IMMEDIATE REWARDS...

Lately, a lot of people have been rueing the conversion of CBS from a somewhat respectable, objective organization to the latest media conglomerate to sell out for political gain. Most of the furor started after CBS caved to Republican pressure and yanked the Reagans miniseries that many conservative believed painted a dark picture of their beloved Ronald Reagan.

In an even more blatant move to protect the White House, CBS annouced just before the Super Bowl they would not broadcast a commercial produced by MoveOn.org that slammed President Bush. CBS claimed "the decision against broadcasting the spot had nothing to do with either the Super Bowl or the ad's specific issue but was because the network has had a long-term policy not to air issue ads anywhere on the network." Of course, the network then proceeded to air anti-drug and anti-smoking ads during the game.

Then Justin and Janet got freaky.

Now everyone is up in arms over a little bit of nipple and FCC Chairman Michael Powell has vowed a full investigation.

Not even CBS president Les Moonves could have dreamed the political cover he has been providing the GOP would pay off so soon. He was probably expecting CBS to get preferential treatment in the future in terms of exclusive interviews with Bush and other power players. Now he get this cherry.

It's not too hard to follow people. CBS has been extremely kind to the conservative cause lately. Now that same conservative cause is conducting an investigation of CBS?

Hmmm... Does that sound proper to you?

So what's gonna happen? Here's the odds I'm giving...

Bazillion - 1: The FCC has the power to revoke the broadcast licenses of any and all CBS affiliates that broadcast Nipple-gate. Silence the voice of such a friendly network? Not gonna happen.

10-1: The FCC can fine each CBS affiliate a maximum of $27,500. That doesn't sound like a whole lot, but consider there are somewhere around 200 CBS affiliates. That puts a total fine somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.5 million. That could leave a mark, but remember a number of those affiliates are very small outfits. A fine of $27,500 would hurt a few of the more rural CBS outposts. Could happen, but not likely.

2-1: Remember, the FCC can fine each affiliate a maximum of $27,500. They can also fine each affiliate less than that. Dropping a $10,000 fine on each affiliate ballons the total to around $2 million, but spreads the hurt. Powell has said he would be interested in fining all the affiliates the same amount. Not that far out of the question.

Even Money: The FCC will drop a nice $1 million fine on CBS. The figure is neat for headlines and lets the public know the FCC has taken action. The dollar figure does nothing to really harm CBS. Smart money bets here.
posted by Sean McMahon at 7:39 PM