Friday, September 21, 2007
Stealing signs: The Patriots controversy has been beat to beyond a bloody pulp. But I keep coming back to the easy solution to the problem -- allowing a defensive player to have an earpiece on the field.
Bill Belichick isn't in favor of it, according to this Boston Globe piece, because defenses tend to substitute more. If, in the Bears' case, Brian Urlacher comes off the field because of an injury or for some other reason, who is going to have the radio connection? I think if it's easy enough for the offense to have a radio connection, then the defense can have a radio connection. Give the ear piece to whoever is going to be making the play calls.
The NFL needs to make this rule change. And I suspect after this debacle the franchises will pass it this year.
As for the mention in the Globe story that the Jaguars had trouble with their headsets during a playoff game at New England last season, that is just unacceptable. That may be more of a crime than getting caught filming the Jets' defensive signals.
Bill Belichick isn't in favor of it, according to this Boston Globe piece, because defenses tend to substitute more. If, in the Bears' case, Brian Urlacher comes off the field because of an injury or for some other reason, who is going to have the radio connection? I think if it's easy enough for the offense to have a radio connection, then the defense can have a radio connection. Give the ear piece to whoever is going to be making the play calls.
The NFL needs to make this rule change. And I suspect after this debacle the franchises will pass it this year.
As for the mention in the Globe story that the Jaguars had trouble with their headsets during a playoff game at New England last season, that is just unacceptable. That may be more of a crime than getting caught filming the Jets' defensive signals.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Air problems: Unfortunately, I can't say I share your pain when it comes to emissions testing. But I did have to get regular tests done on some older cars I drove while still living in the Land of Lincoln. I have to say it was not a totally useless experience, other than I burned a few gallons of gas to get to the testing site. But it was quick and relatively painless.
Maybe I just was lucky and had old cars that didn't have emission problems.
Maybe I just was lucky and had old cars that didn't have emission problems.
Monday, September 03, 2007
For all of you who happily live outside the two-county area of Northwest Indiana knowns as "the Region," thank your lucky stars.
There is malfeasance afoot, here in Lake and Porter counties, and I'm not talking about your average politicians-taking-money-then-denying-they-ever-did-while concrete-contractors-keep-funneling-cash-into-their-pockets type of deal.
The heinous acts about which I complain are sanctioned by the men and women who you, as region residents, continue to vote into office.
I'm talking about emissions testing.
For those of us who like to drive our vehicles into the ground before giving up the ghost and buying something new, something as simple as annually paying for our new license plate renewal tags can turn into a very expensive act of utter futility. You see here, because of steel mills and the thousands of black-smoke-belching semi's that pass along the thousands of miles of interstate and county highways each day, I have to make sure my car doesn't have a loose emissions hose before I can pay even more money to register my car.
Some idiots downstate at one time or another felt it would be smart to lay the blame for some of the nation's dirtiest air on guys like me who do nothing more than drive their 4-cylinder asian car around town a few miles at a time. Every two years, my car has to pass a bogus emissions test.
And let me tell you, testing ain't always easy.
Sometimes passage can be as simple as fixing a hose. But most times, one has to spend hundreds of dollars fixing ridiculous problems that have nothing to do with how well the vehicle runs. Something most people would never think to deal with unless their government told them they had to.
I, a few years ago, lived in a state with fairly clean air and no requisite emissions testing. My engine blew one day, and my neighborhood mechanic put a new one in for a pretty good price. Problem is, the emissions hook-ups from the block to the car didn't logistically match up.
Result: My check engine light is in a permanent state of "lit," (not unlike some acquaintances of mine each weekend from about 5 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m Sunday morning).
Anyway ... to make themselves feel better about the screw job they put us through, our elected officials allow us an "out." It's a one-time thing, but it's an "out," nonetheless. If your car is 10 years old or older and has over 150,000 miles on it, you get off "easy", in the state's eyes.
And it will only cost you 500 bucks (well, let's be fair. $450 will usually do the job).
For $450 and a trip to one of a select few "approved emmissions facilities," "Region" drivers can get that one-time exemption; and maybe, just maybe, you can get your car fixed, too.
See, that $450 doesn't have to even fix the problem. You simply have to "show" the state that an effort was made to fix it, according to a whiny state employee who asked me to not "shoot the messenger" as I was trying my best to not berate him over the phone.
So here's the roll ... you're forced to pay $450 to a mechanic approved by the same agency forcing you to pay the money, simply to "show an effort." In my case. $450 won't fix the problem. Only a new engine will. And I told the aforementioned whiner about this, to no avail.
So my reward for moving to the are of the country my wife says is the greatest in the world, is to let my legislators bend me over the trunk of my car while they "ask" me to pay them for the priviledge.
You gotta love Indiana ...
There is malfeasance afoot, here in Lake and Porter counties, and I'm not talking about your average politicians-taking-money-then-denying-they-ever-did-while concrete-contractors-keep-funneling-cash-into-their-pockets type of deal.
The heinous acts about which I complain are sanctioned by the men and women who you, as region residents, continue to vote into office.
I'm talking about emissions testing.
For those of us who like to drive our vehicles into the ground before giving up the ghost and buying something new, something as simple as annually paying for our new license plate renewal tags can turn into a very expensive act of utter futility. You see here, because of steel mills and the thousands of black-smoke-belching semi's that pass along the thousands of miles of interstate and county highways each day, I have to make sure my car doesn't have a loose emissions hose before I can pay even more money to register my car.
Some idiots downstate at one time or another felt it would be smart to lay the blame for some of the nation's dirtiest air on guys like me who do nothing more than drive their 4-cylinder asian car around town a few miles at a time. Every two years, my car has to pass a bogus emissions test.
And let me tell you, testing ain't always easy.
Sometimes passage can be as simple as fixing a hose. But most times, one has to spend hundreds of dollars fixing ridiculous problems that have nothing to do with how well the vehicle runs. Something most people would never think to deal with unless their government told them they had to.
I, a few years ago, lived in a state with fairly clean air and no requisite emissions testing. My engine blew one day, and my neighborhood mechanic put a new one in for a pretty good price. Problem is, the emissions hook-ups from the block to the car didn't logistically match up.
Result: My check engine light is in a permanent state of "lit," (not unlike some acquaintances of mine each weekend from about 5 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m Sunday morning).
Anyway ... to make themselves feel better about the screw job they put us through, our elected officials allow us an "out." It's a one-time thing, but it's an "out," nonetheless. If your car is 10 years old or older and has over 150,000 miles on it, you get off "easy", in the state's eyes.
And it will only cost you 500 bucks (well, let's be fair. $450 will usually do the job).
For $450 and a trip to one of a select few "approved emmissions facilities," "Region" drivers can get that one-time exemption; and maybe, just maybe, you can get your car fixed, too.
See, that $450 doesn't have to even fix the problem. You simply have to "show" the state that an effort was made to fix it, according to a whiny state employee who asked me to not "shoot the messenger" as I was trying my best to not berate him over the phone.
So here's the roll ... you're forced to pay $450 to a mechanic approved by the same agency forcing you to pay the money, simply to "show an effort." In my case. $450 won't fix the problem. Only a new engine will. And I told the aforementioned whiner about this, to no avail.
So my reward for moving to the are of the country my wife says is the greatest in the world, is to let my legislators bend me over the trunk of my car while they "ask" me to pay them for the priviledge.
You gotta love Indiana ...
