You would be hard pressed in most circles to find many who support the government bailout of Wall Street. We are essentially bailing out misdirected companies who took advantage of regulations to get richer while driving their respective companies into the ground. Now the number for the bailout is at $850 Billion. Well I may have a better idea.

Here is a package that Main Street America might like a little better. Why not give that money to Main Street instead. Not everyone gets money though. If we gave part of $850 Billion in check for to every single American citizen that would only be approximately $2800. According to the Us Census 2008 there are 305,320,715 people living in the U.S.

How about breaking it down a lot more. How about only tax paying citizens. If you pay yearly taxes and have dependants (claiming yourself is ok) then you get the bailout. That figure per tax paying citizen gets a lot bigger. How about getting a check for $20,000 if you pay taxes every year for no less than 2 years receiving as early as age 18. Then if you own a home another check for $25,000 and if you own a home and no one else can claim you as a dependant you get an additional $10,000. There would also be military bonuses as well.

We would save approximately $274 Billion dollars! Americans would have a lot of cash to spread around. They said the government stimulus checks helped the economy. They also said it wasn’t enough. Well here you go! Now where is my check?

There would have to be a catch, right? There is. Part of the plan is to make it mandatory that you pay back any debt you have to creditors and lenders. However most Americans would have much better credit and some cash left to blow. Wall Street gets its money back from Main Street. It’s a win win!

Okay so maybe that wouldn’t work. But it sure sounds good to me. The hole in the theory is that it would be a bad idea for certain people to get this much money all at once. It probably wouldn’t be a good thing to give a crackhead or a gambler $65,000. But hey if they are a tax paying citizen then they deserve it to. The other hold up is that it would never happen ever ever ever ever!  If it does you all better send me some cash for the idea!

 

According to an article in the Detroit News Bill Ford jr. says Matt millen should resign.  It appears that the son of the Lions owner reads my blogs.  Okay maybe not.  Here is what JR said: 

"It's embarrassing," Ford told The Detroit News Monday on the sidelines of the Detroit Economic Club. "The fans deserve better, and if I had the authority I'd fire the general manager."

No #### Sherlock!  If I had the authority I would have done it years ago! 

Also from the article in the Detroit News:

Ford Jr. is vice chairman of the Lions and son of franchise owner William Clay Ford, who purchased the team in 1964. Ford Sr. has final say on Millen, and his son has not intruded publicly on his father's domain.

The Lions can sit and stew over their 0-3 start during the bye week this week.  The Lions next play the Chicago Bears at home.  If Millen is not out by then you can guarantee the Lions fans will be protesting outside and wearing bags on their heads on the inside.  Stay tuned on this developing story.

It is time for Bill Ford jr to assert himself into this situation.  He may one day be the owner himself.  Is this the type of organizational nightmare he wants to inherit?  We will see.

  Yes, now you have heard of them all. Diets are as American as Credit Cards. Most Americans try at least one diet every year. Some seem to try a new one every month. From counting calories to counting points all diets have a system.

  Unfortunately the part of the diet most leave out is the most important one. That would be the exercise portion. There is a diet out there that doesn’t work without it. Well except the "Hollywood diet". That diet is a liquid you drink for 48 hours to drop 10 pounds in two days. Too bad that liquid comes back out violently!

The 12,000 calorie diet consists of these meals:

 Breakfast- three fried egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions, and mayo, one five-egg omelet,  a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast with powdered sugar, and three chocolate chip pancakes washed down with two cups of coffee.

 Lunch-a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

Dinner- another pound of pasta, an entire pizza with another 1,000 calories of energy drinks.

This diet works! It only works though if you are training for the Olympics. This is the diet of the greatest Olympic Champion of all-time, Michael Phelps. However if you aren’t training you would actually gain four pounds per day. This is also equal to 20 Big Macs. Phelps burn approximately 1,000 calories per hour when he is training.

The next time you want to try a new diet, go for it. I would recommend swimming for the exercise portion of your diet though. That must be why I was so skinny as a kid!

When looking back at the year of 2007 there are so many memories and big storiesin sports. It is unbelievable how many huge stories there were. What is being attempted here is three lists. Three lists that are putting all these stories front and center once again.

Some will spark fond memories, some not so much. Some stories we had this year were and still are very painful to many people but great to many others. Some of these stories were so unbelievable that we had to check several sources just to believe they were true. Unfortunately there were many deaths as well.

It was yet another great year in sports. Here are the top 10 stories for the Good the Bad and the Ugly.

 Top Ten Good from 2007-

 

10. U.S. wins team World Championships for Greco Roman Wrestling in Baku, Azerbaijan. This was the first time the U.S. has ever won this as a team. Maybe if this victory didn’t take place in Azerbaijan you would have heard about this one.

9. David Beckham signs with the L.A. Galaxy in the MLS. The MLS is so far off the map that many Americans didn’t know that there was still an MLS for him to sign in.

8. Jimmie Johnson wins Nascar’s Nextel Cup for second season in a row! Johnson beat out Jeff Gordon who also had an amazing year.

7. Big Boston deals. The Celtics became a relevant team agin in 2007 by acquiring Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. The Celtics went from worst to first and are now legitimate contenders not only in the NBA’s Eastern Conference but for a NBA Championship.

6. Rockies Roll to the World Series. The Rockies won 21 of 22 in a remarkable run to the World Series. Unfortunately they had an 8 day lay off that may have cooled the teams momentum as the were beat by the Red Sox.

5. Boise State goes undefeated and beat Oklahoma on two incredible plays to win. Boise State was the underdog in the Fiesta Bowl and won in overtime 43-42 in one of the best football games ever. It capped off an undefeated season.

4. Florida’s big year. After winning the NCAA basketball Championship and football Championship the football team had the Heisman trophy winner. Tim Tebow won the trophy as an underclassman and is poised to be the second two-time winner if all goes well in 2008. Tebow had 51 total touchdowns (29 passing, 22 rushing) as only a sophomore!

3. The Spurs won the NBA Championship and the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup. These were two under the radar type Championships for different reasons. The Spurs won with defense and overall team play headed by possibly the best overall player in the league in Tim Duncan. The Ducks won in similar fashion but since bowling gets higher ratings than hockey most people didn’t even see the Ducks play on their amazing run.

2. Indianapolis wins the Super Bowl and Peyton Manning gets off the snide. Manning who was riddled with big game losses through college and pro football. But not in 2007. Manning led the Colts past the Patriots and then the Bears.

1. Appalachian State beats Michigan at the Big House in the biggest upset in college football history. By beating the number five ranked Wolverines Appalachian State won their 3rd straight Division 1 National Championship.

 Top Ten Bad from 2007-

 

 10. West Virginia coaches bolt for Michigan. West Virginia lost three coaches overall. Gone to Michigan are the women’s soccer coach, men’s head basketball coach, and most recently the head football coach. I think it is time for Michigan and West Virginia to start playing every year.

9. Marion Jones doping scandal. Marion Jones was included in the Balco steroids scandal this year which in turn wiped out all the Olympic gold medals and Olympic records. This story has been in the making for years but was confirmed this year.

8. Kevin Everett’s spinal injury in week one of the NFL season was a very scary one. Some players on the field didn’t think he would live, let alone walk again.

7. Ugueth Urbina was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the attempted murder of five employees at his ranch in Venezuela. The ranch hands were using the family’s pool without permission so Urbina decided to pour gas on them and attempted to light them on fire.

6. Joe Kennedy’s death. Kennedy died mysteriously the day before being a best man in a wedding. He last pitched for Toronto but was better known for his days in Oakland. He was the father of a 1 year old son.

5. Cardinals lose another pitcher in a tragic death. First it was Pitcher Daryl Kile in 2002 and then Josh Hancock, a relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, had died in an automobile accident. Josh was intoxicated and hit a tow truck on the highway.

4. Darrent Williams death after a New Years eve party was shocking to many as he was hit in a limo that was leaving a party. This all happened just hours after the team was eliminated from the playoffs.

3. Sean Taylor’s death was another tragedy in the NFL this season as he was gunned down in his own home in Miami. Taylor was recently elected to the Pro Bowl and is mourned by many as he was a man who had just decided to turn his life around in recent years. He was an impact player in the NFL and becoming an impact citizen in life.

2. Michal Vick’s dog fighting scandal was alomost as big as it got in sports stories for 2007. The Vick scandal rocked two communities and also headed the demise of the Atlanta Falcons organization. The Falcons have used four Qbs and also had head coach Bobby Petrino bolt for Arkansas. Vick was sentenced to 23 months in jail and could face more time in Virginia for the same case.

1. Chris Benoit was the most shocking story of the year. The WWE Superstar had recently lost best friend and fellow WWE Superstar Eddie Guerrero the year before. This year he killed his son, his wife, and then himself in a span of two days at his home in Georgia. The story had more twists and turns than any story in many years.

 Top Ten Ugly from 2007-

 

10. The Miami Dolphins (1-14 at the time this was written) having their worst season ever and threatened to go winless in the same season the undefeated record set by the 72' Dolphins is threatened by New England.

9. The Chicago Bears went all the way to the Super Bowl in 2007 but ended up having to rely on Wrecks Grossman in the Big Game. Everything that got the Bears to the Super Bowl was absent from the Super Bowl. They got there with special teams, defense, and key turnovers. Three things they couldn’t manage to get in a rain soaked Super Bowl. Since the big game they have slid all the way into last place in the NFC Central getting swept by the Detroit Lions of all teams.

8. Travis Henry had a drug problem. It manifested into a positive test that was appealed and over ruled which not only kept him in football this season it also revealed his child support payments to his 9 children with 9 women. Better known as "baby mamas". Two more and he has an entire football squad, if they played both ways!

7. Marty Schottenheimer was fired after leading the Chargers to a 14-2 season. That is unheard of in football. It didn’t look good as the Chargers started slowly under new coach Norv Turner. The Chargers did turn it around and won the AFC West this season.

6. Cleveland and the state of Ohio were denied in many sports in 2007. Ohio State lost in the college basketball and football championships, both to Florida, the Cavaliers lost in the NBA Finals to the Spurs, and the Indians lost to the Red Sox in the ALCS. I guess it could be worse, all those teams could be terrible. This does not mention the great season the Browns are having either. They should make the playoffs but I think most fans in Ohio are not expecting them to go to the Super Bowl. Although the mind of a Browns fan is a sick an twisted place!

5. Pacman Jones was suspended for the entire 2007 season for all the arrests he had in a one year period. There was a point where sports highlights shows didn’t ever show him in a uniform, it was usually county jail orange. He then signed up with TNA Wrestling. What a fitting move.

4. Imus fired for remarks towards Rutgers womens basketball. Imus initially was given a two-week suspension for calling the Rutgers women’s basketball team "nappy-headed ####" which was way out of line. Most of those girls aren’t "####"! They are too ugly for that. Actually there aren’t a whole lot of good looking college athletes in any sport. The Comments were backed up by comedian D.L. Hughley which in turn sparked the debates even further. Somehow I don’t think these girls have not been called worse in person. But they are college girls and it wasn’t fair to them. It didn’t help that the comments came from one of the worst radio hosts who is so ugly that if his ugliness was represented by bricks he would be the Great Wall of China.

3. Barry Bonds broke the all-time home run record this year and then was indicted by a federal grand jury for perjury all in the same year. It was rather strange though how the indictments didn’t come down until after the season was over.

2. The NBA ref scandal with Tim Donaghy. NBA referee Tim Donaghy allegedly bet on NBA games, including contests that he officiated. Could NBA playoff games have been compromised? What does this betting scandal do to the credibility of NBA games? It all seamed so obvious when looking back at some of the glaring calls he made. The problem is, many have thought this in the past already with the way some games are called in such a lopsided fashion. This only put more fuel on the fire.

1. The Mitchell report. Only Bud Selig would spend $40 Million to find out what he and every breathing person in America already knew. Many players did steroids in baseball. The report only named 90 players after a 20 month investigation. Why didn’t they spend 1/100th of that and implant a solid steroids testing policy more like the Olympics use or the Tour De France! Besides it was steroids that brought the game back in 1998 after the lockout.

Receiving a vote for every category of the lists were the New England Patriots. They pulled off a trade to get Randy Moss for only a forth round pick, lost their first round pick in 2008 to "Spygate" and coach Belichick was fined an additional $500,000! The Patriots were then labeled as cheaters for many other incidents as well as some from 2006. All this and the Patriots are still undefeated at 14-0 at the time this was written and hold possibly the 5th overall pick in a trade from San Francisco(4-10).

Do’s and don’ts for both callers and hosts. Sports talk radio is one of the most popular ways for fans to talk and listen about sports these days, well besides the internet. It gives "Joe Fan" a chance to sound off on what they think about their favorite teams and upcoming games. I have come up with some things that need to be addressed for this format to grow or keep growing.

Do’s

First one, bring "it"when you call. Have a point, make it, and hang up.

Speak up! Act like you mean what you say and know what you are talking about. This goes back to number one also.

Don’ts

Don’t be such a tough guy. Sports talk is just that.......talk. It is all subjective, so don’t get offended when someone doesn’t agree with your opinion. This goes for hosts as well.

Don’t just call a radio station just to hear your own voice on the radio. You do nothing but slow down an already commercially plagued program. And turn down your radio before you go on too!

Also by the way, you didn’t have "Thunder" to be stolen!!!!! Has there ever been a caller in talk radio history that had so many great points and was such a strong caller that the host and all the listeners thought "WOW that guy had thunder!"

 

Radio hosts, here is your list. Stick to it or at least give it a shot if you plan on sticking around.

Do’s

Have an opinion an get ready to accept arguments for each one of them. Just because you host a show does not mean you are an expert. If you were you would be an executive for an organization on some level.

Let each caller make their point. You get the other three to four hours of show time let the caller get their two minutes in. Besides, as long as you keep some people on hold you should even have an option to talk over them.

Don’ts

Don’t recap the show after each commercial break, we know what is going on, we have been listening.

Why is everyone so negative?  It is just sports.  It really will not have any impact on your life what so ever if you team wins or loses.  Trust me.  I have had almost every team in Michigan win a championship of some kind and it hasn't changed my life one bit!

Chill out on the commercial breaks!!! Quality over quantity! What you need to do is charge more money for less air time! I change the channel if there are too many commercial breaks. One show that does this just has less breaks but the breaks are really long. But at least I know when they come back, they may go for 20-25 minutes! If I think you aren’t coming back for 4-6 minutes I wont either. I may not even come back to your show because I found another one with less commercials. Some shows have almost an equal ratio of commercial to actual show time. Seriously.

We really do NOT need sports updates every 20 minutes, especially at 3 a.m. All this does is cut off the program from any thoughts and adds yet two more commercial breaks for the same exact things we just heard.

The new format for many radio programs has become something like this example:

6:56 commercials lead to sports update at 7:00

7:00-7:02 sports update with sponsor mention

7:02-7:06 commercials

7:06-7:11 talk about what is coming up on the show

7:12-7:15 commercials

7:15-7:20 recap what will be talked about/start a subject

7:20-7:22 commercials

7:22 sports update

7:24-7:28 back to commercials

7:28-7:37 talking sports for longest period of the hour

7:37-7:40 commercials

7:40-7:42 sports update

7:42-7:46 commercials

7:46-7:56 sports talk and one or two callers

7:56 start the cycle over

for hosts for callers for callers

  Ok we still have two more weeks of this season left and I have seen a bunch of mock drafts.  I have even seen the full 7 round mock drafts as well.  It has to stop though.  It is so meaningless right now.  The Championships and Super Bowl haven't even been played yet.  Not to mention free-agency has even started or happened.  At least wait until the combines.

  I don't mind checking them out when it gets a little closer to the draft but this has even permiated to fantasy mock drafts for next year.  It is time to step back, take a time out on mock drafts! 

  If you can't help yourself and must do a mock draft, keep it to the top five or top ten picks only.  This way you don't WASTE to much of your life on something that will NOT happen.   Besides even just in the top ten there are always surprise picks and maybe one trade is made, so you never know and every list is completely subjective anyway.  The fact that fantasy mock drafts have even come out now makes me a little ill.  Usually though the guys doing mock fantasy drafts are in 15 leagues and really have no life at all.  I had two fantasy leaguers and did a poll on FanIQ.com on how many fantasy leagues people are in and the numbers were unreal how many had 4-6 teams.  The best bet is to save you mock draft until the day before the draft when the rumors and you will have a plethera of information that you don't have now.

  You have seen lists of the top ten players in baseball, football, etc.  Well voting now is open to see who everyone thinks are the top ten all time across all sports.  The voting will go on for three weeks and you can have a say in it.  All you have to do is join FanIQ.com if you are not a member.  Once you are a member or if you already are you can vote here. 

  Is Michael Jordsan the best athlete ever maybe Tiger Woods or maybe even Pele', we will have to see what the nation thinks and the results are viewable once you vote.  Just click on the Faniq link above and you are all set.  Once the voting is complete I will publish the list here just like the top ten list of the greatest babseball players of all time as well.  If you didn't see that list, you can see it here.