Well folks, I have another rant against the N F L......its officiating crew and those who are employed to run the League. Remember: the N F L is made up by teams, 32 of them. The owners of these various teams meet at certain times throughout the year to determine what is and what is not penalties on the field; they also determine certain codes of conduct of ALL personnel within the League. During these meetings they have "elected" personnel to run the League in day to day operations. This is simplified, but it is how the League operates....with an "Executive Director", called the Commissioner who is "in charge". He and his "underlings" hire everyone else, from the secretaries, personnel directors and the officiating crews. There is more to it, but..........

Now to my rant.................They should now change the name of the N F L (National Football League) to the N F L (Neverending Fine League)....Jerry Granville used to call it the No Fun League, which was true...still is, but this new name fits more aptly. Why, you may, or  not, ask........because things have gotten out of hand, from the officiating at the games to the fines that have been levied. There has been so many BAD noncalls and calls of late (only 6 games into the season) that I begin to wonder 1. Are the Officials being paid off.   2. Are the Officials really competent.  3. Do the Officials need more Officials on the field of play. 4. Do the Officials need to be retrained.  5. Do the Officials need to be issued good eyeglasses so that they can see what we see during the game.

I bring this up for several reasons, not the least of which is the fines being imposed by the LEAGUE even though during a game, no flags were thrown...........the OFFENDENT never even know he had done something wrong.....no yellow hanky was thrown (and you know they do this quite readily); the Offendent only becomes aware of the infraction when he receives a letter....in the mail....containing the BAD news AND a fine. The latest victim, er, Offendent has been identified as Pittsburgh's own,  Hines Ward..........His latest "gaffe" was "Uneccessary Roughness" . For this....his second ALLEDGED penalty.......he is being fined 10 thousand dollars...the first "offense" cost him 5 grand. One coach...don't remember which ####...calls Ward a dirty player, however not many really do that........AND he has not, to date, INJURED any other player. He is, without a doubt, the premier blocking Wideout in the NFL, but dirty...no.

Now, before one begans to call me a "homer" and prejudice, allow me to explain....Ward's case and fines are the only ones I am aware of....there are others, maybe, I don't know. Point is: Ward was not flagged by Officials at the games, no one threw a yellow hanky at him...whomever he blocked or whatever did not complain.............NO ONE complained, not even the guys broadcasting the game, you know how they love to do that!

By the way.....there are plenty of late hits on Quarterbacks of late, some are called...most are not. There is, do I have this right, a one step rule..no flag if the tackler is within one step of the QB. I've seen Big Ben hit, pounded into the ground "long" after the ball was released...no flag. I have seen him driven into the ground time after time, the latest caused a "minor" separation to his right shoulder...no flags. AND these players never received a letter from the N F L. The same has occured in other games I have watched...QB'#### late, QB's driven into the ground...no flags, no fines. There are "vicious" blocks in the back, no flags, no fines, so.....................?? Doesn't that make the rest of you wonder. Where the hell is the League going? What the hell is Dodger Goodell doing?? His minions are acting like they are gods....one cannot even question the dingbat Officials, you WILL receive a fine.

I think it is time for the N F L to let the players play...if it is a blatant hit, throw the damn flag and fine the guy, otherwise......One further thing watch for the REAL late hits on all players...there are plenty to go around.

Finally...get someone to "police" the "hired help" that is what Dodger and his organization is after all. THE TEAMS ARE THE N F L..........not Goodell and his people, time for him to realize this.

Before everyone gets bent out of shape....this is tied into sports, all sports.

Everyone has been watching the meltdown of Wall Street recently; many people have been affected, one way or another; many have lost their homes, their jobs, their pensions and many who can afford to buy items on credit can't. It seems that the only ones NOT affected by the meltdown are POLITICIANS AND PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES.

These persons continue to draw their high salaries, basically paid by us. Taxpayers pay the elected POLITICIANS salaries and all their benefits. Fans pay the ATHLETES salaries and benefits by paying admission prices and buying things that are advertised, one way or another during the athletic contests; of course the companies that sell these things pay huge money in order advertise their products during these contests. Of course we pay for this advertising in the end...ever increasing prices of food, automobiles, housing...whatever.

Not one of the POLITICIANS or ATHLETES care to reduce THEIR salaries or benefits; at least the athletes are not blaming each other for the economical debacle that is unfolding before our eyes. However ALL the politicians are blaming each other. AND the majority are blaming the Bush Presidency for the current debacle. Obama claims that Bush and his cronies caused this; McCain is blaming the Democrats. I wonder......does anyone know who is at fault? Are any of you thinking how this came about? I have.

I believe the debacle came about because of the banking industry's proclivity of granting loans to persons and businesses who, in the end, could not afford to make the required payments. The loans were offered at low rates to draw customers in; the drawback was that they were "adjustable interest" loans. After a "short" period the loan interest began to rise to what the market dictated, since the loan rate was not "fixed" payments rose to a point that customers began to default. Foreclosures began, causing a glut of real estate on the market, lowering the value of the property in question. With banks not being able to "unload" these properties to recover the loss, banks began to fail. Bigger banks began to fail for the same reason, their money was tied up in loans to smaller banks; all were based on real estate purchased at "overvalued" prices.

So..........banks refused to offer credit, even to those well able to afford the cost of interest; thus we started down the slippery slope. Since the availability of credit controls everything, businesses had not enough money to perform; layoffs began, businesses lost money. The value of businesses went down, so investers began to unload their stock..causing the value to go even lower with more and more "selldowns". The panic began and will continue, until people with faith in the "system" begin buying stock, which will cause the price of stock to rise; but the "profit takers" will do this....buy low and sell high.

Of course I simplified what has occured, there is more; but panic selling has always ruined the economy...look at the '29 crash, the panic selloff bankrupted the Nation and the world. Of course there was no money behind the stocks that crashed then, one could purchase and own stocks for 10 cents on the dollar, without ever putting any more money in the stock. My aunts and uncles lost "fortunes" in the '29 crash, of course it was only paper money.....their "fortunes" were only on paper, no "real" money behind it.

Tie this into sports....the Jerry Jones', the Rooneys' and other owners have investments that enable them to survive; they also rely on adverising fees and profit sharing to afford the salaries paid. What happens when some businesses "refuse" to pay those fees? What happens when those businesses fail? Where is the money going to come from? Will the players take cuts in salaries to aid the team? Will owners cut their losses and just fold? IT COULD HAPPEN. Think about it.

Three, just three, games into the season and some fans are already calling the Steelers done for the season......because of a loss to the Eagles???  Give me a break!! Them too!

Sure they lost to a great team; I knew they would either lose or win by a slim margin. Turns out they lost by 9 points......BIG DEAL!!  They couldn't or wouldn't adjust to the blitz packages the Eagles threw at them. They started to run blitz, taking out Willie Parker, the Coaches did not adjust....instead they started to pass; the Eagles pinned their collective ears back and blitzed anywhere with 6, 7, even 8 men. Big Ben had no time to even check for a hot receiver to counter, so.............he got sacked, then sacked, then sacked!

Still, the Defense kept them in the game, even to the Fourth Quarter. The Steeler Defense played well, having to be careful because McNabb is just too good at finding his receivers under pressure, just as he did for the Eagles lone Touchdown. Does that make the Steelers a bad or done team?? No, a bad team will not adjust for the next game, I believe the Steelers will....they will have "hot receivers" to defeat the blitz when in passing plays...hopefully Ben will not have to look for them...just throw to the area they are to be in, ala Dan Fouts.

The other item that further the Eagles cause was their Punter.....how many times did he bury the ball so close to the Goalline?? How many times did his punts leave no chance for a return man to return it, even catch the thing?? Well....I don't think there are too many teams that can do what the Eagles did, except the Giants. Most teams that will now play the Steelers will attempt the same Defense....it may work, it may not....other teams, especially in our Division cannot do what the Eagles can do..........Number One, they don't have Jim Johnson, Number Two, they don't have a Donovan McNabb; finally they cannot all handle the Defense of the Steelers, hungry to prove that they are not "washed up".

I look for the Steelers to rebound and learn from the mental errors committed in the loss to the Eagles. At the very least they WILL win the Division, quite possibly the entire AFC. I don't necessarily see the Steelers in the Super Bowl (unless they take the AFC crown), but I do see either the Eagles or the Cowboys in the Super Bowl...the black horse will be the Giants this year....they could also make it.

Remember folks, there are 16 regular games in a season...only 3 have been played, so don't count anyone out until the FAT LADY sings!! I look for Ariens (whom I never liked) and the O line coach to make major adjustments. AND....GO STEELERS!!!!

You may or may not ask what I am tired of. Whether you want to know or not, I am going to tell you what I am tired of and whom I am tired of.

I am sooooo tired of overpaid professional athletes who "earn" millions of dollars for entertaining the masses and then complain that it is not enough money. I am also tired of the professional sport team owners who have no guts and continue to pay the athletes the zillions of dollars; owners, to stroke their own egos, bid and outbid each other to gain athletes in their "stables".

I am sooooo tired of overpaid and underworked politicians who claim to have the best interests of the public at heart while they line their pockets with lobbyist's money and various perks. They cowtow to the lobbyists and other special interest groups to the detriment of the public......then become involved in private entities like Major League Baseball and professional football, claiming THESE organizations are corrupt, crime ridden, steroid using and drug infested miscreants. I think they should clean their own houses first; ah but the public will say "what a fine job they are doing, cleaning up our sports".

I am sooooo tired of SOME overpaid and underworked schoolteachers who claim they are overworked.............They evidently do not realize...more to the point......they DON'T CARE that they, like our elected officials, are paid by the taxpayers. They work in usually safe environs, free from the dangers of soldiers, police officers, corrections officers who are paid much, much less. Most of the ones complaining do just enough to keep their jobs, they would not have been worth a darn in my time. I remember when teachers taught...they also worked part-time jobs after school and during the summer to make ends meet. They cared.

I am sooooo tired of BIG BUSINESS continually taking advantage of the public. To reduce costs, they have outsourced manufacturing to foreign countries, while not reducing the prices of the products, all in the pursuit of bigger and bigger profits for greedy stockholders and CEO's. We, the public follow like sheep....continue to let them "shaft" us.

Basically though..............I am sooooo tired of the whole "entertainment" complex in the United States.............millions upon millions of dollars being expended on athletes, movie stars, TV stars to do nothing more than entertain us, to give us some minor respite from our alledgedly humdrum, hohum existence. We are fast approching the day of 300 dollar general admission tickets to baseball/football games, 10 dollar beers and hotdogs.

Isn't it about time we woke up.....................Take control of our lives and live as the Founding Fathers thought we would..................decently, with no one having a real unfair advantage?