The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Growing up in Nebraska and now residing near Columbus, Ohio, I've been around my fair share of homers. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a homer is basically an individual who regularly showcases blind loyalty to a particular team or organization, ignoring their flaws along the way. In Nebraska, there's really only one team in the state and that's the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. Due to that, it seemed as though 95% of the state bled red and white (Nebraska's team colors) 365 days a year. While this significant level of homerism got aggravating after a while, I don't think it was nearly as annoying as the homerism I've witnessed here in central Ohio. I find that odd, for there are many more teams to root for in the state, such as the: Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Bengals, Columbus Blue Jackets, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Browns, just to name a few. Yet, for 365 days a year, it seems as though 95% of Ohio bleeds scarlet ...

Last night, I posted an article with the following headline on my Twitter page: "Track Palin, son of Sarah Palin, allegedly batters girlfriend, waves AR-15 around during drunken fight." How did one right-wing nut job respond to the headline? Oh, just by saying this: "Oh yeah?!? Well, Obama wasn't even born in this country!" No, I'm not sure what her point was either... There was absolutely no connection between the article and the debunked claim that President Obama wasn't born in the United States of America. That's what's called a red herring, perhaps the all-time reddest of herrings... Given this woman's nonsensical response to the before-mentioned headline, expect for her to respond as follows to future headlines: Headline: Fast and Furious 197 breaks box-office records Her response: "Obama and all other Muslims are taking over this country!" Headline: Expect snow across the country this Christmas Her response...

I'm slightly bothered by this whole Johnny Manziel situation, but not like most ESPN commentators it seems. While Manziel was in rehab over the summer and appears to have a history of alcohol problems, the guy is 22-years-old, fresh out of college, so it's not too terribly crazy to think such an individual would like to enjoy his weekend off partying. Yet after this occurred, he was demoted to 3rd string by Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine. Where was the outcry and demotion after he allegedly hit his girlfriend? Am I necessarily criticizing the Browns for demoting Manziel? No. But why in the world did this not occur after the alleged domestic violence incident and instead occurred after TMZ showcased videos of Manziel partying? It boggles my mind to think the NFL and Cleveland Browns would come down harder on this 22-year-old kid (kid in my mind) for drinking alcohol during the team's bye week than of hitting his girlfriend. I do hope the young Browns quarterback ge...

After defeating Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night, boxing great Floyd Mayweather said that after his boxing career comes to a close, he's going to become a dance instructor. "If there's one thing I like more than punching people in the face, it's dancing," said the 38-year-old Mayweather, adding, "Whether it's in the ring, with the press, or elsewhere, there's one thing I've always excelled at, and that's dancing." When asked what type of dancing Mayweather would teach, he said this: "There isn't really a specific name for my kind of dancing. It's different from any other kind of dancing. With the dancing I'm gonna teach, guys all over the world will start taking their ladies out on the dance-floor, with their fists raised up, moving their heads side to side, and trying to keep as far away from these women as possible. Every now and again, perhaps toward the mid portions of songs, guys will reach out for their dance ...

Three years after the death of Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman has come forward, releasing a 13-minute video regarding the incident and his life following it, lashing out at President Obama amongst other things. In the video, Zimmerman made the following statements: - "Only in a true life-or-death scenario can you have mental clearness to know that you cannot feel guilty for surviving. In all fairness you cannot as a human feel guilty for living, for surviving." - "By far, the president of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama." (when asked who has been the most unfair to him) - "To me that was clearly been a dereliction of duty." (regarding President Obama inviting the Martin family to the White House) - "Unfortunately for the president, I'm also my parent's child and my life matters as well. And for him to make incendiary comments as he did and direct the Department of Justice to pursue a baseless prosecution he by far overstretch...

As long-time readers likely know by now, I'm not a fan of the Fifty Shades of Grey series. Not only do I find the quality of writing to be at about a high school of a C-student (that may be too generous), but the actual content of the writing I feel is degrading to women on multiple fronts. As studies have shown, the Fifty Shades of Grey series does a very poor job of depicting a consensual BDSM relationship. What it does do is depict an abusive relationship. Yes, there is a stark difference between the two and as many consenting BDSM partners have adamantly declared, it's appeared as though author E.L. James is unaware of that very difference. Given all this, it seems pretty safe to say I was thrilled to hear that the series was going to be hitting the big-screen, the first of which will be opening this Valentine's Day weekend! I know, what spells romance more than an abusive and controlling man? If I were a woman, I'd, as E.L. James may put it, bite my lip, raise my...

The NFL's image has been significantly marred in recent weeks due to a number of cases surrounding domestic violence. While the league's commissioner Roger Goodell has attempted to take a few steps in the right direction on this front, the league still has a long way to go. Fortunately for Roger Goodell, whose image has gone from bad to downright sickening during this time, he has stand-up players like Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson to aid him on the matter. While I'm fairly neutral when it comes to teams in the NFL, or any sport for that matter, it's difficult not to like and pull for Russell Wilson, who came into this league as an undersized quarterback, wasn't given much of a chance to be an elite-caliber quarterback in this league, has led his team to a Super Bowl victory in his short time there, and continues to showcase that he's a good, decent human being away from the field as well. Wilson continued that do-good trend when he recently in...

Indiana Pacers All-Star Paul George recently posted a series of tweets defending former Baltimore Ravens tailback Ray Rice, and I'm not sure which is more offensive, the actual content of George's tweets or the grammar. George started his controversial tweet-a-thon with this: "Keep it 100 lets act on this police violence like we actin on this Ray Rice case! Stay strong homie!" He followed that up with this: "I don't condone hittin women or think it's coo BUT if SHE ain't trippin then I ain't trippin.. Lets keep it movin lol let that man play!" Last but not least, George tweeted this: "If you in a relationship and a woman hit you first and attacking YOU.. Then you obviously ain't beatin HER. Homie made A bad choice! #StayUp" I'm now going to try and translate the before-mentioned tweets before deciding if their message or grammar was more offensive. Paul George: "Keep it 100 lets act on this police violen...

On my way home last night, I was both curious to hear what talk radio had to say about the extended version of the Ray Rice tape and also about the Monday night football games. I stumbled across this show called On the Bench , hosted by Scott Ferrall, who went on at length about the Ray Rice tape and about the situation in general. While Ferrall heavily bashed Rice, he also criticized his wife, Janay Rice, quite a bit as well. At one point during an interview, he went on this seemingly never-ending tangent, where he repeatedly called Janay a liar, as well as stupid, saying, "What woman in her right mind would want to marry and stay with a man like that? I'll never understand that. She's obviously stupid. I don't get it. I mean, I know some women who hold grudges over the smallest of things for 20 years, yet this woman gets punched in the face and stays with the guy? Acts like it's no big deal? No other woman would do something like that. What is wrong with her?...