The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has received a great deal of heat from the press in recent weeks after he claimed he no longer feels safe while in the pocket and isn't having fun anymore. Well, I'm here to say Newton, like all other dual-threat quarterbacks, has a point. While I agree with many of these same critics that the NFL has gotten too protective of quarterbacks overall, dual-threat quarterbacks like Newton tend to be treated differently than traditional drop-back passers by officiating crews, and that's not right. I think this is largely due to many people, officials included, seeing quarterbacks like Newton as running backs behind center as opposed to actual quarterbacks. This shouldn't be the case, though. When a quarterback's behind the line-of-scrimmage, regardless if he has the speed of Michael Vick or Tom Brady, if he's hit in a manner which violates a league rule, the defense should be penalized. Newton might be bigger and quicker than m...

Last week, I wrote about how some conservatives were insisting that if the Confederate flag had to come down due to the hate and intolerance associated with it, so too did the rainbow flag. I know, apples and Big Macs, right? Well, just yesterday, The Washington Post  released an article entitled, "Which is more taboo? The Confederate flag or the rainbow flag?" The article spoke in-depthly about a poll that was conducted by The American Panel Survey (TAPS) in November of last year. The poll revolved around offensiveness - in particular, how offensive the Confederate flag, rainbow flag, n-word, and a burning flag (U.S.) were. While a very high percentage of Republicans and Democrats found the n-word and an American burning flag to be offensive, they greatly differed in opinion with regard to the Confederate and rainbow flags. While less than 50% of Republicans found the Confederate flag to be offensive, close to 70% were offended by the rainbow flag. In contrast, while 75% o...

I hate doing this, but after watching some college football today, felt the need to inform a couple announcers about the rules of college football. On two separate occasions today, I heard announcers state the following after a flag was thrown: "It appears as if we have a face mask on the way and it's the 15-yard variety!"  It wasn't always this way, but all face-mask penalties are now 15 yards. All touchdowns are worth 6 points. All field goals are worth 3 points. All college football announcers should read up on the rules of the game before calling any games. That or they'd be welcome to call me for some pointers. I'll only charge $1,500.00 per second. I can be reached at the number 1-800-YEAHDUH. Call away!