Both parties standing in way of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal

(NOTE: This article originally appeared in the September 24, 2010 edition of Central Michigan Life.)

What should have been a monumental and historic occasion was reduced to a political ploy for votes and ultimately failed, leaving a legal form of discrimination in place.

On Monday, a provision that would have led to the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military law that prevents gays and lesbians from serving openly failed to garner the 60 votes needed to block a Republican filibuster in the Senate.

While pundits from both sides will try and lay blame at one specific group, there is plenty of blame to go around here.

Debates in gubernatorial race unnecessary

(NOTE: This article originally appeared in the September 20, 2010 edition of Central Michigan Life.)

Political debates are dull, tedious and boring, and thanks to this year’s gubernatorial candidates, Michigan voters may be spared from them.

The sides representing Democratic candidate Virg Bernero and GOP candidate Rick Snyder have not been able to compromise on how many debates should take place, when or where the debates should take place, the time they should be and who the moderators should be.

Fine, just scrap the whole idea.

Not all conservatives are far-right extremists

(NOTE: This article originally appeared in the September 15, 2010 edition of Central Michigan Life.)

As someone who freely admits to being politically conservative, it always angers me when people just assume I am tuned into Fox News 24/7 and I already have a ballot punched for Sarah Palin in 2012.

I do not watch Glenn Beck or even think Sarah Palin is qualified to run as much as a Dairy Queen.

I have no doubt President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii; not Kenya, Senegal or the forest moon of Endor. And I am not alone.

Report the truth, no matter how ugly

(NOTE: This article originally appeared in the September 13, 2010 edition of Central Michigan Life.) 
Matt Dobek committed suicide.


Those were four words that the Detroit media establishment would not print for a week.

Dobek, a CMU alumnus and 2009 inductee of the CMU Journalism Hall of Fame, was found dead Aug. 21 after hanging himself at age 51.

Yet, if you only relied on media reports, you would have had no clue that Dobek took his own life.

Tate Forcier still fails to earn his wings...

A picture may tell a thousand words, but the sight of a 20-year-old kid pouting on a bench by himself speaks even louder.

Tate Forcier, the former freshman standout reduced to third string quarterback at Michigan made headlines this summer when he was forced by Head Coach Rich Rodriguez to practice with a blank blue helmet that lacked Michigan's trademarked yellow wings as a punishment for not being totally committed to the team.

By the time Michigan kicked off their 2010 season with a impressive 30-10 win over Connecticut on Saturday, Forcier had his wings but obviously left his maturity back in the lockerroom.

1,553 tickets issued in first week at CMU, 30 percent of parking violations voided

(NOTE: This article originally appeared in the September 1, 2010 edition of Central Michigan Life.)

Central Michigan University Police issued 1,553 parking violations during the first week of classes.

Out of those violations, 453 tickets were voided, said Kim Roshak, office manager of CMU Parking Services. There are 54 citations still pending, as of Tuesday afternoon.

Most citations issued were for not properly displaying a parking pass, which is called a “Failure to Display,” Roshak said.

“If a student comes in the Parking Services office with a ticket for failure to display and purchases the required parking permit, we will, as a courtesy, void their parking citation,” she said.

The Detroit Tigers All-Decade Team, the 2000's

Quickly as it came, the first decade of the 21st Century has come and gone.  With a decade or century or millenium ending, as we've all experienced within the past 11 years, people need to compile lists.  So with that, I have taken the initiative to compile the All-Decade Team for our beloved Detroit Tigers for the 2000s.

A few notes, stats only compiled from the beginning of the 2000 through the end of the 2009 seasons are counted for this team.

Now, you may notice that this list will be heavy on players who have played for Jim Leyland, as Leyland's tenure as manager coincided with the team getting good.  There's a reason for that.  For the first six seasons of this decade, the Tigers were awful.  From 2000 through 2005, the Tigers were the worst team in baseball.  The team's record was an abysmal 386-585 for a winning percentage of .399, finishing an incredible 199 games under .500.  The team lost atleast 90 games five years in a row (2001-2005), lost over 106 games twice (2002 & 2003) and tied the Major League record for losses in a season with 119 in 2003.  That 2003 team is also the worst team in American League history.  Phil Garner, Luis Pujols and Alan Trammell guided the club and all of them suffered atleast 96 losses in that period, the most wins the team had was 79.

Since 2006, with Leyland as manager the team has incurred an incredible turnaround, how much credit due to Leyland is debateable, but the numbers don't lie.  Since 2006, the team is 343-306 and in 2006, made the post-season for the first time since 1987, made the World Series for the first time since 1984 and captured the franchise's first Wild Card berth.  After suffering 12 straight losing seasons from 1994 to 2005, Leyalnd's Tigers have had three winning seasons in four years.  Also, the Tigers lost the AL Central Division Championship in 2009 in the 163rd game of the season, losing to the Minnesota Twins in a one-game playoff.

From the Vault: Chris Benoit

(NOTE: I plan to post any old columns writings of mine on here from my days at The North Star and random blogs I have floating on the internet, if I can find them.  This was originally written on July 4, 2007 and is about the Chris Benoit tragedy.  More info on the Benoit double murder-suicide.)

Does Gary Bettman know the NBA Exists?

It sounds like a dumb question to ask, considering he was David Stern's right hand man before he was sent to destroy the NBA's main competition in a long con bigger than anything that James Ford had ever put on.  But when Bettman schedules Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals to go head-to-head against Game 2 of the NBA Finals, you have to wonder what he's thinking.

Obama's Quid Pro Quo shows he's just another politican

Sen. Barack Obama campaigned for 2 years on bringing "Change" to Washington.

President Barack Obama has turned his administration into a seemingly never ending game of quid pro quo where the President would gladly trade positions within his administration so his hand-picked candidates would not have to face tough primaries in their senate races.