Now, I don't know much about much....

Okay, so, it's 5:15 and I'm tanked.

The Browns, God love them, took Joe Thomas at the #3.

I like this pick. I don't have to explain why.



Now, also, the Browns traded the #36 pick this year PLUS their #1 pick next year to take Brady Quinn #22.

As anyone that reads this blog knows, I am not the biggest Brady Quinn fan that ever walked this Earth.

So, what do I think??

Well, Quinn was FREE FALLIN' (thanks, Tom Petty). So, what it really comes down to is:

Is Brady Quinn worth a second round pick?

The answer, assuredly, is YES.

The next question is:

Do the Browns think their first round pick in 2008 is worth Brady Quinn?

There, the question is up in the air.

If, by all accounts, the Browns think they will be good enough in 2007 to mean that their 2008 first round pick is NOT worth Brady Quinn this year, then they made a good trade. If, however, by the end of 2007 it appears that the Browns will be shitty enough that a 1st Round pick is in the top 10, then, they got HOSED.

Now, I don't claim to know much about much, but, I tend to think that JOE THOMAS at #3 and BRADY QUINN at #22 is worth a #36 and a first rounder next year. I don't want you to think that all of these blog entries mean that I think Quinn will suck.

Suck at #3, yes.

Suck??

No.

The Draft is, has been, and will always be about: V-A-L-U-E.

The Browns got two first rounders--by many accounts, two top-10 picks--for the price of two first rounders and a second rounder. Did they over-pay? Possibly. Did they fill two needs with first round picks in a make-or-break year?

Absolutley.


I love Joe Thomas. God Bless the #3 pick.

Truth and Rumors

Heard on 1460 The Fan this afternoon as I drove home from work:

A "source" called Chris Spielman this morning from inside the Browns organization, and reported that Phil Savage wants to draft Joe Thomas, and that, when he told Randy Lerner this, Lerner flat-out told him NO. Something along the lines of: this pick needs to be a deep-impact pick. Then I got out of the car.

First and foremost, I take all of these sorts of things with the proverbial grain of salt. But, to address this more specifically, two things:

1) If Lerner spent that much time hiring the right "football" people, and claims to want to hire the right people and then get out of the way, either he's lying or this source is full of shit. You don't hire a GM, save him from being fired when the marketing manager team president tries to shove him out the door, and then tell him how to do his job. If that's the way Lerner wants to run this team, he should either a) sell the team and get a different job, or b) be straight with the fans and tell us he's trying to make a marketing splash with this year's #1 pick. I'm not going to buy season tickets anymore if he's going to overrule his GM, coach, and scouts as to who is the best player to select for this dreadfully under-talented team.

2) Impact can be felt in a number of ways. Lerner has kept ticket prices down. I appreciate that, as a ticket buyer. But, sooner or later you have to put a GOOD FUCKING TEAM ON THE FIELD. What's more important: selling jerseys (Peterson, Quinn), or getting the best player for this team's current situation (Thomas)? It's like Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinese) says in Apollo 13, when working on the re-entry sequence and the engineer tells him they might have to skip turning on the parachutes: "If the chutes don't open, then what's the point?" Randy Lerner, if you don't actually try to build a good fucking team, what's the point of trying to market it to an increasingly impatient fanbase?? More specifically, if you have a swiss cheese offensive line who can't block anybody, what's the point of getting a blue-chip quarterback or running back?

We've seen our two most hated rivals win Super Bowls since 2000. I'm all for sacrificing Brady Quinn jersey sales if it means getting a player in one of the most (if not THE most) dire needed areas of the team: offensive line.

Let the people you pay to make the football decisions ACTUALLY MAKE THE FOOTBALL DECISIONS!!

"Stan Lee Insulted Me... but in Bizarro-World, that Means He LIKES Me!"

Browns owner Randy Lerner is said to prefer Brady Quinn, who is from Ohio but could take a season or two to develop. Browns general manager Phil Savage and coach Romeo Crennel are said to prefer Adrian Peterson, who could have immediate impact.

From CNNSI Truth and Rumors


My Comic Book Guy quote is being used to illustrate the following: why is it that the three decision makers for the Browns are not said to be interested in the "safest" pick (Savage's words, not mine) in Joe Thomas? Maybe them not saying anything about him at all really means they're going to take him.

If anything, I'm just hoping it's not Quinn. And while I know you already know that, I just needed to say it again.

Catching Up and Looking Forward

Some random notes in the week that was, is, and shall be:

• If you missed Jon Stewart slapping John McCain around like the sell-out bitch he is, please do check it out. This is only part 2 of the interview, but it is definitely riveting TV.


• Cavs are up 2-0 on the Wizards. In other news, scientists discovered the world is indeed round. Not having to play Miami, Chicago, or Detroit until the conference finals is looking mighty nice about now.


• Tribe has rebounded nicely from a 3-game sweep from the Yankees last week to win 5 of 6, including four games in the 9th inning or later. They have also beaten Johan Santana during this stretch. They have quietly snuck into first place in their division. And yes, I know it's April and by simply writing this I've doomed them to a large swoon.


• NFL Draft is (finally!) this weekend. So far, the tentative plan for me is to have the waitress at Fitzgerald's pour me a large shot of Irish Whiskey just before the Browns pick. If they pick Brady Quinn, I will then pound the shot and become beligerent as all hell. Be sure to check your police blotters.


• Along the lines of the draft, the smart pick is Joe Thomas. He may not be the best left tackle ever, but when will this team and its fans wake up to the fact that, if your offensive line sucks, it doesn't matter what QB and/or RB you have behind it? Even John Elway would suck throwing while laying on his ass after getting drilled seven times a game.


• It's not that I don't think JaMarcus Russell won't be a good pro (same with Adrien Peterson, Calvin Johnson). It's that the best fit for the Browns RIGHT NOW at #3 has to be the best offensive lineman in the draft. My preference would be the following:
  1. Joe Thomas
  2. Trade Down
  3. Adrien Peterson
  762. Brady Quinn


• I don't know if you've picked up on this or not, but I think Brady Quinn is OVERRATED. Mel Kiper can eat my ass.


• The Browns signed Simon Fraser to another year contract. That hooting and hollering you may have heard was from Larz.
  
• In band news, we will once again be playing at the Newport Music Hall on Saturday, May 26th. Tickets will be available if anyone cares.

That's all you get for now. Jackals.

Where Do We Go from Here?

I have been wrestling with this whole Virginia Tech thing, and my brain is all over the map. I have about 100 different thought fragments swimming around in my head like so many slippery fish, and I can't seem to grasp onto any one of them for more than a second or two. I don't claim to be right, here. Shit, I don't even claim to have answers. In fact, all I really have is a shit-ton of questions.

The best I can offer to whomever is willing to read is a very choppy, disjointed flow of words about what I'm wrestling with and reflecting on.

• I attempted to take a stab at exploring the issues surrounding something like this once before, but it brings no resolution any closer to me.


• The bottom line is that we will never truly know. We have pieced together almost everything there is to know about Columbine over the last eight years, but we still don't really know why those kids did what they did. And, I don't think anyone will ever truly know why Cho did what he did.


• I think we as human beings have a basic need to know why. It's why we call that girl that broke up with us every day, why we question the origins of our species, why we wonder about the mysteries of the universe and religion. It's human nature. That we will never know makes this especially troubling.


• Why them, not me? I can't imagine what life will be like for the survivors and eye-witnesses. My only hope is that they get the support they need as time goes on.


• As someone who took a lot of English and writing classes, the question of "hey, read this kid's plays and writing! He was obviously fucked up! Why didn't anyone do something?" is a tricky one. At what point do you decide that anyone who writes something disturbing has "problems"? I once wrote a story in creative writing about a divorced woman with severe mental problems that shot herself in the head at the end. Does that mean I'm suicidal? Should Dr. B have referred me to a counselor? If she had, would someone have forced me to go? It feels like a slippery slope.


• It also sounds, as more and more comes to light, like some of his teachers did try to do something. So, do we need to examine our counseling, and look at the processes for helping people in this type of situation?
• 
  
• And, at what point does a teacher have to take self-preservation into account, if they truly feel someone is teetering on the edge? For example: two of my fellow bloggers work in the world of teaching writing. KL has this to say: "I've actually thought about this alot - every time I give some roid-stoked athlete a 'D' or the fail the chairman of the BOT's daughter because she stops coming to class in October, I worry that my office will be stop #1 on the tour of terror."


• Along the lines of needing to know why, I think humans also have an inherent need to have someone to blame. The shooter is dead, so he doesn't ever have to stand up to public venting and scrutiny, but by God somebody has to. Why didn't the police get there sooner? Why didn't the school notify the students? Why didn't the teachers refer this kid to some counseling? Lots of questions, few--if any--viable answers.


• To hold police accountable seems crazy to me. How could they have even remotely considered planning for a situation such as this? Did they stand idly by? By most accounts that I've read/seen, the kid killed himself when it became apparent the police were closing in on him. So, who knows what the death toll could have been had they not done what they did? We can't have it both ways; we can't have our privacy with law enforcement being unobtrusive and at the same time expect them to be everywhere all of the time to prevent every possible crime.


• Why didn't the school notify the students? I tend to think that we've become such an "on-demand" society that we've created unreal expectations for ourselves and our institutions. Couple that in with hind-sight being 20/20, and the water gets choppier. What's the most effective way to notify 25,000 students of what appears at the time to be an isolated dorm shooting? At the time of the classroom shootings, what information did they have, and what information could they have sent out to everyone? And what method is best for getting that information out to 25,000 kids (plus faculty, staff, administration, etc.) in a timely and yet most noticeable way? And, despite hindsight, does anyone think that notifying students of (again, what appeared to be) an isolated incident would somehow have prevented the ensuing incident? Does the school (or, does any school, for that matter) have a contingency in place for deciding what dorm shootings will lead to further classroom shootings across the campus two hours later? Would everyone have stayed home? Could they have locked down every other building on campus to prevent him from entering?


• The following is a sweeping generalization, and I mean no disrespect to the victims' families, but I have to say it: we live in such a litigious society that I can't even finish this thought without getting upset. I shudder to think about what's coming down the road...


• So, after all of that, who's to blame? No one. Everyone. First and foremost, though, this country needs to grieve and attempt to heal. At some point, however, this country needs to step back and take a long, hard look in the mirror in an attempt to really get at the roots here. History has taught us that, unless we really are willing to make an inward change, as opposed to pointing fingers outward and attempting to be reactionary, this IS going to happen again. Did we ever think it was going to get worse than Columbine? Did we really do anything as a culture to ensure that it wouldn't? Are we now happy with the results?


• Guns. Ugh. When will we learn? How much more evidence do we need? The story I had heard was that this kid bought his handguns legally. He had his three forms of ID. He passed his background check. I understand the Second Amendment is open to wide interpretation, but at what point do we draw the line? The solution can't be more guns, more armed guards everywhere. It just can't. Steve brings up a good point: when do the politicians stop fearing the NRA? At what point does that political pressure from everywhere else outweigh that of the gun lobby?


• I'm going to fumble/punt here, so please bear with me... I understand the media has a duty to inform the public, and that this is the hugest story of the year by far. But, at what point does the media need to just back the fuck up? Whether they mean to or not, their need to get ratings and eyes glues to TV sets involuntarily adds a degree of celebrity to the people who commit these acts (bear with me, here; I use the term "celebrity" in the most macabre sense of the word). I think back to the movie "The Frighteners" where Jake Busey's character carved numbers into the foreheads of his victims because he was counting... and trying to outdo the serial killers before him. I don't like the need to label things like this the "Virginia Tech Massacre" or the "worst" school shooting in history (to me, this implies that we can assign a degree of evil or "badness" to something that really can't/shouldn't be quantified).


• To carry this a little further and dredge up something again from above, if this country doesn't wake the fuck up and take a good hard look at itself, this IS going to happen again. Whether we like it or not, there are bad people out there. I don't like giving them inadvertant goals or targets to strive for.


• And, along those lines, having said that I have basically no doubt that this will happen again, what do we as a society do about it? This is the $64,000 question. Let's look at this a bit...


• 1. Gun control. It has to be an option. Fuck the NRA if they can't see that. Guy bought his guns legally. The laws, therefore, don't seem to be working, do they?


• 2. Education and Health Care. Not relevent here? Not so fast. Go back up to bullet #1 above and read my previous entry on this subject. I don't have the energy to retype it.


• 3. Are we too violent? Have we become desensitized? Lord knows I've played more than my share of Grand Theft Auto, and I sat through "Hostel" once upon a time, but the line is still most decidedly NOT blurry for me. But, am I in the minority there? I don't know. It's a question our society really needs to ask itself.

I guess my hope that, in an effort to get "the story," we don't actually miss The Story. You know, The Story Of Grief. The Story Of Compassion. The Story Of Healing. And, most importantly, The Story That Has The Lesson To Learn At The End.

Fuck.

I am very sad.

Kilgore Trout - 1922 - 2007
I will say anything to be funny, often in the most horrible situations.
--Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

As you can no doubt guess from the lead quote of the header of this blog, the passing of Kurt Vonnegut makes me very sad. It all started in 8th grade. I read a short story called "Harrison Bergeron," and when Diana Moon Glampers (the Handicapper General) came in and shot the two main characters at the end to derail whatever positive, happy ending was formulating, I knew I had found "my guy" to read. My Vonnegut library is essentially complete; the paperbacks fill an entire shelf on my home office bookcase.

Vonnegut was like the Radiohead of novelists: technology and science are necessary evils that can cripple and water down the human race as much as they can enable it. He worked in a genre largely of his own making (satire sci-fi), and perfected it--often using his alter ego Kilgore Trout as a main focus and voice. His arsenal of characters are thoroughly woven throughout all of his books (Trout himself appears in some form or another in more novels than he does not).

Vonnegut loved playing with technology, science, and religion, which I always found to be eerily cool reading his works as a high school/college student in the 90s, 20 and 30 years after they were written. Player Piano touches on society's impending over-reliance on technology and the rifts it can create; Cat's Cradle rolls science, technology, and religion into one small package. (I always suspected that Vonnegut secretly loved things like the Mark Foley scandal, since Cat's Cradle has a central thread focusing on a unique religion that has been deemed illegal and that everyone outwardly despises, but yet that everyone also practices in secret.) In The Sirens of Titan, one of the main characters creates the "Church of God the Utterly Indifferent". Vonnegut always wrote about these very salient things, but he always did it in such a way that made the reader think while simultaneously asking, "What is this guy smoking?!?"

"He was imaginative; our generation of writers didn't go in for imagination very much. Literary realism was the general style. Those of us who came out of the war in the 1940s made sort of the official American prose, and it was often a bit on the dull side. Kurt was never dull." --Gore Vidal

From his cnn.com obit: "Vonnegut said the villains in his books were never individuals, but culture, society and history, which he said were making a mess of the planet."

Another of Vonnegut's biggest subjects was the idea of human free will. He touches on it in The Sirens of Titan in relation to religion, and how religion can affect people in terms of their willingness to accept things, to manipulate others, and to be manipulated. In his watershed Slaughterhouse-Five, the main character Billy Pilgrim becomes "unstuck in time" and relives many of his previous moments of life. At the same time, he becomes fully aware of his own death but just the same is powerless to change it.

Timequake involves a period of time where the universe elects to stop expanding, contract a bit, and then re-expand. This re-expansion causes humans to re-live a period of their lives, but they do so as if on video tape: they cannot control things that have already been done. They lose free-will. Of course, this is problematic when the universe again reaches its original point of expansion and continues anew. People are suddenly given free will again, only they have no idea what to do with it. The results (as they often are in Vonnegut's work) are catastrophic.

The messages are similar and simple: think for yourself, but be careful what you wish for. Pay attention, but don't always trust what you see on blind faith. Humanity is a delicate gift whose balance can be easily upset if it is not treated as such.

For me, it always came down to: an author who makes these kinds of arguments, but does so in a nutty way and is never afraid to make fun of himself... that's the guy for me. Who can forget his cameo in "Back to School" when he shows up to write Rodney Dangerfield's paper on Kurt Vonnegut, and the professor says, "Whoever wrote this obviously knows nothing about Kurt Vonnegut"?

Maybe that was his goal all along.

Godspeed, Kurt. We'll miss you.

Inspiration comes standard

In reading Steve's blog, I noticed that he and a former instructor/advisor we both had were starting a new blog endeavor.

I have been working (very sporadically) on the very beginning of a short story over the course of a couple of weeks, and it occurred to me that my blog here has largely devolved into my musing/bitching about sports and shamelessly plugging my band. As I have worked off and on with this new story beginning, I also realized that I need to do more "real" writing. The end result: why couldn't I start a new blog, too? I'm such a fucking copy-cat.

So, the birth of "One Trick Pony" has come to pass. It will be the home of any "short story beginnings with no resolution" that I tend to craft from time to time, and will hopefully also inspire me to spend more time writing (so as to maybe get good at it) and less time playing God of War II and whining about being geographically tied to the most miserable sports city on the face of the earth.

And, as I note on that page, if anyone of you (my former MUC writing center colleagues, I'm generally looking in your direction) have comments/critiques/resolution/direction for anything I write, it would be more than welcomed.

Just a little reminder of how I can bring the wrath...

Found these online from our singer's girlfriend, who happens to be an excellent picture-taker:


^{Aptly titled: "dansmashy"}

I don't want to jinx anything, but...

Franchise McSizemore.

Second pitch of the season.

Yard work.

1-0 Tribe. Nixon and Hafner each follow up with singles... let's see where this goes...

Edit

Tribe bats around in the top of the first, leads 5-0 in the middle of the first inning. As long as Willie Mays Hayes doesn't get picked off of first base, I would say that's a good way to start off the first game.