Whisenhunt & Warner are right..but they’re still wrong!

I have respect and admiration for Kurt Warner as a person, and as the quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals.  I feel the same way toward Ken Whisenhunt as the team’s head coach.  Both spoke out in the media this week expressing their dislike about season ticket holders selling their seats for Sunday’s game with Dallas to the highest-bidding Cowboys fans.  Warner was even quoted in the Arizona Republic as saying “It stinks.”  He and his coach are right.  But yet, they are more wrong.

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, a land where babies are programmed spell E-A-G-L-E-S and to say, “Dallas Sucks,” before even “Ma Ma” or “Da Da.”  The only thing Philly folks hate more than the Dallas Cowboys…are the stinkin Dallas Cowboys fans.  I also spent many years covering the NFL as a television journalist.  Since I’m not doing that anymore and no longer need to be neutral, I chose to become a proud Arizona Cardinals fan when I moved to the state.  I am a season ticket holder since the new stadium was built.  I have been sipping the Big Red Kool-Aid ever since.  I admit it. 

While I will be in and out of my seat rooting for the Cardinals on Sunday, I’m not talking about my seat at the University of Phoenix Stadium.  I’ll be watching the game on TV.  I am a fan, but not a fool.  I sold my tickets to the game for a substantial profit, and probably to Dallas Cowboys fans.  Still, I feel just fine about it. 

Maybe I’m more forgetful than I remember, but refresh my memory, would you?  Take me back to August.  Were Kurt Warner and Ken Whisenhunt quoted in the Arizona Republic complaining about how it stinks that Arizona Cardinals season ticket holders like me are forced to spend our money on that garbage the NFL calls, “Pre-Season Football?”  While football to me is like pizza and sex…(even when it’s bad it’s good) it’s a crime that the NFL makes its biggest fans buy those tickets, and without even the slightest discount.   By the way, I do know the coach and the QB weren’t crying about loyalty before the season when the team raised ticket prices on its most loyal fans…again. 

Let me fill you in on a little secret.  The NFL does market research.  The Dallas Cowboys are more popular in Arizona than even the Arizona Cardinals.  Being the only NFL team in such a pickle obviously bothers the entire organization.  I get that.  Attribute this fact to many years of the Cowboys being the team whose games were televised here before the Cardinals moved to town.  You’ve also got to factor in the Cardinals being the gang who couldn’t shoot straight for many years.   Winning will make controversies like this go away.  The current Cardinals organization will be winners.  I know it, and look forward to it. 

Season tickets are expensive.  The way I justify the cost is to sell some games.  Reality check:  NFL teams are now cashing in on selling high-priced tickets, not once but twice.  The fan’s marketplace on team websites aren’t there out of kindness.  The team gets another cut of these sales on tickets it already sold!

Ken Whisenhunt should remember his financial situation when he was a 12th round draft pick.  Kurt Warner should remember his financial situation when he was bagging groceries.  Both are millionaires now.  They should keep quiet when it comes to commenting on the finances of fans especially during this free-falling economy. 

Pointing fingers or biting the hands of the people wjo pay your salary is never a good idea.  Neither Whisenhunt or Warner did it publicly to the Bidwills who own the team.  They shouldn’t have done it to me either.

Rubbernecking and Sarah Palin

“Rubbernecking” sucks.  It’s one of the things that annoys me as a driver.  I’m referring to the unnecessary waste of time that is caused by passing drivers who stop and gawk at the scene of a recent auto accident, looking ever so closely for signs of major damage to people and vehicles.  Rubberneckers add to the delays of all drivers behind them, and sometimes even create new auto accidents themselves..all because they take their eye off the road, off the safest, smartest route to moving forward.  They waste their time and the time of others looking for the death and destruction of others. 

It’s with this same kind of mentality (or lack thereof) that much of America awaits tonight’s debate between the Vice-Presidential candidates.  What purpose does it serve to tune in simply hoping to witness Sarah Palin crash and burn on live television?  How does that help our struggling economy and our millions of struggling citizens?  Will people feel better about themselves watching Sarah suffer?   

Having worked in television for decades, I have the feeling that the ratings for the VP Smackdown tonight will be pretty good.  I also have the feeling that if Sarah Palin exceeds the current expectations, many viewers will feel empty and disappointed that they didn’t see her self-destruct.  What a collective waste of time it will be tonight in America. 

As for rubbernecking and Sarah Palin, if you do choose to put your valuable time and effort into hoping someone fails and fails miserably, why not focus attention on a political figure such as the long lost Osama Bin Laden, and not a Vice-Presidential candidate, Governor, mom and wife from the great state of Alaska?

Betting on Biden

Thomas Baldrick after an ABC News interview with U.S. Senator Biden

I don’t know Sarah Palin.  But I do know Joe Biden, having worked with the U.S. Senator from Delaware over the years on many interviews for ABC News.  I’ve also had many private conversations with Barack Obama’s choice for a running mate.  Sure, he’s got opinions.  Sure, he likes to voice those opinions.  On well-noted occasions, he’s spoken with a foot in his mouth.  More times he’s accurately been labeled as a fella who can speak at great length. 

Biden did not prove to be a formidable foe to Barack Obama, but he could be an expert adviser, much in the way Dick Cheney has been to President Bush.  (Again, regardless of where you stand politically).  But Joe Biden clearly has a proven track record and experience through representing tiny ol’ Delaware that’s longer than many first staters have been alive.  So, whether or not you agree with Joe Biden’s views or like him as a politician, the man deserves credit for having an understanding of some very important issues.  Sure, you can say he’s part of the problem if you want, but at least he doesn’t need to cram for the campaign like it were some final exam that could flunk us all. 

For example, following the 9-11 tragedies which I covered extensively in both New York City and Shanksville, PA, Senator Biden was one of the first (to voice) and recognize that the lack of security in our national rail system made it a disaster waiting to happen.  I’m grateful but surprised we still haven’t been victims of an Amtrak “All Aboard Al Queda” attack.  Biden knew this first hand from often taking the train himself on many trips to and from Washington, D.C. and we discussed this issue that is of great concern to both of us.

While Governors touting various “Washington Outsider” personas have dominated the past three decades of U.S. Presidential elections, this time it seems to me that a “Washington Insider” might not be such a bad thing after all.  If you take into consideration that the Vice-President is literally a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.  If you take into consideration that there are possibly more racists than active voters in America, and Barack Obama is a man of color.  Having a veep with more than three decades of domestic and foreign affairs experience who wouldn’t act like a “moose in the headlights” appears to be a safer bet to this experienced political observer.

Wireless Amber Alerts

HOW TO SAVE A CHILD FROM MURDER IN UNDER 10 SECONDS

My precious little man is nearing his second birthday. He and I are very much in tune with each other. I know what his busy little mind is thinking most of the time. I also know I feel what he feels when he feels it. So, God forbid any fool ever tried to harm Daddy’s best buddy. The first thing he or she would have to do is take my last breath.

So, please talk to me like I’m a two-year old, okay? I’m a veteran of the creative industry. I know good ideas from bad. But right now I’m dialed in on a major disconnect over why one amazing idea is wallowing in mediocrity.

Many people sign up to receive text messages like sports scores and stock quotes on their cell phone. Many others pay to text votes to their favorite TV shows. Still, many more buy industrial strength plans so they can send and receive thousands of texts, and not burn minutes using their cell phone to actually talk with other humans.

So pass me a juice box and help me to understand why more people haven’t signed up to have FREE wireless Amber Alerts sent to their cell phone? The first three hours following abductions are the most critical in rescuing a child before some severely disturbed soul chooses to commit the heinous acts that severely disturbed souls do.

CTIA, the wireless association estimates that 257 million Americans are wireless subscribers. However, only a paltry 437,000 are signed up to get the FREE text that puts them in the heroic position to save the innocence or life of a precious little boy or girl. I’ll do the math for you…1 in every 588 Americans. On the surface, that is one pitiful statistic. But it’s even worse when you know that the wireless industry and the federal government launched this service in 2006 with a goal of only one million. If the bar were set any lower it wouldn’t even be at limbo height. Still, we’re not even halfway!

It couldn’t be easier to do what you hope someone would have done were it your child in danger. Log onto www.wirelessamberalerts.org. Type in your cell number on the home page. Done. That’s it! It takes longer to log onto eBay for heaven’s sake. You’ll only get an Amber Alert message if it’s in your area. We’re talking one or two a year.

I’ve met John Walsh through work for “America’s Most Wanted.” I told him I don’t know how he does what he does after losing his son, but I’m sure grateful he does it. There’s an average of 250 children abducted every year. You don’t have to do all that John Walsh does to potentially be the hero that helps save one of them. Something is wrong with this picture, but it’s a no-brainer to see how easy it is to fix.

Again, talk to me like I’m a two-year old, okay? Please post a response boasting that you’ve signed up to get FREE Wireless Amber Alerts (and that you’re getting others to sign up too)! Or post a response explaining to me how you could read this blog and not sign up your cell number to get FREE Amber Alerts. Or post a response telling me to stick a binky in my mouth and shut up because it’s just not your problem. Or better yet, try explaining it to parents like John Walsh.

Thank you in advance for taking a chance to be a child’s hero.