The Republican Field Takes Shape

This is what good citizens and political junkies are supposed to do:

We watch the Presidential race unfold like it's the NFL play-offs.

Nfl 2012

So there I sat in front of my TV dutifully watching the first Republican Presidential debate from the impressive Reagan library in Simi, California. There were the prospective candidates, all lined up under the wingspan of a life-sized Air Force One that loomed over the entire audience of enthusiastic Republican supporters.

Looking at the field, it's hard to believe that anyone but Mitt Romney could possibly be elected President. Last month's frontrunner Michelle Bachmann is a strange woman, a former IRS lawyer who raised five of her own kids and 23 foster children, all while dutifully obeying her husband who professionally counsels homosexuals to "pray away the gay."

Michelle is the Gaffe Queen, getting all mixed up about Elvis Presley, the Battle of Concord and lots of other things that don't matter but that she keeps talking about and getting wrong. Oh and she also says she can make gas cost a gallon - just like that! Too nutty to be President.

Bachmann became the frontrunner right after the former frontrunner Donald Trump dropped out after admitting that President Obama "probably" is a native-born American. That and the TV sweeps rating period was over, and he didn't need the publicity anymore.

The new frontrunner is Texas Governor Rick Perry, who just positively hates Social Security and Medicare and says they are "failures" that should be "given back to the states." Rick just loves to execute criminals (the GOP audience loves it, too!) and thinks that U.S. Senators should be chosen by politicians from each state and not directly elected by the voters. Hmmmmm.

Perry the Republican nominee? Obama can't be this lucky.

One thing that all of the Republican candidates seem to agree on is that taxes should be RAISED on the working poor. I hear it over and over again. Every candidate says it's wrong that 47% of Americans don't pay any federal income taxes. Everyone should have "skin in the game" when it comes to paying income taxes, the GOP hopefuls all say.

But who are these people? They're the working poor. The people who cut our lawns. Serve our lunch and pump our gas. Butter the bagels and sweep the floors. Watch over our kids and care for old folks in nursing homes. This is the backbone of America.

How can it possibly be in the best interests of the nation to make these people pay MORE taxes? They're already paying a greater share of their income in federal payroll and state sales taxes than your average millionaire. Why would anyone want to raise their taxes? I just don't get it.

Since the Republican debate was held at the Reagan Library, I just wish that someone pointed out that it was Ronald Reagan who created the Earned Income Tax Credit that reduced income taxes for lower income workers. It's too bad that all of the GOP candidates who claim to be just like Reagan have such a different point of view when it comes to helping - or hurting - the working poor.

There's no question that tax policy will be a pivotal issue in the 2012 elections.

One party wants to raise taxes on the working poor. The other wants to raise taxes on the richest 2% of America. Let's see how this debate unfolds.

The Republican Field Takes Shape

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Climate Change: Earlier Elections, Later Super Bowls

There was a rhythm to the calendar when I was growing up. They played the Super Bowl someplace warm in January, began the presidential primaries in New Hampshire in February, and opened the major league baseball season every April in Cincinnati.

Set aside my skepticism of dire climate change forecasts. I won't deny what is happening right in front of me. In sports and politics, at least, today's climate is radically different from that of my youth. Baseball's season opener has migrated to Tokyo and moved up to March 28 and 29, when the Athletics will face the Mariners this year. We will be nearly a week into February when the Giants confront the Patriots in this Sunday's Super Bowl, beneath a roof in Indianapolis. And, for all practical purposes, the presidential primary season ended with Mitt Romney's Florida victory over the remaining Republican field.

Super Bowl 2012

Granted, Romney is far away from amassing the delegate total he will need to secure his party's nomination at the Republican National Convention in late August, and Newt Gingrich vows to take his battle for the nomination all the way to the convention floor in Tampa. Rick Santorum continues to fight on as well, and Ron Paul says he has no intention of ending his quirky and low-budget libertarian quest. Paul is the only remaining GOP candidate who has yet to win a single state. He has a good chance of keeping that record intact.

None of this matters, because Romney is the only viable candidate in the Republican race. This makes him the winner by default. Gingrich has the resources to run but not to win, at least not in large states that will supply convention delegates in wholesale quantities. He will not even appear on the primary ballot in Virginia, where he has lived for many years, when that state votes on March 6 - otherwise known as Super Tuesday. Romney is far better prepared than Gingrich to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously, as in the 10 Super Tuesday states. Gingrich's best shot that day will come in Georgia, which sent him to the House of Representatives more than a decade ago. But Romney gets to run in his home state of Massachusetts that same day, and he also is likely to steamroll Gingrich in Ohio, an important and large swing state, much as he did in Florida.

Gingrich will stay in the race for awhile because it enhances his prestige and, ultimately, his income from speaking and consulting. My guess is that he will get out when his continued presence threatens to damage the Gingrich brand.

I am not suggesting that Romney has won the hearts and minds of most Republicans at this point. He has, however, won the support of enough of the Republicans whose primary goal is to unseat President Obama to win the nomination. Once he grabs the nomination, most remaining Republican hearts and minds will follow.

Political climate change does not stop at the primaries. Traditional wisdom holds that average voters do not begin paying attention to presidential campaigns until after Labor Day. I suspect that, barring some dramatic development in late summer or autumn, the outcome of this year's race will be effectively decided much earlier, possibly by Memorial Day and almost surely by Independence Day.

To understand why, we have to focus on what matters, and what doesn't, in presidential elections. First, popular vote totals don't matter, because we don't elect presidents based on the popular votes; we elect them based on Electoral College votes. Obama (or, much less likely, Romney) could win the popular vote, even by a considerable margin, yet lose the election.

Second, most voters' minds are already made up. Democrats will support Obama in overwhelming numbers. Republicans will support their nominee, even the Romney candidacy they are lukewarm about, in equally high proportions. In states dominated by one party, such as New York and California for Democrats or Texas and South Carolina for Republicans, the outcome is not in doubt.

The election will turn on the relative turnout among each party's voters in a dozen or so states that could realistically go either way, and on the way the roughly 25 percent of independent voters divide in those swing states. The economy, or more specifically voters' perception of their own situation and prospects, will be the deciding factor. So, what ultimately matters is, in a small number of states, a relatively small number of voters' perception of their situation and prospects - along with the two parties' ability to turn out their core voters.

There is still time for the picture to change, but I think that by early summer, most voters will have a pretty firm impression of their situation and prospects. They are not likely to respond to some piece of news in October and decide, "Wait a minute. Things aren't so bad - I'm going to stick with what's working" or to think "Holy Cow - it's been four years since Lehman tanked and we still have serious problems. I'd better go with Romney."

Right now, the picture for Obama is discouraging but not hopeless. We learned this week that GDP growth in the last quarter of 2011 was a disappointing 2.8 percent (based on preliminary figures), and that, worse, much of that growth came from inventory buildups that cannot continue for long. Housing prices continue to fall. Canadian GDP, which is reported monthly and is closely tied to American economic activity, came in at -0.1 percent for November. The pace of hiring and layoffs has improved lately, but continued soft economic reports like these are likely to lead businesses to stay conservative on their staffing, keeping unemployment high. European debt and austerity measures, Japan's economic morass, and Chinese monetary tightening are not helping either.

The president needs some good economic news to persuade those critical nonaligned voters to stick with him for another four years. Barring that, Obama and fellow Democrats seem to want to inspire their base to turn out by blaming the economy's failings on rich people and Republicans, neither of whom core Democrats tend to like very much. The problem is that core Democrats do like to have jobs, pay their mortgages and send their kids to college, and the president needs to convince them that they will do better in his next four years than they did in his first four.

Republican opposition to Obama, in contrast, has been strong and highly motivated since about midway through his first year in office. The president can hope that attacks by Gingrich and other rivals will weaken GOP enthusiasm for Romney enough to depress his party's turnout in November. That seems like a faint hope to me, but we'll see.

In baseball, the game truly isn't over until the last out is recorded, but elections are more like football than baseball. There is a clock, and the game is not official until it expires, and sometimes we see a cliffhanger that goes down to the last second. Other times, however, the result is a foregone conclusion before the halftime show is over. This may well prove to be one of those contests in which the losing side's cheerleaders keep dancing long after the players know how the game will end.

Climate Change: Earlier Elections, Later Super Bowls

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A Noble And Grand Idea

What a noble and grand idea, the thought of the Chiefs hosting a Super Bowl in a new state-of-the-art stadium with a retractable roof. A Super Bowl in Kansas City might seem like a pipe dream but if Detroit can play host in 2006 then why not Kansas City in 2012 or beyond?

The economic windfall alone should inspire the Greater Kansas City area to soften their stance on stadium renovations. I know a little bit about Kansas City but I know a lot more about Detroit. The amount of infrastructure work being done in and around metro Detroit alone is worth bringing a Super Bowl to any large city. Freeways from the airport are being rebuilt. These roads would be allowed to decay even further if not for the impending Super Bowl at Ford Field. This is just one example of improvements that last long after a Super Bowl has come and gone. So economically it's a no-brainer right? The only way the Chiefs will get a new stadium built is with some form of public funding. So far this has been a hot-button issue for local voters who last fall rejected a much more modest attempt at such legislation. It seems even more unlikely that local voters would approve taxes for a new stadium given their love of Arrowhead.

Nfl 2012

What could possibly sway the voters' opinion? What one single event could turn the whole tide and make voters run to the booths in glee to approve a new stadium proposal? Of course the answer is simple. Win the Super Bowl. That's right it's that simple. It's time for the Chiefs organization as a whole to push all their chips into middle and go for the Super Bowl. The window is open for this to happen but it won't stay open forever.

I know what the skeptics are thinking. Every year the Chiefs delegation goes to the league meetings and comes up with some ideas out of left field. This idea of Kansas City hosting a Super Bowl isn't one of them. It can happen but not before the public approves funding for a new stadium and the only way that will happen is with a Super Bowl title. If the Chiefs do their part and win the Super Bowl then I have confidence that the voters will do theirs' and approve funding for a new stadium. I can't see one happening without the other. I think the fans passion for Arrowhead and dislike of pork barrel public funding proposals will prevent approval without a Super Bowl title to sway the public.

So as Lamar Hunt lobbies the league for a Super Bowl in Kansas City the ball is essentially in his court. Will Carl Peterson and the front office be allowed to go all out in their off-season pursuit of talent? Peterson and his staff have begun the process with the Bell and Knight signings but what else will they be able to do? Whomever else the Chiefs sign, trade or draft will go a long way in answering the question can the Chiefs win the Super Bowl? Which in turn will answer the bigger question will Kansas City ever host a Super Bowl?

There are a lot of questions and it's up to the Chiefs to figure out the right answers.

A Noble And Grand Idea

Written by Martin Salt
Colunist for ChiefsCoalition.com

Super Bowl Prediction - 2011/2012 NFL Season

Here is a bold one: The combatants in the Super Bowl will be the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys, and the Patriots will win.

Why? The Patriots will be there because they are the most prepared in a season where most teams will take an extra two or three games to catch up. Also, with the loss to the New York Jets hanging over them from last year's playoffs, they will be anxious for payback.

Super Bowl 2012

And speaking of the Jets, the Patriots will beat them in the AFC Conference Championship game. This is the way life works. Win a big game unexpectedly one year - lose a similar game the next year.

And who will the Cowboys beat in the NFC Conference Championship game? The underdog of underdogs - the Detroit Lions. Yes, I am predicting that the Lions will catch a few breaks and win a few games.

It would be no fun to pick a rematch of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Packers, although entering the season, they both look like they could repeat.

Divisional winners in the AFC will be Tom Brady and his New England Patriots in the East, with Mark Sanchez and the Jets being a wild card team from the division. The Cleveland Browns, under the leadership of Colt McCoy, will win the brutal AFC Central division. As always, Payton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts will win the South, and perhaps surprisingly, the Kansas City Chiefs will win the AFC West. Who will the second wild card team be? The Baltimore Ravens, of course.

Divisional winners in the NFC East will be the resurgent Cowboys, with Tony Romo back in place. The Packers will win the Central, but the Lions will get in via the wild card. Sam Bradford will lead the St. Louis Rams to a West Division title, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will top off the South. The second wild card team will be the boring old New York Giants.

The Cowboys will be undervalued this year simply because they were overvalued last year. Super Bowl winners from the previous year are always overvalued, as are the losers. Conventional wisdom on up and coming supports teams like the Jets, but CW usually is a big miss. This leaves people like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to lead slow and steady charges through the season and the playoffs.

Trends lead to upsets, and I usually try to follow these trends. The Browns could have been 12-4 last year, and while they have new coaches, a new offense and a new defense, it looks pretty clear that the new regime is serious about winning sooner then later, and since the Steelers and the Ravens are due for a fall, picking the Browns is not a stretch.

Finally, the Detroit Lions need to bring it all together. The talent is young. It's there. Why not this year rather than next?

So that's it for this year's predictions. Let's talk next February and we'll see if I can do it two years in a row.

Super Bowl Prediction - 2011/2012 NFL Season

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Premium Sports Packages

Just because football season ends in February, that does not mean that premium sports packages suddenly become useless. Plenty of other sports continue through the winter or start up in the spring, and you should have access to these on a great TV sports package. Your Sunday afternoons will feel empty after football, so fill them by holding onto these channels and watching some other great sports until the football season begins again at the end of the summer.

These are just four of the most popular sports viewing options:

Super Bowl 2012

1. Hockey

Hockey is the next best thing for big plays and powerful collisions when football season ends. As a winter sport, the season is just getting interesting after the Super Bowl. You will be able to see all of the best match-ups leading to the championship because Hockey runs through April.

2. Basketball

The professional basketball season begins at the end of fall. Turn to basketball for fast-paced games that extend into May when the football season is over. Plus, of course, you don't want to miss all the excitement of March Madness as you watch the NCAA teams battle it out.

3. Olympics

Having the full available set of sports TV channels is the best way to view the Olympic Games and you don't want to miss any of them since they only happen every two years. Because so many events happen at once, there is no way to fit them all on one channel. Keeping your cable package ensures that you get to watch your favorite events, even if they aren't the most popular ones that end up airing on the network channels. The summer Olympics in London begin in July 2012, so keeping your premium programming is the best way to ensure you have access not only to the games themselves, but also the Olympic trials to select the athletes to represent the United States.

4. The NFL Draft

At the end of April, the NFL runs its draft, which has the potential to give teams an edge in the coming season. Ensure you will know who the experts are watching in the months leading up to the draft and see the draft itself in its entirety by having the full package of sports TV channels. Plus, you will have an edge next season because you know the back stories of all the best rookies.

With all of these options and so many sports happening at once, premium sports packages are the only way to stay on top of it all.

Premium Sports Packages

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Is There a Reason That American Football is Not an Olympic Sport?

Has it ever surprised you that one of the greatest sports in one of the greatest nations is not shared with the rest of the world? You have to think that the Olympic committee has received at least some request to add football. This article is meant to point out some of the peculiar reasons that it might not qualify for any future Olympic Games. First, is that it is an American Sport.

Second, they would probably shut it down just like baseball and softball. Third, the shear volume of players has to be a small reason for the non-inclusion. Fourth, there is no international sporting organization set up for football

Super Bowl 2012

Football is an American Sport

One of the main reasons that football might not be considered is that it is primarily an American sport. American football is not the only sport to have origins on this nation. Many sports like baseball and basket ball have expanded there reach to other countries. However football has never really extended past our continent. A reason may be due to the fact that football is a relatively newer sport. Though the exact date is unknown, we guess that it was started in the late 1800's. Much later than some of its sporting relatives: rugby or even soccer.

They would shut it down just like baseball and softball

Much to the disappointment of many American fans Baseball and Softball will not be a part of the 2012 London games. One of the reasons is that the United States has won it so many times that there really is no amount of competition that can come up against them. We could easily assume that if football was instated into the Olympics that it would be relativity impossible do dethrone our talent in the sport. Seeing as there is no point in competing against the likes of the New York Giants or the Patriots in shear atheism, one could denote that the same fate that has visited baseball and softball would surely come to pass on American football even after it was instated into the Olympics.

Shear number of players

If American football was instated it would require the largest amount of athletes per team coming in on average about 56 members per team. An average soccer team has anywhere from 25 to 30 members. Twice as many people would not be a big reason for non-inclusion in the summer games, but it does present some concerns about getting competition that is not from the United States to come and participate.

No international sporting organization

By far the biggest reason that American football has not joined the ranks for the Olympics is football is lacking an international sporting organization. One of the requirements of any sport prior to entering the Olympics is an international organization that is established to govern the sport all over the world.

Given the first reason, that football is an American sport, and that this sport has not caught on with other countries it is not likely to see any organization being formed in the near future. Thus furthering the distance that American football would have to journey to enter the games.

Conclusion

In the end, the question that we need to pose is, "Does football need the Olympics?" I would state that football is fine where it is. It has been estimated that 97 million people tuned in for the Giants vs. Patriots super bowl. Though likely to increase in these 2008 games, viewers for the 2004 games in Athens were estimated at 24 million.

American football is American. In the end would we want to share one of our greatest pastimes with the rest of the world? Many Americans enjoy the fact that we as a nation have a very independent spirit. Having our own sport simply magnifies that spirit. One thing is for sure, Olympics or no Olympics American football is here to stay.

Is There a Reason That American Football is Not an Olympic Sport?

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Exclusive Nike Hyperfuse 2011 Shoes For Basketball

It is October 7, 2011 and it doesn't look like we are going to see a 2011-2012 NBA regular season. The professional game of basketball is as popular as it has ever been. The television ratings for the NBA are at their highest point. Fans are attending games at a record pace. It is too bad that once again, millions of dollars and who should get them is going to bring another professional sport to a screeching halt. Both NBA owners and players just don't have enough money. They need more millions to pad their bank accounts. Unlike the NFL, the NBA and it's owners and players are not even close to reaching a bargaining agreement. And unlike the NFL, the NBA is not a league that can bounce back if the lockout is not ended and the season is forfeited. It has taken many years for this league to be as popular as it is and it would take many, many more to get it back.

As a result of the impending lockout, many of the top NBA players have already signed contracts to play overseas. Some are already playing in foreign leagues. Deron Williams, currently with the New Jersey Nets, is now suiting up for a Turkish basketball club. If there are any NBA regular season games played this year, Williams will have a sick new pair of Nike PE Hyperfuse Low's to ball in. In the meantime, you can pick up this pair of Hyperfuse Low's and rock them on the court before Deron can.

Nfl 2012

The Deron Williams Nike Zoom Hyperfuse 2011 Player Exlusive uses the colors of his current American team, the Nets, as it's colorway. The upper of the shoe features both synthetic and mesh on its white upper. The Hyperfuse portion of the upper allows for maximum breathability. The Swoosh is a Midnight Navy. The midsole, tongue, and inner lining are done in Sport Red. The shoe is finished off with a translucent outsole and Williams' custom logo. I think all basketball fans are now resigned to the fact that there will most likely be no NBA regular season. That is alright by me. As long as signature sneakers like Deron Williams' Nike Hyperfuse 2011 Low Player Exclusive are going to be dropped, I will still have sick kicks to cop.

In fact, as long as new Nike shoes for basketball continue to drop while the NBA takes some time off, I will be fine. The popularity of the NBA may be affected, but the sneaker world will not. Sneakerheads aren't millionares. They aren't millionares that feel like they need more millions. All we need are sick new sneaker drops on a regular basis. And the NBA regular season, or lack thereof, won't affect that.

Exclusive Nike Hyperfuse 2011 Shoes For Basketball

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I have been an avid sneakerhead for 40 years. From running shoes to my true passion, basketball shoes, I own more pairs of shoes than I can count. Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, and Reebok are dropping some pretty sick kicks right now. If you are like a sneakerhead like me, you truly can't wait for tomorrow when news of a new sneaker drop will be announced.