One of the more unedifying spectacles in professional sports the world over is when fans, commentators and management suddenly, collectively decide that a player is either washed-up or useless.
We are then treated to the sight and sounds of the player's ancestry, sexual habits, intelligence, manhood etc. being savagely and bitterly diminished. If you believe a fraction of the invective, you end up wondering how the player ever made it out of diapers.
Well, we have exactly this sort of feeding frenzy right now. It's called Pick at the Corpse of Tommy Maddox.
After losing his starting job due to injury last year, Maddox did not get it back again due to Ben Roethlisberger's excellent performances. He began this year as the #2 quarterback. After Roethlisberger was injured, Maddox became the starter again, but played poorly in the game against Jacksonville (a horrid 11 of 28 passing performance including four turnovers).
Following that performance, Maddox apparently had objects tossed into his yard. Lovely mature behaviour by some people in the Pittsburgh area. He then was summarily demoted from #2 to #3 on the depth chart by the Steelers. At the time the explanation was that he had sprained his throwing shoulder. However, it soon became clear that the demotion was permanent.
Called into action yesterday after Charlie Batch injured his hand, Maddox looked shaky yet again.
Now I am reading scuttlebutt like this today (from ESPN):

It absolutely killed Steelers coach Bill Cowher to have to use Tommy Maddox at quarterback Sunday night after starter Charlie Batch broke his hand. An injury was about the only way Maddox was ever going to get on the field again. The team is still upset at the way he passed off blame for the loss to Jacksonville on Oct. 16, and the way he embellished the story about his kids being harassed. You could just see Cowher fuming every time a play got blown up Sunday. Some people actually thought he might use (wide receiver and former college quarterback) Antwaan Randle El before he went back to Maddox. He's going to have a problem, though, if Ben Roethlisberger can't play next week at Baltimore.

Well, I don't know what to think here...why would a QB make stuff up about harassment?
Let's assume that the stories are true and the Steelers are pissed at Maddox. If they really were not backing Maddox on Sunday, they deserve an ass-kicking. NFL football is hard enough when things are going well. If the team cannot get behind whoever is starting under center, then the team either needs to wise up or fire the guy under center and find a replacement. Pushing him out there while muttering "OMiGod here he goes to screw it up again - what a doofus" is the worst kind of self-defeating duplicity.
Some of the comments from Steelers fans show that there are some people out there who are mean-spirited and have short memories. They need to wise up and grow up. Personally vilifying a sports team member is ridiculous. Repeat after me. It's A Game....not a frigging war. If you want to treat it like war, go sign up for the armed forces.

This week we have seen good and bad events in the struggle between proponents and opponents of treating Intelligent Design as science.
On the up side, 8 members of the Dover PA school board who were responsible for attempting to introduce ID into the school science curriculum via disclaimer language were voted out of office. We still have the outcome of the court case to look forward to also.
On the down side, the Kansas Board of Education voted 6-4 on Tuesday in Topeka 6-for changes in the state's science standards that alter the definition of science and are critical of evolution.
"alter the definition of Science?" It is good to know that a board of education considers it competent to alter the definition of science, a discipline which, the last time I looked, was being practiced all over the world, not just in Kansas. Now if they had only consulted the scientific community to make sure that they agreed with the new definition...wait a minute, they did consult with the scientists who told them not to do it, but they went and did it anyway.
The most bizarre part of the decision is this:

Abrams predicted the standards would become "a winning campaign issue" for the conservatives.
"It's not only good science, it's good for the election," Abrams said. "National polls tell us this is what the public wants."

Erm...I seem to recall that in the Middle Ages in England the majority of the public (supported by established churches) also believed that the Earth was the centre of the Universe. That viewpoint eventually became discredited after a few brave souls (I think they would be called scientists today) pointed out compelling evidence to the contrary.
The quote is dangerous horseshit. The basis of science and scientific fact cannot be determined by a popular vote. Do these people live in the 21st Century or are they attempting to reprise the Middle Ages, American-style?

On second thoughts...
I and my friends here propose to amend the definition of debt to change its mathematical signing rules. Henceforth all liabilities on my personal balance sheet are assets. I will also be running for elective office on a platform to change the law to this effect. Anybody want to vote for me?

While we're reprising this issue, here is an excellent demolition job on the pile of cack known as Intelligent Design...

...has this little gem of a posting, which neatly encapsulates my views about two current issues:

These are two things I believe:

Thing One: It is time to march virtually every high-priced reporter in Washington D.C. out across the Key Bridge and deep into the Virginia hills, where they will be incarcerated in a re-education camp until they begin making sense in their profession again. (I specifically exempt Jack Farrell from Denver and the entire Knight-Ridder D.C. bureau. They all can stay.) I was going to exempt Jonathan Alter until I heard him complaining that the Democrats were wrong in resisting the ballot initiatives sponsored in California by Governor Anabolic J. Goosestep. The ultimate "good government" initiative, Jon, you lovable doof, is to break the power of the Republican party everywhere until it comes to its senses and disenthralls itself from its Jesus On A Taco Shell element. Sorry, Jon. Pick up a shovel and start marching. There are swamps to be reclaimed.
Thing Two: I think that the presidents of MIT, Cal Tech, the University of Chicago, and all the other major universities with high-priced investments in the physical sciences should call a press conference and announce, much to their regret, that they no longer will consider any application they receive from any high school student in the state of Kansas. Sadly, they should say, due to the state's publicly expressed preference for mythology over science, they no longer can be confident that students from Kansas are sufficiently grounded in the basics for those students to succeed at these extremely competitive universities. Disappointed? Tough. Go to Bob Jones University.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/10/frist.secretprisons.ap/index.html

It seems that Sen. Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, is rather less concerned about the fact that the US runs covert detention facilities in Eastern Europe than the fact that the information has leaked into the public domain. Here is his comment on the information becoming public:

"My concern is with leaks of information that jeopardize your safety and security -- period," Frist said. "That is a legitimate concern."

And, just in case you were wondering whether you mis-understood him, no, you did not. Here's the confirmation of his attitude:

Frist was asked if that meant he was not concerned about investigating what goes on in detention centers.
"I am not concerned about what goes on and I'm not going to comment about the nature of that," Frist replied.

Let me see if I can translate...

"We don't give a rat's ass about the fact that we set up secret detention centers outside of the USA, where people may have been tortured. What we're really upset about is that we've been found out"

Notice also the clever attempt to conflate US government activity that may be illegal with homeland security ("leaks of information that jeopardize your safety and security") in the first quoted comment. He clearly hopes that by doing this the public will overlook the breathtaking level of malfeasance that has just been revealed.
Fat chance Bill. This is covert chicanery of a type not seen in US politics and governance since Iran-Contra. Your justification is the largest pile of BS that I have read from an elected US representative in some time.
This administration is not so much ethically challenged as ethically bankrupt right now. It is going to take a lot more than requiring administration members to read ethics guidelines to sort out this culture.
Wake up everybody! This is imperial arrogance of the worst kind being perpetrated by elected officials. It is time to get rid of these ethically-bankrupt idiots. This behaviour is incredibly damaging to the entire national and international interests of the United States.

Last weekend I mused about questions that might be answered as follows:

1. Can Chris Simms recover from what was clearly a stinker of a performance and play a decent game for the Bucs, or will Tim Rattay suddenly find himself starting for a team on the other side of the country?
2. How will Kurt Warner fare on his return to the starting position for the Cardinals?
3. And, most intruigingly, how will Joey Harrington fare now that Jeff Garcia is banged-up and unable to play this weekend?

The answer to those questions appears to be
(1) Simms is still on a short rope. He once again threw an interception, looked uncomfortable, and he must be in danger of being replaced by Rattay in a game real soon unless he gets on the same page as his receivers.
(2) Not great. Warner struggled, but then the Cardinals offensive line is a reasonable approximation to a sieve right now. The lack of a running game places a premium on pass protection. In his Rams days, Warner was prepared to hang in the pocket, knowing that the O-line would hold up and a receiver would bail him out by getting open. The Cards receivers cannot consistently get open at present, so Warner is getting beat up and criticised for not getting rid of the ball. This policy of hanging tough in the pocket allowed Warner to make great plays in the Rams's heyday. It does not work at present with the Cardinals.
I suspect that Warner will not be back in Arizona next year, and he may decide to retire if he cannot have a genuine run at a starting job. Which would be a shame, since he is genuinely talented, a great team player and would do well behind a good O-line with some intelligent receivers.
(3) Harrington played like, well, Joey Harrington - inconsistent. The Lions offense is all over the map right now, and the lack of a veteran hurts them in game situations. I suspect that Mariucci only played Harrington because Jeff Garcia is banged up. In a couple of weeks, unless Garcia fails to heal, I expect that he will be back under center. Garcia can make something out of broken plays because of his mobility. Harrington lacks that ability right now. I see a re-run of the Tim Couch Saga in front of us.

Elsewhere, Cody Pickett did OK in his first game with the 49'ers, Vinny Testaverde probably played his last game for the Jets (he aggravated his calf injury, and Brooks Bollinger looks quite sharp), and Dick Vermeil, unusually for an NFL head coach, rolled the dice to give the Chiefs a win over the Raiders, going for the touchdown instead of a field goal that would have sent the game to overtime. Of course, he would have been condemned as a doofus if the play had failed...
And...the Colts stomped the Patriots on Monday night. Basically, they outplayed the Pats in most departments of the game, and wore them down in the second half. What I found most interesting was the way that Tom Brady quit on the game. He sat slumped on the bench in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, and all of his body language said "where is the exit - get me out of here". Then the Pats put Doug Flutie on the field for their final series. The game was already lost, but Flutie at least livened it up in his own inimitable way, scrambling around trying to keep a drive alive, and even reprising his famous Heismann-trophy-winning Hail Mary at one point when he heaved a throw into the end zone (it fell incomplete). I don't know if Brady asked to be taken out or whether the coaches looked at him and said "he's not going back in", but it was the first time I can remember Brady looking hacked-off and demotivated during a game.

I see that we have been treated to some classic examples of F1-speak in the last week or two:

(Mark Webber welcomes Nico Rosberg to the team and says he will be a "strong" teammate)
Excellent. They give me a team-mate with no F1 experience. Wait until I hand the little bastard's backside to him on a plate...

(Antonio Pizzonia lamenting that he couldn't believe "how slow Nico Rosberg was" during testing)
Why did you ignore me in favour of hiring that little boy just because he has a famous family name?

(Christian Horner explaining that Adrian Newey's move to Red Bull was not about money)
Of course it's not about the money - although we will be paying him a shedload more cash than he made at McLaren

Link: http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2005-11-03/news/news.html

...and this old saying may be true for you if you allow yourself to be sucked into the investment pitch of radio hosts John Labunski and Cathy DeWitt. Together, the husband-and-wife team call themselves the Senior Advisory Group of Texas.
Labunski and DeWitt aren't certified financial planners. They're not even accountants; they're insurance agents. They don't take any callers on their show or answer questions from anybody. Instead, they are paying for airtime to broadcast what amounts to an hour-long sales pitch for "equity indexed annuities," a product to which Dow Jones' MarketWatch.com recently awarded the title of "Stupid Investment of the Week."
And, as this article in the Dallas Observer makes clear, Labunski and DeWitt appear to specialize in living high on the hog while skipping out on their prior financial obligations.
Time to remember the old Latin phrase of caveat emptor and also the Second Law of Capitalism:

If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Link: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/13120670.htm

This commentary in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram eloquently explains why this amendment is a ticking bomb for Texas.
Speaking personally, I have a couple of comments:

1. The election turnout was less than 20%. A very large majority of registered voters in Texas did not even bother to vote. This is a major challenge to the practice of representative democracy. It allowed a change to the state constitution to be passed by a vote in favour by only about 14% of the electorate. We have no idea what the result might have been if a majority of registered voters had actually voted. What we do know is that a majority of Texans sat on their hands and let a minority make a significant civil rights decision. Shame on the non-voters. They have failed in their civic duty.
2. My wife and I will be reviewing our life strategy as a result of this vote, and we will seriously be considering leaving Texas in the next 2-3 years. I am not prepared to continue to live long-term in a state whose citizens appear to think that it is OK to abridge the civil rights of a section of the population based on sexual orientation.

I never watch TV soap operas. In part that's because most of them, to put it bluntly, are implausible crap. However, the other part of the reason is that real life is far more entertaining than any soap opera.
I humbly submit my principal piece of evidence for your perusal.
Terrell Owens.
When T.O. (as he is now unversally known) first began whining about everybody who did not kiss his ass while he was with the 49'ers, it looked like yet another prima donna wide receiver hissy-fit. Nothing new there. Ever since the year dot, wide recievers have intermittently thrown hissy-fits and behaved like prima donnas. The brilliant skewering of the prima donna NFL player, via the "Leon" commercials, could only have been about wide receivers. Leon is a composite of Randy Moss and T.O. He is preening, narcissistic and utterly selfish. ("There's no "I" in team", says the journalist. "There's no "We" either" retorts Leon).
However, T.O. has taken this to a new height by having a seemingly perpetual hissy-fit. In T.O's world, he is perpetually disrespected, unappreciated and unfairly treated. Having gotten himself run out of San Francisco by feuding with his coach, his quarterback and just about every management figure in that franchise, T.O. balked at being traded to the Baltimore Ravens, possibly because he would have had to answer to Ray Lewis on that team. We can be sure that Ray Lewis would have rocketed T.O. into low earth orbit the first time he attempted to put himself above the team. No, T.O. wanted to be Loved. He therefore decided that he would play for the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that seemingly needed him desperately. The Eagles, so the story went, were only one good wide receiver short of a Super Bowl win.
So T.O. signed for the Eagles amidst mutual exclamations of undying love and respect. And for a while, it seemed to work. It even led to T.O. defying doctors orders to return in the Super Bowl, where, despite being not at full speed, he still finished with the best receiving yardage of any Eagles player. That was one of the bravest NFL performances of the modern era, with T.O. gutting it out to play a significant part in the game.
However, that was the high point in the relationship. During the off-season, T.O. suddenly decided that His Contract Was Unfair. To prove how serious he was, he fired his agent David Joseph, and hired Drew Rosenhaus. This is the agent that has been acting as a players' Rottweiler for several years now. It is safe to say that Drew Rosenhaus is not exactly most NFL franchises' favorite person these days. He is very good at extracting more money from clubs for his players.
Rosenhaus and T.O. set to work to make the Eagles cough up more money. We were treated to heart-rending tales of fiscal unfairness through the Summer. Nothing new there. The fact that they were attempting to hold a gun to the head of a team that has a well-known antipathy to forced contract re-negotiations did not seem to faze either T.O. or Rosenhaus. The fact that they had no leverage also did not seem to make a difference. T.O. was different, T.O. was the saviour of the Eagles, and T.O. was going to get what T.O. wanted. This led to the usual player hold-out. It also led to the inevitable climbdown by T.O. when the Eagles refused to submit to this not-very-subtle public blackmail.
Ultimately, players who hold out don't have much leverage. The recent order by the NFL arbitrator to Keenan McArdell to pay back $1.8m to the Buccaneers after his 2004 holdout sent a messsage that holdouts will be seen as a breach of contract leading to fiscal remedies. T.O. had talked himself into a dead end. He had no choice but to submit to reality, and so he reported to training camp, surly and barely co-operative. However, by that time he had a bigger hole to dig himself out of.
T.O., when he decides that he is not getting his way on some issue, seems to adhere to the policy that the way to make yourself look good is to try to make those around you look bad. Hence the sudden declaration by T.O. during the Summer that they could have won the Super Bowl if only Donovan McNabb hadn't gotten tired in the fourth quarter. As a mechanism for building a working relationship with team-mates, that was a stroke of genius. You bolster your case for more money by rubbishing the franchise quarterback, one of the people who originally helped to get you to the team? What a fricking genius move that was.
The net result was that the relationship between T.O. and the Eagles has steadily unravelled since earlier this year, to the point where the Eagles have quite clearly decided to cut their losses. They will suspend him for the maximum 4 games allowed under the CBA, then de-activate him. Then they will cut him as soon as fiscally practicable.
The newest public apology outside his house by T.O. the other day is nothing more than a public relations ploy to try and gain some sympathy, and also bolster his arbitration case, since he has filed a greivance against the Eagles. The presence of the stern-faced Rosenhaus next to T.O. as he read his latest prepared mea culpa suggests that Rosenhaus was in charge of that little event, as he realizes that T.O.'s policy of dynamiting bridges instead of burning them makes his chances of winning an arbitration hearing somewhere between slim and none, unless he shows some humility real quick. As a credible exercise in humility, it wouldn't even win a high-school drama competition.
There will be some franchise somewhere that will take a chance on T.O. The Dallas Cowboys signed Keyshawn Johnson after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran him out of town. There is, however, a big difference between Keyshawn and T.O. Keyshawn, by signing with Dallas, went back to working under a coach (Bill Parcells) who got the best out of him when he played for the New York Jets. Pain in the ass though Keyshawn may be, when Parcells faces him down, Keyshawn listens. After his blow-up at Drew Bledsoe earlier in the season, you could see Keyshawn trying to make his case to Parcells, who can be seen clearly telling him to "shut up and go catch the damn ball", or words to that effect.
T.O. by contrast has no coach in the NFL right now who would vouch for him, or want to sign him based on a successful past working relationship. Both Steve Mariucci and Andy Reid would probably be tossing coins for the privilege of running T.O. down were he to ever find himself stranded in the middle of the highway. However, I am sure that some GM or director of player personnel will manage to rationalize a set of voices in his head and will prevail upon his club's ownership to sign T.O.
I wish that franchise luck. They'll need it.
T.O. is the ultimate narcissist. Everything I have seen about him suggests that he cannot be converted into even a marginally-adjusted team member. At the age of 31, he is at the peak of his powers, but his presence on a team extracts a terrible price on all those forced to deal with him on a daily basis. Most franchises will conclude that the price is not worth it. One will pay that price.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9939154/site/newsweek/

...in which he makes the point that the current weaselling by the US administration to try and retain some sort of loophole for the use of torure on detainees is a losing tactic, taking into account the deeply negative views that this arouses in the rest of the world.