Attorney General Pam Bondi is the latest Donald Trump loyalist to be fired. Trump seems to be upset that she was not going after his political opponents enough. Does he realize that the United States Attorney General is not his personal lawyer? The job is supposed to serve the American people and uphold the law, not protect one person or target whoever the president doesn’t like. Her incompetence was a great reason to fire her, but that is not why Trump did it. Did she uphold the law? Absolutely not. If incompetence were really the reason she was fired, she would have been fired a long time ago. Actually, she should have never gotten the job in the first place. Instead, he kept her in office for as long as he could because she was loyal and because she protected him from the Epstein files for as long as she could. Loyalty is the only thing that matters to Trump, not performance or qualifications. As long as someone is protecting him and doing what he wants, they stay. The moment they stop, or no longer have the power to do so, they become disposable. The question is, who will it be next? Kash Patel? Karoline Leavitt?

When it comes to former United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem’s husband, Byron Noem, I don’t care what he does in his personal life. If he wants to dress as a woman, I am fine with it. Actually, I am happy for him. Now he can live the life he wants to live and doesn’t have to hold it a secret anymore. That’s something that should be supported, and I’ve always felt that way. I hope he can embrace it, be comfortable with who he is, and live a life of happiness. Everyone deserves that, no matter who they are or how they choose to live their life. My problem with the news about him being a cross-dresser isn’t about him at all, it’s about how quickly conservatives have changed their tune. Suddenly, they are saying this is a personal matter and no one else’s business. All of a sudden, what people do in their personal lives, their sex lives, and their lives at home is private and should be respected. When did this happen? The people on the right have always been the first to judge people for their personal choices, sexual orientation, or gender identity. They have pushed laws, made statements, and built entire political arguments based on what people do in their personal lives. Now, when it’s something that causes them embarrassment, they want to take the high road and ask for privacy and respect. That’s complete hypocrisy. Once again, the right has shown what hypocrites they are. At least that is one thing they are consistent about. Then Kristi Noem releases a statement about how devastating this has been for her and asks for prayers for herself and her family. Really? Really, the person that is okay with the murdering of United States citizens with no sympathy and labeling them as domestic terrorists with no proof wants prayers for her family because her husband chooses to dress as a woman? I will pray for the people like Alex Pretti and Renee Good, people that she was okay with being murdered, way before I will waste a single prayer on her for being embarrassed by what her husband did.

Some people, like me, may think Donald Trump is a bad president because we have different views than his supporters do, but it’s time to take a hard look at him as just a person and not as President. Even over a short period of time, you can look at things he has done and said and realize it has nothing to do with him being a bad president, he is just an awful human being. This goes way beyond politics, beyond policies, and beyond party lines. He can post racist stuff and get away with it. Most people would get fired for something like that, but he gets cheered by his followers, and it agets treated like it’s normal behavior. That says a lot, not just about him, but as much about his supporters. He has celebrated the death of Robert Mueller, the former director of the FBI. How often have you seen a president celebrate the death of another person in the way he has? Probably never. It’s not normal behavior, and it shouldn’t be accepted as normal behavior from anyone. And this is not the first time he has done things that are just cruel and awful. He has made fun of people because of their disabilities. He has disparaged women over and over. He has said the biggest enemy of the United States is the left political party. Knowing how clueless and how brainwashed so many of his supporters are, statements like that are not just words, they can actually put people’s lives in danger. When you say things like that, some people will take it seriously and think it’s time to declare war on the left. His supporters will say he is just being honest. Well, I’m being honest too, he is one of the worst human beings on earth. That has nothing to do with his political views. It’s about how he acts, what he says, and how he treats people. He could be in any position, any job, and he would still be an awful human being. He could agree with me on every political issue, every policy and he would still be an awful person. If you continue to defend him, it is time for you to take a hard look in the mirror at yourself. Your character is and should be questioned by your continuous support of Trump. Think of yourself in some of those positions. If you are a woman and he referred to you as a pig, would you be okay with it? You don’t even have to be a woman, how would you feel if he said that about your wife, girlfriend, or daughter? Would you still say, “I am glad he is honest?” What if you had a family member who has a disability, would you be okay if he mocked this family member? If the answer is no, then why not? Isn’t he just being honest? If you had a family member who passed away and he celebrated their death on social media, would you still love him for his honesty? His supporters are as much of the problem as he is himself.

A short time ago, if you asked Republicans just about anything, the response was always the same, why aren’t you talking about the Dow Jones? You could ask about ICE or the Epstein files, and it didn’t matter, the answer always came back to the same, the Dow is soaring, it’s over 50,000, look at how great things are. Every voice across the party had the same message, not just Donald Trump, but also Pam Bondi, J. D. Vance, and Karoline Leavitt. Pam Bondi answered questions at a hearing, or rather, didn’t answer them, by responding that people should be asking about the Dow Jones. The Dow Jones had nothing to do with the hearing, but that was still her go-to response. No matter what the question was, for each of them, the response was the same over and over again. It was like they were pointing at the Dow Jones as if it were a scoreboard to validate their victory. That was the proof that what they were doing was right. Now, suddenly, that has disappeared. Now that Donald Trump has led the country into a war, the message has completely changed. If you bring up the Dow Jones now, you’re told we are at war, that the focus needs to be on national security, and that this is no time to be talking about the economy. How can you think about money when we are trying to keep Americans safe? So which is it? When the stock market was a political win, it was the only thing that mattered. You could point to serious issues including the fatal shootings of civilians in Minneapolis during ICE operations and the response would still be, “Have you seen the Dow Jones?” You could raise questions about how often Trump was mentioned in the Epstein files, and it was the same, , “Have you seen the Dow Jones?” Now that it’s not a convenient talking point anymore, it’s brushed off like it was never all that important. Well now, maybe they can go back and answer the questions they were ignoring all along. Well actually those questions aren't important anymore, we are in a war after all.

It is probably no shock to anyone who knows me that I am going to pick Duke to win the National Championship. I do have some concerns about their injuries, with Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba both dealing with foot injuries. In the ACC Tournament, they only played seven players deep, and that does not leave them with much of a rotation. Hopefully, Ngongba is able to play by the regionals if they advance that far, and that will be a huge help. Caleb Foster, on the other hand, is probably out for the entire tournament, or at least until the Final Four if they were to advance past the regionals. Cayden Boozer has stepped in well playing for Caleb Foster. It’s nice to see him playing well, especially since his twin brother, Cameron Boozer, has gotten most of the national attention this year. One thing I really like about this Jon Scheyer coached Duke team is the defense they play, it could be one of the best defensive teams I have seen for Duke basketball. Even with the injuries, they have a very talented group, with some players having experience from last year’s Final Four run that ended with a devastating loss. Isaiah Evans and Maliq Brown are great on the defensive end, and Brown brings senior leadership to this team. Dame Sarr has gotten better as the year has gone on, and fellow freshman Nikolas Khamenia has stepped up as well. Darren Harris has also played a lot more with the injury to Foster. The key player is still freshman Cameron Boozer, who seems to never have an off night. Even when he has an off night shooting, he steps up in other ways, with assists and timely rebounding. He is very mature for his age and doesn’t let things bother him, if he is missing shots, it doesn’t affect the rest of his play. For my predictions: in the East, I have Duke beating St. John’s in the Sweet 16 and then beating Michigan State in the regional final, with Michigan State upsetting UConn in the Sweet 16. In the South, I have Florida beating Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16 and Houston beating Illinois, with Florida knocking off Houston in the regional final. In the Midwest, I have Michigan beating Texas Tech in one Sweet 16 game and Virginia beating Iowa State in the other, with Virginia advancing to the Final Four. In the West, I have Arizona over Arkansas in the Sweet 16 and Purdue over Gonzaga, with Purdue upsetting Arizona in the regional final. In the Final Four, I have Duke beating Florida, but they will need to be healthier at that point to pull it off. In the other matchup, I have Purdue over Virginia. In the National Championship game, I have Duke beating Purdue. Good luck in your bracket, but only if you have Duke winning!

We are getting close to March Madness, and I’ve always felt that the NCAA basketball tournament is the toughest championship to win in all of sports. You have to win six games in a row, and you really can’t have an off night. One bad game, one cold shooting night, or one bad stretch, and your season is over. At the same time, your opponent can get hot at the right time and end your season just like that. The shorter three-point line is also a great equalizer in college basketball. A team can suddenly get hot from beyond the arc and steal a game. That’s part of what has always made the tournament so unpredictable and exciting. A team that might not be as talented on paper can still knock off a favorite if they hit a few shots early and build some confidence. We used to see it almost every year, when a lower-seeded team catches fire for a night and sends a powerhouse home early. The sport has drastically changed with NIL though, and we probably won’t see the “Cinderella” stories like we used to from the smaller conferences. Most major conference teams will always have the talent to pull off an upset against a higher ranked power conference team, but smaller conference teams just don’t have the same funds to attract players. Unfortunately for them when they do develop a really good player, a bigger school is usually going to come along and pry them away. In the past, a lot of those smaller schools that made deep runs in the tournament did it with older rosters full of juniors and seniors who had played together for years. That experience made a huge difference in March. Those teams were more disciplined, they knew how to play together, and they weren’t intimidated . That’s how some of those schools were able to make those memorable runs. But now those kinds of players aren’t staying at those schools anymore, and that makes it a lot harder for those programs. The transfer portal and NIL have changed college basketball. If a player is talented at a smaller school, a bigger program will come and take that player with more opportunities and more exposure, but most importantly more money. March Madness will always be exciting because of the format. A single-elimination tournament guarantees drama and surprises, and there will always be a few upsets along the way. But college basketball has changed, and the gap between the bigger programs and the smaller schools is much wider now. The tournament will still produce great games and shocking results, but the classic Cinderella story that used to be a major part of March may be getting harder and harder to find. And that’s a little bit of what made March Madness so amazing.

A few weeks ago, Donald Trump was bragging about low gas prices and how his administration got them lower. That may have been true, even though his numbers weren’t close to being accurate. Now, as a result of the Iraq war, or conflict, whatever it’s being called today, gas prices are skyrocketing. I’m not complaining about the gas prices themselves. Prices go up and down all the time depending on what is happening in the world. What I’m complaining about is the reaction to those gas prices, especially here in California. You can’t praise Trump for supposedly getting gas prices lower and then turn around and blame Gavin Newsom when gas prices go up. It doesn’t work that way. Gas prices don’t suddenly become a federal success story when they go down and then magically become a state problem when they go up. If you are going to give credit when things look good, then you also have to be honest about why things change when they don’t look so good. Yes, California has higher gas taxes. In fact, we have the highest gas tax in the country. That’s not new information. People in California have known that for years. But no new taxes were passed in the last month that would suddenly explain a spike in gas prices. The taxes didn’t suddenly change overnight, so blaming California taxes for a sudden jump in prices doesn’t make much sense. The reality is that gas prices are largely driven by global markets, conflicts, and supply issues. When the market has a sudden change that was a direct result of the actions of this president, then that is where the blame should rightfully be placed. When there is instability in the Middle East or other major oil-producing regions, prices tend to go up everywhere. These kinds of events have always had an impact on oil and gas prices, and they will continue to do so. The problem is that people want to give Trump credit for anything that sounds good in the moment, but when things don’t look good, they immediately blame someone else. It becomes a situation where good news gets credited to one person, but bad news gets blamed on someone entirely different. Trump himself does this, from blaming states or the previous administration, and his followers blindly follow his lead.

Donald Trump fired Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. I agree with firing her, but the question is, why did he do it now? She has been testifying before a U.S. House of Representatives panel this week, and saying it has been a disastrous hearing for her would be an understatement. Then again, it should be, because her time as Homeland Security Secretary has been disgraceful and a complete disaster. So the real question is why fire her now? The truth is that Trump likely did it to create a scapegoat for himself for the things coming out during this hearing. One of the big issues is the $220 million that DHS spent on advertising. During the hearing, Noem suggested that Trump was aware of this spending. That clearly upset Trump, but why? Most likely because it was true that he knew about it and may also have known who was benefiting from it. One of the companies involved, Safe America Media, was incorporated in Delaware just one week before winning a contract. That contract was worth $143 million. That is a pretty big contract for a company that had only existed for a week. The company is reportedly linked to allies of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Safe America Media then subcontracted Strategy Group, a company with ties to Noem’s gubernatorial campaign in South Dakota in 2022. Corey Lewandowski, who is Noem’s top adviser at DHS, has worked with the firm. Noem’s former Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin’s husband Benjamin Yoho is CEO of the company. This company also have ties to several other allies of the administration. Like I previously stated Trump was reportedly upset that Noem said the president was aware of the campaign and had signed off on it. Trump now denies knowing anything about it. So she was not fired for her poor performance, even though she definitely should have been. Instead, it appears she was fired for embarrassing Trump. Or maybe it wasn’t just about embarrassing him. Maybe it was about more of the truth leaking out about this dishonest administration.

The World Baseball Classic starts this week, and I’ve always enjoyed watching it. I have attended games in 2013 and 2023. It will never be as big as the FIFA World Cup is for soccer, but it really doesn’t have to be. For people like me who love baseball, the World Baseball Classic is a big deal in its own way. One thing I really appreciate is how the World Baseball Classic has helped grow the game internationally. Baseball usually felt like it was mostly centered in the United States, Japan, and parts of Latin America, but this tournament shows how global the sport has become. When players put on their country’s uniform instead of their Major League uniform, it just feels different. You can see how much pride they take in representing where they come from. I will admit teams from other countries show far more pride rooting for their countries than we do in the United States, but I think the passion grew a lot for American fans in 2023. It was just a different feel in the stadium in 2023 than it was in 2013 when I watched the United States play Mexico in both of those tournaments. The drama of the World Baseball Classic has also been great for the sport. The intensity of the games has grown. The fans are louder, the players are more emotional, and every game seems to matter a little more. It started feeling more like the Major League Baseball postseason than it had in the past. I’m also glad the World Baseball Classic helped bring baseball back as an Olympic sport for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Baseball being part of the Olympics just feels right. If I end up going to any Olympic events when the Games are in Los Angeles, that would definitely be the one I would want to see in person.

I am not defending the Iranian government in any way, far from it. But for people to say that one of the reasons we attacked was because protesters in Iran were being killed is a very weak argument coming from the right. All of a sudden, we care about Muslim people protesting in another country, yet here we see this administration ridicule, try to silence, and even commit violence against people in our own country who stand up for the rights of similar people. ICE killing protesters in our country has been justified, but we want to call out another country for being evil. That is complete hypocrisy. It’s hypocrisy from Donald Trump, his administration, and their supporters. What is happening to protesters in Iran is evil, but are we really supposed to believe that Donald Trump is suddenly this caring soul who is only trying to prevent harm to the Iranian people? That just doesn’t match his past views or the views of his supporters. He talks about women’s rights in Iran, yet has treated women in our own country in ways that many would call disgraceful. All of a sudden, we care about people from other countries when it’s used to justify military action. The right would be better off sticking with the argument that Iran was close to developing nuclear weapons. Whether that claim is true or not, at least it is an argument you can see them making from their political background, instead of an issue based around human rights in a way that goes against all their past views and actions.

The State of the Union address last night didn’t say anything that was a surprise. It honestly felt more like a typical Trump campaign rally than a State of the Union address. There was a lot of standing, a lot of clapping, and a lot of soaking in applause that wasn’t earned. Even when he was announced, he took his time to get to the microphone so he could get as much applause as possible. He even applauded for himself. Later on he introduced people who absolutely did deserve recognition, but then he would just stand there as if the applause was meant for him instead of the people being honored. The six minutes for the U.S. hockey team was a perfect example. That moment was about them and what they accomplished. It was their hard work that won the gold medal and that is why people were applauding. That applause wasn’t for him but he accepted that it was meant for him anyways. Moments like that are supposed to unite people, not turn into another campaign move for himself. Overall, the tone just felt more like a rally than a serious address about the state of the country. Then again, why would he want to even talk about the state of the country? If he did it would show exactly why his approval rating is what it is, at an all-time low. It was all about crowd reactions and light on anything meaningful. We’ve heard most of it before. It was more about energizing supporters than laying out any vision or acknowledging the complicated reality the country is facing right now. And honestly, of all people, Trump trying to call others crazy and insensitive was very laughable. The irony there was hard to miss. He talks about protecting children and women, using that as a major talking point, yet there was no mention of the 53 pages reportedly missing from the Epstein file where his name seems to appear. He talked about the United States of America returning to religion, and talked about Christian values. This is the last person that should be talking about Christian values. His moral background should be embarrassing for anyone that is truly practicing Christianity. The way he treats people, minorities, people with disabilities and especially as of late, women, and how he has cheated on his own wives alone takes away any seriousness about his opinion on Christian values. I am not offended by his comments as a Christian, because I am not one, I am offended as a person that truly does respect religions. In the end, it just felt like more of the same. A lot of applause, a lot of rally energy, and a lot of moments to fire up his base. But as far as actually learning something new about where the country is headed, there really wasn’t much there. It was not a State of the Union meant to inform the country. It was a campaign speech delivered from the chamber.

Watching the United States hockey team win gold yesterday brought back a childhood memory of the 1980 gold medal team. I was 7 years old and remember watching that game on a black and white TV with rabbit ears and foil paper, just trying to get a clear picture. I remember feeling such a strong sense of national pride in that moment. It was a great feeling, and yesterday brought back a lot of those same emotions. As an adult, we see the world and our country differently. As a 7-year-old, I was just told the Russians were the bad guys and we were the good guys, and that’s just the way it was. I really had no understanding of politics or history it was simply a good-versus-bad story. The biggest difference to me is that back then it felt like the bad guys had been beaten. This time, it felt more like they just beat a really good hockey team. In 1980 it felt like they defeated an enemy this time it felt like they beat a rival, not an enemy. The 1980 team was a bunch of kids, college players who shocked the world, while the 2026 team was comprised of professional hockey players who are already among the best in the sport. Both accomplishments are incredible, just in very different ways. I am not trying to take away from what the team did yesterday. It was very historic and, like I said, it brought a sense of national pride, which is a tremendous feeling. It reminded me of how sports can still unite people, even if just for a moment. The beautiful part of this country is that we can still be proud of the nation, even when we are not proud of some of the things going on within it. It is a great feeling to be able to hold both of those feelings at the same time, which would not be possible in a lot of countries.

Rondale Moore passed away yesterday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Moore was a wide receiver who was a second-round draft pick for the Arizona Cardinals out of Purdue University. He was currently on the Minnesota Vikings but missed the last two seasons with injuries. He had a severe knee injury last preseason.This was his last post on social media. “Stitched up the last eight months, but it changed nothin', I don't feel no better....ain't posted on none of my pages while I settle this little vendetta.” It appears as if he was depressed over what seems like his career was over, or at least he was feeling it was over at the moment. I love sports. I have teams I like and the rest I don’t, but sometimes we forget the human element behind all of it. It really looks like his injury situation weighed on him and made him spiral to a place where he just couldn’t pull himself out of it. I just wish he could have gotten the help and support he needed before things got to that final moment yesterday. We watch games, debate stats, and talk about players as if that's all they are, just players. It’s easy to label someone as soft or injury-prone when all we see is the box score or the injury report. But the reality is we have no idea what they are dealing with behind the scenes, the pain, the rehab, the pressure, and in this case the extreme fear that everything you worked your whole life for is being taken away from you. It’s a reminder that sports is just sports. We get emotionally invested, and I certainly do for sure, and that’s part of what makes being a fan fun, but at the end of the day it’s still just a game. In the big picture, a person’s health and well-being will always matter more than wins, losses, or fantasy points. These athletes are human beings first, and we should always keep that perspective before we judge or ridicule them.

It’s increasingly likely that we could see a work stoppage in baseball in 2027. The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players’ association expires on December 1, 2026. Baseball owners are expected to push for a salary cap, which the players’ association will strongly resist. This conflict could not only lead to a work stoppage but may even delay or potentially cancel the 2027 season. As we enjoy this upcoming season, fans might want to savor it, because it could be the last baseball we see for two years. Currently, the Los Angeles Dodgers lead all teams with a payroll of $394 million. Only three teams have payrolls exceeding $300 million: the Dodgers, New York Mets, and New York Yankees. At the other end of the spectrum, the Miami Marlins carry the smallest payroll at $73 million. They are one of seven teams spending less than $100 million. A potential salary cap would likely or at least should be set at around $280 million. If that figure was used today, only five teams would exceed it, and two of those would barely be over the limit. A salary cap would likely also include a payroll floor to be fair to players, which could also help create more competitive balance across the league. If the floor was set around $180 million, a minimum amount teams would be required to spend, more than half of MLB teams would need to increase their payrolls. While the players’ association may resist a cap, a properly structured cap and floor system could actually increase the total money going to players. It would also create more balance and competitiveness in the sport. Some owners may oppose a high payroll floor, but the reality is that teams appear to have the resources to comply. Rumors suggest that every MLB team has a “war chest” of at least $75 million in case there is a potential work stoppage. This indicates that many teams are already generating enough revenue to increase payrolls. Small-market teams often argue they cannot compete due to attendance limitations, but if they put a stronger product on the field, fans are likely to respond, by attending games, watching games, and purchasing merchandise. One major difference between the NFL and MLB has always been television revenue. The NFL has the largest TV contracts, with every game part of a national package. While MLB does not have an identical arrangement, it has steadily added national TV deals in recent years, including contracts with streaming services. Shared revenue is growing and should be distributed fairly to players. I’m not taking sides between the owners and the players, but it seems like common sense solutions could resolve many of these issues. Unfortunately, in negotiations like this, common sense often gets lost as both sides focus on maximizing their own financial gain, basically everyone wants to get as rich as possible. That’s why I believe it is very unlikely we will see a full MLB season in 2027, or any season at all.

The Supreme Court ruling against the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump shows what was a great overreach by Trump. The Court is comprised of six conservative judges with only three that generally lean left, so this decision shows they were able to see past politics and make a ruling that defends the U.S. Constitution. While the ruling does not affect all of the tariffs, it does make clear that the tariffs Trump implemented as threats, such as those directed at Canada and Mexico are illegal. This ruling sends a clear message that Trump has abused the power of the Executive Branch of the United States and that those powers do have limits. When two of the three judges appointed by Trump himself, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, were in favor of this ruling, it shows that the system is working the way it was designed to work. It proves that justices are not there to serve a president, but to uphold the Constitution and the law. Hopefully, this sends a message to Trump that trying to stack the Judicial Branch does not give him absolute power, and that he will not be able to reach that goal by trying to stack the Congressional Branch either. It is a reminder that our system of checks and balances still matters and that no president, no matter who appointed the judges, is above the Constitution. Trump called the ruling a disgrace., but what he is really calling a disgrace is our U.S. Consitution and the seperation of power that it created by the three branch system. In Donald Trump's view, if anything stops him from having absolute power, it is then considered a disgrace.

The band U2 has a song out called “American Obituary.” The song contains an anti-ICE message and has sympathetic lyrics about Renee Good. This song came out a few weeks after Bruce Springsteen released “Streets of Minneapolis,” another song written to protest what happened in Minneapolis. These songs are protected by freedom of speech. I have seen people on the right complain that these songs are anti-American. To me, they are not anti-American but they are against people being treated wrong in America. The ability to write such songs is very American, even if one was written by a band from Ireland. Being able to criticize the country or its policies is part of what freedom of speech is all about, and it is one of the things that actually defines this country. I have also seen the argument that neither the band nor Springsteen wrote a song about Laken Riley, who was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra in 2024. Ibarra entered the country illegally. While that was a real tragedy, arguments like this usually make zero sense to me. This argument is basically saying something is not wrong because something worse has happened. There can be levels of wrong, but wrong is still wrong. A tragedy does not cancel out another tragedy just because they involve different circumstances or different political views. No one is saying that a song can’t be written about Laken Riley anyone is free to do so if they feel they want to write it. That is exactly how freedom of speech works. But you can’t argue that someone shouldn’t use their freedom of speech just because the topic they chose is not the one you wanted them to speak on. There is no part of freedom of speech that says this right has to be used on every issue equally or in a way that satisfies everyone. Artists write about what moves them, what they see as injustice, and what they believe needs attention.

I was pretty young when Reverend Jesse Jackson was running for the Democratic nomination to be president. I just remember my dad was voting for him and we would often watch his speeches. I can’t say I remember them all but I remember bits and pieces from his speech at the Democratic Convention in San Francisco. I think he was the first person to ever mention equality for gays and lesbians while running for a major political position like President of the United States. Probably something that wasn’t even in the forefront at the time but it certainly is today. The beauty of his speech was not that he mentioned gays and lesbians though, he mentioned everybody. This was a part of Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition speech. “America is not like a blanket, one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt: many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. The white, the Hispanic, the black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the Native American, the small farmer, the businessperson, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay, and the disabled make up the American quilt.” This speech was made on July 18, 1984. This is a message I think we need to hear again today over 40 years later. Even his political opponents respected him as a good, kind hearted person, Gary Hart had said this about Jesse Jackson, "no derogatory feelings in his soul.” Ronald Reagan praised him for his help in getting home a captured pilot in Syria. He also helped get home many Americans being held in Cuba and in Iraq, as well as people from other countries. He saw people as humans, not just as Americans or the countries they were from. This is something missing from people’s views right now. Was Jesse Jackson perfect, far from it, he made his mistakes, but no one can argue the good that he had in his heart.

I know people have different political beliefs, and people certainly have beliefs that are different from mine. I can often discuss and even understand why some people hold the views they do. These differences can be debated, and I can see both sides. But right and wrong are not open for debate. That’s what is going on in this country right now. Being racist or hateful is not open for debate. Being homophobic and sexist is not open for debate. These views aren't "opinions". You can’t defend those views and then say you aren’t part of them. You can’t be okay with someone being racist and then say you aren’t racist. You can’t be okay with someone being homophobic and then claim you are not homophobic. You can’t defend someone degrading women and then say you are not sexist. Sometimes it’s not just that defending these views is the same as accepting them, but even remaining silent can be the same as accepting them. Silence sends a message too, whether people want to admit it or not. I actually have more respect for people who have these views and openly embrace them than for those who try to hide their feelings or pretend they stand for something else. At least then you know exactly where they stand. One of my favorite quotes is by Malcolm X, “I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands even if he is wrong than the one who comes up as an angel and is nothing but a devil.”

I have often seen the argument lately that if you are doing something illegal or are in the country illegally, you don’t have any rights. Actually, you do have rights, there are some basic human rights. Even in our Declaration of Independence, which I know has no legal binding, one of the first ideas this country was built on was that “all men are created equal.” When did we lose sight of that? Some people in our country have just lost basic common decency. The Constitution has very few limits that apply only to citizens, which include the right to vote and to hold certain government jobs. Other than that, the Constitution generally uses the word “persons,” not just citizens, and that matters. Everyone has rights, which aren’t limited to but include the First Amendment. Even if you are in the country illegally, you still have free speech rights, the right to assemble, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. You also have other rights that include protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and you still have the right to due process before the government can take away your liberty. That has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in many cases, holding that constitutional protections like due process and equal protection apply to all persons within the United States, not just citizens, even if someone did not enter the country legally. Due process means the government can’t just detain, deport, or punish someone without following fair and proper legal procedures. It means access to courts, notice of charges, and a chance to be heard. That doesn’t mean immigration laws don’t exist or that violations have no consequences, it means those consequences still have to follow the law and respect basic rights. If our system is truly based on equality, then those protections have to apply even when we disagree with someone’s presence here. Even worse is that these same people who argue that you have to be here legally to have rights are the same people who also argue that it is okay to shoot citizens if they are breaking the law, like what happened in Minnesota. I should say what their version of the law is at that moment, to fit their narrative. While making that argument, they said shooting Alex Pretti was justified, yet they were the same people who were up in arms when Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed while unlawfully entering the U.S. Capitol and when threats were being made against members of the U.S. Congress. So they are actually taking their argument one step further they are saying the Bill of Rights is only for United States citizens that they agree with, and not agreeing with them is a violation that takes away all your rights. If that is the case, then we are not living up to any of the ideas that this nation was built on.

Start of Major League Baseball season is here with pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training. Football is my favorite sport, but there is just something different about baseball. The day-to-day grind is different than any other sport. You seem to play almost every day, and there’s something about that which makes the season feel like a marathon instead of a sprint. It’s the game of failures, the sport where you can fail 7 out of 10 times and be considered a great player. There aren’t many places in life where that’s true. It’s the sport where you can finish the season barely over .500 and still win a championship. It reminds you that it’s not about being perfect, it’s about getting hot at the right time and believing you belong. Former Giants manager, the late Roger Craig, was known for his phrase, “Don’t let your daubers down.” It was his way of telling his team not to get discouraged, to keep your head up, even when things aren’t going your way. In a sport with 162 games, there are going to be slumps, bad calls, tough losses, and stretches where nothing seems to click. His message was simple but powerful, stay positive and keep going. Watching baseball when I was younger, I think I was inspired by his positive attitude. It’s something I try to remind myself every time I watch or coach sports. Don’t get me wrong, I know I get very angry watching sports and coaching sports, but at the end of the game I try my best to find the positives. If I root for or coach a team that is playing well, I always say there is a lot of football (or whatever sport it is) left. Same when you aren’t playing well. The truth is my positive attitude sometimes annoys my friends, especially my friends that fans of the same teams as I am. Your highs can’t be too high, but more importantly your lows can’t get too low. Baseball, more than any other sport reminds me of that. You can lose today and be right back out there tomorrow. You can strike out three times and still be the hero in your next at-bat. The season is long, the grind is real, and not every day is going to be your day. It’s not always easy, but I always try to remain positive and we all have to remember not to let our daubers down.

Olympic freestyle skiers Chris Lillis and Hunter Hess are getting blasted by the right simply for exercising their right to free speech. Hess said, “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now. I think it’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.” Hess also added, “If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it,” Hess said. “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.” Lillis had said, “I think that, as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody, with love and respect,” Lillis said. “I hope that when people look at athletes compete in the Olympics, they realize that that’s the America that we’re trying to represent.” That shouldn’t be controversial. We are supposed to be able to disagree with our government in this country. This isn’t Nazi Germany or the Communist Soviet Union, where the government supposedly owns the athletes and dictates what they can think or say. These athletes have a right to their own opinions. You can wear the flag, represent your country, and still criticize what’s happening within it. In fact, that’s kind of the whole point of a free society. Donald Trump’s reaction says a lot more about him than it does about Hunter Hess. “U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” So according to Trump, if you don’t agree with him or his administration, then you don’t get to represent the United States of America? He won an election, he didn’t win ownership of the country. The United States does not belong to one man, one party, or one ideology. The Olympic rings are interlocked to represent unity, something this administration and its supporters seem to know nothing about. Unity doesn’t mean blind loyalty or being forced to agree with this administration that would make this country a dictatorship. It means standing together while still allowing people the freedom to think, speak, and disagree. That’s what actually makes representing the United States meaningful. We have not got to the point where we have renamed the Olympic team after Trump, I am sure he has tried, but until we do the athletes should be allowed to speak like all Americans are allowed to speak, with free will.

Trump is racist, and he made that pretty clear with his post about the Obamas today. He posted a video depicting them as apes. Let that sync in, how can anyone think that is okay and not at all feel like its racist? The most disturbing part isn’t even what Trump posted, it’s that his supporters continue to support him anyway. Trump is what he is, and he’s very open about it. None of this should be surprising at this point. What is surprising is how many people still excuse it, defend it, or pretend it isn’t happening. You can’t support someone who is okay with racism and still believe you’re standing on some higher moral ground. At some point, the line between “I don’t agree with everything he says” and complete acceptance disappears. When you support someone, you are choosing what you’re willing to tolerate. And when you tolerate racism, even if you don’t personally think of yourself as racist, you are saying it isn’t important enough for you to stop supporting this person. The person you support reflects on you. Their beliefs reflect on you. Their words and actions don’t exist in a vacuum. You don’t get to separate yourself from it when it becomes uncomfortable. Political beliefs don’t get a free pass when they cross into moral territory. It’s terrible when you put your political beliefs above your moral beliefs, but that’s exactly what’s happening. I have made the mistake myself, saying someone is a good person despite the fact they support Trump. Those two things can't co-exist anymore. You even have a statement like this from Republican Senator Tim Scott, who is African American: “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.” Is that really all they have when the President does or says something racist, to pray and hope it isn’t real? That says a lot by itself. We know he is capable of saying or posting this but we just pray and hope he didn’t. I’ll admit, for a moment, I even thought it was fake, I shouldn’t have because nothing he says or does surprises me anymore. Then White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.” You can’t call something “fake outrage” unless you’re living in their experiences. You don’t get to dismiss someone’s reaction just because you don’t agree with their feelings. I’ve always said you can never tell another person how to feel, even if you’ve had a similar experience, because no two people feel the same experience the same way. Leavitt has no idea how another person might feel about something they believe is racist, and pretending otherwise is part of the problem. When racism is brushed off as “fake outrage,” it sends a very clear message about whose feelings matter and whose don’t.

So when you think Donald Trump’s ego couldn’t get any bigger, he once again proves everyone wrong. This all started with Trump wanting his name on the Kennedy Center, and it’s only spiraled from there. Trump withheld over $16 billion from a project that, at the time, his budget director said was being withheld because they didn’t want the money spent on unconstitutional “DEI” principles. Those were Russell Vought’s words. Whether I agree with him or disagree with him doesn’t matter, that was the statement from this administration. They were going to do whatever was necessary to protect the Constitution. Now Trump is willing to release those funds if they name Dulles Airport and Penn Station after him. So Trump was supposedly trying to protect the Constitution, which I’m sure his followers thought was very patriotic of him. But now he’s willing to let unconstitutional things slide just to have an airport and a train station named after him? How is that patriotic now? His name on a building is suddenly more important to him than the Constitution. Hopefully his followers will someday realize that if things like this rank so high on his priorities, they should really take a hard look at where they stand on his list of priorities.

As much as this Rams season ended in disappointment, I’m trying to look at the big picture. Sean McVay was extended as head coach, as was Les Snead as general manager. In the nine seasons with Sean McVay as head coach, the Rams have had a winning record in eight of those nine seasons, with four NFC West titles, three NFC Championship appearances, two Super Bowl appearances, and one Super Bowl win. In the 12 seasons prior to McVay arriving, they never had a winning record. This organization has clearly been turned into a successful one when you actually step back and look at the big picture. When people say McVay lost them the game and that they should make a change at head coach, it comes off as a pretty ridiculous belief. In the 12 seasons before McVay got there, only once did the Rams even go into the final game of the season with a chance to make the playoffs with a win. Most of the fans making these ridiculous statements are probably newer fans who don’t remember what it was like before. I have been a Rams fan since I was six years old, and it sure makes me feel old that I’m getting close to the point where I’ll have been a fan for half of a century. With sports, as a fan, coaching or playing losing is supposed to hurt. Again, thinking big picture, in a strange way we need to appreciate the hurt of losing. Losing and feeling that hurt is a lot better than losing just being what’s expected. When it comes to coaching, I often tell players to embrace the hurt, remember it, and do everything you can so you don’t have to feel this again.

Turning Point USA is having what they’re calling an “All-American Halftime Show,” but it looks a lot more like an All-White Halftime Show. Kid Rock is the headliner, with Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett also on the lineup. Apparently this is their idea of what “All-American” looks and sounds like. I’m also wondering why they’re calling it a halftime show, because it isn’t halftime of anything. There’s no game. No teams. No first half. How can you have a halftime show without two halves around it? If they really wanted to call it a halftime show, maybe they should also have their own “All-White Football Game.” Put together a game made up entirely of only white players who fit Turning Point USA’s racist view of what an American is supposed to look like. Then the halftime show would at least make sense.

People who say Trump has made our country respected and feared again don’t really know what is going on or have an understanding of the world. There is a difference between being feared and being afraid, and it’s not a subtle difference. Fear comes from respect and an understanding that there will be consequences for your actions. Being afraid comes from uncertainty, instability, and chaos. Fear says, “That is someone we should not mess with.” Being afraid says, “We don’t know what they might do next because they have no direction, leadership, or morality.” Right now, we are a laughingstock to much of the world. Other countries don’t fear the United States because they respect us they’re afraid of us because we have an unstable, unhinged president. When that instability is paired with control over nuclear weapons, that fear isn’t about strength or leadership—it’s about unpredictability. A world that worries about whether the most powerful weapons on Earth are in the hands of someone who acts on impulse and seeks revenge is not a world that respects us. It’s a world that’s nervous and hoping nothing goes terribly wrong.

College football isn’t really college football anymore. We should just be calling it what it actually is, professional football with college names. When Carson Beck can play “college” football without even going to classes, the term student athlete no longer exists. If players aren't even required to go to classes then how is this college sports? NIL and transfer portals have made it free agency every offseason with no control, and players chasing money with no interest in a college degree. There is actually more free agency in college football right now than in the NFL. It also appears the college contracts have no legal binding and seems easy with the aid of agents and lawyers for players to break away from a commitment and move on to a different team. Some players are moving from team to team every year. We are not far from seeing a player win a Heisman Trophy at multiple schools. If players are forgoing the NFL draft in certain circumstances because they can make more money playing college football how can it not be considered a professional league? You also have players using waivers to keep their college eligibility up to 7 or 8 years. It used to be if you stayed in college that long you were either a doctor or failed too many classes, but now you don't even have to go to class and can just play professional football for a college team.

The political party that constantly claims it is “saving America” has, in just the last few days, violated at least five of the first ten amendments of the Constitution. That’s half of them. What are the odds they manage to violate the other half pretty quickly? The most recent example is the arrest of Don Lemon. Arresting a journalist because you don’t like what they report or who they criticize is a direct violation of freedom of the press. That is the First Amendment, plain and simple. You don’t get to silence reporters, intimidate them, or punish them for doing their job and then turn around and claim you support the Constitution. If Don Lemon can be arrested for doing his job, then no member of the press is safe. Freedom of the press doesn’t just apply to journalists you agree with. It exists specifically to protect voices you don’t like, because once the government decides who is and isn’t “legitimate,” the First Amendment is already gone. They’ve also challenged the Second Amendment by acting like only certain people are allowed to bear arms. As I mentioned a few days ago the right to bear arms is either a right or it isn’t. You don’t get to decide it only applies to people who share your politics or show loyalty to the right side. They’ve violated the Fourth Amendment by unreasonably stopping and questioning people about their papers or their citizenship simply because of the way they look. That’s not law enforcement. That’s profiling. And they violate the Sixth Amendment when they deny someone the right to a fair trial and instead decide to act as judge, jury, and executioner. That, in turn, violates the Eighth Amendment, because executing someone on the spot is the very definition of cruel and unusual punishment. That is not law and order. That is not justice. You cannot claim to be defending America while openly ignoring the Constitution whenever it becomes inconvenient.

People think that if you disagree with the way ICE is operating, it means you are okay with people being in the country illegally. That is far from the truth. I can disagree with how ICE is treating people, including how they are treating U.S. citizens, and believe they have failed to show basic human decency under the current administration. ICE has been around for a long time. The right always likes to point out that Obama deported more people than any other president, which is true, and ICE existed when he was president as well. Some of the same people who currently hold positions in ICE held positions then too, like Tom Homan. But you didn’t hear the same complaints you do under this administration because things were done more efficiently. You cannot argue that they deported the most people and then say they didn’t do it efficiently. The difference is that they did not raid schools or churches, and they did not hassle U.S. citizens. They didn’t rely on racial profiling or question anyone who didn’t “look American enough,” which is a big part of what is going on with the current administration. ICE should be doing its job, and it has done its job for many years. They just need to go back to doing it with proper morals and humanity. ICE isn’t the problem, the people in charge above them are.

It looks like the right to bear arms is being replaced with only “the right” to bear arms. If you don’t agree with the right-wing agenda, then you don’t have a right to bear arms. It was okay for protesters to carry guns into the United States Capitol building on January 6th. Why? Because they were trying to fight to keep Trump in office. It was okay for Kyle Rittenhouse to brandish a gun at a protest because he was there “as a patriot,” because the right believes only they can be patriots. But when a person who is liberal, like Alex Pretti, brings a gun to a protest, all of a sudden Trump says, “I don’t like that he had a gun.” He was okay with people having guns at the attack on the Capitol, although he claims there were no firearms, even though it has been proven there were, through plenty of photographs. At the same time, it was not okay for Alex Pretti to carry a gun, which he legally had a permit to carry. It was okay for Kyle Rittenhouse to shoot three people at a protest, killing two of them after brandishing a gun, but it was not okay for Alex Pretti to help a woman while having a gun that he never brandished or even took out of the holster while helping that woman, who was pushed to the ground by an ICE agent. FBI Director Kash Patel was one of the most vocal supporters of Kyle Rittenhouse and his right to bear arms, but is now saying that Alex Pretti shouldn’t have had a gun and that shooting him was justified for that reason. Basically, it is okay to execute a person you don’t agree with for doing the same thing that you pardoned people for whom you do agree with. The argument that bad things will happen if you bring a gun to a protest is not true, because good things will happen when the president pardons you. The Second Amendment is for all Americans, not just the people you feel deserve that right because they agree with you.

What we saw in Minneapolis, Minnesota was an execution. There is nothing else it can be called. I tried to be as open-minded as possible when I first heard about this, and I was. But after seeing the videos, it can’t be called anything other than an execution. People like Kristi Noem lie to us on a daily basis. Her description of what happened was not remotely close to the truth. The sad reality is that some people can’t even believe what they see with their own eyes. They believe when they are told that what they are seeing is not what they are really seeing. Alex Pretti was not brandishing a gun or threatening anyone with a 9mm. The excuse of “what happened before the video” does not justify this shooting. How? If he supposedly brandished a gun minutes earlier, does that mean they are allowed to execute him later? The same people who tried to justify the murder of Renée Good , and I can even say maybe, just maybe, they had a small window to claim she was trying to run over an ICE agent with her car , with that video, as much as I disagree, they can try to justify that killing. But how can they possibly justify this one? The only way they can justify it is by spreading more lies. They love to use words like “fake news,” when in reality this is the most fake administration in the history of our country.

The NFL season always seems to go by pretty quick each year. For some teams it ends sooner rather than later, but the Rams’ season has come to an unfortunate end. I have always taken sports more seriously than I probably should, but then again that’s how I am, not going to apologize for it. I do think, though, that I’ve become better at finding the positives. It was one of the most enjoyable seasons I’ve had since the Super Bowl 56 season. I got to see them win 6 of the 7 games I made it to this year. I got to share another season with my amazing wife and got to go to games with friends and family. I got to see Matthew Stafford put together an MVP-type season, and hopefully next week he does win the award. Each of the last three seasons they have taken one step forward , from a Wild Card loss, to a Divisional loss, to an NFC Championship loss. Maybe next year they take another step forward and play in the Super Bowl again at SoFi Stadium. I feel they have the talent and coaching to do so and improve on this season. It’s sad to have to wait until September to go to another game, but is football really ever over? Before we know it, it’ll be free agency, the draft, and minicamps. Actually, it’s just a short little break.

Xavier Smith muffed a punt that caused a turnover in the NFC Championship for the Rams. It was his second muff of the game, but the first that resulted in a turnover. I love the Rams, but sometimes fans lose sight of the human element of sports. These players are human, not robots. Human error is a part of sporting events. The amount of hate we see directed at athletes when they make a mistake is unreal. I know Smith never wanted to cause a turnover, but sometimes fans act like they want to win games more than the players themselves want to win games. This reminded me of years ago when Kyle Williams turned the ball over in overtime for the 49ers in the NFC Championship game. Williams received death threats over a football play. As much as I love the sport of football, at the end of the day it is just a game. Some fans need to put things into a little better perspective. I am not saying Xavier Smith has received death threats, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he has or eventually will. Fans will often blame their gambling losses for their anger. If you have a gambling problem and can’t handle losses, then maybe you need to look at yourself in the mirror. As fans, we need to be better than this. Football, and all sports, are played by humans, and it’s about time fans started acting a little more human themselves.

Every year around this time, we hear about the new inductions to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and then you hear about how Pete Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He is the last person who ever deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Betting on baseball will cause a manager to manipulate baseball games. It has to. If I was betting, I would. Pete Rose did not bet on every Reds game, and he did not bet the same amount on every game. If he had bet on every game for the entire season, I would actually agree that he did not manipulate games. Whatever the amount, $100,000 a game, the amount does not matter if it was the same every game. But Pete Rose did not do that. He did not bet when Bill Gullickson pitched. Wouldn’t it be ideal for Pete Rose to give players a rest day when Bill Gullickson or Mario Soto pitched? Soto was another pitcher that Pete Rose avoided betting on. It doesn’t even have to be that he gave Eric Davis a day off when those two pitchers pitched it could be that he scheduled days off when he didn’t bet on games, or bet a smaller amount. When it comes to using a closer, it would be human nature not to use Rob Dibble to close a game if you had a big bet on the game the next day. Pete Rose couldn’t have managed each game the same because of his betting. People who want Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame are often the same ones who think players from the steroid era do not belong in the Hall of Fame. I can say this: Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez,no matter what they did, always tried to win every game with the same effort. The same can’t be said about Pete Rose.