Ranting and not so much raving.

I'm tired.  I'm just letting this be known in case I tend to ramble on today.  I know I need to start posting blogs again, and I finally scanned some cards, but today as I ease back into writing, I thought I would give my thoughts on random things in the news.  Mostly it will be sports, but some won't be.  I have maintained since I started this blog that I would go outside the realm of sports from time to time and talk about things.  While I don't want to alienate parts of my audience, I would like my readers to know where I come from.

Having said that let's begin.

Why can't the St. Louis Blues win in the playoffs?  They have been a team for 40 or so years and have gone to the playoffs a majority of those years, but can't find success in the playoffs.  Furthermore, how do they squander a 3 games to 1 lead?  I'm not a bandwagon Blues fan... I'm not really a Blues fan at all... I'm not really even a hockey fan, but I do watch the playoffs and since I don't really have a team I root for all that often, I do wish the Blues success, but I can't say they are my team.  I will say if you are a hockey fan and do through the mail autographs, the Blues have some very good names in their front office.  I should try that some time.  As for now, I just hope they can win tonight and advance to the next round of the playoffs.

Moving on to football, why can't Sam Bradford be happy?  I really need to backtrack on a lot of this, and I will in a moment but for now let's discuss Sam.  He's making millions of dollars and in my opinion, he hasn't really earned what he's paid yet.  I don't think he's played one full season in the NFL.  On one hand I understand he feels threatened about his job and wants a trade to get a fresh start and keep his starting gig.  On the other hand, he needs to understand that he is part of a team, and his job is to work with the rest of his team to help produce the best product he can.  Just like any other job, he is still being paid, he needs to work well with others and finish out his contract.

The other thing is even if the Eagles draft a QB with the number 2 pick, there is no way he will be starting this year.  So Bradford's job is safe this year, beyond a threat from Chase Daniel.  That means Sam should keep his mouth shut and be a team player, and put up the best numbers he can so if he wants to get traded or becomes a free agent, he can show how good he can be.  To me the one hurt most in this is Chase Daniel.  His only chance at being a starting QB was to knock off Bradford for the job.  If he did that, then his 3 years in Philly could be as starter.  Now his only hope is either surpassing Sam this year or Sam gets traded.  Whoever is QB in Philly this year is only a one year job anyway, so again Chase Daniel becomes a coaching quarterback for the rookie who will then probably take his job.

Backtracking a bit, since I haven't been on here as of late, this week is the NFL Draft.  I usually am really hyped about it.  I remember in high school talking to a couple friends about the draft (once even while we were competing in an academic tournament), and it was fun.  With not a lot of Mizzou guys in it and me not being into the college game as much last year, I don't know a lot of the guys.  I will still watch what a can, especially the first night, as I will be recovering from dental surgery.  Hopefully by the weekend I'll be fine and find something else to do.

The draft is shaping up to be interesting.  I thought the Rams were fools to give so much away for the #1 pick in the draft to the Titans.  Then I heard how much the Eagles gave to the Browns for the #2 pick.  Personally I've been more of a trade down type of guy because while sure, the lower you get, the lesser the talent, their is also less of a chance they are a bust and more of a diamond in the rough.  The Titans and Browns were smart with getting what they did I think, but I hope this isn't becoming normal because I think it becomes a slippery slope.  Having said all that, I don't care about the Rams anymore, so I don't care what all they gave up.  The Eagles I somewhat like, but again since I know they'll get a QB, I don't care how they do.  My main concern this year is to see where the Mizzou guys go.  I also hope the Chiefs do decent in the draft this year.

So lets switch gears a bit now.  Last week Prince passed away.  It will seem harsh when I say this, but it didn't impact me as much as a lot of people.  Sure I liked some of his songs, but I wasn't the biggest fan of his.  I was saddened by his passing (as I am by a lot of people passing), but while it reminded me of when Michael Jackson passed, it didn't affect me the same way.  I will say a few things came to mind when I thought about him though.  First and foremost was his Super Bowl halftime show, which was the best in recent memory (and to many, the best ever).  I remember watching the game at my old house, not even really interested in the game, but watching this amazing halftime show.  I even remember writing somewhere online during the show "It's Purple Reigning at the Super Bowl".  Another thought was from Chapelle Show.  One of Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories involved Charlie and his crew facing Prince and his crew in a basketball game.  It was a hilarious skit that really showed how funny Dave Chapelle could be when he was on.  The final thought was a story Kevin Smith once told about how Prince wanted Kevin to film a documentary about him so he followed him around for weeks and filmed.  After he pieced it together he asked one of Prince's staffers when he could show it to him, and the staffer said he probably wouldn't watch it, he just wanted to be filmed (or something to that affect, its been a while since I heard the story) and that the film would go into Prince's vault and not be released.  In any event, the passing of Prince really puts a damper on music fans with yet another music legend passing.

Around the same time, former WWE wrestler Chyna passed away.  This one actually caught me off guard.  I feel a bit bad because I never really appreciated what she did while in the WWE and now wish that I did watch it more around the late 90's.  I was more of a WCW guy, so my only real memory of Chyna is when Eddie Guerrero was doing his Latino Heat gimmick.  Last I heard, the autopsy was being delayed, so I'm still not sure on the cause of death, but as someone mentioned to me recently, a lot of wrestlers die way too young.  I couldn't really argue.  She will be missed, and while I didn't see much of her time in WWE, I have said for a couple years now she deserves to be in the WWE Hall of Fame.  Maybe they will get their heads out of certain places and induct her next year.

This final one could stir controversy.  Let me state I believe people can have different opinions and still be friends.  So this last one has been all over the news as of late and I just want to clear my head and give my thoughts.

Target made a decision to basically allow anybody to use any bathroom they feel comfortable to use.  Sure there's more to it than that, but that's it in a nutshell.  Initally my thought is WHY?  Then it became why not just make unisex bathrooms?  Now after really thinking about it I've come to the conclusion WHO CARES?  I mean seriously, I'm not going to Target to use the bathroom.  Sure chances are I will use it from time to time, but I have enough anxieties as it is, worrying about who is going to the bathroom next to me isn't high on that list.  As an adult, I don't care who is next to me as long as everyone is doing their business.  I don't like using restrooms in public anyways, but still I go in, do my business, wash my hands and leave.  Simple as that.  Now I know its different if you have a kid, but the more I thought about it something came to me- if you are concerned about your child, go into the bathroom with them, they aren't checking ID's at the door.  Also again, you go in, do your business, wash your hands (some people fail to do that), and leave, simple as that.

People have concerns ranging from transgender people to child molesters.  First and foremost, if you have a problem with transgender people using the bathroom, that's more of your problem, not theirs.  I keep hearing about people who claim to be transgender just to kidnap people.  Besides being a threat that seems mostly made up, lets say that is a case.  If your worried about your child, go into the bathroom with them.  At the least wait outside the door.  Transgendered people I assume plan to use the bathroom just like you and me, go in, do their business, wash hands and leave.  If they plan to do something illegal like kidnapping or worse, the issue isn't if they are man or woman, the issue is they are scum.

The biggest issue I've had since reading all this is people lumping rapists, murderers, and kidnappers with transgender people.  I haven't checked this but how many transgender people have been any of those things?  In fact how many transgender people are there period?  It seems people (even people who say the media and government is putting fear into people) are creating their own hysteria.  I bet I could go to my local Target 1000 times and encounter a transgender person once (who knows it could be 500 times, but I'm sure the issue won't be brought up).  In the end I'm sure this will all die down soon, but I just wanted to add my own two cents to it.

I might as well wrap up there as this is getting rather long, and I've been awake close to 25 hours and need to find a way to go to sleep.  Hopefully after a good nights rest, I can write a normal blog tomorrow.  My plan for now is to have one tomorrow and Wednesday, then depending on how Thursday goes, skipping and returning on Friday.  I want to try and finish out the month with all new blogs (aside possibly from Thursday), so I can start getting back on track with my goals.  I doubt I will surpass last years goal but I'd like to get close.

By doing that, I might venture out a bit more than just sports cards and more into random pictures and things I personally like, but the main emphasis will still be on Royals and Mizzou stuff.

Thanks for reading, and have a great night.  It feels good to type that again.