Two local Tampa boys make good.  QB Aaron Murray from H.B. Plant High School went on to set SEC career records for completions, TD passes and passing yards during his four years as a Georgia Bulldog, before being drafted by the NFL in May of this year.  Aaron’s games in his senior season were watched by TV audiences ranging from 1.5 million to 3.5 million per game.

Brother Josh, a budding baseball star from Jesuit High School, washed out in six years of minor league play, posting a .213 career minor league batting average in six seasons at the single A level, retaining his good looks but very little family dignity.  Ah, but here’s the rub.  After a grueling season, Josh emerged victorious last night in wooing the adoration of Ms. Andi Dorfman on the finals of the Bachelorette reality TV show.   Over 7.5 million  viewers endured the three hour finale (including my wife).

So, who is the more famous Murray brother now ?  Hint: can you even name the team that drafted Georgia football star and emerging NFL QB Aaron ?   WHAT THE HECK !

Let me be clear, it saddens me to hear that children are dying in Gaza.  They don’t deserve to be used as human shields by the animals who have no problem sacrificing women and children to gain the sympathy of our Proglibocrat-ruled media.

But after watching the endless coverage of the cruelty afforded these children by their bloodthirsty parents on CNN and MSNBC and in our own Tampa Bay Times, wouldn’t it be nice to mention the 2123 reported worldwide Christian deaths solely due to their faith in  2013 (data from non-denominational Open Door),  primarily in Syria, Nigeria and Pakistan. Or the tens of thousands of Christians literally uprooted at gunpoint and evacuated from Mosul and surrounding Iraqi cities in recent weeks by the terrorist ISIS wackos.  Or could the press maybe mention the estimated 50-75,000 Christians presently interred in concentration camps and prisons in North Korea ?

What possible drugs are being used by our left-leaning press that makes them weepy over Palestinian sacrificial lambs, but fail to give a hoot about obvious hate-filled religious injustice ?  WHAT THE HECK !

Are we so gullible that we are persuaded to purchase products or services endorsed by well-paid celebrities who wouldn’t be caught dead using the hyped product. It’s getting worse, no doubt as our society takes more stupid pills.

I choose to go in the opposite direction.  Silly promotions such as the ones referenced above will place that particular product or service on my “never buy” list.  Advertisers, you are just wasting your ad dollars on me.    Do we really think Captain Kirk (William Shatner) arranges his travel on a discount travel service ?   No Priceline for me !  Do we really think 6′ 9″ Blake Griffin would be caught dead in a Kia automobile, particularly wearing that silly red caped jumpsuit.  Never will a Kia grace my beautiful garage !  Do we really think Robert Wagner of TV and film fame even knows what a reverse mortgage is ?   I’ll go bust and be out on the street with my mutt before  I ever use that product !   And let’s not even consider the likelihood of Martha Stewart resting her weary yet rich bones on sheets or pillow cases from K-Mart.  Disgusting.

The most egregious example struck again this weekend as I watched a motor race.  In commercial after commercial, four-time World champion Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel is seen spinning donuts in a Q 50 Infiniti after hopping out of his Red Bull Chassis, Renault-powered F-1 rocket.   And does the Infiniti really warrant the silly helmet he wears while humping the product ?   Awkward and embarrassing if you ask me ! WHAT THE HECK !

My son’s college soccer coach at Stetson, Logan Fleck, unexpectedly passed away last week from complications associated with diabetes.  This was a man with a very average win/loss record, but a team GPA without exception above 3.0.   Fleck was a real character who worked and talked the guys to death, but whose players would sacrifice their all on the field for him.   His exemplary career of helping to mature young men will not be mentioned on ESPN nor memorialized by a statue, yet should be studied by college coaches of all types as a model to be sought.   Why do we not treasure the accomplishments of these type of mentor/coaches more ?     WHAT THE HECK !

Ray Rice, next in a long and distinguished line of Baltimore Raven bad guys,  was awarded a two game suspension for the upcoming year by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for punching and knocking out then-fiancee, Janay Palmer,  then on closed circuit TV seen dragging her unconscious body out of an Atlantic City hotel elevator .     Bold move, Commish !   Thank goodness that, according to Ray yesterday, “Janay and I have learned from this”.     Let’s see, losing two weeks of NFL pay leaves tough guy Ray with only $7.656 million in salary this season.  WHAT THE HECK !     And stunningly, since the domestic fracas in February,  Janay then went and married the bum.     DOUBLE WHAT THE HECK !

Spent almost an entire week at the gym listening to the Proglibocrats (Progessive-Liberal-Democrat for those of you from Birdsboro) on CNN and MSNBC pillage and crucify Tony Dungy over his interview remarks about the pros and cons of drafting openly gay footballer Michael Gay.   If the press would take the time to read Mr. Dungy’s comments in full, they would realize that his point was to avoid   chaos and distraction while preparing for a challenging NFL season.  Nothing controversial here about his faith or about homosexuality.

Why must our culture attempt to pillage and discredit the few good guys left ?   Is it not enough that Mr. Dungy manages to squeeze in active roles in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, American Diabetes Association, Abe Brown Prison Ministries, Athletes in Action, Basket of Hope, Boys & Girls Clubs, and Mentoring for Life.   This is truly one of the good guys by anyone’s standards.   Yet, our culture strives to twist his words into something ugly.      WHAT THE HECK !

This first blog won’t blow your socks off, but my early morning bank branch  visit sure tested both my patience and my temper  After years of paying “foreign transaction fees” on international spending, I was asked by the 26 year old assistant to the assistant branch manager, “why don’t you have the special travel rewards credit card that omits all such charges on purchases made overseas ?”  And I’m also busy paying those fees on my son’s current foray outside the USA with his credit card.  From a twenty year customer to my wonderful bank,  WHAT THE HECK ?