I’m not ready to jump on the Simone Biles mental health bandwagon.   I was a big fan prior to these Olympic games, but at the risk of being cancelled for an offbeat view, what in the world is the owner of 31 Olympic and World Chamionship medals doing in Japan this week ?   Initially citing “mental health” issues, this truly American champion clarified her situation yesterday by defining her issue as the “twisties”, a truly clinical definition of a frightening state of disassociation that prevents athletes from completing a skill.  Oddly, I’ve never heard an NFL QB, or a college basketball free throw shooter, or a soccer goalkeeper use that term to describe a personal struggle to perform.   They call it stage fright, or “the yips”.

Now, admittedly, I do not have all the information surrounding Simone Biles mental or physical state, thus I may have to eat my words.   What really troubles me is the near unanimous public cultural reaction to the situation from other athletes, politicians,  pundits, entertainers and other commentators.   Today’s culture seems to applaud Biles’ courage and bravery for withdrawing from the team competition, thus denying her teammates an opportunity for gold, and some poor young girl from making the Olympic team.   A previous generation might choose commitment to teammates,  battling through physical ailments, overcoming stage fright, and stepping up in major events as positive attributes (and benefits) of participation in sports.

As I observe Simone Biles cashing an estimated $6 million in endorsement checks so far with Hershey’s, Nike,  Athleta, Oreo Cookies, Mattress Firm, Uber Eats, and Kelloggs,  is it too much for the public and her teammates  to expect more than an excuse of “twisties” ?       The last chapter is to be written this week, as Simone Biles contemplates participation in the individual event finals.   I can only hope and pray that Aaron Rodgers doesn’t experience “twisties” this NFL season as several 300 pound men bear down on him in the pocket !                                                              WHAT THE HECK !

WHAT THE HECK !

Well, Jane is now happy.   The Lightning did indeed lose last night to The Montreal Canadiens, thus delaying the players and their families a much-needed break.   And now Jane has a smile on her face because the team can now get serious tomorrow night, and win the Stanley Cup at home, at Amalie Arena, in the middle of an approaching tropical storm.   Thanks Jane !         WHAT THE HECK !

 Let me get this straight.   Because cops are evil and racist, we need to reduce local police forces (that’s “Defund The Police” for those of you in Birdsboro), replacing as many as possible with unarmed community peacemakers and counselors to deal with family and neighborhood spats.   This is much easier and cost effective than improved training and controls to weed out bad cops.   At the same time, cease arrests for minor crimes, replace the bail system with as many “get out of jail free” cards as can be printed,  and forgive entirely the sins committed by those in our country illegally.      These modern methods will result in inner city bliss and a significant reduction in violent crime as residents begin to follow more closely the Ten Commandments in the absence of those nasty police.     What cool ideas !    I wonder what the crime statistic numbers will show as these policies are implemented in cities like Chicago, Atlanta, New York,  Portland and Seattle.     WHAT THE HECK !

Yesterday, Tampa’s beloved mayor, Jane Castor, revealed a level of stupidity and naivety unmatched in the world of sports.  On so many levels, this episode reveals why some people need to simply keep their mouths shut, or on social media, keep themselves from hitting the SEND button.

The Tampa Bay Lightning professional hockey team has been cruising through the NHL final series with the Montreal Canadiens, taking a 3-0 lead in games, with the final and possibly decisive game scheduled for tonight.  The first two games were played in Tampa at our Amalie Arena to a full house of screaming fans, while the team’s third victory was achieved in Montreal.   Of course, other than the players, coaches, and support personnel, no other Americans (friends, families, wives) were permitted to join the party in Canada. Thus the Lightning are faced with the possibility, assuming a fourth and decisive fourth win tonight, of lifting the Stanley Cup alone,  in a foreign, seemingly now unfriendly country.  Poor guys !

But then yesterday, our fine mayor attempted to solve the problem with the following words to a Tampa television station, “what we would like is for the Lightning to take it a little bit easy, to give the Canadiens just the smallest break, allow them to win one at home, and then bring it back to the Amalie Arena for the final and  the winning of the Stanley Cup.”  Follow -up questions revealed that no, it is not April Fool’s Day, and yes, she is dead serious.                            WHAT THE HECK !

Have you noticed all the signs hastily posted on the doors of all sorts of business establishments practically begging for workers ?   Which makes the June 8 announcement by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that there are currently 9.3 million job openings in the U.S. so puzzling.   Unfilled jobs are of all shapes and sizes, not just in lodging/food services/retail, but also in general service industries and manufacturing.   This imbalance of supply and demand is tempering the nation’s post-COVID economic recovery, and flaming the embers of wage- induced inflation as employers are forced to “pay up” for labor and pass those costs along to consumers in the form of higher prices.   So what’s going on ?

Adam Smith in 1776 penned the Economic Man concept, which suggests that rational people will always behave in a way that maximizes the utility, or usefulness, of their monetary outflows and sacrifices.  In other words, we generally act in our best economic interests.   So, picture this scenario.   You are unemployed, perhaps as a function of the 2020-2021 COVID experience, and your former employer gives you a ring inviting you back to work at a pay rate/hours/work conditions  similar to your past experience.   In the meantime, you have been receiving the benefits of the combined federal/state unemployment benefits available in your state, plus an enhanced federal benefit of $300 per week provided by the American Rescue Plan.    So in many cases, I can sit at home and earn more, sometimes significantly more than my boss is willing to pay me to return to my old job (and more than any new boss).    Adam Smith would suggest that most people in that situation would simply stay at home, which in turn bleeds the economy of needed workers.

In other words, our federal government is enticing workers to stay at home by paying them for the privilege.   As a taxpayer, and a student of Adam Smith, I’m scratching my head.   These extended programs are slated to expire in early September, but many states, even two with Proglibocrat governors, have signed into law an early end to this twisting of economic common sense.  Incent folks to work, not to sit.   And just to preclude reader responses pointing to my heartless cruelty, I am an advocate of employer-funded unemployment insurance, and recognize the need for many with disabilities and situations requiring extended assistance.

Stupid federal policy, in place to insure dependence on government, is making unemployment pay more than work.  Who makes it more lucrative for people to sit and get paid, rather than seeking employment ?      You know who !                    WHAT THE HECK !

Thanks so much to the 81 million of you that put this crowd into power in November !

                                                         Last Sunday, I attended a rally in downtown Tampa entitled Tampa Stands With Israel.   Following several short speeches focused on love, peace, tolerance and reconciliation by various Jewish and Christian speakers, sure enough a few carloads of crazies, waving Palestinian flags, began circling the park.  Moments later, armed with flags and banners, those same individuals entered the park with the intention of disrupting the event.    They were loud, confrontational, but were not seeking a fight.   I scurried over to where the action was, getting as close as I dared, and the haunting image I took home with me was the look of pure hatred in the eyes of the disrupters.   It chills me to think what folks with that look in their eyes, and venom in their words, might do if left untethered against a defenseless enemy.   We saw just that two weeks ago in the Middle East, and thank goodness for Israel’s so-called “Golden Dome Missile Defense System”.    Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir told the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. in 1957 that “peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us”                                                    WHAT THE HECK !

What kind of contorted world do we live in today when a little popcorn heaved in the direction of a pampered professional athlete by an animated, some would say rabid, Philly sports fan, creates such a stir in the press, by management and by the pampered player himself.  Yes , last week after an apparent minor ankle injury by Washington Wizards guard, Russell Westbrook, during an NBA playoff event at the Wells Fargo Center in the City of Brotherly Love, a brief shower of popcorn (no butter) ceremoniously rained down upon the fallen primadonna as he exited the court through a tunnel leading to the locker room.   What ensued is an embarassment to Pennsylvanians and to the sometimes overzealous sports fans of Philadelphia.  First, an enraged Westbrook “went postal” and  tried to fake-break-free from his five burly team and arena  escorts (guess the ankle got healed quickly) to reach the understandably distraught Philly fan.   After all, the Sixers were losing at the time.   Like an episode from the old TV show, The Twilight Zone, arena guards sought out and detained the poor guy, and then banned him indefinitely from the venue.    And the next day, the new politically correct team management issued the following statement, “We apologize to Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards for being subjected to this type of unacceptable and disrespectful behavior.    There is no place for it in our sport or arena”.   Good grief, the issuers of that statement must have regurgitated their breakfast after that disingenuous statement.   After all, at least in my lifetime, no Philadelphia sports team or venue ever dissed the passionate behavior of its fans.    Anyone with half a brain knows not to walk into a Flyers game wearing an opponent’s jersey.   And if you stand and cheer an opponent’s touchdown wearing your Buccaneer/Jets/Dolphins cap, expect a pint of beer or a stray hot dog to rain down upon your party.  And heaven help the poor Cowboys fan who dares to step out of a vehicle in the Lincoln Financial Field  parking lot.  These are the heroic fans who squirted the family of an NFL GM with mustard while being egged on by the entire fan section in 2003.     There’s a proud tradition here!

Oh, why must everything change.  Why can’t we just let the traditional venters vent ?   And when did the muckety-mucks who run Philly sports franchises turn into such wormy, sniveling weasels. Remember Philly fans, you have an image to uphold.  After all, your city features a statue of a fictional boxer (Rocky) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.    Suck it up Philly fans !             WHAT THE HECK !

You have to give these Proglibocrats credit for providing conservative writers so much low-hanging fruit to consider.  Today, the feds, after careful consideration, proposed cash payments of $4 billion to assorted Latin American governments to tackle the “root causes” of the steamrolling northward migration from those countries to the USA.    No, plugging the remaining gaps in Trump’s wall is not an option.   No, temporarily detaining folks on the Mexico side of the border until their situations can be evaluated is not an option.   Not even a single border visit by our fashionably tailored VP in charge of this mess is an option.   Let’s just try to buy our way out of the mess we created since late January.    WHAT THE HECK !

Thanks so much to the 81 million of you that put this crowd into power in November !

Today is the 50th birthday of someone close to me, and among the smartaleck comments I made via phone and text and email, I reminded this individual that the best part about turning 50 is that you did all your stupid stuff before the onset of the internet.   The response I received not only made me laugh, but gave me hope for the future  —  “No way, baby ! I’ve got a lot more stupid stuff to do.   I was way too concerned about what other people thought.   Best half century coming up next ! ”           HOORAY, AND WHAT THE HECK !