Tragedy and Why We Need to Change

Okay, I've seen the last straw. I was going to stay away from this hot topic because I didn't want to get burned with lack of information, but when Piers Morgan decides that he is going to call out "America's gun crisis" as the problem in this case, I've had enough.

First off, background on this case in case you haven't been watching the news:
Christopher Lane, a baseball player in Australia, was visiting the town of Duncan, Oklahoma where his girlfriend and her family live. As an athlete, Lane stays in shape and so he decided to take a jog around the neighborhood. He happened to pass a house where three scumbags thugs were staying and kept running, as any normal runner would do. However, these thugs were bored and happened to have a gun so they decided to chase down Lane and, for fun, shoot him. Christopher was shot and died out of cold blood and for a break from boredom. Please, take a moment to pray for Christopher, his family and his girlfriend and others affected by this terrible tragedy.

Now that we have a little background on this incident, what the hell motivates someone, let alone three someones, to take a break from boredom and shoot an innocent civilian? Is is that gun that might be sitting on a coffee table, or in a locked closet or even fully loaded on their hip? OR is it society and parenting and lack of respect for human life?

If you answered that the gun did this, please, for all of us, continue reading.

A gun does not motivate someone to go out and shoot anyone, just as a knife does not promote stabbing someone nor a car motivate you to run over innocent people on the sidewalk. However, bad things happen when thoughts go the wrong way and access to that tool is, in fact, available to you. And before anyone gets the idea that I am going to be preaching about thought control or some B.S. like that, you can stop fretting. Free thinking is what is letting me write this right now and it is the greatest tool I have as a journalist so, yes, I condemn thought police at any stage.

What, then, do I propose?

A change to society. A change to how we raise our children. A change to how we, as a society, view human life.

How are we, as a society, responsible for what happened in Duncan, OK? Simply because we, as a majority, have become less demanding on what we want our children to do with their life. We have allowed children to be raised to believe that they can do what they want and there won't be any consequences down the road. We have promoted a culture of sex, drugs, alcohol and violence that, simply, poisons the minds of youth. Even people my own age, and even myself, have promoted this sort of "consequence-free, do what you want" lifestyle.

We see hundreds of video games that feature death, killing and guns as the center-piece for some role-play. This is also a staple of Hollywood and has been the theme of more and more movies: kill the bad guys, use big cool guns, look badass, end the movie. However, these aren't the things that lead to cold-blooded killers at 15-17. I, myself, have played multiple games featuring these themes and I have yet to even have the thought of running out of my house, gun in tow, and shooting down a jogger. The entire mantra of "video game violence is bad for children" is only true if you, as a parent, sibling or care-giver don't have the ability or drive to teach that same child that human life is of greater value than anything on this earth.

The value of human life has been degraded almost to the point of no-repair. This sex culture we live in, where telling a girl that she should dress modestly or that she might want to stop hooking up with multiple guys just for fun is viewed as slut-shaming and telling a guy to stop sleeping around and that he might want to think about his choices is going to get you shunned, is despicable. Yes, sex is cool and you can go have as much sex as you want. BUT, there is a but in there, wait till you have a committed relationship. Wait until you know for a fact that this guy or girl is actually worth sharing the closest intimacy two people can have.
Then, we come to the real problem of sex before a committed relationship: abortion! If you didn't think that abortion was going to come up in a piece about the value of life, then you probably need to rethink things and keep reading! Abortion is the greatest slap in the face to human dignity that has ever been thought of and that's why you'll see me bring it up many times in many different forms. When we degrade a human to the point of needing reasons to call the most innocent of us a "clump of cells" or a "parasite," you know that something is really wrong with society. Is this a call for an end to abortion? Yes and no. Yes, because I kinda always do that when I get the chance and a good size audience. No, because this is really a call to upgrade the value that society puts on human life (which in it's own way would see the end of abortions).

Now, add up the last two things. Violent video games or tv shows/ movies with little ability or drive to teach youth responsibility and the value of human life PLUS the degradation of human life and value of that life by society as a whole. What do you get? Cold-blooded teenage murderers.

What do we do to solve this eerily easy math problem?

It's simple. We kill the Batman. No, crap, wrong line.

It's simple. We change society. We make sure that people, adults first, understand that human life is of greater importance than jobs, money, politics or anything else. We educate the youth on the value of life and that we don't regenerate in quite the same way as you do in Halo or Call of Duty. We do the most good we can and attempt to limit the bad influences in our life and that of our children/ young adults.

What we don't do, however, is throw away violent video games, parentally protect your child from watching G.I. Joe because of the guns or stop children from reading books like Harry Potter because of the sorcery involved. There is no possible way that we can control everything that happens to our youth, at least no way that is healthy for their development and to let them lead their own life. We simply have to make sure that we impress upon our children and loved ones that human life is real, valuable and not something to be tossed around. We teach responsibility and portray a life that is worthy of respect and dignity.

Those few things will add up to change society and save lives, not only in the womb, but also on streets.

Lastly, once again, please pray for Christopher, his family, friends and loved ones and the citizens of Duncan. And may God have mercy on the souls of these troubled youth.

God bless.

Bulls, Masks and New Adventures

First, we had a black "man" on trial for murdering hundreds of babies and the defense argued that the prosecutors were engaged in an "essentially racist prosecution" of a 'man' who murdered babies and women. Then, there was the tragedy of the Boston Bombing which saw media outlets hoping for a white Christian man to be the terrorist involved. Following that, we opened the summer with a trial that was based completely on race and race relations and had nothing to do with any attack that occurred or self-defense laws. Now, finally, we can enjoy the truly wonderful sport of Rodeo without having to deal with a black President's face on a clown who runs around for pure entertainment.

I mean, come on, no other President has ever had to deal with this kind of ridicule, right? George H. Bush only had a dummy destroyed at the horns of a bull. And hundreds of thousands of masks and artwork have been done and made fun of at rodeos and fairs of not only Presidents but other government officials as well. We really have gone too far in the rodeo business this time, haven't we? Saturday Night Live, however, is completely free to make fun of the President, Presidential candidates and other political figures because, well, it's comedy, right?

Not only is this rodeo clown incident a non-incident thanks to the First Amendment and the fact that we don't live in a monarchy where making fun of the King sees you straight out of a job and shunned by the entire country, but it's yet another example of media bull-plosion. Yes, the entire incident could be seen as a batch of ill-humor. Yes, the office of President of the United States deserves and demands respect. Yes, there were people in attendance who laughed (each one of them is being rounded up as I type). However, we don't live in some statist dictatorship where it's even slightly called for for someone to lose their job over wearing a mask that depicts the President.

Or are we moving in that direction? Does the "hate crime" have to be against any race other than white for it to be considered "hate"? Is "hate speech" going to start to include anything that anyone finds offensive? Or is it specific to this President? Will there be an "Offensive Police" now, going after anyone that says or does anything remotely racist? (Outside of the media that is)

Now, let's be clear on one thing: this entire Missouri Rodeo Association thingy has gotten WAY out of hand. Once again, radio talk-show hosts, news anchors and cable news shows have devoted hours upon hours to this one story that has nothing to do with national media nor should have garnered national attention. But, the people eat it up and will read, listen to and watch this sort of news any day over the real news of Egypt, rising debt and ObamaCare fallout to name just a few.

So, you may ask, why did I decide to write a blog post about the Rodeo Clown from Missouri Who is Clearly a Racist? Well, not only is it national news, it's also a very good segway into how politics and sports are intertwined because, believe it or not, rodeo is in fact a sport in these United States.

The first edition of Sporting the Politics of America will be coming out later in August.

Gridiron Breakdown

It's official. We can all turn on the TV, kick back and watch monsters crush each other. No, I'm not talking about Pacific Rim or another Transformers movie. It's Football Season!

I think it's about time Right of Center Field released the first set of the College Football Preview.

First, let's look at the Top 10 teams in the running for that coveted National Championship and set a bold prediction for the season.*

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

If anyone is surprised to see the Tide at the top of this list, you may want to look up the word "best" and multiply that by about 10 to understand how good this football team is, again. Alabama not only has the defense to stop any would-be challengers but they also have an offense that can once again power over the entire SEC. AJ McCarron will be leading an outstanding Crimson Tide offense coming off a 30 TD season and T.J. Yeldon will pick up right where he left off with back to back 100 yard rushing performances against Georgia and Notre Dame. On the other side of the ball, look for an outstanding performance by the defense that led the country with 10.9 PA last season. Nick Saban and Co. could be looking at a third straight National Title. The toughest test will come early when they take a trip to Kyle Field and Johnny "Football" the second week of the season.
Bold Prediction: The Tide finishes the season 12-0 and is back in the BCS National Title Game for the fourth time in five years. (The only real bold prediction is that AJ McCarron wins the Heisman)

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

The only team to own the title of Undefeated in the 2012 season, the Buckeyes are, once again, that good. With a combination of Braxton Miller throwing, Braxton Miller running and Urban Meyer coaching, this will be a team to fear now that they have the chance to play for that National Title. Carlos Hyde will be another asset for Meyer to use when the pressure gets to Braxton in the Big Ten, not that it has had a huge affect on him yet. Not only do they have the team to do it, they have the schedule to get through the season unscathed. Four games, Buffalo, San Diego St, California and Florida A&M, will lead these Bucks into their Big Ten opener at the Horseshoe versus Wisconsin. Their toughest test may just be the last week of the season when they travel to Michigan to visit That Team Up North.
Bold Prediction: Bucks take an 11-0 record into Michigan and come out unscathed and headed for the Big Ten Championship against Taylor Martinez and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

3. Oregon Ducks

In the post-Chip Kelly era, will Oregon be able to fend off the looming challenges of Stanford, UCLA, USC and Oregon State and stay the big dog out west? De'Anthony Thomas and Marcus Mariota will be two keys to answering that question and if last season is any indication, the duo are up for the task. Mariota had an astounding connection with Josh Huff and Colt Lyerla last season, connecting 32 and 25 times respectively. Huff will once again be a big target to rack up yards but Thomas will still be an active member of that receiving core after catching 45 passes last season. Unlike the top two teams, Oregon will be facing a tough battle before getting into conference play playing at Virginia and then hosting Tennessee in the second and third week of the season.
Bold Prediction: Oregon will finish with 11 wins, unable to beat Stanford but will still play in the PAC-12 championship against USC for a chance at the Rose Bowl.

4. Stanford Cardinal

Two years removed from Andrew Luck and the Cardinal still look like a top PAC-12 contender. In the first year after Luck, Josh Nunes and Stepfan Taylor led Stanford to a Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin. This year, it'll be up to Taylor to carry this team again but he should be getting help from Kevin Hogan. It'll be a tough battle while the Cardinal have very few veterans in their receiving core and the young guns will have to show they can play in the big-boy PAC-12. Luckily, San Jose State and Army provide a decent starting ground for this young team. The second half schedule will be the true test for this Cardinal team with games at UCLA, Oregon State and USC and home games against Oregon, California and Notre Dame to close out the season.
Bold Prediction: Hogan and Taylor will lead this Cardinal team to an 11-1 record and will beat UCLA, Oregon State and Oregon in consecutive weeks before falling to USC.

5. Georgia Bulldogs

Aaron Murray will be leading the Georgia offense again and will be searching for another SEC Championship Game berth. With Murray at the reins and Todd Gurley returning to lead the ground attack, the Bulldogs have the making of a fearsome offense. On the defense, however, only three full-time starters will be back, but like most SEC teams in this top 10, the Dawgs have a very talented group of inexperienced players coming in. The Bulldogs will look to use North Texas as a breather in the third week after taking on South Carolina the week prior and before LSU the following week; all three of those will be at home. They'll get another break in their schedule after a neutral site game against Florida in the form of Appalachian State at Sanford Stadium in the ninth week. Look for the Dawgs to be in the running again this year.
Bold Prediction: Georgia will get tripped up once but finish 11-1 and atop the SEC East again for a rematch against Alabama in the SEC Championship.

6. South Carolina Gamecocks

One off-season removed from South Carolina and Jadeveon Clowney rocking Michigan in the Outback Bowl, Clowney and these Gamecocks will be looking for that elusive SEC Championship. Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson will likely be splitting snaps once again, but the biggest question for this Gamecocks team is how to replace a back like Marcus Lattimore? Mike Davis, a sophomore, will likely be given the starting spot. He had 52 carries for 275 yards last season. Although the Gamecocks will be facing very stiff SEC East competition in the second week against Georgia, this schedule seems to play out very kindly for them. After a three game road trip to visit Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri, South Carolina will end the season with four home games against Mississippi State, Florida, Coastal Carolina and Clemson.
Bold Prediction: Although they'll squeak by Georgia in the second week, the Gamecocks will finish the season with a 10-2 record falling to the Gators and Clemson. Clowney will finish second in the Heisman voting and will be first pick in the Draft.

7. Texas A&M Aggies

Johnny "Heisman Football" Manziel has had a distracting summer so far, but will be looking to lead the Aggies to an even better SEC performance this season. Although Manziel could pull another Braxton Miller-esque season out of the hat, Ben Malena will most likely be getting the ball on a few more attempts this year. The Aggies should once again be putting up big numbers unless the SEC West coaches have figured out how to stop Mr. Football, which would be asking a lot. Texas A&M will get four home games to start the season, sounds great, right? Well they'll need that fourth week Sam Houston game after they take on Alabama who will be looking for revenge from last season. They get another four game homestand against Auburn, Vanderbilt, UTEP and Mississippi State before a two week road trip to LSU and Missouri.
Bold Prediction: Johnny Football will fail to mow down the Crimson Tide monster in back to back seasons and will finish second to the Tide in the West going 11-1 and Manziel will finish fourth in the Heisman vote.

8. Clemson Tigers

Tajh Boyd and the Clemson Tigers will be facing a very tough schedule bookended by two of the SEC East's best, Georgia and South Carolina. Andre Ellington, the Tigers No. 1 back last season, won't be coming back, but Roderick McDowell could fill in nicely for Clemson. Brent Venables, now in his second season coaching the Tigers defense, will have to back up the offense with better defense if they hope to beat out Florida State for the Atlantic Title. Boyd and company, however, seem to be up to the task of leading the Tigers to an ACC title and could easily be one of the most prolific offenses in the country again. With ACC Atlantic Title contender Florida State coming into Memorial Stadium in week seven, the Tigers have a good shot of making it through the ACC schedule with relative ease.
Bold Prediction: Tajh Boyd finishes third in the Heisman after taking the Tigers to 11-1 season and a perfect 8-0 ACC conference schedule. The Tigers win the ACC Title against the Hurricanes of Miami.

9. Florida Gators

After an upsetting end to last year's 11 win season, the Gators will look to improve in a tough three team battle for the SEC East. Freshman Kelvin Taylor will be a surprising and talented edition to the Gator's run then gun game. He put up astounding numbers in his senior year, rushing for 2,423 yards and 41 touchdowns. However, Matt Jones will start the running machine that is the Florida offense. On the other side of the ball, the Gators will really need to clamp down. The defense was a huge part of their success last year, but this year defensive line coach Brad Lawing will be throwing in a wrinkle from his last season with South Carolina called the rabbits package. Overall, the Gators may just have the hardest stretch of eight games in the Top 10 facing the entire SEC East and SEC West members LSU and Arkansas from week three through week 10 with games at Miami Florida and in the Swamp against the Seminoles to close out the season.
Bold Prediction: The Gators adopt the Rabbits package immediately and chomp through the brutal SEC schedule in route to an 11 win season losing only to Georgia, sadly unable to pull of the neutral field victory they needed. However, they take their anger out on whoever crosses them in the Sugar Bowl.

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Coming off of their first spotlight season in nearly two decades, the Fighting Irish will look to their defense to do what it did last season again. Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt, both SEC-country recruits, will hold down one of the best defensive lines in the country. Unlike most of the other Top 10 teams, questions still loom as to the quality of the offense. With Golson sitting out and Tyler Eifert gone to the Cincinnati Bengals, the reins fall to Tommy Rees and possibly Andrew Hendrix to lead this offense down the field. Questions surround this entire team, but with three of their biggest games being at home, Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC, and Michigan and Stanford being the biggest road tests, the Irish could be looking at a ten or eleven win season.
Bold Prediction: All but Stanford bow to the Irish this season and they pull off a head-turning 11-1 record, but without a conference championship, are left out of all talks for the National Title.

*Note: Not all Bold Predictions can come true logistically