See, here's the thing about Americans from the United States: We really, really HATE to be told what to do.

We revel in our Independence. In D&D Terms, we're Chaotic Good (OK, bordering on Chaotic Neutral). We make fun of our leaders- doesn't matter what party they come from. Every night, you can see comedians tearing the very people we elected to run the nation apart. Hell- the whole country started when the thirteen colonies flipped King George the middle finger.

Now, you need to keep that in mind when we're talking about Chick-Fil-A.

Now, the owners of Chick-Fil-A is against gay marriage, and that's riling people up (for some reason, those same people weren't upset when Barack Obama was against gay marriage- but I'm going off on a tangent). So people started a boycott. Great. Fantastic. It's the Free Market in action- people expressing their opinions with their dollars. It's beautiful- I'm ready to cry.

But then people went overboard. Mayors in places like Chicago and San Francisco decided that it wasn't enough to boycott, that they were going to use the power of their offices to throw the evil and vile Chick-Fil-A out of their town and make sure such a horrific business never operated in their town.

In other words, the mayors were going to tell their citizens what they could eat.

Now, remember what I said about Americans hating being told what they could do? Well, Chick-Fil-A is getting a lot of business today.

As for me? I'm for gay marriage. I like Chick-Fil-A's food, though it's a little too expensive for my tastes. And if someone tries to ban Chick-Fil-A from Cleveland, I'm eating there for a week straight.

Breaking Bad and Good TV

The fifth season of Breaking Bad premiers tonight.  I haven't seen an episode, but I've heard many good things about the show.


I'm tempted to give the show a chance, but lately I've been avoiding most fictional tv shows like the plague.  Non-fiction shows- Chopped, American Restoration,  even reality TV shows like Survivor- those I can watch all day long.  But the shows people actually try to write- the track record hasn't been good, for two main reasons: 


1)  Tired of being burnt.  The ending of "The Sopranos" make me feel like I wasted my time bothering to watch to show.  "BSG", "Lost", "Heroes"- all shows that started out with so much promise that ended up turning into crap.  It's like the writers spent all of their knowledge and ability on the first dozen shows, then shrugged their shoulders and said "we'll wing it from here."  And did a poor job of it.


2)  Tired of being depressed.  "Dexter", "Oz"- so many "quality" shows always make me feel like the world is an ugly, depressing dystopia.  I feel like I want to wash my brain with bleach because the reality these shows present is so awful.


Everyone has a limit of how much ugliness they can watch, and I hit my limit years ago.  It's why I haven't bothered with "Game of Thrones".  Or "Breaking Bad."  


I'm sure they are well-made shows.  I'm just not sure that these are shows I want to watch.

Memo to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy

To:    members@vastrightwingconspiracy.con
From: mightybastard@vastrightwingconspiracy.com (membership ID:  TK-421)
Password:  0bama15aween1e


Folks,

I think we're missing a huge opportunity here.  Single families are two to six times more likely to be poor than married families.     This makes sense- married families are more stable, two parents are better for raising children than one, etc.

In addition, married voters favor voting for Romney over Obama by 13%.  This isn't a fluke- married voters favored McCain in 2008, while single voters favored Obama.  It's a trend, and one we should be taking notice of.

So- remind me why we're against gay marriage?

The trend's obvious- the more stable marriages, the better society is, the fewer people stay in poverty, and the more they come to their senses and vote Conservative.

This is a win-win situation.  Let's not botch this one up.

Poker Question

This happened to me on my last hand playing:

I was first to play.  1-2 NLHE.  Had about $180 on me.

Dealt: AA

Raised to 10.  2 callers.

Flopped: Q-8-4.  I believe two cards were suited but I don't recall which ones.

Big Blind bet $30

I raised up to $80

He went all-in.

Now, I've seen him make a big bluff before.  But overall my impression of him was that he was a good player.

I called, he showed 2 pair (he had Q8), I lost.

My question- should I have known better?  I was thinking he either had a flush draw or AQ- but was an all-in raise reasonable with either hand?

NBA Thoughts- 06/20/2012

NBA Thoughts as the season wraps up:

* Miami is up 3-1; barring a huge turnaround, they will most likely win the NBA Title. If they win, they will have deserved it; this was a tough season with the strike and compressed schedule. I thought the wouldn't be able to handle the load, but they have.

* Is it going to be bitter to see LeBron James hold up the NBA Title? Hell yes. But I also had to stomach watching Art Modell hold up the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and what he did was a thousand times worse. And maybe we can all finally stop hearing about the Miami Heat.

* The scary thing about OKC isn't how good they are- but that, by all rights, they'll be better in the next year or two. A lot of their flaws and problems will be fixed with experience- if healthy, they should be the favorites next year.

* The Derrick Rose injury is awful- not only was he out of the playoffs this year, he'll miss most if not all of next year, and the type of injury he has could hurt him for the rest of his career.

* The Draft is coming up (just next week); New Orleans is taking Anthony Davis at #1 unless he's dead or arrested, and I think they'll still take him if it's not a felony. After that, it's a crapshoot. Charlotte has #2, and I can make arguments for five guys. Just a guess as to how the top 6 will go:

- New Orleans: Anthony Davis, C

- Charlotte: Thomas Robinson, PF

- Washington: Bradley Beal, SG

- Cleveland: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF

- Sacramento: Andre Drummond, C

- Portland: Harrison Barnes, SF

* The team I feel most sorry for? The new Brooklyn Nets. I don't see Deron Williams staying, and I don't see them getting any good players for a year or two. Trading their draft pick to Portland was insanely foolish.

* Predictions for the offseason

- Dwight Howard gets traded to the Lakers. Don't ask me how- I can't work out a fair deal. But the Lakers always making deals that are steals, and great centers (Chamberlain... Kareem Abdul-Jabbar... O'Neal) someone find their way to LA

- Stan Van Gundy takes a year off coaching; Mike D'Antoni is hired somewhere (I thought Washington was ideal for him, but they rehired their coach)

- Deron Williams goes to Dallas; Eric Gordon stays with the Hornets

- Jeremy Lin goes somewhere- maybe to whichever team hires D'Antoni

NBA Coaching Thought

Orlando fired Stan Van Gundy, who's considered one of the best coaches in the NBA now.

Also on the market?  Mike D'Antoni.  Mike coaches a specific style- heavy emphasis on the point guards, lots of running and quick scoring, not much attention paid to defense.

Looking over the NBA, I can see D'Antoni fitting perfectly with the Washington Wizards.  They need to rebuild, but have a PG with incredible talent in John Wall.  D'Antoni's teams ahven't made the finals of the NBA, but they've been exciting and done very well when he has the talent.  I can see him being a great fit for Washington.

As for SVG?  He can probably pick from any job opening.  So what's the most talented team that might be looking for an upgrade in the coaching department?  I keep looking at the Los Angeles Clippers, who have two superstars and enough other pieces but couldn't get past the Spurs this year. 

Make your guesses on where they end up.

Moving On

A funny thing happened as I listened to sports radio talk about the Miami Heat losing to the Pacers in game 2...

I didn't feel a damn thing.

Non-Clevelanders need to understand- I don't consider myself a malacious or vindictive person- but for LeBron James, I've made an exception. Ever since "The Decision", where he spat in the face of every Cleveland fan that supported him for seven years, I've despised the guy. I went into a funk when he and the Heat destroyed the Cavs in 2011, seriously thought about not following sports anymore when they waltzed into the playoffs, and resigned myself to the following scenario when they beat the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals:

Every single sports announcer in the world: "Well, LeBron James put up 40 points in the deciding game, carrying the Miami Heat to the first of many titles. It's obvious that all he needed to do was leave Cleveland and get rid of that lodestone to achieve the greatness he has been destined for since birth. All hail LeBron!"

And the 'celebration' in Miami, before they even played together? Twisting the knife. Especially when the Cleveland fans heard how much effort he spent trying to get people to come to Miami to join their team- effort he NEVER tried to help get Cleveland over the hump.

Look- I've never been upset when a sports player went for the money. Players only are active for a few years. If Manny Rameriz can earn $20 million more playing for Boston then Cleveland, that's life. The only two times I've been upset were in the NBA- Carlos Boozer, for backing out of a handshake deal to backstab the franchise, and LeBron James- where LeBron took less money to leave his hometown, and went out of his way to embarass the team and city that supported him unconditionally for seven years.

So when Dallas beat Miami in the 2011 NBA Championship? I was happy- but even more so, I was relieved. It wasn't us- it was James. He was the one who had problems. If the Miami Heat were to win the title in 2012 or 2013, the story wouldn't be "James just needed to leave Cleveland to become a champion." It'd be "LeBron James had to overcome his internal demons to become a champion."

So that helped. But I still didn't like the Heat, and dreaded the idea of them winning.

I've made a constant joke about me being a sports curse- I'm a fan of the Cleveland Indians, Cavs, Browns, and Chicago Cubs- to the point that I've said for years I should bet of the teams that I don't like and against the teams I like.

Well, this winter I was in Las Vegas- and put my money where my mouth was. $100 on 6-5 odds of Miami winning the NBA Title in 2012. Either they lose, and I've "weaponized" my sports curse, or they win, and I take comfort in them winning with some filthy lucre. It's a no-lose situation.

But here's the thing: now that I have some skin in the game, now that I actually have a (selfish) reason to root for Miami... I've lost the hatred that I had for them.

I don't know if 'forgive' is the right word- but at this point, Miami is just another team. I'm far more concerned about who the Cavs draft than what Miami does. I'm looking forward to seeing the playoff matchups (especially if the Western Conference Finals is OKC-San Antonio; that should be an epic series) than having conniption fits over the Miami Heat.

And James? I hope he someday does overcome his demons and leads a team to the title...

... the year after the Cavs win their first championship.

PS- The Grizzlies are out, so there went my other bet for the NBA title. It was a 35-1 longshot, but they almost got past the Clippers. The Western Conference is tough.