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A shivering, smiling 6-year-old Drake Bailey dives head first into the pool, his water shoes disappearing as two lifeguards help guide him to the bottom.
At 34 pounds, Drake is the smallest kid at Camp Cristina in Riverview. Drake's grandmother enrolled him in the summer program so he could learn to swim and make new friends.
Not everyone is like him, she explained the first morning she dropped him off.
Now, a few weeks into camp, Drake emerges from the water holding a plastic yellow ring. He slams it down, signals thumbs up and makes a splash going in after the green one.
"He dives better than most the other kids," swim teacher Logan Cooney says as Drake climbs onto the pool's edge and awaits instruction.
Cooney moves his arms like a swimmer and points down into the water. Drake stomps his little feet and laughs. It's a different kind of laugh, but Drake is a different kind of camper.
He is deaf.
"Sometimes I forget, and I talk to him," Cooney, 20, says. "But with Drake, it's about showing rather than explaining. He's teaching me. He's teaching everyone at camp."
• • •
Doctors don't know why Drake was born with a cluster of birth defects known as Vater syndrome. The syndrome isn't scientifically linked to anything specific. Infants affected by Vater can experience everything from kidney and heart defects to limb deformities. Drake came into the world with a malformed ear. He could never hear. He was in and out of the hospital the first few years of his life. He underwent multiple heart surgeries.
Today, he is in good health. He's small but strong. His deafness is permanent, but he is learning to communicate in a hearing world.
When Drake turned 1, a teacher started coming to his house to teach his mom and grandmother American Sign Language. They learned quickly, and so has Drake. He knows the alphabet and signs for most words common to a typical 6-year-old boy.
This fall, he will enter first grade at Colsen Elementary in Seffner, where there is a program for deaf children.
Camp is his first experience being away from home in a primarily hearing setting.
Drake isn't always easy to discipline. His grandmother, Sue Bailey, calls him stubborn. Until recently, he required afternoon naps. He gets frustrated when people don't know how to sign and acts out.
"Right now, he still doesn't realize we are all talking and he isn't," Bailey said. "I think as he gets older, he will understand more, and things like being around hearing people at camp helps."
• • •
At Camp Cristina, counselors welcome the challenge of working with Drake.
The camp, set on 65 acres off Balm Riverview Road, offers a variety of activities from high-rope obstacle courses, to horseback riding and canoeing.
Camp director Darren Dannelly said it is a place where kids with different stories to tell come together. There are foster kids and children with Asperger's syndrome, athletes and artists. When he heard about Drake, he knew the boy would fit right in.
"At camp, you look in the pool and all you see are a bunch of kids playing," Dannelly said. "Here they are all just campers having fun. Drake is having a blast."
He's also popular. He makes a new friend every day. He amazes the other campers when he speeds across the zip line. He plays ga-ga dodgeball with kids twice his size.
The other children are curious about Drake's deafness. Some take time out from play to study his language. The camp has a book filled with signs for the children to study.
Counselors spend time learning and teaching the signs every day.
Alexis Gallenstein, 10, now knows the signs for yes, no, drink and silly. She recently lost her mother and is at camp to help with her grief. Being with Drake keeps her spirits up, Dannelly said. They play Frisbee and baseball.
"Drake has a lot of energy, and he laughs a lot," Alexis said. "He's different because sometimes when he gets in trouble, he doesn't know he's in trouble. He thinks it's a game."
Mackenzie McLendon, 8, is Drake's summer camp crush. He uses the sign for "beautiful" to describe her.
She is learning to sign but sometimes can't understand Drake. He signs too fast for her to understand.
"He's difficult to keep up with, but it's fun to be with him," she said. "I like it when he comes up to me and hugs me."
• • •
Drake emerges from the boys' locker room in dry clothes, wearing his Camp Cristina T-shirt and carrying a bag of cheesy puffs.
It's lunch time, and the kids are getting loud out on the basketball courts. Drake looks around at all the chattering faces. He seems nervous and a little lost. He reaches for his snack and starts to munch, not realizing the counselor behind him is trying to get him to sit.
Then another camper motions to him, and he smiles.
Sarah Whitman can be reached at (813) 661-2439 or email@example.com.


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May 2008
Taxation, reform and politics
Miranda Stewart (ed.) Tax Law and Political Institutions, NSW, Federation Press, 2007 (204 pp). ISBN 9-781 86287-638-5 (paperback) RRP $39.95.
Richard Eccleston Taxing Reforms: The Politics of Consumption Tax Reform in Japan, the United States, Canada and Australia, Cheltenham UK, Edward Elgar, 2007 (208 pp). ISBN 9-78184542-120-5 (hard cover) RRP $163.73.
The Howard Government's 'A New Tax System' (ANTS) tax reforms, including the goods and services tax (GST), are less than a decade old. Some of us thought ANTS had achieved what the 1985 Tax Summit and Fightback! had not—chronic tax reform fatigue. Yet, taxes are rarely off the political agenda for long. 'Tax', says leading Australian tax scholar Yuri Grbich, 'is politics with a dollar sign in front' (personal communication, quoted in Evans (2003, p. 214)). With the first Rudd Labor Government's budget, an economically risky election commitment to major personal income tax cuts amidst a booming economy, and a 2020 Summit-related promise of 'root and branch' tax reform including federal finances, 2008 promises to be another taxing year for Australian governments.
Public and media discussion of tax policy invariably turns quickly to personal tax rates and the 'hip pocket nerve', but rarely consider 'big picture issues'. The study of fiscal politics explores questions such as:
Contributors to two recent Australian publications on tax policy explore issues like these. Miranda Stewart introduces Tax Law and Political Institutions with a summary of recent thinking on how tax systems link with politics, providing a readable and succinct backdrop to several methodologically diverse articles on tax policy. She concludes, accurately in my view, that the renewed emphasis on process in tax policy research 'brings attention back to the budget as the political locus for government taxing and spending' (p. 7). Richard Eccleston's Taxing Reforms systematically compares consumption tax in four countries—Australia, the United States, Canada, and Japan—through 'structured narrative', to decide what the critical factors were in 'successful reform'.
These books may not be avidly read at the 'coalface' of Australian tax reform—in the ATO, the federal Treasury or at Parliament House. Yet this sort of attempt to gain a deeper understanding of what underpins our tax system, and how and why it changes, is immensely valuable, not least because 'The Fisc'—our tax and spending system—is fundamentally reflective of our society's real priorities, as well as so important to resolving conflicts over who gets what at the material level.
Because taxes are paid reluctantly, and the public needs to be coerced or convincingly bribed into paying them, Levi (1988) and others have argued that taxation itself spurs and shapes political systems and the extent of democratic representation. The taxation authority must have a degree of popular legitimacy—'no taxation without representation'—so growth of taxation leads to power sharing and more representative government.
Theories of how 'politics' affects the evolution of tax systems range from the simple and appealing idea, associated with public choice theory, that government is a self interested leviathan which grabs the maximum revenues as and where it can, to more deterministic approaches which explain tax systems and tax reform as the product of economic forces and economic change (Buchanan & Musgrave 1999). Recent research on fiscal politics has taken a pragmatic approach to improving our understanding of the tax reforms of the past decade. 'Historical institutional' theory (Peters 1991; Pierson 1993; Steinmo 1998) explains different tax systems as the slowly evolving result of interactions of ideas and interests with social and economic forces, within existing institutions and political cultures. The Stewart and Eccleston volumes take this approach.
In Stewart's volume, Cullen and Krever ask whether governments are forced along the path to democracy by the need to impose taxes. Exploring the links between the slow progress of democratic political development and taxation in Hong Kong, they argue that tax reform is inevitable because Hong Kong's tax system is, in their assessment, 'outdated'. Taxes—mainly a profits tax, a salaries tax and a property tax—are close to the lowest in the developed world. Hong Kong's successful experience with a public leasehold system of land tenure has provided substantial revenues from land rents. Cullen and Krever argue that over-use of land rents for revenue purposes has imposed a 'de-facto' goods and services tax on all consumers in Hong Kong, as inflated land prices may have been passed on by businesses to consumers in prices' (p. 17). However, land revenues have enabled Hong Kong to provide its citizens with 'public housing on a massive scale, [and] to finance excellent transport and communications systems and comparatively sound education and health systems' (p. 16).
Cullen and Krever seem to be making the case that political development is hindered in Hong Kong by this politically painless revenue system. But perhaps the Hong Kong case is more interestingly understood as supporting the proposition that citizens rebel against 'taxation without commensurate government services' rather than against 'taxation without representation'. A contrasting example is Canberra, where a poorly administered public leasehold system has led to poor land revenue collection (Neutze 1988a; 1988b), but reliance on more modern systems of taxation does not appear to have generated pressures for democratic representation. Self government was imposed on the Australian Capital Territory by the federal government in the late 1980s, and declining standards of public services, and rising taxes have only reinforced citizen's disdain for the locally elected legislature since that time.
Fortescue's account of Russian experience confirms that the link between democracy and tax systems is not simple, with corporations in the country's supposedly democratic new institutions able to press their case on taxation through mechanisms unavailable in practice to its citizenry.
Eccleston argues for the importance of policy learning and policy 'entrepreneurs' in the introduction of Australia's GST. Strangely, for a political scientist, the narrative does not take into account the critical role of institutions such as the High Court in shaping Australia's tax system and particularly in triggering implementation of indirect tax reform. For example, it was the Ha decision of the High Court in 1997—a decision that ruled several billion dollars of the states' annual revenues to be constitutionally invalid after decades of debate—that provided the essential backdrop to the GST reforms (Smith 2004). A focus on the role of key players and policy elites also means that Eccleston's narrative understates the significance of the institution of the Senate in modifying the GST to exclude basic food, a fundamental change in its design from the Coalition Government's original ANTS package.
Political manoeuvring over the GST continues today. One of the most interesting tax policy proposals in the public arena in the lead up to the May 2008 Budget has been the 'kite flying' by business groups for a rise in GST as a means of funding a lower company tax rate. In the short term, this has been ruled out by the Rudd Government, but the proposal raises several issues about tax policy design and tax reform processes. For example, while some industry sectors, especially those competing for business in low taxing Asian markets, might favour a lower company tax rate, other businesses or industries may prioritise specific company tax concessions, say more generous depreciation allowances for their investments in manufacturing plant and equipment, or even greater capital gains tax concessions for small business or real estate.
Most importantly, there are major political complexities of increasing the GST. First, because of the Howard Government's pretence that the GST was a state, not Commonwealth tax (see Smith 2004); altering the GST rate would immensely complicate current financial negotiations between the Commonwealth and the state and territories. Second, raising the GST would trigger demands for costly compensation to protect the real incomes of low income groups and families. On this latter point, Eccleston's account of the introduction of the GST in Australia misses another interesting story. The Treasury had argued for a comprehensive GST, from a public choice perspective that understood exemptions from the wholesale sales tax (WST)—a tax, among others, replaced by the GST—were the result of 'rent seeking'. My research has shown, however, that most exemptions from the WST, such as for food and medicines, were actually a reasonably coherent policy response to longstanding Australian values about equitable taxation during the 1930s depression and World War II (Smith 1999). These same influences, in my view, came to the fore during the ANTS debate on excluding food from the GST in Australia.
This provides a different perspective to Eccleston's on the type of 'policy learning' that informed the final design of Australia's GST. In New Zealand, which has no Senate and no states, GST was introduced in 1988 with virtually no exemptions and a minimal compensation package. Nevertheless, the GST in that country was increased just a couple of years later, to maximise revenue, and there was no adjustment in social security or family payments to offset this regressive tax increase (Smith 1998). This was because increasing means tested social security payments to low income families would have increased the number of families caught in the 'poverty trap' of high effective marginal tax rates and work disincentives. In Australia, basic food was exempted from the GST in order to gain a Senate majority for the tax reform package. Thus, arguably, a distinctive aspect of the GST reforms in Australia, reflected through its Senate, was that it applied the policy learnings from New Zealand, and did not adopt the 'pure' GST model preferred by the economic policy elites.
Further, Eccleston's characterisation of the United States as having 'failed' to institute consumption tax reform is also interesting when that country's tax reforms are analysed from an economic perspective. Reforms which exempt savings or investment from income taxation take the tax system towards a consumption tax base. Leading economists have argued that in the United States during the 1980s, a non-transparent 'tax reform' process of this kind allowed legislatures to bypass important questions about the desired distributional effects of taxation (Musgrave 1987). Arguably, the active role played by the Senate in the ANTS debates meant that Australia's tax reform process ensured debate on the distributional effects of indirect tax reform, addressing equity concerns through embedding certain exemptions, such as for basic food, in the final design of the GST. This approach also provides greater assurance than in New Zealand that the existing income distribution will not be altered by future governments increasing the GST without compensation for its regressive effects.
Another area for fruitful investigation of fiscal politics that remains unexplored in the Stewart and Eccleston volumes is that of tax expenditures. Tax expenditures, 'the twilight zone of government expenditures', are defined by the OECD as 'a departure from the generally accepted or benchmark tax structure which produces a favourable tax treatment of particular types of activities or taxpayers' (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 1984, p. 7).
The politics of tax expenditures are fascinating, as President Clinton's chief tax policy advisor Eric Toder understood:
In Australia, the revenue cost and number of tax expenditures certainly expanded during the Howard years (Smith 2003). Broome's research, reported in the Stewart book, analyses patterns in media coverage of taxation issues during a recent New Zealand election. Broome nicely illustrates how media coverage sets the agenda for policy, in that case by generating and building momentum for tax cuts. The massive growth in fiscal concessions for private superannuation and private health insurance in Australia in recent years provides another clear example of how tax systems are shaped by both changing economic structures and prevailing fiscal ideologies, as well as how tax policy agendas are set by media campaigns. A similar process of policy agenda setting would be revealed by careful analysis of Australian media campaigns on tax concessions for superannuation and private health insurance in the past two decades. Over $20 billion a year is now provided to these two industries from the Commonwealth Budget. It is timely that the Commonwealth Auditor General has this month published a commentary on how well such fiscal charity is provided, measured and reported in public documents (Australian National Audit Office 2008). The issue of tax expenditures is surely worthy of more attention by Australian tax scholars and political scientists.
Citizens' trust in the tax system depends on their perceptions of its structural fairness and of the transparency and equity of tax policy processes. Richardson's international comparative study in the Stewart collection suggests that societies where public trust is low, especially in poor and undemocratic regimes, are more likely to be corrupt. Lisa Philips' article on gender aspects of tax policy shows how tax policy making by elites can exclude the perspective of significant groups of citizens and thereby leave the tax system vulnerable to criticism and lack of citizen trust in its structural equity. Especially in the light of the recently announced review of Commonwealth taxation, to be conducted under the stewardship of Treasury head Ken Henry, Phillips' paper is one of the most interesting and relevant papers in the Stewart collection. Complex tax law and policymaking processes, she argues, may result in tax policy by experts only— that is, a political elite—resulting in lack of inclusiveness and poor recognition, for example, of the gender bias in conventional market and 'economic' perspectives. Tax policy could be improved if the unpaid economy mainly populated by women were incorporated into policy analyses. Likewise, a perspective which included class, ethnicity, and other characteristics of citizens would generate more defensible and legitimate tax policy decisions and tax structures.
At a time when governments are facing some urgent and difficult policy choices about how to regulate energy use and slow global warming, the environmental aspects of tax policy also need to be more closely scrutinised by political economists. The fringe benefits tax concession for business car use is a case in point, costing several billion dollars a year in lost revenues, and invisibly encouraging excessive production and use of large cars, especially those produced by the Australian car industry.
A comparable example warranting further scrutiny by scholars of fiscal and environmental politics is the 2001 decision of the Howard Government to abolish indexation of the fuel excise during the Queensland state election campaign. This has facilitated declining rates of taxation of petrol, relative, for example, to tobacco or alcohol, and even compared to taxation of goods and services, such as books, processed foods, and children's clothes. It is difficult to defend this as sensible public policy, in view of current environmental concerns and fuel scarcity. The revenue costs of such politically generous decisions on fuel excise totals around $2 billion a year, and has left under-utilised an important tool for encouraging more fuel efficient cars and transport decisions. In the face of the current political campaign to lower petrol prices, is it too much to expect that Queenslander Kevin Rudd will revisit the Trebeck Inquiry into fuel tax indexation finding (Fuel Taxation Inquiry Committee 2002) that 'the strong relationship between fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions make fuel tax an appropriate instrument for charging for the costs of climate change attributable to fuel use' (p. 73), and act on its call to revisit the fuel excise issue when Australia signs the Kyoto agreement?
Despite my thirst for more and more sophisticated probing of the nuances of particular tax and fiscal policies, the interest of Australian political scholars in this field is welcome, and long overdue. Many of the papers in Stewart's volume imply that greater transparency in tax policy process, and wider participation by citizens in tax policy processes, can lead to better tax policy and, ultimately, to better tax compliance and tax system functioning and efficiency. It is true that greater transparency alone may result in better policy. Nevertheless, influential participation by excluded groups requires their fuller knowledge and understanding of tax policy issues, policy processes, and fiscal politics. Enabling the wider public to better appreciate the role of taxation and fathom the links between key features of our fiscal system and the workings of our democracy, is commenced by these volumes and is the next task for scholars of Australian tax policy.
After all, as a visiting US scholar Willard Pedrick observed during Australia's astonishing abolition of death and gift duties from 1976, 'revenue acts are not the act of a hostile enemy of occupation. They are the means by which a community maintains itself as a community responding to the needs of its members' (Pedrick 1981, p. 134).
Australian National Audit Office 2008, Preparation of the Tax Expenditures Statement, 8 May [Online], Available: http://www.anao.gov.au/uploads/documents/2007-08_Audit_Report_32.pdf [2008, May 7].
Buchanan, J.M., and Musgrave, R.A. 1999, Public Finance and Public Choice: Two Contrasting Visions of the State, Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press.
Evans, C. 2003, Taxing Personal Capital Gains, Australian Tax Research Foundation, Sydney.
Fuel Taxation Inquiry Committee 2002, 'Fuel tax inquiry report', Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 28 March [Online], Available: http://fueltaxinquiry.treasury.gov.au/content/report/default.asp [2008, May 27].
Levi, M. 1988, Of Rule and Revenue, University of California Press, Berkeley.
Musgrave, R.A. 1987, 'Short of euphoria', Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 59–72.
Neutze, G.M. 1988a, 'The Canberra leasehold system', in Report on the Canberra Leasehold System, (ed.) Joint Parliamentary Committee on the ACT, Canberra.
Neutze, G.M. 1988b, A Tale of Two Cities; Public Land Ownership in Canberra and Stockholm, Urban Research Program Working Paper No. 3, Australian National University, Canberra, May.
Pedrick, W.H. 1981, 'Oh! To die Down Under! Abolition of death and gift duties in Australia', Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations Reprint Series, no. 44, Australian National University, Canberra.
Peters, B.G. 1991, The Politics of Taxation: A Comparative Perspective, Blackwell, Cambridge, MA.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 1984, Tax Expenditures: A Review of the Issues and Country Practices, Paris, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Pierson, P. 1993, 'When effect becomes cause: Policy feedback and political change', World Politics, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 595–628.
Smith, J.P. 1998 (1992), 'Tax reform, the GST and women', The Australia Institute Background Paper No. 11, Canberra, March.
Smith, J.P. 1999, 'Is the only good tax an old tax? An historical perspective on the GST', ANU Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper No. 398, Canberra, March.
Smith, J.P. 2003, 'Tax expenditures: The $30 billion twilight zone of government spending', Information and Research Services, Department of the Parliamentary Library, Research Papers No. 8, Canberra, May [Online], Available http://www.aph.gov.au/library/Pubs/RP/2002-03/03RP08.pdf [2008, May 27].
Smith, J.P. 2004 (1993), Taxing Popularity: The Story of Taxation in Australia, 2nd edn, Australian Tax Research Foundation, Sydney.
Steinmo, S. 1998, Taxation and Democracy: Swedish, British and American Approaches to Financing the Modern State, Yale University Press, New Haven CT.
Toder, E.J. 1999, 'Tax incentives for social policy: The only game in town', The Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland, Paper No 5, College Park, Maryland.
Julie Smith is a Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health (ACERH) at the Australian National University (ANU). She was formerly a senior economist in Australian and New Zealand treasuries. She has a PhD in Economics (ANU) and, prior to joining ACERH, was a Visiting Fellow in the Economics Program at the Research School of Social Sciences and a postdoctoral fellow at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health.


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Final, Patriots 31-22: And with that, the first Patriots preseason game is over. New England certainly wasn't perfect, but most of the players who will actually make the 53-man roster looked good. The players still fighting for spots on the roster were pretty decent as well.
LeGarrette Blount was the star of the game, but he still had some trouble in short-yardage situations. Stephen Gostkowski missed some long field goals, Tim Tebow struggled and Logan Ryan and Aqib Talib got beat deep. Other than that, it was mostly good for the Patriots.
We'll have more coming in the post game here on NESN.com.
Fourth quarter, :56, Patriots 31-22: If you're not watching the game, you missed Tim Tebow forward lateral to no one. It was an, uh, interesting play.
On defense, Jake Bequette and Joe Vellano just crushed the pocket to sack G.J. Kinne. Logan Ryan got beat by Greg Salas in coverage.
Fourth quarter, 2:33, Patriots 31-22: The Patriots let the Eagles march down to the 15-yard line before finally stopping them.
As a whole, the Patriots' second-team defense has looked better than the second-team offense. Of course, it hurts that Tebow is at the helm on offense.
Fourth quarter, 7:22, Patriots 31-22: Tim Tebow continues to struggle out there. He's getting a very extended look and hasn't done much at all with it, despite the team switching up the offense for him.
We'll give him a couple more preseason games, but if this kind of performance continues, it probably isn't worth keeping him around.
Fourth quarter, 7:58, Patriots 31-22: The Eagles brought in former Steelers backup Dennis Dixon, who struggled to move the ball a bit. Marcus Benard came up with the first Patriots sack.
All three drafted Rutgers rookies — Logan Ryan, Duron Harmon and Steve Beauharnais — have flashed at times.
The Eagles turned the ball over on downs.
Fourth quarter, 13:15, Patriots 31-22: The Patriots had a shot there at the end, but Tebow's throw couldn't get to Aaron Dobson, who had to stop, wait and fend off a defender for it. He couldn't, and the Patriots were forced to punt.
Fourth quarter, 14:55, Patriots 31-22: Former Patriot Greg Salas made New England look silly on a screen pass. Logan Ryan missed the first tackle, but Tavon Wilson's was especially egregious. Philly got the two-point conversion to bring the Patriots' lead to 31-22.
End third quarter, Patriots 31-14: The third quarter is over and, not that it matters since this is a preseason game, but this one should be in the books for the Patriots. New England leads 31-14 as the Eagles' offense is driving. Philadelphia has five quarterbacks on its roster, but only three have played so far. The Eagles are giving Matt Barkley a lot of looks tonight.
Third quarter, 2:12, Patriots 31-14: Tebow's throw to Aaron Dobson actually wasn't a bad one, but the rookie wide receiver wasn't strong enough to get off coverage down the sideline. Stephen Gostkowski missed a 54-yarder and the Patriots still lead 31-14.
Third quarter, 7:04, Patriots 31-14: The Patriots' second-team defense has really rebounded since their first drive. The Rutgers rookies are looking good with Duron Harmon delivering a punishing hit to Ifeanyi Momah and Logan Ryan breaking up a pass he could have caught. Marcus Benard continues to get some nice pressure off the edge.
Third quarter, 9:15, Patriots 31-14: The Patriots scored on a Tebow drive! Of course, most of the credit goes to LeGarrette Blount, who continues to run like a bowling ball powered by a roman candle.
Tebow did have a nice designed draw, but otherwise he looked rough once again.
The Patriots announced Mallett is questionable to return with a head injury.
Third quarter, 13:37, Patriots 24-14: Matt Barkley continues to struggle out there. Marcus Benard did a nice job getting some pressure from the edge on third down.
Tim Tebow is back out there for the second half. Mallett is standing on the sideline with his helmet in his hand.
End first half, Patriots 24-14: The Patriots' first half was a tale of three quarterbacks. Tom Brady looked great, Ryan Mallett looked OK and Tim Tebow looked awful. The Patriots lead 24-14 thanks to some big runs from Stevan Ridley and LeGarrette Blount, some nice throws from Brady and some impressive catches from Zach Sudfeld, Kenbrell Thompkins and Julian Edelman.
The first-team defense was solid outside one big play given up by Aqib Talib. The second-team defense started out rough, but found their groove as Matt Barkley struggled with the Eagles' second-team offense.
Mallett came out of the game late, but the injury didn't appear serious. It looked like he just got the wind knocked out of him.
It's obvious that Ridley, Brady, Amendola, Solder, Mankins, Wendell and Vollmer are part of the first-team offense, but the rest of the team stayed in with the second squad. Thompkins did not get many snaps with the second team, so perhaps he's also part of the first unit. Julian Edelman appears to be on the second team. He played a lot with Mallett.
Second quarter, 1:08, Patriots 24-14: Ryan Mallett appeared to get the wind knocked out of him, which brought in Tim Tebow.
Tebow looked like, well, Tebow. He held on to the ball too long, fired the ball off kilter and couldn't feel pressure around him.
Mallett and Barkley haven't looked great, but Tebow looked worse. Ryan Allen came in for Zoltan Mesko to punt. He booted it 56 yards. Mesko's punt was 46 yards.
Second quarter, 2:00, Patriots 24-14: Jamie Collins is flashing his versatility with the second team, lining up all over the field. He's playing well and could find snaps with the first team by the time the preseason is over.
Second quarter, 3:03, Patriots 24-14: The Patriots did a nice job stopping Barkley and the Philly defense, but Brandon Bolden extended the Eagles' drive by running into the punter.
Second quarter, 4:39, Patriots 24-14: Much better showing by the Patriots' second-team defense as Matt Barkley came in.
LeGarrette Blount just video gamed the Eagles' defense. He couldn't find room on the left side of the defense, so he did a 180 and took it the other way for a 51-yard touchdown. That was an unbelievable (but slow) run.
Second quarter, 5:45, Patriots 17-14: Once again, Mallett couldn't close out the drive, but this time Gostkowski hit the field goal.
Zach Sudfeld had the play of the drive as he showed off his ability after the catch. It looks like the Patriots hit home runs with him and Thompkins after the draft.
Dobson had a big drop and Mallett missed a couple more throws. Mallett isn't helping himself out much at this point.
Second quarter, 10:37, 14-14 tie: The Patriots second-team defense got run through on that drive. Marcus Benard might be being wasted at defensive tackle. He was getting obliterated against the run up the middle, pushed back on nearly every play. Dont'a Hightower got some reps with the second team as well.
Rookie Jamie Collins played well, though he whiffed on a sack. Bryce Brown took it in for the touchdown.
Second quarter, 14:05, Patriots 14-7: The drive stalled as Ryan Mallett missed Josh Boyce wide open in the end zone and Stephen Gostowski missed a 44-yard field goal attempt.
Gostowski may get some competition at some point this summer. The team hasn't had a second kicker all training camp.
End first quarter, Patriots 14-7: And that's the end of the first quarter. The Patriots are up 14-7 and Mallett is driving down the field. Mallett has been keying in on Fells this drive, and while four starting offensive linemen and Amendola came out with Brady, the rest of the starters are still in a rotation.
This game is doing very little to tell us who the starters on offense will be.
8:14 p.m.: Belichick is challenging the last play. It looks like Tommy Kelly and Chandler Jones forced a fumble when they pressured Nick Foles, who came in for Vick, up the middle. UPDATE: Play has been ruled a fumble.
8:11 p.m.: Ryan Mallett couldn't get much done as the Patriots set up on the one-yard line. Mallett missed on both of his passes.
8:08 p.m.: Tom Brady is done for the night after two drives. Ryan Mallett and the second-team offense is in. That likely means the starting offensive line and Amendola are also done.
8:06 p.m.: The Patriots' defense looked solid on the last drive. Brandon Spikes had a nice stop, Adrian Wilson broke well on a pass and Kyle Arrington got bowled over, but still made the tackle to end the drive.
The Patriots still had Logan Ryan out in the slot while Arrington stayed outside. Marcus Benard came out in the nickel to play DT.
8:02 p.m.: Brady was firing on all cylinders on that last drive. He was 7-of-8. Thompkins caught four passes, while Danny Amendola, Shane Vereen and Aaron Dobson also hauled in catches.
7:58 p.m.: Another dominant drive for the Patriots. Kenbrell Thompkins was the star of the drive, catching four balls from Tom Brady. Shane Vereen and Zach Sudfeld were split out in the X and Z WR roles on the last play. Vereen caught a deep touchdown reminiscent of the one he caught in last year's playoff game against Houston. Vereen had a linebacker on him on both plays and pulled down majestic catches.
7:50 p.m.: Logan Ryan came out to play corner in the nickel defense. Marcus Benard played DT, where he got inside defenders on his first play, but got mauled on the Eagles' next run. He's only 260 pounds and should be a good pass rusher, but will be ineffective on running plays.
7:48 p.m.: The Patriots opened in a 4-3 base defense. Aqib Talib got burned by DeSean Jackson on a 47-yard pass.
7:40 p.m.: Aaron Dobson, Danny Amendola, Zach Sudfeld and Jake Ballard were in with the starters. The Patriots' first play was a 62-yard run by Stevan Ridley. There was a massive hole open for him. Ridley took the final play of the drive in for a touchdown behind Michael Hoomanawanui, who was playing fullback. The Patriots did not pass in their opening drive.
7:38 p.m.: The Eagles won the toss and elected to defer. Leon Washington and Shane Vereen were back for the kick. Washington took it back to the 20.
7:34 p.m.: The game is just about to be underway. We'll have all the news and analysis right here.
Here are some players to watch: No. 44 TE Zach Sudfeld, No. 17 WR Aaron Dobson, No. 85 Kenbrell Thompkins, No. 82 WR Josh Boyce, No. 30 S Duron Harmon, No. 91 LB Jamie Collins. Oh, and No. 5 QB Tim Tebow. It will be interesting to see if the Patriots show any read option looks with the third-stringer.
7:16 p.m.: According to Nick Underhill of MassLive.com, the following players were not suited up during pregame warmups: WR Michael Jenkins, WR Mark Harrison, CB Ras-I Dowling, S Devin McCourty, CB Alfonzo Dennard, S Nate Ebner, FB James Develin, TE Brandon Ford, OL Marcus Cannon, RG Dan Connolly, OL Tyronne Green, OL Kevin Haslam, TE Rob Gronkowski, DE Jermaine Cunningham, DL Armond Armstead, OL Markus Zusevics.
Develin is the only new name added to that group. He had been playing at fullback and tight end during training camp.
6:56 p.m.: The Patriots will be wearing their blue jerseys tonight with the Eagles in white. That's likely due to the humidity in Philadelphia, which is reportedly heavy.
Devin McCourty was not spotted out during warmups with the secondary by multiple Patriots reporters. Alfonzo Dennard is also reportedly not down on the field.
That will give plenty of opportunities to guys like Duron Harmon, Logan Ryan, Steve Gregory, Tavon Wilson and Brandon Jones to show their stuff.
6:14 p.m.: Riley Cooper will play for the Eagles tonight, according to Albert Breer of NFL Network. This will be Cooper's first game action since the controversial video leaked of the Philadelphia wide receiver using the N-word.
Running back LeSean McCoy, cornerback Cary Williams and left tackle Jason Peterson will not play. One of the position battles to watch for the Eagles is Chris Polk vs. Bryce Brown vs. Felix Jones. Polk has looked best during training camp, according to reports.
5:46 p.m.: While you're waiting for the game to start, feel free to read my article on how Jamie Collins and Adrian Wilson could steal snaps from Brandon Spikes this season, leading to the Patriots deciding against re-signing the linebacker.
5:42 p.m.: The first Patriots action of the 2013 season is just an hour and 48 minutes away and Nick Underhill of MassLive.com is reporting Devin McCourty is warming up in shorts and a T-shirt out on the field. That doesn't necessarily mean McCourty will play, but we'd say it increases the chances a little bit.
The only practice McCourty did not wear the red non-contact jersey was during the blue-white scrimmage when the only players wearing the red jerseys were the quarterbacks. The practice was in just shells and shorts, so it's possible Bill Belichick determined it was more important for McCourty to be wearing his "team's" blue jersey than it was for the opposing team to know not to hit him, since there would not be contact anyway.
4:40 p.m.: From what we've seen during training camp, here are my projected starters for tonight:
Offense: Tom Brady, Stevan Ridley, Danny Amendola, Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Thompkins, Daniel Fells, Nate Solder, Logan Mankins, Ryan Wendell, Will Svitek, Sebastian Vollmer.
Defense: Rob Ninkovich, Vince Wilfork, Tommy Kelly, Chandler Jones, Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, Dont'a Hightower, Aqib Talib, Kyle Arrington, Steve Gregory, Adrian Wilson.
Dobson or Thompkins could be replaced by Josh Boyce in the starting offense. The team could also open with 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, two wide receivers) or 21 personnel (two RBs, one TE, two WRs), meaning Michael Hoomanawanui, Zach Sudfeld, Jake Ballard or Shane Vereen could replace a wideout.
On defense, if the team opens up in nickel, Logan Ryan or Duron Harmon could replace Spikes or Hightower.
4:28 p.m.: Tom Brady will play tonight, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. Brady will usually only suit up in a couple preseason games per year.
It makes sense for Brady to take some reps with the first team tonight since there is so much turnover on the offense.
Howe also reports the starters will play if they're healthy. That likely means Alfonzo Dennard and Devin McCourty will not play, as expected. Dennard has been bothered by a leg injury and McCourty was still wearing the red non-contact jersey Thursday due to offseason shoulder surgery.
8 a.m. ET: Whether the Patriots are ready or not, their first in-game action is tonight at 7:30 p.m.
We don't know if Tom Brady will be playing yet, but whether he gets on the field or not, Ryan Mallett is expected to take the majority of the snaps against the Eagles. Michael Jenkins, Mark Harrison, Ras-I Dowling, Nate Ebner, Brandon Ford, Marcus Cannon, Dan Connolly, Markus Zusevics, Tyronne Green, Kevin Haslam, Rob Gronkowski, Jermaine Cunningham and Armond Armstead are not expected to play. Alfonzo Dennard left Thursday's practice limping, so he may not suit up either. Devin McCourty was still in the red non-contact jersey, which would lead me to believe he will not be playing yet either.
With so many injuries along the offensive line, that means we'll be seeing a lot of players like Will Svitek, Josh Kline, R.J. Mattes and Chris McDonald. If McCourty does not play, Adrian Wilson, Steve Gregory, Duron Harmon and Tavon Wilson will likely all get chances with the first-team defense. Cunningham's injury means Marcus Benard, Justin Francis and Jake Bequette will be able to show their stuff behind Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich.
The Patriots' wide receivers dominated the Eagles' defensive backs in practice, which you can see in the video here, so don't be surprised if you see Mallett airing the ball out to the rookie wide receivers. Kenbrell Thompkins, Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce should all get equal opportunities with the ones alongside Danny Amendola.
For the Eagles, Michael Vick will be the starting quarterback, but Nick Foles will get equal reps. Keep a close eye on running back Chris Polk, who has reportedly looked good in Eagles camp.
The action kicks off at 7:30 p.m., but we'll keep you updated on any news that occurs throughout the day.
Have a question for Doug Kyed? Send it to him via Twitter at @DougKyedNESN or send it here.
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spycob: Fashion Deals Tracker
Spycob is an app; Find your favorite brands at half price and better.
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text:
Sri Lanka's state-run SriLankan Airlines said it will continue to operate European routes, two of which were earlier to be axed during off-peak periods.
SriLankan said in a statement that with May and June in Europe being the traditional off peak, the airline will review its frequencies based on the actual demand in the countries to which SriLankan presently operates to.
The airline will continue to serve its traditional European gateways which serve a large clientele that fly direct and beyond to several destinations in Europe and the Americas.
The airline earlier said it was axing flights to Zurich and Rome in May and June which were off-peak.


text:
Headquartered in an 87-year-old building designed to withstand any disaster, Croft-Leominster survives on a flow of contrarian ideas.
The four-and-one-half-story building at the corner of Water and South streets in Baltimore has stood the test of time for almost 90 years. The original structure featured a sturdy red-brick façade with 10-inch-thick walls in some places, eight-over-eight windows with stone sills, and a gabled slate roof. Even when it was built, its Colonial-style architecture was considered old-fashioned compared with the sleek new steel-and-concrete high-rises going up around the city. Nevertheless, Canton House, as it is called, still stands today much like it was when it was completed in 1923.
It's fitting, then, that this sturdy and unstylish structure is now home to an investment firm whose stock-picking strategy has avoided flashy investing trends while riding out much of the market's ups and downs during the past 20 years. Croft-Leominster is a family-run company that manages $600 million across separately managed accounts and two mutual funds. Gordon Croft and his two sons, Kent and Russell, are traditional value investors who pride themselves on generating contrarian ideas.
"We want to keep a flow of ideas coming," Kent Croft says. "That is our singular focus."
While neighbors T. Rowe Price and Legg Mason run hundreds of billions of dollars from soaring towers along the city's famous Inner Harbor, Croft is content to keep a low profile. That's fine with shareholders, especially given the firm's track record. Croft Value
"Why doesn't Kent Croft have billions of dollars in the fund?" asks Adam Bold, founder of The Mutual Fund Store chain and a large shareholder who was attracted by the firm's long-term track record. The only reason, he says, is "because nobody has heard of it."
Family Reunion
Just three blocks separate Croft-Leominster and T. Rowe Price in downtown Baltimore, but the ties between the two firms are even closer. Gordon Croft was hired at T. Rowe in 1967 and spent 22 years at the company as an investment counselor, director, and fund manager. Croft became well-schooled in T. Rowe's growth stock-picking strategy. But while he was there, he was also given freedom to explore investment ideas--at either end of the market-cap and style spectrum and located here or abroad. That approach can be seen in Croft Value--it is an all-cap fund that features domestic value stocks, but it has some growth and international names, too. And, ultimately, the independence T. Rowe gave him as a fund manager made it easier for Croft to open his own firm.
In the mid-1980s, Kent Croft was working in the equities department at Salomon Brothers. At the time, Salomon was run by John Gutfreund, the Wall Street legend later depicted in the Michael Lewis bestseller, Liar's Poker. Although Croft avoided the fixed-income shenanigans that later plagued the company, he realized Salomon wasn't a permanent home. He moved back to southern Maryland and worked on real estate deals for a year while living in a house a mile out in the woods. He and his father then hatched the idea for their own firm.
The Crofts opened Leominster, Inc. in 1989 with roughly $500 million under management. (Leominster references a town in England where there is a Croft Castle. The family name was added several years later.) Half of that money came from a single institutional account that followed Gordon Croft from T. Rowe, but that client soon pulled out its money when its board got spooked about using a small, unproven firm. As assets dropped to around $100 million, the pair hunkered down managing separate accounts. They added two mutual funds in 1995, Croft Value and a companion fixed-income fund, Croft Income
©2017 Morningstar Advisor. All right reserved.


text:
Investors in
The management shake-up in QBE's US business – which is likely to be blamed for an expected profit downgrade – is almost complete.
At the weekend, it emerged that
QBE is still searching for a head for its North American property and casualty division after appointing a new chief executive and chief financial officer to the business this year.
In June, US finance boss
Shares of QBE, which has failed to meet profit expectations since 2009, were placed in a trading halt on Friday. The company's shares last traded at $15.45 on Thursday.
QBE said the move was intended to give it "time to finalise its analysis of information and review by the board, predominantly in relation to its North American operations, and the impact on QBE's forecast financial result for the year ending 31 December, 2013".
The review has been spearheaded by Mr Duclos.
Sources dismissed the possibility the company will announce asset sales from its US portfolio.
The US division has a history of disappointing shareholders.
Most recently, it was partly responsible for a 37 per cent plunge in profits to $477 million and a 50 per cent drop in dividend in the six months to June 30.
Gross written premium from North America is expected to fall by $US600 million from the group's initial 2013 forecast due to "management action" on problematic arms within the division, general market conditions and "significantly lower" premium from the lenders' insurance portfolio.
QBE's North American unit has been hit by repercussions from a severe drought in the Midwest, Superstorm Sandy in New York and the global financial crisis, which wreaked havoc on its lenders' insurance business.
Analysts have also questioned the prices paid for a string of companies acquired under former chief executive
"North America for us has always been a business that required a lot of attention in 2013," group CEO
The poor performance has triggered a call by CLSA insurance analyst Jan van der Schalk to sell the business in the US.
"A USA-less QBE can still play any US rate increases through their dominant Lloyd's business, they can outperform in Australia, where margins are high . . . and leverage their excellent market-share and be part of the growth of Asia-Pacific insurance penetration," Mr van der Schalk said in a note to clients earlier this year.
But other investment experts , such as Charlie Aitken from Bell Potter Securities, argue that QBE's US exposure is a boon for the stock.
"There is no stock in the ASX20 that has been more punished top down by the actions of the Fed [US Federal Reserve] than QBE.
"On that basis, as the Fed slowly winds down quantitative easing over the year ahead, there should be no ASX20 stock that benefits more than QBE," Mr Aitken said in November.
QBE's share price has rallied more than 50 per cent during the past 12 months.
Some analysts and fund managers attribute the rally to macro-economic factors including a falling Australian dollar and improving US bond yields.
The company is valued at $19 billion.
The Australian Financial Review


text:
With 8:08 left in the fourth quarter, the Thunder led by eight on the road at Oracle. Kevin Durant's hand was smoldering and it appeared he was transitioning fully into Closer KD.
Then this weird thing happened where he went 1-of-5 the final six minutes, had four turnovers and missed a critical free throw. Then I woke up, or at least I was hoping so.
The easy excuse here is that the Thunder ran out of gas. Second night of a back-to-back on the road, the Thunder didn't defend and didn't execute in crunchtime. And by "didn't execute" I really mean Durant's powerup didn't last the full 48 minutes tonight. He's Oklahoma City's horse, the guy they're going to run into the ground when things are tight. Most times, he carries them through. Tonight, he didn't. The Warriors doubled and tried to flush him, but KD still got looks — he just missed.
But it's not like he had a bunch of help either. A few more key stops, a few more defensive boards or a not completely awful night from Russell Westbrook would've helped. Keep Reading…


text: >From: Andy Polyakov <email@example.com> >> If you did know about the bug before I did, I may well critisize you: >> >> Why didn't you send a bug report >I'm ready to accept criticism as soon as somebody can point out what was >it in the referred post, which discredits it as as a bug report? Note >that pointer to the referred report was posted on this list the same >day, along with dvd+rw-tools 5.15.x announcement. A. Well, it did take only about a week after I did report the bug. I don't know how you did report. I did read the CAM standard and pointed out that CAM requires auto sense to work. Jörg -- EMail:email@example.com (home) Jörg Schilling D-13353 Berlin firstname.lastname@example.com (uni) If you don't have iso-8859-1 email@example.com (work) chars I am J"org Schilling URL: http://www.fokus.fraunhofer.de/usr/schilling ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/schily


text:
Benjamin Franklin's notion of good works
Letter to Joseph Huey
Joseph O'Brien 10 p.m., Sept. 20
Heywood Sanders, professor at the University of Texas-San Antonio, and generally considered the ranking expert on convention centers, says he has been "misrepresented" in the San Diego Convention Center Task Force's annual report that has just been issued. Sanders has consistently stated that convention centers are vastly overbuilt and draining the cities that subsidize them. In fact, that is what he told the task force in May. Yet the report quotes him saying that past and potential customers have expressed interest in an expanded San Diego center; the center is operating at or above potential maximum potential; the center is losing business because of lack of space and dates, and there is risk of outgrowing the center. It picks up quotes that he made five years ago. Completely missing is the substance of his May report, he points out: the warnings about national overbuilding, financing problems, and in particular, his skepticism about statistics that come out of the convention center. Throughout the study, "There is stuff that so misrepresents reality it is appalling," says Sanders. The task force chooses the statistics that fit its purposes and ignores those that draw a picture of reality, says Sanders. "These are middle school games."
Of course, any sophisticated San Diegan knew this was coming. Every member of the task force except one is a cheerleader for corporate welfare -- heavily representing the tourism and real estate development industries.
At my request, Sanders will spend more time reading the study. I will call him Sunday for his analysis and post it on the blog that day.
Let's hope this gets some traction....Mayor Sanders has stacked this task force with his cronies. So while Sanders fiddles, the city is projecting a deficit closing in on $100 MILLION DOLLARS.
Now let's review, Sanders wants a new City Hall, a new Library and a convention center expansion....this should run in the neighborhood of TWO BILLION DOLLARS... with, of course, no way to pay for it.
Wait... isn't TWO BILLION DOLLARS pretty close to the Unfunded Liability of the City's Pension System...
Wait... don't all but two labor groups have contracts for the next two years? So most of the City workers are protected from more give-backs for now.
Oh that's right our Mayor Sanders will be out-of-office soon and not responsible for one penny of the new debt.... wonder if he'll move out of San Diego after he leaves office? He'll avoid the tsunami of red ink headed toward San Diego and collect his pension benefits and full medical coverage too.
This is fiscal insanity!
Response to post #1: Good words: fiscal insanity. Even the thought that elected officials are mulling the prospect of these new projects while the City is broke should motivate the voters to throw the rascals out. Trouble is, voters don't run San Diego government. Real estate developers do. Best, Don Bauder
JustWondering wonders if "Mare" Sanders will leave San Diego after he leaves office. He well could, to take some other overpaid position in another governmental unit. (To get that, he would use his reputation as a "fixer" of problems in San Diego. Hilarious, huh? But very possible.) But if he leaves SD it will be in the tradition of former Mexican presidents, most of whom have gone into exile upon the inauguration of their successors. Look closely, and Sanders has a parallel career to most of them. He held positions in the police force, then moved into the arena of charitable institutions, and then became mayor. He has the press giving him credit for things he never did, while ignoring his malfeasance in office, and ignoring the true beneficiaries of his actions. Finally, he makes promises to the voters than cannot be kept. All of it just like Mexican presidents. The next logical step is exile upon leaving the Mayor's office.
Response to post #3: The betting is that Sanders will shoot for higher office -- the assembly, maybe even Congress. It is horrifying to contemplate: the guy is a do-nothing. Look at all the problems he has simply shelved, hoping to get out of office before they rise up to sink the City's finances. One of San Diego's biggest problems is that it is run by real estate developers. That cancer has grown on Sanders's watch. Best, Don Bauder
Wait... isn't TWO BILLION DOLLARS pretty close to the Unfunded Liability of the City's Pension System...
This is fiscal insanity!
3%@50 is fiscal insanity.
If not for whiskey Jerry Sanders would have been elected President of the US by now. He can't help his Irish heritage.
Visduh, everything you said about "Mare" Sanders is true (I can't vouch for the Mexican President issues though).
Sanders hasn't done jack. All hot air.
And he has not been hurting on his eating portions either- he could stunt double for a summo wrestler, or even Shamu.
Response to post #50: JW and SurfPuppy are going at it again. I look forward to it. Best, Don Bauder
Response to post #6: If Sanders were president, I know two people who would shower him with praise: Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Best, Don Bauder
Response to post #7: The old gray mayor he ain't what he used to be -- except that he never was much. Best, Don Bauder
Conventions are very good at several things:
1) Creating many temporary or seasonal low-paying service jobs. Most people forget for that every day of an active convention, there is a built-in move-in and move-out period of two days followed by many hiatus days between conventions. This is not a "normal" job for most unskilled workers.
2) Causing excess hotel capacity immediately around the convention center.
3) Creating endless municipal and state subsidies, since the highly competitive market for hosting conventions inevitably leads to bidding wars for high-profile customers such as political parties.
4) Corruption, caused by the unavoidable hiatuses between conventions. This leads unions and contractors to artificially maximize their income during the relatively few peak activity periods.
5) Most conventions only use part of a convention center. Very few customers book the entire building. This means that larger convention centers must book more conventions to sell their annual inventory of floor space. It is not unusual for some huge convention centers to book three or four different customers simultaneously and still have unsold facilities.
Build it and they will come? Who is "they"?
Response to post #11: These are very good points. Conventions are good, and provide low-pay jobs, but the irregularity of the process is upsetting to the economy. The price-cutting goes on because of the overbuilding. Is anybody pointing out that hotels in the area of the convention center are now doing extremely poorly? People seem to assume that this business will bounce back. But that could be a faulty assumption. Best, Don Bauder
I just checked the Chargers 08 season and I was wrong-they did not go 0-6, I don't know how I had that in my head.
They went 4-8 over the first 12 games and they needed to run the tables on the last 4 games to make the playoffs with an 8-8 record. 8-8 normally would not qualify for the playoffs..
Ignore the above comment. Posted it in the wronf thread- sorry.
The convention center expansion PROCESS is designed to provide the desired outcome with as little dissent as possible. Such is the nature of these "task force" oddities in San Diego.
We had such a "task force" for the downtown ballpark where almost EVERY MEMBER of the the appointed group were Padre SEASON TICKET HOLDERS!
Whatever the merits of such projects are, the task force conclusions cannot in any way be relied upon as meaningful vetting of these issues.
In order to fund this convention center expansion, bonds will have to be issued. You'd THINK that both the state constitution and our city charter requires a vote of the public. Sadly, the courts have backed government slight-of-hand maneuvers that bypass any such stinkin' vote.
It's amazing that in San Diego, after all we've been through, the exact same jokers with phoney numbers are appointed to yet another task force to falsify data supporting a preordained conclusion.
Back in the sad-old UT days, Don Bauder gave sound advice to the ballpark task force:
They didn't follow the advice, and now we've got the ballpork district, an economic albatross around the neck of San Diego for the rest of our lifetimes.
Professor Sanders testifies to today's task force, "Your numbers are so weird they cause a conundrum."
Task force reports to the mayor, "San Diego is so unique and wonderful that our numbers are a delightful conundrum, and besides that anyone who disagrees...is just a whack job."
Professor Sanders, renowned nationally as an expert on convention centers economic performance, is scoffed at by the task force during his testimony:
Gonzales: "Have you actually been in a convention center?"
Maas: "I'm curious, have you ever been wrong? Share it please."
Eighth-grade level insults coming from Maas, the alleged head of CCDC, the notorious redevelopment agency that is mired in fraud and blatant misuse of federal, state, and local tax funds...and Lorena Gonzales, the labor boss who is best known for blocking Donna Frye for council president. (Lorena's been quite plumply rewarded by her political masters since that election.)
The other board members, Cushman, Evans, Nelson, Steele...look them up online and find that behind every bad idea in this city, you'll find these guys standing in a row with pom poms, high kicking and flashing their panties while the rubes get robbed yet again...
San Diego ought to be sharpening pitchforks for these jerks...not appointing them to yet another sham task force to shame our once proud city.
Response to post #16: Excellent points, Richard. The public is told that the so-called "task forces" will objectively study a proposal and come up with a balanced recommendation, including suggestions on how the project will be financed. But the answer is foreordained. Invariably, all you have to do is look who is named to the task force and you know what the report will be. It was the same with the charter review committee. It was packed with lobbyists for real estate developers. The outcome was known before a single meeting was held. And as you point out, the ballpark and stadium committees were the same: stacked. In each case, the Union-Tribune lied to the community by saying that these committees consisted of honest, reputable citizens who would come up with a valid report. This is one more way by which the real estate development industry runs San Diego, and has toady mayors such as Jerry Sanders in its pocket. Best, Don Bauder
Response to post #16: (My response to Richard Rider, above, should be #15.) Another excellent piece of prose by Fred Williams. CCDC should be abolished. The use of redevelopment funds to build commercial structures in non-blighted areas, therefore lining the pockets of developers, should lead to criminal investigations. Short of that, there should be legislation to make sure that the redevelopment process is no longer a vehicle for corporate welfare. Trouble is, San Diegans don't find out about such abuses. Most don't even know what a drain the ballpark is on San Diego finances. The media don't cover it. They are kept. Best, Don Bauder


text:
RAY SUAREZ: And to presidential politics.
Eight Republican candidates met last night in Washington for their 11th debate, which centered on foreign policy and national security.
The sharp divisions among the Republican hopefuls were clearly on display at last night's encounter, broadcast on CNN. The field's freshly-minted leader in the polls, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, was asked, if he was president, what he would like to see happen with the millions of illegal immigrants living in the country.
NEWT GINGRICH, (R) presidential candidate: If you've come here recently, you have no ties to this country, you ought to go home, period. If you've been here 25 years and you got three kids and two grandkids, you've been paying taxes and obeying the law, you belong to a local church, I don't think we're going to separate you from your family, uproot you forcefully and kick you out.
RAY SUAREZ: Gingrich's response drew criticism from some of his rivals, including Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, R-Minn., presidential candidate: Well, I don't agree that you would make 11 million workers legal, because that, in effect, is amnesty.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) presidential candidate: Saying that we're going to say to the people who have come here illegally that now you're all going to get to stay or some large number are going to get to stay and become permanent residents of the United States, that will only encourage more people to do the same thing.
RAY SUAREZ: Romney also clashed with former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman over the pace of U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan.
MITT ROMNEY: We don't want to literally pull up stakes and run out of town after the extraordinary investment that we've made. And that means we should have a gradual transition of handing off to the Afghan security forces the responsibility for their own country.
WOLF BLITZER, moderator: Gov. Huntsman, do you agree with Gov. Romney that the U.S. has to stay in Afghanistan at these levels?
JON HUNTSMAN, (R) presidential candidate: No, I — I totally disagree. Now, the fact that we have 100,000 troops nation-building in Afghanistan, when this nation so desperately needs to be built, when, on the ground — we do need intelligence gathering, no doubt about that. We need a strong special forces presence. We need a drone presence. And we need some ongoing training of the Afghan National Army.
But we haven't done a very good job defining and articulating what the end point is in Afghanistan. And I think the American people are getting very tired about where we find ourselves today.
RAY SUAREZ: Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann disagreed, meanwhile, over whether the U.S. should continue to send aid to Pakistan.
GOV. RICK PERRY, R-Texas, presidential candidate: The bottom line is that they have showed us time after time that they can't be trusted. And until Pakistan clearly shows that they have America's best interests in mind, I would not send them one penny, period.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN: With all due respect to the governor, I think that's highly naive, because, again, we have to recognize what's happening on the ground. These are nuclear weapons all across this nation. And, potentially, al Qaeda could get hold of these weapons.
RAY SUAREZ: The war on terror and its impact on civil liberties also revealed fissures among the candidates.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was pressed on his support for profiling terror suspects.
WOLF BLITZER: Who would be profiled?
RICK SANTORUM, (R) presidential candidate: Well, the folks who are most likely to be committing these crimes. Obviously, Muslims would be — would be someone you'd look at, absolutely. Those are the folks who are — the radical Muslims are the people that are committing these crimes, as we've — by and large, as well as younger males.
RAY SUAREZ: Texas Congressman Ron Paul warned, that would set a dangerous precedent.
REP. RON PAUL, R-Texas, presidential candidate: That's digging a hole for ourselves. What if they look like Timothy McVeigh? You know, he was a pretty tough criminal.
I think we're using too much carelessness in the use of words that we're at war. I don't remember voting on — on a declared declaration of war. Oh, we're against terrorism.
REP. RON PAUL: And terrorism is a tactic. It isn't a person. It isn't a people.
RAY SUAREZ: Paul also traded verbal blows with businessman Herman Cain, who said he would support possible military action by Israel against Iran to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
HERMAN CAIN, (R) presidential candidate: And if Israel had a credible plan that it appeared as if they could succeed, I would support Israel, yes. And, in some instances, depending upon how strong the plan is, we would join with Israel for that, if it was clear what the mission was and it was clear what the definition of victory was.
REP. RON PAUL: Israel has 200, 300 nuclear missiles. And they can take care of themselves. Why should we commit — we don't even have a treaty with Israel. Why do we have this automatic commitment that we're going to send our kids and send our money endlessly to Israel?
RAY SUAREZ: And with just six weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, the differences between the candidates are likely to become more defined.
Ari Shapiro of NPR was at last night's debate, and joins us now.
Let's set the stage a little bit. Most of the previous debates were held in early primary states, this one in Washington, D.C.
ARI SHAPIRO, NPR: Yes.
RAY SUAREZ: Did it make a difference?
ARI SHAPIRO: Yes, and the audience was very different, too.
For example, when we had questions from the audience, we had a question from a former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, a former Republican attorney general, a deputy defense secretary.
And so, as a result, I think you saw the candidates not necessarily giving so much red meat that some of the base voters would really be enthusiastic about. The audience seemed to respond more, I think, to substance than they did to some of the show, because these were the Washington insiders in the audience, the Washington insiders that so many of the candidates have tried to show they are not running to be, you know, the people who will change Washington from the outside.
RAY SUAREZ: What were the standout moments of last night's program?
ARI SHAPIRO: I think people were very surprised that Newt Gingrich took the stance on immigration that he did. This was the first debate where Newt Gingrich was in the lead in some polls. And he could have played it safe. But he didn't.
You heard him talk about this plan to make workers who had been in the United States for a long time, had roots, had a family, had a clean track record, make them legal without making them citizens. And that wasn't the only time he sort of went against traditional Republican orthodoxy. One member of the audience asked whether he would rule out cuts to defense budget as an attempt to reduce the deficit.
He said, no, I won't rule it out. If we're in an age where it takes 15 or 20 years to develop a new weapon, and Apple comes out with a new technology every nine months, there might be something wrong here, and maybe we should cut the Defense Department budget.
Those were somewhat risky positions for a front-runner like Newt Gingrich to take.
RAY SUAREZ: Well, when Gov. Perry made a similar declaration at a debate in Florida, he was booed.
ARI SHAPIRO: That's right.
RAY SUAREZ: And for the next several days, his opponents capitalized on that statement. Could it hurt Newt Gingrich the same way?
ARI SHAPIRO: Oh, it could definitely hurt Newt Gingrich the same way.
One key difference between what Rick Perry said in that earlier debate and what Newt Gingrich said in this debate, Rick Perry used the word heartless to describe the people who disagree with him about immigration. Newt Gingrich was pretty vocal in defending his position.
He said, I don't know how the party that defends family can justify dividing families. But he didn't call his opponents heartless. That may turn out to be a difference, although this could still really hurt Newt Gingrich with the base. We just have to see what the fallout is.
RAY SUAREZ: There were several tough exchanges about getting out and under what circumstances and how fast from Iraq and Afghanistan. Tell me about those.
ARI SHAPIRO: Right. Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney had one of the most heated exchanges, where we saw former Utah Governor, former Chinese Ambassador Jon Huntsman saying we have really accomplished a lot in Afghanistan, and it's time to start bringing troops home.
Mitt Romney pretty aggressively said, you want to just pull out tomorrow? He described it as a cut-and-run approach. Jon Huntsman snapped back at him. I think Jon Huntsman was really trying to prove his foreign policy bona fides. Of everybody on the stage, he's the one with the most foreign policy experience, and this was his opportunity to demonstrate that.
And it certainly didn't hurt for him to engage head on with the person who has more or less consistently been the front-runner since the beginning of the election process, Mitt Romney.
RAY SUAREZ: Now, here was a debate on foreign policy and national security. Was it remarkable in a way for the things that weren't discussed?
ARI SHAPIRO: Yes, I was very surprised that European debt crisis, the eurozone, didn't come up once.
You know, the economy is what concerns Americans the most right now. And the international issue that could most affect the economy is arguably the eurozone debt crisis. Not mentioned once. There was very little discussion of China, which I think is a hugely important issue.
And, also, the Arab spring was touched on a little bit. Iraq was touched on a little bit, but not so much.
RAY SUAREZ: And can you tell that things are changing inside the race? Politicians say they never look at the polls…
ARI SHAPIRO: Right.
RAY SUAREZ: … but can you tell from a debate that something is happening in the field?
ARI SHAPIRO: Well, yes. And some of this has to do with the moderator, who gets the most questions.
And I thought last night actually was a little more even-handed than some of the other debates. But, inevitably, the person whose head pops up, whether that's Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, or now Newt Gingrich, gets some more of the incoming and some more of the attacks.
So we saw, for example, when Newt Gingrich made that argument for granting some people legal status in immigration, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney didn't hesitate to go after him.
RAY SUAREZ: NPR's Ari Shapiro, good to see you.
ARI SHAPIRO: You, too, Ray.


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Like everything in baseball, directional hitting practice has a place and time. Too often, we force hitters, of all ages, to stay and hit to the opposite side of the field. Dedicating entire BP sessions to going backside may be the most overrated and swing ruining type of practice. It has a place as an approach for certain guys, in limited situations, but never should be the way to swing a bat, but I digress. Hitting to all fields with power is accomplished by two things. These two things can not happen with out each other.
- Immediate barrel acceleration
- A simple understanding of the "Line of Hitting"(which is just a lot of words meaning, timing)
The Baseball Rebellion "swing style" helps each individual player reach his or her maximum power potential. More importantly, it maximizes power potential, SUDDENLY in the swing. You might say this is what we do best. Why is 'sudden' the big word to think about? Baseball Rebellion's mechanics gives the hitter the ability to make later and more accurate decisions. With this ability, hitting to all fields becomes easy and sometimes unnecessary. Case and point, Jose Bautista.
That is extremely impressive. I am not advocating that everybody needs to try and pull away pitches out of the stadium, but I do think that 'we' as coaches and instructors do get caught up in the backside approach. (which I will discuss more later). The explosiveness of Bautista is obviously Big League level, but let's not forget that without his swing mechanics, none of what you just saw would be possible. I could dissect Bautista all day, he is that good. But Instead, I will share our thoughts on the second phase of "The Line of Hitting". The line of Hitting is a rather simple idea, but it constantly gets misinterpreted by coaches thinking that EVERY PITCH should be hit backside.
The Line of Hitting is simply the contact points at which the barrel meets the ball according to pitch location.
The picture above represents the line of hitting for a right handed batter. You can see that the ball placement creates a straight line, starting from the inside pitch location to the middle, then away location. These points represent the optimal contact points for each pitch location. As teachers and players we understand that perfect contact placement on every pitch is impossible, there are too many variables. But, using the line of hitting, will give the best possible opportunity to make powerful contact, with consistency.
The important thing for young hitters to understand is that an elite level swing DOES NOT CHANGE due to the pitch location, just the point of contact in the "Line". Too often I hear players say, " my coach wants me to step to the outside pitch", or "step in the bucket for an inside pitch". Really? As a former catcher I hope you show me that type of commitment to a location with your movements. There may be some natural body weight towards a direction when the batter picks up the ball but we never should have a predetermined direction, besides forward.
Hitting on The Line
Right Handed Hitting Line
Left Handed Hitting Line
As you can see from the pictures above, the contact position is exactly the same at each ball or point in the ball's path to the catcher. Notice a few things:
- 1. Palm up palm down at contact with zero wrist turnover.
- 2. Wrist, elbow, shoulder all turned together the same.
- 3. Hitter's lower half is rotated further than their upper half.
4. How the hitter turns the barrel into these points never changes.
Away Pitch
One of the most misunderstood concepts of hitting, is that a hitter must "go get" the outside pitch. In fact the hitter must do the opposite, especially for an away ball. Notice how deep that particular ball is located in the pictures above. The ball is past the plate! The problem is that most hitters do not have a swing that allows for this type of LATE explosiveness. The hitter must be able to generate SUDDEN and DEEP barrel speed or flail, in order to hit outside pitches. Once the barrel flail has started, the batter will then release the barrel to that side of the field. This can look like a reach to the pitch, to the untrained eye, which is why opposite field power is such a mystery for most coaches and scouts who come to the conclusion that the player "just doesn't have oppo power". Wrong. He hasn't been trained to do so. Why? Probably, the lifetime of opposite field rounds, and trying to hit the middle-in pitch over the first baseman have taken away his ability to create powerful, deep barrel flail. For more on deep barrel flail, CLICK HERE.
Inside Pitch
It is common to see pitchers go away, away, and away some more, to get hitters out. But why is the inside pitch, perceived as, more difficult to hit? Simply put 1) hitters do not see many inside strikes and 2) the batter must have much more "swing discipline" to turn fast, further, and keep their elbows bent. You can see that the inside pitch above is contacted in front of the plate. The last thing a batter would want to do is "stay inside the ball" or try and take it back side. TRYING TO "INSIDE OUT" EVERY PITCH GUARANTEES A LOW SUCCESS RATE. This type of mentality and coaching strategy has led to more broken bats and hitters getting dominated for the last 30 years than any other hitting approach in baseball.
Middle Pitch
Generally, It may seem like this ball location would be the easiest ball to hit, and most of the time it is. However, most people think the middle ball needs to be struck way out in front of the batter's stance. In fact, the batter must allow the ball to get deep in the zone. Notice the ball position in relation to the batter's front foot as depicted above. Optimal contact is always on the "line" and with bent arms. The picture above illustrates a SUPER elite contact position. Of course the variables like batter's timing, pitch speed, and pitcher's rhythm all come into play on every pitch. We know that perfect contact on the line will not always happen, so the hitter will have to make obvious adjustments mid pitch. These adjustments include early arm/bat release and front knee hesitation.
Final Thought
Learning how to hit the ball where it is pitched is important. However, teaching young players to hit one direction ALL the time can severely limit a players potential. I can not tell you how many backside and hit-and-run rounds I had at a young age and in college. Maybe, one round should be dedicated to just hitting and getting the real swing ready. Lets teach our young players a swing that allows them to succeed and smash each pitch location all over the field first, and then worry about where they are hitting it.
JK Whited- Leader of The Baseball Rebellion


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NatureHike Zinc Alloy + Stainless Steel Suitcase Coded Combination Lock - Silver + Black
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|3.19 in x 1.02 in x 0.43 in (8.1 cm x 2.6 cm x 1.1 cm)
|0.88 oz (25 g)
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Share your reviews, photos and videos here!Review Program
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Pros: Very nice price, easy to lock Cons: A bit hard to understand the instructions, also not that strong, but for the price is excellent.
impressionado com a qualidade e seguranca que o produto transmite design e acabamento acima da media
Pros: good price. Do what is supposed to do. Cons: not really good quality. Sometimes is hard to unlock.
Bom cadeado de cabo de aço, forte e resistente, um pouco confuso pra trocar de senha. Em geral, um bom produto.
Very good looking padlock bu the plastic dialas aren't too durable - can be broken easily and padlock stays open for all the time - mine... Read more
impressionado com a qualidade e seguranca que o produto transmite design e acabamento acima da media
This locker is very easy to use and to operate It have a good looking and clean design The combination lock is easy to set Seems to be at... Read more
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Letters will be accepted for the Open Forum for publication in the next available issue after receipt. Letters may be sent to Forest Lake Times, 880 SW 15th St., Forest Lake, or by e-mail to [email protected] Letters should not exceed 250 words and must be signed with the writer's name, address and telephone number. Deadline is noon Monday. The newspaper reserves the right to edit letters and assure that rules of libel and good taste are not violated.
Power to the People
Mayor Johnson, where is my vote? It has been taken away from me and all the citizens in Forest Lake. Do you trust the citizens or just yourself?
I would like to vote on the $22 million government center and also Jeff Klein's vacated seat.
Trust and power to the people. Let it be the will of the people.
Eugene Hansen
Forest Lake
Spooked by Election
Mr. Mayor, with Halloween approaching, what scares you more: ghosts and goblins, or having an election to fill the vacant council seat?
Wyoming just had a special election which did not cost that much. I think we can afford to spend a little money to hear the will of the people of Forest Lake.
Jim Moyle
Forest Lake
Put it to the Voters
After reading the Sept. 11 issue of the Times, I have one thing to say: Thank you, Councilmember Mike Freer, for your statement, "The people deserve the right to make the choice," made in reference to the filling of Jeff Klein's vacancy.
Don't speak too loudly, as those who served our country would turn over in their graves for the loss of our voting privilege.
Let's all demand the right to be heard. A special election now is the answer. Let the people be heard.
Marie Corwin
Forest Lake
Red Alert
Attention, Forest Lake citizens: Our illustrious mayor is at it again. He wants to take away our right and not let the people vote now on the council vacancy.
First it was the new "Taj Mahal" (government center) and now it's an appointment to the City Council. We have to stop this madness and demand the right to have a vote.
Why is the mayor taking applications for the vacated seat and yet has already stated he intends to appoint Jim Dufour? To me, this is deceitful. Let's have some integrity, Mr. Johnson, and let the people vote now.
Arlen Noreen
Forest Lake
One More Year
Our mayor and his cronies spend money like a drunken sailor. With the appointment of Jim Dufour we can soon expect another supporter of local government out of control.
He will create more drama for the council because he can't seem to control his temper.
Note the cartoon in the Times on Sept. 19. One-hundred years ago they would have been tarred and feathered and run out of town. Today, however, we are more civilized and just have to wait one year to vote them out of office.
They should be thinking about their legacy and how history will judge them.
Tom Lynch
Forest Lake
Too Little, Too Late
I'm writing today because Rep. Bob Barrett has been in the media lately with his Vikings stadium proposal.
Isn't that kind of like closing the gate after the cows are out? He's been in the Legislature three years and still doesn't understand the process.
He complained about the deal before, yet when they were in session couldn't he articulate his points well enough to get any support? Clearly, 201 legislators and the governor knew the e-gambling wasn't going to raise anywhere near the revenue needed to fund the state's portion of the stadium, and changes were made to meet the state's portion.
The question is why couldn't Rep. Barrett convince other legislators to adopt his plan, if it was so good?
It's much like how he voted yes to the education bill and puts out a column on how supportive he is of our schools, when he voted no on the tax bill which funds the schools.
It looks like he will say or do anything to get in the media spotlight. We need a representative who will really work to improve our schools and not play politics with them.
Rick Wells
Lasting Legacy?
I guess it's really true: Michele Bachmann is not going to run for re-election in the Sixth District. But this decision raises an important question: What defines her Congressional record?
Has she been a single-issue politician? No, as she demonstrated with her focus on Obamacare death panels, President Obama's birth certificate, the infiltration of the government by the Muslim Brotherhood, attributing the swine flu outbreak in 2009 to Democrats, the evils of the gay agenda and killer vaccines to name only a few.
Has her fierce public opposition to government spending served as a model for other members of Congress? No, Rep. Bachmann has worked quietly to bring federal dollars to the Sixth District including stimulus dollars. Bachmann has requested federal funding for projects in her district on at least 16 occasions, which wouldn't be out of the ordinary given the tax dollars Sixth District voters send to Washington, except for her virulent public opposition to such funding (recall Bachmann's "orgy of spending" comment in 2009).
Have her political campaigns exemplified the best qualities of public service in Minnesota? No, and the mushroom cloud of scandals surrounding her Chaplinesque presidential campaign suggest that her Ides of March moment is coming.
At the end of the day, I think Rep. Bachmann's service will be defined by her well-chronicled mis-statements, distortions, boundless hypocrisy and slapstick politics.
She is a political "Candle in The Wind" whose footprint in Minnesota and the country is already invisible.
Michael Harwell
Forest Lake
A Rudderless Vessel
The Republican/Tea Party ship has become a rudderless vessel. It is filled with those that would bring down our government and destroy our economy to satisfy the hate-filled extremists that have taken control of their party.
What were once proud Republican-elected members of Congress that have in the past worked in a bipartisan fashion and compromise for the good of America have been turned into anarchists and al-Qaida-like zealots that would do our nation harm to protect themselves politically.
What were once leaders have turned into frightened, insecure traitors that are afraid of being run against in a primary and will do anything to preserve themselves, including shutting down the government, threatening to not pay our bills as a nation and run the risk of doing great financial harm to the middle class.
There can be no greater shame than being a traitor to your country and citizens. That is the only thing these elected Republican/Tea Party members are successful at. Shame on them and their lack of courage to be real leaders.
Max Anderson


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Hi. I have a transaction running at the database for around 20 hours .. still isn't done. But during the last hours it has come to the point where it really hurts performance of "other queries". Given pg_stat_activity output there seems to be no locks interfering but the overall cpu-usage of all queries continue to rise. iowait numbers are also very low. What can I do to make the system handle other queries better? PG: 8.2 -- Jesper
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Mike Kistler had every reason to be beaming the way he was Saturday afternoon.
Here it was, the end of a long day after an even longer night, but the owner of Crosswinds Golf Club was just getting a party started, leading a toast and making a speech full of words everyone around him wanted to hear.
And not only because he was telling people who had just played golf all night that they could finally go home. Kistler was also revealing how worthwhile the exercise truly was when he announced that the 24 Wishes in 24 Hours Golf-a-Thon had exceeded the expectations it was formed on.
The event raised more than $125,000 for the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, meaning it will pay for even more than the targeted 24 wishes for Savannah-area children facing life-threatening diseases.
And hearing that felt as good as getting off of my feet at the time.
Let's just say that the best part of playing golf for 24 hours in a row is finishing. It's knowing that you've done something that not many people ever will and fewer would even try.
Of course, anybody who sticks a knitting needle in his ear can say the same thing. But this felt a little more meaningful than that.
It also felt like I had abused myself - my hands as if I had spent the day unloading a cactus truck and my feet as if I had just walked up a fairway of hot coals. I guess golf only seems like a contact sport if you come in contact with it for a full day.
About a dozen of us played as ironmen, going all 24 hours, some with virtually no breaks. I'm just not sure if any group played as many holes as myself, Mike Sickles and Michael Gary, who got in 127 - 54 on Crosswinds' championship course and 73 on the lighted par-3.
We did it by playing 27 holes on the big course Friday afternoon, then making eight trips around the little nine-holer after dark - plus one extra par 3 to reach 100 holes before breakfast - before going out for another 27 under the sun. We also did it by stopping only to use the restroom or make a sandwich or change clothes. (Although I did sneak in two five-minute showers that were thoroughly refreshing. And when I changed golf shoes at 5 a.m. it felt as if I had just gotten new legs.)
Somehow, at the end, Gary was still launching drives the way he was when he shot 71 on our first 18 holes and Sickles was still making putts, which he did all night on his way to 25 birdies.
And while those two are good players, they're even better partners, the kind of guys you really could spend all day with.
As we were finishing our final nine, we agreed there was never a moment when any of us were close to quitting. And that fatigue came earlier than expected - the hours between midnight and 2 a.m. were probably most taxing - but was less of an issue than originally feared. In fact, once the sun came up again, it actually got easier, even if we were using every muscle in our bodies to swing the club and searching for any sliver of shade during the blistering final few hours.
But in the end it was more fulfilling than tiring. This event that was impressive to watch come together and amazing to see work was simply rewarding to be a part of.
And it only succeeded because of a lot of other people who won't get to write about their experience in the newspaper.
Like Kistler, who donated the use of his golf course for the better part of two days. That eliminated the most significant expense of a charity golf event and thereby maximized the amount of money that could be raised.
And like Jenny Anderson, Amber Lakous and Corey Wyble, Crosswinds employees who spent closer to 40 straight hours at the course preparing for, overseeing and cleaning up after the golf. If it wasn't for them making sure everyone had enough to eat and drink and providing timely encouragement, nobody would have made it through the night.
And like the team from the Thomas & Hutton Engineering Co., who raised more than $30,000 to push the event over its monetary target and make up for us slackers who did not reach our pledge goal.
A lot went into it, but even more came out of it.
For me, there was the satisfaction of helping people help people and the gratification of participation in something that will make a difference. And soon there'll be the neat new wallet I'll be able to make from all the skin that will be peeling off my feet the next few days.
But mostly I left with a valuable, new awareness. Because now the next time somebody calls and asks if I want to take a day to play golf, I'll know to ask exactly what he means by that.
Morning News sports columnist Tim Guidera can be reached at 652-0352.
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Posted on June 30, 2009 at 5:46pm 1 Comment 0 Likes
We will be taking Ms. Fugley on a road trip to Knoxville, TN from Fort Walton Beach , FL here pretty soon. Can't wait. It will her first long road trip, besides when we picked her up in B'ham. Gonna try to get the windows tinted before we leave...... Hopefully
Posted on February 18, 2009 at 8:30am 10 Comments 0 Likes