Bret Bielema Bolts Badgers

A stunner, to say the least. Bret Bielema, who just led the Wisconsin Badgers to their third consecutive Big Ten championship and third straight trip to Pasadena, leaves the program to go to Arkansas.

What's it all mean? Who knows, but I have a few guesses. First, Bielema has always been a controversial figure in Madison. He's an abrasive guy and while he was a hell of a recruiter, his game day coaching was often a source of heartburn in Madison. Second, he's going to get a lot of money at Arkansas, where they are desperate to find a coach who can clean up the mess left behind by Bobby Petrino and John L. Smith, two of the bigger train wrecks in recent NCAA history. Finally, I've often thought that Bielema thought he needed to get out from underneath the shadow of Barry Alvarez, the architect of the Badger program. Even though Bielema's record of 68-24 was pretty stellar, he was still viewed in some quarters as the beneficiary of something that had been built by someone else. At Arkansas, he'll be able to establish his own legacy.

So who will the Badgers hire? A few possibilities:

Offensive guru

Paul Chryst. Chryst was on Bielema's staff until last year, when he became the head coach at Pitt. Chryst has denied that he'd be interested in the Badgers, but I suspect he'd listen if Alvarez came calling. Chryst is an offensive minded coach and a brilliant playcaller. He'd have broad support in Madison. I would make Chryst the early favorite.

Rose Bowl Hero

Darrell Bevell. Bevell was Alvarez's first quarterback at Wisconsin and he led the Badgers to the 1994 Rose Bowl, a 21-16 victory over UCLA. Bevell has been a coach in the NFL for a long time now, with the Packers, the Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks. He's a smart guy and well loved in Madison. He'd certainly be interested in the job. He did a great job working with Brett Favre during his years in Green Bay, which proves he can deal with all manner of personalities. He also worked with Brad Childress in Minnesota and lived to tell the tale.

The It Girl

Butch Jones. The coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats is the hottest prospect on the market. He apparently turned down the Purdue job earlier this week and has interviewed for the job at Colorado. At this point, the UW job is a lot more appealing than the Purdue job, although that hasn't always been the case, while Colorado is a longtime power that has fallen on very hard times since they left the Big XII for the Pac-12. Perhaps Jones knew something was up. He's well regarded as a tactician and a recruiter and has the added benefit of being a guy who might be able to take a few more top recruits away from Ohio State. No connection to UW, though.

This Gruden guy, he's something

Jon Gruden. The wild card. He's turned down other jobs and may enjoy his gig as the analyst for Monday Night Football too much to return to coaching, but I think he'd listen to Alvarez showed interest. Gruden won a Super Bowl in Tampa, albeit with Tony Dungy's players. He's obviously a high-profile guy with a history in Wisconsin, since he began his career on Mike Holmgren's staff in Green Bay in the 1990s. He's not been a college coach and it's not clear if he could recruit, but I'm guessing he'd have no trouble getting inside the houses of most high school football players. I don't think this will happen, but you never know.



We'll have more to say about this in the coming days, but those are my guesses. If you have any guesses, put them in the comment section.

Still Kabuki

When is a news cycle not a news cycle? When there's no news. Here's the Republican spin:

In a letter sent to President Obama today, House Republican leaders made a new offer to avert the fiscal cliff centered around a middle ground approach first presented to Congress last year by President Clinton’s former White House chief of staff, Erskine Bowles. The Bowles plan, presented in 2011 to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, is consistent with the framework House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) proposed the day after the election: a balanced approach of significant spending cuts and new revenues from tax reform with fewer loopholes and lower tax rates. This is another attempt to jumpstart substantive, good faith negotiations toward a bipartisan solution that can be enacted soon, a stark contrast to the unserious proposal the White House put forward last week.

And the answer? No thank you:

White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer rejected Speaker of the House John Boehner's counter-proposal to avert the fiscal cliff in a statement to reporters Monday afternoon.

“The Republican letter released today does not meet the test of balance," Pfeiffer said. "In fact, it actually promises to lower rates for the wealthy and sticks the middle class with the bill. Their plan includes nothing new and provides no details on which deductions they would eliminate, which loopholes they will close or which Medicare savings they would achieve."

President Barack Obama has pledged to oppose any agreement that does not raise tax rates on the top two percent of wage-earners.

Two things. First of all, what the hell is the "test of balance?" Second, how does it work when one side of a negotiation gets to determine that "balance" represents essentially getting whatever they want?

In other words, nothing happened yesterday. We'll check back if any news develops on this front. Not that we should expect any.

As seen in social media

The internet is forever

A rebuttal to Mr. Costas. That is all.

Weekend

Didn't plan on taking a break from blogging over the weekend, but circumstances made that happen. A brief recap:

Cathedral of St. Paul

• Benster's Boy Scout troop had a field trip on Saturday to complete requirements for the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge, so we were bopping around St. Paul, taking in three important landmarks in the city -- the Cathedral, the State Capitol and Mickey's Dining Car. I hadn't been to the Cathedral since Mrs. D and I attended the ordination of a family friend more than 16 years ago. It is a magnificent building and it was a good reminder to the scouts of the ambition of the people who built this area. The Capitol restoration project is going well and the Minnesota Historical Society does a very nice tour, including a fairly long explanation of the art and history contained in the governor's reception area, a room that is familiar to anyone who watches a news conference on television. The architecture at the Capitol is also magnificent, which is unsurprising since Cass Gilbert was the principal architect who worked on the facility. And for a bunch of Boy Scouts who ranged in age from 12-17, the trip to Mickey's was probably the biggest highlight of all. It's a good thing that you can still find places like Mickey's around, but there aren't that many any more. It's a classic greasy spoon with excellent short-order cooking in enormous portions, all in a retrofitted dining car. If you haven't gone, you should. I think the scouts learned more about America at Mickey's than they did at any other stop on the field trip.
• It was a good weekend for football if you are a Wisconsin sports fan. The Badgers took out a season's worth of frustrations out on Nebraska, absolutely destroying the proud Cornhuskers 70-31. I've seen the Badgers drop 70 on weak sisters like Austin Peay, Indiana and Northwestern before, but never on a team with the talent and pedigree of the Cornhuskers. It's been a very difficult year for the Badgers -- losing three games in overtime tells you that they were close to having a much better record than the 8-5 mark they currently sport. You could argue that the Badgers have no business going to Pasadena for a third consecutive year, especially since they were only a .500 team in conference play. Yet if you watched them play on Saturday night, you saw a very good college football team with quite a stable of running backs. Barring injury, I would expect to see Montee Ball, James White and spectacular freshman Melvin Gordon all playing in the NFL some day.
• Speaking of spectacular running backs, the Vikings certainly have one in Adrian Peterson. Peterson is having an astonishingly good year, coming back stronger than before following what looked to be a career-threatening ACL injury late last year. The show that Peterson put on in Lambeau Field yesterday was something to see. And yet, and yet. . . the final score was Green Bay 23, Minnesota 14. The Packers are a battered team with more serious injuries than just about any team I've seen, yet they still managed to win the game. It's a credit to the Packers that they were able to gut it out on Sunday, but I think the Vikings have be concerned about their quarterbacking. I'm no expert, but it looked like Christian Ponder was not an NFL-ready quarterback yesterday. The interception he threw early in the third quarter completely changed the game and gave the Packers a chance to come back. The backup quarterback is always one of the most popular people in town and there are a lot of calls for putting Joe Webb in the game, but I'm pretty sure that if he were the answer, he'd be playing. He isn't. A more competent NFL quarterback would have finished off my beloved Packers yesterday. Fortunately for the Pack, the opponents didn't have one.
• From what I can tell, politics are exactly in the same place we left them. So we'll leave that topic alone.
• Oh, and yesterday was my birthday. It was very nice and I had an enjoyable day with my family, including a trip to yet another greasy spoon (the 5-8 Club) for dinner. I probably need to have a salad for the rest of the week.

Benster and D Pick Your Games -- Sea of Red Edition

Old dude, it is time. The Big Ten Championship Game is here. And it will be a sea of red!

Scattered with blue from the empty seats at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Not important, Geritol Fan. By the way, happy almost birthday. So did that AARP card come in the mail yet?

Not so I've noticed, no.

Well, maybe you misplaced it. I hear old people have trouble with that sort of thing. Meanwhile, it's time to unleash the HYYYYYYYPPPPPPE! So watch me work.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (-3) vs. Beloved Wisconsin Badgers, in Indianapolis. Lord, they could go back there. Yes, the Badgers have returned to Indiana, where they laid waste to Purdue and Indiana this season. In fact, they've played better in the state of Indiana than they have in the state of Wisconsin this season. So what does that mean? Here's what it means. If you take a look at Wisconsin's losses this season, they have been very, very close. The five losses come with a total of only 19 points, which means that the Badgers are better than the record says they are. You might recall their visit to Lincoln earlier this season. The Badgers roared out of the gate to a big early lead, only to see Nebraska come back. You might also remember that the Badgers last year choked in East Lansing, then came back to win when it mattered. Could we have a repeat? Yes, considering that Nebraska is not as good as their record says they are. They've been winning all the close games this season. Will form hold? Wisconsin 31, Nebraska 27.

Hmmm. Could happen. The Badgers have been pretty stout on defense and you can run on Nebraska. The Badgers have runners -- of this there is no doubt. The difference is Taylor Martinez. He's played very well this season, while the Badgers are now playing Curt Phillips, a fifth-year senior with the knees of Lynn Dickey. For you youngsters, Lynn Dickey was a Packer quarterback in the 1970s and 1980s who had very bad knees. Pigeons used to land on Lynn Dickey. While Phillips isn't defenseless, he's not been on a stage this big in his career. Can he handle it? I think he can, but it still won't be enough. Another heartbreaker for Bucky. Nebraska 34, Wisconsin 33.

Hobart Statesmen (NL) vs. St. Thomas Tommies. Yep, it's D-3 football, baby! I'm tired of talking about the SEC, so let's look downmarket and down the road at the Tommies. They have taken over the MIAC from St. John's and have been pretty dominant this season. As for Hobart, I know just about nothing other than they have a cool nickname. The Statesmen -- gotta like that. I picture a bunch of guys who look like Talleyrand in shoulder pads. St. Thomas 24, Cardinal Richelieu 0.

What, no Metternich? Hobart is a fine school and apparently they have a good football program, although I'm disappointed that the Tommies aren't playing the Heidelberg Student Princes instead. Just a guess -- they won't be talking about Cardinal Richelieu much at O'Shaughnessy  Stadium. St. Thomas 31, Hobart 17.

Minnesota Vikings (+8.5) vs. Glorious Green Bay Packers. Border Battle, baby! The locals get on the bus and head down State Highway 29 to Green Bay, where they face a Packer team that is likely in a very foul mood. I personally am tired of hearing this:

I also am sick and tired of guys my age thinking that the Vikings are a better football team. I suppose I bring some of this on myself, being a Packer fan who lives in Minnesota, but let's be honest here -- does anyone really believe that the Vikings are going to win this week? Well, maybe Leslie Frazier does, and the people that call into KFAN's Whine Line, when they're not demanding more Joe Webb, that is. The Packers get Greg Jennings back, which will help a lot. What helps even more is that the Vikings are still not very good at covering wide receivers. And with Jennings back, they'll have a lot of receivers to cover. And because the Swinging Gate is no longer in the employ of the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers should have enough time to find those receivers. And besides that, Sunday is Aaron Rodgers' birthday. I think the word we're looking for here is cake. Pack 49, Whine Line 3.

Various Vikings fans in the household seem to object to that pick, Seabiscuit. But what are you gonna do? The key for the Packers is stopping Adrian Peterson. Percy Harvin apparently is not going to play, so that's going to complicate things on offense for the Vikes. Jared Allen lurks and will probably get a shot or two in, but I think the Pack has a pretty good chance. The key is that Harrison Smith and Antoine Winfield are hurting, too. If those guys are less than 100%, that makes it tough for the Purple. Packers 35, Vikings 28.

Seattle Seabags (+3.5) vs. Bear Down Chicago da Bearz. It's Russell Wilson vs. Gabe Carimi! Former Badger greats at Soldier Field! Clash of the Titans! Ehhh, not quite. Russell Wilson has been great at home, but he's had a lot of trouble winning on the road. And Soldier Field is a tough place to play, as well as an eyesore. He is still blameless for the Immaculate Interception, but my sense is that da Bearz are going to have their way this week. Look for Peanut Tillman to add Wilson to his collection of victims, and lock down the evil Golden Taint Tate. Da Bearz 17, Seabags 0.

Hard to argue with any of that. So I won't. Gino remains happy for another week. Bears 27, Seattle 17.

And with that, I think we're done here. I'd better go try to make nice with the Viking fans in the house now. Ben out!

Cliff Note

The editorial board of the Washington Post seems to be confused by something the Obama administration and its allies on the Hill are doing. I believe this is what they call nuance:

Democrats, meanwhile, are sounding more and more maximalist in resisting spending cuts. Many insist that Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and education — pretty much everything except the Pentagon — are untouchable. Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), who had been one of the more reasonable Democratic leaders, said Tuesday that, while he favors reform of entitlement programs, it shouldn’t be part of the negotiations on the fiscal cliff. The Post’s Greg Sargent reported that union leaders and other liberals came away from a White House meeting encouraged that administration officials agree.

“They expect taxes to go up on the wealthy and to protect Medicare and Medicaid benefits,” one attendee said. “They feel confident that they don’t have to compromise.”

Don’t have to compromise?

Of course they don't have to compromise. Why? Because they know that they can by with it:

The poll also indicates that the GOP is not exactly bargaining from a position of strength. Fifty-three percent of the country has an unfavorable view of the Republican Party; only 42% want to see congressional Republican have more influence than the president over the direction the nation takes in the next two years. And seven in ten say the GOP has not done enough to cooperate with Obama.

All of that helps explain why more Americans would blame the Republicans in Congress (45%) rather than Obama (34%) if the fiscal cliff provisions actually go into effect next year. Obama comes in for his share of criticism - nearly half say he is not doing enough to cooperate with the Republicans, although seven in ten want him to compromise with the GOP even if he has to sacrifice some of his beliefs.

The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International from November 16-18, with 1,023 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

Emphasis mine. Compromising with Obama means capitulating, of course, because whatever he wants is "balanced," so by definition anything the Republicans want is not balanced. As you watch the kabuki, this is what you need to understand.

The First Mr. D's Neighborhood 2014 Minnesota Senate Candidate Straw Poll

So I saw where political guru Larry Sabato thinks Al Franken could be safe in 2014 (H/T Brian Lambert):

Minnesota: After winning the narrowest of belated victories in 2009, Sen. Al Franken (D) has a decent approval rating in Gopherland, and he enters his first reelection bid as a slight favorite. We suspect he would trounce Rep. Michele Bachmann (R), who barely survived her 2012 reelection bid in Minnesota’s most Republican House district. Another possibility — one-time presidential contender and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) — will not be a candidate, having landed a lucrative job in association-land. The quality of the Republican challenger will determine much here. Minnesota has a reputation for being more Democratic than it actually is.

Three brief observations:

1. I don't know if Franken would "trounce" Bachmann, but I think Bachmann would be a weaker candidate than some other possibilities, about which more in a moment.
2. T-Paw probably won't run, but if he gets bored in "association-land," he might get in the ring.
3. Sabato is right that Minnesota's reputation as being Democratic is overstated. Republicans have won in this state and fairly recently.

Maybe Sabato can't think of any candidates, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. So let's do a straw poll. I'm going to throw out a list of potential candidates for Franken's seat, based on nothing other than my own whim; please understand that I have no reason to believe that any of these individuals will actually run, but I'd like at least some of them to consider it. Vote for your favorite(s) -- I've set it up so you can vote for more than one candidate -- and explain why you like the candidate in the comment section. By the way, I'm leaving out Norm Coleman, Tom Emmer and Kurt Bills, because we don't need no steenkin' retreads. You may not think it's fair, but it's my blog. Vote early, vote often people!

Who should run against Al Franken in 2014?
	Congressman Erik Paulsen
	Congressman John Kline
	State Senator Dave Thompson
	State Representative Matt Dean
	Former State Representative Laura Brod
	Outgoing State Representative John Kreisel
	Former Vets for Freedom majordomo Pete Hegseth
	Former SNL cast member Dennis Miller (assuming we can convince him to move to Minnesota)
	Former Vikings great Matt Birk
	Superstar Blogger and 7th grade honor student Fearless Maria
	Zombie Harold Stassen
	Vagabond opportunist DFLer Tarryl Clark, because she has to run for something
	Ace Commenter Rich
	Someone else that I'm forgetting
pollcode.com free polls

Good News for Chicago

Now that Jesse Jackson Jr. has resigned from Congress, the citizens of his congressional district will need to select a new representative. And a candidate has arrived:

Disgraced former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds said he will ask voters to focus on his congressional experience rather than his state and federal criminal record as he announced his bid today for the seat held by Jesse Jackson Jr., who has resigned.

At a downtown hotel news conference, Reynolds acknowledged having made “mistakes” in the past. For his campaign, he will try to assume the mantle of an incumbent while also seeking redemption from voters. Red and white campaign signs urged voters to “re-elect” Reynolds “so he can finish the work” while another stark red sign with white letters said simply: “Redemption.”

Finish the work? What kind of work would that be? Back to the article:

Reynolds held the 2nd Congressional District seat from 1993 until October 1995, when a Cook County jury convicted him of several sex-related charges, including having sex with an underage volunteer campaign worker. While serving time in state prison, Reynolds also was convicted on federal financial and campaign fraud charges. President Bill Clinton commuted Reynolds' sentence to time served in 2001.

So we know this much -- Reynolds is fully capable of working it. Meanwhile, there's some good news on the marketing front for this would-be solon:

Under law, Reynolds, formerly a South Side resident who is now renting in Dolton, no longer has to register as a sex offender.

That is helpful. I actually remember Reynolds well from when I lived in Chicago. Given that description of his (ahem) activities, you might be surprised to learn that he was once considered a "reformer" in Chicago, who was sent to Washington to clean up the mess left behind by his predecessor:

Reynolds replaced Gus Savage, a controversial and outspoken congressman who was condemned by the House Ethics Committee amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving a Peace Corps volunteer while he was on an official congressional visit to Zaire.

Gus Savage is still available, too. Maybe they could have a runoff.

Handicapping the HOF Ballot

Always an interesting day when the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot comes out. There are 37 names on the ballot this year, including some fairly prominent and controversial figures. Some of the most prominent of the Steroid Era figures are appearing for the first time, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.  Some of the guys on the ballot clearly aren't all-time greats, but others are. Let's take a spin through the names -- unless otherwise indicated, the candidates are on the ballot for the first time:

Sandy Alomar, Jr. His brother Roberto is already in the HOF, elected in 2011. Roberto was one of the greatest second basemen of all time. Sandy Alomar, Jr. was a catcher who had a long career in the major leagues, but never was a great player. No chance.

Jeff Bagwell. This is his 3rd year on the ballot. He got 56% last year and will likely make the HOF in the next few years. Probably not this year, though. A great player who played in obscurity in Houston. Some suspect he might have used performance enhancing drugs, but there is no solid evidence.

Also a catcher

Craig Biggio. First year on the ballot. If Roberto Alomar isn't the greatest second baseman since Joe Morgan and Ryne Sandberg, it's likely that Biggio is. His credentials are impeccable -- well over 3000 hits, over 400 stolen bases, 4 Gold Gloves and not a whiff of scandal. He's the best bet of the first year candidates to make it and I think he will. Was a teammate of Bagwell for most of his career.

Barry Bonds. Based on sheer numbers, probably one of the top five players in baseball history. Of course, he cheated. It's too bad, actually. If his career had ended in 1998, he would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer. Now, he might not get in for a very long time, if at all. His nasty disposition doesn't help him, either. Still, a genuinely great player.

Jeff Cirillo. A long, distinguished career, including a few stints with my beloved Milwaukee Brewers. Not a Hall of Famer, though.

Royce Clayton. A very good player but like Cirillo, not a Hall of Famer.

Roger Clemens. Of the cheaters (or suspected cheaters), potentially the hardest case. Based on the numbers, he's probably one of the ten greatest pitchers in the history of the game. And like Bonds, if he'd quit before 2000, he would already be in the Hall. He beat the criminal rap, but the jury of the baseball writers is far less likely to give him the nod. I suspect he could make it some day, but it's going to be a long time coming.

Jeff Conine. See Jeff Cirillo. Same story -- a distinguished career but not HOF worthy.

Steve Finley. To me, one of the most underrated players of his era. An excellent outfielder and a very good hitter, but in the end he falls short.

Julio Franco. If you want to talk about a long career, this is the guy. He first broke into the majors all the way back in 1982. He fell out of the majors for a while but returned three times. He was pushing 50 when he finally retired. A solid player, especially with the bat, but not a Hall of Famer.

Shawn Green. A great player for a few years either side of 2000, but after that he fell off quickly. Not a Hall of Famer.

Roberto Hernandez. A hard-throwing right handed relief specialist. He had a long career and was very good from time to time, but he's not a Hall of Famer by any means. Kind of a right-handed Arthur Rhodes.

Ryan Klesko. Solid player, power hitter, similar in some respects to Shawn Green. Was a factor on a lot of very good Atlanta Braves teams, but not a great player. No shot.

You might have noticed

I haven't been writing a lot about politics in the past week or so. It's not that I'm abandoning the field, but at the moment I'm finding politics to be something less than, shall we say, edifying. Too much kabuki and not enough meat right now. If something comes up that merits discussion, I'll get back to it, but for now there are other things to discuss. I'll try to be interesting.

Marvin Miller

It's easy to forget how different baseball was before Marvin Miller came on the scene in 1966. Miller was the head of the Major League Baseball Player's Association, which was the first professional sports union that really mattered. Miller died yesterday at the age of 95. Miller's work at the helm of the Player's Association ultimately led to free agency in baseball, which changed the game completely.

Before Miller fought it out with the baseball owners, the reserve clause was the dominant factor in baseball economics. Baseball had, and still has, an antitrust exemption and the reserve clause essentially bound players to their teams in perpetuity, making it difficult to gain any leverage in negotiations. Miller changed that. When the players struck in 1972, it was the beginning of a vast change that culminated in 1975, when Miller got the cases of major league pitchers Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith in front of a federal arbitrator named Peter Seitz:

But in December 1975, Mr. Seitz, the baseball arbitrator, ruling in a case brought by the pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally and argued by the union, invalidated the reserve clause in the standard player contract. Mr. Seitz found that this clause, allowing all contracts to be extended for one year at management’s option upon their expiration, did not mean that contracts could be extended in perpetuity. Once a player refused to re-sign after the expiration of that one-year extension, Mr. Seitz ruled, he could sell his pitching prowess or hitting skills to the highest bidder.

And so they did. Eventually some of the biggest stars in the game, including Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter, signed huge contracts with the New York Yankees. While the Yankees have long been the biggest spenders, other teams were able to get players that helped them. The Milwaukee Brewers of my youth were a terrible team but were able to add Sal Bando, an aging but still valuable third baseman, to their team in 1977. Bando played for the Brewers and was later a team executive for nearly 20 years after that. And every player that followed these early free agents benefited immensely from the system that is now in place. Put it this way -- in 1966, the average salary for major league player was about $19,000, which works out to about $135,650 in current dollars. The average current salary for a major league player is $3.1 million.

I would argue that Miller and Pete Rozelle, the visionary commissioner of the National Football League, are the two men who made professional sport what it is today. Miller helped baseball players understand the economic power they actually wield, while Rozelle understood the power of television and of relentless marketing. We live in a world where sports are ubiquitous. Marvin Miller had a lot to do with that.

il miglior fabbro

I was thinking about writing something about the bizarre events in Little Falls in which two teenaged cousins apparently broke into a man's house, at which point he shot them both and didn't bother to report the matter to the police for a day, but there's no need because Mitch Berg is on the case. A sample:

This is a case that should be used in self-defense classes as a punch-list of everything not to do in a self-defense case.

-- You just don’t get to shoot on sight.  Many juries will have a hard time accepting that you had a reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm if you shoot before you can fully see your perp in what amounts to an ambush zone.
-- You do not finish them off when they’re down.

And above and beyond that?  You call the cops immediately.

And this wise observation:

And while I send my condolences to the victims’ families, of course, the kids had no business in his house.  Note, unruly teenagers; you’re not immortal, and you’re only as safe as your least-informed, least-stable victim lets you be.

Much more at the link.

What we know and don't, continued

First, let's consider the following:

It is thus with most of us; we are what other people say we are. We know ourselves chiefly by hearsay.
-- Eric Hoffer

I've been spending time with my friend Jeff's essay "The Bipolar in Society" because I think he's on to something very important. Jeff is bipolar. He wants us to understand what that means. But he also wants us to understand something else:

If you are labeled as having a mental illness, there is probably something you need to attend to. My advice to you is to do so.

But don’t let them take your soul.

Imagine the person who diagnoses you as a clown credentialed with useful, but extraordinarily limited, knowledge. Do this as a rhetorical ploy: to remind yourself that this authority knows so little. In our secular, Enlightenment order of scientism and rationality, the doctors and lawyers have become the high priests.

(This doesn’t mean that individual lawyers and doctors do not hold the same reservations I am articulating here. Some of my best friends are doctors and lawyers, and because they are part of the system, they see its problems as well as anyone. I am referring not to individuals but to the authority accorded the roles of “doctor” and “lawyer.”)

Emphasis mine. This is a very useful point, because no matter what we believe otherwise, we all have our priests and every society ends up with a priesthood of some sort. And those who would be priests are a pretty contentious lot, because the power of being a priest is vast. And one of the most important powers of any priesthood is the power to define terms. Back to Jeff:

“Bipolar” does not define my being. It describes a few tendencies I have.

Yet, I have chosen for years to be out about my bipolar. The social stigma attached to doing so has hurt me far more than the “disease” ever has.

Some of the particulars involved in the stigma are immediately evident and you can read those for yourself at the link.

I know more than a little bit about bipolar because my mother was bipolar. Her behavior was significantly more problematic than Jeff's, because she could become violent in some cases. There are stories that I could share about it, but won't in this forum. I will say this -- as a result of her behavior, my childhood had more than a few brushes with social workers and mental health professionals, who were (a) quite well meaning and (b) mostly ineffectual in their efforts. It wasn't for a lack of effort, or because their intentions were anything less than sincere. But even though they couldn't do much for us, there were times when their decisions had enormous impacts in our lives. And the various labels that were placed on my mother had impacts for me and for my siblings. And we'll continue with this later.

What we know and don't

I posted a link over the weekend to my friend Jeff's essay "The Bipolar in Society." I didn't want to say a lot about it initially, because I didn't want people to do one thing that he warns against in the essay, which is to assume that you understand something because of a taxonomy. We all employ our own in one form or another and it's very easy to become enamored with your own worldview. I didn't want anyone who came to the essay to have any preconceived notions about it, especially mine.

Jeff makes the point in a section I find particularly striking:

I am not in revolt against the Constitution and political system of the United States. I believe they are about the best we can hope for at the present historical juncture.

I am in revolt against the tyranny of knowledge, which had its beginnings in the 17th century Enlightenment and continues today, getting stronger all the time.

Story: A friend of mine told me about a man who lived in rural, northern Mississippi, a place not yet thoroughly colonized by the said tyranny. He got a little wild one day—got in his car, put a jug of white lightning between his legs, and rode around town sipping from the jug and shooting his pistol off into the air out of his car window. The sheriff pulled him over and put him in jail until he dried out and calmed down. That was the end of it.

I asked my friend why the man wasn’t brought up on charges. “Oh, it’s rural Mississippi,” he responded. “The sheriff just figured Sam got a little wild one afternoon. That’s all there was to it.”

Here in Minnesota, where I live, Sam would have been brought up on weapons and drinking and driving charges. He would have been processed through the legal system. He would have been evaluated like a specimen by psychiatrists to determine whether or not he was “suffering” from a mental illness. If they so wanted, these psychiatrists could have sent him to the mental ward of a hospital or, worse, a mental hospital itself. They would have claimed to act out of compassion, out of a desire to help this man.

Analysis: The pre-Enlightenment view of humanity that still holds sway in rural, northern Mississippi conceives that people, all people, sometimes get possessed by wildness. This possession is temporary. All we need to do if someone gets out of control is bring in the authorities and wait until some degree of normalcy is restored. Nothing else is needed. No more knowledge than that is necessary. 

The post-Enlightenment view of humanity holds that we can be categorized into the well-adjusted and the maladjusted, the sick and the well, the criminal and the noncriminal, the homosexual and the heterosexual, and so on.

Emphasis in original. I think this is spot-on. One of the things that always struck me during my undergraduate years is how easy and alluring it was to see the world through a particular prism. The college that Jeff and I both attended was, in the mid-80s, generally still a place where one could choose your own worldview and you had feminists and Freudians and even a few Straussians here and there. The trick in describing things is that I end up using the same sort of taxonomy that Jeff is warning about in his essay.

Jeff uses a key word in his essay -- humility. The relevant passage:

No human being is a specimen. Every person I have met is a glorious mystery, a complexity, a fluidity, a richness, consisting of levels and spirals and possibilities and a future that can bring anything. No human being is a label, and a mere label is not worthy of study.

I am a revolutionary against the tyranny of knowledge, the belief that we can label, study, and know something as fluid and wonderful as an individual human being. We must limit “knowledge.”

We must learn humility. I believe the pre-Enlightenment view of humanity represented by rural Mississippi in this story is more compassionate than that of Minnesota.

I give thanks for humility.

I do, too, although humility seems to be in short supply these days. There's a lot more at the link. A whole lot more.

Just go read it

The link is here. There's more to chew on this bone than nearly anything you'll read elsewhere this weekend. And that's all I'll say about it.

Benster and D Pick Your Games -- Jay Cutler Concussion Edition

Okay, I'm back. The turkey is gone and I've slept off the tryptophan and so now I'm ready I'm ready to pick some more games. I'd better wake up the old dude. Hey, Geritol Fan! Hit the bricks, pal! It's time to make some picks!

Oh, don't worry about me, grasshopper. I'm fully caffeinated.

Good, for a second there I thought rigor mortis was kicking in. I mean, you look like this:

I was ready to give him a nine-pence and everything.

I'm getting better.

Based on your picks, I don't think that's accurate. But you'll be stone dead in a minute. Watch me work!

Michigan State Sparty the Spartan (-8.5) vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers. I don't know if you realize this, old dude, but Sparty has to win this game to get a bowl bid. That's probably why they're favored, even though they are on the road and have been very inconsistent and lucky this season. Our Gophers are dealing with the first controversy of Jerry Kill's tenure. It turns out that A. J. Barker wasn't very happy with our man Jerry the Cable Guy and threw a temper tantrum. A 4,000 word temper tantrum. I think it took less words for the Japanese to surrender after Nagasaki. But since A. J. Barker won't be catching any bombs for the Gophers any more, what will Phillip Nelson do? Throw to someone else, I suppose. Gophers 23, Sparty 17.

Knocking the Spartans out of the Carter's Little Liver Pills Bowl, then? Well, that would be a sight. I think Sparty wins, because let's face it, a potential trip to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl might require a heaping helping of Carter's Little Liver Pills. A bitter pill for Jerry Kill, I say. Michigan State 20, Gophers 13.

Beloved Wisconsin Badgers (+3) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions. Somehow Penn State has managed to have a pretty good season despite the scandals galore and the death of JoePa. I give Bill O'Brien all the credit in the world, but now the rumors are that he might be headed back to the NFL, which means that the Nittany Lions will get their chance to ride out the sanctions to come with another coach. Here's an idea:

Oops -- it looks like I posted the "Bring Out Your Dead" video again. Sorry for the error. Badgers 17, Penn State 10.

Get that chili hot, boys! Oh, who doesn't love Coach Brew? Well, aside from about 4.5 million Minnesotans, that is. Anyway, as for the Badgers, I think they'll win, too. They want to head into the championship game on the right foot. And Montee Ball has a record to get, too. Wisconsin 31, Penn State 21.

Minnesota Vikings (NL) vs. Bear Down Chicago da Bearz. So, we're still not sure if Jay Cutler can play this week. I also understand that Jason Campbell is hurt, too. So that means the Bears have brought in another old reliable:

Oops -- I think I posted the "Bring Out Your Dead" video again. My apologies. As for the game, if Cutler plays, the Bears have a good chance. If not, forget it. Vikings 7, da Bearz 0.

Peter Tom Willis? I assume there was no Henry Burris footage available. Oh, those wacky Bears quarterbacks. Anyway, you're probably right -- without Cutler, the Bears are a hot mess. I think they'll wheel him out, because if they don't, their season is in big trouble. They'd better get Jared Allen blocked, though. They might want to triple team him. Bears 24, Vikings 21.

Glorious Green Bay Packers (+2.5) vs. New York Football Giants. I have been waiting for this game for months. Months, old dude -- months! I have been saving up an enormous well of HYYYYYYYYYPPPPPPE! for this game. Simply stated, we owe these clowns a beat down. As it happens, the Giants are in the middle of one of their yearly swoons where they have a tough time beating anyone. And, as it happens, the Packers have plenty of bulletin board material from the New York media. Case in point -- an article by some fellow named Filip Bondy, who writes for the New York Daily News. He said the following:

The Green Bay Packers are supposed to be all warm and cuddly, full of small-town, winter-wonderland charm. In reality, they are a dastardly, untrustworthy group of bullies.

Did you catch that? A columnist in New York is calling our small-town heroes bullies? What a maroon! He forgets too easily that the Packers have the won the last three times they've played in New York. He also forgets that anyone who lives in New York cannot, by definition, be an underdog. And he also forgets that you never give Aaron Rodgers a chance to exact revenge. Because he will. And Eli Manning? It's true that you can't spell "elite" without Eli. But you also can't spell ineligible without Eli, or "lie" for you anagram fans. Packers 56, New York Media 24.

You've had that article clipped and tacked up to your bulletin board since last season, so I know you take that sort of thing personally. I wouldn't take Bondy too seriously, though -- he's just another in a long line of tabloid assassins in the New York newspaper wars. As for the game itself, I think it will be tough. The Packers are pretty banged up on defense and that makes me nervous. The Giants have had a week to sort things out and I think they'll be tough to beat this week. After this game, it's back to the division for the Packers and those are the games that matter. Giants 37, Packers 31.

Curt Schilling once said that one of his favorite things to do was to make 55,000 people in New York shut up. I'll bet Aaron Rodgers likes to do that, too. Ben out!

Benster and D Pick Your Game -- Turkeys in Detroit Edition

A holiday tradition!

Hope you all are having a great Thanksgiving! I'm here to pick the traditional Thanksgiving Game in Detroit, because (a) it's a tradition and (b) it gives us a chance to bust out our favorite picture, which we love. Right, old dude?

The older I get, the more I look like that guy, so I'm not so sure.

Well, that's your problem, not mine! I'm enjoying the youthful glow of being 17. And I'm ready to make the pick. So watch me work:

Ndamukong Suh pleads his case to Ed Hochuli

Houston Texans (-3.5) vs. Detroit Motor City Kitties. So, we've had a pretty good look at the Lions over the past few weeks, as they've lost to the Vikings and to the Packers. So we know this much -- they certainly know how to lose. In fact, the old dude reminds me that the Lions have been losing on a regular basis since 1957, when the Curse of Bobby Layne was issued. All the great Lions of the past -- Barry Sanders, Billy Sims, Joey Harrington -- all played for naught. Now we see another star-studded lineup of malcontents and disappointments on the field, with psychotic coach Jim Schwartz in the lead. The question isn't how much the Lions will lose by this week. The real question is will Ndamukong "Hong Kong Phooey" Suh get ejected on national television again. It could become the latest holiday tradition in Detroit -- when does the big Nebraska turkey get roasted? Texans 49, Lions 48.

So they're gonna beat the spread, then. Well, maybe. The Lions seem to be a hot mess again this year. I see that Titus Young almost got cut from the team for insubordination and there are other dramas here and there. The Lions have talent, but Houston isn't probably a good visitor for their purposes this time around. The Lions have played 17 games since you were born on Thanksgiving, with the first one when you were two days old, young fella. Their record in that stretch? 6-11. And they haven't won on Thanksgiving Day since 2003. Yeah, I think picking the Texans is probably a good idea. Texans 34, Lions 24.

We'll be back tomorrow for another round of games. In the meantime, enjoy your Thanksgiving HYYYYYYPPPPPE! Ben out!

November 21, 1995

Bundle of joy

This post first appeared in 2008, but it still works. Happy birthday, Benster -- 17 years old today!

I remember it being a cold but sunny Tuesday morning. As it turned out, two things happened that day that are historic. First, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed over the 5000 mark for the first time. At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Dayton Peace Accords were initialed, marking the end of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. And at 1:52 p.m. CST, in a room at United Hospital in St. Paul, our first child was born.

We'd had a bit of a scare a month earlier and Mrs. D had spent about a week in the hospital with pre-term labor. She'd returned home and had been on bed rest. When we woke up that morning, it was clear that something was up. We called the hospital and they told us to come down. We worked our way down from our townhome in Shoreview, stopping once so I could get my cup of morning coffee. Momentous events require coffee.

Once we got to the hospital, we went to our room and Mrs. D went through the experience. Things were progressing along slowly but it seemed possible that this would be the day. The nurses and doctors came and went, none seemingly too worried about things. It was possible that it might be days before the baby would arrive, we were told, or the baby might come today. It seemed like a long morning. We'd been through the Lamaze classes and we were clued into what we might expect. We'd brought music to listen to and Mrs. D's favorite teddy bear, which she'd received as a gift in college. Whatever it took.

As the morning dragged toward noon, she turned to me and said, "look, I don't think anything is going to happen any time soon. Why don't you go and get some lunch. Take your time." Knowing that she was in good hands, I left the hospital and walked down to a Subway shop on West 7th. I got myself a turkey sub and a Pioneer Press and had a good long hour of decompressing. Although we were both excited about the possibilities of the day, it was good to get away and think about things other than the life-changing event that might happen. I strolled back to the hospital, got on the elevator and headed for the maternity ward.

When I got back, it was obvious that Mrs. D had had an eventful hour in my absence. She was rocking uncomfortably back and forth in the bed and she looked at me and said, "you can't leave now." There was a nurse nearby and we were told that the obstetrician would be arriving shortly. "It looks like the baby is going to come today," I was told. The next hour was a blur. I remember trying to hold Mrs. D's hand, and hold the teddy bear to give her a focal point. I remember trying to fish through our bag to change the tape (yep, we still had cassettes). I put on some Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, a favorite and something that would be comforting enough. As the bottom of the hour passed and we headed toward 2, it became pretty clear that this was the time. A close family friend had arrived to offer support and was pretty much horrified to realize that she had walked in at the moment of truth. She quickly beat a hasty retreat the waiting room. I will never forget the look on the friend's face.

Meanwhile, the moment had arrived. Childbirth is simultaneously amazing, frightening and a little bit bizarre. As the song "All Blues" wailed softly in the background, I saw the baby emerge. It was our son. As the nurses quickly took him to the side table to give him his first exam, the Apgar score, he let out a healthy wail. Mrs. D looked at me. I looked at her. It was the beginning.

Still joyful, but not a bundle

My son is a 7th grader and is straddling the childhood he is leaving and the exciting world of adulthood that is beckoning. He's turned into a bright, energetic kid with a quick wit and a great enthusiasm for learning more about the world he entered that cold, clear Tuesday. He's been a source of great joy.

At times, it's obvious that 13 years have passed. But it still seems like we just brought him home from the hospital.

****

Four years on, my son is now a high school junior. He's still the same kid but he's changed in a lot of ways, but one thing is constant. The HYYYYYYPPPE! thing that's part of our football picks is more than just shtick -- it's a reflection of the Benster's personality. He's an enthusiastic young man. He's coming of age in a tough world, but his enthusiasm should serve him well. He's beginning to understand the whys of the world even though he questions them, as a teenager will. He's still a source of great joy.

And it still seems like we just brought him home from the hospital.

The World According to D -- College Sports Edition, 2020

Okay, one last post on college sports realignment and it's a doozy. This time, let's project the condition of the battlefield once it's all done. Here is a somewhat educated guess on how I see it happening, and what I imagine it will look like by, say, 2020.

This is all about money. Traditions don't mean much unless you want them to, and there's no evidence that anyone as unsentimental as Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany or Mike Slive (his counterpart in the SEC) will care much about it.

There will be four megaconferences, 3 of which will be made by conscious choice. I predict that the Big Ten will have 20 teams in two divisions, as will the SEC. The Pac 12 will have 16, while the final conference, which will be geographically scattered and containing the schools left behind on the dance floor, will also have 20 in two divisions. All of these schools will play football and they will, in the end, be the schools in the new version of the BCS.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East and the Big XII will essentially be destroyed. The three megaconferences have too much power and will be able to dictate things going forward. Having said that, some traditional rivalries will remain in the new system, because of the way it will break down.

Smaller D-1 schools, like the schools in the Mid-American Conference, will no longer be part of the equation. This year Kent State is a Top 25 school. That won't happen again after this is all done.

The Big Ten will get most of what they want, which will be the bulk of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Maryland has new playmates for now, but when it's all done they'll find themselves playing some very familiar foes.

The SEC will get just about everything they want. Football dominance will not change much, since the SEC will get three of the biggest prizes on the board.

The Pac-12 will add the best of the West, but there isn't much of it. Geography is a challenge and it will limit their options. In the end, they'll have a strong 16-team league, though.

So how will it turn out? Let's start with the Big Ten:

Coming and going

Part of the game in national politics, especially among Democrats and their supporters, is to make running for national office such a horrifying prospect that people will not want to do it.

Two examples -- first, let's look at Marco Rubio, the young Florida senator who is already apparently looking at 2016. He talks to GQ and hilarity ensues:

GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?

Marco Rubio: I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.

Which gets boiled down to:

Andrew Kaczynski@BuzzFeedAndrew
RT @felixsalmon: GQ: "How old do you think the Earth is?" Marco Rubio: "I'm not a scientist, man. That's a dispute amongst theologians.”

Nice. Meanwhile, we learn the following from Kevin Drum at Mother Jones (via Althouse):

Poor Mitt. Conservatives never liked him in the first place, so he tried hard to say all the things they wanted him to say. But once he lost, he was an instant pariah. He was saying the stuff they wanted him to say during a campaign, not realizing that the rules had changed. Once the campaign was over, that exact same stuff was a rather too blunt admission of what conservatives believe. He was betraying the cause, not helping it. The price he'll pay is a banishment from the conservative movement even more thorough than George Bush's. Conservatives are not kind to their losers.

The title of Drum's piece? Mitt Romney is Now Officially the Most Hated Man in America.

We'll set aside what Drum said, which is hardly true for most conservatives I know. What conservatives actually think really doesn't matter, of course. The larger message is this: it's just a lot easier for conservatives if they just shut up, apparently.