Minnesota Vikings Punter Chris Kluwe Tweeted the Playing surface at TCF Bank Stadium is “As Hard as Concrete” and “Unplayable”

WHEN DID THE NFL BECOME SO GUTLESS? NEWS FLASH TO VIKINGS … THE TEAM USED TO PLAY OUTSIDE.

Remember when the Houston Astrodome was the only one? What a difference time makes. There was a time and place in my youth when the Minnesota Vikings could not wait to play outside and use the cold, snow and other elements to their advantage. Now, these pampered prima-donna players are afraid of a little cold and a playing surface that does not resemble their plush living room carpet.

If you were to listen to all the whining and belly-aching coming from those who are going to have to play in tonight’s MNF game between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings, one would think that there was no such epic NFL game known as “The Ice Bowl”.  The game is supposed to be played outdoors at the University of Minnesota’s stadium as the Metro-dome is still unable to host a game as it could not withstand last weeks brutal snow storm.

Enter Vikings punter Chris Kluwe who tweeted that the playing surface at TCF Bank Stadium is “as hard as concrete” and “unplayable”. What! A punter is making a comment that the playing surface is unplayable? Are you serious, a punter has maybe 7 plays a game and will never touch the playing surface and he is mouthing off? Hey Chris Kluwe, STFU and grow a set. The surface is like concrete? Today’s so-called football players would be aghast if they ever had to play at the old VET and the astro-turf that was there and a aprt of many stadiums in the 70′s and 80′s that was nothing more than fuzzy, green cement.

The playing surface at TCF Bank Stadium is “as hard as concrete” and “unplayable,” Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe tweeted Sunday afternoon after a brief practice there.

Despite skepticism from both Vikings and Chicago Bears players last week, team and University of Minnesota officials have expressed confidence that the field would be in acceptable condition for Monday night’s game — even after a mad scramble to clear 20-inch snow drifts from the field this week.

But after Sunday’s practice, Kluwe issued a series of tweets that predicted the game would be a “trainwreck.”

Kluwe: “The field is as hard as concrete an hour and a half after they took the tarp off, and anyone that hits their head is getting a concussion. … I find it interesting that the NFL can claim an emphasis on player safety, and then tell us the field is fine. It’s beyond hypocritical. … I can only hope, however unlikely, that no one gets catastrophically injured at the trainwreck that’s about to take place tomorrow night.”

From 1975, remember when football was football … how I miss Brent, Phyllis George and Irv Cross

Just how soft has the NFL become and especially the Minnesota Vikings? Back when the Vikings acted like Vikings and were known as the “Purple People Eaters” they played outside at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, MN. Personally, the Vikings lost much of their personality when they became a dome team. Can anyone imagine the Bears, the Monsters of the Midway, ever playing inside?

Remember the Miracle at Metropolitan Stadium?

What is most ironic about all the whining regarding having to play outside at night in Minnesota is that at half time the Vikings will be honoring the 50 greatest Vikings. Folks like Fran Tarkenton, Carl Eller, Allan Page, Jim Marshall, Amad Rashad, Ron Yary, Ed White, Stu Voigt, Dave Osborn, Paul Krause,  Fred Cox, Mick Tingelhoff, and coach  Bud Grant among many others will be honored. These individuals gave the Vikes their reputation as tough nosed, turf eating, hard nosed folks. How incredible is it that on the very night they are honoring Viking greats, many who played in years of yore when men were men and the NFL was not a flag football league.

The Ice Bowl, what legends are made of …

A note to today’s players … suck it up. If it were up to you people the “Ice Bowl”would never have been played between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers in 1967. If it were up to today’s player, the 1981 AFC Championship game between the San Diego Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals known as the “Freezer  Bowl” would never have been played. The  air temperature was ?9 °F, but the wind chill, factoring in a sustained wind of 27 miles per hour ?37 °F .

Today’s NFL players need to understand the history of football and the tough nosed players that once played the game. There was a time when a player would never wear a long sleeve shirt under their jersey. It would have been considered a lack of manhood to do so. My how times have changed and not for the better. Remember when players didn’t complain, they just played the game?

How I miss the old NFL!

UPDATE I:According to ESPN reports, Vikes QB Brett Favre has been upgraded to questionable for tonight’s game against the Chicago Bears. Honestly, I hope Brett has one last hoorah in him and can make this one last start in what should look like a throw back game from days of yesterday.

TSA Head John Pistole Says No Body Cavity Searches …Yet

There is a big loop hole with the body scan machines; however, the head of the TSA does not want to really discuss that reality. All about security, eh? The TSA claims they will not do any body cavity searches. At least not any time soon.

We have been told by Obama and the TSA that the invasive pat downs and intrusions on our civil rights and privacy are for our own good. The justification behind the questionable searches of innocent Americans merely trying to board a plane is because of the Christmas Day, underwear bomber. Really?

Does that justify the over-the-top retroactive response from this White House to terrorism? They claim that the metal detectors would not have discovered the bomb carried aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 by radical Muslim terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

What if a terrorist chooses to have a pat-down and opts out of the full body scan? What if the terrorists decide to use a page from drug traffickers and smuggle the explosives in a body cavity? TSA … do not insult our intelligence that this is not a topic of discussion among terrorists. They have been willing to do anything to kill the Infidels and meet up with the virgins.

TSA chief John Pistole today met with reporters from the Christian Science Monitor. Pistole discussed why his agency’s aggressive screening techniques don’t include body-cavity searches …

Video Hat Tip: Gateway Pundit

TSA chief John Pistole stated:

“We’re in the risk management business, being a risk-based intelligence organization. The information that I’ve seen out in public about body cavities for bombs I think is perhaps not accurate. There’s been reporting of one incident involving the Saudi Deputy Administrator of Interior. The forensics on that are not dis-positive and there is stronger indication that it was actually an underwear type bomb strapped to his upper thigh rather than a body cavity. That being, said even if it is a body cavity you still have to be an initiator. You have to have some external vice that cause that initiation such as having the TAPT that is closer to the PA10 that had a modified syringe. There has to be something external that initiates the device. That’s what the advanced imaging technology machine will pick up. Any anomaly outside the body. So we’re not going to get in the business of doing body cavity (searches) that’s just not where we are.”

 I think Pistole forgot to say the word, YET. Who is to say why this is not next on the list? There was a shoe bomber and we had to removeor shoes, there is an underwear bomber and that gives the TSA a right to a free nude show or a feel-up pat down without being offered a dinner and movie first. So what will an over intrusivegovernment do when a terrorist explodes a bomb in a body cavity? This is what happens when you give up your rights.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY 2010 … THANK YOU!!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

A special wish to all the moms out there and to those families thinking of the memories of their moms.

All we can do is say Thank You!

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. – George Washington

All I am or can be I owe to my angel Mother. – Abraham Lincoln

There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness … The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way. – Andrew Jackson

A Tribute to Mom – One Heartbeat At A Time

I was reminded this morning while watching Fox News Sunday of the difficult struggle that so many families face and have faced with the this Sunday’s Power Player of the Week, Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin who is battling breast cancer. We wish you well and pray for all the moms that moght be going through this presently.

Happy Mothers Day Mom, I Miss You and Thank You …

Harry Reid’s Wife Landra & Daughter Lana Seriously Injured in Car Accident in Fairfax, VA

There is no politics in this story regarding Harry Reid and his family … say a prayer for the Reid family this evening.

Our prayers and best wishes go out to Democrat Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and his family following the car accident in Fairfax, VA that left his wife Landra and daughter Lana seriously injured. Reid’s wife Landra and daughter Lana were rear-ended by a semi-truck on a on an interstate highway in suburban Virginia.

According to reports, their injuries are serious but not life threatening. Landra Reid has a broken nose, broken back and broken neck while daughter Lana has a neck injury and facial lacerations.

Harry Reid’s wife, Landra, suffered a broken neck, back and nose and his daughter, Lana, also sustained serious injuries in a chain-reaction car accident in Fairfax, Va. on Thursday  according to Reid’s spokesman.

Both women’s injuries are considered serious but not life-threatening — and both have sensation in their extremities, an indication that they aren’t paralyzed, Reid spokesman Jon Summers said.

Reid’s wife is listed in serious condition and will stay in the hospital, but his daughter will be released. The initial prognosis for Reid’s wife is that no surgery will be required, Summer said.

I would echo The Other McCain’s comments regarding accidents like this put like into perspective and bring out one of our greatest qualities … humanity. We can disagree with one’s politics and want to retire them back to Nevada; however, we should always wish well and pray for those hurt, injured or in harms way … no matter what the politics.

This is the sort of tragedy that can befall any family, and it’s an opportunity to recall the humanity of even those with whom we might differ in other contexts. Let’s keep the comments classy, folks.

UPDATE I: Truck driver in Reid accident twice cited for speeding

The Ohio truck driver charged with reckless driving in an accident that injured Sen. Harry Reid’s wife and daughter has twice been convicted of speeding, and once for a vehicle registration violation, records show.

Alan W. Snader, 59, was convicted of speeding in 1998 and 2001, and of a registration violation in 2007, according to records CNN obtained from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The records do not give details of the infractions.

Winter Olympic: Miracle on Ice … 30 Years Later … The USA Beat the Soviet Union, Where were You!

MIRACLE ON ICE … WHERE WERE YOU!!!

“Eleven seconds, you’ve got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!”

Before the Internet, before cell phones and before  24 hour cable, there was the 1980 Winter Olympics and a story of the USA hockey team for the ages. Never again will such a story and game ever be played as it transcended sports.

It was February 22, 1980 the day the world stood still when the USA hockey team beat the Soviet Union 4-3 … where were you? It was the greatest game and greatest sports upset in USA history. The story of “Miracle on Ice” is one of the greatest uplifting, feel good stories of all time. A cast of college kids put a nation on their shoulder when we needed it most.

It is 30 years later but to watch highlights of the game from the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY still brings a smile, pride and a tear to my eye after all these years. It was more than just a hockey game, it was a piece of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Unions played out on a sheet of ice. It was a bunch of college kids against the Soviet hockey machine that was invincible. The Russian Red team had taken down the NHL’s best teams preceding the Olympics, how could a team of college kids even compete.

The rest is things that dreams and miracles are made of.

USA VS USSR: Mike Eruzione goal – The shot heard Around the World

Having grown up a Cold War kid, Miracle on Ice represents such a special moment in time. We deal with the threat of terrorism today, but that is a much different feeling than to wake up and wonder whether there would be nuclear annihilation. It was such a different time. I can remember being glued to the TV watching every second recovering from surgery. When the USA won, I jumped up and down, split my stitches and cried like a baby.

For those who are not old enough to appreciate the moment in time, you have to go back to 1980 and think of the following. The United States was gripped in a terrible economic plight, double digit unemployment, interest rates and inflation. So many people were out of work and gas was rationed. The USSR was occupying Afghanistan and American hostages were being held in Iran.

Do you believe in Miracles … YES!!!

It was a grim time in the US and everyone thought that the USSR was going to dominate the Winter Olympics and do a show of force on the World stage. We now know why that why they play the game.

These Olympic hockey kids made America remember that any thing is possible and miracles do come true. The feeling that this moment in time provided was beyond words.

Tell us what you were doing and your thoughts … 30 years later.