Dallas Stars Troll Nationwide Insurance Last Night

If you saw the Nationwide commercial during the Super Bowl, you'll understand it was a dark and borderline inappropriate ad of a kid doing a "voice from the grave" of how he will never get to experience life's joys because of careless accidents that could have been avoided.  The national outcry over it was pretty loud.  (That's a picture of the kid from the ad on the right.)

So last night, the Stars' video operator found a kid in the crowd who kind of resembled the kid from the ad and created the above graphic that was put on the big screen.

That video operator is former ticket board op.

The original tweet that I saw was of a much better quality than the above picture, but it has since been deleted.  It was a funny bit, but I'm not sure that the video operator might not catch a little flak because of it.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Jordan, not messing around, executed two Iraqi jihadists by hanging them in retaliation for the burning of the Jordanian pilot yesterday by ISIS.
• You guy's realize that pilot was a Muslim, right? That caveman "let's nuke 'em all" mentality might, just might, be a little simplistic.
• But not for WBAP's Hal Jay this morning who said multiple times that we needed lots of "big bombs" to be dropped "over there" regardless of the amount of "collateral damage." You hear that "let's make it a parking lot" statement all the time, but I had always hoped people really didn't mean it. If you do, you wouldn't have mind blowing up the Jordanian pilot as you bombed his executioners, you wouldn't mind killing 20 innocent guys who had a gun to the back of their heads in a mass execution as shown on Frontline just to kill the gunmen, and you wouldn't mind killing the gay guy who was thrown off the building just to kill those throwing him off.  
• And not to go all Ron Paul on you, but dropping bombs, invading countries, supplying arms, and -- yes-- killing with drones just seems to make those "over there" who we really have to fear come back stronger and more vicious. Is there such a thing as a Lernaean Hydra Effect?
• One of the weirdest things to me is that I can't turn on Fox News or conservative talk radio without them yelling about the Administration not using the term "Islamic extremists".  To quote the most likely next President, "What difference does it make?"
• I missed the news that long time and respected prosecutor Christi Jack has left the Tarrant County DA's office after 23 years.
• I wonder if the atmosphere of the Tarrant County DA's office is anything like that of  The Devil Wears Prada since new DA Sharen Wilson has taken over? (If you ever see her in full Sharen Wilson mode as a judge, you are smiling right now -- unless, I suspect, you are one of the current prosecutors in her office.)
• I'm almost scared to reference that crazy Randy Quaid homemade video from yesterday. (Google at your own risk.) But if I had posted it, I probably would have relieved the tension with a "Get me that dog!" title.
• I follow a lot of college football related Twitter accounts but I'm now rethinking that on this morning of high school signing day.  My twitter feed is blowing up with news of things Billy Bob Knucklehead signing with Slippery Rock.
• I take that last bullet point back. Highly recruited running back Soso Jamabo just tweeted: "Officially Committed...Asian Girls Everywhere...UCLA".  There's entertainment after all. 
• Everyone is jumping on Lance Armstrong for having his girlfriend lie to the cops about striking to parked cars in Aspen. Hey, the girlfriend immediately contacted the owners, let them know what happened, and told them they would pay for the damage. Heck, so long as they do that, I don't care if they tell the cops that a space alien took control of the car. 
• I would have thought the ISIS execution would dominate the New York tabloids but last night's train crash trumped world affairs.

While You Were Sleeping

We're live with updates on the #TransAsia flight crash that was caught on camera. Watch: http://t.co/6RGtKxibbD. pic.twitter.com/vliHZ0cYwZ
— New Day (@NewDay) February 4, 2015

About That Shocking Harper Lee News But With A Disturbing Twist

I was taken aback this morning when I heard the news that Harper Lee, who had only published one novel, the classic To Kill A Mockingbird, will have a second book published. It is based upon the great character Scout twenty years after her childhood which depicted in the book.

At first I thought, "On, no". I had reservations about Harper Lee, who has always been a recluse, had decided to write another book as she aged. (Today she is 88.)  Not only could it tarnish one of the greatest books of all time, but I was worried that her skills might have been diminished since her 1960 debut.

Then, however, I really got interested when I learned her "new" book was actually written before Mockingbird. That's a big "wow". She had submitted it to publishers who told her that Scout's flashbacks to her childhood were really, really good and a book could be based on that alone. Thus, Mockingbird was born and the first proposed book was shelved.

Later in the day, however, news began to leak that something might have be amiss. Lee today is almost incapacitated and described as senile. But here's the kicker: Her fiercely protective sister, friend and lawyer for all of her life died two and one-half months ago. So, are we to believe the "new book" just now happens to be have been "discovered" and Lee wants to publish it after refusing to do so for decades?

Link.

Missing

Hey, It Depends On What The Definition Of "Soon" Is

Baylor recruits players with list of restaurants that aren’t opening anytime soon http://t.co/aytt22bABS pic.twitter.com/6cpqMY1x7Q
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) February 3, 2015

And we all know it means "there's always a chance it might happen in our lifetime."

I saw this story yesterday and didn't think much about it. Sure, it's odd.  But now it's gone national. (Always a bad sign when Deadspin is after you.)

Good Lord

MORE: Video reportedly appears to show Jordan pilot held by #ISIS being burned alive. http://t.co/YFBpG3hLFt pic.twitter.com/na6v9MuAx2
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 3, 2015

I'm not clicking on the link, and I had a great deal of hesitation of even posting this Fox News tweet. And after we all agree on savagery of ISIS even against a Jordanian Muslim,  what should the media do with these videos. Comments on that tweet both praise Fox News and defile them.  Should the media show such videos to know what we are up against? Or is the media just serving as a free distribution system for ISIS videos that they want you to see?

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• After poo-pooing Open Carry last week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has proven to be a lap dog of the Tea Party as the group dogged him until he was back on board with the proposition.
• "Baltimore Ravens nose tackle Terrence Cody was indicted Monday morning for animal abuse involving a dog and an alligator, according to the Baltimore County Deputy State's Attorney in Maryland." An alligator? He was immediately released by the Ravens. The Ravens, recall, didn't suspend Ray Rice for beating his fiancee until public pressure forced them to. 
• In other heartwarming NFL news, the NFL Network and Hall of Famer Warren Sapp was fired yesterday after being arrested for allegedly soliciting two prostitutes. More specifically, he got in an argument with the prostitutes over money and they then called police. The argument was his second mistake of the night. (When I first saw the headline of his arrest I thought, "Hey, where was that ex-SMU dean at that time?")
• Speaking of the SMU Dean, I speculated yesterday that the only way he could have been arrested was if he solicited an undercover officer off the street. I was wrong. He used an online ad to set up a meeting with whom he thought was a prostitute at a nice hotel in Frisco. It was actually a sting operation by DPS.  I'm stunned they still do that. And if the public wants to pass moral judgment on a guy like that, so be it. But isn't it a little bit crazy that the government makes what he did a crime? Too many cops?
• Sports: (1) Irony. Garrett Gilbert, UT's once proclaimed "Next Great Quarterback" who was soon cast off only to then have a mediocre career at SMU, now has a Super Bowl ring. He was on Seattle's practice squad. (2) I went back and watched the interception at the end of the Super Bowl and it is stunning to see all the time run off the clock before the snap. It was like Belichick thought they would run a play quickly and Carroll thought Belichick would take a time out if they delayed the snap of the ball. (3) It has now become Sports Wasteland time. 
• The Ticket will have Henry Winkler on today and have been promoting his appearance by calling him, "The Fonz."  I almost prefer to think of him as Barry Zuckerkorn of Arrested Development or Chuck from Night Shift. 
• Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said yesterday that vaccines should be voluntary and believes they can cause “mental disorders.” The GOP is a mess right now.
• I sure am hearing a lot of good things about the TV show Parenthood.
• Whenever I hear of a major corporation being fined by the government, I don't think the executives meet and say, "We'll we are going to have to cut expenses and we're all going to have to take some pay cuts to pay for this." Instead I think they meet and say, "Looks like we are going to have to jack up our prices on the public and fire some low level management." 
• Fox 4 was doing another story on Chris Kyle last night and they showed footage of a guy kneeling over his grave, drinking from a flask, pouring some of the contents of the flask onto the grave, and then taking another swig. It seemed to very ritualistic. Kind of like a "one last drink with my buddy".  I wonder if that's a common thing? 
• In 1999, I mentioned how society's thoughts about marijuana might be changing because I had seen Diane Sawyer of Good Morning America at the time joke about smoking weed on the air. That was kind of shocking back then. Today, I can't tell you the number of people on the Ticket, and on other media outlets, who openly admit to smoking pot. 

Insert A Witty Headline Using The Name Franz Klammer

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) – A person who was being towed on skis on the snowy roads of metro Detroit was captured on camera during 7 Action News at 11 on Sunday night.  Action News anchors were on the phone with Warren Mayor Jim Fouts to talk about roads, when the skier appeared.  ”It’s horrendous, and that person will certainly get a ticket,” said Fouts. “I wish there was a police officer in that area.”  Mayor Fouts got his wish.  The skier was near 10 Mile and Lahser in Southfield when police spotted him and subsequently pulled the driver and skier over to the side of the road.  ”That’s treacherous and foolhardy,” added Fouts as the skier was getting questioned on live television. 

OK, not the funniest thing in the world, but it is worth a pretty big smile when that guy just blows past the reporter's car in the beginning. Just living the dream. (Cops show up to ruin the fun around 1:40 or so).

And, honestly, I think I have a great understanding of the traffic laws, but I have no idea off the top of my head whether that is illegal in Texas. I'm guessing it is because, after all, what isn't against the law in Texas?

But I can presume the statute of limitations has passed so my buddies and I can't be charged for being towed in a makeshift sled behind a truck on Pleasant View Road over in Bridgeport back in the day. We even figured out that we could slide into the ditch and ride there will running over a bunch of high weeds caked in ice. And if I remember correctly, one of my friend's dad was driving the truck.  Oh, the good ol' days.

Remember This Catch Because It Will Soon Be Forgotten

Deadspin has posted a fantastic super slow mo replay of the catch yesterday which seemed to be destined to be one of the most memorable catches in Super Bowl history.  But it will be forgotten.  Great plays by the losing team are almost always forgotten.

I remember when I was in the mid 1980s and watching a Cowboy game on Monday night when a ricocheted ball landed into the arms of a Dallas receiver late into the fourth quarter for a score. It was amazing. "That will be one of the greatest plays in Cowboy history!" I proclaimed.  "Only if the win," my buddy replied.  And you know, the Cowboys didn't. And he was right. Even I can barely recall the details now. Was it Tony Hill? I think so but I'm not sure. Was it against the Dolphins? That seems to be right. But a quick Google search gave me no answers. Lost to history? Edit: Found a game story. Edit: A loyal reader found the video.

Edit: This is funny. Watch a group of Seattle fans watch various parts of the game. The catch above starts at around 6:50 (if you want to jump ahead) and then it stays in real time. They go crazy over the replay of the catch and then it comes time for "Beast mode! Beast mode!" as Seattle is on the verge of scoring.  And then the sound of silence.

Uncomfortable

If Rehab Requires Discipline And Hard Work, I'm Not Optimistic

Johnny Manziel has entered a treatment facility, according to a report. http://t.co/JXTGVeULsP pic.twitter.com/v7Wvu9OyBR
— SB Nation (@SBNation) February 2, 2015

Infomercial Flashback

Why didn't that ever take off.

Love the one review on Amazon:

Our Missing Dogs Made "Inside Edition"

Link.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• This will be very Super Bowl free. I watched it. It was great. Halftime was great. The commercials were great. Everyone will talk about it. The NFL will get richer.  However, did you know the guy who made the last second interception was paid $420,000 this year? The NFL, on the other hand, collectively made $10 billion. 
• I saw the headline but didn't read the amazing editorial in the Dallas Morning News on Friday. It concerned the embarrassment that was the interference with Texas Muslim Capitol Day in Austin last week: Excerpt; "Her diatribe created a Lone Star YouTube moment that affirms the worst stereotypes about Texas -- that we’re a bunch of slack-eye cousins to the backwater creatures of Deliverance. Tell your in-laws in New York that we’re not all hateful, hayseed, redneck, ignorant Bubbas. Yes, we do have hateful, hayseed, redneck ignorant Bubbas in Texas. YouTube doesn’t lie." No punches pulled there from the most conservative big city paper in the state.
• Here's the you tube moment it referred to. To quote the Ticket's Bob Sturm, "You can just feel the love of Jesus coming through."
• As reported here first by the hardest working man in show business (me), it looks like we had a couple of suspensions in the Bridgeport High School basketball program.
• New governor Greg Abbott has declared today "Chris Kyle Day" otherwise knows as "There Sure Are A Lot Of People Liking That Movie So How Can I Pander To The Masses Day".
• What other elected official would do such pandering? Certainly, no one would go to Kyle's grave site yesterday and post a picture of it, would they? (For those who don't want to click on the link, it's that goofy tweeting Texas Supreme Court judge,)
• Former Dallas DA Craig Watkins sent out an email to his supporters asking for DWI clients. That embarrassing act of begging is a long way from being the champion of those wrongfully convicted. (Oh, and we learned his office as DA used the "civil forfeiture" laws to take a guy's truck who stole two cases of beer. I'm guessing it was a default judgment because the guy didn't know he had to file a written answer.)
• I'll have a guy comment every now and then who says, "You stole that off Reddit!" Dude, I can't remember the last time I went to that site. You ever heard of Twitter ? It's something that adults follow.  It's like a modern day UPI Teletype (look it up) for everything if you know how to use it.
• An (extreme) Tea Party rookie Texas legislator Tony Tinderholt has filed his first bill which would only allow DPS to take a scan of your thumbprints instead of all ten fingers at the time of obtaining/renewing a driver's license. (I didn't know they did that.) I don't have a problem with the bill, but I don't understand how he claims that is keeping his campaign promise of government "transparency". (Link also shows his "Hey, now" wife.)
• Big head-on wreck on FM 51 on Saturday between Slidell and Decatur. Odd that both cars were occupied by Weatherford residents.
• I finally watched my DVR'd Night Will Fall about the liberation of Auschwitz.  The documentary was average at best. The footage, however, was horrifying. I looked away several times.
• I also watched Flight over the weekend. You know, the movie where Denzel Washington plays a drunk pilot who flies a defective jet airliner upside down to save the passengers? Verdict: Pretty dang entertaining, a hokey ending, and an excellent depiction of the life of an alcoholic. Spoiler alert: No way he's being convicted for what happened due to the legal requirement of "causation."
• A Fort Worth police officer was shot last week and the city's worker's comp rep (who works for an independent contractor named CorVel Enterprise Comp) showed up at the hospital to ask questions. That pissed off the Mayor who fired off a letter which basically says, "Come to my office".  Research reveals that the Fort Worth Weekly had a scathing article about the company in 2013.
• Here's a chart on the deadliest drugs in America. Spoiler: You can go out and by #1 and #2 in Wise County today. The third one will require you to go to your doctor and complain about pain.
• There are going to be so many people run for the Republican nomination. I cannot wait. Example: Probable presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee doesn't approve of the gay lifestyle but he "doesn't shut them out" of his life just like he doesn't shut people out who drink or use profanity.
• Former SMU Law School dean was arrested for prostitution. Hey, unless you are picking up a hooker off the street in a sting operation, it is next to impossible to get arrested for prostitution. 

Our Wise County Judge

My only objection is that "quick weekend trip to Paris" line. (But I have the perfect wedding gift for him if he gets mad because of this post. I'll update later.)

Super Bowl Humor

I didn't care who won. But, man, how dumb was that.

But I would have paid big money just to watch the bettors in Sports Book in Vegas at that moment.

NBC's Super Bowl Pre-Game Show May Kill Us All

Everything about it is so cheesy and such a propaganda machine. I would go on another anti-NFL rant right now, but I'm just too defeated. It's almost enough to make me appreciate Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski because that means we are that much closer to Idiocracy. At least then it will be entertaining.

And for those who missed it: "And after everything that happened in the NFL this year, who would have thought Roger Goodell would still be here?" - Seth Myers during his monologue at the NFL Awards Banquet with Goodell being in the audience and the camera fixed on him. (Cued up here.)