Hail To The Redskins: 'Redskins OT Joe Jacoby Named Semifinalist For 2014 Hall of Fame Class'

Source:Hail To The Redskins- Washington Redskins OT Joe Jacoby (1981-1993) I believe during Super Bowl 26, in 1992.

Source:The New Democrat 

"Former Washington Redskins tackle Joe Jacoby is a semi-finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the second straight year. 

Jacoby made the cut when the initial list of 126 nominees was trimmed to 25 modern-era semifinalists announced Wednesday. Jacoby played for the Redskins from 1981 to 1993 and was one of the beloved “Hogs”. If elected, he would join guard Russ Grimm in representing the Hogs in the Hall of Fame. 

The 25 semifinalists include Marvin Harrison, Tony Dungy, Walter Jones and Derrick Brooks, who made the cut in their first year of Hall of Fame eligibility. Jimmy Johnson, Joe Jacoby, Steve Wisniewski, Morten Andersen, Steve Atwater, Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Don Coryell, Roger Craig, Terrell Davis, Edward DeBartolo Jr., Kevin Greene, Charles Haley, John Lynch, Karl Mecklenburg, Andre Reed, Will Shields, Michael Strahan, Paul Tagliabue, Aeneas Williams and George Young. 

The list of modern-era semifinalists will be cut to 15 on Jan. 8. They’ll be joined by seniors committee nominees Ray Guy and Claude Humphrey. The select media members who serve as Hall of Fame voters will elect four to seven candidates during a meeting scheduled for Feb. 1, the day before the Super Bowl."

From Hail To The Redskins 

To be blunt about this: it is about damn time that former Redskins offensive tackle Joe Jacoby went into the Hall of Fame. He should’ve went in with former Redskins offensive guard Russ Grimm together back in 2010. But both of them should’ve been in the Hall of Fame ten-years ago if not sooner. 

Joe Jacoby was one of the top three offensive tackles of the 1980s and his era. And Bengals offensive tackle Tony Munoz and Vikings/Broncos OT Gary Zimmerman are both already in the Hall of Fame. And Big Jac (as he was called) is right there with the top OT’s of this era. 

Jacoby was both a dominant run blocker and pass blocker and a Pro Bowler who was a big part of three Super Bowl champions and four NFC Conference champions. Who without he and Russ Grimm and I would add OT Jim Lachey to this, the Redskins offense wouldn’t of been as dominant as it was. Being able to control the ball on the ground and giving three Super Bowl champion quarterbacks the time They needed to throw the ball down the field to those great Redskins receivers.

USFL Forever: USFL 1985- Week 8: Oakland Invaders @ Birmingham Stallions: Full Game

Source:USFL Forever- the Invaders and Stallions from 1985.

Source:The New Democrat 

“The Stallions are often cited as being one of the league’s most loved and best supported teams. In 1984 and 1985 they also were one of the best teams in the USFL. The city of Birmingham even bailed the team out of financial trouble with a $1 million loan during the 1985 season when owner Marvin Warner, a former U.S. ambassador, went through some legal problems. 

On this night against the Invaders Joe Cribbs gained a season-high 94 yards and Birmingham’s defense had five sacks and two interceptions as the Stallions defeated Oakland 20-17.

The victory put Birmingham atop the United States Football League’s Eastern Conference at 6-2. Second place Tampa Bay, at 5-2. Oakland fell to 4-3-1 and to fourth place in the Western Conference.

Birmingham drove 79 and 63 yards on its first two possessions, capped by scoring runs of 9 yards by Cribbs and 8 yards by quarterback Cliff Stoudt, who injured an elbow on the run and later had to leave the game.

Danny Miller added field goals of 48 and 31 yards for Birmingham.

Oakland’s Bobby Hebert hit Anthony Carter on a 24-yard toss to the 2 and John Williams carried it across early in the second quarter to make it 14-7.

Novo Bojovic got a 27-yard field goal for the Invaders in the third period, and with 20 seconds left in the game, Hebert hit Carter on a 3-yard scoring pass.

Birmingham sacked Hebert for a total of 41 yards, and Clanton got his second interception in the final quarter. Hebert finished with 17 completions on 30 passes for 192 yards.”  

From USFL Forever 

Stallions quarterback Cliff Stoudt was Terry Bradshaw’s backup for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Just another example the fact that the USFL was major league football. Not a league of career cab drivers, food service workers, or construction workers living out their dreams as pro football players. But guys who not only went to college, but played major college football and at major college football programs. And then were either drafted in the NFL or USFL and played there and in many cases played in both leagues. When perhaps they weren’t given the opportunity to actually play in the NFL and not just sit on the bench. And the Oakland Invaders and Birmingham Stallions were two of the best franchises in the USFL. 

ABC Sports: USLF 1985- Semifinal Playoff- Baltimore Stars @ Birmingham Stallions: Full game

Source:ABC Sports- Birmingham Legion Field, home of the Birmingham Stallions.

"A rematch of the 1984 Semi-Final Playoff only this time the game is played in Birmingham. The Stallions 13-5 record was the second best record in the USFL in 1985. Only the Oakland Invaders 13-4-1 had a better record. The Stars record of 10-7-1 was embarrassing to this premier franchise and they were out to prove that they were still the same team that went 29-6 in the previous two seasons, The winner faces the Oakland Invaders in the Championship Game

NOTE: I don't own or claim to own the copyright(s) associated with this video; absolutely NO copyright infringement is intended!"

From Signman 2710 

Baltimore is the only city that has won the NFL Championship including three Super Bowls, the CFL Championship the Grey Cup and the USFL Championship in 1985. 

Baltimore is a crazy football city as far as how much they love pro football, that only lost the Colts because of the poor Colts management under Bob Irsay and that they weren’t given enough time to replace Baltimore Memorial Stadium and build a new stadium for the Colts. Or the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland failed to make that happen. 

Baltimore did not lose the Colts because they longer wanted NFL football and no longer wanted the Colts. And you can give me the poor attendance figures of the Colts the last few seasons all you want.  The fact is that the Colts were one of the worst franchises in the NFL in the early 1980s under Irsay and company. And that is what Indianapolis got in 1984 and what Colts fans were not going to support and subsidize.

Baltimore thanks to the USFL and later the CFL proved that it was a major league pro football city and market, even with the Redskins 40 miles south in Washington and the Eagles 90 miles north in Philadelphia. So every pro football man in Baltimore and the greater state of Maryland, should thank of the USFL and CFL for those opportunities.

Reason Magazine: Nick Gillespie: Jonathan Rauch: '20 Years of Political Correctness'

Source:Reason Magazine- an anti-free speech protest against author Salmon Rushdie.

Source:The New Democrat 

"The great advantage of a society that embraces robust and often-angry debate, "is not that it does not make mistakes," says Jonathan Rauch, "it's that it catches mistakes very, very quickly." For Rauch, such dialogue is at the heart of what he calls the "liberal science" of producing and refining knowledge.

A National Magazine Award-winning journalist and author, Rauch's path-breaking study of politicial corrrectness, Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought, has just been released in a 20th-anniversary edition by the Cato Institute. The new version includes an introduction by George Will and a powerful afterword by Rauch about how calls for censorship and regulation of speech have changed over the past two decades.

Nick Gillespie sat down with Rauch to discuss why free speech cannot and should not be abridged, even when it causes pain and discomfort. Rauch talks about how the weak defense of Salman Rushdie after receiving Islamic death threats radicalized his views and the inspiration he draws from figures such as Frank Kameny, a pioneering gay rights activist who never called for the censoring of hate speech." 

From Reason Magazine

I’m not a fan of political correctness myself, because I am a Liberal not because I’m not a Liberal. I’m against all racial and ethnic slurs and all other types of slurs that try to paint one group of people as they are all the way. But again as a Liberal I believe in the First Amendment and the ability for people to speak freely, as long as they aren’t threatening or libeling people in a negative way or inciting violence in public. And those are really the only exceptions we have to our First Amendment in the United States.

Just because people have negative, bigoted and ignorant views about others, doesn’t mean they do not have a right to express those opinions. As long as they aren’t calling for those people to be harmed physically or economically in any way. 

If you really are a Liberal, you believe in the First Amendment and are in favor of it. And you do not believe in these things, you are not a Liberal. Because liberalism is about one’s ability to speak freely and assemble in public and in private. And you take away free speech, you do not have much if any remaining of what can be called a liberal democracy. Because you are taking people’s freedom away from them.

So when I hear these political speech codes from people who are supposed to be on the Left, because someone or a group of people are saying things that these leftist groups find offensive, because it offends people they support, generally racial or religious minorities, or political minorities on the Far-Left, like Communists and Socialists: One, I disagree with them because we all as Americans including the Far-Left have the First Amendment right to express ourselves and have our own opinions. Including the Far-Left and Far-Right.

Two, it gives me the impression that some at least on the Far-Left do not believe in free speech, or at least free speech that they disagree with. But the other thing that gets me as a Liberal is when I hear supporters of what is called the political correctness movement, people who are supposed to be Liberals, when of course they are not, because they believe in a form of fascism: "You can say what you want and believe in what, until you offend us. And that is when we are going to try to shut you up." And there is nothing actually liberal about that.

It is pretty simple: if you are a Liberal, you believe in free speech and the First Amendment. And if you do not believe in these things, you are not a Liberal. But perhaps a Fascist either from the Far-Left or Far-Right. 

Bigotry is an awful thing and in many cases illegal in the United States when it is put into action. But that doesn’t mean Americans do not have a right to be stupid. It just means they do not always have a right to act on those stupid beliefs when they hurt innocent people with them. Like denying people jobs based on race, ethnicity, gender. (To use as examples) The cure for stupidity in America is good education, including more free speech. Not trying to lock everything that you don't like about America, including other Americans into some closet hoping no one ever hears from or sees them again.

Turner Sports: NBA 1987 (04/03) Chicago Bulls @ Washington Wizards: Highlights

Source:Turner Sports- Michael Jordan vs Manute Bol.

Source:Real Life Journal 

“MICHAEL JORDAN: 32 pts vs Washington Bullets (1987.04.03) CLICK ON THE LINK TO WATCH

“MICHAEL JORDAN: THE LEGEND OF THE GREATEST…

From Balthus 

Don’t worry Wizards fans (the Bullets as they were called back then) the Bullets won this game. Michael Jordan having a big night for, Da Bulls! But no other Bull doing much damage to the Bullets, who as a team scored 119 points against, Da Bulls! During this game, after already wrapping up another playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. 

In reality, MJ wasn’t by himself before Scottie Pippen, as far as having other players who could score. This Bulls team also had Orlando Woolridge, Gene Banks, and Charles Oakley. But for the Bulls to beat really good teams and even deep teams, that the Bullets were back then, MJ had to do a lot of the work on his own.

WGN Sports: NBA 1985 (1/02) Chicago Bulls @ Philadelphia 76ers: Full Game

Source:WGN Sports- Philadelphia 76ers center Moses Malone at the line where he spent a lot of his career at, the foul line.

Source:Real Life Journal

"Philadelphia 76ers vs Chicago Bulls (01/02/1985)" 

From LFK 

The 76ers still had a lot of talent in 1985. Just look at their starting lineup featuring four Hall of Famers in it with Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley and Maurice Cheeks.

The Bulls were a young and up-incoming team, but most of the guys who won championships with the Bulls in the early 1990s were not there yet. With the 76ers having won the NBA Finals in 1983 and not even making it back to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1984.

The Bulls of this period, other than maybe Orlando Woolridge, who was pretty solid and an up and down Steve Johnson at power forward, this was still the Air Jordan Show in Chicago. With the help that the Bulls needed to be a real Eastern Conference contender, about three years away with Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright.

Fishy Paw: Airplane 1980- Julie Hagerty: 'Everything is Fine Up Here. Oh by the Way, Can Anyone Fly a Plane?'

Source:Fishy Paw- Julie Hagerty, playing the head stewardess in Airplane 1980.

Source:Real Life Journal

"Is there anyone onboard who knows how to fly a plane?"

From Fishy Paw

Everything is fine up here in the cockpit. Oh by the way can anyone fly this plane so we do not crash? That’s right, the only problem that we have in the cockpit of this commercial passenger plane, is that we don’t have anyone who can fly the plane.

Which is no worst than doctors who are about to perform brain surgery on someone so they can save that person’s life, but do not have anyone who knows how to perform brain surgery. Or an English teacher who doesn’t speak any English. Other than these issues, there’s nothing to be worried about. No reason to panic, I mean seriously what is the worst thing that could possibly happen with one being able to fly a plane that is already in the air, the plane crashing? I mean come on! The plane is already insured, so the money there will to replace the plane.

And most of the passengers are wealthy anyway, so they probably have life insurance. I mean seriously, these passengers didn’t have to get on this plane to begin with. LOL

MH Jets: NHL-1987-Stanley Cup Finals- Game 6- Edmonton Oilers @ Philadelphia Flyers: Third Period

Source:MH Jets- The Edmonton Oilers vs the Philadelphia Flyers, in the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals.

Source:Real Life Journal 

"Here are the last 7 minutes or so of the memorable Game 6 of the 1987 Cup Finals.  The action is picked up just as Glenn Anderson took a high sticking penalty that led to Brian Propp's game tying goal.  1:24 later J.J. Daigneault scores to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead. The file is too long so it has been split into 2 parts." 

From MH Jets

I only remember reading about this series and seeing highlights of it on some sports show the next day. I was eleven years old at this point and my family didn’t have cable yet and this series wasn’t on American network TV. But I knew the Flyers were really good at this point. I remember them being beating my Capitals in the conference playoffs that year in game 7 and in overtime.

I hated the Flyers back then and I still do. They were the Capitals arch-rival back then and I still consider them to be, especially since we are back in the same division. Have a great history of great tough physical games each other. Which both teams playing a similar style of tough hockey. Witch clutch scoring and solid goaltending.

This series represents NHL hockey at its best. Two great all around teams with a lot of skill, who are also physical. And the NHL needs to get back to that, instead of trying to make hockey like indoor soccer in order to pick up young American fans who don’t appreciate defense in any sport. And are only interested in seeing a lot of scoring.

Denim Blog: Blake Lively

Source:Denim Blog- this photo is originally from the Denim Blog, but that link seems to have disappeared.

Source:Real Life Journal

“Blake lively rich and skinny jeans2 Celebs in Denim: Blake Lively in Rich &…

From Daniel Radcliffes 

“Blake Lively recently celebrated her 21st birthday in style, literally. She was spotted in a pair of Rich & Skinny Sleek Jeans in Zendigo and Christian Louboutin boots. Images via JustJared.com”

From Denim Blog 

You can see why sexy celebrities perhaps especially female ones are so popular in skinny jeans, especially with boots and why they get so much attention in that combo while they are out in public. Perhaps especially on Facebook and YouTube. But also why so many celebrity interest bloggers and I’m not one of them for the most part, but why they blog about celebrities sexy women especially celebrities in their jeans and boots. 

Because when female celebrities they wear that combo people notice right away and their jeans and boots get noticed right away. Which is great business for everyone involved. Blake Lively a young gorgeous woman with good height and beautiful legs, as well as butt, is a perfect example of this. When you’re that attractive especially when you’re young and female, you want to the rest of the world to know as well. And skinny jeans with boots, is the prefect way to do that.

The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson: 'Politician Taking a Polygraph Test (1982)'

Source:The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson- Johnny Carson playing a typical politician. I mean a lying politician. Actually, what's the difference?

Source:Real Life Journal

“How To Tell When A Politician is Lying – New Technology To Simplify Campaigns. This video shows new technology that will help sort out truth from lies in political campaigns.” 

From Reverend Ray 

If all American politicians were required to take polygraph tests, no American politician would ever get elected yet reelected in America. Because Americans tend to like being told what they want to hear and not what is the truth.

Like saying: “we can do this, but it costs money, which means I’ll have to raise your taxes or cut spending somewhere else”. And when politicians tell the truth, they tend to pay a heavy political price for that. Truth serum would be death penalty for the careers of American career politicians.

But imagine what a bad politician would sound like on truth serum.

“Senator Jones, why did you vote against the gun control bill? Because the NRA has me on in their back pockets, both back pockets, as well as the front pockets. Yeah, they bought me off. Oh be the way, my constituents aren’t going to know about this, are they? Because then I would actually have to get a real job and work for a living”.

Or you ask a crooked politician why they voted against the school reform bill that increases standards on teachers and students. Imagine a crooked politician on truth serum answering that one. The crooked politician with a 90 plus approval rating of the teacher unions might say this:

“Because in that bill, school districts would be able to fire bad teachers. Which would mean people would be out of jobs, even the bad teachers. And I rather have bad teachers teaching, even if that means their students are not learning, then for them not to be working at all. Or having to do something that they are more qualified for. Like flipping burgers and taking parking tickets, asking customers if they want paper or plastic. Oh by the way, teacher unions have bought every pocket I have in all of my pants”.

But we wouldn’t need truth serum or polygraph tests for crooked politicians, if we simply had an educated electorate. And what does that mean? A lot of educated voters who know who they are voting for, before they actually vote for that person or decide not to vote for them. Which sounds like commonsense I know, but again we’re talking about America where commonsense is not always common, because it is not always popular. And Americans tend to prefer to feel good, then to know what is good for them. Our political system is a perfect example of that.

Liberty Pen: Milton Friedman- 'A Conversation On The Minimum Wage (1980)'

Source:Liberty Pen- this is from Professor Milton Friedman's Free To Choose documentary series.

Source:FreeState Now

"A debate on whether the minimum wage hurts or helps the working class. Liberty Pen." 

From Liberty Pen 

I'm in favor of a living wage for multiple reasons, but I'll give you a practical one: if you want to low-income workers to work, instead of staying home and just collecting public assistance, you not only want a minimum wage, but you want low-income and low-skilled workers to not only be able to at least get a minimum wage, but have that wage higher than what they could get if they didn't work at all. 

For practical reasons, we should not only have a living wage, but have what Professor Milton Friedman called a negative income tax or have subsidize employment, where low-income, low-skilled people would not only work, but then get that income matched by the government up to a point, to encourage these folks to work and not stay at home, even if they have kids or other relatives to take care of.

CBS Sports: NBA 1987- ECQF-Game 5- Philadelphia 76ers @ Milwaukee Bucks: Last Minutes of Julius Erving's NBA Career

Source:CBS Sports- Dr. J Julius Erving, closing out a brilliant NBA career. 

Source:Real Life Journal 

“Those are the last few minutes of Dr J’s successful professionnal basketball career. This is game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference First round between the Milwaukee Bucks and Erving’s Philadelphia 76ers. Dr J would end up scoring 24 points, but Charles Barkley’s no-show (5/16 shooting) against a great Jack Sikma (18 points, 21 rebounds) ended up being too much to overcome for the Sixers.”

From Jean-Sebastian Blondell

A bad way for The Doctor Julius Erving to end his great sixteen-year professional basketball career as a player, in a blowout loss on the road to the Milwaukee Bucks of all teams. Because the Bucks and 76ers played a lot of great series’ and games against each other in the 1980s. And Bucks beat the 76ers in the playoffs. So this was probably one of the last ways that The Doctor wanted to end his brilliant career as perhaps the greatest all around small forward of all-time.

But his career ending this way wasn’t because of him. It wasn’t his best game obviously, but 1987 was a rough year for the 76ers that had all sorts of injuries and had to play hard just to make the Eastern Conference Playoffs. And because of all the series injuries, we’re never a real threat to dethrone the defend NBA champion Boston Celtics. 

So it’s not surprising that Julius’s career ended this way, but it is a damn shame. It would’ve been great to see at least one more classic playoff series between the Bird Celtics and the Erving 76ers. But the Bucks weren’t going to allow that to happen.

Gloria Estefan Vevo: Gloria Estefan & The Miami Sound Machine 1-2-3

Source:Gloria Estefan Vevo- Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine.

"Music video by Gloria Estefan performing 1-2-3. (C) 1987 Sony BMG Music Entertainment"

From Gloria Estefan

This song is a good song in the sense that it has a good beat and rhythm to it. Very uptempo and a good enough band for it. But I believe the main reason why Gloria Estefan broke up with The Miami Sound Machine is because she was too big for them. She was a soon to be a superstar and her band was basically a local band that didn’t do much more with their careers after she left them.

I believe the only memorable moments from the 1-2-3 video is Gloria Estefan herself. She just looked and sounded incredible. She really is a beautiful, adorable, sexy woman when she looks good. And checking her out in that black leather jacket, the blue Levi’s, the black leather chaps, the black leather boots. She looked like this gorgeous sexy biker chick at a rock concert. And this video moves so fast with Gloria moving all over the place having a great time and moving with her band.

Gloria reminds me a lot of Alannah Myles in her Black Velvet video from 1989 where she’s wearing the black leather biker jacket with black leather chaps over black denims , with the black leather boots. And both Gloria and Alannah have great voices as well and just makes for a very entertaining music video.

The other memorable thing about this video is that it was shot at the Miami Arena in 1987 or 88 before Miami had either an NBA or NHL franchise. Just wish she did more videos like this and did them as a solo artist in the 1990s and now she’s not only be seen as a great singer, but very beautiful and sexy singer who has great talent, but also looks great. Similar to how Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Shakira and many other great female musical artists are seen today.

But there will always be 1-2-3 and this concert is also available on YouTube and you can buy it on DVD as well and be able watch her sing and move around all you want. 

You can also see this post at The Action Blog, on WordPress.

CBS Sports: NBA 1987- Eastern Conference Finals - Game 7: Larry Bird Highlights

Source:CBS Sports- talk about your NBA gladiators: Bill Laimbeer and Larry Bird.

Source:Real Life Journal 

"Larry Bird (37 pts, 9 reb, 9 ast) vs Detroit Pistons 1987 Game 7 ECF" 

From Merkin Muffly 

"Larry Bird sends the Celtics to the 1987 NBA Finals" 

Source:CBS Sports- Larry Bird didn't win game 7 all by himself. He just came closer to anyone else, perhaps in NBA Playoff history.

From Jean Sebastian Blondell 

The Pistons had to play the 4th quarter without their leading scorer Adrian Dantley and their third-guard Vinnie Johnson, who gave them a lot of points off the bench. Two players that the Celtics didn’t really have anyone who could matchup with them, other than Dennis Johnson. And even the great Dennis Johnson, who (should be in the Hall of Fame by the way) can only cover one player at a time. And Dantley wouldn’t have been much help defensively against either Larry Bird or Kevin McHale, or been much of a help on the boards, against Larry Legend. 

The Pistons still scored 114 points in this game without two of their best scorers. But they got whipped on the boards in the fourth quarter and had no one to defend Legend. They had the players for that, but Legend was still either hitting his shots, creating points for other people and getting big rebounds. Like he always did in big games.

Liberty Pen: Milton Friedman- 'A Conversation On The Free Market'

Source:Liberty Pen- Economics Professor Milton Friedman, talking about the so-called free market, in 1980.

Source:FreeState Now  

"From Milton's award-winning series, "Free To Choose. Liberty Pen." 

From Liberty Pen

We need to get past the notions of free market and free enterprise, because those things simply do not exist in the developed world as much as Libertarians or economic Libertarians, like to use these terms. What economic Libertarians are talking about things that aren’t real. 

Any economic system that is subjected to taxes and regulations which exist everywhere in the developed world, as well as developing world are not part of any free market. What developed nations or developing nations that are developing fast like Brazil or Mexico or China have, as well as the developed world have are private markets and private enterprise. 

Private enterprise, is a private economic system run by individuals. But subjected to taxes and regulations by government. To perform government services that individuals consume.

And the difference between free enterprise and private enterprise or private markets and free markets and private enterprise and free enterprise, is that in a private enterprise system like in America or Canada (to use as examples) is that they have private enterprise economic system. Where a lot or most of the economy is in private hands owned by people, not government. Which is a private sector, but these private enterprises are subjected to taxes and regulations by government. 

If these countries had free markets and free enterprise, these private companies wouldn’t be subjected to taxes and regulations. Private companies, aren’t free to be bigoted towards their employees, or potential employees, or customers. Or free to pollute the air. They would be in a free market however.

In a true free enterprise system, (and not a made up one) private companies could essentially if not in complete actuality, do whatever they want under law with their companies. Because they wouldn’t have to pay any taxes, or have to deal with regulations, like monopoly laws, because there would essentially be no rules of the road. Because it would be a free market economic system. That is just not the economic system that we have in America, or anywhere else in the developed world. 

As much as Ayn Randian’s dream about in their fantasies for that to come about, if you truly believe in a free market and free enterprise, then you would be against things like corporate welfare. And other taxpayer-funded investments in the economy. And let the true free market decide the success’ and failures of private business’s. Why, because you don’t want government involvement in the economy and taking taxpayer money. But many so-called Conservatives, support corporate welfare and don’t even view it as welfare. So let's stop throwing around labels and terms as if they don’t have any real meaning. 

We obviously don’t have a socialist economic system at least in a pure form. And no developed country does. (And thank God for that!) But again no developed country in the world has an economic system where charity and economic assistance, is in complete private hands. Where taxes and regulations don’t exist. Which is a great thing, because if we did we wouldn’t have the national highway system (to use as an example) because that wouldn’t be very profitable for private companies.

Liam Leahy: NBA 1986- 'The Boston Celtics Win Sweet Sixteen'

Source:Liam Leahy- perhaps you already know who this guy is.

Source:Real Life Journal 

"1985-1986 Boston Celtics - "Sweet-Sixteen" The road to the championship... 

From Liam Leahy 

1986 was a very interesting NBA season with the upstart Houston Rockets with their twin towers Hakeem and Ralph Sampson. And their very good and up-incoming backcourt Mitchell Wiggins Louis Lloyd and of course the Rockets upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Finals. And of course the 1986 Boston Celtics who had the MVP in forward Larry Bird who was the best player in the NBA in 1986. And leading the Celtics to the 1986 NBA Finals Championship over the Houston Rockets. 

Perhaps the 1986 Celtics were the best passing team and big team of all-time with all of their stars and former stars upfront, in Larry Bird a 6’9 small forward who was big and strong enough to be an all-star power forward. But with great passing, ball handling and shooting skills of the great small forward and the best small forward of all-time that he definitely is. And the two great big man down low in power forward Kevin McHale and center Robert Parish. And if that is not great enough, Bill Walton off the bench. 

But 1986 wasn’t just about the Celtics and Rockets. You also had the Lakers taking a step back and not just failing to defend their 1985 championship, but not even getting back to the NBA Finals. You had the emergence in the Eastern Conference Playoffs with the Atlanta Hawks who looked like they were going to be an Eastern contender for years to come led by Dominique Wilkins. And the emergence of the Detroit Pistons as a serious Eastern Conference contender as well. 

1986 was a great year for the NBA, because it proved that the NBA was more than just the Lakers and Celtics and even Philadelphia 76ers. That there were other very good if not great teams that were perhaps just one or two players away from winning the NBA Finals as well. Like the Rockets, Hawks and Pistons, and even the Dallas Mavericks. That the future of the NBA was going to very good if not great.

CBS Sports: NFL 1986- NFC Championship- Washington Redskins @ New York Giants: Highlights

Source:New York Giants- kicker Raul Alegre.

Source:Real Life Journal 

"Re-live the Giants victory over the Redskins in the 1986 NFC Championship game." 

From the New York Giants 

I think the Redskins-Giants rivalry was my favorite NFC East rivalry of the 1980s, because they were both Super Bowl contenders at the same time. Both big, tough, physical teams on both offense and defense, both very good on both sides of the ball. And both teams simply disliked each other, but also respected each other to the point that they always gave the other team their best effort which is all you can hope for a great rivalry. Which is what Redskins-Giants was back then and of course still is today. 

As far as this game, the Redskins defense played well enough for them to win only giving up seventeen-points. But when you don’t score anything, you can’t beat anyone and the Redskins had some opportunities on offense. Like dropping some deep passes down the field that probably would’ve resulted in touchdowns. WR Gary Clark comes to mind, but the Giants simply outplayed the Redskins in this game and deserved to win it. 

I think home field advantage is overrated in the NFL, but Giants Stadium was a different story when the Giants were good. Because they were a powerful team on both sides of the ball (and I’m talking about physically) and they were very good as well and size and strength plays very well in brutal cold weather. Especially when it is windy and you play on a really hard field like the Giants Stadium astroturf. And then you throw in the fact that the Giants, especially QB Phil Simms, knew how to play with the weather in that stadium.

ABC Sports: MLB 1986- NLCS Game 3- Houston Astros @ New York Mets: Full Game

Source:ABC Sports- I'm thinking the New York Mets just scored a big run here, perhaps multiple runs. But you do your own caption, hopefully the right one.

Source:Real Life Journal

"Houston Astros 5 at New York Mets 6, F -- Game 3 in a series tied 1-1 are always critical momentum changers.  Mets' starter Ron Darling was shaky early, allowing four runs in the first two innings, but settled down after that.  The Mets got back into the game in the 6th, tying it on Darryl Strawberry's three-run shot.  Ray Knight committed the Mets' only error of the series in the 7th, allowing the Astros to regain the lead, 5-4, and it stayed that way until the bottom of the 9th.  With Astros' closer Dave Smith on the mound, Wally Backman bunted his way on, benefiting from a controversial runner-out-of-the-baseline call.  He advanced to second on a past ball, but it would not matter. One batter later, up stepped fan favorite, firebrand Lenny "Nails" Dykstra, who struck out in his first at-bat as a pinch-hitter in the 7th.  Not known as a power hitter, Nails got ahold of one and enjoyed the two-run walk-off, as the Mets took the game 6-5, and lead in the series, 2-1." 

From MLB Vault

An interesting matchup in the 1986 NLCS, because it sort of looked like a miss-match on paper. The Mets clearly looked like the best all around team in MLB in 1986 and dominated the National League. One of the best teams since divisional play started in MLB in 1969. They had great pitching, starting and the bullpen. A very good defense and very good, deep and balanced lineup offensively, as well as a very good bench. They had both speed and power in their lineup and Davey Johnson was their manager. All of these qualities for one team tend to equal MLB World Series champion.

The 1986 Astros sort of reminds me of the 1969 Mets: very good pitching, very good defense and a lineup that only seemed to produce enough hits and runs for the team to win. This would’ve been a miss-match had the Astros not of gotten the pitching and defense that they did in this series. And they got a lot of timely hitting Kevin Bass in this series who had a career year and didn’t do much pre-86 or after 86. Which sounds like several New York Mets of 1969. The Astros did enough in 86 to make this series one of the best NLCS’s of all-time.

CBS Sports: NBA 1979- NBA Finals- Game 5- Seattle Sonics @ Washington Wizards: 4th Quarter

Source:CBS Sports- the Seattle Sonics going for their first NBA Championship in 1979.

"Being born and raised in Seattle and having attended that game, I found it a crying shame that the most important game in Seattle sports history besides the 2014 Super Bowl was nowhere to be found on the net except for a crappy VHS clip of its final seconds. Seattle's KIRO-TV was gracious enough to release the entire fourth quarter of that game for the 34th anniversary of the championship, and even tho it was a Brightcove protected video I was bound and determined to release it for all to enjoy. So here it is, in perfect wide-screen video :)" 

From John Bonifas 

The 1979 NBA Finals was one of the closest played NBA Finals of all-time. Even though it was just a five-game series with Seattle winning the series. But the games were very close, it’s just that the Sonics made more plays, especially in the clutch than the Bullets. The key bucket, the key defensive stop, the key rebound. Similar to the 1975 NBA Finals between the Bullets and San Francisco Warriors, the Sonics simply played better as a team than the Bullets. Even though I at least believe the Bullets had better personal in both 75 and 79 and finally won the NBA Finals in 78.

I’m sure we ever got to see how good the Bullets could’ve been in the 1970s. I don’t think we ever saw the great team that they had the potential to be, at least not in the NBA Finals. The 1978 team that finally won the Finals, was 44-38 in the regular season. They had all sorts of injuries during the regular season and didn’t play very consistently. Finally got healthy late in the 78 season in time to make the great playoff run that they did in the Eastern Conference. And beating the Sonics at Seattle in-game 7 to finally win their first NBA Finals.

Movie Clips: Airplane! (1980) Crash Positions

Source:Movie Clips- Crash positions!

Source:Real Life Journal 

"CLIP DESCRIPTION: Striker (Robert Hays) tries his best to land the plane despite little help from everyone around him." 

From Movie Clips

Damn! I would hate to land an airplane with a crew like that to work with. Especially with a bomber on the plane with his bomb going off. Not sure what to take away from Airplane! Was this a movie of passengers busy people who need to get from Los Angeles to Chicago? Was this a movie of mental patients including the crew that are being transported from Los Angeles to Chicago where they can get the care that they need, or be treated at a cheaper facility, or a movie that just happened to have every screwball in Los Angeles and decided to try to deport them to Chicago.

Maybe I have it now: Airplane was a movie where the City of Los Angeles decided that they simply had too many screwballs in their fair city (and of course it only took them fifty-years to figure that out) but we’re talking about Los Angeles here where cults are fairly common, at least back in the 1970s and 60s. This movie was made in 1979-80 and screwballs are fairly common there and L.A. figured that out and decided to try to send as many screwballs as they possibly could and try to send them to Chicago.

NBC Sports: NBA-1991-NBA Finals-Game 5-Chicago Bulls @ Los Angeles Lakers: 1st Quarter

Source:NBC Sports- Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen represent the new leaders of the NBA, in the 1990s.

Source:Real Life Journal 

"Michael Jordan (30 points, 10 assists, 5 steals), Scottie Pippen (32 points, 13 rebs, 7 assists, 5 steals), and John Paxson (20 points, 9-12 shooting) all have superb games to lead the Bulls to their first ever NBA championship defeating the Lakers in the Great Western Forum." 

From Scottie Pippen

This was one of the best games in NBA Finals history. And had Big Game James Worthy been healthy and played this game for the Lakers, this game would’ve been different. Because it would’ve meant less double-teaming on Earvin Johnson, with Scottie Pippen or Michael Jordan having to cover James Worthy or Horace Grant having to cover James Worthy. And not being able to help out on Magic as much without getting burned by it.

This should’ve been one of the best NBA Finals in NBA history and not a five-game series, with the Bulls dominating at least two of them. But where this series goes back to Chicago at least for game 6. But the Lakers not having all of their weapons and not being as good as they were in the late 1980s, meant that this great Bulls teams was playing an inferior Lakers team even with Magic for their first NBA Championship.

Howard Beale: Network (1976) 'We're In a Lot of Trouble'

Source:Sunny Chew- The Great Peter Finch as Howard Beale.

Source:Real Life Journal 

"This clip from Network reminded us of why we become a bunch of couch potatoes!

Howard Beale : We are in a lot of trouble!... because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube. Right now there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube. This tube is the gospel- the ultimate revelation."  

From Sunny Chew

"Network (1976) we're in a lot of trouble" 

Source:The Ghost- The Great Peter Finch as Howard Beale.

From The Ghost

This is one of the best scenes from one of my favorite movies Network from 1976. Because it perfectly explained the economic and cultural situation’s of America in the mid-1970s that was going though a bad recession with high unemployment. People’s pay going down with only the wealthy doing well and seeing their income climbing. With corporations getting bigger and fewer as well ,with Howard Beale played by Peter Finch essentially saying, "enough!"

But at the same time what Howard Beale is doing in this scene, is giving Americans a constructive lecture about American society. Saying that too much of their realty comes from the tube. Meaning the TV obviously (not YouTube) and that not enough Americans were getting real information about life and not doing a good enough job of educating themselves. Not reading enough and doing enough constructive activities. That Americans reality was too much based on what they saw on TV.

Howard Beale telling the country that too much of our realty came from TV, especially Hollywood. That the top cop or hero (name the show) always gets the bad guy even if things look horrible when, because they still have the rest of the hour to save the day. That no one dies or loses their job, even in a bad recession that the country was going through in 1974-75 and this movie came out just after that, but no one loses their job or dies in the hit TV show family.

Howard Beale was telling Americans to get up and wake up and take responsibility over their lot in life, because no one was going to do that for them. That TV is exactly that and real life is what they live everyday and if they want to succeed in life, they need to make that happen for themselves. That Americans even Americans who are successful do loose their job. That people even in successful families get and die from cancer and that the hero in life is not always able to save the day. That life is much more real and complicated than that.

Michal US: NBA 1990-ECSF Game 3-Chicago Bulls @ Philadelphia 76ers: First Quarter

Source:Michal US- The Bulls @ 76ers, 1990 NBA EC Playoffs. 

Source:Real Life Journal 

“76ers vs.Bulls 1990 game 3 (1/…)” 

From Michal US

The Bulls and 76ers had an interesting good little rivalry in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I believed they played each other three 2 years in the playoffs from 90-91. With the Bulls winning each series, but they played a lot of good games against each other as well as in the regular season as well when the Bulls were contending for championships and the 76ers were back in the playoffs on a regular basis, but never advancing pass the semifinal round.

The 76ers were good enough to beat the Bulls at home, but not good enough to beat them in a seven-game series. Because other than Charles Barkley, they didn’t have a another player that could consistently hurt the Bulls. Which meant Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen could both have big games for the Bulls. Without the 76ers having anyone who could counter them.