THAT’S MY TAKE-Week 6

THAT’S MY TAKE

Flying A Mile High-By David Ortega for Football Reporters Online

When NFL Training camps opened back in late July, very few people, if any thought the Broncos would have a 2009 season to savor. With a new regime taking over and many changes taking place this team had more of the look of rebuilding, than contending.

Following what could only have been described as a disastrous and tumultuous beginning with the trading of former franchise quarterback Jay Cutler, the Broncos new Head Coach Josh McDaniels appears to have made a complete one-eighty. After all McDaniels was replacing what some may have considered to be one of the leagues best head coaches and offensive masterminds (Mike Shanahan). Shanahan had led the Broncos to back to back Super Bowl victories with the last coming in 1999, but after a decade of struggling it seemed change was overdue.

When Pat Bowlen made the decision to go in a new direction this past offseason, even with his credentials McDaniels hardly seemed to be the right fit. The young up and coming offensive coordinator was busy making a name for himself in New England as an offensive guru himself.

For the past several seasons one of the Broncos major deficiencies and their biggest Achilles heel last year was the defense. A season ending meltdown (three game losing streak), culminated by a 52-21 loss that ended any postseason hope told Bowlen all he needed to know; new blood was in order.

Enter the young Mr. McDaniels, whose youthful exuberance and charismatic spirit has breathed new life into the franchise and the city. With his arrival came difficult, but needed changes. One of his first and perhaps least publicized (at least didn’t cause much of a stir), yet key decisions that has this team riding a wave of orange was the hiring of Mike Nolan.

A New Improved D…

Nolan brings with him the pedigree of winner as a defensive coordinator. His defenses of the past have built a reputation for being aggressive, bringing pressure, and most critical causing turnovers; all areas that the 2008 Broncos lacked. This season playing a new 3-4 scheme under Nolan the defense has racked up 16 sacks, held their opponents to 43 total points this season, and recorded 11 takeaways.

Of course Nolan is only as good as the talent he coaches and another credit to McDaniels, the key free agent signings made in the offseason. Like a glove Andra Davis (former Brown), Renaldo Hill (former Dolphin), and Darrell Reid (former Colt) have all stepped in to play a big part in the defenses turnaround. Without question the biggest signing was the acquisition of former Eagle’s safety Brian Dawkins. His leadership and infectious sell out attitude has this defense playing at a level like the city hasn’t seen in some time.


Offense is coming around….

Just as the firing of Shanahan was blasted in some circles, McDaniel’s hiring came with its’ own criticism. A franchise that needed a defensive injection instead brought in the next Mike Shanahan. The comparisons were obvious; McDaniels had accomplished great things as the offensive coordinator in New England with Tom Brady and helped a seeming mid-level talent like Cassel blossom. It was McDaniel’s offense that Brady ran in 2007 when he rewrote the record books with 50 touchdown passes.

With the defense suddenly playing inspired ball this season, it has taken McDaniel’s “Patriot’s West” offense a little more time to get simmering. Only last Sunday against the Patriots did the Bronco’s offense start to resemble something of what many that they would see in 2009. In their win over New England the Broncos had 27 first downs, ran up 424 yards of offense, and held the ball for over 36 minutes; characteristic of a McDaniels offense. The next step in their evolution will obviously be more points.

With players like Marshall and Royal beginning to hit their stride in the passing game and the rookie Knowshon Moreno anchoring the ground game (when he holds onto the ball), the Bronco's have what appears to be a potent-ed offense. And with a supporting cast of Gaffney, Scheffler, Buckhalter, and Hillis; these guys are only going to make for long days for opposing defensive coordinators. If last Sunday against the Patiriots is any indication of the potential of this unit, their ceiling appears to be a mile high.

A Big Test Lies Ahead……

With everything starting to click in Denver and McDaniel’s team 5-0, there is still much to prove for this highly scrutinized over-achieving ball club. In the first couple of weeks, it was “they haven’t played anyone” and then last week, well they’re always better at home. This may very well be a recurring theme all season long, but one fact that is hard to escape, this coming Monday night is going to be a tough road test no matter how you look at it. In recent history, the Chargers have owned the Broncos and with their team sputtering, this divisional matchup will be critical.

So far the Broncos have yet to be perfect this season, but with a little luck they stand 5-0 and atop the AFC West with a two and a half game lead over the Chargers. Monday night is another test for McDaniels and his boys, but one if passed should not only satisfy the critics, but legitimize this team as the real deal.

That’s my take.

FRO's NFL Performance Rankings for week 5

FRO's NFL Performance Rankings for week 5
By Jon Wagner, Sr. Writer At-Large football Reporters Online

While there are many power rankings out there based as much on hype, expectations, and too often, unrealized and inaccurate projections, at Football Reporters Online, we prefer to rank NFL teams on what's actually happened, taking into account only how teams have performed on the field and who they’ve played. At F.R.O., you won’t find yet another power ranking that doesn’t tell you much. Instead, here are the F.R.O. NFL Performance Rankings:

Week 5:


THE ELITE:

#1 NEW ORLEANS 4-0 -- Week 5: Bye
Coming off a bye, the Saints host the Giants next, in a showdown that could decide the top seed in the NFC playoffs.

#2 NY GIANTS 5-0 -- Week 5: Beat Oakland, 44-7
After four bad teams and the mediocre Cowboys, the season starts for real, as Manning returns home to New Orleans.

#3 INDIANAPOLIS 5-0 -- Week 5: Won at Tennessee, 31-9
Behind the other Manning’s five straight 300-yard games, the Colts have been rolling since a comeback win in Miami.

#4 DENVER 5-0 +1 Week 5: Beat New England, 20-17 (OT)
At 5-0, the Broncos are the early surprise of the league, mainly because of a defense that’s allowed just 43 points.

#5 MINNESOTA 5-0 -1 Week 5: Won at St. Louis, 38-10
The Brett Favre decision has paid off thus far, as the Vikings have scored at least 27 points in every game this year.

SECOND-TIER CONTENDERS:

#6 CINCINNATI 4-1 +6 Week 5: Won at Baltimore 17-14
The Cardiac Cats have gone to the wire in all five games, but they’ve managed to pull four of them out of the fire.

#7 ATLANTA 3-1 +4 Week 5: Won at San Francisco, 45-10
After a 16-point loss in New England, the Falcons used the bye week to prep for crushing the Niners in San Francisco.

#8 PHILADELPHIA 3-1 +6 Week 5: Beat Tampa Bay, 33-14
Three easy wins against bad teams and a blowout loss to the Saints: it’s hard to figure how good the Eagles are yet.

#9 CHICAGO 3-1 +1 Week 5: Bye
The Bears responded after losing in Green Bay with three solid wins. Tough roads tests in Atlanta and Cincy are next.

#10 PITTSBURGH 3-2 +3 Week 5: Won at Detroit, 28-20
Getting the running game going with Rashard Mendenhall has resulted in two straight wins.

#11 NY JETS 3-2 -5 Week 5: Lost at Miami, 31-27
After looking great for four weeks, Miami’s wildcat and a sharp Chad Henne exposed Rex Ryan’s defense.

#12 NEW ENGLAND 3-2 -5 Week 5: Lost at Denver, 20-17 (OT)
This is still not the Tom Brady-led offense that we’ve been accustomed to seeing. New England could easily be 2-3.

#13 BALTIMORE 3-2 -5 Week 5: Lost to Cincinnati, 17-14
The Ravens have gone from an elite 3-0 team to losing two straight, and a tough stretch (at MIN, DEN, at CIN) is next.

#14 SAN FRANCISCO 3-2 -5 Week 5: Lost to Atlanta, 45-10
As good as the Niners looked in nearly starting 4-0 is how pitiful they were in getting thrashed at home by the Falcons.

MIRED IN MEDIOCRITY:

#15 ARIZONA 2-2 +5 Week 5: Beat Houston, 28-21
The Cardinals’ inconsistency is typified by their L, W, L, W result so far. The defense stepped up late to beat Houston.

#16 DALLAS 3-2 -1 Week 5: Won at Kansas City, 26-20 (OT)
Despite three wins, the Cowboys looked their best in a loss to the Giants. Romo has been struggling with T.O. gone.

#17 SAN DIEGO 2-2 -- Week 5: Bye
The Chargers’ defense has underperformed. Already down 2½ game in the AFC West, San Diego hosts Denver next.

#18 GREEN BAY 2-2 +1 Week 5: Bye
The Pack hasn’t protected Aaron Rodgers, but coming up, besides a rematch with the Vikes, they get DET, CLE, & TB.

#19 MIAMI 2-3 +3 Week 5: Beat NY Jets, 31-27
Lose one Chad and start 0-3? No problem. Try another Chad, unleash the wildcat, win 2 straight, and save the season.

#20 SEATTLE 2-3 +4 Week 5: Beat Jacksonville, 41-0
The Seahawks are good enough to humiliate losing teams 28-0 and 41-0, but they’re 0-3 against winning teams.

#21 HOUSTON 2-3 -3 Week 5: Lost at Arizona, 28-21
The Texans have the talent for a playoff push, but they’ll have to be a lot more consistent than: L, W, L, W, L.

#22 JACKSONVILLE 2-3 -6 Week 5: Lost at Seattle, 41-0
After a 1-2 start, the Jags had a 61-point difference by following a Week 4, 20-point win with a Week 5, 41-point loss.


LOOKING TOWARD THE 2010 DRAFT:

#23 CAROLINA 1-3 +4 Week 5: Beat Washington, 20-17
Need a win? Play Washington. The Giants, Lions, and Panthers all got their first wins of the year against the Redskins.

#24 WASHINGTON 2-3 -3 Week 5: Lost at Carolina, 20-17
The Redskins will be the first team in NFL history to play six straight winless teams, and they’re STILL only 2-3.

#25 CLEVELAND 1-4 +5 Week 5: Won at Buffalo, 6-3
So what if their quarterback went 2-17 for 23 yards and their punter was their MVP. The Browns gladly took the win.

#26 DETROIT 1-4 -1 Week 5: Lost to Pittsburgh, 28-20
So far, the only team the Lions’ defense can stop is Washington (allowing 14 points)… 37 ppg allowed otherwise.

#27 TENNESSEE 0-5 -1 Week 5: Lost to Indianapolis, 31-9
From 13-3 to 0-5? That’s hard to fathom, especially with talent in Tennessee.

#28 BUFFALO 1-4 -5 Week 5: Lost to Cleveland, 6-3
The Bills looked good in New England and against Tampa, but they scored just 20 points in losing their next 3 games.

#29 OAKLAND 1-4 -1 Week 5: Lost at NY Giants, 44-7
Jamarcus Russell has 51 completions and 606 yards. That’s 2 games for Peyton Manning, who makes $5 million less.

#30 KANSAS CITY 0-5 +1 Week 5: Lost to Dallas, 26-20 (OT)
Even though they lost to Oakland, the Chiefs are higher for outplaying the Raiders and taking the Cowboys to OT.

#31 TAMPA BAY 0-5 -2 Week 5: Lost at Philadelphia, 33-14
Aside from a 3-point loss in Washington, the Bucs have lost by 13 twice, 19, and 24, while allowing 28 points per game.

#32 ST.LOUS RAMS 0-5 -- Week 5: Lost to Minnesota, 38-10
The Rams have scored a TOTAL of 34 points, which is less than what they’ve allowed in EACH of their past 3 games.

Tom Hayes: Not this time!

"For the first time ever, all five committees in Congress responsible for health reform have passed a version of legislation," President Obama said in his weekly radio address on October 17, 2009.

He went on to note that despite hurdles, "we are closer to reforming the health care system than we have ever been in history."

In response to massive lobbying and advertising efforts, the President said,

"They're filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads. They're flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions. And they're funding studies designed to mislead the American people..."

There are 6 health care industry lobbyists in D.C. for every single member of Congress. Combined, the special interests are spending over $1,000,000 every day to defeat reform, to keep things as they've been while close to 14,000 Americans a day lose their coverage, and over half of all personal bankruptcies are triggered by uncovered medical expenses.

In what may be the best turn of phrase yet in this battle for votes, Obama also noted,

"Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, 'Take one of these, and call us in a decade.' Well, not this time."

Read the transcript, or watch the video (below) and learn about the deceptive schemes and techniques being used by those who want you to tune out and stop listening so their profits and bonuses will remain undisturbed.

Got four minutes? Watch a quick video that sums up the President’s plan to provide security and stability to those who have insurance and coverage for those who don’t.

Thomas Hayes is a political analyst, journalist, and entrepreneur who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics including economics, politics, culture, and community.

Meghan McCain photo scandal - leave her alone please

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Meghan McCain's gotten quite an Internet going-over, mainly by conservatives shocked that she actually took a photo of herself and put in out via Twitter this week.

Then on Thursday and to a lesser extent on Friday, more television coverage of the matter. Unbelievable. It's upset her to the point of posting this column at the Daily Beast with the title "Don't Call Me a Slut".

Don't. Please. Do. Not. Do. That.

Can't we just let Meghan McCain be? Here, again, is my take:

Raj Rajaratnam, billionaire Sri Lankan, arrested for hedge fund insider trading

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Today I saw a rather interesting sight that shows how diverse our World has become: an rather large man, Indian, named Raj Rajaratnam, was perp-walked by law enforcement officials. (Video from Hulu.)



Mr. Rajaratnam, billionaire founder of hedge fund firm Galleon Group, who's the richest Sri Lankan in the World, is charged with hedge fund insider trading. But before I get into that, the scene today reminded me of the insider trading arrests of the 1980s which formed the basis for the movie "Wall Street" by Oliver Stone.

Back in the 80s, the people in handcuffs were white and male; now it doesn't matter what color or sex a person is in the financial world as five men (including Raj Rajaratnam) and one woman are being accused of insider trading: there are people who work within the law and those who operate outside of it. Apparently, Raj Rajaratnam worked outside of it.

What's a hedge fund?

The stories on this start without explaining what a hedge fund is. A hedge fund is an agressively managed set of investments that are designed for high-net-worth people of generally over $1 million in annual income.

The idea of a hedge fund is to have an at times constantly moving set of investments designed to essentially take advantage of Worldwide price movements. The idea is to have a constantly moving "Net Asset Value" and fees are paid to managers like Raj Rajaratnam from that increasing Net Asset Value.

There are a large number of ways to achieve that objective, from long equity / short selling (where stocks may be sold one hour after, say a company goes public, thus taking advantage of what's called a "pop", where other stocks with more robust prices are held for longer terms, like oil and utility stocks) to investments in undervalued companies who's bonds may be at "junk" levels (the bet here is that the company will take off and provide a higher return on investment).

The hedge fund industry has been for all practical purposes the "wild-west" of the financial world, with more liberal regulations and little scrutiny - or so it seemed until today's developments.

Fees of over $20 million

Raj Rajaratnam generated fees of over $20 million, making this the richest case of its kind in history.

What Rajaratnam is accused of doing is insider trading in several tech funds he started which included the stocks of Google, Polycom, Hilton Hotels, Sun Microsystems, Advanced Microsystems and International Business Machines. Insider trading is buying and selling stocks based on information not available to the public.

Basically, Rajaratnam, Rajiv Goel, the managing director of strategic investments at Intel, Anil Kumar, a director at management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., and Danielle Chiesi of New Castle, which is the equity group of Bear Stearns Asset Management with Mark Kurland, the senior managing director of Bear Stearns Asset Management and IBM’s Robert Moffat are accused of sharing information on companies and that led to the complaint filed by Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Insider trading and record profits

Is there any connection between this kind of alleged activity of insider trading and the record Wall Street profits by banks that received bailout funds?

That's not clear, but one obvious advantage of the bailout, according to the NY Times and Talking Points Memo, is the new ability of traders to take bigger investment risks, which is a common practice in the hedge fund industry, because their money is leveraged.

But this insider trading case had nothing to do with the bailout system. The wiretaps used to collect the evidence go back to 2006. That written, this is only the tip of what seems to be a large iceberg of possible future complaints. The AIG bailout helped a number of hedge funds. Business Insider reports:

Documents reviewed by the WSJ reveal that some of the banks listed as the beneficiaries of the AIG bailout were themselves middlemen for hedge funds. So AIG is a conduit to conduits to hedge funds. It seems that the investment banks sold credit default swaps on mortgage backed securities, and then hedge their risks by buying CDS from AIG. The swaps payoff if mortgage defaults rise above a certain level.

Did anyone of the hedge funds know the bailout was coming and profited from it? The US Attorney General, the FBI, and the SEC sent a powerful message to the hedge fund community that they are watching its moves.

Stay tuned.

Interracial couple denied marriage? What about Obama?

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As I read the unbelievable story of how Louisiana Judge Keith Bardwell showed that racism is indeed a mental illness by denying an interracial couple a marriage license because they were, well, of different skin colors, I thought about President Obama.

As Americans know, perhaps even Judge Keith Bardwell, Barack Obama is the product of an interracial marriage between a black man and a white woman. Terence McKay and his girlfriend Beth Humphrey, the victims of Judge Bardwell's racism are black male and white female.

What was the reason Judge Bardwell gave for his mindless actions? "I do it to protect the children, he reportedly said. The kids are innocent and I worry about their futures."

Ok, so Judge Bardwell's trying to prevent the creation of future Presidents of the United States, right? Because if you think about it, if laws against interracial marriage were still on the books and enforced, we would never have a President Obama.

But my concern is that folks like Judge Bardwell are allowed to practice anywhere in America. That he's active says as much for Louisiana as it does for him. Governor Bobby Jindal should be very concerned about the message of racial hostility Louisiana sends out to the World with Judge Bardwell's obvious violation of the civil rights of Americans.

What's even more frightening is Judge Bardwell doesn't think he's racist. According to the Associated Press, Bardwell said this:

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

That, folks, is the statement of one who in my view is irrational.

I totally agree with my SFGate.com CityBrights friend Yobie Benjamin, who writes:

This case is important as it shows the deep seated ignorance of some people in power. In the deep south, the justice of the peace is an important position of power and influence and is an elected position. From another point-of-view, the case is clearly no different from the discrimination gay couples suffer when government refuses to grant them right to marry.

But where I depart from Yobie's blog is that the case also shows how much we allow ignorant people to have power. Judge Bardwell proved this himself when he said that he had "piles of black friends". Obviously they're the kind of "friends" who are also afraid to challenge him because he's a judge.

Judge Bardwell's friends are also to blame for allowing him to serve as a law enforcement official without challenge. We as a society must take a far more agressive stance against racism than we have done to date.

I think one action should be for the NFL to relocate the 2013 Super Bowl away from New Orleans unless Judge Bardwell is removed and the sooner the better.

In fact, all bowl games planned for the Louisiana Superdome should be relocated if Judge Bardwell remains in power in any capacity in Louisiana.

And online we must take steps to stamp out racism, for good. For example, the subject for Blog Action Day 2010 should be 'racism and how to end it'.

We as Americans have to take steps to make sure there are no more people with the racist attitude that Judge Bardwell has.

Enough is enough.

Tom Hayes: Skin color? Again?

As you've probably learned, Louisiana magistrate Keith Bardwell, a Justice of the Peace, recently refused to grant a marriage license to an interracial couple out of "concern" for the effect(s) on any children born of that relationship.

“I’m not a racist,” Bardwell, told the Hammond, Louisiana, Daily Star. “I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children.”

If denying a couple in their 30s a marriage license based on them being different colors isn't racism, I'm not entirely sure we're all using the word the same way. It's been well over a year since then-candidate Barack Obama gave a candid, frank speech of our history and how we need to move beyond the out-dated use of color that divides us and inhibits our success, and I invite Keith Bardwell to review it. His actions are unacceptable to me, and violate principles laid down by our founding fathers in establishing the basic tenets we have relied on ever since - the Constitution of the United States of America.

I’ve got many friends from diverse backgrounds, that's the marvelous opportunity of living in the world's greatest melting pot. We talk about race from time to time. We understand that we've far from overcome the lingering, emotional "not like me ism," the "stick to your own kind" mindset of those who insist they aren't racists yet continue to speak and act as though skin color is the most important way to categorize people.

I trust any U.S. magistrate would say it is, indeed, self-evident that the egalitarian principles embodied in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights are widely acknowledged as both our guiding vision and our best weapon in the “War on Terrorism.” Here's something I shouldn't have to explain: That bit about "all men are created equal" applies to skin color as well, Mr. Bardwell.

In a recent column at Creators.com, Connie Schultz described a conversation she had with a non-white friend regarding race. Her column included the Jay smooth video above, from the illdoctrine.com website.

He listened patiently as I whined about how hard it is to nudge people on the issue of race.

Then he set me straight.

"Your problem," he said, "is that you want everyone to have that kumbaya moment and feel the change in their hearts. I don't need that. They can take all the time they want to drag their hearts along, but I want their words and deeds to change right now because what they do can have an impact on my children and on my grandchildren."

Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the author of two books from Random House: "Life Happens" and "… and His Lovely Wife." To find out more about Connie Schultz (cschultz@plaind.com) and see other columns visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

The fever of hope is contagious

Less than one year after his election as the 44th President of the U.S.A., Barack Obama's un-whiteness figures in world-wide perception of political reality in the United States. Centuries after the Constitution declared that all men are created equal, decades after the signing of the U.S. Civil Rights act, Obama's skin color highlights the potential for real change in our view of community.

President Obama's candor about skin color has elevated the conversations everywhere about our obsolete, insidious prejudices - but there are evidently parts of Louisiana where they need to be encouraged to listen harder.


Thomas Hayes is a political analyst, journalist, and entrepreneur who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics including economics, politics, culture, and community.

He's pro-diversity.