IT'S OVER!!!!

At last the baseball season is over - as in finished. The Philadelphia Athletics played their last game yesterday, and the wool uniforms can now be put away until next year. The team did not have a winning season - again - but won some games, had some good times which included Scott going one for three in the season finale. Scott has shown great improvement with the bat this year, but still needs a ton of work in the field. Perhaps if an exception to the no glove rule were made in his behalf he might have a shot in the field, but I am amazed at how well he has been striking the ball this year. I got to see him play at the Navy Yard outing a couple of weeks ago and was as proud as a father could be as I watched him get a hit and score a run. Hey, understand how far he has come. Scott once played an entire little league season with a final batting average of .000! Great job!

Unfortunately the Phillies season still lingers on. I haven't watched a game in a few weeks because as long as the team was going no where - why torture my soul with McCarthy counting pitches and Wheels babbling about whatever he babbles about. Actually I did tune in a couple of weeks ago just to see what baseball would look like in HD. I just picked up a new TV and was amazed at how clearly one could see the spit coming out of Howards mouth as he lungered into his batting gloves. It isn't a pretty sight and small children should not be allowed to see it. Since I haven't been paying attention to the Phillies I was not aware at how well Howard has been doing in the power department now that the games are meaningless for the team. I understand that he has hit hit 4 HR's in the past few games - including a salami. Way to go big piece - maybe next year you can go on a tear and hit your weight.

So, now that I've declared baseball season as over (at least here in Philly) my thoughts have turned to football. How 'bout those Eagles! Well they did start the season with two one point victories. Yesterday they played a team with a very good defense and were torn apart. Not counting yesterdays debacle in Arizona Michael Vick has been hit 56 times where he is knocked to the ground. The guy has no shot of surviving the season intact if that pace is continued. So what's the problem?

Coach Reid or Lord Of Lard continues to amaze me with how stupid or stubborn he is. Hey Andy - when the defense doesn't have to worry about the running game they can come after your Q-back with an attack not seen since the days of the Kamikazee attacks in WW2. What amazes me most is that he has a guy named Shady McCoy who is a talented running back. What is he saving him for? I played on offensive lines in both high school and college and I will swear in any court of law that run blocking is EASIER to do than is pass blocking. The Eagles o-linemen have proven that pass blocking is not shall we say their strong suit - so why not RUN THE FRIGGING BALL!

My plan for watching the games was to watch all of the Eagles games and then go to the NFL Red Zone. Yesterday I found myself in the Red Zone even after the Eagles game had started as I wanted to see teams play that had a chance to win. I recommend that you try this service if you are a football fan. You get to see the best parts of all the games for a reasonable price of about $8.00 a month. For your $8 bucks you get a whole bunch of other sports channels - and if you are in to watching things like soccer or other such waste of time sports you'll be in hog heaven. Do I hear someone out there grumbling about the cost. Hey cheap guy - you probably pay more than that for a six-pack of beer, unless of course you are content to drink PBR, Milwaukee's Best or other such swill.

The best part about the Red Zone is watching it in HD. Every hit is magnified to the point where you wonder how some of these guys can get up after being clobbered by 300lb plus guys running faster than a speeding locomotive. It is truly scary, though thouroughly awesome. Watching guys like Peyton Manning or Tony Romo get flattened is pure joy. (In my opinion it is impossible to hit Peyton too hard or too often.)

There are now just 43 days until we have the opportunity to send Mitt Roboman back to the planet Kobol or wherever the trees are just perfect. What scares me is that this asshole can still win the election. After all his gaffes, after picking Hitler youth member Paul Ryan as the VP nominee, and after conducting a truly stupid and inane campaign the guy is still hanging in there. The beady eyed republican nominee switches his positions almost hourly unless he is addressing a room full of rich guys who have just paid 50 large for a fucking meal! Then he tells the truth. Can you imagine paying 50 grand for a meal that probably isn't any better than the chicken you had at some idiot kids Bar Mitzvah! Ugh!

Seriously, Romney wouldn't have a clue of how the average American lives if you drew him a picture of some schmuck sitting down at the kitchen table trying to pay his bills every month. Hey the guy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and found that by screwing factory workers he could turn that spoon into 24 karat gold after closing their factories and shipping their jobs to China. Then the guy has the stones to tell us that he will go after the cheaters like China after he becomes president.

He has insulted just about every ethnic group one can imagine just about every time he opens his mouth, yet continuyes to hang in there. What is going on?

Hey WHITE MEN Obama inherited a situation nearly as bad as FDR did back in the '30s, has had a congress where the republican majority leader stated early on that his party would work towards making Obama a one term president and then refused to even vote for policies that were republican ideas. Does it really bother white people that much that when they look at the president they see a black face? It must because they would rather elect a guy who would make them bend over and grab their ankles while he made sure that assholes like him paid far below their fair share of taxes. If Obama were white would these same white guys understand that by getting rid of enviornmental and financial regulations they were being set up for the next bubble to burst? Obviously they just don't get it.

I really have a big problem with my fellow seniors who according to all the polling favor Romney. Duh! Romney tells them that no one on medicare of social security will be affected by what he plans to do with those popular programs. OK grandma, did you know that if elected Romney has promised to repeal Obamacare. One of the provisions of that law is the elimination of the so called donut hole for prescription drugs. I don't know what the cut off is but the donut hole given to us W has a level where seniors get no reimbursement for the cost of their meds from about 3 grand to about 7 grand. After paying the amount required in the donut hole the reimbursement resumes for those still alive after having to choose between meds or food. Hey let me fill you in on a nasty secret that most folks in their 30's or 40's don't deal with very well. If you live long enough shit will start to happen to your health. You will acquire type 2 diabetes because you eat anything you want and join the 60% of Americans who are fat or obese. It costs money to have diabetes. You will have strokes or one of the myriad of cancers, and your doctors will prescribe a variety of meds for you to take on a daily basis. These drugs cost money. I haven't even mentioned doctor bills, which will be considerable if god forbid you need hospitalization or surgery. So how come seniors are supporting Romney by a pretty wide margion? Beats the shit out of me.

My last screed this evening is about Mitt's release of his 2011 tax return this past Friday. Mittster paid an effective rate of 14.1% on about 14 million dollars of income. Hey, you probably pay at a higher rate but rich guys like Romney have a myriad of ways to reduce or avoid paying more - but that isn't my complaint.

He paid the 14.1% rate by not taking about half of the deduction for his charitable contributions- an amount of about 2 million. Had he taken the full deduction his tax rate would have been around 9.5%,not a number Mitt would want disclosed. Here's the rub. Tax law allows each of us three years to file an amended return to our tax returns. If the schmuck loses on Nov 6 I suspect that his amended return will be in the mail on Nov 7. If god forbid he wins - there is no way he still won't file an amended return so that he can claim the entire charitable contribution. What an asshole. Did he think we wouldn't see through this ruse. Hey Mittster - we already know that you are a rich guy - we already know that you have millions in tax avoidance investments in the Caymans, Luxembourg, and in Switzerland.

The big question of course is what all those years of tax returns that he refuses to show contain. Hmmm. I'm curious, aren't you?

But what about the deficit LSF? My advice to anyone who thinks that Romney/Ryan would deal with it is to invite you study the budget proposals formulated by both of these guys. Neither has shown a way to reduce the deficit and in fact whether Romney or Ryans plan was implemented the deficit would explode to the upside.

I've had enough for one night. I can't think about the election any more or I will become so depressed that no amount of sugar free Heavenly Hash will pull me out of the downward spiral.

Take care and atone if that's your thing, or continue down the path towards eternal damnation.