Let's stop all this Shit & Really Help Education

Now that the Legislature has made Teacher Evaluations open to just the parents of the kids, we need a bill to evaluate parents and make that open to just the teachers of the kids. What a Joke!!!!! Like this will improve education. You want to improve education in this country!!! It's simple...Give every kid a stable, nurturing, & loving environment for them to grow up in. It's what they come to school with & what they do with what they learn , once they leave each day, that really matters. You can't expect schools to do EVERYTHING. I hope people realize this. Apparently Gov. Cuomo & the legislature like to play the blame game & point the finger at schools. They are more concerned with getting re-elected & heaven-forbid people look under their own roofs.

Look around....Those of us that used our education & came from a nurturing home usually do OK. Schools can't solve the problem of the poor home environment. That society thinks it can & therefore just puts them on the welfare rolls is what is sad. Put your education dollars to good use like a strong Mentor program for those kids that don't come from a nurturing home & help them before they join the welfare rolls. That's good use of education dollars.

There are other good answers to our country's Education Issues but as long as our leaders continue to try & win votes & blame everyone but where the blame really falls, the issues will remain issues. 

We need Parenting classes in our schools.  Help kids realize how important a job parenting is & how to do it right.  Open our schools up to help young parents do a better job.   A strong Mentor program for all those kids who don't come from a home where parents are able to nurture their child & their education.  Give these kids someone who cares.  A strong 3 to 5 program so kids don't have to go home to an empty house. 

These are just some ideas.  I know if we put our heads together we can come up with more.  Let's stop wasting time & money blaming schools & teachers.  For some kids, it's the only place they get that nurturing & get to hang with someone that truly cares.  Not all schoolls are perfect & yes their needs to be tweaking & a system that holds schools & teachers accountable & we need to be able to help them do better or get out but let's put the focus back on the kids.  Not just say we are.

Let the "King" be.

I as much as anyone, I wanted the Heat to lose in the NBA championships.   To me they embody everything that is bad in professional sports.  They are about stars & not team or team play.  The "Decision"  and the promise of 7 NBA championships showed such arrogance. It's all about me.  Lebron's behavior in this regard is anything but as a good role model.

But, is it arrogance or is it immaturity?  Afterall, since he was a young teen, he has been touted as the next Michael Jordan. Today he is called the Greatest Basketball Player in the World & maybe ever.  Millions of dollars and media attention were thrown at him.  What "Kid" wouldn't be engulfed by all of it!  How much of what we saw was really him or what the media painted him out to be.  Who is the real Lebron James? 

What if any counseling was he or any of the young athletes out there given.  Will Bryce Harper of the Nationals fall under the same kind of money & attention King Jamnes received?  How will they or any future young star deal?  Do the professional sports gurus owe it to these Kids to counsel them in how to deal with all the attention.  Should these Kids be protected in some way so that they continue to grow up before they are put under such scrutiny? 

The NBA says that they do give their draftees counseling.  But why do we continue to hear of the kind of behaviors we are hearing? If we want our stars to really be good role models & if they are allowed to live some type of normal life, then we owe them help in doing this.

Funny, we offer young professionals in many lines of work a mentor to help them learn & deal.  But we think money will be all these young professional athletes need?  Many of them come from almost nothing.  I suggest we give them a mentor and counseling so that maybe future Lebron James can avoid the kind of first 9 years King James has had to deal with.  I sincerely hope that winning his first title is the beginning of better times ahead for this young man.  Maybe now we will get to see the real Lebron James.  Afterall, he's still only 26. 

Character & the Hall of Fame

The government has spent millions of dollars trying to connect pro athletes & drugs.  The recently concluded Roger Clemen's Purgery trial was yet another failed attempt by the government, following in the footsteps of the Bobby Bonds & Lance Armstrong cases.  We can argue the merits of these trials & the money spent but I would like to discuss just baseball & it's Hall of Fame entrance guidelines as they pertain here, especially the "Character" piece.

The "Character" piece has been used to keep Raphial Palmiero and Mark McQuire out of the Hall of Fame thus far and I'm sure will be the topic of discussion this December when Bobby Bonds, Sammy Sosa, & Roger Clemens are eligible for entry.   

Roger Clemen's "Not Guilty" verdict may help him a bit but many feel he's guilty of something & his lawyers just did a great job of creating reasonable doubt.    The question for the voters just seems to be....Do these men belong in the Hall?  Do their accomplishments on the field warrant their entry? 

Will the voters use the "Character" piece to keep these men out?  Many might argue that there are those in the Hall with questionable character so why keep these men out? Ty Cobb supposedly is guilty of man slaughter & Babe Ruth of excessive drinking. Are all of the Hall of Famers Perfect people?  Cheating has been going on ever since sports began.  Athletes looking for ways to improve their performance.   Are steroids just another way to do this?  Should we put astericks or have a separate category for the "Steroid Era"?

I don't know?  And I don't have any answers for the voters come December.  All I know is that a Hall of Fame without the leading home run hitter & one of the games best pitchers doesn't seem right.  Maybe they need to take out the "Character" Piece.  I do believe that Character matters but maybe sometimes it's just All about the Numbers!!!!!!

What's up with Public Pensions?

I see where they are after public pensions.  How dare those public employees keep getting paid after they retire!!!! Funny how for years no one cared.  You see many of us public employees, with similar experience & skills as those in the private sector, took positions that paid less then in the private sector.  Why?  Because of benefits like our pensions.   My family of four qualified for federal assistance back in the 1980's.  No one cared for years because for years the money set aside for these pensions was invested and did so well, that up until 4 years ago, the public paid less then a half a percent annually through taxes into those pension funds.  But with the downfall of Wall street due to the greedy actions of  the rich, those pension funds have needed a greater input from public taxes putting us in the mess we are currently in.  A case of Money goes where Money is.  The Rich getting Richer & the gap between the Haves & the Have Nots getting greater basically eliminating the middle class. 

Therefore the need to go after Public Pensions.  I say...go ahead but be sure you compensate public employees well to make up for this loss.  They shouldn't have to work 30 years to finally make what most private sector workers with similar experience & skills make after 5 years.  Then, they could start their own 401 K's & whatever so that they will be secure after retirement instead of needing federal assistance.

Public Employees are Not the enemy.  Try & survive without them.  Let's find a fair and equitable way to dig ourselves out of the financial mess we are in.  We have a definite problem when 90% of the money in this country is in the hands of 10% of the people!!!!!!  When we pay ball players & entertainers 100's of millions of dollars and CEO's get billion dollar bonuses while their companies are going bankrupt.   The little guy gets sacraficed for the benefit of the guy with all the money.

So, what do you think. Are Public Pensions a problem?  If so, tweek em...fix the issues.......just be fair & make sure that EVERYONE pays their Fair Share!!!!!!  Maybe my 5 cents worth!!!!!

Team Chemistry...WHY it's important

Today, all the "talking heads" are pointing the finger at Miami Heat coach Eric Spoelstra for their game 5 loss to the Celtics.  Why didn't he play Chris Bosh in the 4th quarter?  Tearing apart his post game comments.  These so-called experts know basically nothing about a coach's role.  I coached for over 30 years and can tell you that I saw my role as two fold:  1.) Giving all my players opportunities to succeed and 2.) Creating an atmosphere where that can happen.  Just having the best players doesn't guarantee that success will follow.  In 1970-71 Bishop Gibbons High School had arguably the 4 best player's in Schenenectady County on it's roster yet managed to only win 4 games. 

The Heat have arguably 3 of the top 10 players in the league on their team including NBA MVP Lebron James and are on the brink of elimination by the Team Oriented Boston Celtics.   What the Celtics have and the Heat don't have is Good Team Chemistry.  Team Chemistry can not be overlooked.  The ability for the players to play together, sacrificing personal gain for the team.  The Celtics care about each other.  Watching them play, that is obvious.  There is only one ball & the Celtics know how to share it for the good of the team.  The Heat don't.  Just watch the 4th quarter of game 5 and you see it. 

Blaming the coach is easy.  Afterall one of his job is to build Team Chemistry.  I agree that it is.  However, you just can't put all that talent on a team and expect Team Chemistry to happen.  It's only been two years.  These aren't high school kids who really know each other.  Team Chemistry may happen for the Heat and then again it might not. 

As far a playing Chris Bosh in the 4th quarter?  Did anyone notice that with Bosh on the floor the Heat were a Minus 11?  His defense was awful.  He's not in game shape.   So stop blaming the coach & put the blame where it belongs.  A lack of Good Team Chemistry.   Players & coach are both to blame for that.