NFL Draft is big business

By Jeff Orvis

It's hard to believe that nearly a week has gone by since the Super Bowl. What started way back in August with the Hall of Fame preseason game ended on the first day of February. It was an okay game that wasn't decided until the final minute. While I was hoping Seattle would win, I wasn't totally dismayed with the win by the Patriots.

So now it would seem that we are left with six months before the start of the next football season. For hardcore NFL fans, there will be some hope in early May when Chicago hosts the NFL Draft. After those three days of determining well-paid human bondage, fans will have plenty to talk about before training camp.

Thanks to plenty of promotion by the league and wall-to-wall coverage by both ESPN and the NFL Network, the draft has turned into a real happening. City officials in Chicago are learning a little more each day just how big this event is. And amid reports of demands by the league on city officials, I hope they aren't sorry they won the right to host it.

Radio City Music Hall in New York has been the home of the draft for the past several years. But the league decided to give other cities a shot at hosting it and Chicago won this time around. According to a report this week in the Chicago Tribune, the draft isn't just a little TV show with a few hundred spectators. It is an event that will tie up a portion of the downtown for up to three weeks, complete with technical improvements to the old theater that will house the event to the tune of $100,000-$125,000, a pledge of police escorts for various league and team officials and draft prospects and the assurance that hundreds of hotel rooms will be available during the period.

The league is very protective of its brand. You are perhaps aware that there are strict rules about the use of the term “Super Bowl.” News accounts can refer to the championship game in this way, but supermarkets selling party foods for that day have to call it “the big game,” or something similar unless they pay royalties to the league. The NFL is also dictating what businesses can be open near the site of the draft and what products can be sold in view of the TV cameras covering the event. They had better be NFL-licensed products or the businesses can expect a visit from lawyers.

City officials are hoping that the exposure will be good for Chicago, that some youngster watching the draft from Belle Plaine, Iowa will convince his parents that the family needs to vacation in the Windy City. It is estimated the whole event, which will also include some sort of fan fair, concerts, etc., could cost up to $4 million. While the league and a Chicago organizing committee will pay part of the tab, the city could be liable for a good chunk of it. So there better be a few hundred thousand prospective vacationers impressed with what they see.

I am a big football fan. I hope my Bears can rebound and be a viable, championship-caliber team in a couple of years. But the league is facing plenty of problems, from poor behavior of some of its players, to the question of the long term effects of concussions on former players, to the lack of a pro team in Los Angeles and on and on. I just hope the league isn't using the draft as a smokescreen to make fans forget about these problems, for even a few days.

Accountability and responsibility

By Jeff Orvis

Christmas Day, 2014. A lot of words are associated with this time of year: Peace, Prosperity, Charity and probably several more. As I prepared to jot down a few thoughts this time, considering recent events, a couple of words came to mind: Accountability and Responsibility.

These two words are closely associated, if not always synonymous. We are taught we are to be held accountable for our actions. If we don't, there are others, usually those in authority wearing a badge and carrying a weapon, will be responsible for us. The young man who was shot by Ferguson, MO police allegedly did not take proper responsibility when he robbed a convenience store and, again allegedly, attack the officer. The young man who recently was shot by a policeman a few miles down the road from there again allegedly did not take proper responsibility when he pulled a gun on the officer.

Sometimes the accountability and responsibility is shared by both the public and the police, as what apparently happened on the streets of New York when a man allegedly resisted arrest and was subsequently killed in an illegal choke hold by a policeman while some of his fellow officers did little to stop the incident.

While the friends and relatives of those who lost their lives are still mourning their passing, don't you think the officers involved are also suffering to some extent? First there were the interviews by police internal affairs and the district attorneys and the mountains of reports to be filed. If you can safely assume that at least most of those officers entered that line of work to help people, what internal turmoil they must still be suffering, knowing that they took another life, regardless of the circumstances.

While on the subject of our local police, while we are enjoying our families and opening our presents today, there are thousands of uniformed officers who are working hard, keeping us safe. If I was a policeman, I would dread working these holidays. People gather inside a home, liquor is consumed, arguments might start as the day progresses and in extreme cases, violence erupts. Police are called to stop the disturbance and often become the enemy, as all sides turn on them.

Of course, then we have the subsequent incidents in Missouri, where some misguided outlaws decided to capitalize on a bad situation by shooting, rioting and looting, destroying their own neighborhood. And just recently, a mentally challenged individual executed two policemen in their squad car, in retaliation for the death of the suspect on the New York street and for the suspect in Missouri.

So the question is, when will we all stop and accept responsibility for actions that sometimes lead to tragedy like this? In the wake of the massacre at the elementary school a couple of years ago, some apparently well-meaning politicians suggested that maybe it was “time for a conversation” on how to combat gun violence. I doubt that was much comfort to the parents of those kids and teachers who were murdered. The “conversation” won't bring them back.

There's another area of accountability and responsibility that has been troubling me recently. We see the commercials for the Humane Society, reminding us we should contribute to help homeless animals. We see commercials for various international aid groups seeking contributions to help the less fortunate here and abroad. Then we are seeing more and more commercials for a few organizations who are supposedly helping “wounded warriors.” Send $19 a month to one group and you will receive a blanket. Meanwhile, your contribution is supposed to help these returning warriors recover from their physical and emotional wounds.

I am mature enough to believe that our armed forces perform noble duties and keep us safe. They don't debate whether what they are doing in far off lands will have a lasting impact on our world. But many of them who are deployed to war zones do see at least a short term impact on the local population and their reward is knowing that they made a difference.

Recently, CNN has done an investigation into what percentage of donations to returning wounded veterans organizations actually go toward the veteran and how much is absorbed in fund raising costs and administrative overhead. The report indicated that some of the groups are spending far less than 50 percent of what they receive to help the returning veterans.

Aside from that, is it really the place of ordinary Americans to donate to ensure that those wounded in action receive prompt care and rehabilitation? If you believe that those who fight for us are true heroes, why won't our government treat them as such? Why so much red tape and delay at VA hospitals? Why isn't the government spending the money on the soldiers instead of donating some big, heavy armored vehicle to a small town police department that can barely afford gas for its two or three patrol car fleet?

If you enlist in the armed forces and serve one or more tours of duty in a combat zone, and come home minus a leg, arm, eye or nightmares that make you wake up nights screaming, your government should show its appreciation with superior and immediate medical care and a pension befitting a returning hero. Leave the pleas for donations from the public for abandoned dogs and cats. Our troops deserve much better treatment than that.

We need to ask some tough questions of our members of Congress. Hold them accountable. Demand that they take responsibility. After all, that's what we are paying them for.

Police situations, another opinion

By Jeff Orvis

Perhaps like never before has the issue of law enforcement been cussed and discussed. An unarmed shoplifting suspect is shot and killed in the street near St. Louis and soon the neighborhood is a powder keg of riots, looting and building burning. A big, unarmed man is approached by law officers in New York. He resists efforts by nearly a half-dozen cops to take him into custody and soon he lays dead on the sidewalk, the victim of an illegal choke hold.

Before the ink is even dry on the t-shirts, hundreds of athletes and others are wearing “hands up, don't shoot” or “I can't breathe” shirts. It's the latest fashion statement. Unfortunately, the statement comes from tragedy.

Social media is soon flooded with accounts of other violence involving law officers. Some of it allegedly stems from what police have done, but a lot of it is informing us of what is done to officers in the line of duty.

Through my former line of work, as well as other personal encounters, I have become acquainted with several local, county, state and federal law enforcement personnel. Having some understanding of what they experience every day, I have a hard time justifying jumping on the t-shirt bandwagon. Because of the availability of cell phones, it's hard to argue with those who feel the man in the New York case was a victim, regardless of what a grand jury might say. The situation in St. Louis is, and will be for some time, up for debate, as “witnesses” suddenly crawled out of the woodwork claiming the suspect was gunned down for no reason. That grand jury believed the officer, who said he felt his life was in danger because the suspect tried to grab his gun.

We expect a lot of our law officers. We send them off to classes, then slap a gun on their hip and expect them to protect us, all for as little as $35,000 a year to start. They are expected to make life and death decisions in a split second sometimes, often after hours of boring little action. They come to our aid seven days a week, every day of the year, in all kinds of weather, often missing or delaying holiday or birthday family celebrations of their own. They represent their city, county, state or nation, so they often have to act as public relations experts, keeping their own emotions in check, regardless of who they encounter.

I remember one time, when we were in church on a Sunday morning and a part-time police officer, since retired, was on duty. There was an ambulance call to our church for someone who had fainted. He came with the ambulance crew, then apologized for wearing a gun in the sanctuary. We quickly were sure to thank him for being there and accepted the fact he had every right to wear his firearm while on duty, even in church.

We are coming into the holiday season, when folks will gather together to celebrate, often with intoxicants. Emotions sometimes run high, resulting in disagreements. Domestic disputes can be some of the most dangerous for officers, who are often expected to keep the peace, even when it soon results in both sides turning on the police officer.

More than once, I've heard mothers of young kids warn them that they had better behave or that policeman over there will arrest them. I'd much rather hear the mother point to the officer and tell her child that he or she is there to protect them if they ever encounter a stranger or get hurt.

More than 99 percent of the time, police officers perform their duties admirably. Some people wonder why so much news has been devoted to the ongoing situations in St. Louis and New York. It's because what happened and what has happened since is news. We have a saying in the news business that while dog bites man may not be news, man bites dog is. It's something that thankfully doesn't happen every day.

I find it a bit amazing that many officers I have known firmly believe in the Second Amendment and the public's right to own guns. You would think their job might be safer if they didn't expect everyone they encounter would be packing heat. We have read of several recent situations where a seemingly routine traffic stop has resulted in a shooting of a police officer. Seems like those of us who are still unarmed are becoming the minority.

Regarding the situation in St. Louis, I have to comment on the morons who decided it would be a good idea to celebrate the grand jury's decision by torching several businesses in their neighborhood, stealing whatever they could carry. Don't they know this is like spitting on the grave of the man they thought was unjustly killed? Don't they realize they are destroying some of the places they shopped, some of them owned by their neighbors? All this did was intensify and prolong the tragedy.

I guess the moral of this rambling piece is the next time you are rolling down the highway and you encounter a policeman on the side of the road, don't mutter some oath. Take your foot off the gas a little. The next time you are stuck in a snowbank on the side of the road or are involved in a traffic accident and a state patrolman or county deputy comes to your aid, say a little prayer of thanks that he or she was there to help.

Hawks are going bowling again. Some first thoughts

By Jeff Orvis

Some immediate thoughts in the wake of the news that Iowa will play Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl on Jan. 2, 2015:

Many fans were disappointed with the Hawks' 7-5 record this season. Coach Kirk Ferentz and the man before him, Hayden Fry, set the bar pretty high over the past 20+ years. This year's team had plenty of promise, with experienced players at many positions and a premed major at quarterback, along with a former Air Force Academy student as the main running back.

My parents instilled in me the gift of optimism. Sometimes it is a hindrance, when you always see the glass as half-full until you are proved wrong. With that in mind, consider the fact that the Hawks had a legitimate chance at winning every game they played, except for that laugher at Minnesota. They were eight total points away from a 10-2 season and 15 points away from an 11-1 campaign. They lost two games by three points each, another by two and a third by a touchdown.

With that in mind, along with the way Hawk fans love to follow their team to bowl games, they were rewarded with a Jan. 2 bowl in Florida against an opponent with a rich tradition.

Before the bowl invitation was received, Athletic Director Gary Barta indicated that he still has full confidence in Ferentz. He is evidently not alone, as the bowl scouts seem to agree. When an AD makes such a statement, some coaches may start packing their bags, as sometimes this is a prelude to a firing.

While I don't think that is the case here, Barta is a man of character. But several factors could still lead to a new coaching staff before next season. If the Hawks don't perform well in the bowl game, there could be trouble. If the fans don't follow their team to Florida with the customary enthusiasm, the handwriting could be on the wall. Or if the frustration displayed by some fans was reflected in a drop in financial support for the program, we all know that money talks in big time athletics. This year's single game ticket prices of $60-$70 spoke a specific language to me: “Not in this lifetime.”

A more remote possibility could be that Ferentz may decide this would be a good time to explore other opportunities. He's said his family likes living in Iowa City. But he and his wife have just one child still in school, Steven, who is completing his third year in the Iowa program. The coach has prior experience as an NFL assistant coach and depending on his level of enthusiasm for the college game, he might entertain offers to move up to the next level as a head coach. Looks like San Francisco could be a real possibility, for instance.

A lot of the talking heads on national TV have said that the Big Ten isn't a premiere football conference this year. But it's interesting that 10 teams from the league are going bowling this year. Not too bad for a weak conference.

Random thoughts of Facebook, great voices and Chicago sports

By Jeff Orvis

Random thoughts time. That means I probably don't have enough to stick to one subject, but since it's been a few weeks since I last posted, I have collected a few thoughts on a variety of topics and I hope you find something interesting.

 

When I was growing up and we would visit my grandparents in rural western Illinois, I was introduced to the party line telephone concept. For those of you under the age of 50, let me explain. Folks were connected to the phone system via one line that would serve several homes. You knew a call was for you via a predetermined series of rings. Otherwise, the call might be for your neighbor. But since there was no such thing as a privacy switch on the telephone, if you were having a particularly lonely day, you could pick up the phone and listen in on another conversation not meant for you and suddenly you knew all the news and gossip in the neighborhood.

Fast forward to the 21^st century and we have the new version of the party line. It's called Facebook. Communication is achieved not by phone, but via the computer keyboard. The nice thing about this is your thoughts can be posted for all the world to read, but there are also privacy settings built in which will allow you to determine who reads what you write.

Every morning, I get out of bed, make the coffee, open the drapes in the living room, turn on the Today show and hop onto Facebook on my Kindle. Instantly, for just the cost of the monthly internet connection charge, I can be in contact with 200+ friends across the country and around the world. For example, my first post this morning reported that I awoke to 21 degrees and light snow. Before long, two friends responded. One said it was 70+ degrees where he and his wife were vacationing in Hawaii. The other said it was just over 50 degrees in Ireland, where he had been sent for a working visit by his employer.

This weekend, my niece is getting married to a fine man in Florida. Although I will be watching the snow fly while they recite their vows a thousand or more miles away, I expect a full report from several sources later that day, thanks to Facebook.

Laura and Kevin, while I won't be there to personally experience your wonderful day, rest assured that I will be there in spirit and wish you all the happiness you deserve as you continue your grand life adventure.

 

As I may have mentioned before in this space, in my younger years I played around with college radio. I had weekly shows first at Central College in Pella and later at St. Ambrose in Davenport. But I soon came to the realization that I would never have a voice like James Earl Jones. Besides, radio folks have to work on weekends and holidays, at least for a few years. And until you make it in the major markets, you usually don't make much more money than full time reporters on weekly newspapers.

But I have always marveled at men who have voices that make you sit up and take notice when you hear them on the radio. The aforementioned Jones immediately comes to mind. I remember one time when I was in Salt Lake City for a friend's wedding. We were in Temple Square on Sunday and were fortunate to sit in on a network radio broadcast. I can still feel the chills run up my spine when the announcer, using that commanding voice, said, “For the 39^th consecutive year, the CBS Radio Network proudly presents...”

My bedside radio is set to WMT in Cedar Rapids, despite the fact it is a Fox News affiliate and presents way more conservative programming than necessary. It's still the best place to get news, weather and sports each morning before my feet hit the floor. And it is the flagship station for Hawkeye sports.

On Saturday night, they air a show from an individual named Joe Pags. I guess he's famous. When I first heard him, I thought, “When I grow up, I want a voice like his.” Then I heard what he had to say, how he didn't even want to breathe the same air as President Obama and I immediately thought, “I'd take his voice, but he can keep what's left of his brain.”

Unfortunately, the other individual that comes to mind when I think of really neat speaking voices is that Republican obstructionist in the senate, Mitch McConnell. God gave him a wonderful speaking voice. But in my opinion, he quit before he gave him much compassion or common sense. So I listen to him for a few minutes before I literally feel my brain turning to mush and my temperature spiking and I switch over to that left-leaning, liberal media, such as CNN or NBC or CBS.

 

My final thought for today has to do with the coaching changes happening or needing to happen in Chicago pro sports. The Cubs recently hired Joe Maddon to lead them to the World Series promised land. Many of my Facebook friends who are Cub fans feel this guy is the second coming of Walter Alston and are already clearing their calendars in late October for the Fall Classic.

Meanwhile, the Bears are in a tailspin, having dropped their last two games where their opponents each scored more than 50 points. By Monday morning, Chicago media was all over this one, demanding the team fire Coach Marc Trestman. He's a nice guy who has had success elsewhere, but he's just not Bear tough. At least that's what some of the commentators were saying.

So after a couple of days of careful contemplation, I have come up with the solution. Send Trestman away and hire Joe Maddon to coach the Bears. He's already looking for a home in Chicago and has a couple of free months before baseball spring training begins. I don't know if he knows anything about football, but he certainly already has the Chicago attitude. At his press conference when he was introduced to local media, he ended it by buying a shot and a beer for everybody in the room.

If he is to be the savior of the Cubs, give him a chance with the Bears. Who knows?

Seven days and it will be over, for now

By Jeff Orvis

One week away. Seven long days. While I'm at an age when I marvel how fast time flies, I suspect this next seven days will creep by like that lava flow in Hawaii before we can put the 2014 election campaign in our rear view mirror.

Many of our daily newspapers in this state have endorsed various candidates. I've often read these endorsements in the past, considering the points the editorial writers make favoring or opposing a particular candidate. But I have never based my vote solely on what these endorsements say.

An informed voter is one who gathers as much factual information he or she can find, while filtering out all the noise we have been hit with via ads for it seems like forever.

Some of my friends have drifted toward the right over the years. But for a variety of reasons, I have become even more liberal than I was in younger years. So it might be surprising to learn that I don't plan on voting a straight Democratic ticket next week. I've nearly made up my mind on who I will vote for in each office, but these are just my opinions and you should make up your own mind. I will admit that in times of total exasperation with these sometimes awful TV ads, I've considered watching TV until I'm ready to leave for the polls. Then when I hear an ad calling a candidate a liar, I would vote for the “liar” as a personal protest. But this election is too important to use a vote as a protest.

The two positions in Iowa receiving the most national attention are for U.S. Senator and governor. The senate seat is up for grabs following the announced retirement of Tom Harkin, a longtime tireless advocate for the underprivileged, especially the handicapped. Republican Joni Ernst is facing Democrat Bruce Braley. If the Republicans win this seat, they may seize control of the Senate. This would all but ensure a national deadlock for the next two years, where nothing gets done and the president wears out his veto pen.

Braley has several years of experience in the U.S. House. He's been roasted by the other side as a trial lawyer. And as much as I would like to see lawyers in the minority in our government to help simplify things, he knows the ropes in Washington.

Ernst scares me. She is backed by a couple of ultra conservative rich brothers, the Koch brothers. She has experience in the military and I would hope that she would be a strong advocate for support of our veterans. But I fear her support would wane when actual dollars were needed. The Koch brothers have not only spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for political advertising, they have also bought some ads in this market attempting to indicate what great guys they are and how their business interests extend to this area. That's good news for local TV stations, but is it a reason to elect a person?

Braley is a known quantity. I sense he would be a bit more moderate than Harkin has been. Besides, he's from just down the road in Brooklyn.

One of the great things about living in a state the size of Iowa, especially if you have worked in the small town news business, is the opportunity to get up close and personal with a number of candidates and elected officials. I first interviewed Terry Branstad when he was running for lieutenant governor and I was an editor in Independence. I had a couple more informal meetings with him in later years when he was in town for a 5K run and for another appearance. For a career politician, he's very approachable. In my opinion, he's affiliated with the wrong political party, but he seems to have the ability to downplay party affiliations for the good of the state. I certainly don't agree with every position he's taken, but there's little doubt that he has been good for this state's economic development.

Unfortunately, I don't believe Jack Hatch, Branstad's opponent, has been well served by his campaign staff. The only thing that I remember about Hatch is that he shaved off his mustache and he thinks Branstad has been in office too long.

Chris Branstad apparently likes living in Terrace Hill and as long as her husband's health holds on, this state would be in good hands if he had another term.

This might be the first time I've been able to say I'm on a first name basis with candidates vying for the same position. In Iowa House District 75, Republican incumbent Dawn Pettengill is opposed by Democrat Steve Beck. Both are Facebook friends and I have respect for both of them. For that reason, I'm going to take the easy way out and not say who I will vote for. So I will offer a heartfelt “good luck” to both and thank them for agreeing to run.

It would be so easy to get so fed up with all the negative ads and the empty promises that you decide to stay home and not vote. This decision would appear to favor the Republicans. The Democratic party is known for voter campaigns. So send a message to those who would attempt to buy an election through the checkbook and get out and vote. And take a look at each race before you mark your ballot. Straight ticket voting may not be the best way to go this time.

And finally, regardless of who wins on Tuesday, plan on spending Wednesday celebrating the end of the election commercials – at least for a few days before they start up again for 2016.

Some words, background and opinion on the Redskins

By Jeff Orvis

Just when it seems like folks in this country are ready to overdose on a specific national crisis, somebody comes along to create a diversion which soon becomes the latest national crisis. We are still engaged in a terrible war on terror and all the accompanying things that go with it, from the cost of our longest war in the Middle East, to the continuing cost in dollars and suffering of our returning veterans. Recently, we have become focused on a real possibility that we could be infected with a terrible disease which has already killed thousands in Africa.

Then along comes a diversion sweeping the country. Actually, this diversion happened before the disease scare, but well after the start of our recent war. It's Daniel Snyder and his Washington football team and the NFL.

As near as I can figure, after decades of living with the Washington Redskins, somebody woke up one morning and decided that the name was demeaning to our brothers and sisters that were here before our ancestors set foot on the eastern seashore. As is often the case, when somebody needs a cause to believe in, a cause was born. Before long, it swept the country. NFL broadcasters vowed not to use the team's nickname when they covered their games. Phone lines lit up all over the country as listeners called into the sports shows to voice their opinion.

Snyder swore he would never change his team's name. The NFL hasn't made a final decision. But the league is nothing if it isn't about profit. Concerned parties will surely display public righteous indignation and will eventually change it. After all, just think of the millions of pieces of licensed merchandise with the Redskin logo which would be exchanged for the new team's logo.

The internet is a great place to do research on just about any topic. A quick check indicates that 69 high schools in this country share the “Redskin” nickname. Another site claims that more than 500 high schools have nicknames related to Native Americans, including Chiefs, Indians and even a few Injuns.

It is interesting that another internet check indicates that there are no Native Americans on any NFL roster at this time. If the league wanted to be politically correct, maybe Washington should change its name to the Washington African Americans. In fact, every team probably should, since the NFL says that more than 60 percent of the players are that race.

If that idea fails, at least Washington might consider a change to a name more fitting for a team representing the nation's capitol. There are currently eight pro sports teams that claim that city as their own. Besides the football team, we have the Nationals (baseball), Wizards (NBA), Mystics (WNBA), DC United (soccer), Freedom (women's soccer), Kastles (tennis) and DC Brawlers (grid, a sport I've never heard of).

It's interesting that the Wizards were known as the “Bullets” for a lot of years. Then when Washington became the murder capital of the country a few years back, the team owners decided a name change would be appropriate.

So what could we name the Redskins? We should have something that reflects the style of the area. So how about the Stalematers? Maybe the Lobbyists, or Debaters or if you want a singular name, how about the Filibuster?

Incidentally, our Plainsmen here in Belle Plaine share their nickname with just seven other high schools in this country: Enid, OK, Vancouver, WA Evergreen, Grant, NE, Laramie, WY, Lubbock Monterey, TX, Oakley, KS and Shenendehowa in Clifton Park, NY. That's quite amazing when you consider the thousands of high schools in this country. Still, not quite as unique as the Fightin' Planets of Mars Area, PA or the Rosco, TX Plowboys.

So, should the Redskins be forced to change their name? Again I wonder how many people are truly offended with that name and if there is a huge outpouring calling for a change, where were these people decades ago? But if it turns out that this is a secret conspiracy cooked up by club officials and the NFL for monetary gain in a change, maybe the changes should really be made in ownership and in the NFL corporate offices, as if they don't have enough problems already!