Bad Seasons = More Tickets

First off, I think it is only fair that I admit how disappointing the beginning of the season has been for the Nebraska Baseball team. They haven't been able to dominate in games when they are ahead in the beginning, and they often score runs but are unable to get back into the game before the other team pulls further ahead. Despite my own feelings about the team, I think that it is sad to watch how public support slowly disappears when teams are not winning games.

When I first started going to Nebraska games with my dad in 2005 the team was on the way up. They had been in the College World Series before, but 2005 was the break-out year for the Huskers. We were able to get single game tickets for reserved seating in 2005, but we were unable to get tickets for anything other than grass berm seating for the next three years. This was because the team was still able to win games and attract the attention to people with enough money to throw away on season tickets. I personally think that there should always be tickets held back for single-game use, but the athletic department would rather collect donation money. I suppose I can't really blame them for that, but it is aggravating when you are forced to sit on wet grass all the time.

To get back to my point, the past few years have been rough for the Huskers. They haven't been good enough to get to the CWS, and last year they didn't even qualify for regional play. This has led to an abundance of single tickets being available. While I appreciate being able to get good seats, it makes me sad that people have been so quick to drop their season tickets. If I had enough money to waste on season tickets anyway, I would keep them through the good and bad seasons. I worry that the same thing that has happened to the baseball team will happen when women's basketball and volleyball are no longer as good as they are currently. As much as I hate to admit it, Nebraska is a one sport state. Football will always be the one sport that fans will stick with through good and bad. This makes it harder for the other sports to compete. People like to say that winning isn't everything, but if you live in Nebraska it is. If you lose and you aren't the football team, you are in danger of getting cut off from the public's donations and their attention.

Differences in Opinion

Over the past week there have been many people that have voiced their opinions on the changes being made to our health care system. Political talk shows and news programs have been full of rhetoric and fighting between both sides of the issue. I think it is interesting to see how different people see the changes in health care in completely different ways. One way to do this without listening to screaming people on television is to look at political cartoons. I like looking at the cartoons instead, because they not only tell you how people feel about the issue, but they also make you laugh. It is nice to have a lighter approach to learning the opinions of others. While many of these cartoons do not align with my own beliefs, I still think they are fun to look at. I would have to say that if there was one cartoon that I agreed with and enjoyed the most, it would be the last one.

Howard Beale and Glenn Beck

While watching the film Network, I was interested to see all of the similarities between the character of Howard Beale and Glenn Beck from Fox News. I know that Dr. Hanson had said that Glenn Beck likes to compare himself to Howard Beale, but I was a little surprised to see how similar they really are to one another. Both men are in my mind absolutely crazy, and scream about the world ending and how awful people have become due to the problems around us. I think that Glenn Beck is spot on when comparing himself to Beale because he is at least as crazy as Beale, if not more so.

I also think that the way that UBS was trying to capture ratings by using a personality like Beale is similar to what Fox News and other news outlets are doing today. It is not uncommon to turn to a news channel and see someone yelling about their own opinions on an issue while stretching the truth. I think that Glenn Beck is the perfect example of someone trying to mislead the public into believing in his own agenda. I think men like Glenn Beck are extremely dangerous, because there are so many people out there that only believe what they hear on television. When programs like the Howard Beale Show and the Glenn Beck Program throw things way out of proportion it is easy to get people stirred up.

I thought the parts of Network where Beale would pass out on the air were hilarious. It is just like a television network to exploit something like that to get people to watch their programming. It is all about having something that the other networks don't have, which is why we see so many different types of people on the different channels. I think that the character of Diana is a perfect example of most of the people working in television today. She is the head of programming, which has been carried over to the news side of the network. She sees an opportunity in Beale to make UBS a more successful network. He may be unstable, but he can make the network a lot of money. That is what it all comes down to: Television networks want to make as big of a profit as possible. That is why people like Glenn Beck are so prevalent on television. Even if they don't agree with what he has to say, many people tune in to see what crazy thing is going to come out of his mouth.

It actually makes me happy that Glenn Beck compares himself to Howard Beale. It gives me hope that he too will have a downfall. I of course don't mean to suggest that I hope he has the same end as Beale, because that is something that a crazy person like Beck would say. I just have hope that one day people will finally see that he is a complete lunatic that needs to be taken off the air. The only way to accomplish this is to stop watching his program. As long as Fox News is getting the ratings, Beck will stay on the air. I also think that a network like Fox would be willing to take a hit like UBS did to keep pushing their extremely conservative agenda. Here's hoping that the Glenn Beck Program proves to be as much of a failure as the Howard Beale Show.

If you really want to save money . . .

Everyone in the country has most likely received their 2010 Census form in the mail within the past week. There should have also been a letter sent to each home about a week before the form arrived. This letter was telling you that you would be getting a form in the mail within a week, and that you needed to fill it out when it arrived. Like most responsible citizens, I immediately filled out my form and sent it back in the same day that I received it, expecting to be done with anything having to do with the 2010 Census.

Yesterday, I got home and checked my mail like I always do. I was surprised to see a postcard in my box from none other than the US Census Bureau. This postcard was to remind me that I should have received my census form after receiving a letter telling me I would receive a census form, and that I needed to make sure to send this form in. After throwing the postcard in the trash I thought about how much it must cost to send one of those postcards to every residence in the nation. I know that the postal service is part of the government, so technically they don't have to pay the postage, but they do have to pay for the manpower and energy to get that postcard to my house.

If we are in a time of financial crisis, why is the government sending each residence a postcard within days of sending the census form? They have no idea whether or not I sent the form in, but if they waited a few days they would find that my form had arrived, and they would not need to waste the money to send me a reminder. I know that sending a letter is cheaper than going door to door, which is why I think sending reminders is a good idea in general. I'm just saying to wait and see who sends the forms back before wasting the postage. I am no financial guru, but I would think that if you calculated the amount of postage it would take to send everyone an unnecessary follow-up postcard, you would end up with a lot of money. We could use this money for other things, like fixing roads, funding education, or even writing me a check to pay for increased garbage pick-up for having to throw away all the crap they send me.

Are small towns really safer?

I grew up in Grand Island, but I consider it to be a rather small community. I know that it is on the verge of becoming the third metro area in Nebraska, but I hardly think that having over 50,000 people makes Grand Island a thriving metropolis. When I was growing up, I used to think that I would spend my entire life in Grand Island. There was nothing that Grand Island didn't have that I couldn't live without.

As I grew older I started to realize that there was a world outside of Grand Island and Nebraska, and that I wanted to explore it. I have never really traveled to big cities like New York, but I am sure that there are a lot of good and bad things about living in a city that large. It would be nice to have everything you could think of at your fingertips, but there are a lot of problems with living in the city as well. Many people point out the crime that takes place in larger cities, but I have to disagree with the fact that this only happens in large cities. Over the past few years crime has been increasing dramatically in Grand Island and the surrounding areas. I was raised to think that cities like Omaha were full of crime, but now I read the news and see just as many stories about crime in places like Grand Island as cities like Omaha.

Since moving to Kearney a few years ago I have also seen several events that make Kearney look less safe as well. Crime knows no bounds. There is no way to keep crime completely out of an area, but many people seem to think that rural Nebraska is safe from crime. I urge these people to open their eyes to what is going on around them. I know some people that live in the country and leave their doors unlocked and their keys in the ignition of their cars. Unless you want your house broken into and your car stolen, you should stop being so naive.

Poor Sandra

I was disgusted to hear the other day that Jesse James cheated on his wife, Sandra Bullock. Who in their right mind would cheat on Sandra? I guess that answers the question: Jesse James is crazy. He had one of the biggest celebrities, and one of the nicest, but he threw it all away for a trashy stripper. It is even worse seeing all of this happen to Sandra after hearing her acceptance speech at the Oscars two weeks ago. She made sure to thank her husband for everything he had done for her, and mentioned how happy they were together. Obviously one of them wasn't happy. I can't say I am surprised that this happened, because I have always thought Jesse James was a dirtball. Anyone who looks that trashy all the time obviously has something wrong with them. I guess I never understood how someone like Sandra Bullock could be interested in him in the first place.

The trashy skank that Jesse had an affair with is named Michelle McGee. She is a porn star with enough tattoos to rival the owner of a tattoo parlor. She recently made herself look even classier by posing for a Nazi-themed photo shoot. One of the photos has her wearing a Nazi bikini, a swastika armband, and licking a knife. The pictures can be found on the TMZ website, but I don't want that ugly woman on my blog. I feel terrible for Sandra, but I can't help but think she is much better off without Jesse. He obviously has something missing upstairs if he is willing to throw away Sandra for a piece of trash like Michelle McGee.

What's with Idol this year?

I have been an American Idol fan for a long time, and I have never watched a season as boring as this one. There are no contestants that really stand out to me, and I honestly wouldn't care if any of them won. There are a few that have good voices and are good performers, but they are nothing compared to some of the past contestants.

I think maybe the main reason that I don't like Idol this year is because I thought last year was so great. With people like Adam Lambert and Kris Allen it was hard to choose who should win. I think that this year will end up being an obvious choice, because the only person that appears capable of being the winner is Siobhan Magnus. I hope for the sake of the show that some of the other contestants step it up and giver her some competition.

There is one other thing that makes me yawn when watching Idol: Ellen Degeneres. I am a big fan of Ellen. I think she is absolutely hilarious, but she doesn't have what it takes to be on Idol. I have a hard time listening to her criticism, because I really don't see how she has the credentials to give advice about singing. I really don't see how Idol has much of a future next season when Simon leaves. He is the main reason I watch the show. Hopefully they can find someone just as harsh and entertaining as he is to fill his spot. Here's hoping that Idol can get it together and avoid going off into the sunset.