Had a great trip to Phoenix this last weekend - great area if you have not been there.  Spent some quality time with my folks, highly recommend the area if you are into hiking, outdoor activities, etc.

Recommendations - local brewer Four Peaks Brewing Company - Kilt Lifter is a great beer.
http://www.fourpeaks.com/beer/mainstays/kilt-lifter/#     

Highly recommend Old Towne Scottsdale as a place to stay, shop, drink and dine.  Great area with alot to do.  Also 15 MLB teams do spring training in the Phoenix area for the month of March - bored, make the trip down, games are cheap, venues are great, weather is better than here.

What a week here in Nebraska - a federal judge rules against Nebraska's discriminatory gay marriage ban and the Governor (who happens to have an openly gay sister) and the State Atty General rush to the Appeals court to stay the judges ruling and the Appeals Court does so.  So as a state, we had about 48 hours of trying to actually do something right and fit in with the country - just to get kicked back into being Bible thumping, scared of the world, necks.

If you believe this is a religious issue, you are reading you Bible wrong.  If you feel this is infringing on your rights as a Nebraska citizen, then you should be able to understand why the people who are fighting for this to move forward feel the same. If you feel like you are being a bigot/or prejudiced, you are.  And I will repeat my previous thoughts - these people are already gay, living together, and raising families, they are simply trying to get equivalent rights to other couples - how in the world does that affect you and your family?

2nd political thought of the week - we have had 3 police involved fatal shootings in the last month in and around Omaha/Lincoln, with 2 in the last week.  The most recent appears completely justified, the prior one the guy was drunk .148 BAC and could not be controlled by 4 officers even though unarmed, and the first one was a female who was threatening 4 officers with a steak knife. 
To all law officers everywhere, I appreciate deeply what you do, the difficulty of your jobs, putting yourself in harms way, and dealing with what you do.  That being said, if a single individual is the target of your pursuit, no one else is in harms way or potential of harm, and a sliver of a chance exists that if you just be patient and let this person/conflict run its course instead of pressing the situation, stand back and take 2 more minutes to see if you can resolve something without shooting someone.
I am also taken aback by how many law enforcement people I have talked with that continue to discuss shooting at body mass and continuing to fire until the situation is resolved.  Both the female suspect and the drunk guy in my examples above were surrounded by 4 officers at a range of 20 feet.  My mom could have shot them in the leg from that range.  This is a training issue coming from the police force itself.

Sorry for anyone that has been checking the blog for info and seeing nothing. Been swamped lately with work, family, life, school stuff for the kids, etc. Little break coming up with a trip to Phoenix coming up, but of course looks like they will drop out of the sun and 80's they have had just in time for our arrival.  Of course - oh well, still better than midwest snow, ice and cold.

Thoughts for this week - thanks to all of the attendees, donors, helpers, sponsors, etc. at the Skyhawk Baseball Association Bash Fundraiser last Saturday - hope you had fun, I know I did. Baseball around the corner - good luck to all players trying out for teams all over the country. Remember, if you love baseball enough, and get cut, you will find somewhere to play.  If you are willing to look for another program or team, you don't love the game.

Did you watch the Oscar's - normally not my thing, but the last hour was good - Lady Gaga with the only performance I would ever watch of hers, good acceptance speeches, some politics in the room, the determination again that Common can act and speak, but should not sing, Doogie is a funny guy, etc.

Current odds in Vegas on NCAA Basketball tournament  - if the #1 seeds are based on odds to win tournament - they are Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke and Virginia. See the info at http://linemakers.sportingnews.com/.

New TV if bored - AMC Better Call Saul looks and feels like a winner - 1st 4 episodes have been pretty good so far. Check it out.

http://www.ketv.com/politics/nebraskas-gay-marriage-ban-to-be-challenged-in-court-thursday/31356904

Well Nebraska continues to drag its feet in coming out of the dark ages on gay marriage and joining the other the other 37 states and District of Columbia where it has been legalized.

Quotes today from both the Asst Atty General and the Atty General of Nebraska

Dave Lopez, representing the state, made his argument around the definition of marriage. He said marriage in Nebraska is meant to "promote procreation and to promote stable relationships."

My response is that you are saying the only reason to marry is to have children?  And when in comes to promoting stable relationship, should there then be a fine or penalty for the roughly 50% of marriages that end in divorce.


The Nebraska Attorney General's Office has said it will appeal any decision blocking or overturning the voter-approved ban on gay marriage.

"I don't buy into this notion that all the states are going to eventually end up going there and we should just join them," Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said. "This is an institution that has been limited to a man and a woman recognized for 2,500 years."

I can't even respond to this one - I thought our former Atty General was simple minded - this guy replaced him with even less grey matter.

 A couple notes for both of you directly from the Nebraska State Laws category.

Nebraska Revised Statute 42-101

Revised Statutes» Chapter 42» 42-101

42-101. Marriage a civil contract.

In law, marriage is considered a civil contract, to which the consent of the parties capable of contracting is essential

 

Note on this one - civil contract - not a word about religious ceremony, procreation, man and woman, etc.

 

The issue at hand is the following item that was implemented into the Nebraska Constituion in 2000.  Nebraska State Constitution» I-29

I-29. Marriage; same-sex relationships not valid or recognized.

Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska. The uniting of two persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska.

 

It is a violation of rights to enact a law that establishes the removal or separation of rights based on bias to a specific party.  This would be no different than enacting a law saying women can not have a driver's license. 

 

For those of you that agree with our state's laws and our current State Government position - one quick reminder.  A gay couple that is already together, living in your home town, who work, pay taxes, and have kids in your kid's school, will continue to be together and live in your community regardless of whether they are married.  Their marriage simply gives them rights like other people to estate situations, medical planning, retirement planning, tax benefits, etc. that we already have.  Their marriage will in no way, shape, or form affect you and your day to day life.  So your denial of their rights is a bias and is no different from the bias against an ethnic group, another religion, etc.

http://t.co/YV6RlA4FXJ
http://t.co/YV6RlA4FXJ

NFL - gotta love these

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/roger-goodell-made-more-44-million-last-wait-211537621--nfl.html

Read this - amazing matter what you think but considering the year he had downright unjust

Great Valentine's Weekend - spent a nice night Friday with Tracy and the boys at Johnny's Steakhouse, visited the Joslyn Museum Saturday, had a family game night, watched Million Dollar Arm - good movie ( might bug real baseball fans a little), and got Caleb back to school today.  Love them all and appreciate that they all put up with me everyday.

New Grapefruit beer over the weekend - pretty good

Multiple sports thoughts today for the followers: 

Went to a local high school basketball game the other night - two evenly matched teams, one team worked pretty hard, made adjustments, and simply played the game.  Other team (the home team) kept whining about calls the refs did not make, (actually watched a couple players turn and look at the officials for a call as the other team took the ball down the court on),did not move well without the ball on offense and did not adjust to what they were being given. Guess which team won the game?  That's right - the 1st one.  Worst part - 2 of the players on the losing team are small college potential kids (D2 down), if I were a scout and was watching this game, I would not have recruited them based on how they acted, not how they played.

Current time of year sucks - NBA is not worth watching, NHL is not my thing, Sportscenter sucks, NCCA Basketball does not matter until tournaments start, etc. Baseball is just around the corner - local high school kids - if you are just getting started, you are already behind. 

Pitching notes today on Gamechanger - the importance of 1st pitch strikes. 

Your amateur sports resource delivered by GameChanger

We looked at top pitching staffs in Ohio and Texas. What did we find? Both have excellent first-pitch strike percentages.

Bored Netflix find of the week - Sirens, a comedy by Dennis Leary about an EMT department in Chicago - very funny, easy comedy to watch. 7/10