The Price of Net Neutrality (a.k.a. “Your WiFi or Your Landline” or “A Tale of Two Internets”)

Net Neutrality recently became a hot news topic when President Obama voiced support for the cause.  The issue which has largely simmered in the back rooms of technical discussions has now burst onto the scene with everyone seemingly now having an opinion—and most of those opinions unaware about the ramifications about what net neutrality means.

Now don’t get me wrong.  Opinions are nice—when you aren’t regurgitating 5-10 year old arguments for and against net neutrality.  The issue has become extremely complicated in recent years as the internet has gone from just dealing with PCs to dealing with the IoT (or Internet of Things—basically means everything from computers to cell phones to refrigerators to TVs to Smart meters to well any personal device that can connect to the Internet).  And some hard choices are going to have to be made in the near future—choices that some who support net neutrality will not like.

The next 10 years are going to be the most critical in the transformation of communication systems in our country.  The problem is that we did not address the potential pitfalls of the internet within the past 20 years and the failure to do so has now put the communications networks of this country on the brink of rolling blackouts or freezes.  Asking Tier I Cellular Companies to increase capacity but enforce net neutrality is going to have major consequences as more and more devices (perhaps as many as 50 billion devices worldwide within 10 years) access the Internet.  And with newer generations technologies, like LTE and LTE-Advanced unable to keep up with the exponentially growing demand, it’s going to get ugly soon, unless radical changes are made.  Those changes will be felt far beyond the Wireless world.

Tom Wheeler, who was appointed FCC Chairman by President Obama last year was given an thankless & impossible task: begin addressing bringing communications in this country up to the 21st century.  The previous FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, had laid down some pretty audacious goals in his years that Wheeler now has to develop a plan for.  And Wheeler’s boss just threw a live hand grenade into Wheeler’s lap with his net neutrality wishes. 

At the same time, younger people are moving away from the more traditional means of home communications.  Their mobile devices allow them to be free to move at will and not be constrained by certain area codes or tethered to wired Internet access.  More and more, younger people are cutting the cords and lines all together, putting strains on wireless networks, yet these younger people still demand faster and better internet experiences at the same price.  So better, faster, and still cheap.

To increase a user experience, more capacity has to be added to meet the increasing demand.  More capacity can be added in 3 ways: Spectral efficiency, more cell phone towers, and more available Wireless spectrum.  Without adequate capacity, the Mobile Internet will grind to a halt.

My thoughts on Net Neutrality are as follows: if Net Neutrality is going to be implemented, then Wireless Providers are going to have to be freed up to optimize the experience for all.  That means the following:

(1) MORE WIRELESS SPECTRUM MUST BE ALLOCATED TO WIRELESS PROVIDERS:  Obviously this meets the more Spectrum aspect that providers need to provide better service.  The Federal Government must act on the recommendations the FCC and the Obama Administration made back in 2009 of adding 500 MHz of spectrum to be used in Wireless by 2020.  Only now are auctions for newer spectrum bands starting to take shape—the first since the famed 700 MHz auctions in 2008.  What is being provided now (about 110 MHz) is woefully inadequate to meet the increasing demands.

(2) TIME TO KISS 2G & 3G TECHNOLOGIES GOODBYE… AND HELLO VOLTE:  I bet you didn’t know that even the iPhone 6 makes calls on a nearly 20-year old cellular network in the US.  Oh, it’s true.  You think a faster iPhone gives you better phone call quality?  Wrong.  For the most part, it’s still making calls on the original digital cellular technologies, such as GSM and CDMA.  But that is changing as we speak.  T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T are all rolling out VoLTE technology.  Think of it as HD Voice for your mobile device.  The calls are clearer, the latencies are shorter, and it’s a better overall experience.  But instead of having it’s own dedicated voice channels, VoLTE uses the LTE data network.  Your voice is spliced up into 1s and 0s and transmitted like data packets just like internet traffic.  Your voice in fact becomes internet traffic.  Telcos were having a devil of a time implementing this.  You see, wireless providers get most of their money from SMS messages (Texting) and Voice Calls.  Data traffic, and Video gives Wireless Providers very little in terms of profit.  So, there was no push to go to VoLTE.  But with Bandwidth becoming more precious, they no longer have any choice but to implement VoLTE.  In turn, the Wireless Providers are gradually turning off the older cellular network and recapitalizing that spectrum for 4G purposes in sort of a carrier-aggregation aspect.  Verizon is setting a 2021 deadline for ending 2G & 3G services.  AT&T intends to end 2G services in 2 years.  This will account for the spectral efficiency component to increase network capacity. 

(3) THE GAPS MUST BE FILLED IN… AND REDUNDANT BACKUP POWER SUPPLIES MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR:  9/11, the Earthquake in Virginia in 2011, and Superstorm Sandy exposed the limitations of Wireless Networks.  If everyone tries to get on the network in the same area at the same time, the network will jam itself.  The Wireless Networks are ill-equipped at this time to handle such a volume.  Sandy exposed something worse.  In times of natural disasters, improper backup power supplies located in the wrong places could knock out networks in local areas for weeks. 

If you are going to have the best wireless networks around, you need smaller “cell towers” in heavily populated areas to offload some of the traffic with even smaller cells in residential areas.  This meets the more towers requirement without having to put giant cell towers every 500 feet in this country.  Mixing Small Cell Tower with Larger Cell Towers gives us Heterogeneous Networks (or HetNets for short). HetNet technology is not just a fantasy; it’s here & now.  All the major Wireless Carriers are deploying them as we speak.  In a few short years, small cells will account for 86% of all internet connections.  And Backup Power Supplies (think solar, for example) must be available in case restoring the network in certain locales takes time.  In short, if you are going to put a small Cell Tower on top of a beachfront hotel, don’t put the backup Power Supply in the basement where a Hurricane could flood it and short out the power.

So we have accounted for the main needs Wireless Networks have to meet the increasing demand.  But two other needs must be met in order for Wireless Networks to achieve their full potential…

(4) TERMINATE THE COPPER WIRELINE TELEPHONE NETWORK MANDATES:  AT&T, Verizon, and CenturyLink comprise most of the original Ma Bell, which had to maintain copper lines built after WWII allowing people to communicate via telephone.  In this day and age, few young people know how to maintain those 50+ year old lines.  While fiber is being used in modern networks around big cities, fiber has a nasty little aspect to it… Maintaining connections becomes more the responsibility of the end user, rather than the provider as was the case with Copper.  You see that with AT&T’s U-Verse and Verizon’s FiOS systems.  If the power goes out, you have roughly an 8-hour battery life before your home phone dies.  The Fiber network still operates, but it relies on the power of the backup battery in your home. In the old copper days, network redundancies and the low power consumption allowed phone calls to be made even when power was out for days at a time.  In fact, the Government mandated the Old Ma Bell had to maintain those copper lines as a “Carrier of Last Resort” in times of natural disasters.

But with kids moving away from the guaranteed reliable wired networks into wireless networks, why should AT&T, and Verizon be forced to maintain an aging network?  It can’t be expected to.  My guess is that if the FCC forces Tier I Cell providers like AT&T and Verizon to met net neutrality obligations, a trade-off will be made which will eliminate the carrier of last resort mandates nationwide.  In short, the old Copper Wired Telephone Network will die… and with it, most of the unionized workforce that the children of Ma Bell Employ.  In its stead, a more IP-based protocol system (what 4G LTE networks have now) will be put in place allowing for fiber and/or wireless networks to provide some semblance of continued continuity for those who still rely on making a phone call while delivering other services, such as TV and Internet to users as well.  But it will not be as reliable.  Call it a hunch, but the end of the Old Wired Telephone Network will happen before the end of this decade.  There may be still Copper Lines in Rural areas as AT&T and Verizon sells those lines off to Mom & Pop Companies.  But in the cities & suburbs, fiber and Wireless will replace Copper.

Even with ending Copper Line Connectivity, and meeting all the wireless network requirements to make the internet better, the fact is 90% of the Internet is still ruled by porn.  The thought of 50 billion mobile devices looking mostly for oiled-up naked Kim Kardashian butt pics is disturbing, but there is another solution… if people want to pay for it…

(5) A SEPARATE, SECURE, AND PAY-INTERNET MUST BE ESTABLISHED TO ALLOW HIGHER-SPEED AND GUARANTEED ACCESS:  In short, a Second Internet must be established.  This Internet will be more reliable, allow for greater security, and will allow for faster access.  No porn on this second Internet.  But in order to access this guaranteed faster Internet, you will have to pay and if you try to hack the network, you will be kicked off of the new internet.  Think of it as a tollway interstate system where the speed limit is unlimited, but breaking the rules means you can never access it again.

There are still disruptive ways to connect to the Internet. WiFi is being used now, and LTE-Direct could be an interesting way to access the Internet. But if people still want to be connected to the outside world via a relatively cheap internet, the Government must provide the tools to wireless companies to make the experience work… and eliminate antiquated wired rules.  You want net neutrality, fine.  But you’ll “pay”… one way or another.

An Inconvenient Counterexample about Elections & Money

So the post-modem about the 2014 election is largely political analysts trying to explain how they were so wrong about the polling in the final days leading up to the election.  It’s impossible to think those tea-party  extremist Republicans could have won so decisively over those caring Democrats, they surmise.  It has also focused on the Koch brothers and how these analysts claim they bought all the elections for the Republicans (ignoring the fact that Democrats have their own fat cat donors in the form of George Soros and others).  But that’s not the point…

When smart people make stupid generalizations about events that happen, I always go looking for counterexamples to combat their lazy assumptions.  This time, I didn’t have go looking far.  So OK smart-asses…

Explain Maryland’s 2014 Gubernatorial Election.

Democrats hold a registration advantage of 2 to 1 over Republicans in this state.  They have held nearly all of the top offices in the state over the last 45 years.  The last three United States Senators have come from the same reliably Democrat 3rd US House District.  Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state by much more than a 2 to 1 margin (it has often been joked that the Republicans in Annapolis could hold their caucus meetings in a broom closet).  Maryland is often considered the most progressive state in the Union.

The Democrat strongholds in Maryland are focused on two areas:  Baltimore City, and the DC suburbs of Montgomery & Prince George’s Countries.  Baltimore City & Prince George’s County have a heavy African-American presence, while Montgomery County is home to many ultra-rich progressives.  Those three areas have more than counteracted any Republican insurgencies (see 1994 as a Prime example).

For the last 8 years, the Maryland Governor has been Martin O’ Malley.  He has seemingly had his way in Annapolis.  Two years ago, he successfully pushed 7 ballot initiatives through the legislature, then through referendum (those initiatives included legalizing same-sex marriage, in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and legalizing table games at Maryland Casinos—did I mention O’Malley got Maryland voters to make gambling in the state a Constitutional mandate back in 2008?).  In fact, O’Malley has been so successful, he has decided to all but declare his intention to run for President of the United States in 2016.

O’Malley’s Lt. Governor, Anthony Brown, decided to run for Governor this year and won the Democratic primary, which in normal years would mean an automatic win in the General Election.  He outspent his General Election Opponent, Republican businessman Larry Hogan, by at least 2 to 1 in ads.  At the beginning of the year, he was leading in hypothetical polling by 18 points over Hogan, had over 50% support in many polls following the Democratic primary, and held a 7 point lead in the final Baltimore Sun poll leading up to the election.  He was on pace to be the first African-American Governor in Maryland history. No one really seemed to pay attention and just assumed it was a foregone conclusion Brown would trounce Hogan.

And yet…

Election Night came and Larry Hogan won in a decisive manner.  A few votes are still being counted in Baltimore City, but Hogan beat Brown by over 4 points or about 70000 votes.  It was the most stunning result of the night.  Democrats are struggling to explain what happened.

So what happened?  Maybe Hogan pulled Election day chicanery? No.  In fact, there were allegations that the Diebold Electronic Voting booths were registering some of Hogan’s votes as Brown votes.  Was there voter suppression in Maryland?  No.  Again, the rules are designed to favor Democrat voters—no poll tax, no voter ID, no restrictions against voters.  Maybe Hogan had more ad funding than Brown?  No, remember Brown outspent Hogan by 2 to 1.  Maybe racism played a rule in the election?  Nice try.  Hogan’s running mate ended up being the third consecutive African-American Lt. Gov. in the state.  Did top Democrats refuse to endorse Brown?  Not that I’m aware of.

So what happened?  Media analysts are still scratching their heads.  But I know what happened.  Want me to tell you really happened?  You sure?  OK, there were multiple reasons why Hogan beat Brown.  Here are a few:

(1) HOGAN HAD A CAMPAIGN MESSAGE… AND STAYED ON IT FROM DAY 1:  Simply put the message was Marylanders were being taxed too much and people and businesses were fleeing the state for other more tax friendly locals.  40 taxes were raised during O’Malley’s 8 years as Gov., including an infamous “Rain Tax” (more accurately described as a tax to create a fund to clean up the Chesapeake Bay).  People of all political stripes were getting tired of being taxed beyond their means.  In addition, some of the taxes designated for things like transportation were diverted for other purposes—legally, but it made voters mad that the legislature were pleading poverty on transportation funding after raiding those same funds for something else.  Hogan wanted to stop burdening Maryland voters with more taxes and wanted to try and make a state ranked 49th in business climate more friendly.  As for Brown, all he really offered in his campaign was expanding Pre-K education.  In the closing days, he offered to look at business regulations once elected, but it was a half-hearted gesture.  Which leads to point 2…

(2) ANTHONY BROWN RAN A POOR, SLOPPY CAMPAIGN… AND HOGAN RAN A BEAUTIFUL CAMPAIGN:  In short, Brown never took the built-in lead he had after the primary and expand that lead.  He was more interested in campaigning not to lose the election.  He had a distinctively negative tone in his campaign, attacking Hogan with distorted accusations.  It was one of the worst campaigns in Maryland history, and did not really inspire voters to go to the polls.  Instead, Brown tried to win on fear.  Hogan, on the other hand, ran a clean campaign.  Some local analysts even thought it was one of the best campaigns run in recent Maryland history.  Not even last minute appearances by the President and First Lady, who remain popular in the state, could save Brown.  Brown failed to energize his own base.

(3) HOGAN WENT EVERYWHERE… EVEN INTO DEMOCRATIC STRONGHOLDS:  Larry Hogan went across the state in an effort to ask people for their votes.  He talked with voters—not just supporters, but people who probably ended up voting for Brown.  He made an effort to reach out to African-American voters with more than lip-service.  Brown took his base for granted.  That, combined with the negative campaigning, turned off many voters in Montgomery County and possible supporters in Howard and Baltimore Counties.

(4) WHO IS ANTHONY BROWN:  Fact: No Lt. Gov. has ever been promoted to the top position in the State of Maryland.  There a reason for that:  Most Lt. Gov. have been placed on the ballot to check off the box for a special group of voters needed to secure elections.  Once in Annapolis, the #2 position is largely symbolic.  Despite attempts by O’Malley to help raise Brown’s profile, he never really gained traction as a name in Annapolis.  And one of Brown’s high-profile tasks in Annapolis ended up being a debacle.

(5) BROWN RAN THE FAILED STATE HEALTH-CARE EXCHANGE:  Brown was the guy that was supposed to help roll out the State of Maryland Website for Obamacare… and the rollout was a disaster.  First off, with all the smart people supposedly in Maryland, why was a Canadian company chosen to roll out the Website. (Editor’s note:  The reason the Health-care exchange worked so well in Kentucky as opposed to Maryland?  I believe they found the smartest people in Kentucky to help roll out the state exchange and talked to the people of the state to find out what they needed.  There may not be a “whole lot of smart people” in Kentucky, but they found the right people and their exchange worked well).  And it took a while before Maryland admitted their mistake and went with the National Website.  But it cost major money.  And since Brown was the one in charge of the initial botched rollout, he took the blame.

But maybe the last reason is the real reason…

(6 ) PEOPLE WANTED CHANGE:  Anthony Brown didn’t want to distance himself from Martin O’Malley.  And despite O’Malley’s successes in Annapolis, he was losing popularity as the full ramifications of his tax hikes became apparent.  Brown’s failure to bring new ideas to his campaign, largely campaigning for a 3rd O’Malley term turned away his base.  Even normally reliable Democratic voters switched over to vote for a fresh face in Annapolis.

Now, to be fair, Larry Hogan will not have an easy time as Governor in Annapolis.  With Michael Busch and Mike Miller still in control of the legislature, it will not be easy to roll back any of O’Malley’s taxes.  But even if Hogan is unsuccessful, it appears Democrats have gotten the message:  Stop taxing residents at will, start bringing businesses back to Maryland, and start proving you can be good stewards of the state.

The lesson here:  Money doesn’t always win elections.  Neither does an existing voter base advantage.  Having a good message and ground game can overcome the odds—and Hogan certainly had both of those.  His reward is the top position in Maryland for the next 4 years.  Can Hogan capitalize on his success and help build a legitimate opposition to the Maryland Democrat Machine that has steamrolled Republicans over the years?  That remains to be seen…

As for Anthony Brown and his running mate, Ken Ulman?  Their statewide political careers are over.  Democrats in Maryland do not tolerate statewide failures (see Kathleen Kennedy Townsend).  And Martin O’Malley’s Presidential Campaign in 2016 took possibly a fatal hit.  O’Malley may want to focus on taking a few years off, then come back and possibly run for US Senate in 2018 if Ben Cardin retires.  In the end, the Democrats will run a stronger candidate in four years to try and reclaim the top spot.

In the end Hogan was the better choice.  Now comes the hard part for someone who has never held political office before:  governing.  And as for political analysts:  I wondered if they have learned any real lessons from this election cycle.  Maybe, maybe not… But the dumb generalizations about what happened will continue.  Why?  Because it’s easy to come up with an excuse to blame something for losing elections.  That’s just the way we are.  We’re human after all.

How the Wireless World may be changing the 2014 mid-term elections… & may change every National election going forward…

We may be witnessing the true beginning of a new polling revolution as we approach the 2014 mid-term elections… something which could be factored on going forward.  With an increasing amount of people relying on cell phones/mobile devices as their only means of communications whether on the road or at home, the traditional means of polling people by using landline phones may go the way of the VCR… and it may make polling unreliable unless pollsters adapt.

In the past, every home owner had a landline phone from which pollsters could contact by using a phone book and get a reasonable sample size to determine who was going to win an election.  This, in term, helped the Democrats and Republicans identify hot races to pour money into, and dumping far fewer dollars into races which were less competitive.  As more campaign money is now being thrown into more races via outside sources, the polling indicates races turning, thus forcing national parties to throw even more money at more races.

But in an age when more and more people are ditching landline phones in favor of mobile devices, can the pollsters keep pace?  A recent poll conducted in one of the key US Senate races of interest may provide a clue.  In Alaska, throughout most of the summer & early fall incumbent senator, Mark Begich (D ), was trailing by 5 percentage points. But a recent poll, undertaken by a Republican consultant showed Begich ahead—by 10 percentage points. 

Why the change in spread?  Did Begich’s challenger make some key missteps? No.  Did the Democrat National Committee pump in major money to Alaska? Not that I’m aware of.  So what did the Republican consultant do that showed such a change?  Answer: 79% of the poll’s respondents answered the questions via cell phones. No big deal, you think. Until you realize that in Alaska the cell phone is a more reliable means of communication—because landlines do not exist in significant numbers in Alaska. 

So which polling in Alaska should be considered as more accurate:  the polls indicating Begich is 5 points behind or the one showing Begich is 10 points ahead? Can cell phone polling be used as a reliable means of predicting election patterns?  To answer that, four stereotypes must be confronted about mobile devices:

Stereotype #1: Younger people (currently those under the age of 40 as of 2014) are more likely to ditch landlines in favor of mobile service.

Stereotype #2: Those same younger people in stereotype #1 are more progressive in their political logic.

Stereotype #3: Those same younger people in stereotype #1 are more likely to vote in Presidential elections than in mid-term elections.

Stereotype #4: If you call someone on a cell phone, they will know who is calling and, unless it is a friend, they will ignore the call.

Are these stereotypes true or more myth? The pollsters and political parties that can navigate through these stereotypes to discover the truth about mobile users and how to reach them successfully may have a leg up in the elections to come. 

Is the US Senate race in Alaska the first such successful polling of cell phone users?  Or is it distorted in favor of Begich?  The answer will come on Tuesday.  But if the Republican pollster in Alaska polled the right people, his polling will be studied for elections to come.  More than control of Congress and Governors’ mansions are at stake on Tuesday.  The very future of polling voters in an increasing mobile world is as well.

Before the Cluster Days of the GCPS System… or Why South Gwinnett vs. Brookwood was once personal in Snellville

Last Friday night, South Gwinnett defeated Brookwood 44-14 for their 1st win of the HS Football season.  More importantly for the Comets, the win was their unprecedented 3rd straight over the Broncos in the and 4th in the last 6 seasons.  The “Battle of Snellville” may still mean something to the teams over 30 years after it first began, but it doesn’t come close to how personal it once was. 

It was established as a natural rivalry.  South Gwinnett, just east of downtown Snellville on US 78, was one of the original four Gwinnett County Public High School, built in the late 1950s from the same template as Central Gwinnett, North Gwinnett, and West Gwinnett (later Norcross).  It had thin, darkened hallways.  Smallish classrooms.  It had grown over time, but was 6 separate buildings loosely linked together.  Covered walkways would not be added until the late 1980s.  The Blue and Grey school gave the appearance of a blue-collar school. 

Contrast with Brookwood, located on the NW side of town.  The Maroon & Gold prototype of the New Gwinnett County Public High Schools of the 1980s (Shiloh & Meadowcreek would follow using largely the same blueprint as Brookwood).  Everything under one roof.  Cafeteria, Auditorium, Gymnasium, wide well-lit hallways, Large Classrooms… was missing some Athletic Fields for the first 10 years or so, but they were eventually added.  And that area had parents with money—or at least appeared to have more money than the rest of Snellville.

To understand why the rivalry used to be so personal, you have to go back to its birth.  Snellville still thought of itself as a small town in the late 1970s and early 1980s—around the time my family moved into the growing community.  The motto “Where Everybody is Somebody” genuinely meant something to the people of the town.  The city went to the same schools (Britt Elementary, Snellville Middle, South Gwinnett HS), would shop in the same stores, would eat at the same restaurants, would play the same kids’ sports, would worship in the same churches (except for outliers like my family who were the Lutheran oddballs in a Baptist/United Methodist dominated community, but you get the idea)…  In short, dividing the community was not something to be taken lightly.  And yet, that’s exactly what happened, starting in the fall of 1981, when that new HS first appeared at the corner of Hollybook and Dogwood...

Because of how close the town was, everybody at least knew somebody close who were lining up on the opposite side of High Schools starting in 1981.  We had gone to Britt Elementary and Snellville Middle together, and we had become friends with so many people who ended up on the other side that when we had to face each other, it felt more like a family feud than a true enemy.  And though the lines were clearly drawn, they were blurred on a daily basis of life, because we all eventually had to go to the same places.  Because the cluster system of GCPS still had yet been established in the early days, you would have these scenarios of friends ultimately get separated between Blue & Grey and Maroon & Gold when it came time to go to High School.  Much in the same way that kids who grew up at Centerville Elementary & Grayson Elementary got split up when it was Middle School Time, or what would happen later on when Richards Middle School first came on line and fed into both Brookwood and Central Gwinnett High Schools. 

I’ll give you my personal example… When my family first moved to Snellville in 1979, we had heard rumors that GCPS were going to add a new HS in the Snellville area to relieve overcrowding.  This was just 3 years after Parkview HS came online as the 8th Public HS in Gwinnett County just 3 years earlier (there are now 18 Public HS).  For whatever reason, my parents wanted to make sure that we did not go into the new Public HS, so they chose a house on the more affordable NE side of town, which kept us firmly entrenched on the South Gwinnett side of Snellville.  But, my dad knew faculty members who were coming on board to the new HS (most notably Principal Emmitt Lawson and Assistant Principal Dan Chelko, who left the same positions at Britt Elementary when the new HS came), so in a weird masochistic way, my dad and I would often interact with the “new school” throughout our lives in town.  I attended multiple Eddie Martin Basketball Camps.  In High School, my dad and I would actually help Coach Berry’s Annual Brookwood Scholar’s Bowl Tournaments.  Heck, I got treated better by the arch-rival Scholar’s Bowl Coach than my own Scholar’s Bowl Coach.

Those early years were hard, particularly for the old grey lady of South.  More times than not, the younger rival would get the better of the Comets.  There was actually a stretch of time where a kid could have started elementary school at Britt as a Kindergarten student, and graduated from South Gwinnett High School having never seen the Comets beat the Brookwood Broncos in Football.  It wasn’t just football, though.  Brookwood generally had the more athletic teams, on average had the smarter students, and got more of the state & national recognition for being one of the best public high schools around.  But one thing I will always give the Comets credit for… the eternal optimism that my South Friends and I had.  And occasionally, we got the better of our younger rivals in sports and academics.

As time wore on, however, a number of factors began to slowly eliminate the chance for rival schools to interact with each other—in particular, South and Brookwood.  First, GCPS realized that having the kids getting separated from Elementary & Middle Schools into different High Schools often had a negative impact on the kids.  So in time, the school began to form clusters.  3-4 elementary schools would feed a single middle school and one high school.  That way, friends could be kept together.  In the years that followed, the model would be readjusted to add a middle school to the cluster as well as 1-2 more elementary schools. So you didn’t have to have friendships with kids who eventually became arch-rivals.

Another thing that helped eliminate the interaction was the growth of grocery stores and restaurants around middle and high school areas.  In a way, the schools became their own communities or village.  Because it was near downtown Snellville, South Gwinnett already had major stores, doctor’s offices, and banks near its campus, so it had its own village by default.  Brookwood would get their own village established late in the 1980s and early 1990s around the Five Forks areas.  When you didn’t have to go 10 minutes to the downtown Snellville Kroger’s or Winn-Dixie and instead could shop at the one in the Five Forks area closer to where you lived, it made a difference for Bronco families—and reduced interaction with their Snellville rivals significantly.

A third thing that change was that both schools underwent massive transformations--none more so dramatic than South.  A decade ago, the Comets embarked on a massive reconstruction effort that demolished the old one-level classroom halls and raised up a new multi-story campus that matched the glamour of its rival.  Brookwood, too, has had to renovate, now that the school is in its middle 30s in age, but nowhere near what South has done.  The student body has changed too—more so at South.  South is now about two-thirds African-American.  A generation ago, the thought of a 96% Caucasian school changing race demographics that rapidly would have been unthinkable.  Brookwood has also changed race dynamics, but at a much more glacial pace.  Wealth appears to be a factor in that pace.

But the fourth and most important thing that has changed about South v. Brookwood was that Snellville got big—really big.  So big that the town motto really doesn’t fit anymore.  So big that neither school could accommodate all the new students entering the system.  As a result, another school entered the Snellville landscape in the late 1990s.  Grayson High School came on line in 1999, and its cluster sheared off the NE side of Snellville that once served as the main dividing line between South & Brookwood.  With that main border now in the hands of a third school, new rivalries were formed and the fierceness of the old rivalry lost a good chunk of its luster.  South and Brookwood still share a small border with each other, but because of the factors I have mentioned, the two schools don’t have to interact with each other the way its younger versions had to.

The South-Brookwood rivalry will never be as personal as it once was.  Many of the people who were there in the beginning are long gone, replaced by younger generations who know little about how the rivalry came to be or who interact with each other on a regular basis.  That is one aspect, much like the old downtown Snellville, that has disappeared and will not return.  In time, however, as the dynamics change and the student bodies get smaller, these schools may even be forced to merge.  It won’t happen for at least another two generations—but I may yet see it happen before I die.  I wonder how that would go over in Snellville.

Daniel Snyder’s real reason he is pissed off about the Washington NFL Nickname controversy…

Dan Snyder is increasingly feeling isolated.  Although he does not have the biggest crisis in the NFL in his own region, much less the entire country, Snyder’s stance on keeping the nickname of Washington’s NFL Franchise is losing support.  More and more people are starting to see the R-word as a racial slur.  Several newspapers, including the main paper in Washington D.C., the Washington Post, are curtailing or eliminating the use of the nickname in their reporting.  Several Sportscasters are pledging or have already stopped using the R-word (led by Washington Post columnist Mike Wise, ESPN Host Keith Olbermann, and others).  TV Shows, such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and South Park have mocked the nickname.  All of this has occurred just within the past year.  This is starting to turn into a similar flipping of opinions that resulted in the end of banning gay marriage in this country.

The reality is this movement of removing Indian nicknames and/or logos from sports’ teams began long before I was born.  Olbermann called for the Washington name change as early as 1978.  Colleges started removing Native American nicknames and logos from major colleges as early as 1969 (how many of you knew Stanford University used to be known as the Indians?)

But let’s take a realistic look as to why Dan Snyder’s is particularly upset this time.  It’s all about the Football Home… and the jealously that Snyder has towards his NFC East rivals.  First off, FedEx Field is not Dan Snyder’s masterpiece of a home.  He is living in the house that Jack Kent Cooke built in the mid-1990s.  Cooke moved the team from downtown D.C. to Landover, near the old home of the Washington Capitals and Bullets, just before he died.  When Snyder bought the team in 1999, Jack Kent Cooke Stadium was 2 years old, and was the largest stadium in the NFL, seating close to 90,000 fans, yet it had a waiting list for season ticket holders that was longer than Lambeau Field’s in Green Bay.  With all the modern amenities of a stadium had that was built in the 1990s, you would think that would make Snyder very happy. 

But since Snyder bought the team, all his NFC East Rivals updated their home facilities.  Philadelphia now has the Linc (Lincoln Financial Field).  While not as big as FedEx, the stadium is situated in a nice location just south of downtown Philly (next to where Veterans Stadium used to exist) and by all accounts is a very nice place to play in.  The NY Giants now play in MetLife Stadium, located right next door to their old home, the Meadowlands.  It is not as big as FedEx, but it has hosted a Super Bowl and a Wrestlemania in its brief life.

But Dan’s real problem is Washington’s NFC East Main Rival, the Dallas Cowboys.  America’s Team has built a home that matches the outrageous personality of its bombastic owner, Jerry Jones.  Jerrah’s Palace (a.k.a. AT&T Stadium) can seat over 100,000 fans, has 2 Giant video screen situated over the middle of the field, and is a retractable dome stadium.  It has a shopping area in the Stadium (a Victoria Secret’s is in there, for goodness sake).  It has hosted a Super Bowl, an NCAA Final Four, international Soccer Matches, will likely host Wrestlemania 32, and, this January, will host the 1st National Championship Game in the NCAA FBS College Football Playoff Era.

All of a sudden, coupled with the fact that Washington’s rivals have all played in and/or won Super Bowls since Washington last appeared in the Big Game and have stayed competitive while Washington has struggled since 1991, the lack of reason to support the team has taken a lot of the luster off of Dan’s borrowed home.  Even Dan’s geographic rival, the Baltimore Ravens, have won two Super Bowls since their arrival in 1996, sheering any potential fan base north of Laurel that wasn’t already supporting the Eagles or Steelers before the Ravens’ arrival.  Dan has also clashed with long-time ticket holders, has served old food and beer at his place, and has been generally combative with the local press.  Dan created his own radio network about 10 years ago, then bought out the oldest sports station in DC, WTEM, effectively neutering criticism from people like Tony Kornheiser and Steve Czaban.

And even with all that, the fact is Dan wants more.  In short, he wants his own palace.  He wants about a 65,000 to 70,000 seat facility, possibly with a retractable dome that would allow him to host Super Bowls, Finals Fours, Soccer Matches, and other big sporting events.  In short, he wants a mini version of what Jerry Jones has.  And he wants to keep the name, of course.  He has stated the name will never change as long as he is owner, which may last for a long time.

But the nickname is proving to be a big hindrance to Dan’s plans to build his own shrine.  With politicians, such as President Barack Obama, Maryland Governor Martin O’ Malley, and other top progressives in the greater D.C. area stating their support for a name change, Snyder is largely stuck where he is for the moment.  And with support at the top of the NFL now embroiled in domestic violence controversies, Dan is largely left to fight this battle without the support of Roger Goodell.

Other sports’ teams with Native American logos have started to remove those logos from their uniforms.  The Golden State Warriors long removed any Native American references when they moved to the San Francisco Area.  The Kansas City Chiefs may still have an arrowhead in their logo, but have largely removed other logos from the names.  And the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians have removed logos that might be deemed offensive to Native American tribes from their main and alternate uniforms.  The Atlanta Braves have also done something that Dan Snyder would like to do:  they recently announced plans to build and move to a new stadium within 3 years.  They are also moving to an area that is resistant to change in the Atlanta area, which means it may take another generation before a challenge to the Braves nickname can happen.  Only the Chicago Blackhawks have done little to change their logo, but their logo and team history is well-known and is extremely popular.  It’s going to be a long time before the Hawks change their logo.

Dan Snyder tries to promote the history of the Washington franchise as reason to keep the team name.  But even that has been controversial with newspaper articles featuring comments from the original owner back in the 1930s contradicting Snyder’s version of the franchise history.  In short, Snyder has no moral ground to stand on and support keeping the name as is, unlike Chicago’s Blackhawks.

Which leads to one undeniable conclusion:  Snyder is facing a difficult choice.  If he wants a new stadium, the nickname will have to be changed.  Any attempts to buy property in secret and spring a surprise move will no longer happen, thanks to what the Atlanta Braves pulled.  And politicians won’t allow it to happen.  Dan can stay in the stadium he never built and keep the name.  In time, even that will be an untenable position.  Change is a constant, and the move of progressivism could mean a majority of American citizens will eventually oppose the team name.

Keith Olbermann offered a simple, yet brilliant way out for Snyder if he would take it.  Keep the logo, but change the nickname to Americans.  Doing so may garner support with Native Americans and the Progressive movement as a whole.  More and more media figures are calling for the name change.  While a tipping point has yet to be reached, it is likely to be reached soon.  Snyder wants a new stadium.  But like George Prescott Marshall before him who was forced to integrate the Washington team in order to get funding for a new stadium, Snyder will likely have to change the team name if he wants his own stadium deal.  He can try to cut a deal now.  Or he can wait… and be forced to change the team name without a guaranteed stadium deal.  The clock is ticking, Dan.  Let us know when you want to talk.

So, where would the President & VP go for a all-American restaurant now?

(Note:  The following conversation between President Obama and Vice President Biden is fictional… but it maybe happening now. You never know.)

Pres:  Joe, I’m pissed off at the idea that Burger King is merging with Tim Horton’s and moving their HQ to Canada.  How dare they try to take advantage of a lower tax rate?

VP:  So want do you want to do about it, Mr. President?

Pres: Joe, we have to find an all-American National chain restaurant that cater to progressive politician like ourselves but show the American people that we care about good old American values.

VP:  But Mr. President, I wanted to go to Nando’s tonight!

Pres: Joe, this is important!  How about we go to Chipotle?

VP:  Do you remember the last time we went there how you almost started a national incident by going over the food shield?  They told you never to come back!  Plus Chipotle is still 2 years away from getting rid of potential GMOs.

Pres:  Shoot, you’re right Joe!!  How about McDonalds?

VP:  With Michelle raging war against obesity & Happy Meals?  Plus that clown creeps me out!

Pres:  Good point.  Chick-Fil-A?

VP:  Homophobic.

Pres: KFC?

VP:  PETA still hates them for how they kill chickens.  You might as well cross Popeye’s off the list as well.

Pres: How about that new Mission BBQ place now opening up across the region?

VP:  They support the police, fire fighters, and the military.  Might not be a good look supporting police during the Ferguson crisis.  Plus, BBQ isn’t exactly healthy eating…

Pres:  Man, that takes out Red, Hot, & Blue and Famous Dave’s as well!  What about Arby’s?

VP:  Have you seen their new ads basically supporting gobs of meat?

Pres: I know, Denny’s!

VP:  They refused serving African-Americans many years ago.  Might as well go to Cracker Barrel or Bob Evans if you want to piss off your base.

Pres:  How about a Pizza?  Papa John’s?

VP:  Do you remember how Papa John fought you over Obamacare?

Pres:  I guess that also eliminates Pizza Hut, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Longhorn Steakhouse as well.

VP:  Heck, any similar chain restaurant from Applebee’s and IHOP to Chili’s to the Outback chain and even Friday’s can be eliminated!

Pres:  Joe’s Crab Shack?

VP:  This close to a seafood-loving state like Maryland?  That’s heresy!

Pres:  Wendy’s?

VP:  Dave Thomas—fat guy!

Pres:  Hardee’s?  Waffle House?

VP:  Too redneck-y!

Pres:  Golden Corral?

VP:  Have you seen the reports of their unsanitary conditions?

Pres:  Taco Bell?

VP:  Here a hint… The beef isn’t exactly beef.

Pres:  Buffalo Wild Wings?

VP:  Too many TVs!  Not green enough for my tastes.

Pres:  Five Guys?

VP:  Peanut allergies.

Pres:  Subway?  It’s healthy…

VP:  Their bread isn’t.

Pres:  Ruth’s Chris?

VP:  Too rich!

Pres: Steak ‘n Shake?

VP:  Do you see a Steak ‘n Shake anywhere near here, Mr. President?

Pres:  Perkins?

VP:  Nothing good can come from a visit there.  Ask Tiger.

Pres:  Friendly’s?

VP:  Will you be serious, Mr. President!!

Pres:  Well, shoot Joe, there really isn’t a place we can go as progressive politicians but show we can support an all-American restaurant!

VP:  (thinks about it for a second)  Well, there is ONE place we could go.  I hear Teddy (Kennedy) loved it!

Pres:  Really?  What?

VP:  Nah, it might not be a good idea…

Pres:  Joe, I’m desperate here.  I’ll take anything.

VP:  All right, but I don’t like suggesting it.  Hooters.

Pres:  HOOTERS?

VP:  Yes, Mr. President.  Hooters.

Pres: (thinks for a moment)  Screw it, I’m hungry for some wings anyways.  Let’s go, Joe!

The end of a Baseball Broadcasting Era…

Pete Van Wieren died this weekend at the age of 69.  To many fans who listened to him on WSB-AM radio or watched him on WTBS back in the 1980s, he, alongside Skip Caray & Ernie Johnson Sr., formed the heart of the Atlanta Braves’ broadcasting team from the mid 1970s through 1989.  This trio was considered to be among the best in the game.  Ernie was the storyteller, Skip had the quick wit, and Pete was “The Professor”.  Now they are all gone.

All three should be enshrined in Cooperstown next year or soon.  Without these three who transitioned seamlessly for radio to TV and vice versa on a nightly basis for over a decade, baseball might have never graduated from a radio-only sport.  Yes, NBC had a Saturday Game of the Week, and ABC had a Monday night game for a time, but without the innovation of Ted Turner to show all 162 regular season games on TV of one MLB team, I don’t think we would have seen the proliferation of Region Sports Networks.  And you can largely thank Ernie, Skip, and Pete for that. 

There may have been announcing teams that could match the Braves trio.  Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxall come to mind on WLW in Cincinnati.  Harry Caray & Steve Stone working Cubs games for WGN were another dynamic duo.  Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey on WJR in Detroit.  Jack Buck and Mike Shannon on KMOX in St. Louis.  And Vin Scully in Los Angeles is still his own one-man band, covering Dodger baseball since the Brooklyn days when Jackie Robinson was still playing…

But Ernie, Skip, and Pete were the first to make the transition to TV on a nightly basis, and no one could transition smoothly from a loss to the TBS late night movie like they could.  John Sterling, the current voice of the New York Yankees, knows this firsthand.  He worked with the trio covering Braves games in the mid-1980s.

A couple of years ago, I visited Atlanta and caught a Braves game on radio, listening to the current “deans” of Braves’ broadcasters, Joe Simpson & Don Sutton.  My dad hates these two announcers, and I could understand why.  They were good back in the 1990s when they teamed with Skip and Pete.  Now?  They try to be a comedy act more than calling the game.  Ernie, Skip, and Pete knew how to struck the balance.

Today, Ernie Johnson’s son, Ernie Jr., works with the NBA & the NCAA tournament on TNT Sports.  Skip’s son Chip works as a Braves’ Broadcaster, just like his father & grandfather before him.  Ernie Jr. is more showman than his dad was.  Chip seems to have found a nice niche after a show stint as host of Fox’s Saturday Baseball.  The shadows of their ancestor’s still loom large over them, but they are finding their own way.

Ernie Sr., Skip, and Pete may be gone, but they will never be forgotten.  It is my hope that when John Smoltz goes into the Baseball Hall of Fame next year, he won’t be the only long-time Atlanta Brave going into Cooperstown… Time to honor three Broadcasting pioneers posthumously.

Ranking James Bond Movies-Part 2: The Actual Films

So in Part 1 of Ranking James Bond Movies, I rated the 6 men who have played 007 on the Big screen.  In ascending order, they were Roger Moore, George Lazenby, Pierce Brosnon, Timothy Dalton, Daniel Craig, and Sean Connery.

So now we come to ranking the Bond Movies themselves.  Here’s how I rank them with a brief comment on each:

(24) NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983): I prefer to call the movie “Thunderball Redux”.  Kevin McClory decided to remake the 1965 classic, but the only good thing about this movie was the return of Sean Connery as James Bond.  The ending kind of sucked, which is why I rate this movie way down.

(23) MOONRAKER (1979): Too many gadgets, too many corny jokes, and basically “The Spy Who Loved Me” meets “Star Wars”.  Bernard Lee’s swansong as “M” was rushed and not even Shirley Bassey could save it.

(22) DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002): The 1st post-9/11 Bond movie did not work in the new world reality.  Madonna’s acting… ugh.  Did we really need Halle Berry as a Bond Girl?  It just didn’t work… which was sad because I did like Brosnon’s 007.

(21) FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963): My big problem with this movie was that Bond felt like he was being controlled throughout the movie by SPECTRE’s big muscle.  Only at the end did the James Bond I knew & loved emerged.

(20) QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008): I admit this is the only Bond movie I have not seen start to finish.  What I have seen leaves me feeling meh.  It’s OK.

(19) THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (1999): Not exactly another ringing endorsement of Pierce’s 007 version, but my big beef was Denise Richards as a scientific Bond girl named Christmas Jones.  Yeah… Shame that this movie was the farewell of the original “Q”.

(18) THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974): Christopher Lee can play any movie villain role he wants.  Parts of the movie suspended reality (the flying car, the loop over a broken bridge, a LA local sheriff in Thailand). Still fine.

(17) OCTOPUSSY (1983): I really don’t have any hatred for Maud Adams as a Bond Girl.  It’s just that there were better Bond Movies over the years.  Again, a good movie (and certainly better than the other 1983 Bond movie—well except for who played 007 in both movies).

(16) A VIEW TO A KILL (1985): As farewells go, this movie was a nice send-off for Roger Moore.  Duran Duran #1 and a decent plot about Christopher Walken trying to destroy Silicon Valley seemed a fitting end to the Moore Legacy.

(15) DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971): Sean Connery’s 2nd farewell to the eon franchise was not as good as the first.  And does a gay couple working as henchmen really works in today’s changing times?  Still, a good way to send the original 007 off into the sunset—for 12 years.

(14) TOMORROW NEVER DIES (1997): Surprisingly a good movie even with a couple of famous Bond girls.  Michelle Yeoh kicked ass.  And the car chase & motorcycle chase were excellent.

(13) THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987): Timothy Dalton’s introduction to the 007 world was actually good in retrospective.  Working with the mujahedeen in Afghanistan was good in that time.  Problem was, they became Al-Qaeda in real-life.  Plus, the cooperation between Russia, the U.S., & Britain in the movie was a prelude to thawing of relations between rival nations.

(12) ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (1969): If Sean Connery had done this movie as 007, it would have been maybe the best Bond Movie of all time.  The action was incredible, and the ending showed even the good guys can’t have it all.  Too bad George Lazenby had the role and blew his shot off-screen at becoming a legendary 007.

(11) LIVE AND LET DIE (1973): Roger Moore’s intro into the 007 world was a welcome change from the more action-minded Connery.  Jane Seymour was a wonderful Bond Girl.  Yaphet Kotto was a brilliant bad guy in the movie.  And Paul McCartney singing the Title Song… Nice.  It worked in 1973.

(10) THUNDERBALL (1965):  This was a great movie with Connery again showing why he was the best Bond of all. If Kevin McClory’s ego had let him enjoy being a part of the eon Production instead of trying to cash in on the Fleming phenomenon, he would have seen how special the franchise was.

(9) THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977): The introduction of henchman favorite Jaws, and the start of a 10-year détente rivalry between MI-6 and KGB was special.  Barbara Bach was a great Bond girl, because in many ways she was 007’s equal.

(8) YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967): On screen, this was a great movie introducing Japan to the Bond World, and having the Japanese fight for the good guys.  Meeting the #1 man behind SPECTRE for the first time was a treat.  Behind the scenes, it was contentious, with Connery leaving the franchise one movie before his contract was complete.

(7) CASINO ROYALE (2006): What a way to re-introduce the Bond franchise with Daniel Craig becoming the newly-promoted and raw 007.  Becoming less about the gadgets and more about being a bad-ass secret agent was a terrific way to re-boot the franchise.

(6) DR. NO (1962):  The original Bond movie was a classic, and would have been ranked higher had there not been a few better 007 gems.  The first time the words “Bond… James Bond” were heard on the screen still gives chills.

(5) LICENSE TO KILL (1989): Underrated and would have been a true classic had it been released in 2002.  James Bond out for revenge against a drug lord who had caused so much pain to his American friend.  The plot was ahead of its time… and it unfairly doomed Dalton’s tenure as 007.

(4) FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981): Easily, Roger Moore’s best movie as 007. Even though Moore is a pacifist in real-life, the fact that he was willing to get down and dirty without much of Q’s gadget wizardry showed he belonged as James Bond.

(3) GOLDENEYE (1995): A perfect timed movie with a new generation of James Bond in a post-Soviet world.  The line between friend and foe blurred to perfection.  Judi Dench’s first role as Q just felt right.  The tank chase through Saint Petersburg.  Brosnon could have retired right there as the best Bond.

(2) SKYFALL (2012): This is the perfect post-9/11 Bond movie.  And given the recent Snowden leaks, it works even better.  Judi Dench’s address before Parliament was poignant as her final role as Q.  And James Bond comes out of this movie a superspy molded by trial and fire.  How ironic that Moneypenny shot him at the beginning.

(1) GOLDFINGER (1964): The Bond Movie which every other 007 movie is judged against. Oddjob. Pussy Galore. Operation Grand Slam. Shirley Bassey. Everything about this movie works even today.

So there you have it.  I’m sure I’ve ignited some controversy, but that’s how I see ranking the 007 movies.

Ranking James Bond Movies-Part 1: The Men Who Have Played Bond

Anyone who knows me knows I am a fan of the James Bond 007 Movies.  I never had a desire to read any of the Ian Fleming books, but I have seen just about every movie (except for parts of “Quantum of Solace”—which I hope to rectify before my next post).  So, I should be an expert in who is the Best James Bond of all.  To be fair, I did not count the 60s Bond spoof “Casino Royale” in my rankings, but “Never Say Never Again” will count.  So that means there are 6 James Bonds to Rank—Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.  So who ranks where?  Let’s start from the bottom up:

(6) ROGER MOORE:  Now, I’ll admit saying Roger Moore is the Worst Bond is like saying Outback Steakhouse is the worst steakhouse chain.  It’s still great; just not better than the rest.  And Moore fits into that persona as worst Bond.  Sure, he was the right Bond for the 1970s and early 1980s.  But in today’s world, how could you take a British spy seriously that gets hit on by a 12-year old figure skater?  Or being heavily reliant on Q’s gadgets?  Or uttering a double entente every 5 minutes?  Or having done Moonraker?  Moore’s 007 would not function in this post-9/11 world, especially after the Tom Clancy movies and Jason Bourne movies that have come out since Moore hung up his jacket & tie.

(5) GEORGE LAZENBY:  Lazenby only starred in one 007 movie, and he made a lot of mistakes after that movie was finished which killed his chance to star in other major movies.  But Lazenby’s James Bond was more realistic than Moore’s.  You could see the film directors try to make up for the lack of star power with action consistent with Fleming’s novels.  Lazenby did an admirable job in the role.  It just hasn’t been fully appreciated until now how good he was, even though he had no previous acting experience.

(4) PIERCE BROSNON:  Had Brosnon succeeded Roger Moore, he might have been the greatest of all the Bonds. But Remington Steele prevented Brosnon from stepping into the dream role until after the Cold War had ended.  Plus, he stayed one movie too long in the 007 role.  “Die Another Day” just didn’t work post 9/11.  It’s a real shame, because I liked his Bond, especially in “Goldeneye”.  His Bond had style, sophistication, and an edge to it.  It would have fit better in the “The Living Daylights”.

(3) TIMOTHY DALTON:  Brosnon’s loss turned out to be Timothy’s gain.  Dalton’s two turns as 007 were more true to the Ian Fleming roots.  But he suffered from being the only Bond who was not cast at the right time as James Bond.  He would have been a perfect 1960s Bond or a post-9/11 Bond.  But in the over-the-top 1980s?  Not so much.  Still, he deserves high praise for being a great James Bond.

(2)  DANIEL CRAIG:  The current producers of the James Bond series wanted to go back to 007’s grittier beginning, and Craig hits it out of the park with his portrayal of the more raw super-spy.  While “Casino Royale” was a wonderful intro to the new 007, “Skyfall” was Craig at his absolute best.  Anybody who can drive around in a vintage 1964 Anston-Martin and look cool in it gets bonus points.

(1) SEAN CONNERY:  The definitive and best James Bond was the original 007.  Sean Connery made James Bond a household name and set the bar for every 007 who followed.  He had style, sophistication, and had a way with the ladies.  I could forgive him for Thunderball redux, a.k.a. “Never Say Never Again”, because of movies like “Dr. No” and “Goldfinger”.  Connery’s 007 is timeless.  Even in today’s world, elements of Connery’s Bond would be just as effective as it was in the 1960s.

So that’s how I would rate the 007s.  Up next, I will attempt to rate the individual James Bond movies.  This will definitely be a debatable subject…

The End of the Political Correctness Era…

We are now seeing the End of the Politically Correct Era in the United States.  I cannot say when the beginning of the end occurred.  But it is clear that 2014 is turning into the swansong of the PC Era.  It’s a shame, because, had it been done properly, the PC Era could have been the force of good it was supposed to be before humans hijacked the movement and turned it into a way of settling scores, or getting power.

Two recent sports headlines has shown how the PC Movement has been challenged in the eyes of the nation.  The stories of efforts to change the name of the Washington Redskins and to remove Donald Sterling as owner of the LA Clippers would have, in the past, been no-brainers in the eyes of the PC movement.  Heck, I believe that the Washington NFL Team needs to change its name and that Donald Sterling should have been removed as an NBA Owner long before he was recorded making derogatory statements.  But surprisingly, a lot of people on social media threads disagreed.  In many people’s eyes Sterling & Washington owner Dan Snyder are the latest heroes in standing up to the PC crowd.  And it’s not because Snyder and Sterling are good people.  They are not.  Sterling has run the LA Clippers into the ground for most of his 30 years as an owner, while Snyder picks the pettiest of fights and acts like an a-hole most of the time.  No, it's because people are getting tired of being run over by Political Correctness.

So, as we go through the post-mortem as to what has killed the PC movement, some interesting points emerge.  And it’s something that all people need to understand as we transition into more of a post-PC world.

(1) THE RACE CARD WAS PLAYED TOO MANY TIMES:  Politicians and activists like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton played the race card way too many times in order to get what they wanted or to belittle their adversaries.  It now appears that the race card doesn’t have the same bite as it used to.  The Duke Lacrosse Rape Case was a perfect example of using the race card where it shouldn’t have been.  Al and Jesse were so eager to convict the Duke Lacrosse Team on a lie that they stirred up the local African-American community and the Duke Faculty against the players.  And when the truth was exposed, the agitators slipped quietly away.  Even when cornered by Anderson Cooper, Jesse denied being involved in stirring up the situation.  And how did playing the race card help better society?  Well, it gave Jesse and Al some clout, power, and money, and some politicians benefitted.  But did we get better as a society?  No, we didn’t.  We just got more bitter towards one another.

(2) FEMALES AND NON-WHITE MALES AT THE TOP OF THEIR RESPECTIVE CAREERS IS SEEN AS A SCORE SETTLER IN MANY EYES:  Yes, we elected and re-elected Barack Obama as President of the United States.  We have non-Caucasians males and females as CEOs of companies, running sports franchises, and running governments across this land.  Happy, PC era?  Many people now are tired of being a part of breaking glass ceilings, and now a backlash is starting to emerge.  It will never go back to the Don Draper world of yesterday, but the shiny new idea of women and non-white males running our lives has lost a lot of its luster.

(3) FAILURE TO APPLY PC DOCTRINE ACROSS THE BOARD HAS PRODUCED A BACKLASH:  In the Ideal PC World, everyone would be treated fairly.  But some people are using the PC to mock and ridicule whites, conservatives, males, and Christians in some of the nastiest and meanest ways possible.  In other words:  hypocrisy or double-standards.  So you can mock me, but I can’t mock you?  How fair is that?  It isn’t and it shouldn’t be. 

(4) BELITTLING PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE IS NOT PRODUCTIVE:  When you try to make enemies of law abiders by ridiculing their lifestyles, trying to take away their guns (even if it is the right idea), mock their religious views, or just being mean to people who don’t think like you, how in the world can you get those people to listen to your passions?  Making enemies of people who could help you in the long run is never a good idea.  Once you burn a bridge, it’s hard to re-build it.  And some people don’t have the ability to ever reconcile for burning those bridges in the first place.

Look, I know I am not a perfect person.  I know there are faults in my life.  I still try to live a good Christian life, and try to teach my kids to be better than I am.  I tend to listen more than I speak these days (except when it comes to sports, of course, and then you have to deal with my Twitter rants).  I don’t mind being wrong.  I am human after all—just like you are.

But today, I want to leave you with a thought: in this modern world, you’re going to deal with people from all walks of life and you’re going to meet people who differ from what you think and believe.  You have to treat everyone fairly and put aside your prejudices.  And when you see mocking and ridiculing of a person who is trying to do the right thing, speak up for that person even if you don’t agree with their philosophy (I’m talking to you progressives and moderates out there more than the conservatives, by the way).  You might be surprised how much support you will get when you need it the most.

If people treated each other better and tried less to mock those that they differ with, we might actually have a better world.  The pessimist in me doesn’t see that happening in my lifetime, if ever.  The optimist in me?  I want to be proven wrong.  But it’s clear that using Political Correctness to try and make this world a better place is dead—because all it did was make a few people more powerful at the expense of society as a whole.  Mistrust and fear of losing what little perks in life has replaced the relationships we have and left those bridges in ruins.  We need to build and maintain relationships with people again.  Come on, everyone.  It’s time for re-building.

NFL Draft 2014 Recap

So there were a lot of story lines heading into this year’s NFL Draft…  Would the Houston Texans take Johnny Football or Mr. Clowney?  How many QBs would go in the 1st Round?  Would any of the record-setting SEC QBs be drafted?  And last, but not least:  would an Openly Gay Player be drafted & how big of a story would it be?

First off, the two NFL Teams that I care about most:  The Atlanta Falcons & the Baltimore Ravens.  Both teams did very well with their 1st Round Picks and Overall.  The Falcons picked a potential 10-year anchor lineman in Jake Matthews, while the Ravens may have found Ray Lewis’ replacement in C.J. Mosley.  Both team graded high, although I thought Atlanta should have gotten a TE, but that’s OK.

Next, Johnny Football… I am still in shock that Jerry Jones showed restraint and did not pick Johnny Manziel with the 16th pick.  Getting an OL showed that the Cowboys Owner may have finally learned to build a team from the lines out.  But did it come too late to salvage what few productive years are left in Tony Romo’s career?

The biggest losers in this years’ draft were those teams who had traded away 1st Round Picks.  Indy & Washington learned painful lessons that giving away Future 1st Round Picks can be hazardous to your team’s future needs.

Washington traded so much away in 2012 to St. Louis in order to get RG3.  St. Louis used this year’s Washington pick to draft a great O-lineman, then got the best D-Lineman available with their 1st Round Pick.  They were one of the Draft’s big winners before their 7th Round Pick that made history…

As the Draft proceeded, the fact that many of the top SEC QBs went in later rounds was a little disconcerting, but the picks of Aaron Murray & AJ McCarron in the 5th Rounds were seen as the best picks for KC and Cincinnati, respectively.  As for Zach Mettenberg to Tennessee?  Not so much.  Maybe Cam Cameron isn’t a QB Guru like he claims to be (just ask Joe Flacco).

Many eyes, however, were on SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Sam, who was the 1st Openly Gay Player to enter the NFL Draft.  Sam thought he could be a Mid-Round Pick, but the Combine seemed to lower his draft stock to a possible 6th Round Pick.  The 6th Round came and went, and even though the Jets had their 6th Round pick announced at the podium, it was not Michael Sam’s name they called.

The 7th Round Began, and it was where I picked up watching the Draft to see if history would be made.  As the 7th Round worked its way through, the chances of Sam being drafted began to fade.  The NFL Network & ESPN almost seemed resigned to the fact that Sam would not be drafted so they began to hype previously successful undrafted free agents.

Then came the St. Louis Rams, who had picks at 249 & 250, and they had to use both picks.  As soon as word came they were going to announce the 249th pick at the podium, the anticipation built quickly.  I suspected that Sam would be the 249th pick and had a tweet ready to go to mark the historic moment.  It came just before 7 PM ET, and, as I suspected, it became THE moment of the draft.  It is still being talked about as we speak.  The Rams saved a potential PR nightmare for the NFL, and in the process, picked up a DE on value.  Whether Sam succeeds in the NFL is up in the air, but the moment has significance.

Look, I don’t care what people’s views on male gay athletes are.  You can still mark the historical significance without sharing your personal views on the subject.  It is important in the grand scheme.  More male gay athlete will now be free to be open about their sexuality and not be as afraid that their beliefs will cost them.  If they can play, they will have the opportunity to prove it on the field, thanks to Jason Collins and Michael Sam.

And please don’t compare Tim Tebow to Michael Sam in how Christians are mocked, while gay athletes are accepted.  Tebow should have never been drafted in the 1st round.  He was a 3rd Rounder at best, and his pick by Denver was a reach.  Sam’s pick was value in the 7th Round.  Whether Sam makes it or not is now up to him.  I think he will be at least be around for a few years as St. Louis will give him every chance to succeed.  If it doesn’t work out, it will be no one’s fault but Sam’s.  He’s been given the chance.  Now, he must prove it…

BTW, if you are keeping score at home, the final count for the 2014 NFL Draft was:  Openly Gay Football Players drafted: 1; Texas Longhorns drafted: 0.  Remind me again why ESPN thought it was a good idea to give the University of Texas their own Cable Network?

What if Letterman had been chosen instead of Leno to replace Johnny?

When the announcement came down that David Letterman was going to take over “The Tonight Show” for Johnny Carson, everyone except for Team Jay Leno was happy to see Johnny’s choice actually win.  Despite pressure exerted from Jay that he was in talks to host his own late night show, the execs finally did something right in the eyes of Johnny for a change.  Dave’s willingness to come to Burbank to do the show was the final piece that clinched the choice.  Dave immediately took over in June of 1992.

NBC wanted Jay to do Late Night, but Jay accepted an offer to host his own show on Fox, titled “The Late Show with Jay Leno” which originated from LA, starting in Sept. of 1992.  And so the long-awaited Late Night War to succeed Johnny began.

It wasn’t much of a contest.  Letterman crushed Leno every years for 3 years, thanks to NBC’s stronger Prime-Time lineup lead in.  After 3 years, Leno was let go from Fox, and Letterman was victorious.  Leno would appear on “The Tonight Show” 6 months after being let go to throw in the towel and apparently make peace publicly with Letterman. 

Letterman’s Tonight Show, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien (which debuted in October of 1992) would control Late Night Talk Shows for the next 5 years, with only an occasional challenger showing up and trying to battle  the duo unsuccessfully.  But, like in the days of Johnny, cracks began to show between NBC and its top late night star immediately after Dave signed his second 5-year deal in 1997.  Dave thought that he had been short-changed in the deal, which continued to allow all intellectual property rights to his version of “The Tonight Show” to be controlled by NBC.  NBC had learned hard lessons during Johnny’s negotiations and was not going to allow Dave to get similar treatment.

A second problem was that Dave hated the LA lifestyle.  Yes, stars were easily in abundance to talk to, but Dave was a NYC guy.  He wanted to return The Tonight Show to its Manhattan roots badly.  And so, in January 1998, Letterman staged a sick-out of his show for 3 weeks in the hopes of getting NBC to at least cave on moving the show back to New York.  It got ugly between the two.  Ultimately, Dave won the fight as NBC promised to return The Tonight Show with David Letterman to New York beginning in 2002, but both he & NBC lost the War.  The sick out occurred around the time that the President Clinton sex scandal was emerging.  The loss of Dave allowed ABC’s Nightline to reclaim the top spot among late-night audiences and by a healthy margin.

Dave’s return in February of 1998 didn’t help.  Dave refused to joke about Clinton’s woes, aiming his sharpest barbs at Republicans.  The slant backfired as NBC lost a total of 60% of its Tonight Show audience from the start of the sick-out.  Throughout 1998 and 1999, Letterman continued his anti-Republican rants about the sex scandal while refusing to go after the Philanderer in Chief.  Ultimately, late in 1999, Letterman finally began to bash Clinton, as he realized he finally had to start bashing the President over his Library plans.  The audience who had left never really came back, and Letterman lost more of his audience than he had gained trying to win back conservative viewers.

The Election of 2000 proved even tougher.  George W. Bush refused to appear on The Tonight Show, and Letterman unloaded a vicious mean-spirited rant on his show in Sept. of 2000.  A lot of journalists thought the rant was over-the-line and it developed sympathy among thousand of voters’ eyes.  Letterman would apologize, but it was too late.  Bush would go on to win the Presidential election by 4% and 78 electoral votes over Al Gore.  Letterman, in an attempt to bury the hatchet, had the victorious Pres.-elect Bush on his show two weeks after the election, and showed genuine contrition.  It also allowed The Tonight Show to beat Nightline in the ratings for the first time in nearly 3 years.

Letterman finally had some momentum at the end of 2000.  The show was going to be going back to New York, and he had won back a good chunk of his audience thanks to the Bush interview.  Things were looking up for Dave.

Then Dave died suddenly of a massive heart attack on January 15, 2001.  The strain of the previous 3 years finally got the better of the comic.  He might have been able to save his life had he gotten early detection, but without his New York friends encouraging him to look into his health issues, Dave never found the time to go see a doctor.  That mistake proved fatal.

Immediately, NBC turned to Dave’s old rival, Jay Leno, to fill in while they figured out their next move.  Leno and Letterman had a gentlemen’s agreement after Leno’s failed stint at Fox that if something happened to Dave, Jay would step in.  For three months, Jay did a magnificent job filling in—so much so that NBC actively began negotiations to make Jay the next Tonight Show host.  Even Johnny gave a vote of confidence to Jay in a rare public statement.

Jay, though, had other ideas.

Leno conducted secret negotiations with ABC to host his own Late Night show following an abbreviated Nightline.  The announcement became official in May of 2001 and stunned the Entertainment industry.  Finally, Jay would get revenge on NBC for shafting him on the decision nearly a decade earlier.  “Jay Leno Live’s” first show was scheduled for Sept. 11, 2001, so as not to interfere with Monday Night Football.

Two weeks after the scheduled start of the show, Jay Leno Live finally debuted at 12:35 am.  It was a disaster from the get-go.  The 9/11 terrorist attacks crushed any momentum Jay had going into the premier.  Stuck behind an hour Nightline, Leno only survived for one year before he was let go by ABC.  Leno decided to leave late night for good and headed off to Las Vegas to do stand-up.

NBC wasn’t in much better shape.  Betrayed by Leno, the network rushed Conan into the 11:35 slot immediately.  It was a failure.  Conan was not ready for the promotion, even though he thought he was ready.  Worse, Conan was upset that NBC execs thought Jay Leno was initially a better choice.  When Conan’s contract expired in October of 2002, he bolted for CBS to try and jump start their late night talk shows.  It went worse than the NBC experience, and CBS canned the experiment 6 weeks in.  Conan went back to writing for “The Simpsons”, his time at late night over.

In desperation, NBC turned to Bill Maher to host The Tonight Show.  For a time, it actually worked.  Bill was a little raw, but he provided some stability, even though he was liberal in his view.  Then came 2009, and Bill made a horribly insensitive comment about former VP candidate, Sarah Palin, and NBC immediately fired him.  The Tonight Show would then go on hiatus for the rest of 2009.

When The Tonight Show returned in 2010, Jimmy Fallon was its new host.  After taking several months to get his bearings, Fallon actually started to show he was the guy.  He has been doing the show ever since—from New York, of course.

CBS finally found a winning late night formula with Jimmy Kimmel in 2010.  The Late Show with Jimmy Kimmel would battle Jimmy Fallon from day one, and the healthy competition finally gave hope that late night talk shows were emerging from a decade of disaster.

Both CBS & NBC still trailed ABC’s Nightline, however.  In the end, ABC stuck to their news format, and it continues to win in Late Night to this day, though the gap between Nightline, Fallon, and Kimmel is closing.  Perhaps by the end of this year (2014), Fallon and Kimmel might top Nightline.

It’s a shame the Late Night Wars went the way they did, but that’s what happened.  Besides, no one ever thought Leno would be a better choice to host The Tonight Show.  After all, it wasn’t like NBC was going to let Letterman go to CBS, as it was rumored, and start a rival Late Night Show.

No, that would have been crazy…

A personal musical Mount Rushmore…

Recently, the idea of putting together a Mount Rushmore of Various Sports Figures was re-introduced by comments made by the greatest NBA player of today, LeBron James.  King James forwarded his own view as to who should be on his Mount Rushmore of Greatest NBA Players of All Time.  While there is much debate about his own views regarding which four players should be among the greatest, it has opened debates by everybody coming up with their own personal Mount Rushmore on various topics.  Actors, Presidents, even Breakfast foods.

Well, I figured it was time for me to get in on the act, with a slightly different twist.  Each of us has a Mount Rushmore when it comes to Music.  Four Musicians/Groups that we love and that have shaped our musical tastes in ways that we may or may not completely understand.  But when we hear these musical acts, we stop, listen, and enjoy.

Some of us wear our musical influences out in the open.  I know several of my friends loves various musical artists.  The Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, RUSH, … the list goes on and on.  So, who would be on your Mount Rushmore?

This is where I open up on a hidden part of my life.  My Mount Rushmore of Musical Influence has a diverse nature to it, allowing me to love music from jazz to metal rock & roll to 80s rock.  But it all has one common denominator:  all of these acts had a dominant run of top hits in the 1970s. 

Kind of weird for a child of the 1980s to not be influenced by the MTV era, huh?  But then some people forget I had two much older sisters who grew up in the late 1960s & 1970s.  So, I guess you could say my sisters had a tiny bit of influence on how my musical tastes evolved.  And while some people would guess that John Denver, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Bruce Springsteen, or Elton John would be on my list, they would be wrong.  Got any thoughts?  Well, here’s my Mount Rushmore of Musical Influence…

(1) STEELY DAN. Walter Becker & Donald Fagen were a unique duo when it came to their musical background.  Heck, at one time, they were part of a group that had comedian Chevy Chase as a drummer.  But the duo clearly had their most successful run as the heart & soul of the group Steely Dan, an act that evolved from a early 70s rock to a more Jazzy, R&B rock.  Their run at all stages of the evolution from 1972 to 1980 was incredible with lyrics that were almost as smart as Lennon/McCartney, and Musical Tones that may have been smarter.  Note, I didn’t say Steely Dan was better than The Beatles, I just said smarter.  You need a certain musical sophistication to truly enjoy Steely Dan’s tunes.  And as for musical influence, they had a backup singer at one time named Michael McDonald, who left Steely Dan to become the lead singer for The Doobie Brothers.  Not bad for group named for a female adult toy from “Naked Lunch”.  This is where my Jazz influence comes from as well as early 70s guitar rock.  I have about a Dozen favorites, but my Top 5 Steely Dan Tunes have to be FM, Josie, Kid Charlemagne, Deacon Blues, and Bodhisattva.  FM is maybe my favorite tune of all, and I made sure it was the final song I listened to before I got married in October, 2006.

(2) EARTH, WIND, & FIRE.  Even though EWF has been around in various incarnations since 1969, EWF’s greatest successes came during the mid to late 1970s.  The Maurice White founded group’s diverse musical background mixed jazz, smooth soul, gospel, pop, rock & roll, psychedelia, blues, folk, African music, and, later on, disco—quite an interesting combination.  And it just seemed to call to me.  There are about 10 to 12 personal favorites of mine from this group, but my Top 5 are That’s The Way of The World, Shining Star, After the Love is Gone, Boogie Wonderland, and Let’s Groove.

So, Steely Dan & Earth, Wind, & Fire explain my tastes in jazz & R&B, but where does my rock & roll vibe come from?  A group of four 1960s rock and rollers from England … whose last names are Page, Plant, Jones, & Bonham…

(3) LED ZEPPELIN.  There are two kinds of people in this world… those who like Led Zeppelin’s music, and those poor souls who have never heard a Led Zeppelin tune.  My baptism into the legendary rock group came with the Untitled Fourth Album—one of the few albums I can listen to cover-to-cover and thoroughly enjoy each and every tune.  In fact, I don’t think there is a single tune from “The Biggest Band in The World” that I don’t like.  Makes it very tough to pick just 5, but… My Fave 5 in this group is Kashmir, Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, The Ocean, and Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid (OK, that last one is two songs, but they are usually played together, so it counts as one in my book).

The fourth member of this quartet was the hardest to pick.  Initially, I put Stevie Wonder as my fourth.  A musical performer for six decades, he had an incredible run of #1 music that began in the 1970s.  But with EWF acting as my R&B, I needed a pop rock musician that started and had his greatest success in the 1970s but that carried into the 1980s and beyond.  I needed a Piano Man…

(4) BILLY JOEL.  OK, some of you wouldn’t be surprised, but the Long Island musician definitely had an influence.  Plus, he was married at one time to a Supermodel in Christie Brinkley.  Yes, I know he has some personal demons, but it does not diminish his great talent behind the ivory keys or his ability to collaborate with other musicians.  With him, I have about 10 or 11 favorites to choose from, but my Fave 5 are Piano Man, Movin’ Out, My Life, Pressure, and We Didn’t Start the Fire.

So there’s my Mount Rushmore of Personal Musical Influence.  Nothing against groups like The Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, Chicago, and others that I love listening to, but these four have influenced my musical tastes.  To repeat my earlier question in closing: Who’s on your Mountain?

The road that changed Snellville forever…

20 years ago, a new Road opened up in Gwinnett County.  It’s goal was to provide residents in the southern & eastern parts of Gwinnett County with quicker access to the northwestern part of the county with access to I-85 & Gwinnett Place Mall via Pleasant Hill Road—the then “Mall in Gwinnett”.  It would also be a limited access highway, meaning there were only a handful of roads that you could use to access the new road between Snellville & Lilburn.  Construction began in earnest on this Cross-County Highway in the early 1990s, even though the southernmost part of the road existed as early as 1987.  As it approached Phase I completion in August of 1994 (from Scenic Highway to Lawrenceville Highway), the Road would get a new name—the Ronald Reagan Parkway.  When it opened, Snellville would be permanently altered.

When my family first moved out to Snellville in 1979, it was pretty clear that U.S. 78 was the main road in town.  Every major store was compressed into an area between Hewitt Rd. on the West side of Town & 124 on the East Side.  Yes, Churches and Schools were further East, but really what existed in the town for shopping & eating was compressed into about one mile along W. Main St.  When the Snellville Days Parade would take place on the first Saturday of May, that section of U.S. 78 would shut down for the Parade.  The population was relatively small in those days, and most people knew each other.

As the years progressed, the town got bigger, and new stores were added on the East Side and West Side, but most of the stores still were close to U.S. 78.  Sure, there was a Bi-Lo & Revco on the North Side of town, but most places still stayed close to 78.  124 was mostly farmland to the north & wooded down towards Centerville.  Even as the town added a new Hospital, it was clear everything flowed from West to East—a product of the fact that people would use 78 from Atlanta to get to Athens for UGA football games every Saturday in the fall.  Wal-Mart, Richway (later Target), and Kroger’s were just a few of the new stores that came on the scene in the 1980s—all along Main St.

There were issues with the main traffic in Snellville traveling West to East.  When Gwinnett Place Mall opened in 1984, getting to Gwinnett’s Mall from Snellville was a task and a half.  For most people, the most direct route to the Mall involved taking Oak Road to River Drive west, then North on Lester Rd, which became Pleasant Hill Road just past U.S. 29.  On a good day, that drive was at least half an hour to 45 minutes.

The other problem was that accessing I-85 from Snellville was not easy.  Again, back roads were the way to get North to the Interstate, with the most direct route taking you far NE of Atlanta—not good if you were trying to go to Buckhead or other Northern Atlanta suburbs.

These were the main issues that the Reagan set to address.  But something else happened.  As the Reagan began to take shape, development began to take shape on the north side of town.  The Reagan would end at the intersection of 124 & Pinehurst Road, a neighborhood road that connected the north side of Snellville with Rt. 84 and Grayson.  So, developers wanted to put new shops & stores near the end of the Reagan.  Anchoring the new Shopping center would be a Target… which would move from the West Side of Town to the North Side… along with Publix Grocery Stores, and a few additional stores new to Snellville.  When the Presidential Marketplace Shopping Center Opened Later in 1994, a chain reaction of development began to follow North.  New Shopping Centers would be built.  Stores like Belk’s, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Old Navy came to town.  Restaurants like Texas Roadhouse, O’Charley’s, and Steak n Shake appeared on the North Side.  Kroger’s left downtown Snellville to move North along 124.  The Hospital also moved north of town.  Wal-Mart would move North in 1999.  Wendy’s moved from their West Side Location to the North.  McDonald’s opened 2 places on the North Side.  Chick-Fil-A added a Northside location.  And so on, and so on, and so on.

Today’s Main Street in Snellville on both sides is littered with either empty facades or buildings that have change businesses multiple times.  Hardee’s is gone, Pizza Hut has moved to Oak Road, and the old Fountain Square Shopping Center is largely a ghost town.  Almost all of the Growth in town is in areas that 30 years ago was either farmland or full of trees.  The Reagan has brought Atlanta closer to Snellville.  But it has been at a steep cost.  Traffic has increased exponentially, particularly on Scenic Hwy from Lawrenceville southward.  When I visited Snellville during Thanksgiving last year, traffic at 6:30 in the evening was a pain in the butt to navigate through 124 just a mile from my parent’s home.  The small town suburb feel Snellville once had is gone replaced by hustle & bustle.  There are new homes popping up everywhere.  Crime has increased and gangs now openly roam Snellville Middle & South Gwinnett High Schools.  The families that were once there in the 1980s have largely left with only stragglers like my parents staying behind.  One day, Pinehurst Road will be widened, much to the opposition of those who live off its road.  It’s no longer a question of if anymore.  My parents and others can only hold it off for so long.

Snellville will never again be what it once was.  It has evolved.  Whether you think for the better or worse is your personal opinion.  But a lot of that evolution has to do with the introduction of the Ronald Reagan Parkway.  And that may be the road’s everlasting legacy.

The IOC cozying up to Putin…

There are so many issues with the Winter Olympics that are beginning in Sochi, Russia.  The venues may be the only thing that is ready for the games.  Sleeping quarters in Sochi have become a laughingstock.  Reporters are tweeting about everything from dual toilets that you cannot put TP in to yellow drinking water to no door knobs.  Hackers are having a field day going after every electronic mobile device (it is Russia, after all).  And did I mention the close proximity to world’s biggest tinder box for terrorist activity, the Caucuses?  And then there is this little Russian anti-gay law that seems to be generating a lot of controversy… so much so that the IOC finally spoke up about it this week.

Now, you would think that a global organization like the IOC might actually look at how the world is progressing and decide that gay rights might be something to back against Russian President Putin’s wishes.  Or, at the very least, they would choose to say nothing about the issue, especially with the other problems plaguing Sochi.  Well, Thomas Bach and Dick Pound of the IOC gave everyone a rude awakening to those thoughts.  Bach took aim at the President all right… at the U.S. President, Barack Obama.  President Obama’s crime?  A mild passive-aggressive approach to not attend the Winter Olympics and sending a delegation that includes three high-profile openly gay athletes (one of those, athletes Billie Jean King, has had to withdraw at the last minute due to an ailing mother).  Bach thinks that politics should not be put above athletic competition and slammed President Obama from not including himself or Vice President Biden in the delegation.  Yes, let’s not include politics in the Games, something that has shown up in EVERY single Olympic Games—at least since 1936.

Memo to Thomas Bach:  This isn’t 1980.  At least the U.S. is competing this time in Russia.  They are sending a full team.  There has been no formal protest sent about Russia’s anti-gay policy.  The U.S. just chose to not send their top VIPs and included some athletes to prove the point that it doesn’t matter; that if you are good enough, you can attend the games, regardless of race, creed, religion, or sexual orientation.  And, apparently, that’s the biggest problem of these games, according to Thomas Bach.

But it’s not only Thomas Bach who feels this way in the IOC.  Dick Pound—yes, the same guy that used to head up the World Anti-Doping Agency—had to weigh in to USA Today… 

"That's a foreign policy response to a major power; I don't think they thought it through… I think they were tone deaf on it. This is the United States of America's response to an issue that is not very much under control in the United States either? I thought it was an unfortunate response and frankly not fair to the members of the delegation…  You have the chardonnay folks, sipping, saying, 'This is an issue for me.' Sip. 'And I want you to go over there and be my soldiers.' Sip. 'I'll be watching it on television with another glass of chardonnay,' … It's kind of cheap.”

The IOC has clearly decided to throw their support behind the suave Mr. Putin in the hopes of not looking foolish for even giving Sochi the Winter Olympics in the first place.  And if they have to go so far as to ignore all the problems Sochi has and focus on political controversies, so be it.

Look, I will not carry the water for the pro-gay rights group in this debate (memo to VU Alums Ryan Arnold, Ben Nichols, & Kate Hahn:  Are you going to engage or is this your Month off?).  But in the end, the IOC will have to return to countries whose opinions on gay rights are more in favor of supporting those rights than opposing.  Bach & Pound may be figuring short-term benefits for supporting Putin may outweigh the longer-term damage the IOC may inflict on itself.  They may have miscalculated badly, especially if these Sochi games run into major problems…

Why covering Wireless Networks just became fun again…

I admit it… I follow Wireless Network Carriers with a passion.  But until this week, following the carriers was getting a little boring.  We knew how the players operated for the most part.  AT&T and Verizon were the biggest fishes in the pond being the two children directly linked with old Ma Bell, Sprint was the disruptive force trying to innovate, and T-Mobile was… well, we couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were trying to do.

Well, over the past year, T-Mobile’s executives tried to change those perceptions with a number of move meant to shake up the other 3 Tier 1 U.S. providers.  First, T-Mobile’s merger with Metro PCS and their subsequent launch of their own LTE network suddenly gave T-Mobile a critical foothold in the 4G battle raging across the country.  Then the new strategy of eliminating 2-year contracts and international roaming charges shook up the industry as T-Mobile sought to re-brand itself as the “Un-Carrier”.  But this week, T-Mobile’s Maverick CEO, John Legere, and CTO, Neville Ray, came out swinging at wireless rivals with a combative presence & presentation at CES2014 in Las Vegas.

First, Legere found a way to crash AT&T’s CES Party just so he could see Macklemore, and got thrown out, making huge headlines.  Then, on the stage at CES, Neville Ray went medieval on Sprint’s Dan Hesse, calling Sprint’s Network Vision’s Upgrade a “Sh!tstorm”, taunting Sprint’s slow LTE speeds, and saying Sprint is unwilling to sell Spark products, calling it a Treasure Hunt.  Then Legere continued the assault on Sprint while turning his attention to the company that threw him out of its party.  Legere claims that T-Mobile’s LTE Network is now the Fastest Network in the US (not AT&T), and that Government tests prove it.  He also took aim at AT&T’s plan to get T-Mobile’s customers to switch to AT&T by promising to pay for all charges customers would incur to break their contracts with the other Big 3 companies, up to $650.  In short, T-Mobile with their presentation, became the big attraction at CES.

Not bad for a company that 3 years ago was almost taken over by AT&T and now faces a possible take-over by Sprint.  Legere seems unconvinced that Sprint is a force, calling it basically spectrum that is waiting to be used.  Those words, and the words of Neville Ray may come back to haunt T-Mobile if Japan’s Softbank works out an agreement with T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, to buy its US affiliate.  But for now, T-Mobile, is flying high, adding customers, and adding valuable spectrum through spectrum swaps with Verizon Wireless.

Can T-Mobile keep up the pace?  It’s not clear, but Legere and the rest of T-Mobile appear to be wanting to be a disruptive force. This could get interesting…