Today's Dilbert

A classic!!!!Link

Free Genarlow Wilson

Great ESPN article in my RSS feeds today:

He's 20 now. Just two years into a 10-year sentence without possibility of parole, he peers through the thick glass and bars, trying to catch a glimpse of freedom. Outside, guard towers and rolls of coiled barbed wire remind him of who he is.

Once, he was the homecoming king at Douglas County High. Now he's Georgia inmate No. 1187055, convicted of aggravated child molestation.

When he was a senior in high school, he received oral sex from a 10th grader. He was 17. She was 15. Everyone, including the girl and the prosecution, agreed she initiated the act. But because of an archaic Georgia law, it was a misdemeanor for teenagers less than three years apart to have sexual intercourse, but a felony for the same kids to have oral sex.

Afterward, the state legislature changed the law to include an oral sex clause, but that doesn't help Wilson. In yet another baffling twist, the law was written to not apply to cases retroactively, though another legislative solution might be in the works. The case has drawn national condemnation, from the "Free Genarlow Wilson Now" editorial in The New York Times to a feature on Mark Cuban's HDNet.

"It's disgusting," Cuban wrote to ESPN in an e-mail. "I can not see any way, shape or form that the interests of the state of Georgia are served by throwing away Genarlow's youth and opportunity to become a vibrant contributor to the state. All his situation does is reinforce some unfortunate stereotypes that the state is backward and misgoverned. No one with a conscience can look at this case and conclude that justice has been served."

Here is the worst part:

No one involved believes Wilson should be in jail for 10 years.

The prosecutors don't.

The Supreme Court doesn't.

The legislature doesn't.

The 15-year-old "victim" doesn't.

The forewoman of the jury doesn't.

Privately, even prison officials don't.

Yet no one will do anything to free him, passing responsibility around like a hot potato. The prosecutors say they were just doing their job. The Supreme Court says it couldn't free him because the state legislature decreed the new law didn't apply to old cases, even though this case was the entire reason the new law was passed.

And the true kicker:

The position of Barker and the district attorney, McDade, who refused to comment, is that Wilson is guilty under the law and there is no room for mercy, though the facts seem to say they simply chose not to give it to Wilson. At the same time this trial was under way, a local high school teacher, a white female, was found guilty of having a sexual relationship with a student -- a true case of child molestation. The teacher received 90 days. Wilson received 3,650 days.


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I encourage everyone to go to the Wilson Appeal page and register your outrage!

Also, you can use this link for information about how to donate to the defense fund.

Fire Marty?

Mark Schlereth writes:

Normally I'd say a lack of discipline should doom a coach, but that's only if there is a pattern. There is no pattern of a lack of discipline being a problem in San Diego. This team normally plays very disciplined football and doesn't make the mistakes we saw yesterday. Was this because the Chargers were nervous in a big game? Maybe, but it wasn't because of Schottenheimer's coaching.

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Mark, Isn't it the coach's job to get the players ready for a big game? I realize the Patriots had a lot more playoff experience, but remember, it wasn't too long ago that they had none and Brady was a rookie. If Belichick was a great coach for preparing them for the stress, then doesn't Marty deserve the blame.

There is a huge "white elephant" here: Did Marty's playoff record and the press constantly asking about it, make the coaching staff and therefore the players MORE nervous for the game? Has Marty's baggage become so big that he is unable to overcome it and get a team to play loose in the playoffs?

Former Charger player Reche Caldwell told LT after the game: "You're better than that." What the Chargers really needed during the game was a coach that got in Shane Olivea's face after the personal foul and the other players faces with the same message. Instead you had a team that was cut adrift and playing uncharacteristically bad, while the coaching staff was not making the adjustments to keep up with their opponents.

LT: "No class" part Deux

Another thought occurred to me while watching Mike & Mike this morning. The discussion was on how much blame Marty Schottenheimer deserves.

While, LT explained the standard, the blame lies with the coach.

When your star player is suspended for cheating, the blame lies with the coach

When your kick returner no shows and muffs punts, the blame lies with the coach

When your players have a lack of discipline and head butt opponents, the blame lies with the coach

When your team has four turnovers, the blame lies with the coach

When your team trash talks all game and doesn't deliver, the blame lies with the coach

When you team has the best record in the regular season and then gives away a home playoff game to a lesser team, the blame lies with the coach

Yesterday, I thought LT was an idiot. Today, I realize the wisdom of his view and he has convinced me of something I did not think I would ever agree with: It's time to fire Marty!!!!

No Class?

LT said:

"I would never react in that way. I was very upset," Tomlinson said. "When you go to the middle of our field and start doing the dance Shawne Merriman is known for, that is disrespectful. They showed no class and maybe that comes from the head coach."

Ok LT, what is the definition of class?

Maybe the quality of your team's play in the game is the definition of class. . .

Things started unraveling in the third and fourth quarters. Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence got a 15-yard unnecessary roughing penalty after Brady was stopped on a third-down sack at the Chargers' 36-yard line. That kept the drive alive, with Gostkowski eventually hitting a 34-yard field goal to cut the Chargers' lead to 14-13.

Tackle Shane Olivea got an unnecessary roughing penalty after an extra point following a Tomlinson TD that put San Diego ahead 21-13 in the fourth quarter. Kicking off from their 15, the Chargers handed great field position to the Patriots.

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"[The San Diego players] talked from the beginning to the end," linebacker Rosevelt Colvin said, according to the Union-Tribune. "We'll take the win."

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OK, I guess I am not sure what class is, but maybe I should just take LT at his word. Defending a known CHEATER who does a dance to taunt opponents in the regular season and then disappears in the playoffs is LT's definition of class. And according to LT, that comes from the head coach. And no matter how much I personally like Marty S., the fact is, there was only one hall-of-fame coach on the field yesterday.

Reche Caldwell had a big day for the Pats. He used to play for the Chargers. You can clearly hear him telling LT after the game "You're better than that." LT is. But he will have to learn that two players the Chargers got rid of, Caldwell and Drew Brees, are still playing. He can ask Payton Manning how much an MVP award, a 14-2 season, and a Pro Bowl trip are worth if you lose the first game of the playoffs at home.

Watching the game yesterday, I was amazed how BIG the charger logo's were. I don't know how you could come off the bench to celebrate and not be somewhere on the logo. There is not a single Pats player that has a dance ("Lights out" or whatever). The Pat's don't have a TO or Horn, or players like that.

You can say a lot of things about the Pats and their Coach; there are more that dislike them than like them. But "No Class" is not something that even Belichick haters will agree with. LT, I realize you are angry and frustrated, but to attack Belichick in your postgame press conference is "no class" and you are better than that.

How to fix the NFL K-Ball

The Problem:

The NFL introduced the K-Balls eight years ago after the competition committee decided teams were abusing their privileges and taking unusual measures to condition balls so they would fly higher and travel farther.

Kickers and punters were accused of using strange methods to soften the leather, spread the seams and inflate the bladder. Rumors included instances of balls being put in microwave ovens, dryers and saunas.

"The reason this was put in place was to prevent teams from doctoring balls for kicking," league spokesman Greg Aiello said.

So the night before a game, 12 balls marked with a "K" are delivered straight from the manufacturer, Wilson Sporting Goods, to the officials. Two hours before the game, a representative from each team can prepare the balls by rubbing them down and brushing them off. An official then checks the air pressure, puts the balls in a bag and subs them in on kicks.

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Baseball rules cover the requirements for the umpires to prepare the baseballs for the game. MLB uses special mud and everything to take the shine off the balls and provide better grip. Why not have procedures for the K-Balls to be prepared? With the billions the NFL makes, can't it afford to hire one equipment person for each officiating crew to prepare the balls?

Hopefully the NFL is smarter than the NBA: you want ESPN, SI, and your fans talking about the great play and not how slippery the ball is!!!!

Wal-Mart: can an old dog learn new tricks?

What is missing in all these articles is an analysis of whether or not Wal-Mart can or should change. I've written in the past that once a brand has established itself in the value or price category, it is almost impossible to go up market and attract a group of customers that are already going for fancier brands. Wal-Mart is a mass merchandiser that clearly is all about "always low prices."

That's why people shop there.

And their culture, store layouts and advertising push price for all it's worth. Retailers such as Ames or regional price players such as Caldor's tried to compete on price but are long deceased.

Target played it perfectly. Rather than go head-to-head with Godzilla, they decided to offer mass with class, or department store type merchandise for less. They used unique designs and nicer store layouts to attract those folks that were a bit more up-market and tended to look down on the down-market, Wal-Mart shopper. Remember, when you walk into a Wal-Mart, you are telling the world you are a price shopper. When you walk into Target, you are telling the world you have a little more taste than a price buyer. When you walk into Neiman Marcus you are telling the world that you have a lot of money and a great deal of taste.

Like everything else in this very competitive world, trying to be everything for everybody just doesn't work. You are what you are in the minds of your customers and prospects, and leaving that position tends to generate confusion. Higher prices in a low-price store just suggests to your customers that you might be ripping them off.

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Good analysys. I agree with the assessment of Target an Wal-Mart's current position. The one thing I will add is Wal-Mart is totally inept at responding to its critics. Its failed attempts have hurt itself; all they have done is give creditibility to the critics and that will hurt them in making other moves. For example, Wal-Mart is trying to implement scheduling software and more flexible schedules to match staffing to customer demand. Because if their inept responses to complaints about worker wage and benefits; this will be more difficult. Wal-Mart is already 3 years behind Target in this area, and cannot afford the delays.

Finally, it is a lot easier to be agile when you are smaller.

Raise a glass to the professor!

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973) was an English philologist, writer and university professor who is best known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as many other works. He was an Oxford professor of Anglo-Saxon language (1925 to 1945) and English language and literature (1945 to 1959). He was an orthodox Roman Catholic. Tolkien was a close friend of C. S. Lewis; they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings.

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Cheers and thank you!