When the United States drew England last December as its opening round competition in the World Cup, it should have set the stage for a friendly rivalry of English superstars against American upstarts.

But the BP oil spill and the subsequent American outrage against one of Britain’s most prominent industrial giants has turned the match into somewhat of a proxy battle for the finger-pointing over the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Seriously? It’s a freakin’ game, and honestly, it has NOTHING to do with the REAL world! The finger pointing is accomplishing nothing, so my advice….KNOCK IT OFF! As best I know, it was a damn accident, and until I find out otherwise, the only people who are to blame are the feckless weasel environazis who refuse to allow drilling at a reasonable depth…like 500 feet, instead of 5000….AND on land! There is plenty of oil to be had!

Tensions in both countries have flared over BP, injecting the soccer face-off with an added layer of competition. The opportunity for revenge and shin-kicking has not gone unnoticed.

For the love of pete. Stop behaving like spoiled children! I repeat….IT’S A FREAKIN’ GAME! Neither the American people, nor the British people, are to blame! Acting like this only makes the players look juvenile, and doesn’t do much for soccer’s image.

On the U.S. side, director Spike Lee — who’s been on the vanguard of outrage over the spill — reportedly told a gathering of New York bloggers the U.S. team should wear shirts that say “BP Sucks” on Saturday. A Facebook page calling for BP “payback” hopes against hope that “our boys will get some retribution in South Africa.”

Spike Lee is a nitwit! 99% of the Hollyweird types are nitwits.

Facing public pressure, Obama has taken a tougher tone toward BP in recent days.

He said earlier in the week that he’d fired BP CEO Tony Hayward and claimed that he was scouting for an “ass to kick.” U.S. senators called on BP to stop dividend payments, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi echoed that call on Friday.

Here’s a clue D’Bama: Hayward may not be anyone’s favorite person right now, but at least he’s had a REAL job. I’ve no doubt, given the chance, he’d fire D’Bama for being an utter incompetent! Come to think of it, odds are, the American people will do just that when the time comes.  Once again, the “U.S. senators” and Nancy Pelosi prove themselves completely clueless.  There are people, both here and in Britain, depending on those dividends.  Neither side of the pond need that man/child spouting his manure, doing more harm than good, as usual!

Question:  What kind of game doesn’t have a clear winner anyway?

Seriously, who cares?

Franklin, the UFC fighter, says he doesn’t know if God cared if he knocked out Travis “The Serial Killer” Lutter in Montreal, Canada. But “it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“Win or lose, I always thank God for what he’s given me,” says Franklin, an evangelical Christian.

Franklin says he thanks God after victories because he has felt God’s presence in the midst of mixed martial arts battle.

(…)

Athletes who publicly thank God for victory are often calling more attention to themselves than their faith, says William J. Baker, author of “Playing with God.”

They are selling their goodness, and their brand of faith, to a captive audience, says Baker, who describes himself as a Christian.

“I don’t think it’s the right place and it’s not the right gesture,” says Baker, a former high school quarterback. “It’s an athlete using a moment to sell a product, like soap.”

When did the media become so ignorant?  Any place, and EVERY place, is the RIGHT place to thank God, and sing his praises!

2 Samuel 22:50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.

Psalm 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

2 Timothy 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Galatians 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

And that’s just a few examples.  We are instructed, by God, to share the Word, to praise him, to proclaim before all, and these people are questioning what players do on the field?  Well, I guess it just proves that some folks haven’t bothered to read the Book.  Kind of like they pass judgments on bills they haven’t read. 

Matthew 19:26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

The old adage says that religion and politics don’t mix.  Someone needs to tell FOX Sports writer Jason Whitlock that sports and politics don’t either.  In his February 17 column dedicated to ranking the top ten quarterbacks of all-time, Whitlock made one of the most ridiculous, outrageous, and boneheaded statements any sports reporter has made in a very long time.

Whitlock was describing the game-clinching play of Super Bowl XLIV when Saints defensive back Tracy Porter jumped a route being run by Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne, intercepted quarterback Peyton Manning’s pass, and galloped down the field for a touchdown, securing the Saints win.  For Indiana folks like me, it was heartbreaking.  For the folks of New Orleans…ecstasy.

But Whitlock managed to drive a political wedge into what should have otherwise been left as a thrilling moment of sports history by writing, “A black defensive back outsmarted a beloved white quarterback.  I know. That’s a truth many of you can’t handle. It makes you uncomfortable.”

Ok, so where are Al Sharpton, and the rest of the race baiting bunch on this one?  Does anyone else remember this little tidbit from 2003?

“My comments this past Sunday were directed at the media and were not racially motivated,” Limbaugh said in a statement issued late Wednesday night. “I offered an opinion. This opinion has caused discomfort to the crew, which I regret.”

One comment, made by a white man, obviously NOT racially motivated versus a statement made by a black man, that was most definitely racially motivated.  Can we say ‘double standard’?  I knew we could!  This column was written nearly 2 weeks ago.  Where are the talking heads calling for the resignation of Jason Whitlock from Fox Sports??

Tiger Woods in car accident

Tiger Woods, 33, was seriously injured after being involved in car accident in Central Florida, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Troopers said his 2009 Escalade smashed into a tree on Deacon Circle in Isleworth at about 2:20 a.m. Friday.

Reports say Woods had just pulled out of the driveway at his residence, located at 6348 Deacon Circle. As Woods began to drive on Deacon Circle he struck a fire hydrant and then a tree, reports say.

Woods is listed in serious condition at Health Central Hospital in Ocoee.

Troopers said the crash remains under investigation and charges are pending.

Prayers for a complete recovery.

I have to ask, how in the world did he manage all this at 33mpg?

NFL Picks Week One

Members of the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP want the Confederate flag banned from the Homestead-Miami Motor Speedway, and they will meet Thursday to decide whether to boycott a NASCAR race slated there for November.

Debra Toomer, the branch’s chairwoman of press and publicity, said a planning session has been scheduled to decide on a course of action regarding the display of the flag at the Nov. 20-22 event, as well as its presence at city-sponsored events like last year’s Veterans Day parade.

“The concern is there,” Toomer said of Confederate flags. She declined to comment further before the meeting.

Just how much idiocy are people going to put up with? I want all symbols of Africa banned at NAACP events! Oh, but wait…that’s a freedom isn’t it? Hmmm…. There are no Confederate flags on any of the cars, none of the uniforms, none are sold at the concessions, so what’s their problem? I guess it’s ok for some folks to show pride in their heritage, but not others, right?

“… we don’t regulate the lawful behavior of our fans or prohibit free speech and expression of our guests,” Gray told FOXNews.com. “We can’t tell people what to wear. Where do you start? Where does it end, as far as individual expression?”

Evidently, there are some who believe freedom of speech only applies to them, eh? Tell you what….ban every single flag that is NOT the U.S. flag, and we’ll talk. No African, no Mexican, no Irish, no Italian, etc. NONE! Anywhere! EVER!

Brandon Hensler, a spokesman for American Civil Liberties Union’s Florida chapter, said bringing a Confederate flag to the race or any public event would be protected speech.

“If someone wants to show up with a shirt like that, there’d be no legal recourse for that,” Hensler said. “Unless there’s a specific threat, all speech is protected.”

Well, there’s a shocker. One of the few times the ACLU gets it right!

“Any time somebody starts talking about that, of course there’s cause for concern,” McMichael told FOXNews.com. “The bottom line is I don’t think they should ban [Confederate flags] because there’s nothing wrong with them. It’s just people showing pride in their heritage.”

As a proud daughter of the south, I know there are many people who do not understand our love for the Confederate flag, especially those in the north. We don’t look at that flag as a racial division, as most folks down here don’t have issues with anyone, but criminals, no matter what their color. That flag doesn’t represent slavery! It represents freedom from oppression from a tyrannical central government. It really chaps my hide that there are a few groups who have turned it into something else, but I have no control over that, and so far as I know, stupidity isn’t against the law.

H/T:  Blue Collar Republican and American and Proud

Racist abuse during matches would cost football [soccer for those who have been under a rock] clubs championship points under proposals drawn up by a Football Association working party.

It will recommend that football tribunals be set up to examine allegations of racist and religious abuse and other “off the pitch issues” at matches at all levels of the game.

Parents and spectators at junior league clubs across Britain are among those who face being questioned by local FA tribunals and called to account for any racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic or Islamophobic abuse directed at other parents, players, spectators or referees.

Didn’t GB, at one time, have the same sort of ‘freedom of speech’ we do? Or at least did, before The ONE and his evil minions took over. Now, I realize that people shouldn’t try to degrade anyone else with words, or deeds. That’s just plain common courtesy. I’m wondering, however, if the rise in such behavior is directly related to the increased restrictions being placed on people, and their freedoms.

Mr Mann told The Times: “We have seen the problem with the English football team getting racist abuse in places such as Spain and Croatia. Points sanctions are one of the options. It could cost clubs a place in the European Championshipm [sic], or relegation.”

The more a country’s government infringes on a person’s right, the more ways the people will find ways to strike back.  I believe the increase in such anger towards others is in direct corelation to the restrictions that are being placed on the people’s basic rights.

Some clubs, such as Millwall, Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest and Southampton, have introduced confidential text messaging for fans to report racist or other abuse on match days. Hull City expels fans from the grounds for being abusive.

What’s next? Will they have a special number for people to text to report anyone who blows their nose in a certain way? How about if a parent forgets to give their kid their multi-vitamin? It’s ok to slam Christians, or even whites, in the heat of a game, or argument, or whatever, but you’ll be brought before some social police board if you dare to say anything that someone might find offensive.

Mr Mann said that the problem was just as bad in junior and amateur clubs. “There is some extraordinarily outdated racism at the lower, grassroots levels of football which, if it was in the work place, no employer would tolerate. The issue is abuse from the touchline, especially from parents and spectators. It is not surprising there are virtually no home-grown Jewish or Muslim football players in Britain.”

Britain has allowed the bigotry to grow, by allowing bigots to take over the country….aka Muslims. England, that at one time was a pretty cool place, has turned itself into a breeding ground of dissatisfaction, and have no one but themselves to blame.

An FA spokesman said: “It’s already in the FA’s power to deduct points. However, this would only ever happen for discrimination for very serious chants involving a large number of fans and where it’s persistent.”

One place I’d never go is to a professional soccer match. Have you seen how those so called fans behave….all over the world? What a bunch of raving lunatics. It’s a game for the love of pete! However, that being said, do grownups really need tattle tells in their midst to keep them under control? Kind of sounds like the Nazi Germany, doesn’t it.

The early Nazi years in Germany bred mistrust and suspicion between races, religions, and even between family members. Source.

Extremely impressive young ladies. Where do they get the energy? Wow!

Thanks Sue!

Brett Favre’s agent says the New York Jets quarterback will retire. More details to follow.

Yeah? So what? Big deal.  He’s done this before. If he had stayed retired, like a big boy, and done some good things while retired, he could have been a ‘hero’. Now, he’s just a flippin’ joke!

Here’s the commercial NBC SHOULD be showing instead of 3-D nonsense.  I don’t care how much technology has improved since the first 3-D movie came out….it still sucks.  No technology can ever replace the wonder and beauty of life.

Dan Rooney’s friends are encouraging the Steelers owner to pursue the ambassadorship to Ireland, said a former ambassador there who believes Rooney would be “great for America” in that role.

The Irish Times, a Dublin newspaper, reported that Rooney is among the front-runners to succeed Thomas Foley in the post, along with Caroline Kennedy and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. The White House declined comment, and Rooney could not be reached.

No offense to Mr Rooney, but is a sports team owner really all that qualified to be a diplomat?  Seriously, none of the “front runners” really wind my watch, but a football team owner?  Hmmm….

Hey….I’ve got ancestors from Ireland too….maybe I could be the ambassor?  Sounds like a good idea to me.  I’m just as qualified, and I like Ireland. 

ESPN is joining the lineup of networks that will offer extensive coverage of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration next Tuesday.

The network will televise the noon ceremony, and possibly carry live interviews with sports figures at the event.

It’s likely the first time that the sports channel has ever covered a presidential inauguration, even with presidents like a former sportscaster (Ronald Reagan) or a former baseball-team owner (George W. Bush).

I have now lost any and all respect for ESPN. This is not a sporting event. The guy is not a former sports notable, not a former team owner or former sportscaster.  What makes B. Hussein Obama rate?  I could say something, but I’ll refrain.