Cliff's Crib

The Stages of Coping With Street Violence

2013-05-13T22:43:00.000-05:00

We are in the early stages of the mental process from Sunday’s events. Unfortunately the people of New Orleans are veterans at the street violence routine. The rules have never been written but it always feels the same way.

The first thing you do when you hear news of a shooting like the one that happened Sunday is you start thinking of all the people you know who could be at the scene and in danger. That’s if it’s a public event like a second line. If it happens at a home you think about all the people you know around that neighborhood and hope it’s not an address you are familiar with. My friend Deborah was hit in the gunfire and it could have been a lot worse personally as I had dropped my kids’ grandmother off at the start of the second line about an hour before the shooting started. She was fine because she was walking in front of the parade with the children’s group.The day could have been a lot worse than it was on a personal level.

After the personal concern for your friends and family is out the way the focus shifts to general concern for any victims. You hope there were no children and that no one was killed. It’s a strange feeling of relief when you find out no one has passed away. If someone does pass away you get a sinking feeling in your body and you say a prayer for them and their family. This phase lingers for awhile.

After the grief and concern comes the anger. Each episode becomes more and more frustrating because it doesn’t seem like it will never end. You wonder how the people who did it can sleep at night and who in the world is helping them hide what they did. You want to arrest anyone who had the slightest idea of what happened and you hope when they get arrested they are sleeping next to the evidence so that a jury will have no problem sending them to the worst possible prison with no chance of parole. If you are really emotional you might even make a comment or two about the death penalty.

The anger stage becomes complicated because embarrassment and shame sometimes gets mixed in with it. As a black male in New Orleans, there’s often a hint of shame because deep down I know the actions of the few reflect so negatively on the many. I feel like I should be going out and doing something to atone for what happened even though I haven’t done anything. This makes the anger greater because now I’m madder these fools are making my life more complicated. The Internet has added fuel to this because comment sections are filled with general hate that strikes a nerve even though you are just as outraged as everyone else. On the YouTube clip I posted yesterday with Deborah’s interview there was a comment on the page that said “You can’t fix niggers so stop trying”. There was no way I couldn’t take that personal because I know there are people that can’t separate me from the shooter. What made it more depressing is that I wasn’t sure if the person making the comment was white or black.

The next stage is detachment. It is probably the stage that stops us from making progress towards fixing the problem. You hold on to the other emotions as long as you can until the moment comes where you tell yourself it isn’t fair to me that I am feeling this down when I haven’t done anything. Why am I this upset when these fools keep doing the same things over and over with no concern? It's not like it's my family out there doing these things. When you get to that point you purposely ignore the issues and start finding every reason to feel good about your life and community. Before you know it weeks go by and it’s almost like nothing ever happened until the next time it does. Then we start the process all over again.

Get Well Soon My Friend

2013-05-13T07:53:00.000-05:00

And all of the other victims too....

We have to do better New Orleans.

I'll have more to say about this later.

Sitting On My Porch Part Eighty Eight

2013-05-05T12:35:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a pretty good day. The weather is strangely cool for May in New Orleans. It was National Lemonade Day and the KIPP 4H stand just so happened to be a block from my uncle’s house. I got walk down there and talk with him and my little cousins. I had a few cups of lemonade. I met a few groups of Jazzfest Hippies. It was all good. I lit the grill in the evening and had a few beers. It was a pretty good Saturday.

I found time to stop at the polls and vote on the Crescent City Connection tolls. It looks like we won’t be paying that dollar anymore. I have to be honest and say that although I voted no to the toll, I have no idea what’s going to change by not having the money coming in. The toll was one of those issues where the eye test didn’t match the information. I think the average person feels like the money is going somewhere that doesn’t affect them. We may be proven wrong for voting no in the long run but right now it felt like the right thing to do.

NBA player Jason Collins came out last week revealing to the world that he is gay. This is a big deal because the major sports in this country are seen as being the ultimate sign of masculinity. If society is going to change the climate that allows people to be themselves sports is a good place to start. The biggest shocker in the story to me wasn’t that he was gay but that he managed to hide it from his twin brother Jarron. Either Jarron was in denial or the feeling you need to hide who you are is so great that it keeps you from hiding it from the person you are closest to in the world. That has to be a horrible way to live.

Neither of my brothers is gay but if they were I would want them to be out and be free of the burden of trying to act like they were not. That goes for my sisters and daughters too. I feel like its much worst to have people live a lie and ruin other people’s lives by getting married and having kids with someone of the opposite sex than it would be for someone to be out. In my opinion I think I would rather have two gay dads than a gay dad that faked who he really was. My dad is my hero and the things I took from him are what keep me grounded. I do a lot of things and take part in a lot of things that he probably wouldn’t but at the core we are the same person. I couldn’t imagine if I found out that he was living a lie all that time. I would question everything about myself. It would send me into a tailspin. We need to let people be who they are.

Four years ago Danny Platt cut his son’s throat to keep from paying child support. I wrote a blog talking about how much I wanted to kick his ass. On Thursday he finally pled guilty in order to avoid execution. I just want to say that I still hate him and I hope someone kicks his ass every day in prison. That’s a sad excuse for a man.

If you are headed out to the Jazz and Heritage Festival today I hope you enjoy the food, the culture, the mud, the cool breeze and the great Frankie Beverly

2013-04-30T20:25:00.002-05:00

Today I was sitting in my office looking out of the window watching the downpour of rain and I said to myself “Cliff, you need a vacation”. It’s not like the job is stressful or anything. Everything is going pretty well. The first year of our new project went great. I have more staff than I ever had. I even won an award that I’m quite proud of. I’m not having any real issues from a workday standpoint. Every year around this time I start to feel like I am going to pass out at any second. That usually lasts through the end of May. Around June I start to come back to life. July is usually pretty cool. Once August gets here I realize school is about to start and its back to the hamster wheel.

After more than 8 years of blogging it’s very difficult to describe how I feel that would be different than the last 20 times I described it. That’s one of the challenges of having one of these things if you don’t have the interest to speak about current events like you used to. Following the news every day is draining when most of the stories put you in a negative mood. After a long day who wants to sit around talking about sequesters, crime, and health care cuts in the state. Not only are those issues not going the way I want them to, I’m tired of talking about most of it.

So I don’t want to talk about the news and I am tired of talking about how tired I am. My only solution is to try and do some things that will give me something else to talk about. Maybe I can write 500 words about my Candy Crush addiction (I’m stuck on board 70). I don’t think anyone wants to read about that. I could write about the Black Chris dedication nights I have planned but I don’t know what might happen and I don’t want to let anyone know where I was. Maybe I can start posting pictures of food that I ordered at restaurants. I don’t think I’m going to do that. I really don’t get the food picture thing. Some things just get out of hand. It’s one thing to post a new dish from a trendy restaurant. People are posting pictures of their leftover red beans and pork chops. This has to stop. Anyway, I’ll think of something to get my juices flowing and post more than once a month again.

I’ve lost two good friends in 2013 so far. Rest in peace to Anderson “Doug E.” Soco.

Searching For The Line To Cross : What's Going Too Far?

2013-03-29T23:14:00.000-05:00

“"Put molly all in her champagne/ She ain't even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that/ She ain't even know it,"

People are upset over some of the lyrics from Rick Ross that seem to glorify rape. He was on the radio here in New Orleans and said he does not condone rape. He didn’t even say the word rape. Rick Ross is either ignorant in not knowing the full definition of what a rape is or he’s so stupid that he thinks you don’t condone something by not saying the word even if you describe it. My personal opinion is that you can only keep talking about the same subject song after song and he slipped up in an attempt to be creative. It was wrong and he should apologize and never perform that song.

There a few times a year when the community has a moment that triggers a reaction and you wonder if we are finally at the line where everyone thinks it’s time to stop certain behavior and get ourselves in order. Usually it’s something much bigger than a song lyric like a baby being shot or Trayvon Martin. No matter how much these events affect us things seem to go right back to the way they were. I don’t think that’s because we don’t care. I think it’s because we don’t know what the line is anymore. When there doesn’t appear to be a limit to what you can say and how you can act it’s difficult to know when enough is enough.

When I was in high school The Geto Boys had a song called Gangsta of Love. If my daddy had known this kind of song was in those headphones that I never took off he would have made me sleep on the porch. I was going to post a link to it but I don’t know who is going to read this. That song’s lyrics are so misogynistic it makes the things today’s rappers say seem like love songs. That was over 20 years ago right when the crack era was in full swing. From those days until now we have experienced so many things and nothing has seemed to pull the community together to correct itself. There has to be a limit somewhere.

I have my own personal limits to what I will and won’t do. In any situation I can feel if I am taking something too far and pull myself back. I got that from my family who set expectations on a certain level of behavior. I know there are a lot of black families who have the same expectations and standards. There are reasons I may not be smart enough to figure out that makes it seem like it’s impossible to spread this around to the community as a whole. I think the downward spiral started when we made the decision to embrace hustling and getting money above all else. That’s how drug dealers got to thrive for so long in our neighborhoods while destroying them. That’s why mothers let their sons stay out all night doing things they shouldn’t do to buy tennis shoes and clothes because they think he needs those things to be somebody. That’s why our young ladies love those guys and why Rick Ross can get rich faking like he’s one o f them. How was he supposed to know a line about slipping a molly into a woman’s drink was going to piss anyone off? He may have performed that song live a few times and the first three rows full of women were singing along with him.

You should never say anything that indicates it’s okay to have sex with a woman without her consent. I’m not a fan of Rick Ross and its okay for people to go after him for awhile but let’s keep it all in perspective. Unless we make some tough choices and have the family argument we need to get these things corrected we are headed for a full blown rape song. Anything is possible when the game has no rules.

Sitting On My Porch Part Eighty Seven

2013-03-02T14:17:00.000-06:00

2013 has gotten off to a rocky start. First, my take home pay was reduced when the Medicaid tax cut expired. Second, my take home pay was reduced when my private insurance went up again just because they could do it. The only thing more expensive in this country than potential illness is actually being sick. Maybe I’ll get some of that money back when the insurance exchanges kick in next year. I’m not optimistic about it since I live in Louisiana and our governor seems to be trying to do all he can to make sure everyone has to pay as much as possible for healthcare.

When I found out that our insurance at work was going up again I thought about not signing those papers. I figured I’m young enough where I could make it a year or two without coverage. The extra few hundred dollars in my pocket would be good. I eventually sucked it up and agreed to keep paying because anything can happen in life no matter how old you are and if I really needed medical attention I would rather be faced with coming up with the money to cover the portion my insurance won’t or going into complete financial ruin by having to pay for everything. After the country almost broke out in another civil war behind healthcare legislation a few years ago, the fact people are still making these kinds of decisions makes all that seem like a big waste of time.

Now we are all in the middle of the sequester drama. I don’t think my job is affected in the short term but who knows what the future holds. I guess it will depend on how Congress and the president feel about the homeless. There's 96 million in cuts to homeless assistance programs so I guess they don't feel that good about it. I'm sure if the budget was slashed and my position was eliminated I can get one of those great private sector jobs if the freeloaders who are laid off sooner haven't taken them all. Everyone in Louisiana will have a great job from a Fortune 500 company once the governor frees them from the burden of corporate taxes so I'm not worried.

I don’t really understand why Democrats would have ever agreed to this in the first place unless they wanted it to happen. Nothing has forced Congress to move from any of their positions on spending in the last few years. They gave in a little during the Fiscal Cliff crisis and were acting like they sold out all of their values. They weren't moving on the sequester deal. I think they threw the military cuts in the deal to give the GOP a reason to cooperate and even that didn’t work. It seems like he’s been talked into more unnecessary financial crisis and every time his opponents get more and more of that they want. He gave up his biggest playing card when he didn’t let the Bush tax cuts expire. He would have had the same hate towards him and the same attacks on his character only with half the deficit that would be steadily shrinking. I support the president but something is wrong when he can't get one long term financial deal done while President Bush got two wars funded, a tax cut, and a bank bailout while the deficit was growing. It makes you think the current administration is taking the wrong approach. I'm not smart enough to know what the right approach is but the current one doesn't seem to be working.

I always have a lot on my mind and I used to write about it to let it out. I’ve shared a lot of my personal feelings with the public. I’ve tried not to do that as much lately. Sometimes I think about some of the blogs I posted and how personal they were. I’m not sure if I would write some of the things I did in 2006 and 2007 in 2013. When I first started blogging social media and self appointed spokespersons weren’t as out of control as they are now. There are two issues that I have a problem with. The first is that people can take something you say out of context and run with it without you having a chance to explain yourself. I guess that’s the price you pay for sharing your opinions in the first place. The other issue is some people are labeling themselves as an example of a particular way of life or ideology. There are a lot of people trying to become famous by being the voice of the “intelligent black man”, or the “strong black woman”, or the “New Orleans expert”, “black fathers”, or “the hood” and any other niche you could think of. I never wrote anything to try to be the voice of any of these things. I’m just trying to be Cliff and not mess that up too much.

I don’t have a lot of guys in my inner circle. I’ve never made close friends with guys that easy. I had more friends when I was younger but life and time has made that number even less. I value those guys like family so to lose one is a devastating blow. A few weeks ago I lost one of them in a truck accident and the world seems a lot less fun. I want to close this post by saying rest in peace to Black Chris. I think about him every time I have a really crazy thought during the day and I need someone to share it with. I don’t think I’m ever going to have that kind of routine with another friend again because I wouldn’t let anyone cuss at me the way he did.

Quick Thoughts on Super Bowl and It's Host City

2013-02-03T16:28:00.000-06:00

I’ve never watched Superbowl coverage. I didn’t even watch it when the Saints were playing. There’s only so many ways you can hear the same analysis about the same game before you get tired of it. There have actually been only a few Superbowls I’ve watched all the way through because I don’t care who wins. I am going to try and watch as much as I can of the game today. By the time I post this it could be over but I’ll go ahead and predict 49ers 27 Ravens 21. I don’t like the 49ers but I like the way they play football. I think they had the best team all year.

I have tried all week not to be the sourpuss that ruins the party for everyone. It could be a good thing I have had the flu all week and couldn’t really get into any of the local SuperBowl festivities. I’m glad the visitors are having a good time and I am glad the city did a good job. I just don’t understand why we are carrying on like this isn’t our tenth Superbowl. We kind of know what we are doing with these things or the NFL keeps coming back. Our local leaders and media are acting like this is the first big event we’ve ever hosted. Maybe that’s because so many of them weren’t living here when we hosted the other ones. I don’t know what the issue is. I may have given everyone a pass if this was the first event since Katrina. We already have done 7 Mardi Gras, a final four, a BCS Championship, and about 200 festivals. I’ll admit that the Superbowl is bigger than any of that but we need to tone it down a bit. Hosting people is what we do best. We need to go overboard with patting ourselves on the back when we cut the murder rate in half or end homelessness.

Manti And Today's Culture

2013-01-18T11:07:00.000-06:00

I’ve been watching and reading about Manti Te’o for the last two days. It’s a real fascinating story. It has so many elements of what I feel is wrong with our current culture. There are a lot of situations with this same kind of vibe to them going on but we usually don’t get a chance to break them down the way you can with Manti’s dilemma. The best part about it is that you can talk about it and even joke about it because no one has really been hurt in this. Since the girl doesn’t exist you can’t disrespect her family. No one around Te’o set up a fundraising event for cancer so there’s been no real fraud. Unless something changes this story is entertaining and harmless but there are some things that should alarm everybody.

I’ve known people personally who have fell in love with someone online that they haven’t met in person. It’s one of the elements of our society with so much technology. I can talk to everyone in my life without ever picking up the phone or leaving my house if I chose to. It was inevitable when the Internet became accessible as it now that people would be meeting that way. Besides, there’s a dating site for just about ever demographic you can think of. I’m not questioning that part of his story. The part that I will question is how in 2012 he wouldn’t at least have a camera phone or Instagram picture of the lady. There are people who take so many pictures during the day that you wonder what kind of cell phone batteries they have. I know Manti is Mormon and is a little slow socially but that’s ridiculous.

Personally, if I was in love with someone but I never saw her and couldn’t at least describe her I probably would have kept that relationship to myself. That way I could protect myself just in case things didn’t work out. Manti chose to go on a promotional tour highlighting his strength and perseverance to play through the pain of losing her and his grandmother on the same day as if his grandmother wasn’t enough lost on her own. It doesn’t matter if he was duped or not. It’s his fault for trying to milk the story for everything he good. He took that story and embellished it in an effort to transcend football and it worked well enough to place second in the Heisman trophy balloting. It seems like we can’t have a nice story and move on. We had to take him playing through grief and turn it into him damn near walking on water. Anyone can make themselves a national figure if they go over the top with their story enough. This is how Donald Trump became a legitimate voice in the presidential election.

That brings me to the most troubling part of this entire thing. How did a football player at one of the most famous schools in the country manage to go this long with a story that got attention from national media without anyone checking the facts long before this? It’s not like an on campus blogger blew the story up and it became viral. This story was blown up by major news corporations. These are some of the same news corporations we depend on for information about the policies and issues that are shaping our world. It makes you wonder how many people are walking around misinformed but don’t think they are misinformed because they got their information from the six o clock news. Maybe Manti Te’o’s story is basically harmless but we just had an election cycle with so many lies and negativity that I don’t think anyone really knows what’s going on. We are all just going on what we want to believe based on our personal beliefs. In the same way Te’o wanted that young lady to be a real person we want to believe that the things we are told by media and our leaders is honest. We may all be getting “catfished” right now.

Walk with a Real One: Mama's Words

2013-01-11T19:37:00.001-06:00

This is another edition of "Walk with a Real One" and this post is dedicated to the five foot something lady who has always been by my side whenever I need her. Yes, I'm talking about my dear mother, the queen bee, the lady in charge. I think if I tried to express what this lady means to me, I would need about 3 blog posts but the reason she's my focus of this post is because she,too, is joining the blogging world. My mom has decided to do a blog called "Mama's Words" and I think its going to be really great once she gets it up and going.

My mom has a very creative mind and can come up with things right off the top of her head. I would love to read about what my mom has on her mind and see how she puts it into words of her own. Since I've moved out, i've made a conscious effort to go over when I can and see what's new and with the blog, I can know what's on her mind more often even if I'm not there.

So as I end this and brag on my outstanding mother some more, I encourage everyone to read this and I know you're going to love it. It must be something in the Harris bloodstream that gets those creative juices flowing. This has been another edition of "Walk with a Real One" and I'll sign out with these words of encouragement: GO READ MY MAMA BLOG!!!

Sitting On My Porch Part Eighty Six

2013-01-07T22:03:00.001-06:00

This is the first blog post of 2013. I have to say it was a good holiday season. There wasn’t anything I did or money I spent that I regret. The kids just went back to school and I just started a rare early year vacation. The agency finally got serious about me taking some of my vacation days. While everyone else is getting into the flow for the New Year I am watching ESPN and drinking a few cups of coffee. I wrote a task list for this week so I could feel like I was productive in some way. There’s a good chance that only one or two of the things I wrote down will get done.

I was snapped out of holiday mode last Friday after receiving my paycheck and noticing my social security tax increase. When I first saw the decrease in my take home pay I got upset. No one wants to lose money they could be using throughout the week. Then I calmed down and realized that I have to do my part. Besides, who knows what we will be paying in deductions after the next government showdown on the debt and the budget. It seems like we are going to have one of those every two months so this increase may only be temporary. It’s almost time for the next debt ceiling crisis so who knows what may happen. I figure if people raise too much hell about the increase it may trigger the politicians to rationalize that no one wants social security and try to do something to cut it. It doesn’t take much to talk the president into making a bad deal so I’ll just be quiet.

It’s just a minor adjustment to the budget until the insurance exchanges kick in and I can find a health insurance policy that cost a lot less than the HMO’s plan that is draining our agency and is going up yet again in 2013. I would have still preferred the public option but I guess the exchange will have to do. Between the insurance and the taxes, you have to set your budget with some overhead just in case.
I didn’t watch any football this weekend. After the Saints bounty season I needed a break. It felt like my team’s chances were taken away from them off the field. It’s hard to tell if the team would have made the playoffs even if they had the coach. After all, they did give up a record number of yards on defense. I don’t know if Sean Payton could have done anything about that. We’ll never know if we could have or not and that’s what sucks about the situation. It’s going to be interesting when Roger Goodell gets to town for the Super Bowl.

Speaking of the Super Bowl…...

I will not be heading anywhere near the CBD unless I absolutely have to. I don’t have time or the patience to keep up with all of the street closures and I am not sitting in traffic for 30 minutes just to get back to work. It’s going to be hectic down there until Mardi Gras. I am not sure why we have to start blocking off streets so soon. The Superbowl is almost a month away. I guess you have to set up security and everything but that just seems like a long time to shut off streets in the city.

I have been thinking about cutting back on social networking in 2013. That’s going to be a more difficult task than I expected. First of all I have two cell phones, a tablet, and a laptop available everywhere I go. Second of all, I just had an evening long conversation with friends and family on Facebook about whether you should soak red beans before you cook them. I would miss those moments.

There’s a rapper name Trinidad James that kind of sucks to me because I am grown. I was riding around with a teenager in the car Friday and when that guy came on he acted like he was listening to Marvin Gaye. Instead of acting like an old man and putting down hip hop in general, I tried to break down life and explain the impact of Rakim in 1987. It’s my responsibility to let the kids understand greatness.

2013: Moving Forward and Looking Back To A Lazy 2012

2012-12-31T14:38:00.000-06:00

2012 is coming to a close. The best thing about this year is that for the first year in a long time I didn’t have to be anyone’s pall bearer. Despite the ups and downs this makes the year a good one overall for me.

In 2013 my daughter will be taking the Leap test to move to the 5th grade. I’m not nervous about it. That test is still stupid. I can remember writing about my frustration getting her registered for kindergarten almost five years ago. She’s growing up while I and this blog are getting old.

In 2013 I will celebrate my 39th birthday which means I have one more year left before my 40’s start. Since the life expectancy for black men is 70 years old, I think 39 is a good year for a cool mid life crisis. I think I’m going to let my hair grow and get a mohawk. I hope it stays in style long enough for me to get it without looking out of touch like I really am.

In 2013 I will still be getting my middle class tax break from the president which will almost be enough to offset the increases in our agency’s insurance plan.

In 2013 something will happen in the country that challenges one group’s beliefs. Since we are no longer allowed to think beyond ideology anymore, that group will come up with a way to make an obvious problem unclear so we won’t develop any real solutions.

In 2013 New Orleans will host the Superbowl. Because we have no choice our leaders will have to embrace the NFL commissioner. He’ll probably get greeted at the airport by a second line and Mardi Gras Indians. At that point an entire fan base will all throw up simultaneously setting a world record and creating a financial boon for carpet cleaning services in the area.

Other than these things the only thing I am certain of is that 2013 will look a lot like 2012, 2011, 2010, etc…..

When the calendar changes to a new year it gives you a feeling of starting fresh. There are two times a year where people talk themselves into thinking they can reset their lives. One of those times is your birthday and the other one is New Years. Those two annual days are used by humans to put off things they have wanted to work on but didn’t want to actually start working on. There are people who have been waiting since August to lose fifty pounds but they put it off and it becomes their New Year’s resolution. I’m starting to come to the realization that it doesn’t matter what I decide to because I’m probably not going to change much anyway. I’m not saying that to be negative. I’m just being realistic. Nevertheless, it’s still good to look back at the year and see what went right and what went wrong. If I had to put a theme to 2012 it would be the year that I became lazy and partially tuned out on the world around me. This year was the year where I stopped paying attention like I used to.

I have always had a bit of a lazy streak in me. It goes hand in hand with my difficulty focusing on something for a long time. Most days my preference would be to do absolutely nothing. Somehow as an adult I have managed to push through it and develop a strong work ethic. It's the reason I have received perfect attendance records from employers and have so much vacation hours saved that I can take off weeks at a time. Being lazy as I am now hasn't stopped me from doing all the things I have to do throughout the week. Where my laziness kicks in is when it comes to things that I want to do or could be doing but have the option not to. My laziness shows up in the meetings and events I was invited to but didn’t attend. It’s in the rides to Memphis I didn’t take to see my parents. It’s in the voicemails I didn’t return, the family and friends I didn’t visit and all the weekends I stayed home and watched too much television. My laziness can be found in all of the things I didn’t read and things I didn’t write.

I bought a basketball a while ago because I love playing it. It was one thing I did as a kid that I missed and felt I could still do again even if I went out there in the morning and just shot free throws until I got into enough shape to play a game with the other guys. I’ve only used that ball once for about fifteen minutes.

Usually during the last week of the year I get in a deep state of reflection trying to get myself prepared for the upcoming year. This year it feels like I have been in that mode since late November trying to get my energy right. I’m working on that for the New Year. That’s about all I can do to keep myself going. We have no idea what’s going to really happen next year. All you can do is make sure you are prepared and your own agenda is intact.

I’m ready for 2013. I hope everyone has a good one.

Walk With A Real One: On My Own Now

2012-12-17T15:00:00.000-06:00

This second edition of "Walk With a Real One" has a different tone to it. I'm now speaking as a 21 year old young man in college, with a job, and now living on my own in my new apartment. I'm very happy to be taking this step in my life and I look forward to living life as an adult with new responsibilities.

When I told my parents I was moving out on my own, the reaction was what I expected. It sort of came out of nowhere to them and they were a bit shocked but at the end of the day, they understood that I wanted to get out there and do my own thing. It wasn't easy moving out and missing the people you seen everyday on a daily basis. My parents, brother, and sister used to be in the same house as me but now its a 15 min drive to go visit. I know it will be tough adjusting at first but I'm confident that the things my older siblings and my parents taught me will stay with me as I become older. My parents are so caring and they told me that the door is always open if times get rough.

I think knowing how to budget my money and deciding on whats more important to me are the two key things for me. I'm not much of a shopper so I don't see myself blowing money on unnecessary things and my job and my school work takes up majority of my time anyway. I'm living with one of my best friends from school so that's a major plus. I know he's got my back and I got his and as long as there is gas in my Buick, I'm A-Okay.

Well this has been another edition of "Walk with a Real One." I hope you guys enjoy and wish me luck on my own.

A Moment of Silence

2012-12-16T12:26:00.003-06:00

I was in a meeting Friday when we heard about what happened in Connecticut. It didn’t really sink in just how tragic it was at first but once it did I had the urge to call my mama. That’s who I turn to when something happens that I don’t understand and I need someone to make me feel calm. I thought I was no longer capable of being overwhelmed by an incident dealing with gun violence because of where I live. It’s sad to admit but it’s sort of a routine thing around here. The only time I really get shaken is when a kid is involved. Hearing about those kids being shot down like that really got to me.

Since Friday there’s been a lot of discussion about all the things that could have led to the tragedy. The gun control proponents are looking for tougher laws. The gun rights proponents want guns in the school. Some religious folks are saying there needs to be more prayer in schools. It goes on and on.

There are many different topics we can talk about in relation to this tragedy and we should keep those discussions going until something is done. However, out of respect for the families of the victims, I choose not to give my opinion about any of it until they have at least had time to bury their love ones. I think sometimes it’s a good idea to just grieve and be silent for awhile. Besides, it’s not like our government is going to pass any law or make any changes to it left versus right philosophy just because of this one event.

I think everyone should just be quiet for awhile because the last thing the victims’ families need is to be caught up in a 24 hour news cycle while pundits yell back and forth about things they already should have been concerned about before Friday.

Finally Getting Into Holiday Mode

2012-12-11T23:49:00.000-06:00

I finally bought a Christmas tree today. This is the latest I have ever been into the holiday season without decorating the tree. I usually do it the first weekend after Thanksgiving but I wasn’t in the mood. I haven’t even listened to any holiday music unless it came on a television commercial. As of right now I haven’t gotten into the holiday spirit. Waiting around to get into the holidays can be expensive. I learned today that the longer you wait to buy a tree the more expensive and less choices you will have. The tree I bought today cost so much more than what I usually pay that it made me almost wish I had one of those ugly plastic one that come in a box. I may not be into the holidays yet but I will never have a plastic tree.

My mom called me about ten days ago to see if I had the tree up. She said there was something she wanted to do but I needed to have it up. She sounded pretty enthusiastic about whatever it was so I told her I would get it the next day. That was more than a week ago and I am just getting the tree. She may be upset. I’ll call her tomorrow to tell her I finally got it and hopefully I didn’t mess up her plans.

Just for the record, I am not depressed, sad, or upset about anything. I guess I’m always upset about something happening on a larger scale but from a personal standpoint I’m good. I’m about as good as I have ever been in the post Katrina world. It just doesn’t feel like the holiday season.

It could be the weather. I was wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts everywhere until Monday. It could be that everyone is just going through the motions and so busy trying to get through the daily grind they don’t have time to be festive. My block is usually pretty lit when it comes to holiday decorations but up until today the only house on the block with lights on was the lady who decorates for holiday on the calendar and we can’t count her because she decorated her house for everything when she was still in a FEMA trailer.

The older I get the longer it takes for me to get into the holiday spirit. It’s hard to turn off everything going on for the first eleven months and flip the switch to peace on Earth and goodwill toward men. Of course I am saying that as a 38 year old man with 14 hour days and little sleep. Kids don’t feel that way. They are just as excited and happy as ever looking forward to Santa. I was just like that as a child. Now I wish Santa would send me a light bill voucher after busting my budget at Wal Mart and Best Buy. Nevertheless, we all must do what we have to do so I will search for holiday inspiration everywhere I can.

I guess if Earl Simmons can get into the Christmas spirit there’s no reason for me not to.

Walk wit a Real One: My Thoughts about the Saints

2012-11-28T15:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, before i start, I would like to say that the reason I am doing this post about my beloved hometown New Orleans Saints is because my big brother explained to me that he was too distraught. So I will gladly take the baton from him and run with this one.

Now, for all that don't know, I cheer on almost all teams associated with my city and state and that includes the New Orleans Hornets and the LSU Tigers. The Hornets are young and inexperienced and have a softie for a superstar (Eric Gordon) but Anthony Davis looks really good for the future so I'm not really flipping my wig when I watch them. I really like my LSU Tigers every year because we always have a good to really good defense with very talented players but my only displeasure I have with them is the bad quarterback play I've had to witness the last couple of years (i,e. Jordan Jefferson) and of course the maestro behind all the madness, LES MILES!!! O yes the mad hatter makes my blood boil on a weekly basis because he has bad timeout management and for some odd reason, his team is never fully prepared. But enough about that, let's get down to what we are really here to talk about and that's those Saints.

Now, there's this man I go to school with that I see on occasion and he always has on Saints apparel, whether it be a hat, a jersey, or his big Saints cup with the black and gold straw in it. Well, I seen him one day and noticed him and I said "Who Dat" towards him and he responded back with a resounding "Who Dat." For anybody who wants to find a real Saints fan, shout "Who Dat' toward them and check out the reaction you get. It will be a look of pride that they are proud to be Saints fans. When the Saints started the season 0-4, me and this gentleman would see each other on occasion around campus and the "Who Dat' was very weak between us, but as soon as the Saints got to rolling and won a couple of games, the "Who Dat' tone changed as it was alive and full of that pride again. Well Monday on the way to the library, I seen the gentleman again donning his New Orleans Saints snap back and the "Who Dat' had once again turned weak.

Now let's analyze the problem with the loss Sunday to the 49ers 31-21. First of all, I am requesting the NFL to review those referees eyes for that game because they missed a good three or four pass interference calls. Secondly, the offensive line was completely overwhelmed by the 49ers D-Line, which accounted for 7 sacks against Drew Brees. And finally, STOP WITH THE MARK INGRAM EXPERIMENT!! Chris Ivory or "The Dreaded Bulldozer" as I like to secretly call him, came from out of nowhere off the bench and has helped us win these last couple of games by giving us a steady running attack averaging at least 4 yards a carry which is all you need for an offense that throws 90 percent of the time anyway. Mark Ingram had 10 carries for 27 yards which is about 2.7 yards a carry. Not good. Chris Ivory finished with two fewer carries than Ingram but seven more rushing yards with a 4.2 yard per carry and against a stout 49ers defense, I'll take that. Ingram has been very lackluster since the Saints drafted him and I'm just not totally sure about his ability in our type of offense. I'm sure he could be good if he played with Pittsburgh or the Ravens who live to run the ball with big O-lineman to block for him but in this offense as a running back, you got to know how to break some tackles and get tough yards because the Saints O-Line is not really equipped to run block really well. With all that said, it was just a tough game to watch because once again and against the same team, our mistakes cost us the game. Once Brees threw that first pick six, it was the beginning of the end because it totally destroyed the momentum we had.

As I sign out with this, I will say that I would like to wish my Saints a good luck because Thursday on NFL Network, we face off with those Falcons again. We got them the first time in the Superdome so I hold hope that we can just do what worked that game and repeat it in their building. It would really look good on the resume for this team and this season to beat the top team in the NFL,record-wise anyway, and in our division two times as it has been a tough season to deal with without Sean Payton and might I add some really bad defense. This has been "Walk wit a Real One" and I hope you all enjoy the game. "WHO DAT!"

A Grumpy Young Man

2012-11-27T10:30:00.000-06:00

My brother made his first blog post yesterday introducing himself to everybody. I called him up to read over it and was just blown away by the fact he would name his post thread after a Rick Ross song. After shaking my head for awhile and thinking about it I realized that he’s only 21 years old. When I was 21 I would have probably named my blogs something cool. It may have been a Ice Cube or Tupac song but it would have been fitting of my agenda at that age. I’m not mad at him even though I think Rick Ross is terrible.

I was glad I didn’t fuss with him behind that. I’ve been fussing about a lot lately. There’s something happening to me that I can’t seem to stop. I’m becoming a grumpy old man and I’m not even old yet. I just find myself being aggravated and disgusted with the most unimportant things and the most unimportant people. I’ve been fussing about everything. It’s like my grandfather is speaking through me from the grave.

Some of the things I complain about make no sense whatsoever. I was in Texas last week for Thanksgiving. One thing about that place is that everyone who settled there after Katrina seems to live an hour apart even though they are in the same metropolitan area. Just to go from one house to another required a 30 minute drive and even a toll or two to pay depending on where their house was. It hit me on the way from Pearland to Katy that I am doing all this driving out of town but during a regular day in the city I will cuss someone out for asking to drive to Algiers on the other side of the river even though it’s about a 15 minute drive from my house.

I don’t like traffic, driving, buildings with the air conditioning not high enough, and dudes that wear their pants hanging down so I can see their underwear. I don‘t like talking on the phone, standing in line for anything more than 5 minutes, and parents who let their kids leave the house looking dirty. I can’t stand crowds, shopping, people using the N word on social networking, and people who take pictures of themselves in bathroom mirrors. I wish it would all just go away.

There are so many things happening with people in my community and I know too many things that I don’t want to know. Never mind the everyday struggles of people I know personally, I look at statistics on homeless people all day long. When you add all the budget cuts and bad news it’s enough to turn my young energy to old and weary stress. When you have big issues on your back all it takes is someone not using their turn signal in front of you to make you want to drive home and never come back outside. I have too many things to accomplish to do that. I guess that’s why man created alcoholic beverages

Walk With A Real One: Jerald's Introduction

2012-11-26T12:57:00.000-06:00

Hello to all...

My name is Jerald and this is my personal segment I would like to call “Walk with a Real One.” The inspiration of the name comes from the big boss Rick Ross, one of my favorite rappers/businessmen in the rap industry today. I was listening to a song of his and that’s how he began the song by saying, “Walk With a Real One” and I thought it was so fitting to name this column that because I consider myself a real person who keeps it real all the time, doesn't fake out for anyone, and who will always be the same no matter what. So take a walk with me as every week I will get down to the real and present it to the many readers out there. Also, shout out to Rick Ross for his brilliance!!

Now just to get to know me better, I am a student at the University of Memphis majoring in Journalism and my career goal is to write my own publications. I work part-time as a manager at a sub shop and here’s a fun fact for you: The fellow that created Cliff’s Crib just happens to be my oldest brother and I’m very thankful he’s letting me express my talents to the world on his blog. Generally, I’m a pretty laid back type of guy and in my spare time, I like to write music and chill with good friends.

I would just like to say thanks again to my big brother for giving me the opportunity to jump on his blog. I hope everyone enjoys my posts and I will be back soon with the kick off of “Walk with a Real One.” Enjoy!!

Sitting On My Porch Part Eighty Five

2012-11-17T12:06:00.000-06:00

Today was the first day of my agency mandated use of vacation time. I have so much vacation time that I had to submit a plan on how I would use as much of it as possible in the next few weeks. That means there will be lots of boredom, spending too much on lunch because I can eat anywhere without worrying about time, and wishing some of my friends were part of the 47% sitting at home collecting their gifts from Obama so I could go by their cribs to hangout during the day.

I thought Mitt Romney had questionable character when he ran against Jon McCain in 2008. I was sure of it in 2012 when he ran against Obama. He just made me realize I was correct with his theory that President Obama won because he gave minorities and young people gifts. We are in a sad era of the country’s history right now. I work for an agency that uses funding to help people. I’m around case managers and some of the kindest people in the community all day long. They could all tell you that since President Obama’s been in office there’s actually less money to help people.

There are two reasons for that. The first reason is that in his quest to show the people that hate him he could work with them the president put a lot of cuts on the table in one sided deals that included no revenue increases. The second reason is that red states are really red right now and Republicans are slicing funding for programs left and right. There are a lot of Americans that may not realize these things and that’s unfortunate. I expect a presidential candidate to be informed enough not to make foolish statements. He’s either too incompetent or too stupid to be president so the right man won.

Anytime a candidate uses race, gender, religion, or any other characteristic to divide the public its because they are trying to hide their true agenda and get enough people to vote against their own interest. They are either incompetent or hiding something. Either way everyone loses so people need to reject that kind of rhetoric and pay attention to what’s really going on.

On a positive note, Allen West lost so there’s still hope for everyone.

The General Patraeus sex scandal proves once again that no matter what a man’s status is in life there’s always a chance his little head will take over his thinking.

The Saints are going to finish 8-8 because the whole they dug early was just too deep to get out of. The sad part about that is the record will keep the media from highlighting the greatest season of leadership in NFL history by Drew Brees.

I still don’t like Donald Trump.

I was at a conference downtown this week. It sucks being the host city because you have to hear people talk about what they see in your surroundings. There was a nice lady from Virginia talking about the homeless young people she saw on the street. I engaged her conversation but the whole time I was thinking to myself that she and the other guests weren’t important enough for us to clean up for. Wait until the Superbowl is closer.

My brother is a hard working young man. He’s a student, a manager at his job, and a rapper. He’s also going to be a writer and is studying journalism at Memphis University. He asked me if he could make a few posts on here for practice. That wasn’t a hard decision. He could take the whole thing over if it was going to help him. When you have many things going on the hobby suffers. This blog is my hobby and it has taken a back seat to other things. Since my little brother thought enough of it to ask to use it as a way to work on his craft I am going to pick up the pace.

Post Election Thoughts

2012-11-10T13:56:00.001-06:00

There was six billion dollars spent on Tuesday’s election and the country ended up with the same set up we had before. We could have given that money to veterans and their families.

The last four years have been fascinating from a politics and policy standpoint. The people are the angriest about Obama winning live in states that are solidly red and there’s anything but progressive policy going on. The thing about it is that those states were going to end up for the Republican candidate as long as he was going against Obama. I live in one of those states and I knew Romney or whoever the Republican candidate was winning this state the day after the last election. There was no way reason to play the angry white card as hard as they did.

In order to play the angry card you have to let the crazies into the discussion. That’s why we ended up with people like Glen Beck driving political agenda. It’s hard to filter out a certain kind of hate and contain the rest so once you open the door to that kind of rhetoric it gets out of control. The biggest thing that burned Mitt Romney is that his party managed to turn off almost every minority leading up to the election. I think there were a lot of voters who were literally scared of what could happen if Mitt Romney won the election and that’s why voter turnout was so high.

How much does the news media have to do with Republicans being shocked at losing? Outside of MSNBC no news channel covered the other side of the debate. All we knew that there was a group of angry people against everything. The entire Republican primary was about negativity. After the first debate, despite producing any new ideas or a clear agenda, Governor Romney started acting like the front runner and went into victory formation for the rest of the campaign. He didn’t even have a consolation speech. The only way that’s possible is if he and his base were only listening to one another the entire time. That makes me feel good about my vote for Obama because if they were tuning out everyone else during an election they desperately wanted they were going to do the same thing in the White House. I already have a governor doing that.

It’s funny how powerful people can control things behind the scenes for so long then suddenly smell blood in the water and make their agenda public. It’s like the people who came out after Katrina with their green space idea for New Orleans and got Mayor Nagin re-elected by mistake. The breakout stars of the last few years are the Koch Brothers. These guys were probably pulling strings behind the scenes for years. Now they’ve replaced Dick Cheney as the face of the evil empire.

I can’t tell you that I have agreed with everything President Obama did his first term in office. I was frustrated with him a lot. I don’t think we’ve made any progress to close the poverty and education cap. Black unemployment is over 14% right now. In my personal opinion the jury is still out on his ability to bring about the kind of change so many of his die hard supporters need. Despite my frustration, I have to say that he will go down as one of the greatest campaigners and candidates ever. The president and his team know how to win elections and their ground game to get out the vote is second to none. He’s the Joe Montana of campaigning.

This was a very stressful election for the country. There’s been a lot of harsh things said and unnecessary finger pointing. There are so many people with the same problems blaming one another for it instead of looking at what really works and what doesn’t. Making people hate one another for political gain is a terrible thing. I try to keep from wasting energy on that. However, there are few people who were so dedicated to being stupid that not liking them is effortless. Here’s my top ten.

1.    Donald Trump
2.    Donald Trump
3.    Allen West
4.    Donald Trump
5.    Newt Gingrich
6.    Super Pacs
7.    Any official involved in voter suppression
8.    Donald Trump
9.    Koch brother #1
10.    Koch brother #2

2012-10-06T18:34:00.000-05:00

It’s a beautiful day outside but it’s too hot for October. I guess New Orleans will get some cooler fall weather any day now. It feels like August out there right now. It’s a good thing it is football season and I don’t plan on being outside that much anyway. I am watching Florida vs. LSU game right now. After this I may drive over the Gentilly Fest and check out Whodini. If I get there early enough to talk to their manager I might be able to get up on stage and help them perform Funky Beat or maybe One Love.

Last week I had the experience of serving on a jury trial at New Orleans Criminal Court. Real court is nothing like television. The most interesting part was meeting the other jurors. Trials have a lot of breaks and you can’t discuss the case when you are in the break room so you have to talk about other things. There were twelve people in the room from a relatively small city and they were all very different. The only thing they truly had in common was everyone was ready to go home. It seems like lately the city and its people are being presented in a monolithic way. I know the fun and revelry sells the city to outsiders but sometimes it’s good just to sit around with a sanitation worker and a grandmother and talk about what’s going on.

I’ve been very pessimistic about most things lately. I have been keeping a lot of it to myself because I never wanted to be the guy that’s always bitching and moaning about everything. With that being said, I checked out the NOLA For Life program and I support it. There’s no such thing as a program so good it will eliminate murders in this city. I believe that’s something that needs to be done in the homes of those kids. I do think a good program with the mayor’s involvement can change the environment where some of the people involved may not be so quick to shoot someone. We still need to put the time and resources into the ideas to make them work but I’m optimistic. I hope I stay that way.

If the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texas play in the Superdome while the New Orleans Saints have a losing season because their leadership was in trouble for doing something against the rules that will sum up the last 30 years of living here. We’ll call it the Cities Left Us Behind Bowl.

The Saints have had some really bad seasons and some crazy ones as well. My top three crazy seasons are the Earl Campbell season, the season where someone slept with Willie Roaf’s wife, and the last Ditka season where the offense had about 5 plays in the playbook. None of those seasons have prepared me for the bounty season where the coach is suspended. The Saints are 0-4 and have lost all four games in a different way. I’m frustrated, aggravated, and I don’t care for the commissioner. I am still not sure what Sean Payton did to be suspended and treated like a criminal. It really doesn’t matter because if the Saints lose tomorrow the season is over and that dream of playing host to the Superbowl and being in it is dead.

There’s only one thing left to do. I’m breaking out the lucky Superbowl shirt. I was going to burn it after the Seattle playoff game but I changed my mind. I’m wearing the 2006 NFC South divisional hat and the Crown Royal and putting all my energy into beating the Chargers. I’ll be at home so at least I won’t get arrested. This is the last stand of the 2012 season. Let’s go Saints!

Sitting On My Porch Part Eighty Four

2012-09-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

I am finally feeling like I am back to normal after Isaac. When you have a storm that disrupts things it takes a week or two to get things back in order. Sometimes it takes months or years to get back to normal. Thank goodness I am not in that position this time around but some people are. Unless something happens and we get more protection I think it’s time for everyone in this part of the world to accept the fact that every hurricane season we can potentially have a city or neighborhood that is devastated by water. We just have to do our best to recover as well as we can and keep going.

On a light note….I learned two things about life during the days when the power was off. The first thing I learned was that as violent as New Orleans can be now it would be even worse if we had to go a month without traffic lights. It wouldn’t be the usual suspects in conflict either. Four way stop intersections bring the bad side out of people. There would be middle age women in all out brawls on Claiborne Avenue and Martin Luther King Blvd.

The second thing I learned is that I am willing to bet there weren’t a lot of babies born in April before there was air conditioning in South Louisiana. April is nine months after August and if you are in a house with no air in August it is too hot to want to touch anybody. When I was a little kid it seemed like all old people had a mean look on their face. That was leftover misery from sleeping in the heat.

My attempt to live healthier and lose a few pounds is going pretty well. I think I turned the corner when I stopped eating my second dinner plate after 10:00 PM. I don’t know if it is noticeable yet but I can feel it. I have a new incentive to keep going. I have three new Ralph Lauren Polos from Macys in New York. The only problem is that they are a size too small. In the past few years I have donated clothes to charity with the tags still on them because I was never able to lose enough weight to wear them. I like donating things. There are a few shirts and a few pair of pants that I don’t wear that will be donated soon. You must understand that the New Orleans hood kid in me will not allow me to give away those Polos without wearing them. Twenty pounds is going to make them look real nice on me.

I haven’t had much to say about the presidential election yet. I started paying less attention after Herman Cain dropped out of the race. That guy was entertaining. Now things are going like I thought they would between President Obama and Mitt Romney. The president is on cruise control right now. He’s just trying to get through each day without offending anyone or starting any trouble. I’m not sure what Romney is doing. I look at some of the things he’s tried this week dealing with Libya and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s decided he doesn’t want to deal with this mess in America and is making himself fall behind on purpose. If he was I wouldn’t blame him. No one should want the job of president right now.

Maybe the Republicans have figured out that in a lot of states President Obama is the best thing that ever happened to their agenda on the state level and told Mitt to take a dive. The paranoia and hate for the president is so strong in some parts that people will vote against their own interest like the people in Alabama when they voted for that immigration bill and almost killed their farming industry. You have to be really dedicated to the Republican agenda to put your state’s farmers out of business. It’s been a golden time for the conservative agenda on the state level since Obama took office. They should have a secret super pac that runs ads against Romney in swing states. There’s no need to run them in any of these red states like the one I live in. No one is going to change their mind.

Besides the poor and elderly, the people I feel sorry for most of all since President Obama has been in office is all the commandos who went to the mountains and trained for the day Obama came to take their guns and freedom. They could have been at football games and hanging in strip clubs all this time. Instead they have been hiding away fighting wolverines and looking at dudes in camouflage for nothing.

Me and my coworker was at lunch today laughing and reminiscing about old times. I told him that I noticed that the period of life that I seem to speak most fondly about was the time when I didn’t have any responsibility and didn’t grow and expand as a person. When you are younger you have a lot of carefree fun but you can’t do that forever. Then you get older and start trying to create a life for yourself but the weight of trying to move forward can make it seem like the days when you were drinking with your friends at 9:00 AM and hanging out with girls you barely knew was the good old days. That’s not true. It’s the mental and physical fatigue that makes it feel that way. Sometimes when it feels too heavy you need to dig deep and push through it.

Black and Gold Week 1: Outlook on the Season

2012-09-08T20:31:00.000-05:00

My friend Shawn has an advantage when debating the Saints with me because he predicted the 2009 Super Bowl appearance three months before training camp started. I’m usually not the type to shy away from proving I’m right but ever since then I have to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to what’s going to happen with the team. It’s going to be harder this year because we have a disagreement when it comes to the impact of Sean Payton being suspended. He thinks the leadership on the team and organization won’t affect the season. He thinks the Saints are going 13-3. I disagree with that. Before I get to my prediction for the season and tomorrow’s game with the Redskins, here’s what I think about the upcoming season.

I guess you can’t talk about the season without addressing the bounty situation. It’s either going to galvanize the team or eventually tear it apart because the biggest thing to come out of the entire situation is that the coach is suspended for the season. No one really knows what will happen when a crucial situation comes up during the game and Sean Payton isn’t there to make the decision. In my opinion, the lost of the coach is worth at least two games in the lost column.

There was no way the bounty situation couldn’t affect this season. It didn’t have to be as crazy as it is now if the commissioner would have just given everyone 2-4 games and moved on. He decided to be heavy handed because he has no one to answer to and now we have a mess. The media really did a bad job at investigating this story. They ran with whatever the commissioner said and at one point were mentioning lawsuits and criminal charges against Saints players. Now the suspensions have been overturned and the NFL will come back with lighter suspensions they think the players will except without having to go to court and produce evidence. Something tells me Jonathan Vilma isn’t accepting any suspension so Bountyate will be going on all year.

Last year the New Orleans Saints beat the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants so bad that by the end of the game they were trying not to score. 2011 was the first year that I actually felt like we were the best team in the conference and didn’t make the Super Bowl. That is why losing to the 49ers hurt so much. We gave that game way. The defense had two chances to make a play and stop Vernon Davis and they couldn't do it. I'm still shaking my head about it.

I’m having a hard time figuring out what happens this year. There haven’t been many changes to the roster. The biggest additions are Curtis Lofton and Steve Spagnuolo. The biggest losses are Robert Meacham, the coach, and Carl Nicks. We may have Will Smith and Vilma for a whole season but no one knows. The way I see it the season comes down to a few players. If Malcolm Jenkins, Roman Harper, Courtney Roby, and Joe Morgan play okay then there’s no reason why the Saints can’t win the division. The team played so basic during the preseason and the third preseason game against Houston so wild and crazy that you can’t get a good indicator of where things are.

I think the Saints have the talent to win twelve games. I am going to subtract three games due to Sean Payton’s suspension and say they will end the season at 9-7. Of course I’m going to find a reason for them to win every game this year and hope they go 16-0. On one hand this is probably the most motivated team and fan base in the league. Everybody is looking to stick it to Roger Goodell and show him that his suspensions couldn’t keep us from playing for the championship in our home stadium. On the other hand, this is an unprecedented situation and until a few games go by you don’t know how the coaching situation is going to work out. Then there’s always that problem with covering tight ends. That would concern me even if Coach Payton was there. I’m going to stick with my 9-7 prediction and we’ll see how things go tomorrow.

The Saints open against the Washington Redskins featuring Robert Griffin III. RGIII’s parents grew up in New Orleans and a lot of his family still lives here. That means I want him to have a Hall of Fame career. I just don’t want it to start tomorrow. I don’t know if the Saints defense is ready to make any offense look too bad so I will give them three touchdowns and say the final score is Saints 34- Redskins 21.

While I was writing this and watching college football Devin Walker from Tulane University was hurt on a tackle. He fractured his spine and stopped breathing for a few seconds. He’s in the hospital in stable condition. I love football and admire the players. I never want to see anyone get hurt especially with a potentially life changing injury. I wish Devon Walker a full recovery.

Unfortunate Similarities

2012-08-29T22:18:00.000-05:00

First of all I want to let everyone know that I am okay.

If Isaac hadn’t decided to make his slow journey through the state of Louisiana I would have been at Commander’s Palace with my employees today. I had plans to wear my Saints tie and everything. I would have taken a few minutes of silence for my grandmother and the other victims of Katrina like I always do on today and moved on as best I could.

I don’t know what is about hurricanes in South Louisiana and August 29^th. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take that day off of the calendar around here. It was seven years ago on this day that might life literally changed forever. It’s the reason I left for higher ground for this storm. Thanks to my employer I have a room in Baton Rouge. I know the storm passed here too but there are no levees to worry about and that’s enough for me to feel safe.

I have a problem dealing with any storm that I know is going to have a surge that may affect levees. I would go so far as to admit that I am a bit afraid of storms like that. I don’t think I ever actually used those words before but it’s true. I don’t feel uncomfortable saying it. It’s valid. Losing someone you love in that situation makes it difficult to accept that the new levee system is going to stop it from happening again. It looks impressive but it’s not battle tested and I didn’t want to take the change. I’m not mad at anyone for staying but I understand the rationale of anyone who left.

My home and my city took a beating from Hurricane Isaac but survived. Unfortunately my friends and neighbors in a few surrounding areas didn’t make out so well. To the people of Plaquemines Parish and Laplace I understand what you are going through. The thing to remember is that you still have your lives and all the homes can be replaced. I hardly ever think about material things I lost in Katrina anymore. It’s the people that I can’t get over. If you still have one another you are doing okay because there’s nothing more important than what we have in each other.

Watching the Saints and Isaac on Saturday Night

2012-08-25T21:08:00.001-05:00

It was a beautiful day outside. I resisted the temptation to do any yard work but I need to cut the grass tomorrow just in case Isaac gets a little too close. I spent most of the day resting and recovering from the third week of the school year cycle. For those of you are not aware of what the cycle is I will share.

First, you get up really early in the morning. Second, you have to move quickly and get out of the house at a certain time because school starts way earlier than it needs to. After that you go to work and try do as much as you can because school lets out at a crazy time. On the way home you keep thinking how great it would be if the school that was a few blocks away from the house was still open and offering a quality education because that would be so much easier. Then you remember that you are not supposed to complain because the kids have “choices”. Choices are great unless you choose wrong. In that case your child is screwed.

I’m keeping my eye on Hurricane Isaac. He can’t seem to make up his mind exactly where he wants to go. I was hoping that since it was so unorganized the mountains in Cuba would break it up but it survived and is heading into the Gulf. Earlier today New Orleans was out of the cone of uncertainty but the computer models keep pushing it this way. By tomorrow morning we might be in the center of the cone. It reminds me of another storm whose name I won’t mention. It changed course three times before heading this way. I know people want to think that we knew weeks in advance she was coming and decided to sit here and chill but it wasn’t like that. Anyway, I hope Isaac doesn’t change close too much because he’s supposed to make land Tuesday so there’s not much time to do much. You can’t really relax until they hit land somewhere. Hopefully wherever it hits there are no people in the way.

I’ve been watching the first half of the Saints and Texans game while I was writing this. My new activity this season is trying to figure out what section Sean Payton is sitting in and what kind of disguise he’s wearing. It’s going to be a crazy season. I will have my official preview next week after I am sure Isaac has passed us by.

I hate this time of year.

Get Well Tyrann

2012-08-17T20:20:00.000-05:00

Sports are clearly based on performance and physical talent. No one gets drafted or plays a long time because they are a good person. It's also unrealistic because you can't tell your son to be Lebron James unless he's 6'8 250 lbs and can run and job like a gazelle mixed with a ballerina. You have to be born that way. Those abilities are the reason why they make a lot of money and things are made easy for them. I have no problem with that.

Tyrann Mathieu was a bit different. He wasn’t really supposed to be a star on the level that he became. I was really into the Honey Badger thing and every time he made a play it made me smile. It had a lot to do with my New Orleans bias towards young black men achieving things. It was cool to hear his deep New Orleans accent on ESPN and you could tell he wasn't trying to disguise it like some people do. It was cool to see him as a Heisman finalist. The only other time I even watched the Heisman program was when Marshall Faulk was a finalist.

In a sport based on size and speed the Mathieu seemed to overcome any deficiencies he had in those areas with tenacity and a spirit that made it seem like he wanted it more than every other kid out there. He was an example of a guy who actually earned his status in the spotlight. He made last season really fun.

The Honey Badger won’t be playing football this year. He has some issues that I hope he resolves even if he never steps on a field ever again. I read today that he is going to stay at John Lucas’ treatment facility until he feels better and then worry about football. I think this is a good decision because the last thing he needed was going to a smaller school and having all that attention without getting some help.

There are things in life more important than football. I hope someone close to him to him that there are things in life bigger than sports. I hope they let him know that he’s so young that whatever he’s going through now can be overcome if he applies himself with the same energy he plays football with. I would rather see the entire football season cancelled than for Tyrann Mathieu not to recover from his addictions. There’s nothing that depresses me more about my city than young people with wasted talent. We’ve had enough of those stories so I want the young man to come out this stronger than before.