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Thursday, October 17, 2013

WHITT'S END: 10.17.13

      Whether you're at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt's End

   *In the wake of his obvious and blatant plagiarism of a Tony Romo article he posted on CBSDFW.com, 105.3 The Fan's Chris Arnold hasn't been heard on GBag Nation this week. But I'm hearing that's about to change. He'll be back on the air in his regular role Monday after what will basically amount to a one-week suspension. Easy for anyone with a journalism background to call for his firing, and as I mentioned Monday it's difficult to find a viable defense for his actions. But this again proves that sports radio is more about entertainment than information. At a newspaper, Chris would be fired. On the radio, he gets a slap on the wrist. The lesson The Fan needs to learn here? Just because you write, doesn't make you a writer. And, more importantly, it's dangerous to force your players to play out of position. Professionally, I detest what Chris did. But personally, as a friend, I'm glad he's surviving to write talk another day.

   *Mark Cuban hardly ever wears a suit and tie. But when he does, he usually means business. And yesterday it meant kicking Securities & Exchange Commission ass and, yep, taking names. After a silly 9-year court battle, a jury found the Mavs owner not guilty of insider trading. His reaction: "I won't be bullied, I don't care if it's the United States government."

   *The Cowboys' offense has problems, but it also has itself a franchise-record scoring pace. I break down the surprising numbers over at NBC 5's Blue Star Blog.

   *It's the little things in life. Last night I took a late-night walk with Sybil and her dogs. Eerily quiet neighborhood. Perfect weather. No phones. No distractions. Almost-full moon, shrouded by the kinda clouds you see just before Werewolves take over. Perfect.

   *Picking the teams for college football's impending playoff system is a huge deal filled with great responsibility. Iconic names on the committee, like former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, Peyton 'n Eli's dad, Archie and Condoleezza Rice ... wait, What The What?! And even, Why The Why?! The former National Security Advisor has zero college football credentials. Crazy side note: On the committee is Tyrone Willingham, who was the head football coach at Notre Dame in 2004 but today is ... a volunteer assistant for the Stanford women's golf team. Ouch.

   *Hot.

   *Not.

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46 comments:

  1. Chris Arnold should've been fired long, long ago for wearing that ridiculous toupee for 25yrs now.
    Only Jerry Jones' toupee is worst locally with the Donald taking it for worst ever.
    at least RW went with the plugs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow Richie, what a low down dirty thing to do, Dont they teach this in 5th grade english, as a NO, NO, you never steal someones work. Man good for you, for calling it out, and for most who read it, it may not seem like a big deal, but it shows the character of an individual, and you can bet if it was done once its been done several other times. Keep writing.....Joe Acuna-

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  3. -I'm selfishly glad that Chris didn't lose his job. I enjoy listening to the Gbag Nation and he does bring something to it. Should he take heat for this? Hell yes. When you steal someone else's work because you're too lazy or just can't write, there should be consequences. In some of your first blogs, you were pissed about people taking content from you, I guess it's a little different when the worm turns and one of your friends is doing it.

    -Surprised you haven't jumped on the Adrian Peterson story more with the stances you have on fatherhood and players missing games. Peterson didn't know he was the kid's father until he was notified that the kid was in the hospital. Outside of that, 7 kids with 5 women. Maybe a bigger story is not players missing a game because of the birth of their child, but players having so many kids out of wedlock.

    -I'm hoping this playoff thing in college will work, but some really head scratching choices. Even more head scratching that they're not doing a trial run this fall by meeting and determining how they would rank this season. I predict failure but I hope for the best.

    -Re: your dog walk...it's debatable, but was life better before we were connected to everything 24/7? I know for me there is rare "off the grid" time, more good than bad? Not sure.

    -NTTA statements are confusing when I've tried to decipher them, but I can tell you this---they've missed charging me more than they've had ghost charges. Doesn't make me feel much better since I get that $40 hit once a week.

    -Jay Ratliff--how much will it piss everyone off if he comes back to play for someone else this season? I know I'll be pretty livid.

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  4. Chris Arnold - Scenario: Guy is not a writer. Guy is forced to write a column by his employer, even though he is not a writer. Guy is approaching deadline. The guy who is not a writer cheats to meet the deadline. If your his employer, you get what you get.

    Ratliff - the NFL has always had plenty of tempermental, unstable, very talented players. Does the name Charles Haley ring a bell?

    Gov shutdown - again, not that I'm a Cruz fan, but blaming that fiasco on one guy is just silly.

    Top Golf - sometimes you do stupid things in life and bad things happen to you. The only difference is in this country we must have someone with deep pockets to blame. The world was a better place before attorneys figured out they could make mad bank by convincing us all we're victims.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rooster: "Ratliff - the NFL has always had plenty of tempermental, unstable, very talented players. Does the name Charles Haley ring a bell?"

      Haley has like 6 SB rings and was a warrior. He is bi-polar and could be a real jerk but when he put on that uniform, he was a monster.

      Ratliff is a guy who stole $18 million for doing nothing, and he's a liar.

      No fucking comparison between the two!

      @beevomav

      Delete
    2. If Ratliff is a liar, then what does that make The Cowboys organization? Which always has 4 different versions of the truth. Just listen the not so well-spoken owner/gm.

      Delete
  5. You bag on Cruz, and he's the only one making sense. What do you think "raising the debt ceiling" is? It's a nebulous term for printing money. We will now borrow billions over the next few days, not to pay principle, but to pay the interest on the interest. This borrowed money will never be paid back in a million years. Default is already predetermined, it's just a matter of when he music stops. And now, there's a healthcare program to pay for that's 1/6th the size of the budget we can't pay for as is. That is, if we'd pass a budget.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richie says the healthcare program only costs $16/mo. We're safe.

      Delete
    2. Maybe you should check with Cruz's own party. They don't seem to think he's the only one making sense.

      And Rooster, stay out of debates on topics which you know nothing about.

      Delete
    3. I do know this....my rates went up 40% and are now officially my largest monthly cost, even more than my mortgage. And this is after being told time and again they were going down. So mush for Affordable.

      Delete
    4. Rooster- Your rates didn't go up because of Obamacare. Obamacare doesn't even go into affect until 2014. Your rates went up because your private insurance company is trying to milk every penny from you before Obamacare goes into affect. You should have spent less time on the blame game and more time on researching better insurance policies for the end of 2013.

      Delete
    5. Uh, what's the difference, Pirkle? Obamacare has an impact on his rate increase.

      Delete
    6. That's B.S. I worked for a lot of years before retiring and not once did I see a decrease in insurance costs, none. Insurance companies were raising rates long before the AHA. Those same companies may want to lay the blame on the AHA, but it had nothing to do with rate increases 10 years ago or 10 months ago.

      That said, some of these/those increases are because what they're being charged is insane. Take a look at an itemized doctor's bill and then you'll get an idea how much or how little a $40 increase really means.

      I took a cardiac stress test and for 30 minutes on a treadmill and 20 minutes for the doctor to tell me nothing was wrong was over $4K that the insurance company had to pay. How many of those $4K hits do you think get turned in in a day?

      Delete
    7. The rate increases are 100% directly related to the ACA. They will be going up again after the first of the year. And of course it was promised by the POTUS over and over and over that everyone's rates would go down. Ain't gonna happen. And that is just the tip of the iceberg for the problems with this loser. Just wait and see.....

      Honestly I know many who are dropping it altogether because it's gotten unaffordable and just going to pay the tax, which is another issue altogether.

      Delete
    8. 1) Where on earth did you hear Obamacare doesn't "start" until 2014? There have been 65 start dates that have passed so far. The exchanges begin Jan 1, but this program is much deeper than just the exchanges.

      2) There's a very distinct possibility I'm very aware of what goes into the cost of a health insurance policy, since I'm the guy selecting a program for 500 people.

      3) Yes, insurance premiums have always gone up. Our company averaged 12%-15% per year. They now average 30%+ with no increase in claims or average age. The increase is due to Obamacare, or at least that's what the people selling it to my company are showing us.

      4) Perhaps some of the the economic geniuses on here can tell me exactly how you add 10 million people to a healthcare program at absolutely zero cost who otherwise wouldn't/couldn't afford get covered. Even the president himself couldn't identify what the "savings" would be, and it was his program.

      5) There are no free lunches in life. This program has to be paid for by somebody. The money fairy just doesn't drop down out of the sky and make it happen.

      6) I am absolutely amazed how many people think this program is free because, well, gollygeewillakers, that's what the president told them.

      Delete
    9. my insurance has gone up every year i've had it Obamacare had nothing to do with insurance companies raising rates on a yearly basis. Might the increases be more due to Obamacare? Absolutely....but as Rooster said people who think that "new" healthcare will be cheaper or free because POTUS said it would are just delusional.

      Delete
  6. Cruz is the voice of a lot of people who have deep real concerns. Thank God for him.

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  7. Hard to believe the shut down costs so much when it exposed all the different areas of the government that aren't necessary and bring on the debt, like one that displayed it only needed about 8% of it's staff to operate. Fact is this shutdown came on both sides, not one and just got nowhere in delaying chaos. People say Obamacare is law? So is the Constitution, so why are you trying to change that?

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  8. "Last night I took a late-night walk with Sybil and her dogs"

    Hey RW....you are about to marry this chick....so you better start thinking and referring to them as "OUR" dogs.... I know you are not a big pet guy, but you are batting WAY out of your league with Sybil, so you better just suck it up and start taking some ownership of them. I had a dog when I got married and my wife had a dog and a kid. Now I have a wife, 2 dogs, and a kid..... :)

    Dave

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    Replies
    1. ah what would a comment on Richie and Sybil be without you telling him he's out of his league or to stop acting like a guy in his 20's.

      Just because you're not happy with your wife, don't project it on Richie.

      Delete
    2. Dumb Dave is so jealous of you, RW. You better sleep with one eye open.

      Delete
    3. I didn't say I wasn't happy with my wife....neither am I jealous of RW..... I just simply stated an opinion that many people would agree with....if you don't agree with it fine....but most ppl who read this blog think Sybil is too hot for RW...in fact....RW would probably agree with that.

      Dave

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    4. Sybil probably agrees too...

      Delete
  9. I think we need more Ted Cruz's....LOTS more. I applaud him taking a stand (albeit a losing one) against rampant spending and a law that will wind up doing more harm than good. This country contines to mortgage its future...but sooner or later, the consequences will have to faced.... Everything has a price...and someone has to pay for it. If you have noticed the latest polls, the great majority of Americans are disgusted with the government in general and this includes the Congress and the President. I think we are nearing a tipping point when we will see the rise of a viable 3rd party that will run on the platform of returning the government to its rightful owner...THE PEOPLE DAMNIT..... Special interest groups and big corporations are who really control the government...and the sooner we change our laws regarding their influence, the sooner things will get better for the common folk, regardless of their policatl affiliation.

    Dave

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    Replies
    1. These dumbass Republicans keep shooting themselves in the foot! It's laughable! Thanks to George Bush, the Repubes are dead in the water. Let's see, we said George Bush juice was gonna stay $3 a gallon for about 2 weeks, well, it's been 2 weeks and it's going back up to the $3.69 a gall, and will stay that way for the next 7 months. The Republican managed oil companies want them some Bush loot again!!

      Delete
  10. Unfortunately - You offer someone with no healthcare, free healthcare, they are going to take it. Then when someone says, how are we paying for this healthcare? The people getting the free healthcare say, "I don't give a crap. Just don't take my free healthcare away".

    People come back with, one day the bills will come due. Maybe. But then again, maybe not. Look at how many things have changed in the last 50 years.

    The super power USSR no longer exists. China is now a world power. 50 years from now, no one knows what the world will be like. Maybe the bill never comes due.

    50 years ago the wealth of the world is not what it is today. Well that money got created somewhere. And 50 years from now, our debt today, may be the equivalent of $1 today. No one knows. Governments do not run like businesses. Yes, they get to print money when they want to.

    And I think that drives people crazy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Anon 12:15

      You say you don't know what the world will look like in 50 years....I don't know about the rest of the world, but I I have good guess on the USA.... unless we can come together and start working for the common goal (or even find a common goal) the USA will not look like it does today. I predict it will fracture into different groups of states with common intrests..... will this happen without bloodshed like in the fall of the USSR??? Doubtful....

      Dave

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    2. Well gollygeewillakers, why didn't you say so. In that case, why should we worry about paying our bills at all. Let's just all stick our head in the sand and pretend the US won't have to pay any of our debts back.

      Delete
    3. The goal of each administration or political party will be to avoid a pending depression and for their opponent to be the blame of it.

      Delete
  11. Never been a big Cuban fan, but applaud the guy for stepping up and fighting tooth and nail against the feds. Reports were he spent far more fighting this thing than what the charges, had they been founded, would have cost him. The SEC thought they'd target a well-known figure and flex their muscle. But it backfired and they got their asses kicked. Sad thing is this kind of think happens all the time to the common man, whether the IRS, DOJ or SEC. Problem is most don't have the financial wherewithal, a la Cuban, to fight. And now that these agencies are being used as a weapon to punish opponents of the ruling party in Washington, it's only getting worse.

    As far as Cruz, I wish there were more that brought some common sense to Washington. Then perhaps we wouldn't be in the horrid shape we are in, which is getting worse with each passing day and both parties are to blame. It's simple math and it doesn't work, period. There is no argument about it and we are headed for financial ruin.....actually already far past that. The fact that insurance premiums are going through the roof when we were told repeatedly that they would go the other direction is just giving many that unfortunate I-told-you-so moment.

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  12. You are 100% correct regarding The Fan. A one week suspension for stealing is not right. If most are caught stealing while at work, they are fired. But this is the station that doesn't even suspend those that lie to get out of work and are high on the air.

    The NTTA, unfortunately has that reputation. In fact the other day i was using the Texas Unclaimed Property website and I find out that NTTA had overcharged me and has money waiting for me to pick up. I closed my account after moving out of Little Elm and becoming a SoCo resident.

    If any of you would like to search and see if you have any money owed to you, you can search also. Just search "Texas Unclaimed Property" in Google.

    Dan

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  13. Hell yes I miss Galloway! Now the him and RAGE are gone where is the afternoon sports radio entertainment??? The Harline? B&S? I'll pass.

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    Replies
    1. Man, I miss Galloway so badly. That Mosely and Stretch "Im gonna do my damnest to be the new funny, lovable hillbilly, even tho I've got the talent of a turkey's ass" Smith, suck to holy high hell!!....almost as bad as Corby..almost!!

      Delete
  14. Everyone's a victim, eh, Richie?

    Chris Arnold isn't to blame, he's not a writer. It's CBS's fault or The Fan's.

    You're not to blame for being fired, it's Greggo's fault.

    It won't be your fault if Pizza Buzz crashes and burns, it'll be the economy or the location or your business partner's fault.

    The Democrats/Republicans aren't to blame for the shutdown, it was all Ted Cruz.

    Don't blame Obama, it's George W. Bush's fault.
    BTW, isn't "hate" a strong word for a liberal such as yourself...the Democrats/Liberals are the party of inclusion and tolerance, except those who disagree with you.

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    Replies
    1. Our economy was strong untill Bush! Sorry, it's true!

      Delete
  15. I don't understand how it's the Fan's fault. They didn't ask him to copy and paste an article from some other guy. They asked for a blog post. Could be 1000 words, could be 100 words. Web content is something anyone in media should be able to do. It doesn't matter if you're a writer or talker anymore. Things have changed.

    Chris messed up by blatantly copying a guy's work. That's something anyone that's interested in media, or anyone who has attended high school knows you can't plagiarize. To blame it on the Fan is ludicrous.

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    Replies
    1. Chris is a fucking hack!!! He should be fired

      Delete
  16. Richie, Ratliff was a malcontent not because he was a self-centered douchenozzle like TO, rather his medical situation was handled horrendously by The Cowboys organization. He was going to be out a year, and later forced to run wind-sprints during training camp.

    The Ratliff situation is a microcosm for how the NFL has little regard for it's players. They don't want to pay them, and once they do pay them and the players get hurt they want to force them to get back on the field whether they're physically ready or not. This has created distrust among players for team doctors, and ultimately owners. Look at Gronk, RGIII, and now Ratliff. They are glaring examples of the rift between management and talent.

    ReplyDelete
  17. "I don't agree with Ted Cruz's extremism." Some might say.

    "YOU COMMIE/FASCIST/MUSLIM LOVER. DISGUSTING BLEEDING HEART LIBERAL. LIBTARD. SOCIALIST." Those that buy into the absolute garbage that fool sells.

    That is the problem in this country. Not the differing of opinions (though Cruz has straight up lied his ass off the last few weeks), but the pure and true hate for those that have an opinion different than yours.

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    Replies
    1. Exactly.....like the pure unadulterated hatred spewed by liberals constantly. Amazing for such an accepting and tolerant bunch.

      Delete
    2. You're part of the problem. You say the word liberal as if it's meant to be an insult. Don't be so ignorant to think it's not coming from both sides.

      Delete
    3. I didn't say anything to be an insult. You just took it as such, oh, sensitive one. Just stating facts. YOU ARE the problem. Quit whining.

      Delete
    4. Quit whining? Heed your own advice.

      Delete
  18. Sorry Brah, I don't buy the playing out of position excuse. In todays multimedia world its not too much for asking a media personality to supplement their gigs with side content. All he had to do was crank out a couple paragraphs of super generic crap, its not hard.

    I was more taken aback by him proclaiming it next level analysis and promoting the hell out of it on twitter. You would think he was just sheepishly hope no one actually read it that closely, but hey, in for a penny in for a pound I guess.

    The fact that literally NO one has anything bad to say about the dude (save new years eve concert goers) says a lot about him actually being a really good dude. However, it remains to be seen what effect his actions will have on peoples perception of him and station/show chemistry. Im sure other Fan personalities were getting sick of the constant twitter/text bs they've been getting for a week. LEts not forget the others that aggressively promoted his article via twitter (looking at you "Thumb-Stomach Rogers".

    Oh well, keep writing em, I'll keep providing well thought out discourse.

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  19. Like the blog, Richie. Don't always agree, but that's why I read it. But damn, if I wanted to read all of the asinine political crapola...i'd switch over to the "geniuses" that tear up the Facebook timeline....

    ReplyDelete