Please do not misunderstand why I am asking you to go to A&F on Saturday – I am asking you to visit the store to show that you are just as beautiful as their emaciated mannequins and the young adults and kids CEO, Mike Jeffries, feels are the hot kids.

In fact, Mike Jeffries said that he “doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store.”  So, in an effort to go along with Mike Jeffries’ desires – do not bring money or credit cards.

He also said that other brands are having problems because they are trying to cater to all people.

“Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. The companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla.”

What I suggest is that people who are full-figured visit his stores – not to shop – because he does not want you shopping there – just go in and look around – take up space – comment about how ridiculously skimpy the clothing is and that only anorexic people could even fit into their clothing.

Most A&F stores are packed with merchandise and the shelves and racks and displays are so close together most individuals who are full sized would have problems navigating through the store.

When there, pick up a pair of slacks or shorts or a top and ask a clerk if they have it in “Extra Large” or even “Plus Sizes.”  It might be fun hearing the clerk grovel for the right words to explain to you how the CEO doesn’t even want you in the store at all.

Another thought.  Be sure to let your kids or grandkids or nieces and nephews know that you will not be giving them gift certificates or money to shop at A&F.

For anyone wanting to see a detailed article about A&F’s CEO’s comments about how his clothing line does not cater to fat people, please visit:

http://www.eonline.com/news/416492/abercrombie-fitch-ceo-mike-jeffries-doesn-t-want-fat-customers-says-author-robin-lewis?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

Oh, by the way, have you ever navigated through a corn maize?  That is what it is will be like walking through A&F.  I believe it is intentionally designed and laid out for skinny customers only.

If you ”like” this blog, please share it with someone who might be as offended as you are with Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries.

Even more importantly, why won’t the Main Stream Media, aka MSM, even discuss the topic of whether or not the FBI and other agencies knew of a “credible” threat and that is why they had bomb-sniffing dogs at the start of the marathon and at the end of the Marathon as well?

One participant, Alastair Stevenson, a cross-country coach with the University of Mobile came forward talking about several things – one that was already discussed above – seeing bomb-sniffing dogs at the start of this year’s Boston Marathon.

Another thing he talked about was announcements advising participants not to be concerned with the heightened security because it was only an exercise.

Lastly, Stevenson said he also saw spotters with guns on rooftops at the beginning of the marathon – all of which have been denied by the FBI.

One would think the FBI would have bragged about having added security at the start of the marathon – especially considering it was hours before the first runner finished the race.   

I pondered all the possibilities as to why all government agencies are avoiding the topic.  The Air Force provided representatives from three squadrons of WMD units – one from Massachusetts, one from Rhode Island and the third from the State of New York.

The only plausible reason I can come up with for the FBI denying advanced warning is that by acknowledging they knew in advance of a credible threat to the Marathon would somehow make them look like a failure for not finding the explosives or the culprits before the bombs went off.

Another issue regarding the advanced knowledge has to do with how serious the threat was in the eyes of the government agencies in attendance to protect the marathon.  If the threat was perceived to be serious and they chose to not let participants and viewers at the scene know – some might hold the U. S. government partially responsible for deaths and injuries.

If I were the survivor of someone who died or was seriously injured I would be extremely angry that a warning was not given so individuals could determine whether to participate in or be at the marathon.

I read this morning that retailers are removing pressure cookers off their shelves, so what is next – blenders, food processors, espresso makers and fourth of July fireworks?

Pressure cookers are being taken off the shelves – yet we can still buy assault weapons at gun shows – without even a background check.  We no longer can kill or maim people with nails and ball bearings in pressure cookers, but we can still kill them on college campuses, theaters, and shopping centers with assault weapons and high capacity clips – that really confuses me.

So, why isn’t NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN, and MSNBC and others not chasing down the story?  Why aren’t the media asking marathon participants to call, text, email or even tweet their knowledge or lack of knowledge regarding bomb sniffing dogs, loudspeaker messages or seeing spotters on rooftops?

Have government agencies, such as the FBI and NSA and Homeland Security, silenced the media?  If so, that would be a bigger story than the deaths and injuries that have drawn so much media attention.

So, in my effort to counter what the media are not doing, I am going to put up a few polling questions – simple ones and I am asking anyone who attended the marathon – as runners, family members, friends, and media representatives to answer the questions.

If individuals at the starting line heard loudspeakers advising them to not be concerned with the beefed up security because it was only an exercise, then it would help others understand what happened that day.  If enough individuals come forward and acknowledge that they saw and heard what Alastair Stevenson saw and heard, then the FBI would be forced to admit that they had beefed up security, possibly  because they somehow found out about a credible threat. 

Maybe the FBI is having a problem with the word, “credible.” 

What if someone asks the FBI if they were aware of any “potential” threats?  Would their answer to that question be different?

Protecting the entire 26.2 miles of a marathon is a daunting task – one that is damned near impossible to do perfectly year in and year out – especially if someone is hell-bent on causing death and destruction.

What really concerns me is if the FBI won’t even acknowledge the beefed up security, what else are they keeping from the public?

So, please answer the few polling questions and also leave a comment if you care to do so.

Another thing – the FBI had photos of the brothers – yet initially they acted like they did not know who they were – even though they had the oldest brother on their radar for at least three years.  The mother of the brothers has told the media the FBI had numerous interactions with the older brother spanning years – yet the FBI initially said they thought the brothers had only been in the United States for about a year.  Why would the FBI blatantly lie about how long the brothers had been in the United States?

When the truth came out about how long the FBI knew about the bombing suspects, the FBI then said that they checked them out and did not consider them to be a serious threat.

The waffling by the FBI reminded me of a quote by Donald Rumsfeld:

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

I believe most Americans do not want to know what they don’t know because if they learn of something then they will have to act on that knowledge.  They would rather bury their head in the sand than find out that their government knew of a credible sinister plot to cause death and destruction – yet decided not to warn those attending. 

The Boston Marathon was a lose-lose situation for those designated to prevent a terrorist attack.  If they cancelled the Marathon because of a “credible threat” and nothing happened, many would be upset because they came all the way to Boston to compete and could not do so.  On the other hand, look what actually happened – the marathon went on as planned, no warnings were given – but there were deaths and significant injuries.   Because of the carnage, the FBI feels it best to keep any knowledge of a credible threat a big dark secret.  If not, some individuals would say, “You guys knew there was a bomb threat and you still could not stop it?”

Again, please participate in the survey questions.  For each polling question – make your choice and click the “vote” button – then move on to the next question, etc.

Note: Even if you did not attend the marathon in person you might have seen bomb sniffing dogs or rooftop spotters during television coverage.

Here is one of the many links to interviews made by Allistair Stevenson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-vjPw8QZV0

For those of you who do not like clicking on links, here is a brief summary of what Alastair Stevenson said, “At the start at the event, at the Athlete’s Village, there were people on the roof looking down onto the Village at the start. There were dogs with their handlers going around sniffing for explosives, and we were told on a loud announcement that we shouldn’t be concerned and that it was just a drill. And maybe it was just a drill, but I’ve never seen anything like that — not at any marathon that I’ve ever been to. You know, that just concerned me that that’s the only race that I’ve seen in my life where they had dogs sniffing for explosions, and that’s the only place where there had been explosions.”

For those reading this who have not read the entire comment from Stevenson, he said he ran in many marathons – London, New York, Washington, D. C., Chicago, and Boston and has never seen security like he saw at this year’s Boston Marathon.

I believe the FBI loves it when incorrect or inaccurate information gets released to the media because it adds to the confusion and takes the focus off of the FBI.

Immediately after the two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon bits and pieces of information kept being released that were intended to keep people off balance – to keep Bostonians going in a multitude of directions.

There was initial speculation that the perpetrators were from overseas and that they were trained by enemies of the United States. 

Then there was speculation that they were homegrown terrorists with no affiliation to enemies of the United States.

There was additional speculation that the bombers were dark skinned and spoke with accents. There was talk of a Saudi citizen, or two, taken into custody and later it was rumored that at least one of them would be deported in the coming week.  Again, why?

See here:

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/terrorism/294839-saudi-student-hurt-in-bombing-not-a-suspect-not-being-deported

and here:

http://news.msn.com/rumors/rumor-saudi-student-cleared-in-boston-bombings-being-deported

Citizens were asked to provide photos and videos so the FBI could analyze all the information to help identify those who planted the bombs – bombs that turned out to be pressure cookers filled with ball bearings and nails intended to inflict death and injury to those nearby.

When asked, the FBI insisted that they had no credible threats prior to the running of the marathon, yet there were hundreds of law enforcement officers from numerous agencies up and down the marathon route – including on tops of buildings, around the finish line, and even at the start of the marathon.

Some of these law enforcement officers were accompanied by bomb sniffing dogs.  Why?

I think the operative word above is “credible.”  Here is a Denver Post article discussing credible threats, potential terrorists threats and our old color coded system to warn us about potential terrorism threats.

http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_23044142/boston-marathon-bombings-whatever-happened-terrorism-threat-alerts

One of the marathon runners, University of Mobile’s cross-country coach Ali Stevenson, said he saw bomb sniffing dogs and increased security – something he had never seen at previous marathons.  Stevenson stated that he had run in several marathons in the past – places like Washington, D. C., Chicago, and even London, England.

An article about Stevenson’s concerns, along with a video interview can be seen here:

http://www.local15tv.com/mostpopular/story/UM-Coach-Bomb-Sniffing-Dogs-Spotters-on-Roofs/BrirjAzFPUKKN8z6eSDJEA.cspx

Stevenson said there were loudspeakers at the start of the race telling entrants that the added security was a training  exercise and there was nothing to be alarmed about.

It is Coach Stevenson’s opinion that officials must have received threats or warnings about the marathon, otherwise why were there spotters on the rooftops at the start of the Marathon and why all the dogs? 

I am of that belief as well – for several reasons.

There are approximately 57 Air National Guard units across the United States referred to as, “National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams.”  Each of the 50 states has one unit but in addition, New York, California, and Florida have one additional unit each.  I am not sure where the other 3 or 4 units are assigned – maybe they are in places like Puerto Rico or Guam or other territories – but those added units are not relevant to the issue of the Boston Marathon bombing.

What is interesting about these units is that in addition to the Massachusetts unit participating in security at the Boston Marathon, two additional units were requested to participate in security at the Marathon as well – the Rhode Island unit and one of the New York units were asked to be part of the security procedures.  Why?  One would logically come to the conclusion that there were concerns about security at this Marathon – and possibly because of the 26.2 mile route, three National Guard teams would be needed to help with security issues.

On a side note, one of the New York units, the 24^th National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, and one of the Florida units were already scheduled for deactivation because of budgetary reasons, but after the Marathon bombings, the Department of Defense has apparently discovered a way to fund the units. 

Considering these units were not successful in preventing the bombings, I wonder why they are being rewarded by the DOD by keeping them in existence?

Our government wants all Americans to be vigilant – i.e. to be on the lookout for unattended baggage at airports, or in this case to be on the lookout for unattended bags or containers or even backpacks along the Marathon route – yet, there were numerous military personnel in full military gear who walked the Marathon route with large backpacks.

Near the finish line, prior to the bombs going off, there were several men, who were rumored to be contract “soldiers”, like those employed by Xe Corporation, formerly Blackwater.

There are numerous photos of these men wearing khacki pants and black jackets and several of them were carrying large black backpacks – similar in appearance to the remains of one of the backpacks said to have contained one of the bombs.

Numerous conspiratorial type-sites are saying that these men,  seen in photos to be standing near an unmarked large black SUV with high-tech electronic gear on top, are private contractors of Craft, International, a private/military contracting firm started by former Navy Seal, Chris Kyle.

There are other sites that say these same men are assigned to one of the National Guard units, which makes more sense to me.  The men, by the way, were also seen wearing hats with Craft International emblems and that might be because these men might have attended specialized training at Craft International facilities.

To me, it doesn’t matter whether these men were National Guard or Xe (Blackwater), or even Craft International employees – the issue is that either the Federal Government and/or Massachusetts officials felt it was important to have all these extra resources at THIS marathon because they were well aware of credible threats to the Marathon.

Getting back to photos and videos of the finish line area, it appears that the FBI sat on the photos of who the FBI thinks might have planted the bombs – supposedly trying to figure out if it was in the FBI’s best interest to try to identify and apprehend the suspects on their own. 

What does not make sense about that assumption is that the older of the two suspects has been on the FBI radar for somewhere between two and three years.  In fact, the FBI had previously interviewed him.  There are numerous websites that speculate that Russia advised our country about the older brother and that is what made the FBI get involved in the first place.

What I do not understand is that if the Boston office of the FBI already knew about at least the older brother and had previously interviewed him and more importantly knew what he looked like, why didn’t they recognize him from the photos? 

One would think that at least one agent would have connected the dots by saying something like, “Hey, doesn’t he look like the guy we interviewed at the suggestion of the Russian Government?” 

The mother of the brothers has said that the FBI was quite active in monitoring activities of at least her oldest son.  The mother also feels that the brothers were set up and that they are not guilty of any crimes.

Personally, I feel the brothers probably did plant the explosives but after reading about prior FBI knowledge and the added security, I am beginning to wonder.

So, again, why didn’t the FBI connect the dots and immediately track down the brothers when they had photos of them?  Was releasing the photos just a ruse to get the public involved?

Initially it was released that the brothers had been in the United States for approximately one year, when in fact the FBI knew they had been in the country for over a decade.  Why did the FBI change their story?  Was it because other governments were releasing information contrary to what the FBI initially released or was it because neighbors knew they had been in the country for a long time?  Was the FBI story falling apart and truth was being leaked in bits and pieces?

So, why all the misinformation?  Was it to keep everyone off balance?

There have been many cases at least since 9/11 where the FBI has infiltrated subversive groups and even supplied them with weapons to carry out their intended destruction.  From what I have read, equipment provided by the FBI was always lacking a component or part that would prevent it from going off or firing.  Then the FBI would come in on white horses and arrest the bad guys in the nick of time – as if to come across as heroes – preventing another potential terrorist attack – attacks they were complicit in until they pulled the plug.

The problem is, in this case, a terrible tragedy occurred and the FBI knew about the brothers – knew of their history, where they resided, and that at least one of the brothers might have been radicalized on a previous trip overseas – yet these brothers were left to their own devices.

One would think that with all the security plans in place for THIS marathon, the FBI would have included these brothers in any security sweeps prior to the marathon.

Why invite several National Guard units from adjoining states and have a huge influx of special SWAT type units and other specialized units to an international event if you are not going to check out some “local” potential suspects – home grown or otherwise?

Maybe this whole episode was for the various agencies of our government to run a live, practice drill of sealing off a major metropolitan area to see how citizens would react to martial law.  

If that is the case, it turned out well – except for the victims.

Citizens supposedly voluntarily opened their doors to heavily armed officers, many in military style gear to submit to room by room searches – people stayed indoors like they were told – people did not go to work – just like they were told – major transportation like the “T” was shut down and total control of information being released by the media was firmly put in place.  There are also videos showing that some residence did not want to submit to involuntary residential searches or physical body searches – shown in the video here:

http://www.storyleak.com/video-shows-home-searches-by-boston-police-were-not-voluntary/

Did anyone actually declare some kind of martial law that would require all citizens to agree to residential searches?  I do not know the answer to that – do you?

After day two, we heard very little about the Saudi suspect or what happened in the Revere apartment or what happened in the train search in Connecticut or why the Saudi individual is being deported (at our expense, by the way), and what, if anything, is happening with close friends or relatives of the two brothers.

I have read on websites where the sisters of the brothers were questioned and their cell phones and computers were confiscated but none of that was in the national media.  Thank God for the Internet.  I know there is a lot of junk on the Internet but there are also highly respected domestic and foreign media sites run by those who are not afraid to talk about controversial parts of the puzzle.

Running security exercises is one thing but to mislead the runners and spectators that everything was okay and they had nothing to be worried about is another.

Maybe if Marathon participants and observers were told of potential security risks – just maybe – some of them might have chosen to not attend.  Maybe there would have been fewer severed limbs near the finish line and maybe there would have not been three dead bodies.  Was the anticipated billion dollar plus economic benefit to the city of Boston instrumental in the Marathon NOT being cancelled for security reasons?

Maybe the deaths and injuries are the price citizens have to play so our various governments can play their war drills.

If the FBI immediately acted and pursued the brothers maybe the MIT security guard would not have been killed because the brothers would have already been arrested.

Lastly, regarding the photos of the finish line, one site shows what the government says are the National Guard men in tan khakis and black jackets with “CST” in big bold white letters and not carrying large black backpacks.

That photo can be seen here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2013/apr/15/boston-marathon-explosions-pictures#/?picture=407248955&index=16

On other sites there are competing photos showing these same men without visible big white “CST” initials on their jackets because they are clearly carrying large black backpacks over what could be white lettering.

Those photos can be seen here:

http://www.storyleak.com/craft-international-private-military-forces-boston-marathon/#ixzz2QlBrz9FA

If the photos are really “before explosion” and “after explosion”, where did the backpacks go?  Some hint that the backpacks worn by the contractors or Guardsmen might be the ones used for the explosions.  I don’t necessarily share that opinion – I just want to know where their backpacks disappeared to when they sprang to action after the explosions?  More importantly, I would like to know what a group of individuals would be carrying in those backpacks.

As I said in the title and in the body of this blog, something does not smell right about the Boston Marathon bombing.

Please leave a comment – be it positive or negative.  feedback greatly appreciated.

What a bunch of jerks tonight in Yankee Stadium.

Maybe Yankee fans participated in a moment of silence before the game started but when Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” was played at the end of the 3^rd inning, the video shows the majority of fans laughing and clowning around instead of standing and sharing in a tribute to Boston.

I am not exaggerating; take a look at the video yourself.  It would have been better to not pan the crowd because it sure did not show many fans even caring about the tragedy in Boston.

One would think that Yankee fans who had lived through so much on 9/11 would show compassion for their fellow baseball fans in Beantown.

Here is the link to the video.  See for yourself.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/04/16/new-york-yankees-boston-marathon-sweet-caroline/2088269/

While searching the Internet for articles on the Boston Marathon bombing, I noticed that someone was trying to connect the deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School to the Boston Marathon.  The number 26 was being used as the connector because 26 individuals died at Sandy Hook and the length of the marathon is roughly 26 miles long.  I know, that is really a stretch to tie the two tragic events together.

That would be like me saying that I have a connection with Ralph Samson, Danny Ainge, Jerry West and others because they all wore the number 44 and I was born in 1944.

Next, I went to the Huffington Post and the headline there was “Boston Heartbreak” and it made me think of Heartbreak Hill and how sad it would have been if explosives were planted there instead of the finish line.     

So many runners, when hitting Heartbreak Hill, end up dropping out because of its’ unique challenge.  Tying Heartbreak Hill to Sandy Hook and Newtown, CT is easy because Heartbreak Hill is in Newton, MA – even though the two towns are pronounced and spelled slightly differently, the connection would have been obvious.

So why am I suggesting that the culprits (I am being kind) behind the bombings might be using Newtown, CT as the reason behind their actions?

I believe all the attention being given to gun control – be it in trying to regulate reduce gun clip capacity, banning assault weapons, and requiring mandatory background checks is mostly due to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

In addition, the State of Connecticut has recently enacted some of the strictest gun laws in the nation – so strict that some gun manufactures in the State of Connecticut are considering moving out of the state and to places across the country more in tune with the NRA and the 2^nd Amendment.

There are many militant groups deeply troubled by what is going on in Congress and I am sure they blame the tragedy at Sandy Hook for the gun issue spiraling out of control.

So, why was the finish line chosen as the place to detonate bombs?  If there is a connection to Sandy Hook and the gun control issue, the answer is easy

1. There were residents of Sandy Hook who participated in the Marathon.
2. The last mile of the marathon, which includes the two bomb locations was dedicated to the victims of Sandy Hook.
3. Families of the Sandy Hook tragedy were honored by being seated in the V.I.P. section at the end of the marathon – right across from one of the explosions.

Another interesting tidbit is that Senator Elizabeth Warren recently said that pro-legalization Republican State Representative Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk), who is currently vying for the Republican nomination for Senate in Massachusetts’s upcoming special election has a 100 percent ranking from the gun lobby and he’s for the legalization of marijuana. He wants us armed and stoned.”

Senator Warren, in making those comments about Representative Dan Winslow, alienated gun rights advocates and pro-legalization advocates.

Any of the above issues could have made a dangerous cocktail of reasons for someone to strike out in an effort to make a strong statement on gun control, pro-legalization, and even marriage equality – all of which are hot buttons to so many Americans these days.

Even though this entire blog is based on speculation, the motivations I present here are as good as any I have read so far.

Every time there is a natural or man-made tragedy in America, we are told, “we are different – that we come together” – and that might be true.  But are we so different, so detached, and so disinterested on a daily basis that we need a tragedy to come together?

Fill in the blank with your own affiliation, “We are all …….”  I vividly remember during the Penn State scandal that there were thousands of students chanting, “We are Penn State.” 

In response to the Soviet Union invading the former Soviet republic of Georgia, McCain said that, “We are all Georgians.”

That comment was so disingenuous that it turned me off every time I heard it.  I now tend to block out chants that begin with, “We are.”

One thing I am thankful to not hearing is, “We are all Bostonians.”   Why?  Because it would be a knee jerk mantra to be used as a glue to artificially bring people together temporarily.

Sure, Americans care – and they care deeply when something tragic happens – whether it be a hurricane or a tornado or yes, even a bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

I lived in suburban Boston for four years while serving in the Air Force – I love Boston – the history, the culture, the uniqueness of the city and I had the financial resources I would be living there – but that is not possible on a fixed income.

All I am saying is that we really are not that different than citizens of other countries – be they Canadians or Greeks or Italians or Russians or Australians.

The media kept talking about the heroes yesterday in Boston, and believe me, there were many.  Those doing the reporting said that Americans were unique because after hearing the explosions there were many running toward the explosions to help – instead of being concerned about their own lives and safety and running for cover instead of running in the direction of the blasts.

Like it or not, many of those attending the marathon, as runners or viewers, ran to help because they did not know better.  That sounds harsh, but let me explain.

In countries where there are terrorist acts on a much more frequent basis, individuals close in proximity of the initial blast know there is a high probability of a second blast. 

Perpetrators of such events know there will be more of an impact by setting off a second device because people have a natural tendency to want to help the injured.  People  reflexively run to provide assistance – but in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Libya, and Egypt (among others), people know they need to initially protect themselves by seeking shelter first and only after things quiet down do they begin to do what they would have done reflexively.

Americans are no more loving to family members or neighbors or coworkers than individuals in most countries in the world.

Another thing I want to be perfectly clear about, it is okay to grieve, to feel pain, to be afraid, to want to bring everything to a screeching halt – in effect to stop the world for a few minutes or hours while we simply sort things out.

No, we do not need to go shopping or immediately return to normal by taking kids to after school activities like baseball practice or dance lessons or yoga classes.

Doing those things proves nothing except that we want to put on a façade – i.e. show “Them” that we will not be beaten down and that we will immediately get back to normal.  Getting back to normal, to me, is unnatural.  I have no need to simply change batteries and start walking around aimlessly like the Energizer Bunny. 

To hell with all that, I say.  We all need to figure out what happened – how it affects us personally and collectively and more importantly, we need to avoid the herd mentality to engage in “group think.”

It is important to maintain our individuality because that is what gives us the wherewithal to make sound decisions – to be our best, to help others the most – otherwise we start moving in packs – walking around in circles – spreading rumors, engaging in one-upmanship.  We should simply take the time to reflect – to absorb what happened and to take a breath.

I found myself watching television – no, I found myself glued to the television – even though I knew it would be filled with rumors and speculation of who did what and why – the extent of the injuries and deaths – knowing full well the numbers would escalate exponentially – so why should I get trapped in the cycle of someone releasing numbers with every blink of an eye.  I also found myself flipping channels because I wanted the current death count – how many were at each hospital.

I kept waiting for clues to be released – what kind of device – whether it was set off by a timing device or triggered by a cell phone.  Who was responsible – some home grown terrorist or some organized group from halfway around the world?  Americans tend to want answers immediately and that is unrealistic.

I also found myself waiting for the White House to use the words terrorist or terrorism.  I wanted labels attached to this event.  I did not want those to the right politically bashing the President for not using a certain word or phrase.

Believe me, and you can bet your bottom dollar on this, in a matter of days, not weeks, this tragedy will become a political football.

Another thing – our governments, yes, governments, city, state, and federal, want us back on the streets almost immediately – buying shoes, going out to eat, visiting malls, while at the same time they do not want us doing other things like making a run on the banks or moving money in our 401k’s or anything else that will affect the stock markets in a negative way.

Another sad thing is that these kinds of tragedies bring out opportunists – those that jump back into the stock market the following day after the markets take their initial hit.  People who do that operate in “selfish mode” by thinking and acting on “How can I best gain from this tragedy affecting the health and lives of others?” and “How can I make a quick grand or two while others are still in shock?”

In closing, I just want to assure everyone that we are not that much different from others in this world.  We feel pain, we love, we care, we feel anger, we hate, we cry, and we extend a hand to others in times of need.

We are neither superior nor inferior to others around the world.  We might worship a different God, we might speak a different language collectively here in America and we might dress differently – but when push comes to shove, we are human and nothing more.

What a year it has been so far in women’s college basketball.

Baylor, for all intents and purposes, was predicted to have an undefeated season along with winning their first back-to-back national championships but Stanford put the first part of that prediction to rest early on and Louisville prevented the rest of it from happening. 

Shortly after Stanford’s victory over Baylor in Hawaii, Baylor beat Notre Dame in South Bend.  A few weeks later UCONN gave Stanford a drubbing in Palo Alto. To add insult to injury, the California Bears came into Stanford a little more than a week later and gave Stanford their first back-to-back home losses in over a decade.  UCONN continued on their roll until Notre Dame beat them in Storrs, CT. 

UCONN’s troubles were far from over because Baylor later visited UCONN and beat them as well.  Two home losses that early on was quite unusual for UCONN.    

At this point, all the elite teams had at least one loss with Stanford and UCONN having two losses but for UCONN, the bleeding was just beginning.

Notre Dame then went on to beat UCONN twice more, once in South Bend and the last time in Hartford for the Big East title.

With conference tournaments over, Baylor and Notre Dame had one loss each, Stanford had two losses and UCONN, surprisingly, had four losses.

UCONN was not supposed to have four losses at this point in the basketball year; after all, they heavily recruited three “All American” caliber high school players.  UCONN fans assumed these super kids were going to hit it running and never look back – hopefully all the way to New Orleans.

My head is still spinning just thinking about all these contests and their national championship implications. 

I cannot remember a year where all the elite teams were beating each other during the regular season.

Continuing on to the NCAA Tournament, Delaware went  further in the tournament than ever before – UCONN and ND beat Louisville during the regular season, yet Louisville, in the tournament, slayed the giant bear from Waco when it really counted.  Say what?  Did that really happen?

The biggest surprise, however, is that the Big East (or the soon-to-be “former” Big East) has three teams playing in the Final Four in New Orleans this weekend.

It is no surprise that a PAC-12 team is in the final four, but I doubt anyone thought it would be the California Bears – most people thought the only Bears that would be in the final four would be the Bears from Waco. Most NCAA followers also thought that the only PAC-12 team worthy of Final Four consideration was Stanford.

The clue many of us missed was when the Cal Bears beat Stanford early in the season – that game should have told us that Cal was not done yet and they proved it by defeating team after team to earn their place in the Final Four.

I am sure the bookies are scratching their heads while emptying their wallets – and my gut feeling is that the carnage is not over yet. 

Who knows, the other two number one seeds, UCONN and ND,  could fall as well.  I don’t know if that would be a first but it sure would be a recent first.

Cal and Louisville are longshots to win and Notre Dame is probably the odds-on favorite to win it all, considering they beat two of the three remaining three teams.  In addition, Notre Dame beat one of the remaining teams, UCONN, a total of three times. (gasp!)  I hate even mentioning that.  Do wonders cease to exist?

Any team is capable of putting together a streak of improbable victories, but I do not believe Louisville can continue shooting the lights out from outside – so I am picking them to not win it all.  Louisville might win their next game against the Cal Bears tonight but they will not win the whole enchilada because both Notre Dame and UCONN have their number already.

I am not sure if any team has defeated two teams with bears as mascots in one tournament – I will have to research that.

The Cal Bears are new to the Final Four, and as a result will probably freeze up against one of the remaining teams, so if they make it past Louisville, Notre Dame or UCONN will make sliced bread out of them.

Now, for the only two teams with enough depth to win it all – UCONN and Notre Dame.  I believe, for a variety of reasons, that UCONN will have ND in their rear view mirror by game end. One good team beating another equally good team three times is the same season is one thing, beating that same team a fourth time is a statistical improbability.

UCONN didn’t help themselves in one of the games by missing an unusual amount of free throws and they lost another one of the games by making an unusually high number of turnovers and erratic passing.  UCONN fell into the trap that so many other teams make – playing their opponent’s kind of game and not playing their own game that has earned them victory after victory all year long.

Notre Dame, on the other hand was running on all cylinders, which was also unusual.  There were several teams during the year that pushed Notre Dame to the limit and UCONN was a team more than capable of doing the same but for some reason they caved under pressure.

As far as the “Luck of the Irish” goes, St. Patty’s day is long gone.  Luck runs in streaks and the UCONN rookies are ready to put their three Notre Dame losses behind them by going for the gusto.

Moriah Jefferson, aka MoJe and Morgan Tuck, aka MoTuck, and Breanna Stewart, affectionately known simply as “Stewie” have all upped their games considerably since their last Notre Dame loss.

Tonight will not be like the movie, “Groundhog Day” and St. Patty will not see his shadow again for the fourth time, i.e. he has run out of luck. 

As Michael Scott once said on The Office, “Game, set, match, point – UCONN.”  (I added UCONN to the quote.)

Regarding the final game – not knowing which team will win the first game tonight, I will leave the outcome of the championship game to the prognosticators but I feel that UCONN is more than capable of being either of the two teams – and beating them decisively. 

My only “fear” is that the media will place an asterisk to the right of the winning team because Baylor, the team that was predicted to win, was “upset” early on and any team that ultimately wins the championship does not deserve the title.

Before the season even began, I thought Breanna Stewart, now simply known as “Stewie” was going to be THE factor in UCONN raising another flag in Storrs. 

She hit it running and scoring – showing glimmers of her future greatness.

Then she ran into a bump in the road because I believe she realized that a handful of others on her team had very specific “jobs” and she was not sure how she fit in the UCONN puzzle.

Dolson was THE center

KML was THE 3-pointer and scorer

Hartley was THE point guard

Faris was “Miss Odd Job” or “Cleaner”

Their jobs, maybe to Stewie, left her wondering where she fit in.  She lost the handle on the ball a few times and missed a handful of outside shots.  She missed what appeared to be a few easy layups – and all of a sudden, she did not know who she was and how she could contribute.  I bet she was feeling like, “odd man out.”

Even though I lived 300 plus miles away, I saw a glimmer here and there – where Stewie blew by a defender – taking 5 – 6 long strides and making a layup as if she was in the NBA.

Stewie, in high school, was the “Big Man” on campus.  She was the tallest, lankiest, and the best.  She intimidated others; she made 3-pointers, easily blocked shots of others, and hustled her team to victory after victory. 

As a senior, she was the oldest as well as the tallest.

All of a sudden, she was a freshman in college and there were others her height almost everywhere – Duke had big “bigs” and so did Baylor, Maryland, Penn State, and Texas A&M.  For once, she was looking eye to eye at defenders or in the case of Griner – she was looking way up.

All of a sudden, she was on the bench wondering if she would again rise to the top of the heap but it was going to take bench time to “see” what was going on – to get a feel of the college game.

She needed to get into a conditioning program, she needed to learn how college ball differed from high school ball, and the biggest thing she needed to learn was how to play UCONN ball.  She needed to learn how to fit into an existing team – a team with a handful of seniors and juniors trying themselves to adjust to three new brats coming in as rumored “super players” from high school.

Well, it took 30 odd games for the players to figure out how they all fit in the UCONN puzzle.

It took three losses to Notre Dame and one loss to Baylor to teach them that even though they are good, they can get better but it was going to take discipline, good coaching, and practice, practice, and practice.

After the third Notre Dame loss and the loss of the Big East championship and the Big East Tournament, the team realized that if they were going to have what UCONN fans consider a successful season, they knew they were going to have to get their act together – and quickly.

It was not something that Stewie could do alone – nor was it something Moriah Jefferson or Morgan Tuck could do individually or as a pair. 

At UCONN, it is hard for a freshman to break into the lineup.  It almost takes a starter running into a slump for a freshman get significant playing time.

The freshman needed to show some glimmers of greatness and the starters had to show signs of improvement to give fans hope.

The beginning of the NCAA tournament was the time for the team to gel – the time for individuals to step up individually and collectively.

In the first few games of the tournament Stewie made a handful of impressive rebounds, a couple of fluid 3’s, coupled with some great blocks, and fans began chanting “Stewie, Stewie, Stewie.”

However, it was not only Stewie, MoJo ran the floor – making a couple of steals and a couple of impressive layups – even her passes were sharper and more deliberate.

Tuck began looking more intimidating in the paint.  Rebounds, blocks, layups, and overall good hustle.

The real turning point, to me, was when Dolson started limping up and down the court, while still getting playing time.  Her leg brace and all that black tape made her look like “The bionic woman.”  Her leg pain, however, did not deter her from scoring, rebounding, blocking and hustling.

I believe the rookies formed their own conscious or subconscious pact – saying that if Stefanie can do all she is doing with all that leg pain, then we should be able to kick it up a notch or two.

Several torches are being passed – and they seem to be being passed all at the same time.

MoJo was to be the guard of the future but with Doty graduating, the transition is in high gear and it is happening now.

Faris – she still is at the top of her game but she does so many good things it will take a player or two or three picking up the slack that Faris will leave behind.

I believe Tuck and Stokes and KML are starting to do some of the extra things that Faris is so well respected for doing – and they are doing these things in addition to what they already have been doing well.

The biggest torch is regarding Stewie.

Stewie, however, is being passed two torches.  Some might consider the next comments to be premature, but I think not.

Brittney Griner is gone from the tournament and women’s college basketball.  Elena Delle Donne has also had her time in the limelight and she went out on a high note – ready, like Griner, to move on to the next level – the WNBA.

Griner and Delle Donne were head and shoulders above all other centers and post players.  They were # 1 and # 2 and the next nearest big was Dolson and even though I have the greatest admiration for her, she was a distant third.  On a more positive note, there was an equal gap between Dolson and the remaining centers/posts in college hoops.

Now that Griner and Delle Donne are not getting daily or weekly headlines, the time for Stewie to step up and do her thing has arrived.

I could single out a half dozen of truly amazing things that Stewie has done over the past week or two that have dazzled fans and even opponents – things like two handed blocks and rebounds coupled with dominating put backs – turning her own misses into second chance baskets.  Second chances are normally attributed to Chiney Ogwumike from Stanford, but Stewie is now getting her share.

The one play that impressed me the most was when she had her back to the basket and she spun around from somewhere near the free throw line, took three steps and made a layup – leaving her defender wondering exactly what happened.

Stewie is 6’4” and not 6’8” so she does not look as intimidating as Griner.  Stewie is an awkward, lanky freshman who does not look as polished as Delle Donne when shooting 3’s, nor does she look as polished dribbling up the court like Delle Donne – but she is far from awkward – that is just the way she plays her game.

That said, the torch has been given to Stewie and I believe she is more than ready to accept it and run the distance to the finish line.

Stewie is now, “The ONE to watch.”

Seeing her proud parents in the stands the other night truly moved me. 

Has anyone seen Maggie Lucas’ dad in the stands at Penn State games? Has anyone seen Delle Donne’s parents or even Skylar Diggins mom looking in admiration?

I believe Stewie’s parents see the transformation that has taken place in their daughter over the past several weeks and I am sure it makes them proud.

The other torch I was hinting at is the “temporary” torch that Stewie has accepted to help Stefanie through these last games.  She knows Stefanie is playing with great pain and for UCONN to win these last two games it requires Stewie to kick it up even more. 

Stewie likes hanging out in the 3-point area and she does not seem to enjoy confrontation in the paint but she also knows that for UCONN to enjoy the spoils of winning it all, she has to do some things she doesn’t like as much – doing them all for the good of the team.

This resurgent UCONN team has the capacity to blow Notre Dame out of the water but I would be happy with a decisive victory to send Notre Dame back to South Bend wondering what happened.

It is true that Louisville upset Baylor, but UCONN has already beaten Louisville and the outcome for the championship game should be no different.  Go UCONN, Go Huskies!

They all are well known names.  If anyone says the name Diggins, they are referring to only one player – Skylar Diggins.  The same holds true with Griner – to the basketball world only Brittney Griner is known as “Griner.”

Now, the other two, interestingly enough go by their initials and I have not quite figured out why.  Maybe it is because their names are so darn long.

My guess, regarding Mosqueda-Lewis is because her name is hyphenated, it makes it quite long – but then when adding her first name, Kaleena, it makes her name too long to use in everyday conversation, i.e. in a world driven by texting and tweeting, she becomes KML.

Delle Donne, on the other hand sounds more like a brand of pasta sauces or a name of an avenue in Venice – either way, even though it lacks the hyphen in KML’s name, it is still fairly long, even without adding her first name – Elena.

So, again, thanks to smileys, icons, and being in an acronym driven world, someone tagged her as EDD.  It sounds more like a disease – maybe a cross between ADD and ED, both of which are undesirable.  I digress.

The four players in question are all top-notch players – each bringing their own skills to the game.

Three of them – excluding KML – are first team All-Americans and KML is a second team All-American.

What is interesting about the group is how their teams classify each player on their websites:

Diggins is listed as a guard and I have no problem with that but Griner is listed as a post, yet she is a center and only plays center.  Delle Donne, aka EDD, is listed as a guard/forward and I find that quite interesting.  I guess the combo is because she plays as a forward/center but shoots like a guard.

Now, as far as Mosqueda-Lewis, UCONN lists her as a forward and I agree with that, but I think UCONN could have listed her as a guard/forward just as Delaware did with EDD because KML plays forward the majority of the time, yet she shoots like a guard when scoring.  She drives for layups and gets her share of rebounds, yet her shooting opportunities are best observed outside the three-point line.

So, who is the better player of the group? 

Some will say that Griner is the best player ever – not just during her playing years – but ever.  Even though I feel she is top notch, she played 39 minutes in her team’s loss to Stanford on a neutral site in Hawaii.  The reason for the loss was attributed to her teammate, Odyssey Sims, only playing four minutes.  One would think that the “best ever” player, along with four to six top-notch players would not lose.  In addition, all of Baylor’s starters played in the loss to Louisville, yet they could not beat the team that Notre Dame beat by almost 30 points and UCONN beat by 14 points.

Delle Donne, on the other hand, is on a team with some good players, but they are not as experienced as supporting players from the top five programs in the country – so it was expected that Delaware would not get far in the NCAA tournament.  Delaware did quite well, however, considering they came from the Colonial Athletic Association, a lesser known conference.  In fact, without Delle Donne, Delaware might get into the NCAA tournament in future years, but the likelihood of victories appear slim.

Delle Donne’s team was the first team of these players to exit the NCAA tournament, followed next by Baylor.  Notre Dame and UCONN are still in until this weekend – and only one will survive.

Delle Donne does it all and she does it quite well.  I believe if she stayed at UCONN, and survived being away from her sister and her family, we would not be having this conversation.  Delle Donne does not stay outside and pump three-pointers, she frequently shoots from inside and gets her own second chance shots, passes to her teammates and does her share of blocks.  If someone was rating players on 8 – 10 categories, I believe Delle Donne would end up on the top of the list.

Diggins also does it all and she is the lynchpin to Notre Dame’s success for the past several years – especially all their recent victories over UCONN.

The one negative for Diggins and Notre Dame is that during Diggins tenure, Notre Dame has not won a national championship – yet. 

KML, from UCONN, does it all as well – in fact, she is the purest shooter in the nation.  She is the most accurate 3-point shooter in the NCAA and she has expanded her game this year by taking her game to the boards – offensively and defensively.  She rebounds, is second in steals, first in scoring average, and first in 3-point shots made in a year, breaking a UCONN record.

Unfortunately, during KML’s tenure with UCONN, they have not won a national championship – yet.

So, one of my questions is this. 

Which of these players would win in a game of H-O-R-S-E? 

For those of you not familiar with the game, Wikipedia has a general description of the game, along with a handful of variations.

The one variation I like is “Around the World.” 

This game is played in a half-circle around the three point line, starting in one corner and working around the three-point line ending up at the opposite corner.

Players start shooting in one corner and if a basket is made, the player advances to the next spot, which is halfway between the center of the three-point line and the corner.  The next position is right behind the free throw line.  The fourth position is halfway to the other corner – the place KML loves to shoot from with the game ending up in the opposite corner.  When a player misses, they “earn” the letter “H”, and when the word H-O-R-S-E is completed, that player loses the game.

I cannot prove this statement, as it is only an opinion based on my observations of the games I have seen, but I feel that KML shoots best when she is left of center or to the right of center.  She seldom shoots from behind the free throw line and she appears to not be as accurate when shooting from the corners – especially the right corner.

Maybe I have seen a handful of her misses from the right corner and as a result, I am more critical when she is shooting from there.

If anyone has formed an opinion of her shooting accuracy based on games they have seen, please enlighten me by leaving a comment.

Here is my honest, unbiased opinion, as to who would win and who would lose in a game of H-O-R-S-E, the “Around the World” version.

I believe EDD would come in first because I have seen her shoot with a high degree of accuracy from all five positions.  KML, who shoots 50 percent from the three, does well left and right of center, but because EDD shots well from all five positions, I believe she would win.  On a side note, KML shoots threes with 50 percent accuracy while EDD shoots at a 47 percent accuracy. Both players shoot overall at 53 percent, which I find quite interesting.

Diggins would come in third because she shoots a lot of three-pointers – not as accurately as KML and EDD, but nonetheless, she would come in third.  By the way, Diggins shoots threes with a 37 percent accuracy and she shoots overall at 43 percent.

Griner would come in last because she seldom shoots threes.

In fact, Griner only attempted one three pointer all season – and she it.  If she played high post a little more, she might improve her outside shooting, but I do not believe she could ever compete in a game of H-O-R-S-E with these three ladies. On a very positive note, Griner shoots overall at 61 percent and that is because the majority of her shots are either layups or short jumpers or as second chance shots from all her rebounds.  Griner seldom shoots from anywhere near the three point line and that is why her percentage is so high, but still, that is a great shooting percentage.

Now, as far as blocking and rebounding, the tables turn in  Griner’s favor, with EDD coming in a strong second.

Now for your part, below are four polling questions and I hope you participate in all of them.  Answer them individually, going from one to the other. 

Also, please leave a comment if you have the time.

All year long Baylor ladies have been playing an excessively rough “street ball” kind of basketball. 

For those who don’t know one of the basic tenets of street ball, the cardinal rule is, “No blood, no foul.”

Baylor’s posts and guards have been getting away with rough play all year while painting Griner as a victim.  They have used every dirty trick in the book to make steals, rebounds, and forcing turnovers.

Sure, Griner got roughed up last night but she has dished it out her entire career – as well as last night.  The punch heard ‘round the world happened over 3 years ago but since then Griner has, on numerous occasions, thrown down opponents and gotten away with it most of the time. 

All she had to do last night was change her game – she could have moved out to a high post and Louisville would have reduced the triple coverage down to double coverage.  Griner chose not to do that however because she has no outside game.  Griner has only attempted one 3-point shot all year (and missed it), which supports my comment that she has no outside game.

She seldom went out to contest Louisville’s 3-point shooters. Why?  Baylor, as a whole, appears to have this air of superiority – and as a result they thought they had no need to alter their game to win.

Also, in the dying seconds, Baylor could have thrown a pass the length of the court – Sims is more than capable of tossing it, instead, Sims dribbled the length of the court and threw a ridiculous desperation shot.

Why din’t Griner and Sims do what Hurley and Laettner did for Duke against Kentucky with little time remaining on the clock?  Why?  Because Griner is not EDD (Elena Della Donne.)  Griner has NO outside shot – she only has a high shooting percentage because she forces defenders backwards until she ends up with easy layups.

For those who did not see or hear about Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner – Duke guard Hurley threw a long inbounds pass to Laettner, a 6’11” forward, who was positioned near the free throw line and Laettner turned and made a jump shot to win the game for Duke.  Given Griner’s height and wingspan and Sims strength, they could have replicated that famous Duke play.

Considering the clock would not have started until a player touched the ball, Griner could have opted to turn and take

3 – 4 steps and made one of her easy layups or even one of her bland dunks, which would have ignited the crowd and given Baylor the victory. 

Also, Kim Mulkey should be fined heavily for her after game comments.  Her crybaby antics looked ridiculous as well as quite unprofessional – especially when she kept trying to rip off her jacket.  She reminded me of coach Bill Fennelly of Iowa State after he became irate when Griner threw down Chelsea Poppens, resulting in Fennelly ripping off his jacket in protest. 

Iowa State Coach Fennelly got called for a technical when he protested a call when playing against Baylor and coach Geno Auriemma got a technical for protesting a call in a UCONN game, also against Baylor and Jeff Walz got a technical called against him during the Baylor game last night.  So, why is it that Kim did not get called for a technical when she flipped out and ranted up and down the sidelines screaming and trying to rip off her jacket in protest?  Is it a case of double standards for women’s basketball when men coach a women’s basketball team?  It appears that way to me.

I believe women’s college basketball is doing whatever it can to start a dynasty other than UCONN and Tennessee and they are turning a blind eye to the antics of the Baylor Women and their colorful, yet constantly complaining head coach.  Coach Mulkey cries every time anyone on her team gets touched.

She complained about the rough play but three Louisville players got fouled out, while her players played rough the entire game.  Please do not get me wrong, the three Louisville players deserved each and every foul assessed but at the same time Mulkey’s  “street scrappers” got a free pass for most of the game.

Griner slapped a defender across the face – a slap that was worthy of a technical but it either wasn’t seen at the time it occurred – or worse yet it was overlooked.  When Louisville’s coach asked for it to be looked at, it was not called as being a flagrant foul because it did not include an elbow – so, it appears that you can slap all you want without getting a technical.

Sims taunted Schimmel and both of them got called for T’s even though Sims was the instigator who turned to face Schimmel instead of going down the court.  It is as though Baylor can do no wrong. 

Baylor could not defend the 3′s – the few times they attempted to they ended up fouling the shooter for 3 shots (twice I believe). 

Mulkey and her kids have had an “air of arrogance” all year – acting as if they could get away with extremely rough play and not be penalized because they were anointed to win a second consecutive championship – earning dynasty status.

Maybe Kim should change her last name from Mulkey to Karma because Karma showed up last night and put Kim in her place.