Bob Costas; Boob...

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

By now, everyone knows a Kansas City Chiefs football player, Jovan Belcher, killed his girlfriend and then went to the teams facilities to thank some folks and then killed himself right in front of the coach and others.

The story goes that he has been struggling with head injury, medications and alcohol. In any event, this is a horrifying tragedy, having killed Kasandra Perkins, mother of their 3 month old, as Belchers mother was made witness to before going into work and committing suicide.

The league has been struggling with the reality of concussions for decades but, it has become a top issue the last few years with the suicides of several retired star players including Junior Seau and Dave Duerson who shot himself in the chest specifically so his brain could be studied for the effects of the cumulative blows football players suffer in the regular course of the game. The concussion related suicide of a high school star has recently been in the news as well so, the issue is, as they say, 'hot'. There are other name NFL players but, it's all a google away if you'd like to read more. The point is there is a problem.

So, what does Costas do with this issue? Fart on national TV.

Bob Costas is a major name in sports, a long time reporter and commentator who has built an impressive career so, he's the kind of person, with the respect and authority to weigh in on the issues of the sports industry with authority.

So, what does he do? Flack for gun control. 'This woulda never happened except for our crazy gun laws!' He referenced a piece by Jason Whitlock who thinks the world should have come to a full stop because of this, saying his his piece;

Our current gun culture simply ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience-store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead.

Yes, gun control. Once again, at a critical moment, the Giffords assassination attempt being another one, when we, the people, could come together as thinking people at an opportunity to do something constructive and address what is needed to deal with the real problems, people, we instead punt, as usual, and go after some made up villain rather than the hard, uncomfortable work of actually doing something positive.

Yes, no one would ever be murdered with handguns if hand guns didn't exist. But, that's it. That line of reasoning comes and goes, like the passing of a Bob Costa brain fart, because that's all it is; passing gas.

Jovan Belcher could have just as easily beat his girlfriend to death in a flash with his bare hands or stabbed her or thrown her out the window. A lot of things are dangerous and, if we have ANY intentions of being free people, with that comes risks and in any rational discussion of risks comes the sorting out of what can be done, what should be done and what is just...passing gas.

Guns are not getting un-invented. Nor are pills or alcohol or knives or baseball bats or 250 pound men who could break you in half as quick as look at you.

Jovan Belcher is no more dead BECAUSE of guns than a drunk driver is dead BECAUSE of cars. And this is where Costas takes his entire career and just farts it out, taking a golden moment, one that has been coming for some time concerning head injuries and the biggest professional sport in our nation, football.

Jovan Belcher, if there is a single cause, is dead because of football. That is no more helpful than blaming guns but, it does have the convenience of being at least partially true, and the root, the common theme. No gun drove Belcher, or Seau or Deurson or any other of the high, and low profile football related sucides, to kill themselves. ESPN has an intelligent piece on the subject including this recent piece;

When former football players commit suicide, some see connection to brain injuries suffered during playing days, but experts urge caution - ESPN

Seemingly lost in the media and public conversation amid the flurry of suicides by high-profile athletes is an examination of the roles failed relationships, tattered financial portfolios and flawed transitions from the NFL regiment could play in the states of mind of ex-players. Were they depressed and suicidal because they'd lost their athletic mojo?

Or how many suffered chronic pain, a known cause of depression? Were they short on cash, with no distinguishable job skills? Did recreational drugs or painkillers play a role? Had their minds simply been short circuited by repeated knocks to the head? Or did a handful of variables, including traumatic brain injury, create a deadly domino-effect?

For Bob Costos to go farting on national TV at such a critical moment, given his stature, the timing, is nothing short of malpractice. The inanity of his comments isn't the harm. People resort to stupid reasoning all the time when they'd prefer to not do something difficult yet productive and it's on Costas to explain whether he is really this dumb, which I doubt, or he is simply defending his place in the food chain, which I also doubt as his career has been long and, I presume, fruitful.

Bob's crime is in punting, on looking at strike three, freezing at THE key moment when he could have scored and helped with the day and the issue and move the entire conversion forward forcefully and productively to deal with the health and life issues, the real issues, people deal with when they choose to play football either as kids or to pursue as a career.

It was sickening to me, the contrast, of a person who had built so much credibility and respect over the years to sit there and insult us all, just fart in our faces, blaming inanimate objects for this tragedy while in the background was a football field, the place where the real problems start and, if people like Costas would just shut up if they don't wanna help, the place where solutions lie.

Football, like guns, ain't going away. At least not in a free society. Costas is free to speak his mind just as we are all free to keep and bare arms. Or should be. And Bobs sad comments are every bit as harmful as the misuse of a firearm. In fact, far more so given who he is and the authority he possesses.

And the golden moment to do something productive that he passed on.

[thurley42]

I lost my mind when he said that, if Hank Jr. Can be fired, why not bobby? I've hated him since Barry Bonds hurt his feelings and he went on a witch hunt.

[Baja28 (Premo)]

Bob Costas just showed the world what a buffoon he is.

[donbarzini]

Originally Posted by Larry Gude

By now, everyone knows a Kansas City Chiefs football player, Jovan Belcher, killed his girlfriend and then went to the teams facilities to thank some folks and then killed himself right in front of the coach and others.

The story goes that he has been struggling with head injury, medications and alcohol. In any event, this is a horrifying tragedy, having killed Kasandra Perkins, mother of their 3 month old, as Belchers mother was made witness to before going into work and committing suicide.

The league has been struggling with the reality of concussions for decades but, it has become a top issue the last few years with the suicides of several retired star players including Junior Seau and Dave Duerson who shot himself in the chest specifically so his brain could be studied for the effects of the cumulative blows football players suffer in the regular course of the game. The concussion related suicide of a high school star has recently been in the news as well so, the issue is, as they say, 'hot'. There are other name NFL players but, it's all a google away if you'd like to read more. The point is there is a problem.

So, what does Costas do with this issue? Fart on national TV.

Bob Costas is a major name in sports, a long time reporter and commentator who has built an impressive career so, he's the kind of person, with the respect and authority to weigh in on the issues of the sports industry with authority.

So, what does he do? Flack for gun control. 'This woulda never happened except for our crazy gun laws!' He referenced a piece by Jason Whitlock who thinks the world should have come to a full stop because of this, saying his his piece;



Yes, gun control. Once again, at a critical moment, the Giffords assassination attempt being another one, when we, the people, could come together as thinking people at an opportunity to do something constructive and address what is needed to deal with the real problems, people, we instead punt, as usual, and go after some made up villain rather than the hard, uncomfortable work of actually doing something positive.

Yes, no one would ever be murdered with handguns if hand guns didn't exist. But, that's it. That line of reasoning comes and goes, like the passing of a Bob Costa brain fart, because that's all it is; passing gas.

Jovan Belcher could have just as easily beat his girlfriend to death in a flash with his bare hands or stabbed her or thrown her out the window. A lot of things are dangerous and, if we have ANY intentions of being free people, with that comes risks and in any rational discussion of risks comes the sorting out of what can be done, what should be done and what is just...passing gas.

Guns are not getting un-invented. Nor are pills or alcohol or knives or baseball bats or 250 pound men who could break you in half as quick as look at you.

Jovan Belcher is no more dead BECAUSE of guns than a drunk driver is dead BECAUSE of cars. And this is where Costas takes his entire career and just farts it out, taking a golden moment, one that has been coming for some time concerning head injuries and the biggest professional sport in our nation, football.

Jovan Belcher, if there is a single cause, is dead because of football. That is no more helpful than blaming guns but, it does have the convenience of being at least partially true, and the root, the common theme. No gun drove Belcher, or Seau or Deurson or any other of the high, and low profile football related sucides, to kill themselves. ESPN has an intelligent piece on the subject including this recent piece;

When former football players commit suicide, some see connection to brain injuries suffered during playing days, but experts urge caution - ESPN



For Bob Costos to go farting on national TV at such a critical moment, given his stature, the timing, is nothing short of malpractice. The inanity of his comments isn't the harm. People resort to stupid reasoning all the time when they'd prefer to not do something difficult yet productive and it's on Costas to explain whether he is really this dumb, which I doubt, or he is simply defending his place in the food chain, which I also doubt as his career has been long and, I presume, fruitful.

Bob's crime is in punting, on looking at strike three, freezing at THE key moment when he could have scored and helped with the day and the issue and move the entire conversion forward forcefully and productively to deal with the health and life issues, the real issues, people deal with when they choose to play football either as kids or to pursue as a career.

It was sickening to me, the contrast, of a person who had built so much credibility and respect over the years to sit there and insult us all, just fart in our faces, blaming inanimate objects for this tragedy while in the background was a football field, the place where the real problems start and, if people like Costas would just shut up if they don't wanna help, the place where solutions lie.

Football, like guns, ain't going away. At least not in a free society. Costas is free to speak his mind just as we are all free to keep and bare arms. Or should be. And Bobs sad comments are every bit as harmful as the misuse of a firearm. In fact, far more so given who he is and the authority he possesses.

And the golden moment to do something productive that he passed on.

You say it so much better than I can. In the words of Slim Pickens: "You talk purtier than a twenty dollar whore.".

[philibusters]

I read the book Freakonomics which had a section on what produced the downward shift in crime that started in the 1990's. The book says the statistical evidence indicates that there are four main factors that drove down violent crime in the 1990's

1) Roe v. Wade: Poor non-working mothers are the most likely to have abortions and the kid's of those very same mothers are the most likely to turn into criminals 20 to 25 years down the line.

2) Increased reliance on prisions: Expensive, but stats show this strategy does lower violent crime. Its less why it works. The two main theories are deterrence and that since the violent criminals are in jail they cannot commit crimes against the public from there. Probably the latter of those two is the more important factor.

3) Increased number of police: A higher number of police is actually correlated with higher crime rates. But correlation does not equal causation. Rather according to Freakonomics, the numbers indicate increased police levels lower violent crime.

4) Changes in the crack and other drug market: Simply put the amount of cocaine coming into the country has gone up since the 1970's and 1980's driving down the price of drugs on streets and driving down drug dealers profits. Significantly lower profits have given drug dealers a smaller incentive to commit violent crime.


Things the book says do not affect violent crime rates much are

1. Innovative policing strategies
2. Agin of the population
3. Tougher gun laws
4. Increased use of capital punishment, concealed weapons law, gun buybacks

The authors also doubted whether more people having guns would lower violent crime rate guessing it would have the opposite effect. The authors of freakonomics noted that gun control can work as has been shown in other countries, but cannot work in the U.S. because of the black market. There is a large thriving black market for guns and criminals will always be more likely to purchase their guns on the black market. Further the black market is hard to police with out going all Mussolini on people.

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

Originally Posted by donbarzini

You say it so much better than I can. In the words of Slim Pickens: "You talk purtier than a twenty dollar whore.".

Thank you but, it's not so. A bunch of people on here can say what I said in 50,000 words in only a few sentences.

[vraiblonde]

Nice post, Larry.

It's like they're all a bunch of parrots with no cognitive thought whatsoever; just repeating a mantra. The anti-smoking people are the same way. Not to be trite, but they remind me of the two-minutes hate and slogan repetition in Nineteen-Eighty-Four. In fact, Orwell was a surprisingly accurate prophet.

On another note, Costas is a girly man anyway and probably takes it in the chute. It's not surprising that he's wringing his hands like some PTA mom.

[PsyOps (Premo)]

I heard on WMAL this morning that Virginia has increased firearms sales by something-like 75% in the past year while gun-related crime has dropped about 26%. Splain that Mr. Costas.

And how were Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman murdered?

[MMM_donuts]

I cannot stand Bob Costas. I hate it when does those little opinion pieces during football games. They aren't even informative, just opinionated viewpoints.

It would please me if he's finally stuck his foot so far into his mouth that they had to get rid of him.

[SamSpade]

If his girlfriend had had a gun, she'd be fine now.