The Front Row

To feel better about the offensive line, remember how Bollman left it and note how it is. Years of neglect have been reversed and better days are coming.

I'm really with tenfold give up the politics and stick with what you actually know, beating up on domers,michitigan and so on and so on. Everybody know s the DJIA increases more under Dem presidents than conservatives. When are Bax or Ramzy substituting again? I can't wait.

love it mr b

okay Mr. B, so the other reason that I want you to stop the political talk is that I'd really hate to lose the Bucket of Bullets to Fox News. I mean, I'm sure you'd appreciate the salary bump, and I'm sure it would be good prime time television, but this article (the football part of it, anyway) is [usually] wildly entertaining and I'd hate to see it go!

Me likey....great job from start to finish. +1

to beat a dead horse...

...I too can offer analogies that don't work between government and college football. Let's pretend that the NCAA rules are that elite college football programs, who have "traditionally" been powerhouses, only had to go 50 yards in order to score a touchdown. Also, they get to begin the game with 10 points. And finally, the actual field is titled so that the powerhouse team must always run downhill, and the non-traditional team must always run uphill.

I think that is the other side of the analogitical (yes, I can make up words too, Mr. B) coin (albeit, also totally flawed analogy since it's silly to compare football to politics). Some would argue that the wealthiest play by different rules than the middle and working class. These rules are unfair. It's not about robbing the rich to give to the poor. But anyone who would watch a game under the rules I have just described would think that the game was rigged for one team and the game would lose all credibility. If someone stood up and said, "hey, maybe both teams should start with 0 points and have to go the same distance to get points!" we'd all say "yeah that sounds fair". But as soon as someone says, "Let's have the wealthiest Americans pay the same effective tax rate as the rest of us" people start freaking out.

And then the lies, misinformation come. In your analogy, the Buckeyes would directly give recruits to "underachieving" programs like Indiana, Minnesota, etc. No one, and I mean NO ONE said anything about tax dollars from wealthy people going directly into the pockets of the poor. We're talking about it going to the government... now, laugh all you want, but this money pays for 1) national defense 2) education 3) ETC.! that are things EVERYONE needs, including rich people. In fact, it sounds a lot like the revenue sharing that the B10 does where the bowl money at the end of each season is shared within the conference. This has allowed our conference to have tremendous stability and cohesion at a time when other conferences (cough cough, the B12 and Big East) are CRUMBLING, especially in the B12 where Texas (not surprisingly) rules like a king over the other schools and blames them for their "poverty".

Not to mention that 45% (which is a number that was cooked up by conservative think tanks and has not been verified by nonpartisan institutions) who don't pay taxes INCLUDE THE WEALTHIEST AMERICANS, because they have tax loopholes and offshore accounts/assets etc. etc. etc. Add in the idea (which has been independently verified) that IF the tax laws were indeed fair, that the playing field were LEVEL, the amount of tax revenue generated by the wealthiest Americans TOTALLY DWARFS the amount of tax revenue generated by those who currently do not pay taxes.

I agree that everyone should pay taxes. NO ONE is saying otherwise. Not Obama. No body. But that is not an excuse for how rigged the game of wealth is in this country, and how silly the rhetoric is surrounding what should be a question of not "IF" we should change the rules, but specifically "how" so that it is indeed "fair". It's not about being jealous for the ones who "have", or having some communist wet dream. It's about having fair rules for a game we all love. Football. America.

...now back to football!

I don't even like Fox (the owners of Scout) so there are no worries there. I always assume that 50% of "my" readers will be agitated about something. At least, that's the way it has been for more than ten years now and I am way too old to change. As most writers discover, the people that agree with them think they are smart and cool and those that disagree want to see them boiled in oil. I can live (or die) with that!

Btw, the two "outside" linebackers are indeed Laurinaitis and Schlegel. The guy in the middle is even more exciting: he is new commit Alex Anzalone and he has some growing to do to fit into his new role. But don't we all!

GREAT BUCKET !!!