First World Problems.. Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy.

A pair of semi-related video clips that are both pretty funny.   

Rapper FunnyZ sure has a lot of things to gripe about for a rich white kid from Upper Suburbia.

In the next video clip, comedian Louis CK on the Conan show bemoans how everyone seems to be an unappreciative whiner these days.  Great sense of perspective.    

  



So who is right?   Most Americans won't admit it, but their point of view is much closer to the kid's than to the comedian's.

Religion, politics and the a* word

By far, abortion is the most controversial political topic of them all.  It's walking in a landmine to even discuss it.  Few ever change their minds but that doesn't discourage debate.  Here is a question.  Do the Gospels and traditional church teaching really direct Christians to engage in politics to enact laws in opposition to abortion rights?

Consider the story of the Holy Innocents.  These were the male children of Bethlehem who were murdered by Herod's forces in a dragnet intended to kill off the newborn King of the Jews that Herod first heard about from the Magi. The whole story is in Matthew, Chapter 2.

16) Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry: and sending killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

God sent an Angel to warn Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt.  All the other kids in town, not so lucky.  Perhaps if Joseph and Mary had stayed in Bethlehem and Herod's men found and identified Jesus first, all the other male children might have been spared from the slaughter. But God had a plan even though the plan must have seemed cruel to the parents of Bethlehem at the time.

So, it seemed fair and just to the early leaders of the Church that God would take the souls of these children into Heaven, seeing as God had sort of used them as human shields to protect his Son.   Centuries ago the Holy Innocents were declared Martyrs.

The Church venerates these children as martyrs (flores martyrum); they are the first buds of the Church killed by the frost of persecution; they died not only for Christ, but in his stead (St. Aug., "Sermo 10us de sanctis").  

Now, as for the unborn children who have been victims of abortion, they are sometimes compared to the Holy Innocents and those enabling abortion are said to be playing the part of Herod.  Here is an example of that argument.  Killing the Holy Innocents: Governments that Fund Abortion are the New Herods

Every child killed by voluntary abortion is a “Holy Innocent”. Every politician who supports this killing, implicitly or explicitly, carries on the evil actions of Herod. On this Feast of the Holy Innocents let us summon a new resolve to bring an end to the slaughter of the holy innocents in this hour. Time to end the funding of Planned Parenthood and the slaughter of the Holy Innocents.  

So, here is the conundrum for religious/political opposition to abortion rights. If a child who was aborted is a martyr destined for eternity in heaven, then why should we put them on a detour and force their unwilling mothers to bring them into the Earth where they undergo the difficult trials of life after which there is a very good chance they will end up in a much hotter place for all of eternity.  Jesus used this phrase when asked how to pray.  "Lead us not into temptation".   Life presents temptations.  And in the Gospels  Jesus pointed out a number of times that your life on Earth is worth nothing compared to what God has planned for you in heaven.

Another potential explanation  for political opposition to abortion could be to save the soul of the mother via legislation, but coercion contradicts the teaching of Jesus regarding non-believers.  As in Luke 9:5

If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them."

Jesus didn't tell the Apostles to force non-believers to behave Christian or to embroil themselves in politics and law.  The Gospels are more about the nature of forgiveness and salvation, a call to a life of service and prayer, challenging religious hypocrisy, and how your years on Earth means nothing compared to eternity in heaven.

For perspective, I am personally opposed to abortion because I believe the gift of life is indeed a miracle and any life is worthy of living.  There are people very dear to me who under a slightly different set of circumstances some years ago a different choice might have been made and it would be a tremendous loss to not have them here now.  God only knows how much brilliance and beauty we have been deprived of because of abortion.   Abortion can cause physical and psychological harm yet these side effects are downplayed in the legal battle over abortion rights.

But I do not feel it is appropriate for politicians to get in the middle of that decision, especially considering that many of them admit their religious convictions are driving legislative initiatives which to me is problematic in regards to the Constitution.  As for Christianity imposing itself on the general population, I don't see anywhere in the Gospels where Jesus instructed his followers to force other people to conform.

So is political opposition to abortion truly rooted in Christianity?  If so, where?

Touchdown Jesus having a procedure done on his throwing elbow?

I was at the beautiful campus of Notre Dame University in South Bend Indiana this weekend for a 7 on 7 football tournament with about 80 high school teams from around the Midwest.   My son's team from Summit Academy in Romulus MI went 3-1 in bracket play and made it to the tournament playoff where they lost to an excellent team from Sandusky OH.  It was a good showing for the upstart team from the suburban Detroit charter school. 

I thought this particular shot made for a cool picture.  The famous mural of Touchdown Jesus getting worked on by a crew on a scaffold.  It appears that some sort of procedure is being done on his throwing arm.  No word from Notre Dame on the status of TDJ or if he will be 100% for the start of the season.

We already give them free room, free meals and cake on their birthdays, but they want more

Interesting story in the WSJ about how inflationary pressure in the Chinese economy is going to make that trip to Walmart more costly.   US Faces Costlier Chinese Imports WSJ.com

"...For more than a decade starting in the early 1990s, U.S. inflation declined as low-wage workers in China and other developing nations joined the global economy and produced a tide of cheap goods that washed onto U.S. shores.

The trend made American consumers feel better off and, by restraining the upward crawl of consumer prices, helped enable the Federal Reserve to fuel the U.S. economy with low interest rates.   That epoch appears to be over. Prices of imported goods are climbing..

Though the pressures eased a bit in recent weeks as commodity prices retreated, they show signs of becoming a nagging presence as Chinese workers and others in emerging markets win higher wages and also become eager domestic consumers.

Demonstrating again why it is the Law of supply and demand and not just a theory. This is all a natural effect of globalization. Chinese wages and standard of living are rising while the opposite is true in the USA. Left long enough alone to free market forces, everything will meet somewhere near the middle.

While that is making Chinese imported goods more expensive for Americans, I don't think that is necessarily bad for the USA. It will reduce our trade deficit and bring some jobs back home as profits diminish from exploiting cheaper factory wages offshore. As for the loss in American living standard due to the higher prices at Walmart, is that worth fretting over? I don't think so.

Much of what we will allegedly be losing is just waste anyway. The flood of Chinese imports made things so cheap it enabled people to overconsume, buy stuff they didn't need, throw stuff out and replace it with newer stuff, fill up their houses and garages with stuff, buy every gadget and toy known to man and occasionally stack up piles of it at the curb on garbage day to make room for some more new crap. For those old enough, think of how much more consumption Americans have become accustomed to in recent decades as compared to the 1970's.


The most recent American boom economy in the 90's was partially enabled by widely distributed cheap imported products that replaced all sorts of costlier American products and this gave consumers more purchasing power and a temporary higher standard of living. It was like a free ride down the hill for Americans who started the game on top and glided down by grabbing up the cheap imports unconcerned with how the shift to imports was eroding the industrial base. We didn't notice how our real wages were falling because costs for the stuff we had to buy were falling even faster. Now we're approaching the level part of the track and its time to start pedaling again.

I think the rising wages in China and the leveling of the playing field will be good for all of us. In China, it will lead to more freedom and liberty and democratic reforms. Here it will lead to a simpler, greener lifestyle, a stronger manufacturing and industrial base, a smaller trade deficit and less crap in the landfills. If the Consumers Price Index goes up because of rising prices of Chinese imports, I don't think thats all bad by any stretch. And certainly no one should be surprised it's all happening.

My favorite quote in the story is from a manager at a Chinese apparel factory, bemoaning how labor costs have doubled in the last four years as the workforce in China commands higher wages. This sums up the entire situation which is why I chose it for the title of the post.

"We already give them free room, free meals and cake on their birthdays, but they want more," he said. He has to raise salaries because he is struggling to keep workers amid an emerging labor shortage in China's factories.

Wait till the American workforce finds out that Chinese workers get cake on their birthdays.  Oh boy, talk about needing to level the playing field...

An energy strategy for the USA. Be Conserve-ative.

It's often pointed out in angst that 40 years after the Arab oil embargo, the USA still has no energy policy. Our economy and national security depend on energy and everyone seems to agree we need an energy policy, but we can't quite decide what it should be.  We have enacted a patchwork of legislation dealing with vehicle fuel economy standards, electric and hybrid vehicle subsidies, ethanol mandates and subsidies, domestic oil production, etc.. but there is no overall strategy behind it all.   

We have two prevailing schools of thought about the strategy for energy policy but neither will lead the USA to energy independence because they have built-in self correction factors that will act as kill switches.  Conserve-atism is a different strategy altogether that focuses on eliminating wasted fuel consumption, and would not only reduce our greenhouse gas emissions it would increase disposable income, expand the economy to create jobs and even make our commuting safer.     

One of the current prevailing strategies for energy policy is to increase taxes on energy in order to spur investment in more efficient factories and infrastructure, push people to buy fuel efficient and electric vehicles, and coerce people to drive less. Just crank up the fuel taxes and everything will somehow fix itself.   

But the idea that higher fuel taxes will spur investment assumes that there will be no negative impact on the economy from additional taxes sprung on stretched budgets. It assumes the corporations that need to upgrade aged facilities will be able to stay afloat while the economy shrinks around them. It assumes that companies who want to modernize will have access to financing in a struggling economy. It assumes people will be enticed to buy new fuel efficient vehicles even though they are getting squeezed by higher taxes and maybe spooked about their long-term employment prospects. Simply enacting higher fuel taxes will drive demand lower but in doing so it will put a drag on the economic engine that is needed to fund the investment in a new infrastructure. The destination is correct, but the path is wrong.

The other basic strategy is to promote more drilling and refining of oil and other fossil fuels to keep energy prices stable while demand increases to enable economic growth via increased consumption.  This position is based on willful ignorance of climate science and/or disregard for future generations. And by the way it won't work. If we rely on increasing oil production and consumption for economic growth, it might work for a while, but it can't be the long term solution. Oil is a non-renewable resource and as consumption increases, supplies will diminish. This isn't a strategy to base national policy on. It's just grab it while you can before someone else does. It's a looter mentality.

On the other hand, Conserve-atism works to identify and implement all sorts of ways to reduce waste in fuel consumption.    This will lead to downward pressure on oil prices and eventually we will affect demand enough so that oil tankers and storage facilities fill up, creating a glut which will bring a sharp drop in price.   When the price of oil falls from the conservation efforts (increased domestic production would help as well..) it will be a stimulus package for consumers and the entire economy. As the price drops we would enact graduated energy taxes to direct some of the savings to investment in new efficient power and transportation infrastructures that will bring further reductions in energy consumption.  The more we save, the more we would be able to invest in order to save even more. It feeds itself like a vicious circle.  That's  the strategy.    

So how can the government actually help people conserve fuel to create an oil glut?   In a lot of different ways actually.  They make the rules and run the place so we need involvement from all levels of government organizations from politicians to the road crew.  Here are some ideas for initiatives that would reduce waste in fuel consumption.

- Utilize the crews in the cities across America to time the stoplights along the major intersections to keep traffic flowing which will improve all vehicles' mileage by eliminating some of the stops and starts. A side benefit of improved traffic flow would be safer commuting.
- In the neighborhoods where traffic is sparse, replace 4-way stop intersections with alternating yield signs so that drivers can safely proceed through intersections without having to bring their vehicles to a complete stop and waste gas.
- Where there are road construction projects, make sure to plan the work to alleviate traffic snarls in construction zones. 
- Encourage schools and workplaces to promote ride-sharing and car pooling programs. This was a big initiative back in the 70's to conserve fuel but you hardly hear it mentioned these days.  Software and social networks could help people find others with whom to carpool or coordinate chaueferring kids.   
- Reduce the post office delivery to 3 or 4 days per week. 
- Promote school districts that have large transportation costs to convert to 4-day weeks.  Think of all those buses taking a day off every week.
- Promote 4 day work weeks and work-from-home programs for employees.  Many companies already offer this to people who can do the same tasks from a home office
- Discourage the drive-through culture and find ways to encourage people to park and walk in, even to the point of a drive-through fee.
- Promote more rail transportation for goods in lieu of semi trucks. 
- Allow incremental upgrades in manufacturing facilities instead of requiring full scale modernization to Best Available Technology in order to renew air quality permits.  Any waste reduction is good.


So there's the strategy. Now we just need the policy to make it happen.   I like the term Conserve-ative. It's a good way to distance the rational wing of the party from the kooks.

Garage borns.. Two plump kittens and a cute little runt.

So a few weeks back in May on the day that some kooks were predicting Armageddon was going to commence, a stray cat snuck her litter of three kittens into a back corner of our garage. We heard something back there mewing when we came back from our post Armageddon dinner at the IHOP. Momma cat is a really friendly and outgoing sort, the breed is Norwegian Forest Cat. The markings make her look kind of like a raccoon. Two of the kittens are fat and healthy, the third one is the cliche "runt of the litter" less than half the size of her brother and sister.

My dear wife has adopted the tiny one and has been feeding it with a little kitten baby bottle every few hours. The other two are getting plenty to eat and don't need extra help. They've all been checked by the vet and are doing well. We'll have to keep them all together for a couple more months before we decide which to keep and give away the others. My money is on the runt, little Gracie.

They're still living in the garage but have since moved into somewhat finer digs than the cluttered back corner.  Its been interesting watching them grow these last few weeks.  I've never owned a cat, and it's not clear how our two dogs will adjust if one moves in.  But if those dogs mess with that cute little Gracie, the wrath of momma cat will be the least  of their worries.

Not for sale: 71 Gibson Les Paul Custom

(click twice to see it up close..)

This is my 1971 Gibson Les Paul Custom. It's not some collector showpiece with a sparkling finish and polished gold hardware. Nope, this baby is beat all to hell. It's been through years of active duty, or perhaps I should say hacktive duty, seeing as I was the one playing it most of those years. This legendary American guitar has been increasing my coolness factor for decades in basements, garages, pole barns, banquet halls, auditoriums, biker bars, yooper bars, redneck bars, bowling alleys, boat clubs, outdoor festivals, backyard parties, school gymnasiums, block parties, and even when I'm just sitting around on the patio.

I knew I had to have this guitar the first time I played it back in 1981 at A&R Music in Lincoln Park MI. The action was silky smooth, the tone was bright and rich, nine pounds of solid wood with mother-of-pearl fret board inlays and Gibson logo on the headstock. She was the most badass guitar I had ever played, by far. There were scratches and scrapes in the front and back and the hardware was losing the brass plating but that didn't bother me one bit. This '71 Custom was my ticket into the super-elite Les Paul brotherhood and that was a big deal to a high school kid in 1981..

I put the guitar on layaway and paid a little every week and took time to visit for a while in the aisle where it waited on the rack with a SOLD tag around the neck.   I had taken a 2nd part-time job as a dishwasher at the Bonanza Steak Pit in Lincoln Park for less than $3 an hour to chip away at the $450 layaway.  I disliked that job and my boss so much that I quit in the middle of the shift when I had worked just long enough for my last paycheck to cover the final layaway payment.  It took a couple hundred hours of washing dishes to buy the guitar but I made sure not to spend one extra minute doing it.  Hey Mr, Jouppi. I quit.  You get to wash the dishes tonight. seeya.

I've played that '71 Les Paul hard ever since and have put more than a few new scratches in it along the way. You can't make it through all those gigs and road trips over 30 years without picking up a few scars. But I still don't mind them.  I just love the way it plays and sounds, as sweet today as when I first picked it up, although it does feel heavier now. Dozens of people over the years have asked me how much I would sell it for and I always give the same answer. A million dollars. I mean, if someone really wants it that bad...
 
Thank you Lester William Polfuss (aka Les Paul) for giving the world the Les Paul electric guitar and for all of the great rock and roll music it has inspired musicians to create and play.

Blindfolded law professor swings and misses at the auto bailout pinata

University of Pennsylvania Law Professor David Skeel slams the government bailouts for GM and Chrysler by pointing out how they fell short of the implausible hypothetical utopian alternative resolution he envisaged in hindsight from his office on campus. 

Here is the article in the WSJ:  David Skeel: The Real Cost of the Auto Bailouts. 

Nor would both companies simply have collapsed if the government hadn't orchestrated the two transactions. General Motors was a perfectly viable company that could have been restructured under the ordinary reorganization process. The only serious question was GM's ability to obtain financing for its bankruptcy, given the credit market conditions in 2008. But even if financing were not available—and there's a very good chance it would have been—the government could have provided funds without also usurping the bankruptcy process.

Thats nuts. In March 2008, GM was bleeding $1 billion in cash every month and in August 2008 GM announced a $15.5 billion quartely loss. Future products were being delayed to keep the company on life support,  sales were far below the break even point, the whole economy was a train wreck, the housing crisis was blowing up, and customers were spooked by rumors of bankruptcy. GM's ability to obtain private financing for an organized bankruptcy at that time was beyond a serious question and closer to a pipe dream.  Here is a story from the pre-bailout era regarding GM's slim chances of securing the funding for reorganization.  CNNMoney: Why GM Can't Survive Bankruptcy

There is precedent for bankruptcy turnarounds. But those companies, filing under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code, were able to secure what is known as debtor-in-possession, or DIP, financing.  Lenders make such loans in part because bankruptcy law allow them to go to the front of the line of the company's creditors if the company is not able to stay in business. In turn, the bankrupt company uses the cash to make changes and return to profitability.

Without DIP financing, liquidation -- usually under bankruptcy Chapter 7 -- may be the only option left.   Experts in the field and even GM itself say that DIP financing might not be available for GM.

The only organization that had money to finance the bankruptcy was the US Government and that was only because they can print their own money.  They only got it through the legal system because they make the rules.  If the entire hot mess went into bankruptcy court under normal procedures it would have led to years of fighting over scraps and none of it would matter by the time they were done.  

Without the bailout packages, GM and Chrysler would have ended up in Chapter 7 liquidation.  So start the alternative reality there.  When you are done running that whole scenario down $14 billion will seem very small compared to what the losses would have been if the bailouts hadn't happened.

The truth can set you free but you need Google to search for it.

Its 22 pages long, but worth a read I suppose if you have a lot of time and nothing else to do.  United Nations report: Internet access is a human right

It seems like the special rapporteur is trying to emulate what Thomas Jefferson would say about the symbiotic relationship of liberty and the internet if he were around to see this amazing invention at work.  The internet is proving to be the most powerful enabler for the demise of despots and the spread of liberty around the world.  I wrote more about this very topic back in February here.   I am quite sure TJ3 would be a strong advocate for a free internet and would smile on how the internet has given every single person the opportunity to fact-check politicians, reporters, and hucksters of all sorts as well as report events and chronicle government abuse and violations of civil rights.

Now, a "free" internet doesn't imply you won't have to pay for it.  It's a question of how it should be controlled, if at all.  It's easy to see how people could interpret the word free incorrectly here.  The headline in the UN Press Release didn't help at all   Secretary-General, Addressing Asia Media Summit, Urges Free Access to Internet .  You see that and think, sweet.  I'm paying like $30 a month now.  But from the context, Moon was referring to unfettered access, not free-of-charge access.  Still, some have jumped all over it as a harbinger of an expensive new UN giveaway program and they fired up the outrage machine.  Here is the actual quote from Moon..

"Let us work together to bridge the digital divide, so that all people can benefit.  Let us promote multiple languages in new media.  And let us ensure free access to the Internet and social media tools everywhere.  Freedom of expression, information and association are not abstract principles; they are bedrock rights that States have an obligation to fulfil."

I do think the report makes some decent points about the digital divide, as in the gap between the rich and poor regarding access to the internet and how it makes some people "freer" than other people, but it doesn't propose any solutions to alleviate the divide, just makes a case for why it's not fair.  But clearly this wave of revolutions in very poor areas was born on Youtube and on social media so it's not like the digital divide is the Grand Canyon.  Besides, a little dab'll do ya.  One person with a cell phone and a Twitter account can use it to reach millions around the world.

Another section of the UN report discusses how private corporations as the stewards of the internet have control over access to the internet and can use that control to censor web content and/or monitor people in a manner inconsistent with legal civil rights of internet users.   Access to the internet is an enabler of personal expression, liberty and intellectual freedom, so privacy issues and restrictions to access are matters for the courts and lawmakers to decide, not corporations.

One somewhat disturbing paragraph shows some evidence of carefully crafted weasel wording regarding child pornography.  Did they really need to include disclaimers about mission creep in the effort to remove child pornography from the internet?  Odd because the UN itself still exists because of mission creep.

With regard to child pornography, the Special Rapporteur notes that it is one clear exception where blocking measures are justified, provided that the national law is sufficiently precise and there are sufficient safeguards against abuse or misuse to prevent any "mission creep", including oversight and review by an independent and impartial tribunal or regulatory body.

Debt ceiling deniers = Ignorance divided by zero.

Yeah it was real funny when they dressed up like Paul Revere, made racist jokes and threatened to bring their guns next time. But now the schtick is past the expiration date and it's not funny any more.     Geithner to GOP: Raise debt limit or 'lights out' 

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made an appeal Thursday to House Republican freshmen, a group of lawmakers skeptical of his warning that a failure by Congress to raise the nation's borrowing limit would have grim financial and economic consequences.

...However, some of the 87 House GOP freshmen, a staunchly conservative and strong-willed group, have publicly questioned Geithner's warnings. Dubbed by some as debt-ceiling "deniers," they doubt a failure to lift the borrowing cap would force a default or lead to unpredictable results in financial markets, as Geithner has argued. 

Why wouldn't the right wing of the GOP deny economic science? They deny all kinds of science whenever it doesn't align with their formed opinions or blind faith.  Now, normally when they cling to ignorance it doesn't endanger the rest of us but this time it's different.  Anyone who doesn't understand that our economy and entire society depend on a viable form of currency shouldn't be in Washington making policy, but there they are making threats about letting the dollar default just so they can say "We told you so!"  At some point it would be refreshing to see them put the Country first and not their Tea Party. 

Hopefully the kids in Washington will quit playing chicken on their bikes and get to work on a real plan to prevent default by cutting government waste and growing the economy instead of just shrink wrapping it for the trash heap.

Jim Tressel actually rigged raffles for the blue chip recruits.. what a creep.

First, I recommend some background music to mark the end of the Jim Tressel regime at THE Ohio State University.  Hold this thread as he walks away.

If there were any questions about the Saturday timing of Jim Tressel's resignation, the Monday release of the Sports Illustrated investigation into violations under Tressel answered them.  Sports Illustrated presented a litany of alleged NCAA violations and explained how Tressel held on to plausible deniability for years by remaining willfully ignorant of that which was obvious to anyone who cared enough to look around.  This is a great read. Cudos to SI.   SI investigation reveals eight-year pattern of violations under Tressel

When I read the allegations about the tattoo parlor adorned with bartered OSU gear and memorabilia, the free cars for star recruits, the do-nothing high paying jobs for athletes, the Benjamin handshakes from wealthy boosters and the other unseemly details, I understood. In Ohio, football is King and Coach Tressel had restored the Buckeye mystique by winning a slew of Big Ten titles, a National Championship and was 9-1 against the hated ex-rival Michigan Wolverines.  That buys a whole stack of free passes.  Don't sweat it Coach Tressel, none of the locals will say a thing.

But one detail tucked in the later part of the story speaks to the moral vacuum lurking beneath the surface of the homespun God-fearing man in the red sweater vest.  A man some refer to as Senator for his calm focused demeanor.  Yeah right, he's just like a Senator.  Senator Palpatine.   So what did Tressel do that showed his loyalty to the dark side?   The dude actually rigged raffles for kids at football camp to make sure his prized blue chip recruits won the prizes.  You have got to be kidding me...

One of Tressel's duties then was to organize and run the Buckeyes' summer camp. Most of the young players who attended it would never play college football, but a few were top prospects whom Ohio State was recruiting. At the end of camp, attendees bought tickets to a raffle with prizes such as cleats and a jersey. According to his fellow assistant, Tressel rigged the raffle so that the elite prospects won -- a potential violation of NCAA rules. Says the former colleague, who asked not to be identified because he still has ties to the Ohio State community, "In the morning he would read the Bible with another coach. Then, in the afternoon, he would go out and cheat kids who had probably saved up money from mowing lawns to buy those raffle tickets. That's Jim Tressel."

OK, that's all I need to know about the guy. He's a serial raffle rigger known to cheat kids out of their allowance. Winner or not, that's enough to get your ass kicked around here. What a creep.

Tressel is done like dinner in Division IA college football because the NCAA violations will follow him to any school that hires him, so of course none will. I look for him to reemerge at the high school level in Ohio with a clean Etch-a-Sketch. They still love him in all the hometowns and he has a great football mind and he can motivate a team like few other coaches ever and in Ohio if you can put a championship football team on the field at any level the fans will forgive and forget past sins. But I'd advise them to not let Tressel pick the winning ticket in any 50/50 raffles.