My Manifesto

After another hiatus, this one lasting two years, I'm at it again.  It's time to get back to the keyboard and maybe even the microphone.  What will I talk about?  Well, let's talk about sports, life and the things that are important to me.  Hopefully, some of them are important to you as well, or at least are entertaining.

Before we get started, it's time for a re-introduction.  My name is Duke Frye. I’ve worked in radio and television most of my adult life. For a few costly years, to my deep financial regret, I owned a food service business. But that’s another story for another time.

Today, I’ve come to re-post my manifesto on the doors of this site much like Martin Luther did in 1517, but I doubt the pope will be as pissed at me as he was with him. You may or may not agree, I really don’t care, but at the least we’ll have a starting point from which to begin our conversations. What I originally posted three years ago, I still believe in. I've just added a few more thoughts.

I believe many American’s have lost their sense of humor. There’s a difference between laughing at the expense of others and being able to laugh at ourselves. We’ve got enough serious issues. Remember to laugh.

I believe that despite the fact we had a contentious election, the American people have spoken and we need to get on to the business at hand. Either that or it's time to push some politicians off that fiscal cliff.
I believe we went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan for the wrong reasons. I also believe our servicemen and women there and in other foreign countries deserve our support and respect for the great things they do protecting our freedoms. I don’t believe dissent is unpatriotic. It’s our duty to speak up against our government, if we feel strongly about it. It doesn't mean we have to scream in each other's faces though.  That freedom to speak is what makes America unique in the world.  Ask the Iranians or the Syrians or the North Koreans for that matter. I also believe corporations shouldn't have the same rights as people, particularly when it comes to elections.

I have no plans to burn an American flag any time soon, but I believe that it’s my right to do so, given to me by the people who framed the Constitution. While they may not have gotten everything correct, I have no doubt their reasoning for allowing me that right is much sounder than the fools in our government who clamor for a constitutional amendment banning my right to do so.

I believe that a person can believe in evolution and creation and have absolutely no conflict in doing both. I do. I also believe that evolution is based on scientific fact and should be taught as such, while creation should be taught in history and religion classes.

My wife and I sent our children to public school be exposed to the real world, science, religion and other kids driving sixty thousand dollar BMW’s while they drove a twelve year old Suzuki Samauri that backfired from time to time. From that education, they learned life isn’t fair and we don’t all look alike, but that’s okay. We don’t all think alike either, but that’s a very good thing. Most importantly, they learned to make informed decisions for themselves. Something we’re proud of and the rest of you should be thankful for.

Speaking of making their own decisions, I have three daughters and a granddaughter. I believe in a woman's right to choose.  Those who like to defend the constitution talk extensively about personal freedom. No one should be able to tell any woman what she has to do with her body.
I believe few things beat a warm summer night spent watching a baseball game, drinking a cold beer and enjoying a hot dog with friends, no matter how bad your favorite team is and mine is still bad (the Kansas City Royals), but there's hope.

I believe, as a nation, we have to learn that politics is compromise. We have a lot of politicians holding court both my state of Kansas and the nation’s capital claiming only they know what’s best for you and me. What we have very few of is legislators. People who can disagree with each other, but who know in the end, they must compromise and meet in the middle somewhere for the betterment of the country. A true legislator knows cramming my beliefs, or yours, down the throat of every other American is what is wrong with our country today. In the end we must converse and compromise.

I have been witness to the miracles of science and love in the past year.  A wife who received a kidney transplant and a daughter who so generously gave one of hers so that her mom could live the type of life she's supposed to live.  I now have a perspective on life that has changed and changed for the better.

I believe having a family is one of life's greatest gifts and family comes in many forms.  Ours includes three daughters and a granddaughter, but there's more coming in the form of grandchildren and son-in-laws and it's a joy to watch.  I may not have won the country's largest Powerball this week, but I'll be fine anyway.  Just give me some time to spend with family, visit the beach and get a day fly fishing now and then and I'll be happy.

I also believe I met the love of my life 38 years ago and she remains that today. That, I believe is enough for this man.  

Start waving those orange towels

Tonight the World Series that Fox TV didn’t want begins in San Francisco.  I heard the network execs crying all the way here in Kansas City when both the Yankees and Phillies went down.  All they could think about was all those TV households on the east coast that couldn’t care less about any team west of the Alleghenies.

Despite that, this works out to be a fascinating series.  The undermanned, Giants against the upstart new kids on the block from Texas.  A marquee pitching match-up to start things off, but featuring some other outstanding pitchers who are capable of great games in their own right.  I’m expecting big things from Jonathan Sanchez.

On the surface, you have to go with the Rangers.  They have the invincible Cliff Lee on the hill for three games if necessary, plus a powerful lineup led by Josh Hamilton.  They also have the better defense going in, but the same could be said for the Phillies and look who’s home for the winter.

The Giants come at you with pitching depth, a versatile lineup that doesn’t scare you, but can hurt you in many ways and they’ve got the home field advantage.  It’s not like the Rangers have been there before.  

In the end, I think this series will go down to the bullpens.  Brian Wilson can scare you to death as a closer and may blow one or two games under this kind of pressure, but the same could be said for rookie Neftali Feliz who really hasn’t been tested so far in the post season.  If it comes down to bullpen depth, I like the Giants and don’t San Fran fans finally deserve a pennant of their own?  I’ll take’em in seven.

NFL rule changes coming from the wrong direction

For years the NFL ignored the repercussions of concussions.  Players got their bells rung and team doctors and coaches sent them back on the field and laughed about the fact the player was in another area code for a while.  Finally, they came around to the fact that players needed to be held out of games until their brain function and cognition had fully returned.  Helmet to helmet hits were outlawed and those committing the crime have been fined and punished.

Now following a weekend of numerous player concussions, they league is ready to change the rules and really bring down the hammer on players for vicious hits.  But is this really a step in the right direction?  I’m all for the rule changes regarding keeping players off the field until they’ve been fully cleared after suffering a concussion, but I think they’re attacking this new issue from the wrong direction.

Sunday DeSean Jackson suffered a severe concussion as a result of a violent hit from Dunta Robinson.  But it wasn’t a helmet to helmet hit.  It was a form tackle.  Shoulder to sternum.  It was the speed at which the blow was delivered that caused the whiplash and concussion.  It occurred on a crossing pattern where Jackson was left open to the possibility of a hard hit.

NFL Operations Executive Ray Anderson says the league wants to eliminate hits with the head, forearm or shoulder to the shoulder or head areas.  You might as well say let’s play flag football.  Now you’re asking defenders to lower their heads where they risk serious injury by exposing themselves to neck injuries and concussions from contact with knees.

The only way the NFL is going to eliminate the ferocity of the hits is to eliminate the extent of the armor the players wear.  Shoulder pads need to be brought back to the size they were in the 60’s.  Players have little fear about launching themselves into another player because they’re so well protected and because of the speed at which they game is now played.  Coaching has to change as well.  No one really teaches wrapping up a player with your arms anymore.  Most tackles you see today are from a player just trying to deliver a shoulder blow.  Lessen their protective gear, lessen the ability to deliver the blow.  That should even go for helmets. 

Players use their helmets and lead with their heads because the helmet is now a weapon.  Protecting the players is important, but I believe making rash rule changes in mid season doesn’t solve the problem.  Football is a violent sport and that violence is what made it popular.  The NFL promotes that violence at every turn.  The players can change in time, but this doesn’t solve that issue.  Change the equipment.

This one should really hurt

This is one that got away for Kansas City and when the season comes to the close, it could be the difference between going to the playoffs and sitting home for another year.  For the first time this season the culprit was the defense.  The offense did everything it could do to win this one, but when your defense gives up three fourth quarter touchdowns, it’s not often you win.

The Chiefs offense was everything you could hope for.  It rushed for a season high 228 yards, Thomas Jones getting 100 and Jamaal Charles 93.  Matt Cassel was 20 of 29 with 3 TD’s, no interceptions and a 122 passer rating.  Dwayne Bowe...yes, Dwayne Bowe had six catches for 108 yards and two scores.  KC scored 17 second half points after leading by 7 at halftime and yet they lost.

The Texans scored TD’s on their final four possessions, the last two on drives of 80 yards or more in the final four minutes.  They never led until the last score in the final 28 seconds of the game.  You could point to several factors but the lack of pressure on Texans QB Matt Schaub in the second half and the failure to force a turnover were critical in my book.  

Throw in a bad interference call on the final drive and a rookie mistake by Eric Berry on Andre Johnson’s game winning catch and you have a loss that shouldn’t have been a loss.  How the Chiefs bounce back from this defeat next week at home against Jacksonville will say everything about how far Todd Haley’s team has truly progressed.

Do we really care who Favre is texting?

As the Minnesota Vikings prepared for Monday night’s game against the New York Jets there was more talk about Brett Favre and Jenn Sterger than there was on the effect having Randy Moss in the Vikings lineup was going to have on the game.  Isn’t it amazing that a story that has been percolating on the internet for months now suddenly became a big story just days before the Vikings and Favre were headed to the Big Apple for a game?

I’m not quite sure when covering the world of sports suddenly crossed over into the porn beat, but I’m really sick of it.  First of all, if Favre was sexting and making passes at Jets female employees when he played there two years ago, he was an idiot.  But sexual harassment aside, I’m not quite sure where the public and NFL comes in here.  

In the case of Sterger, she’s apparently said all along she had no intent of pursuing the matter, she just happened to let a few friends know what was going on, allegedly and word got out.  In the case of the other two Jets female masseuses, they sound like bandwagon jumpers.  

One claims Favre stared at her ass while he was getting a massage from another woman.  Really?  If it’s a sexual harassment issue, wouldn’t it be something that would have been taken care of privately by his employer, the Jets?

If true, as I said, Favre is giving his good old boy Mississippi background brand name a beat down.  But does America really care?  Do NFL fans really care?  And by the way, if the NFL is fast tracking their investigation with a possibility of suspending him, don’t they need to start suspending all players involved in infidelity?  And if they’re going to suspend players for that, they damn well better suspend them for DUI’s.  

If this was sexual banter between two consenting adults, why does everyone else have to get involved?  It’s Brett’s problem and an issue he and his wife have to deal with.  I could really care less.