And With the 6th pick in the 2013 NFL draft the Cleveland Browns take…

Today is draft day and once again the Cleveland Browns get an early pick.  To the victors go the spoils and the losers, well; they get a chance pick someone who can maybe help lift them up out of their rut.  The only problem is that since the Browns re-inception into the league in 1999 they have had 9 picks in the top 15, and many other early round picks.  If picking early was the only thing that made you better the Browns would have won the last 5 Super Bowls but obviously that is not the only thing it takes.  The Browns cleaned house over this off season, from owner on down, the team has a new look and hopefully better luck; with all this being said who will the Browns take in the first round of the draft later tonight?  I have listed a couple different options I see the Browns taking with their 6^th overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft.

Dee Milliner

Dee Milliner is one of the best college cornerbacks coming out in this draft coming from an elite school in Alabama.  He is honestly who I expect the Brown’s to take with the 6^th overall pick assuming they don’t trade out of this spot.  He would complement Joe Haden well, give the Brown’s a much stronger back field who play in a division with passers like Rothenberger, Dalton, and Flacco and receivers like Bolden and A.J. Green.  The NFL is a pass first league so pass defense is necessary if you expect to stay in games.  Milliner would likely start and contribute right out of the gate and again, with him, Joe Haden and T.J. Ward in the back field the Browns defense would be set up to defend the pass for the next 5 – 10 seasons. 

       

Ziggy Ansah

                Ziggy Ansah is a great pass stopper out of BYU.  I really like Ziggy and would love to see him playing for the Browns every Sunday but I don’t see him still being there by the time the Brown’s pick.  Rumors have been circulating today that the Browns would possibly trade up with Oakland to acquire him, but I don’t see this happening for several reasons.  Unless Oakland was willing to give up this spot for virtually nothing (and they won’t) the Browns needs are so many, that I don’t think it makes sense to trade up for Ansah.  I think he makes a better pickup for the Browns than Milliner but I would rather hold onto the picks because Milliner is needed as well.  If Ansah is still there by the time the Browns pick they may take him, but I don’t think he will be there and I don’t think the Browns are willing to give up what they will need to so they can trade with Oakland.     

Dion Jordan

                Dion Jordan is a pure athlete; he is strong and fast.  The main issue with him is that he played at Oregon.  I don’t hate Oregon and I realize some good players have come out of there recently such as T.J. Ward, but when I watch film of him I see him being more the product of a system and not as good of a player as his numbers would lead you to believe.  His numbers are a bit lacking in some places as well.  He has racked up a lot of tackles, but he has only forced 4 fumbles in three years and has 0 interceptions.  He was a recruited as an offensive player to Oregon and even played a year at wide receiver.  For someone who was considered a good high school prospect at tight end getting no interceptions, I have to wonder if he will be able to drop into coverage when it is needed.  I think in the long run he will make a good player in the NFL, but I think he needs some work and I think Cleveland can get more bang for their buck with other picks; Milliner and Ansah in particular.   

               

Geno Smith

                Way too high! Picking up Geno Smith at the 6^th pick is insane!  Geno Smith may work out in the NFL; comparing him to RGIII or Cam Newton I think is way too generous to Smith but I don’t think picking him up at 6^th overall makes sense.  If he is still there in the 2^nd round take him, if not no biggie.  There are other quarterbacks out there the Browns can take in later rounds that I feel are at about the same skill level as Geno Smith.   

     

The Questions with Succession and its Ramifications

          

          In the wake of the most recent presidential election there has been a growing movement of people wishing to break away from the United States.  The loudest cries in the succession movement are coming from libertarians and the extreme right of the Republican Party which is the Tea Party.  They are not the only ones calling for this but they are the loudest.  This essay is just one part in a series of essays I will be writing covering some of the downfalls of any state; red, purple, or blue who wish to pursue succession.  The first essay will focus on a major concern to many; Social Security. 

 

          Social Security has been a political football ever since its inception and has continued to be one up into the present day.  For those who are unaware, Social Security refers to the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) which is a federal program that encompass’ several social welfare and social insurance programs.  Social Security is primarily funded through dedicated payroll taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA).  Tax deposits are formally entrusted to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, or the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund which comprise the Social Security Trust Fund.  Now I realize that I have enlarged the word federal a total of six times so far when giving the definition and explaining the role of Social Security; but to be fair I enlarged the word state every time it was mentioned as well.  The only problem is that Social Security is ran, regulated, and maintained by the federal government, not the state government. 
 

Another fun fact about Social Security is that it is estimated to keep roughly 40 percent of all Americans age 65 or older out of poverty (1.)  Although this is an 8 year old statistic it is very reasonable to believe that 40 percent is still at best the most optimal situation but considering the recent global financial crisis it may even be higher than 40 percent.

So with all this being stated, if a state were to go through with succession what would this mean for those drawing social security or close to retirement?  What about states like Florida and Arizona where the amount of retirees are much higher than in other states?  Would there be anything put in place by the succeeding states or would people of every age have to fend for themselves?  These are a couple of the issues that would surely arise if states were to start breaking away from the Union.  Some could take the Ayn Rand philosophy and merely shrug at those who weren’t prepared for the collapse of the federal government but I have a hunch that a great deal elderly people would face dire choices if they were to lose their Social Security benefits.  And notice I called them benefits and not entitlements; these elderly people have been paying a FICA tax most, if not their entire working lives.  

One possible solution to this problem is that if a state were to succeed from the United States, the federal government could still pay the benefits regardless of where the beneficiary lives.  There is only one flaw with this scenario, I do not see a federal government helping out a state that has just succeeded from it.  You can’t merely flip someone the bird and then ask them for assistance.  Few people would be willing to do this and if the blood is that bad between the U.S government and a succeeding state I doubt they will be any different.  With that being stated responsibility for the elderly more than likely now becomes a state issue or rather a succeeding state issue.  

Could these states bear such a financial burden in the infancy of being an independent state and now a nation?  It is very doubtful considering the other financial burdens they would soon be getting ready to deal with due to their new found freedom.  There is also no mechanism in place to deal with this on the state level, so what would people do in the meantime till such a structure was established?  Succeeding seems to bring more questions than tangible answers and that is only on the issue of Social Security.

I am not in favor of any state succeeding from the United States, period.  For better or worse we are one big family and merely saying I’m done and leaving will weaken the government and create more burden on the succeeding state than they can handle.  I think the issues we face as a nation are fixable assuming reasonable adults can sit down at the table and agree on reasonable solutions.  Compromise is not a dirty word, it is the solution.  

       

Works Cited

1. Orr, D. (November – December, 2004). "Social Security Isn't Broken: So Why the Rush To 'Fix ' It? In C. Sturr & R. Vasudevan (Eds.), 2007, Current Economic Issues. Boston: Economic Affairs Bureau.

My Ex and LeBron

  

        LeBron James leaving his native Cleveland hit me like many Cavaliers fans pretty hard.  In trying to describe my feelings to a friend of mine after LeBron’s recent championship I was looking for the perfect analogy and I found it; an ex-girlfriend.

            LeBron to me is like an ex-girlfriend, it ends with the ring.  When I started dating my ex I was a wreck; ill equipped for the next level, unambitious, and slept in too late.  My Cavs before LeBron showed up also had these same issues.  My ex came in and changed the wardrobe bringing me a little more class, out with the jeans with holes and stained tees.  LeBron did the very same for the Cavs ditching older players and baby fat from the rooster to add new kicks like Antwan Jamison and a nice retro suit like Shaquille O’Neil to give the Cavs that new slick look. 

            King James like most of our ex’s demands us to step it up and get some new things if you expect them to hang around.  The Cavs got a new work out facility closer to LeBron’s Akron home so the drive wouldn’t be too bad in the off season.  I didn’t have to go out and buy a gym but I did have to get an air conditioner for the apartment and ditch the futon for an actual bed.  In both comparisons all parties involved got what they wanted especially my ex, I mean LeBron, I mean, oh whatever!  

            `Now you guys have been together for a while now and it is starting to get a little more serious.  One of the people involved wants to take it to the next level and they start talking about a ring.  That one ring, which is different for my ex, and LeBron, and even Gollum strangely enough; that ring starts to rule their lives.  You try to be calm and rational about it and say “Honey, I’ll get you a ring but you have to show me you are committed.”  Show me your in it for the long haul and you aren’t going to leave me high and dry here in a couple years for some new beau in Miami but then they turn it around on you and say you don’t trust them.  They pout around and make changes to their game but never quite step it up to the level they have to showing you they are all in. 

After a while they start scheming with their girlfriends (Bosh, Wade, and Pat O’ Riley) and these friends always tell them that they could do so much better than you.  He’s a nice guy and all but is he really going to take you anywhere in life?  Will he get you that ring?  That’s when everything goes wrong with the relationship.  Constant under performance in key moment’s pulls the two of you apart until eventually you have a messy breakup. 

You try to patch things up and start over but too much has been said to ever repair all the damage done.  They move on and yeah, you wish you could go back to way things were before but what is done is done and you can’t change that.  You follow what’s going on from a far; reading facebook status’s and tweet’s for hints about what they are thinking or even if they will take you back.  After a while of doing this you hear news that they are about to get that ring they wanted so badly.  Once they get the ring you realize there is no turning back and you can quit pinning over them.  In the back of your head you hear a voice that says it will be ok, you heard these same rumors last year and nothing ever came out of it.  This time seems different though.  They seem really determined to get it.  It seems like it’s really going happen and there is nothing you can do to stop it.  

When LeBron finally got that ring last week I knew it was time to move on; he wasn’t coming back so I should just make peace with that.  The first step in fixing any problem is admitting you have one in the first place.  In closing, my name is William Balzer, I have a love / hate relationship with LeBron James and I’m trying to move on with my life!

To Be Continued….?    

The Whore of Akron, a Review

Scott Raab sums up one of the worst break up stories in sports history with his new book “The Whore of Akron.”

Above:  The cover of the book.  Don't judge a book by it's cover because I liked the cover but loved the book.

If you know me you know that I am loyal to my sports teams despite their inabilities to win at times.  I am all Ohio when it comes to who I root for; The Cincinnati Reds in baseball, the Cleveland Browns in football, the Blue Jackets in hockey, and the Cleveland Cavaliers in basketball.  Much to my surprise this Christmas my mother got me a book by the writer Scott Raab, “The Whore of Akron.”  Being a Cavs fan when you see the cover of this book you see the self-appointed King James on the cover in all of his glory and a rush of emotions come to mind.  Some of the different emotions I felt were:

Rage:  I hate this guy (LeBron or LeBrick as I like to call him,) he pissed on me, my team, and the entire City of Cleveland

Sorrow:   Damn the Cavaliers sucked last year

Pride (what is left of it):  I can’t bail on my team just because they played like 12 year olds against superheroes

Optimism:  We’ll be better this year; hell, we can’t get much worse

Joy:  Hehe, he called LeBron a whore

                So back to the book; before I started reading it I was hoping it wasn’t going to be a 300 page “hate fest” on LeBron.  I was trying to move past that stage in my life and look towards the future like most Ohio sports fans do because the future is always our best bet even though tomorrow never seems to come.  As I started to read the book I realized that Mr. Raab was a lot like me and the majority of Cleveland sports fans when it comes to the different stages and extremes of our/his mourning.  The book is a must read and not a “hate fest” like some who read the title would assume.  Mr. Raab gives credit where credit is due and isn’t shy about pointing out the faults of “The Chosen One,” himself, or any other Cleveland fan for that matter.  It was refreshing to see how the author progressed through his feelings during LeBron’s last season in Cleveland and throughout the following season with James in Miami while the Cav’s where on their abysmal road to ruin.

                The book kind of reminded me of “Faithfull” by Steven King and Stewart O’ Nan except there wasn’t the fairy tale ending where the pious home team wins it all in the face of adversity; it was almost like the bizzarro to “Faithful.”  I’m sure Mr. Raab would agree that it wasn’t his intent to make it feel this way but in Cleveland sports, how else was it supposed to end?

Above:  The author Scott Raab

                The book jumps around a great deal between the present and the past.  Mr. Raab talks about his life growing up in Cleveland, the History of Cleveland sports and his career as a writer.  At first I was kind of lost by this but as I kept reading the book I realized that I am / was a lot like Mr. Raab (I’m still nowhere near as successful) and his story is a lot like the story of Cleveland.  In the end though Mr. Raab has turned out to be a successful writer but Cleveland sports is the same sad affair it has been for several decades now, only to show some signs of life before it gets washed away by the inevitable erosion of Lake Erie herself.  I’m not going to go into great detail about the content of the book because I feel that my synopsis cannot do it justice.  I like most of the likely readers already knew part of the story but I did feel when I was reading it that I was an NBA insider there for a little bit.  I remember things going down in the media and the book helped give a back story to what was going on behind the scenes that an average outsider didn’t know.

                   If you are a fan of Cleveland sports; read this book! If you are a fan of any teams who have fallen on hard times; read this book!  Hell, if you’re a fan of sports period you need to read this book!  If you think that LeBron is a saint and “The Decision” wasn’t the worst break up of all time; then don’t read this book and as a matter of fact go play in traffic somewhere!  This is one of the best books on sports I have ever read because it was real, gritty, and it showed the true colors of a lot of the athletes we put on pedestals whether they deserve it or not.  Thank you Scott Raab for helping me with this break up, you have made the fandom of the Indian’s, Brown’s, and Cavaliers proud and we are blessed to call you one of our own!    

 William Balzer