Wednesday, January 26, 2011

THE CURRENT PRESIDENT’S CITIZENSHIP STATUS

Ever since the current president of the United States became president, many folks have questioned whether or not he is a natural born citizen. His mother was citizen of the United States, but his father was a citizen of the African nation of Kenya. The current president claims to have been born in the state of Hawaii, which would make him a natural born citizen. However, to date, there has been no birth certificate produced.

The democrat governor of Hawaii, in hopes of putting this issue to rest, has searched Hawaiian birth records, but has not been able to locate a birth certificate for the current president. The only record of his birth is a notation in the archives that he had been born.

Call me a birther, a whacko, or whatever you want to call me; but the birth of this president is mysterious. I learned in American history in junior high school that one of the qualifications to run for president of the United States is that you must be a natural born citizen. That means that you must be born on United States soil or born on foreign soil to parents that are U.S. citizens. In other words, naturalized citizens cannot run for president. So, Arnold Schwarzenegger cannot run for president and neither can my boss. My boss’s daughters can. The oldest was born before my boss and his wife became citizens, but she was born in the United States; well, actually in Auburn, Alabama.

The current president was born in 1961 or 1962, hardly in the dark ages. So, the state of Hawaii should have a birth certificate for him if he was indeed born in Hawaii. Also, this president is pushing fifty. I can’t believe that he’s never had to produce a birth certificate for something in his entire life. Most people have theirs; a copy of mine is here at the house. Mr. President, if you were born in Hawaii like you claim, just produce your birth certificate. Snuff out all of this speculation, for goodness sake!

Bottom line, the governor of Hawaii can’t find a birth certificate for the current president, and the current president refuses to show us his birth certificate. It certainly appears that there is mystery surrounding this man’s birth, and it scares me. Who all is covering up for him? He deceived a majority of the American people who voted for him in 2008. Now, he appears to be gravitating to the center and may deceive others, as well A lot of folks think that something big is going to happen in 2012. It sure seems that we’re heading for that something, doesn’t it?

Sunday, January 2, 2011

WHO’S THE BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM IN THE NATION?

As of this writing, we don’t know. The BCS Championship game is a week and a day away and we all know that the winner of this game takes home the crystal trophy plus a plethora of accolades. This is certainly not a perfect system, but it beats anything else that is feasible.

My football team was supposed to repeat in the BCS championship game for the second year in a row. Could we do a repeat? In the pre-season, everyone thought so. Who could possibly stop Heisman trophy winner Mark Ingram, who would be splitting playing time with Trent Richardson, a talented young man who many think is a better runner than Ingram. There were some questions about our young defense, but with Mark, Trent, and Julio, we’d manage.

Now anybody that’s been associated with national championship teams, and I remember a few in my lifetime, knows that you have to be good and some luck is also associated with being the national champion. The ball has to bounce your way a time or two and it did for Alabama in the 2009 college football season.

Back to the 2010 Alabama team. As we all know, Bama will not repeat as national champions having lost to South Carolina, LSU, and Auburn. South Carolina considers its 2010 victory over Alabama the greatest in its gridiron history. Bless their hearts! Even after the South Caroline debacle, we still controlled our own destiny; but after losing to LSU, our hopes of playing for the SEC championship and eventually for the national championship were all but dashed. Following our third loss, a heartbreaker to cross-state rival Auburn, all we had left to play for was the chance for a ten win season. There’s something about winning ten games in a season that that labels you as a special team.

The Auburn game left me shaking my head about this team. It hasn’t been that long since Alabama was struggling to be considered above average. No one thought that we could bounce back after enduring devastating sanctions even with Coach Nick Saban at the helm. It seemed to me that the 2010 team was struggling to find its identity. The running game was a disappointment with Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson not having the performances that were expected. The defense was suspect, but kept us in some of our games. The defense improved over the course of the season while the offense seemed to stall. Much of the offense came from the passing of quarterback Greg McElroy and the spectacular receptions from wide receiver Julio Jones.

Frankly, I didn’t know what to expect from Alabama in its appearance in the Capital One Bowl. I kept having visions of the 2009 Sugar Bowl game against Utah where we were caught flat-footed and suffered an embarrassing loss. As a result, I hoped that Bama had learned its lesson and would be motivated to finish in style.

Was I surprised? Yes, I guess I was. Bama found its identity and played a spectacular game against the Michigan State Spartans, ranked number 9. Were we the best team in the nation on January 1? Yes, we were! Could we have beaten anyone in the top 10 on January 1? Yes! The running game clicked, the passing game clicked, and the defense clicked. We stopped their running game and we stopped their passing game. As the last minutes of the game ticked down, tears came to my eyes. While Greg McElroy, a truly outstanding young man would never suit up for Bama again; I have a feeling that he will have a presence in our lives for many years to come. Would this be the last time that Mark Ingram and Julio Jones would suit up for Bama? We’ll have to wait and see.

On the sidelines, Mark Ingram was grinning from ear to ear. Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner is a team player and there should never be any doubts about that. According to Coach Saban, Julio Jones is the hardest working player that he has ever coached. Whatever these two young men, along with their families and coaches, decide regarding their futures, they are loved.

For the young men on the team who also work so hard with the expectations of getting at least some playing time in an Alabama uniform, we love them just as much. When their names were called late in the second half of the Georgia State game, we shook our heads and said, “never heard of him”.

There’s no doubt that if we had played against South Carolina, LSU, and Auburn the way we did against Michigan State, we would be in the BCS championship game. But as you know, we didn’t. In the real world, you can’t sustain that level at all times. To be national champions, you have to be good and you have to get a few breaks. There were a few times that the “ball bounced our way” last year, and there were a few times this year that it just didn’t.

Do I see more national championships in the not too distant future for Alabama? I certainly do. Will other young men step up to fill the shoes of Mark Ingram, Julio Jones, Greg McElroy and the others who will or may be leaving? Yes, there will be others to rise up and be the ones.

Now that Alabama has finished its season, I’ll sit back and watch the remainder of the bowl games with interest. A top ten finish for us would certainly be nice. But no matter what happens, we’re Alabama and it’s great to be from Alabama. I just can’t imagine being for anyone else.