The Anaheim Angels made a startling announcement this New Years. General Manager Jerry Dipoto told the press that there would be no surprise hundred million dollar free-agent signings or trades this week.
Recently, CBS ran an episode of the legal drama, “Made in Jersey,” that originally aired Sept. 28 and then was summarily cancelled after two episodes. The show was about a young workingclass woman who uses her street smarts to compete at a snooty New York law firm. Martina Garretti (gorgeous Janet Montgomery) finds that what she lacks in an Ivy League education she makes up for with grit. Martina is able to stay true to her modest roots as a passionate lawyer on the rise as she fights for truth, justice and the American way. So why did it receive poor ratings? Viewers found the story line much too unbelievable. It was about a good, honest and ethical lawyer!
You don’t need to travel very far to realize that drivers no longer respect or obey the traffic laws. They speed, pass on the right to get into the left lane, and no longer stop at stop signs while they enter and block your oncoming lane. Red lights serve no function to these narcissists. Such offenses can get them a ticket if a policeman happens to be nearby. Unfortunately there are no tickets given for plain old stupidity. There ought to be three new categories for officers to check while giving out a ticket. How about stupidity: mild, stupidity: moderate and stupidity: severe?
On the last day of the 2012, the San Diego Chargers fired head football coach Norv Turner. At that time there was a good deal of scuttlebutt that the Chargers would hire Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid. Instead how about the Chargers trying to lure the Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Bruce Arians? Arians filled in for Chuck Pagano while Pagano was receiving treatment for Leukemia. Arians had a 9-3 record. It makes no sense to fire one losing coach (Turner) so you can hire another one (Reid).
Los Angeles and Anaheim, in the aggregate, have lost at least five pro football teams to other locations. The Rams left both LA and Anaheim. LA lost the Raiders twice and in addition suffered the humiliation of losing an expansion team without ever touching the ball. One LA football fan (real estate mogul) offered to put up $850 million to buy the franchise but the city council couldn’t (or didn’t want to) raise $150 million for a parking structure. For a few dollars more per resident we could have purchased and enjoyed a football team for 50 years.
The appearing then disappearing franchise lost by LA went on to become the Houston Texans. In 2002 the Texans joined the NFL as an expansion team. The Texans made the playoffs this season and are now one of the NFL’s elite teams. Houston fans had roast beef while LA fans had none.
Recently The Orange County Register (Jan.3) did a story about Sama Wareh, a 29 year-old artist and a traveling naturalist at the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach. Sama traveled to Turkey to aid Syrian war refugees by bringing them “food, blankets and shelter with the $8,000 she’d raised in Orange County.” One refugee asked her, “Did you fall out of the sky?” I’ve had the opportunity to talk with Sama many times at Kean Coffee. She is a special person and maybe she did fall from the sky as Superwoman. Keep your krypton well shielded.
The ornery Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., of Newport Beach, is a multiple award-winning writer and can be reached at drglueck@roadrunner.com.
