Michael Sam and the Death of Dignity

The media circus around Michael Sam - the first openly gay player in the NFL - came to a crescendo with Sam's draft yesterday.  I was able to watch it all unfold over dinner last night with Mrs. YDP.  

Upon getting the call that he had been drafted, Sam wept.  And wept.  And wept.



Was it emotional for Sam?  Obviously.  He is the "first," and perhaps that was the origin of the emotion.  If so, and regardless, I certainly don't begrudge him for what he felt.  But if the moment really, truly meant that much, why the cameras?  Why the live ESPN feed?  Why make it a circus?

And a circus it was.  It was made all the more manifest by the incredibly weird smashing of cake into his lover's face later on - again, all while the media cameras were rolling:



I don't get it.  Any of it.  If one wants to consider this a Jackie Robinson or Rosa Parks moment, I'd agree.  But the moment was sullied by behavior that frankly didn't jive with the purported magnitude of the moment..  It was weird, egocentric, and all captured live on ESPN.  

Michael Sam, you may be the first openly gay player in the NFL.  But a Jackie Robinson or a Rosa Parks you most clearly are not. 

Tough Job Interview

This is one tough job:



Happy Mothers' Day, all you moms, and a special "I love you," to my mom.

Wild Dominates Blackhawks

The Minnesota Wild absolutely dominated the Chicago Blackhawks last night to pull to an even 2-2 in the best of seven playoff series.  On all sides of the equation - defense, offense, power play, penalty kill, and goaltending - the Wild outplayed Chicago.



For the game, Chicago was held to 20 shots on goal.  20!

Minnesota was definitely helped by the return of Matt Cooke, who dominated on both ends of the ice after sitting out a 7 game suspension for his hit on Colorado's Tyson Berrie.  Cooke showed exactly why he was picked up by the Wild in the first place.  With fresh legs and an aggressive attitude, he was everywhere on the ice, and the Blackhawks had no way to contain him.

After losing the first two games in Chicago, likely due to an exhausting 7 game series with Colorado, the Wild have now evened things up with back to back home wins.  In order to take the series, the Wild will need to stay perfect at home, and will need to win one in Chicago.  But that doesn't seem like a stretch.  Hockey is all about confidence (the next time you hear a player or coach interviewed, just see how many times they use that word), and the Wild have it all, and the Blackhawks have none.  The pressure will be on Chicago to produce in front of their home crowd, and if things start of bad and the Wild continue their dominant play, that choking feeling will likely set in.

In the series, the Wild look like they are clearly the better team.  Now they just need to prove it by taking a game in Chicago.

Vikings 2014 Draft? We'll See

The Vikings, as has been their mode of late, were very active on the Round One day of the NFL draft.  First, they traded down, albeit slightly, to take a gamble on Anthony Barr at the 9th pick overall.  Barr, who became an outside pass-rush threat in his last two years in college was converted from a fullback.  He's got wicked athleticism, but very little experience.

Then, later in the draft the team traded with Seattle to acquire the last first round pick, and took Teddy Bridgewater.  The quarterback saw his draft day fortunes fall as his official workout went quite poorly, and multiple teams soured on him.  Still, his statistics don't lie, and the numbers he put up at Louisville were pretty darned impressive.

The bottom line is that neither of this picks are a cinch.  While both address glaring team needs, both come with substantive risks.  Still, it seemed like risks worth taking.  If one pans out, it will be a successful draft for the Vikings.  If neither work, it will be a massive disaster; one very difficult from which to recover.  But if both work, my goodness, it could substantively change the team for years to come.

We'll see.

Happy Birthday to Mrs. YDP

There is nothing better in life than to have someone that loves you.  It might be a child, it might be a parent, it might be a pet, it might be a friend.  It might be all of the above.  But among these, there is no better love than the love of a spouse.

I am a lucky man to have Mrs. YDP in my life.  Life's highs are so much better, and the lows so much more tolerable with her at my side and holding my hand.  

Happy birthday, honey.  I love you more than anything.

Former Obama Security Council Spokesman - "Dude!"

You just have to see this to believe it.  



This administration needs to go back to legalizing marijuana and stuff like that, ya know, bro?  Leave the hard stuff to the adults.

A Little Spring Fixes Everything

It has been a long winter.  It started in early November, and we've not had a respite since.  But finally, finally, it appears we may have turned a corner.

Here is our 10 day forecast:

There's not a 30 degree temp in the lot!  And what a difference it makes: business is better, being motivated to be active is better, attitudes are better, and smiling just comes easier.  Layer on top that Mrs. YDP is having her birthday this week, and Mother's Day is this weekend, and there's a lot to look forward to.

Including the weather.  After this long winter that we'd have, I wondered if I'd ever type those words ever again.

Happy spring, everybody.

Why Science Does Not Disprove God

There is a significant battle being waged by some in the scientific/intelligentsia communities which claims that our knowledge of science has now reached a point that humans can explain most of the important mysteries of life.  Hence, there is no need of the Divine anymore.  If one truly understands science, one knows God does not truly exist.

While the nature of that argument is hogwash on its face, it was refuted quite deftly in a recent article in Time by Amir D. Aczel where he pulls together scientific findings that not only support a Supreme Being, they'd be nearly impossible to occur without one.

I encourage you to read the whole thing here.

His concluding paragraph sums it up very well:

Science and religion are two sides of the same deep human impulse to understand the world, to know our place in it, and to marvel at the wonder of life and the infinite cosmos we are surrounded by. Let’s keep them that way, and not let one of them attempt to usurp the role of the other.