The Ruler's Back

The long awaited return of Mr. Smoove has finally arrived. I would like to take the time out and thank my fellow colleague Bryan Fox for his tremendous work on the site. Cup O'Fiz will continue to offer insights into the sports junkie mind and make for intriguing banter.

It has been an eventful sports year thus far to say the least and it's mind-boggling to think that we only have 3 months remaining. The Fall is a great time of year for Sports Enthusiasts, we have the return of America's Game the NFL, the pending arrival of the NBA fresh off it's new anti-flopping rule instituted this past week (we wiil address that at a later time). The culmination of the WNBA Finals (Let that sink in for a moment)and the Race for the Cup in the Sprint NASCAR series. Finally the Fall brings forth America's favorite pastime, the Fall Classic. I for one am very excited this season as two of my favorite teams have managed to secure posteason berths (Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals.) It will be very interesting to see who are the final two teams left standing at the end. I for one can surely say if its both of my favorite teams I will be present front and center for the festivities.

Did anybody happen to catch the Americans choke last weekend during the finals of the Ryder Cup??? For those of you who are not avid golf spectators, the Ryder Cup is Golf's International crowning achievement that comes around every 2 years and pits a team of Americans against a team of Europeans. Simply put, the best golfers in the world on one course. The Americans went into the final day up 10-6 over the Europeans only needing a measly 4 and a half points to secure the cup. The Europeans needed 8 points to retain the Cup they previously won 2 years ago. As luck would have it, the Americans managed to perform one of the biggest choke jobs in professional sports. Losing 8 out of the 12 single matches on the final matches. Remember folks, the Americans only needed 4 victories that's 33% for all you number crunchers. Absolutely embarrassing and heart-wrenching at the same time. To add salt to the wound, this was all done on American soil right outside of Chicago. (Talk about a city falling on hard times.) This tied the biggest final day comeback in Ryder Cup history tying the 1999 mark by the Americans who were triumphant at Brookline course in Massachusetts. Congratulations go out to the feisty European team on their valiant comeback.

We welcomed back the "Real" NFL officials this past weekend. Games were called much smoother and we were able as fans to watch games at ease knowing that the real professionals were out there not jeopardizing the health of our players and the integrity of the game. On this issue I particularly didn't care to take a side all I wanted was for this deal to get done and get back to focusing on what's taking place on the field between the trenches. Thank you Roger Goodell and refs for coming to a compromise despite differences, (If only our Congress could act in such a manner with bills.) Which brings me to my big finish. The Presidential Election. The thing I like about our site is we tackle all issues: Sports, Music, Pop Culture, Politics, our communities and so forth... I know when every 4 years come around we are faced with the same cliche, "this is the most important election of our lives." As redundant as that may sound each election is in fact the most important election of our lives and this year is no different. We have an incumbent President who was faced with a massive deficit and unemployment rate to turnaround. We have seem some marginal improvement during our President's first term but has it vastly improved the masses and rejuvenated the American people as we thought possible 4 years ago??? Open for interpretation. On the other side we have the challenger, Republican nominee Mitt Romney a successful businessman turned governor who wants to get America back and working again and recapture it's entrepreneurial spirit. The only problem is, he has not identified how this is going to be possible through numerical figures. The candidates are distinctively different in more ways than one and offer the American people a real defining choice to be made come November 6th. I have been a lifelong democrat and agree with my party's platform on a plethora of issues. That being said I acknowledge that in order to have a functioning government we must start practicing genuine bi-partisanship in our policy making. I don't feel the need anymore to identify myself as an democrat or republican. I am simply an American who is fed up with his current place in society. I'm a 28 year old college educated man who is separated and soon to be divorced and has a job that barely pays the bills. Living pay check to pay check is not my idea of the American dream. Sad to say millions of Americans share my same plight and we are really questioning who is the person to lead us to the Promise land. If we re-elect Obama, will the same partisan tactics which are solely not his fault still be in play? If we choose to elect Romney will he pull the "Gotcha" to all of us and return us back to the same Bush policies that got our country into this mess in the first place? We honestly don't know and as we sit at home and watch these presidential debates we can only hope and pray that each man is professing to the country what he intends to do once he is in office. This country is built on faith, it's undeniable. But I think I speak for a lot of people when I say my faith just like my patience is running thin. I don't want to hear about how good it's going to be, I want to see, live and experience it. Is that really too much to ask nowadays? I want 2013 to be a year of promise, growth and prosperity. I want to feel like that going to college was not a move made in vain and that a degree actually means something in the working sector. I want to be able to catch up with an old friend over drinks and talk about the good times and not worry about who is picking up the tab because finances are constrained. I want to make sure that federal and state educational programs like the one I work for, provide services to all students who need assistance regardless of their status in school or if they come from an impoverished background or not. They are the link and bridge to our future the ones who will ultimately be the caretakers of our society, let's start putting them first above all of our petty bullshit.

Make sure you are paying attention to what is going on in these debates, what's going on in our communities. We are at war in our own country with one another. It has surely become a dog eat dog world. I don't want to hear about who's lying and who was weak on a debate stage, I just want to see results. No more double-talk, please provide for me action so I can write about something else that is way more uplifting and worthy of my time such as the Philadelphia Eagles winning their franchise's first Super Bowl. Hey I never said I wasn't a dreamer!!!