From the staff of the Herald (which is me) Happy 34th Birthday to Ole Sarge.  May you continue to get get carded while buying your favorite whiskey.

Years ago while being station in Forty Lee Virginia,  I was detail I was detailed for funeral duty. As the Noncommissioned Officer in charge my duty was to inspect the flag after it was folded and present it to the primary next of kin of the deceased veteran.  I said the words "This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation and the United States Army as a token of appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service." and afterwards rendered a salute.  This was more that just a protocol it was way for me to show respect to the great Americans who serve.  The flag is more than just a piece of cloth.  It is what we defend.

Flag burning is reprehensible and it totally disgusts me. Yet when Congress tries to make it a constitutional amendment to ban it.  I tend to agree with those who argue that it violates the first amendment.  Instead of  a ban how about a strict regulations like we have for smokers.

Flag burning shall be illegal in public places the second hand smoke from burning a flag omits a toxic fume that can potentially cause more people to contract lung cancer and develop some sort of asthma. A higher tax shall be levied on those who purchase the flag for the sole purpose of burning it.  Those taxes can help pay for the upkeep of the Soldiers home in Washington DC. Flag burners will need to seek a permit and pay for a class on how to safely conduct a controlled burn. Responsible flag burning will save millions of  American lives each year. 

Burn your flag you may but as long as it is in private. Meaning, I better not see your ass do it. 

Try Burning this if you want…………………. BEYOTCH!!!

Let this be the rally cry to protect our flag!

My best buddy and I agree on allot of things, we both are diehard Tarheel fans and have cheered for our favorite college team ever since 1980. We have seen allot of players come and go not only at Carolina but in the conference they play in; The ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference).  A few weeks ago I posed this question to him.  Name the the top 10 players you seen play in the ACC regardless of whether he had a great NBA career. Our unanimous top three picks in this order were

• Michael Jordan (North Carolina)
• Len Bias (Maryland)
• Ralph Sampson (Virginia)

players 4 through 10 we tend to agree on but not in the same order. Yet without any doubt those top were the best we saw. 

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the death of Len Bias.  Len died two days after being selected was number two overall by the Boston Celtics.  Imagine what the landscape of the NBA would have been like had Bias put on that green Boston on;  the battles with the “Bad Boys” of Detroit, with Michael Jordan and ”Da Bulls”, and finally against “Showtime” and Magic out in L.A.  The NBA was great in the 80’s but it might have been that much better had Bias not die from that overdose.

Scoop Jackson of ESPN believes that…

“Len Bias attained martyr status before he died on June 19, 1986. I think he became one even before he was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the second pick in the '86 NBA draft, something that in my mind almost guaranteed the Celts an 80-2 record during the '86-87 season -- and maybe one loss in the playoffs -- which would have made them the greatest team the world of sports -- not just basketball -- had ever seen.”

So when does Scoop think Bias attained martyr status….

“Len's moment came while in a University of Maryland uniform, his senior season, inside the Dean Dome at the University of North Carolina.”

Yes against my Tarheels.  North Carolina was ranked number one in the nation before that game.  And playing a unranked Maryland team still trying to find itself seem like a easy victory for the Heels.  Plus the fact the North Carolina had just moved into their brand spanking new arena named after its coach, should have more than enough to beat up on the Terps or as my buddy and I called them, the “twerps”.  Well it wasn’t and Len Bias touched the Heels for 37 points.  My buddy and I have watched hundreds of Carolina games, but this particular game is seared in our memories. Why? because we believe that we had indirectly influence its outcome.  

A few weeks prior to that game we had met Len Bias at the recreation center we played basketball at. Bias showed up unannounced but instantly we knew who he was. We all flocked towards him like we had just seen a Hollywood star.  He was nice enough to give us autographs and play a game of “horse” with us.  Of course he beat us with those half court jump shots he was making effortlessly and as skinny 14 year old we did not have the strength to continually fling shots from half court.  We tried or best to distract him by talking trash about how North Carolina was going to dismantle them.  They had no one the could stop Brad Daugherty or Kenny Smith.  Bias took the trash talking in stride then gave us one of his famous smiles as he swished a 30 foot jumper and look over at my buddy and I and said,  “Carolina doesn’t have a chance”  He wasn’t joking.  A few weeks later Maryland beat Carolina,  That night Bias was a man on a mission my Tarheels did not have an answer for him.  Had we not talked trash would Bias still had went off on the Tarheels the way he did?  Did we give him the ammunition to take down to Chapel Hill and unload it at will?  I think we did, but more than likely that was going to happen regardless.  Bias was a beast before then, this game was just the signature for one of best I’ve seen play at the collegiate level. 

We never got the chance to see Bias again, if we would have you best believe we would have asked, and at the same time talk trash.

Len Bias legend lives on

Happy Father’s Day.  The Hunter men can celebrate another Father’s together.  From the teacher, the Butcher and the soldier, we wish all the fathers across the country the very best.

Mort Zuckerman for the Washington times writes: “As tempting as the thought of re-signing Soriano might be, it's just not likely to happen.”  These are some of the reasons he sited in his article: The Painful truth: Trade Soriano

• Soriano, a pending free agent at the end of the season, is having a career year, one in which he is on pace for 58 home runs and 38 stolen bases. Those kind of numbers are going to command big bucks in the offseason, perhaps something in the range of five years and $65 million.
  
• Soriano has to want to re-sign. At the moment, it's not clear if he does. He's made some vague statements about liking the city and the team but not being comfortable in left field and not wanting to make a decision until the offseason.
  
• the way he feels he was treated by general manager Jim Bowden and the organization during spring training. A handful of people close to Soriano say he'll flat-out refuse to come back, if Bowden still is GM.

Yes the Nationals will have to go at least 66–33 the rest of the way to be a serious contender for a post season spot. Keeping Soriano will surely make the Nationals competitive and ultimately generate excitement in a town that really doesn’t have a since of baseball history let alone any type of history what so ever. We would have legitimate super star.   No, Washington is not Chicago or Boston.  Our fans are new to this. Since the Senators last played in DC; this area has had a tremendous growth explosion bring people from all parts of the country and world for job opportunities, going to a baseball game is just merely something to do in this city in the summertime. Red Sox and Cubs fans a rabid about thier teams.  In a win now culture, the Nats can’t afford to trade Soriano and get some prospects that might not pan out. Especially when you are trying to attract a fan base that was use to not having baseball and didn’t mind going up north to see a crappy team in Baltimore. Nats ownership needs to think about that. Right now we have a super star that will put bodies in the seats and sell lots of merchandise.  I say pay him and make him happy because you never know if we will have another Soriano type player wearing that “W” hat in the summertime.  

 Finally, Boston finally broke their losing ways by winning their first World Series since ummmm since a long time ago in an era far far away.   As far as the Cubs, they still are losers and the Nationals with Soriano will win a World Series before the Cubs will.  The bottom line is we have to keep him. 

 Souces: The painful truth: Trade Soriano

From Fox News

CAIRO, Egypt — Al Qaeda in Iraq announced in a Web statement posted Monday that a militant named Abu Hamza al-Muhajer was appointed the group's new leader to succeed the slain Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

"Al Qaeda in Iraq's council has agreed on Sheik Abu Hamza al-Muhajer to be the successor for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the leadership of the organization," said a statement signed by the group on an Islamic militant Web forum where it often posts messages”

I guess they had some sort of terrorist confirmation hearing.  Al Qaeda found a successor way quicker than we did for Sandra Day O'Connor when she retired from the Supreme Court. 

I think this is a ploy to let the media and liberal know that Al Qaeda is still a functioning gang of thugs and the terror will continue.  Yes the war is far from over, that is why we must stay the course. If this Muhajer dude is the leader, guess what?  There is a missile with his name on it.

If I was owner of Nats, my priority will be to keep Alphonso Soriano. For those who don’t know Alphonso Soriano is the best baseball player in the league. What about  Albert Puljols? I  love Albert and his game, however, he doesn’t play in DC (I am bias).  Soriano has been my favorite player ever since he played in New York.  He is a  threat to hit the ball long, steal a base or two and make a pitchers afraid to pitch to him. Yes his defense is improving. To sum it all up, he is “a threat.”  Last night I witness “the threat” put on a show at the Ole Ball park RFK stadium.  A place that isn’t known to be a hitters park.  This old dungeon that the Redskins called home for many years, temporarily belongs to the Nationals until 2008. What I saw there while munching on a hot dog and drinking a cold one was pure enjoyment.  Soriano came to the plate four times and scored four runs. He drew two walks, was hit by a pitch, stole a base, advanced on both a wild pitch and a balk and then capped it all off with yet another towering blast into the left-field bull-pen. You want to know why I have given him the name the threat……He is one!

As Washington Nationals manager and baseball  Hall of famer Frank Robinson said  "You better appreciate it, because you don't see it every day."

Washington is new to the baseball game, Although we have had teams in the past most us under the age of 35 don’t remember baseball in DC.  As Mark Zuckerman for the Washington Times writes..“Savor every moment of it, Washington, because if Soriano is indeed traded sometime in the next seven weeks, it may be some time before another player of his caliber wears the home team's uniform.”

I hope he is wrong,  because all stars are plenty but super-stars are rare. The team had struggled to win at the beginning of the season   It is a fact that attendance has drop at the Nationals games from what it was last year in their inaugural season playing in the nation’s capital.  Soriano can bring hope and he can also bring people to the games.

Yes Alphonso Soriano is a threat, a threat not only to win the MVP but a threat to take his show elsewhere and leave us with nothing in return.

Sources:

Soriano sparks Nationals again (Washington Times)

What do you get when you stay the course…………….  One dead ass Zarqawi. Had the Commander in Chief gave in to Murtha’s demands,  Zaqawil will still be alive to kill at will. 

By the way…..  

“Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki presented the names to parliament a few minutes after announcing the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, who has claimed responsibility for hundreds of bombings, beheadings and kidnappings since the U.S. invasion.” (Washington Post)

This is not over, nor will I go outside on my porch a proclaim “mission complete”   A democracy was born and just like a child you would like to see it grow up and prosper. It takes time to grow.   Iraq is on the right path.  Nouri al-Maliki is a strong enough leader through this critical transition.  Time is on our side, not for the insurgency. But, we have to stay the course.