The War Against You

Sometimes, the best way to get a point across is to twist the narrative around and force the opposition to see a situation in a different light.  I am going to do this regarding the current controversy concerning ObamaCare and the Catholic Church.

For those of you who don't understand the hubbub regarding the mandate requiring facilities, including Catholic-run hospitals to offer free birth-control, please consider the following hypothetical situation:

What if it was discovered that bacon was strong in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer?  What if studies showed that women who ate bacon were significantly much less likely to develop breast cancer?  What if studies also showed that bacon helped and even cured women who already had breast cancer?

Now, imagine a President forcing all institutions, even those run by Jews and Muslims, to offer bacon as a treatment or a preventative measure.  How would you feel about that?  How do you think Jewish and Muslim communities would react?  How many people would call the United States an "intolerant" or "racist" nation for such a mandate?

Or am I supposed to just accept that because the mandate only affects Christians that it's okay?

Fearless Recap

It was a pretty good year for me in predicting the recent NFL season.  I wasn't perfect but I wasn't way off either.

Preseason Projection                    Actual
AFC East                                      AFC East  (Perfect)
Patriots                                           Patriots
Jets                                                 Jets
Dolphins                                         Dolphins
Bills                                                Bills

AFC North                                  AFC North (Not so perfect.  At least I got the Ravens right.)
Ravens                                          Ravens
Browns                                         Steelers
Steelers                                         Bengals
Bengals                                         Browns

AFC South                                  AFC South (Who could have picked the Colts last, really?)
Texans                                          Texans
Colts                                             Titans
Jaguars                                          Jaguars
Titans                                            Colts

In the next two divisions, I was right except the last place team finished first.
AFC West                                  AFC West (I, like many, underestimated Tim Tebow.)
Chargers                                      Broncos
Raiders                                        Chargers
Chiefs                                          Raiders
Broncos                                       Chiefs

NFC East                                  NFC East (I clearly underestimated the Giants.)
Eagles                                         Giants
Cowboys                                    Eagles
Redskins                                     Cowboys
Giants                                         Redskins

NFC North                               NFC North (Close)
Packers                                      Packers
Lions                                          Lions
Vikings                                       Bears
Bears                                         Vikings

NFC South                               NFC South (No comment)
Falcons                                      Saints
Saints                                         Falcons
Buccaneers                                 Panthers
Panthers                                     Buccaneers

NFC West                               NFC West (I always pick the 49'ers last.)
Seahawks                                  49'ers
Rams                                        Cardinals
Cardinals                                   Seahawks
49'ers                                        Rams

Eagles over Patriots in the Superbowl (I had one team right.  I had the wrong NFC East opponent.)

Other fearless predictions:

Besides Peyton Manning, another top tier quarterback will miss much of the season due to injury. (Matt Schaub)

Of the teams that are expected to be improved (Lions, Rams, Buccaneers), one will fall flat and finish last. (Rams and Buccaneers.  I was off by one.)

Of the teams that are expected to be elite (Patriots, Steelers, Chargers, Eagles, Packers, Saints, Falcons), one will greatly disappoint and struggle most of the season. (Chargers and Eagles.  Off by one again.)

There will be one team that will come out of nowhere and do extremely well, defying all the odds with players experts thought to be inferior. (49'ers)

One and only one rookie quarterback will have a successful season. (Newton and Dalton. Damn!)

Scoring will be down this year.  The new kickoff rule and the short preseason will be the reason. (Wrong!  I underestimated the effect of the "no leading with your helmet" rule.  Defenses were pretty soft this year.)

There will be a renewed emphasis of the running game for many teams in the middle of the season as many complex passing schemes fail. (Wrong!  Most teams think they are the Packers or Patriots.)

At the end of the season, I'll go over these and see how I did.