Brett Favre & The Economy Have One Thing In Common!

Brett Favre, Minnesota’s new starting quarterback and the United States economy have one thing in common.  They’re both not worth following on a day by day basis.

Will Brett play another year?  Will it be for Minnesota?  Will he stay retired?  Who knows, until it happens.

The same is true with the economy.  Each morning on the bus ride into work, I busy myself reading the news headlines on the Blackberry I’m addicted to.  And each morning I look for signs on which way Bush/Obama’s economy is going.  Every day, there are different clues.  Housing starts are up, oh, but wait luxury homes can’t be sold.  GM is increasing production, but consumer spending goes down.  Cash for clunkers is a hit.  No wait, it’s a bomb.   Hold on, it’s a hit again.

You know what?  I’m through with trying to anticipate Brett Favre or the economy.  How will it work out with the Vikings?  How long will he play for?  When will we have a solid recovery and what will it look like?  How much longer until my 401k recoups most of its losses?

Who knows!

It’ll happen when it happens, stupid…

Another Amazing Week In Sports, Politics & Nonsense!

What an utterly amazing week to be alive to blog!  Unfortunately, other obligations AKA my paying job, got in the way of being able to write too much.  I realize that given these uncertain times I should feel lucky to have a good job.  And I do.

I also feel lucky to have this blog and to be able to present my thoughts on the week we all just got through together. 

Here goes!

Another Giants’ receiver gets shot!  Seriously what are the odds of the guy who replaced Plaxico Burress on the Giants roster also getting shot so soon after Burress accidentally capped himself?  Better than back to back Big Blue championships, I guess.  Here’s hoping Taye Biddle gets better soon.

Jeff Kent – when you look at his numbers even after accounting for the slugging era he played in, they are very impressive for a second baseman.  As a Mets fan, I saw quite a bit of Kent in the 90s.  He never struck me as a Hall of Famer.  Maybe that early impression is what keeps me from seeing him as Cooperstown-worthy now…

Alonozo Mourning – Zo has once again decided to retire.  Somehow this one feels more real.  After battling through kidney problems and leg issues through the years, I think he’s done.  Does anyone remember how limitless the Charlotte Hornets future looked way back when they had the young versions of Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson playing for them?  Maybe the young & current version of Chris Paul will deliver on that long ago promise for the franchise that fled Charlotte for New Orleans…

Brian Schottenheimer – I don’t get it.  What’s the big deal whether he comes back to the Jets as their offensive coordinator?  In three years with the Jets, Marty’s son has produced the 25th, 26th and 16th ranked offenses in the NFL.  This gets him serious consideration for the head job?  And this merits the Jets’ brass losing sleep over whether he’ll be happy to return?  Maybe it’s just that they figure if they keep Shottenheimer and the current offense in place the odds are better Brett Favre will return?

Rex Ryan – Maybe it’s cause he’s a twin and I have twins.   Maybe it’s cause he’s Buddy Ryan’s son and for some reason I always found Buddy entertaining despite my being a Giants’ fan.  I don’t know.   But, for some reason, I like Rex Ryan and feel like he’ll do a nice job with the Jets.  If nothing else, his press conferences are already better than Eric Mangini’s.

Goodbye Guantanamo! – The new president carries through on his promise to close Gitmo.  Good riddance!  Call me crazy but simply “disappearing” people just doesn’t seem real American to me.  Feels like we all ought to have more faith in our system than to resort to that kind of third world dictatorship kind of move.

Goodbye Torture! – Barack Obama delivers again!  Nice first couple of days for him by the way.  So far so good, but we’ve got a long way to go.  Thanks to President Obama, now the US will not be allowed to torture suspects anymore.  Another good move. America should not tolerate torture.  Beside not being in keeping with our constitution, it’s not all that effective.  How about just making them sit through a full episode of the “Color Honeymooners”?  Yikes!

Pope’s On Youtube – He’s got his own channel there.  How long til he’s got his own development deal with some cable channel?

Mark Ivaroni Fired – Is every NBA franchise going to fire their head coach this season?  And will it make any difference in Memphis anyway??  Especially when you hire Lionel Hollins for the THIRD time to coach your franchise.  What’s he going to do different this time??  Third time!  I’m not making this up!

New York’s Got a New Senator – And it’s not a Kennedy.  Would have been poetic to see Caroline Kennedy take the seat her uncle once held.  But, after her disastrous couple of weeks in the spotlight think we all learned why she’s stayed private all these years. You know, uh, you know….

Manny Ramirez – Being a pain in the ass can cost you a lot of cash.  Now, not even the Mets are interested in one of the game’s very best hitters.  As a Mets’ fan, I’m very worried about the pitching rotation and just don’t think they have enough hitting.  Manny could go a long way toward solving half their problems.  Course, he’d add a whole other set in the process but that’s just Manny being Manny.

Mark McGwire  –  Not only does his brother Jay introduce him to roids, now he outs him.  Would I love to be a fly-on the wall at the McGwire family reunion!

Herm Edwards Fired – Had to see this coming when the Chiefs brought in a new GM.  And although Edwards isn’t saying it, I will.  Clark Hunt has a lot of nerve firing Edwards after signing off on the youth movement that put the Chiefs at 2-14 last year.  If Edwards had known he had just one year to work with, maybe he’d have rethought going young.

Who’ll Bail Out The Veteran NFL Coaches? – Maybe it will be the Chiefs who are rumored to be pursuing Mike Shanahan.  It’s amazing to me to see all these young guys getting hired for head coaching jobs this year while big names like Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Marty Schottenheimer and Bill Cowher may be sitting out next season. 

Let’s take them and a few others case by case:

Mike Shanahan – Not surprised KC would want him.  After all, they had to play against him for so long and know how good he is.  Am surprised that he’d go somewhere so quickly after Denver, especially without being able to have Denver-type control.  Really thought that once again he’d replace Wade Phillips.  This time in Dallas.  If Jerry Jones were smart and Shanahan were interested, he’d make sure history repeat itself.

Jon Gruden – Tampa’s entire roster seems to be dogging him in the press, but you have to believe he’ll get another chance.  When he does, he’ll win again.

Marty Schottenheimer – All Brian’s dad ever has done is win.  Ok, not in the playoffs so much.   Still, I don’t buy he’s not one of the top 30 coaches in the pro football world.  Don’t see Norv Turner really lighting things up in San Diego either…

Bill Cowher – he strikes me as the least interested in coming back this year.  Still, think the Jets blew it by not overwhelming him.

Dan Reeves – He wants back in.  So much so that at age 65 he’s interviewing for the offensive coordinator spot for the 49ers.  Like Marty Schot, he’s another guy who has done nothing but win.  Unfortunately, both he and Marty may never get a crack at a top spot again.  Here’s hoping they both do.  The ultimate of course, would be to see Reeves get another team to the Super Bowl only to watch them get crushed by Marty’s first ever Super Bowl team. 

Denny Green – I’m just throwing him in here.  I haven’t even heard he wants to coach again.  But, with the Cardinals going to the Super Bowl, it’s worth noting that Green brought in some of the guys who have gotten them there.  You may have heard of one of his guys.  Kurt Warner??

Deep breathe!  Think that was everything I wanted to get out.

Thanks for taking a look!

Brett Favre?! Is He Even a Top 10 All Time Quarterback?

Brett Favre is a bonafide Hall of Fame quarterback.  He’s first ballot material all the way.  And he’s over-hyped. 

How over-hyped?  Let’s all find out together!  Because it’s a Friday night and I’ve got time on my hands, I’m going to try to see if I can put together a Top 10 All Time List of NFL Quarterbacks without including the Brett-ster.

Now for those of you how didn’t read my “about me” post, let me save you the trouble.  I’m in my early 40s.  So, that means I’ve followed football since the ’70s and grew up hearing and reading a lot about ’60s all stars.  As I put this list together, I’m going off of that life experience so please don’t comment that I skipped guys from the fifties and earlier.  I know…

In no particular order and again OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, here are 10 guys that can make the case to bump Favre out of the Top 10:

Roger Staubach– Grew up a Giants’ fan and so I grew up hating Roger Staubach.  Still, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anyone better in the clutch.  And he’s got at least two Super Bowl titles as well as a couple of other appearances to Favre’s one title.

Dan Marino– Favre edges him on Super Bowl titles and now on some of the career numbers.  But, no one has put up the kind of gaudy seasonal numbers Marino posted with regularity.  And it does feel to me that most people would have picked Marino over Favre during a lot of the time their careers overlapped.

Tom Brady – Three Super Bowl titles already and about HALF Favre’s age.  He’d have four if my mighty Giants hadn’t shown him what losing feels like.

Joe Montana– Now here’s the guy who actually has four titles.  And perhaps was (upon reflection) even more clutch than Staubach.

Terry Bradshaw – Doesn’t have the same kind of stats, but remember he played in a different era when the passing stats weren’t like they are today.  The only other guy with four titles.  I think that’s gotta count for something.  In this case, it makes the argument that maybe he deserves to be ahead of Brett on this list.

Bart Starr– Played QB for the Packers before Favre and from sheer wins and losses and Championships earned, he played QB a lot better than Favre.  Two Super Bowl wins and before that about 1500 NFL Championships.

Johnny Unitas – Wow!  I’m going old school.  Just look at the kind of numbers he put up when people just were NOT putting up those kinds of numbers.  And he was such an icon.  For a child of the ’70s, the name Johnny Unitas had as legendary a ring to it as Babe Ruth.

Peyton Manning– I must be playing a Colts association game here.  The older Manning bro has one Super Bowl title so far.  And although he and the current Colts seem to be declining slightly, you never know if he’ll add another Super Bowl to his resume before hanging them up.  As with the Marino/Favre comparison, Manning has simply been the better QB during most of the time he and Brett have played together as contemporaries.  In addition, I think it’s fair to add Peyton is a much better actor in his commercials and SNL appearances than Favre in his commercials and “Something About Mary”.

John Elway– This one I don’t know that I completely believe.  But, he does have more Super Bowl appearances and titles.  And, he did beat Favre head to head in a Super Bowl.  Wow!  I’m more convinced now…

Otto Graham– Going REAL old school here, but this guy is hard to ignore.  Cleveland’s early precursor to Brady Quinn, played ten years of pro ball and got to his league’s title game exactly ten times.  Seven times he won.  That record will never be broken.

Others You Could Make a Case For, But I didn’t – Steve Young (HOF, some of the greatest seasons ever, 1 Super Bowl),  Troy Aikman (3 Super Bowls), Kurt Warner (if he gets the MVP this year, he’ll have 3 and 2 Super Bowl appearances in his erratic career), Joe Willie Namath (maybe the biggest win ever) and I’m sure there’s a few more I’ve skipped over. 

My conclusion?  As usual, I think I’m right.

Favre is a great one, but he is over-hyped.  In fact, he may not even be Top 10.  This is especially true when you factor in that unlike most of the guys on the list above, Favre has the disturbing tendency to be as likely in a big spot to win you the game as throw it away.  My Giants can attest to that…

Let me hear what you think!

Even Favre Can’t Help The Lions Win! Is That So Wrong?

If one can believe Fox Sports, than it seems Brett Favre might have spent an hour on the phone with Lions’ coaches going over how to beat the Packers in the week prior to their match up.  This wouldn’t be such a big deal if:
a – Favre was QB-ing the hapless Lions rather than the looking more and more hapless Jets

b – Favre was retired

c – The Packers weren’t his old team and if Green Bay fans still didn’t view him as the second coming

But, sadly items a, b and c are all not true.  According to Fox, Brett Favre did take time away from learning his new team’s playbook to spend quite some time making it easier for Detroit to match up against his former teammates in Green Bay.  The Lions being the Lions.  They lost anyway.

As odd as this all is, there’s nothing against the NFL rules in Favre’s behavior.  In fact, in a Yahoo article, I just saw, it says Favre was known for making such calls before, but that they usually didn’t take up so much of his time.

Guess he really wanted the Lions to beat the Pack, huh?

While I’ll never understand why Favre would bother, I can’t fathom why the NFL doesn’t make this against the rules.  I get that if you’re a waiver wire pick up that the first thing you do is download all you know about your old team to the team now writing out your checks.

That’s not the situation in the Favre case.  Isn’t this tampering?  If Favre had done this before, why did he?  As a Packer, was he trying to help Green Bay by seeing to it that their rivals had a tougher road?  If not.  Then why?  Couldn’t behavior like Favre’s, if widespread, lead to accusations of gambling interests at play?  And is ANY of this in the spirit of fair competition?

I don’t think so.  I think each team should be left to their own resources and should not have access to inside information from other teams.  The NFL should put in a rule pronto.

In fact it’s shocking that the NFL, which is accused of being the “no fun league” has soooooo many rules, yet none for this.

Once again, Brett Favre is changing how the game is played…

More Important Than McCain! The NFL Is Back!

If summer has to end than at least we can console ourselves that it’s time for some football.  And I’m not talking that rinky dink distantly related cousin know as college football.  I’m talking NFL, baby!

Just a few thoughts, as it’s late and I’ve just finished a long McCain post. 

First, as a Giants’ fan.  What a great night!  After all the doubting and injuries to the D-Line, Big Blue comes through even after being the only team unable to convince someone to come out of retirement (Michael Strahan).  It pains me to say it, but I still don’t think they’ll be defending their Super Bowl crown come February 09.  But, I’m going to keep rooting for them to do it no matter what!  Comon sense and you can’t stop me!

This has been a weird start to the NFL season already.  Maybe the NFL is trying to match the kind of drama we’ve seen in the presidential race so far.  Here’s a few odd ways to kick off the season.

OK – the biggest one first.  Favre in green is one thing.  Farve in Jet green is unbelievable.  Still not going to turn out too well though…

The last name “OCHO CINCO” will be on an NFL jersey this year.  I thought Chad Johnson made a lot of noise about never playing for the Bengals again.  I guess he just meant under the name “Johnson”.

Detroit signs Rudy Johnson formerly of the aforementioned Bengals only to have him show up and accuse the guy he’s replacing at RB, Tatum Bell, of stealing the contents of his luggage.  Whatever happened to going the Steve Smith route and just punching out your teammate?

And here’s a sure sign of the coming end of the world.  Several credible sports columnists have clearly begun smoking crack and have predicted that the Philadelphia Eagles will win the Super Bowl.  Their predictions gloss over Donovan McNabb’s injury tendencies.  Plus, even if he stays healthy, who’s he throwing to?  He’s got no wide receivers.

Finally, Dante Culpepper who not long ago posted one of the greatest QB seasons ever, decided to retired.  He claims that teams aren’t giving him a fair shot.  I loved Dante during his time in Minnesota and I do think he’s got a point that there are other guys in the league getting shots that have never achieved the things he has.  However, he’s ignoring his two bad knees and two bad seasons in Miami and Oakland.  Finally, he’s proof positive that when you act as your own agent or lawyer, you’ve got a fool for a client.

No matter, I’m sure it won’t be too long before Culpepper un-retires.  Maybe he can replace Brett Favre in a year or two when he bails out on the Jets!

And here’s wishing a happy football season to all (except the Cowboys and their fans)!  Did you really expect anything less from a Giants’ fan?

PS – Does anyone else find it odd that the Miami Dolphins are now led by a tuna?  Sorry, it’s late and I’m lacking the judgement to resist.

Favre-Watch! The New York Jets Are Destined To Be Suckers Again!

Do any of these look right to you?

Of course not!

For those who didn’t figure it out by themselves, from left to right that’s noted acquited murder suspect and Buffalo Bills icon OJ Simpson as a 49er, Patrick “I guarantee but have no rings” Ewing as one of the Orlando Magic and finally the Jets’ own Joe Willie Namath as a Los Angeles Ram.

The ending in sports is rarely pretty.  Few careers wrap up as John Elway’s did with back to back Super Bowl wins (thank you, Terrell Davis) and a ride off into the sunset.  Most end with a former star athlete taking one too many punches or falling down in center field while chasing a ball he might have easily caught in his prime.

Brett Favre is destined to go out the same way.  In fact, he kind of already did.  Last season, in what was supposed to be his last game ever, he threw a game clinching interception to the delight of Giants’ fans everywhere.  Maybe that’s part of the reason Favre is so determined to come back.  Of course, we know we’ll never really know.

What we do know is that with a lifer like Favre it won’t end pretty.  Whether it’s later this season or next year or the year after, sooner or later, Brett Favre’s skills will have deteriorated just enough to either get him benched for a much less accomplished QB or get him hurt.

Favre has a right to pursue his career as long as he wants.  There’s no doubt after last season and despite the way he ended his team’s playoff run with pick, that Favre still has something left in the tank.  Furthermore, with so much money on the line, there’s a huge financial upside to Brett risking his legacy.  So clearly there is method and some kind of reasoning behind his madness.

What I’ll never understand is why the Jets have any interest in Brett Favre.  Tampa, I get, they made the playoffs last year, their coach collects quarterbacks like others collect sports memorabilia, and maybe just maybe Favre with a lot of luck could put them over the top.

The Jets can NOT say the same thing.  Brett Favre is not going to take this team to the Super Bowl this year or next.  In fact, he may not be enough to take them to the playoffs.  So why jump in?

My only answer is tradition.

The Jets organization has been snake bitten for the most part since their amazing Super Bowl upset way back when I was too young to appreciate the magnitude of the moment.  Since then, of course, one bad decision has followed the other and fueled the team’s desperation to again taste glory.  Half my lifetime later, the Jets are still searching to recapture that one magical moment.  Now, as their coach and GM face the critical third year of their rebuilding scheme, the organization is going all out to gamble their resources on a quarterback who is clearly on borrowed time.

Maybe they figure that karma owes them something what with Joe Namath going out a Ram and all.

Mark my words. 

They are about to find out karma is a b#tch…

Brett Favre Could Learn A Thing Or Two From Cindy McCain!

Here’s an angle on the endless Brett Favre drama that you haven’t heard before!  Promise or this blog is free!

Earlier today, John McCain volunteered his wife Cindy for a topless beauty pageant in front of thousands of cheering and one can safely assume buzzed motorcycle enthusiasts.  Cindy McCain, being the team player that she is, stood there politely as the crowd hooted, hollered and whistled at her.  See?  I’m telling you buzzed.

Anyway, the point being Cindy McCain knows how to take one for the team.  Being married to a powerful man, it’s quite likely this isn’t the first time she’s had to put up with a bit of silliness to further his career agenda.  Cindy McCain doesn’t hold grudges.  And… she isn’t a potential campaign liability like Michelle Obama.  She’s not opening her mouth and handing her husband’s opponents talking points.  Nope, through it all, Cindy McCain holds on and holds John McCain’s hand.

Contrast that with the most over-hyped quarterback ever, Brett Favre.  I won’t bore you with all the back and forth.  I know you’re well versed on all of Favre’s flip flopping.  Today, after marathon discussions with Packer brass, Favre came right out and admitted that he’s just too hurt by what he perceives as slights by the organization to ever make things right.

Brett Favre, who’s won a grand total of exactly one Super Bowl (putting him up there with all timers like Eli Manning, Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer) has a bruised ego that HE just won’t let heal.  Don’t let any of the recent back and forth fool you.  It was made chrystal clear today by Favre’s comments that he absolutely never intended or desired to come back to Green Bay.  All of this drama is about Brett Favre getting what he wants rather than doing what’s best for the team (and by the way, his own legacy).

Brett Favre could learn about being a true team player from Cindy McCain. Sure, the Packers moved on.  Of course, it had to hurt.  But given his waffling, what were they to do?

Now, he’s come back and the team has welcomed him back to an open competition.  But, that’s not good enough for Favre and he let the whole world know it today.  Cindy McCain wouldn’t do that.  If John McCain has ever put her in a questionable position, Cindy McCain it seems to me realizes that’s what good for McCain’s political career is good for her ambitions as well.  Cindy McCain isn’t all about herself.  Cindy McCain is all about Team McCain.  Cindy McCain knows that for Team McCain it’s best she sometimes remains quite.

Brett Favre plays only on his team of personal self interest.  Lately, Favre reminds me of that one girlfriend (or boyfriend) everyone’s had that you can never win with.  Heck, I’m sure some of you poor bast#rds actually went ahead and married a guy or girl like that.

You know the type.  You did something wrong.  Could be something small like say… jetting off to a Caribbean Island for three days with a dancer named Kit Kat that you met at your best buddy’s bachelor party.  After sobering up on the way back through customs, you know you’re in the wrong.  You finally return your girlfriend’s 817 calls to your cellphone and you beg and plead for forgiveness.  Three years, four months and 17 days later, you’re still with your girlfriend faithfully and yet somehow she can’t seem to ever get over your three day disappearance.  Some people can never be happy.

Brett Favre is like that.

I Don’t Love Sports That Much!

I love sports.  Basketball, football, baseball, hockey, you name it.  If it’s a true sport (and in my opinion that doesn’t include golf, NASCAR or the WNBA), than I’ve got big opinions about it.  I love to watch sports.  I love to talk sports.  And as must be obvious from this blog, I love to write about sports.

I love the history of sports. I love the pointless and (happily) endless arguments about who was better than who and why or why not. Sports has added so much to my life.  I enjoyed playing them so much in my younger years and have always and continue to enjoy watching them.  Frankly, my brain is probably way too filled up with sports trivia.

I’m married to a wonderful woman who likes sports.  While I never want to force them to do things they have no interest in, I hope to share my love of sports with my kids.  I believe that either by following sports or playing them, that sports will add to the quality of my children’s lives.  I believe sports (on a good day) teaches great lessons.

So, all that said, I found out over the weekend what the line is for me.

This is a true story.  There I am driving around town running errands listening to what?  Sports talk radio.  A caller calls in to complain about the price the New York Jets are charging for “private seat licenses”.

For those of you that don’t know, the Jets and Giants will soon be moving into a new stadium.  Both teams have decided to charge all current season ticket holders a “private seat license” fee.  Basically, it’s blackmail.  If you want to keep your seat in the new stadium, then you must cough up a one time fee for the privilege.  In other words, in the Jets’ fan’s case, it’s not enough that he’s been a loyal season ticket holder for years and has had to endure years of bad football and no championship since 1969, now he’s going to have to write the Jets a check for just the right to hold onto his seat.

It’s a really sucky move by both franchises, but that’s not the point.

The point is that the caller in question went on to say that now that he’s heard the Jets might acquire Brett Favre, he’s going to pay the “private seat license”.  After all, he doesn’t want to miss out on the Favre months.  Ok, still not that amazing right?  I mean why blog about this?

Here’s the amazing part.  This caller said that in order to pay the Jets’ seat fee he was going to dip into his 401K.  And there was my line.

I love sports.  But, not that much.

My parents always taught me that if you want to go out, then you should be prepared to pay for your fun times whether it’s the movies, a restaurant or a vacation.  Fun costs money and so does running with the big boys.  They also taught me that sometimes you’ve got to stay home, especially when you can’t afford the price of your fun.  You stay home when you can’t afford to run with the big boys.

Now, I know we Americans love our debt.  But, I can’t believe someone would chose to dip into their 401K to pay for Jets’ season tickets.  Talk about bad priorities.

Call me crazy or not sports crazy enough, but why not just watch the Jets on TV and have a nice retirement?

I guess the caller preferred the prospect of working on the fry line at McDonald’s at the age of 80 while muttering to himself about how the Jets coulda won it all if only Favre hadn’t thrown that last second interception in the divisional playoffs…

Whatever.  Hopefully while he’s doing that, I’ll be warm and snug at my fully paid off home talking with my wife about the times we saw the Giants win the Super Bowl at home on our TV.

What A Week! I Was Right About Favre AND Elton!

I’m on fire!  It’s been one heck of a week.  First, Elton Brand reads my post and takes my very sound advice to get out of LA while he has the chance.

Now, Brett Favre has asked the Packers for his release.  Brett is coming back.  There’s no doubt.

For some of you this is news.  For those of you who are regular readers of this blog it NOT!

Check out this post from way back in April:

https://fullcontactsports.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/you-heard-it-hear-first-favre-is-coming-back/

Thanks to both my regular readers and you new folks.  Please spread the word and come on back!

Even If You’re A Conservative… Life Lessons Your Children Need To Learn From The Clintons!

The latest polls show that Hillary Clinton is far from done.  Barack Obama has repeatedly had his chance to put her campaign away.  He’s failed to do so.  The Clinton campaign is alive and well.  Give credit to Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s recent tendency to shoot himself in the foot and the famous Clinton never say die drive.

Years ago, the first President Bush (remember him fondly now? Me too!) was riding high as he headed for reelection.  Bush I’s approval ratings were the exact opposite of Bush II’s.  Daddy Bush was getting something like a 90 plus percent approval rating following the Gulf War victory.

Mario Cuomo was the nationally known eloquent spokesman of the Democratic Party as well as the well regarded governor of a big important state.  Cuomo had presidential aspirations.  Democrats were enthusiastic for a Cuomo candidacy.  Yet, Cuomo hesitated.  He hemmed and hawed and never got into the race.  He’ll never know what might have been.

Bill Clinton was the little known governor of a state that let’s charitably say wasn’t at the top of most lists you’d want your state to be at the top of.  However, Clinton was young, ambitious and charismatic.  He didn’t hesitate.  Clinton jumped in.  Bush 90 percent approval rating be damned.

We all know what happened.  Clinton won and George Bush went home a one term president.

Regardless of your politic persuasion, what should your children learn from the above?  Glad you asked!

First, let’s take Hillary’s ’08 Campaign.  She has been knocked down and counted out over and over in this campaign.  Yet, she’s still out there fighting day after day.  Momentum even seems to have turned her way.  Ask yourself, when’s the last time the Obama Campaign got some good news?  Guam victory?  I don’t see Senator Obama writing home about that one…  “Dear Michelle,  Hey Honey, I think I got this thing sewed up now that Guam is in my court!!”

The point that’s valuable for kids is that everyone gets knocked out.  None of us wins all the time.  Not even Derek Jeter or Brett Favre, despite reports to the contrary.  Often, it seems like the world is in a hurry to count us out. 

Hillary’s campaign teaches us so many things.  Belief in yourself for one.  Never counting yourself out.  Fighting on against the odds.  Most importantly, getting back up when you’ve been knocked down.  The world is going to floor your kids.  As parents, our biggest job is to teach them to get up.  We need to ingrain in them that carrying on after suffering a set back or disappointment is the mark of a true champion.

Now, onto Bill.  Clearly, Bill Clinton is a risk taker.  Sometimes those risks are reckless and damaging to himself, his family and our country.  Lewinsky, anyone?  Other times, as with his decision to get in the race in ’92, his belief in himself and his risk embracing nature won him the presidency and in my opinion (at least) gave our country a very good though flawed president.

What should your kids learn?  Clinton proves you’ve got to be in it to win it whether it’s the lottery or running for the most powerful job in the world.  Bill Clinton lives life like this is his one shot at it.  Do you?  Not many of us do, but many of us wish we did. 

Do you want your kids to completely fulfill their potential?  Of course you do.  Then, you’ve got to teach the Clinton lesson.  Kids have to go out into the world and take chances.

And for you conservatives, here’s the Bill Clinton lesson for your kids that even you’ll agree with.  Kids need to learn the difference between a good risk and a bad risk.  Even as a Clinton fan, I acknowledge that he had trouble with that one.  Ultimately, it’s what kept him from being a great president rather than a very good one.

PS – Conservatives, I don’t expect you agree with my presidential rating of Bill Clinton, but hope you’ll get the underlying point.  Can’t we all agree to get along for our kids?