"HAIL TO THE CONQUERING HEROES, HAIL, HAIL TO MICHIGAN"

That's a piece of the Michigan fight song.  And you are mistaken if you believe this first paragraph is about sports.  It is about priorities.  Jim Harbaugh was a quarterback at Michigan in the mid 80's.  Ultimately, he became both a college coach (Stanford) and a pro coach (San Francisco).  Today, he is the new Michigan football coach at, get this, a salary of $5 million per year. That's likely more than the President of the University. Now you know Michigan is a public university which means that their budget reflects your tax dollars at work.  Michigan is just one of a multitude of public universities which pay their football coaches ugly amounts of money.  Michigan, it turns out, has the biggest on campus football stadium in America.  It seats 110,000 and is nicknamed the "Big House".  It has either 6 or 7 home games a year and tickets are in the $40-$50 range.  Every game is a sell out so you do the math. The football program, to be fair, is the fuel (along to a lesser extent with the men's basketball program) which allows the lesser sports (including those Title IX programs which have so helped women's athletics) survive and thrive.  Without that football revenue, no women's basketball--as an example. In the scope of human endeavors, Michigan football is a pimple on the affairs of the world.   So what are the priorities and what should they be and what if they changed and in the end should I care?  I will close by saying I know folks who teach in higher ed and I am guessing they do not make 5$ million a year.  Point made.

Items:
--As I dropped Anna off at the airport this morning, I thought of the most recent airplane disappearance and cannot imagine what the families of those lost must be experiencing.  Glad Jess and her family have returned safely.
--Please explain how the North Face company got the rights to "This Land is Your Land" and are now using it in TV ads?  Is Arlo hard up for money?
--There will be a country called Kurdistan in the future--as predicted here first.  The combination of their fighting skills on the ground and the coalition bombing is forcing those ISIS lunatics into a retreat.  The Turks might not like it but it will happen.
--But we still have the Taliban attempting to take people back into medieval times.  I suppose killing over 100 school age children is seen by them as a positive step in their progress towards this goal.  I am getting very feisty about this.
--A great Hanukkah for Alan Gross and, truthfully, for a lot of us hoping for normalization with Cuba.  In a recent post I wished for this after the Republicans won the mid terms.  Obama might as well go for it--he is even reducing the population at Guantanamo.  The third generation of Cubans in South Florida support this--the Cuban folks my age are the ones opposing it and, truth be told, they are on the decline due to, ahem, age.  Ted Cruz and Lindsay Graham may make life difficult for the Prez as he moves ahead with this effort--but after their initial outrageous outrage, they seem to have faded away to their little hidey holes.  Please note that Cruz's family came here before Castro took over so he escaped nothing.
--Loved it that Obama slammed Sony for backing off of the release of Seth Rogen's movie.  A stupid movie to be sure but really, the North Koreans have that much influence?  Give me a break.
--Great yet distressing article in a recent NY Times magazine about the political situation in Israel.  Fingers and other digits crossed that in the upcoming election, Netanyahu is kicked to the curb but I am not optimistic.
--I am a reader of obituaries.  I admit it.  I also admit being alarmed at the number of folks who pass away and are my age or younger--kind of freaky.
--If you read no further, last year was a sad and painful one for many of us who lost loved ones.  Plus, much of the world continues to be out of control.  I hope the coming year is a happy, healthy, and peaceful one for you and your families.

SPORTS TALK
--I never liked Rondo--too much of a drama king.  Brilliant at times; but I am wondering if Danny told Brad before he was hired that Rondo would be gone.  Now, we can argue about whether the Celtics got enough but good riddance.
--No surprises given all the Pats who were inactive last week--they lost.  But I admit I am a bit uneasy.
--Rask is not playing out of this world--which given how few goals his teammates put in the net is a big problem.  BTW, I continue to believe Lucic is on drugs.

Sayonara.