Thoughts...

A lot of things have happened in this world since Friday night. In Colorado the unthinkable happened at a showing of the latest Batman movie. Twelve theatergoers murdered and 59 wounded, some critical, by someone who must have planned this massacre for a long time. After being captured the only thing this pathetic assassin did right was to warn those who had captured him that his apartment was booby-trapped.

The news people are having a heyday trying to figure out why and, of course, coming up with enough bizarre reasons as the killer, himself, must have had. Fingers are pointed in a lot of different directions as to who is really to blame. Having the patience to wait and find out the real reasons is difficult, especially for the wounded victims and their families.

Whatever those strange reasons may be we must not forget about the victims and more importantly not give the killer’s name immortal status. He is a coldblooded killer that preyed on innocent people who were just trying to have a fun night at the movies. They should have all had a chance to walk out of that movie theater with joy, not sadness.

The once proud Nittany Lion football program at Penn State will be reeling for a few years because of the sanctions brought down by the NCAA in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.

Penn State will be fined $60 million, banned from post-season football games for four years, and scholarships at 20 below the normal limit for four years. They will also not be able to share in Big-10 bowl revenues that are worth millions. All victories by the football team from 1998 will be vacated meaning the late Joe Paterno will no longer be the leader in football wins at the Division I level.

The NCAA will once again be punishing a football program for misdeeds the first time ever for a sex abuse scandal. Unfortunately, the people who will pay the price are those who had nothing to do with this scandal. Sandusky is in prison, most likely for the rest of his life. Joe Paterno has died and his legacy will now be as the guy who may have covered up these sick acts. But the players who were recruited to play at Penn State, and future recruits, will be the ones who pay the price for these misdeeds for at least four years.

No one knows how these sanctions will affect Penn State. Most likely if they were too harsh and the program doesn’t have success for 15-20 years the NCAA will have a Mea Culpa about the severity of these sanctions. If any program can survive this dark time it is a high profile program such as Penn State, but we will just have to wait and see how this program fares.

Finally, Monday was a very sad day for the people of Seattle. Many found out that the beloved JP Patches had died on Sunday morning. For anyone who watched Saturday morning programming in the 1960s and 70s you would have seen the clown entertaining a generation of youngsters on the west side of the state. I watched with my nieces and nephews on several occasions, and trust me the last thing Uncle Dale would have ever considered is changing the channel when JP Patches was on the air.

The second big event was the trade that sent Ichiro Suzuki to the New York Yankees.

My first thought was that it was bad timing since the Yankees were in town for a three-game series. But then again, it was perfect timing because it allowed the Mariner faithful to say goodbye to the face of the Mariners for the last 11 and a half years.

The trade was asked for by Suzuki in order for him to have a chance to take the field in the playoffs, which is out of the question this year in Seattle. But Suzuki also saw the young Mariner outfielders that need more playing time to develop their hitting and fielding abilities. With Suzuki out of the picture these players will have the opportunity to play meaningful innings.

This is a good move for Seattle, New York and Suzuki. It will certainly be difficult for Seattle to let his memory go, but since his hitting has dwindled to well under .300 it is time to give the youngsters a chance to grow and give Suzuki a fresh start in the Big Apple.

All I can say is, “Thank you for all the exciting plays and fun times! We will welcome you back when you sign that one-day contract and retire as a Seattle Mariner. Good luck, Ichiro!”