September 15 2007

Well gang, this is the weekend where the whole country is equally divided by an issue that has got the viscera of every man in this nation in a turmoil: the Patriots cheating scandal and the punishment meted out for same.
Danny Wager and Marcell Thibideaux were seated at the bar in a watering hole discussing the matter.
Danny, a bible thumper, was approaching the matter from the point of view of ethics.
"It’s not only unethical, " he said, "but it’s theft. Countless numbers of people who bet on football games are being robbed of millions and millions of dollars because the Patriots were cheating."
Marcell smiled at Danny like as if he were a six year old kid, "Danny," he said, "everybody in sports tries to steal signs. Like in warfare, everybody wants to break the other guys code."
"Yeah,’ said Danny, "But Belechic broke the written rules and deserves what he got, and then some."
Smiling the same smile, Marcell said "Danny, we live in a country where our president, in effect, broke the rules of the Geneva Convention, and there are some who believe that his face belongs on Mt. Rushmore. If that’s what you get for torturing soldiers, doesn’t half a million dollars seem a little high for a coach stealing signs in a sport? Especially when everybody else does it?"
Danny was shaking his head and wagging his finger preparatory to making a point, when the woman at the end of the bar interrupted.
"Pardon me fellas, but if you want the punishment to fit the crime, Belechic should be banned from football. All of his bank accounts should be seized, his house should be burned to the ground, all his property should be sown with salt, his first born male child should be neutered, and his wife and daughters should be sold into slavery in some fourth world country."
Marcell looked at her with that that smile of his. "You’re not from New York, are you?"
"Why yes," said the woman, "how did you know?"
"Well," said Marcell, "I just thought I detected a slight New York accent."
Good ear Marcell, good ear.

Till next week
Helga Biermeister
Secretary