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About last night…

As an American, I am extremely happy that I live in a country that offers its citizens the opportunity to choose their representatives, and when there are differences, can withstand all the vitriol and not tip into violent chaos.

As a registered Republican, I am at a loss. Not because the candidate from my designated party affiliation didn’t emerge as the victor in yesterday’s election, but rather because I feel my party abandoned me. Meanwhile, my political party has also decided to embrace a culture of fear and fearful groups of people, and has made no effort to quell that mindset through the new mediums of communication. I am a moderate Republican. I’ve worked in media and politics. I am educated, a fiscal conservative, and a social liberal. I believe in God, yet my opinions and views are not dictated by religion. I believe that myself and the many Republicans who share these traits can be a valuable asset to the party. However, we are being left behind, and it leaves most of us to wonder, where do we go from here?

I’m not exactly sure when it all started to change, but growing up during the Reagan years, being a good Republican simply meant making wise decisions on the domestic front, and standing your ground against foreign pressure. But over time, one particular word kept popping up more and more. That word was ‘Conservative’, and suddenly, just believing in God wasn’t enough anymore. Science and math were being seen less as a tool toward our progression as a species, and more as a nuisance. With this trend, the line between church and state started to blur.

On the other side of the coin, liberals saw this increase in religious activity and grew concerned. Out of that concern, they acted a tad too hastily and instead of promoting all faiths, began “whitewashing” all signs of religious influences in everyday culture. Religious holidays were no longer observed. They were ridiculed.

Then the agendas began, and it was no longer about governing. It was about imposing a group’s will onto policies. Conservatives went after homosexuals and abortions. Liberals went after the rich to feed more welfare programs. It became an arena of extremes. And then the worst thing happened: media outlets chose sides. From then on, it has been a perfect storm of fear, skepticism and misinformation that perpetually feeds itself.

So, when these two forces – liberal and conservative – started pushing back and forth on one another, many of us in the middle fell out of the picture, and to a greater extent, out of the earshot and minds of those who influence the nation. And it’s at this point I feel the Republican Party made its mistake. There were many people out there who wanted to be Republicans – who felt that they were Republicans – but in the eyes of the new establishment, were not conservative enough. Rather than try to embrace this group of people, the GOP clung to its conservative base, and shunned the rest. This was no more apparent than when the GOP sped through its nomination process amid protests from the more Libertarian delegates.

From then on, the message was not about what Republicans would do if they were elected into office. The message was about fear – of what the President would do if he was re-elected. This message may have rang true with the conservative base, but when it came to swing voters and moderates, they were looking for progress, and nothing looked more attractive than a simple marching order: “Forward”.

So, before I consider becoming a swing voter, I urge the Republican Party to find its soul again. Resist being controlled by the fears of one extreme of the spectrum and go back to just making the wise choices and being fiscally responsible. Also, make an effort to bring moderates back into the fold. You can definitely use a few like us.

Please stay with me on this, because the blatant shadiness of this is going to blow your mind. Here’s a story about potential cronyism, corruption and manipulation within the ranks of FCS college football.

As we approach the end of the college football regular season, the three top contenders for the Southland Conference title are Southeastern Louisiana, Central Arkansas, and Sam Houston State. Each team needs the other two teams to lose at least one game to come out on top.

On Monday, the Southland Conference announced the full-game suspensions of Kevin Roberts of SELA, and star SHSU linebacker Darius Taylor, from games that took place two weeks prior. In Darius Taylor’s case, he was suspended for allegedly “targeting a defenseless receiver”. When SHSU Athletics filed an appeal to the Southland Conference Executive Committee, asking that the conference review the hit, the appeal was immediately DENIED.

Now, let’s flashback to Sept. 22, when Sam Houston State played Central Arkansas, and SHSU QB Brian Bell was hit illegally by UCA DB Jestin Love. Love only received a half-game suspension.

The timing of these suspensions is also suspicious. The “incidents” took place two games ago on plays that referees did not throw flags on. Then, disciplinary action comes down on the week when Central Arkansas plays Southeastern Louisiana (now without its senior free safety due to suspension), with control of the conference lead on the line.

What’s so shady about these details? Well, add the fact that the conference’s executive committee is headed by none other than CENTRAL ARKANSAS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR BRAD TEAGUE, and it’s not hard to point out that there is a sinister double-standard going on here.

On top of that, the game footage with the play in question pans away from the area where Darius Taylor’s alleged hit took place, so there is NO video evidence that Darius Taylor targeted a defenseless receiver, and the conference is basing their disciplinary action – and their denial of an appeal – on a “GHOST HIT”.

The “hit” in question was on the last play of the 3rd quarter in the game between Sam Houston State and Nicholls State on Saturday, October 13 – time marker 2:17:40 on the video below. Unfortunately, the Nicholls camera follows the quarterback as he’s chased out of the pocket and we are unable to see the alleged “hit on a defenseless” receiver.

The receiver at the top (in motion just before the snap) runs a drag route across the middle.
As the camera starts to follow the play, you can see Darius (#36 white) enter the frame to join in on the rush, and it appears he made contact with the receiver. But there is no evidence that he used his helmet, targeted, nor was the receiver “defenseless”.

Video streaming by Ustream

It is WRONG to suspend Darius Taylor.
It is WRONG to deny the appeal from SHSU Athletics.
It is JUST PLAIN WRONG to be operating like this, and the deeper we dig, the more it’s looking like the executive committee is trying to manipulate the outcome of the championship, to the benefit of UCA.

So, I’m encouraging all Bearkats and member schools of the Southland Conference to demand the Executive Committee to rescind Taylor’s suspension, or produce the video evidence that merits their decision to suspend Taylor. Leave a message on the comment thread regarding the suspensions on the Southland Conference facebook page, or tweet the conference at @SouthlandSports.