Sunday morning musings

Remember when we used to sneak wine sacks into events such as these? How times have changed when we’d be better served sneaking in some pepper spray. Or brass knuckles.

Candlestick Park security plan includes cops posing as Giants fans

If it were a TV show, maybe it would be called SFPD Blue.

That plan to beef up security for Sunday’s NFC title game at Candlestick Park, which for a change has less to do with preventing folks with bombs or guns or other assorted weapons into the building, includes a fascinating wrinkle.

In order to ensure that fans who choose to root for the Giants aren’t abused by 49ers fans who reportedly abused Saints fans last Saturday, undercover police officers will be posing as Giants fans.

And they say New Yorkers are a tough crowd. Jeez.



How in Allah’s name is this news? Again.

Travel costs since ’04 stun activists

WILKES-BARRE – One month before they voted to raise taxes 31 percent in 2008, three city council members and the city controller spent five days in Orlando, Fla. on a taxpayer-funded trip that cost more than $3,000 in hotel fees alone.

The trip to the annual convention of the National League of Cities was among dozens of excursions city council members and other city officials have taken over the past seven years that have cost taxpayers more than $113,000 in hotel and conference fees, according to a review of credit card statements of four city officials from 2004 to 2011.

If some of us were being honest, we’d chill with the feigned outrage. These travel expenses have been budgeted year-in and year-out, and year-in and year-out somebody makes it into an issue.

I fail to see how a $10,000 expenditure is so offensive as part of a $33 million budget. And when I see that people are questioning the effectiveness of attending seminars and the like, I scoff at them for underestimating the necessity of continuing education as well as the value of picking the brains of one’s peers. Been there, done that, and it’s usually well worth the cost.

Must be a really slow right-to-know week, heyna?

Here’s the obvious solution to this non-problem, this trumped-up bullspit: The $10,000 normally put aside for the trips goes to more productive uses, like, um, like buying some nifty new recycling containers. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Can’t have enough commingling containers, can we?

Or maybe we can resume the much-complained about Diamond Drops on New Year’s Eve. Yeah, we can congregate there in front of all of the businesses that closed only hours before, drink way too much when nobody is looking and get ourselves a case of frostbite. Yeah, that will show those no good council sumbitches!

It’s interesting that even though we have had significant turnover on city council, with three of the five members being new to the redundant fray, we are still demonizing city council.

Seems like the so-called “activists” won’t be content until they wrest control, install their myopic ways and plunge the city into another round of financial paralysis.

Seems like it.

Okay, Bill. You asked, so here it is.

The New York Football Giants at the San Franfreako 49ers.

The running games are about equal. Both defenses can bring a big pass rush with their front four. If the Giants take TE Vernon Davis out of the mix to a large degree, the 49ers wide receivers are not talented enough to pick up the slack.

The edge at quarterback has to go to Eli and the Giants. And I think the three-headed wide receiver beast--Nicks, Cruz & Manningham--are coming into their own and becoming too much for most any NFL secondary to handle for sixty minutes.

If the O-line protects Eli, the Jints win handily. If they do not protect Eli, all bets are off.

Either way, I will not be disappointed. We took a 7-7 triage unit and fought our way to the NFC championship game. And it’s hard to bitch about that, no matter where it ends.

With that said, I wonder what doubts would run through Tom (Ken Doll) Brady’s mind if he ended up in a Super Bowl rematch with these Jints who ruined his perfect season not so long ago.

We shall see.

Later