Nowhere To Hide!

President Trump announced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed at the hands of the US Special Forces. This is awesome news and world is a safer place as a result!

Baghdadi, while attempting to orchestrate horrific attacks on the United States, has been running his mouth for years. In the end, Baghdadi had nowhere to hide.

America should be thrilled, but as you may suspect, the left is feeling remorse at the loss of such an important religious world leader:

John Noonan destroyed WaPo in a tremendous tweet:

Thank you to the President Trump, the US Special Forces and the US Military for riding the world of this terrorist.  Your nation is grateful.

In the end, Baghdadi had nowhere to hide. We also note the left and their mainstream media partners are no longer even attempting to hide; their allegiance.

No Lane Changes Lead to Loss

Houston came to the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl with one task on the mind; WIN!

That they did, surprisingly, in rather dominating fashion, defeating Florida State 38-24.

Houston, behind versatile quarterback Greg Ward Jr, spread the field offensively and gave the Seminole defensive scheme issues all day.  Yes, FSU appeared asleep for another non kickoff, but that is no excuse.  I closed down the bar at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis the night prior, and was there to answer the bell.

The Cougars jumped out 7-0, with FSU looking somewhat confused defensively.  On some plays, Houston was stopped cold, but they took advantage of QB runs and targeted lined throws to coverage gaps.  It was obvious within the first pair of series the base FSU defense would be ineffective, as Houston got rid of the ball quickly and did not give the 'Noles rush ends time to pressure Ward, and on occasion, his backup.

Inexplicably, DC Charles Kelly failed to make adjustments. Florida State seemed reactive, rather than proactive and disruptive. Houston was throwing to targeted holes, which should have been plugged by FSU adding a rover and playing a zone. Never happened, and Houston put up 38 points, 13 more than the Seminoles had given up in any game this season.  FSU played at #1 Clemson.

Demarcus Walker had some moments, but the line was ineffective, primarily due to the Cougars plan. Terrance Smith made some play, but the defense looked out of sync most of the game.  Jalen Ramsey was not imposing, and LaMarcus Brutus, who had a stellar year, had a very poor game.  Derwin James had a career high tackling effort, but he lost a few battles out there as well. Very disappointing day for the defense.

Offensively, the Seminoles scored a field goal on the opening drive, then missed a field goal of 53 yards. Before we got a beer from the concession stand, it was 14-3. After FSU got a stop deep, Dalvin Cook lost a fumble.  Ward raced to the corner of the end zone and Houston led 21-3.

FSU looked at times like they would be able to outscore Houston if they just settled down and stuck to the normal business.  But, Rick Trickett's offensive line performed very poorly, taking a huge step backward. Receivers were wide open, but Shawn Maguire most often was unable to locate them.

Maguire badly turned an ankle badly in the first half, and supposedly returned with an air cast. While Maguire was in the locker room, JJ Cosentino got a few series in, where the Seminoles lost overall yardage. Cosentino was not ready for this platform.  Maguire, on one leg, gave it a go, but while he did hit some throws, he could not get it done.

Maguire tossed four interceptions; tough to win with that going on. Based on this performance, neither Maguire or Cosentino appear to be the long term answer for the Seminoles at quarterback.

With the OL ineffective, Cook was harnessed and FSU was offensively limited. Cook is a overwhelming part of the offense, and if he is stymied, so is FSU.  Houston was a sure tackling outfit on this day, refusing to let Cook hurt them with yards after contact and by breaking tackles.

FSU RB Dalvin Cook smothered by Houston Cougar defenders
Photo/FOXSports.com

There appeared to be limited if any adjustments offensively; FSU only tried one misdirection reverse to attempt to slow the Cougar swarm, but it was only one feeble effort. It is noted WR Travis Rudolph continued his recent progress and had a good game.

Coach Tom Herman and his Houston Cougars were most impressive, and had a stellar game plan on both sides of the ball.  FSU was frustrated on both sides of the ball, and appeared to do little in terms of adjustments to shift lanes and make something happen. For sure, Houston quarterback Greg Ward, Jr. is quite a player.

Rarely, particularly in a bowl game, would someone categorize a Jimbo Fisher coached FSU as being out-played and out-coached, but in front overwhelmingly heavy Seminole crowd, so it was.  It was evident from the stands early on that the standard operations of the Seminoles would not work, and they would have to adjust tendencies.

The Seminoles did not, and therefore, got whipped.

On a good note, The Marching Chiefs were stellar at halftime, and congrats to FSU cheer for flat out representing!

The Eagle Will Fly

As most Americans were preparing for Super Bowl Sunday, as reported by Bloomberg, Goodyear (GT:NYSE) the largest U.S. tiremaker, will close its main French plant and cut its workforce in the country by 39 percent amid labor disputes and plunging auto demand in Europe.

Why Goodyear has a plant in France is puzzling, but given the five years of negotiations with workers to resolve labor disputes with union leaders, the closing of this plant could not come as a shock.  Imagine that, unions making unrealistic demands and killing jobs.  Who could have seen this coming?

On the heels of regrettable slavery issues and some rather disturbing worker relations as the industrial revolution was emerging in our country, there can be no doubt that union representation played an important role in our history.

The French are notorious for hardly working, as evidenced by union victories against employers inclusive shortened work weeks and increased vacation. It would be great to hang our all the time, but nothing constructive comes from an inefficient work force handicapped by uncompetitive workers demands.

As such, Titan International, (TWI:NYSE) who specializes in tires for farm equipment and off-highway vehicles and acquired the Goodyear North American farm tire assets in 2005, was rumored to potentially be a purchaser of the plant.  No so fast!

Maurice Taylor, Chairman of Titan, wrote a letter to the French industry ministry informing them the company would not be purchasing the plant, citing French workers as "lazy" and "overpaid".  Taylor, it was reported, noted the French work force get "one hour for breaks, talk for three hours and work for three."  No doubt, that workforce will be unable to compete our global economy.

In America, unions have completely infiltrated and infested many large work forces, and the evidence of destruction is truly staggering.  More money is spent on our public school system than just about anything else with very poor scholastic results, alarming indoctrination and inhibiting political correctness.

Union bosses collect fees to line their pockets, elect progressive democrats and increase control over those they have fooled.  Can you imagine being forced to donate money our of your paycheck to thugs who distribute those funds to groups, associations or politicians who are at odds with your beliefs?  Unions are opponents of the free market system, as they establish wage and benefit packages for their workers that exceed common variance of similar packages in the private sector and create inefficient markets. Corporations who have lost these negotiations pay a heavy price and struggle to compete in the marketplace due to their bloated overhead. 

Their socialist objectives, inclusive of wealth transformation, fly in the face of the freedoms our country was based on.

Oppose these union bosses at your own peril, because these thugs do not operate on the same playing field you do. You may recall James Hoffa, Jr. threatening Tea Party members, who advocate free markets and fiscal sanity. The ends do justify the means with this group.

Meanwhile, this was a good decision for Goodyear.  The customers of Goodyear are hard working individuals and families all across the fruited plain, and the tires they travel on are very important. 

But the most demanding customers of Goodyear are the good ole boys who travel NASCAR's Sprint Cup, Nationwide and the Camping World Truck Series on tracks across America.  NASCAR provides a great testing center for research and development, helping Goodyear provide their everyday customers with the best product possible.



This type of excellence in an extremely competitive environment does not allow for the infiltration of impostor representatives who think they know better how the Goodyear workforce should be treated and compensated than the company itself. 

The market will dictate, and as such, that France plant will in fact be closed as opportunities for a more efficient plant location can be identified.

I continue to be a longtime shareholder of Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT:NYSE),  having once ridden in the famous Goodyear blimp out of Pompano Beach, FL, and International Speedway Corporation (ISCA:NASDAQ).