Preemptive Strike From the CFD in Budget War

Resolving the City of Cincinnati's 50 million dollar budget deficit will be a battle of wills and the Cincinnati Fire Department has fired the first volley in that fight. The Cincinnati Police Department will soon take a shot at countering the CFD's claims of critical need. Putting panic in the minds of the public is the biggest weapon in this battle, and both departments will fight until the last round is spent.

The question ahead: will city council be able to stick together and find an equitable deal? We're over a year from a city election, but is that far enough away for the conservative block to fend off the FOP's tar and feathering to come for those who vote to cut any FOP jobs? Or is the deficit big enough to force even the FOP to take some sort of cut to uniformed members? More to come. I'm wondering if anyone will try and rustle up some shock and awe. I don't think it will fly this time around.

Thank You Cincinnati Reds!

If you had told me at the start of the season that the Reds would make the playoffs and lose in the first round, I would have been excited for a great season. Well, the Cincinnati Reds had a great season. They were not the best team in baseball, but they were near the top.

Last night I witnessed that loss in the first round from the upper deck at GABP and it was thrilling. The crowd was the biggest ever at GABP and they stood a majority of the game. It was what baseball is supposed to be. Our team was playing and that was enough to cheer about. We wanted the Reds to win, but it was just great being there.

The team played well this season and shows great promise. They made watching baseball fun. I want to thank the team for helping me find that fun again in baseball.

2011 will be a good year for the Reds. We have something in our baseball team most other cities don't: character. Let's build on that. Let's Go Reads.

Bearcats 45, Miami 3

O Cincinnati, magic name
I proudly to the world proclaim
No sweeter word e'er charmed my ear
None to my heart was e'er so dear;
A fountain of eternal youth,
A tower of strength, a rock of truth.

Varsity, dear Varsity
Thy loyal children we will be.
Thy loyal, loyal children we will be!

Eddie Fingers Appears To Be Gone From WLW

Afternoon radio host, Eddie Fingers, appears to have been fired from 700WLW-AM. The long time FM morning host on WEBN switched to the higher rated AM Station within the last couple of years. His show on the "Big One" was getting good ratings. There is no official word on why he was fired. John Kieswetter, of the Enquirer, blogged last night that he sources indicate it may have been a contract dispute that got out of hand. That seems like a B.S. answer, but not totally false. There is always more to the story.

This all assumes the whole thing isn't a really bad hoax. WLW is known for pretending to fire people. If they did that here, and Fingers is on vacation, then this much lying is really pathetic. WLW is not above being pathetic.

I listen to either NPR or my ipod in the car both on the way to work and on the way home. The only value WLW holds is a breaking news outlet. If there is a tornado coming or snow storm, WLW does great work. It does pretty good work on 'news' but it devotes so little time to it, it is lost in the shuffle.

No-Hitter Rant

I just posted the following to my facebook page. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

Halladay was terrific yesterday, and what he did was historic. But let's not pretend that he joined Don Larsen. Larsen is still in a class of his own. Larsen pitched a perfect game, not just a no-hitter. And he did so in the World Series, not the league semi-finals. And finally (though not Halladay's fault), while I love my Reds, the 2010 Reds are not the 1956 Dodgers.

Also:

For the uninitiated, the playoffs did not even begin until 1969. Before then, the best team in the AL and the best team in the NL, based solely on season record, met in the World Series. Larsen threw a perfect game (27 batters retired consecutively, with none reaching first base safely) against the best team the National League had to offer. Halladay threw a no-hitter against the third-best team in the National League.

And with all due respect to Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto, I see no one with the stature of Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, or Roy Campanella on the Reds Roster.

Here's the box score to Larsen's perfect game. Here it is for the Reds-Phillies game last night.

Can Someone Tell Smitherman How Representative Democracy Works?

Did Chris Smitherman, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, ever take a civics class in high school? He was on city council for two years, so I would think he understands, at least superficially, how a representative democracy works, but I guess not. Instead he wants the public to vote on where the casino funding should go. We have an election in 2011. Someone might want to remind Chris about that. He should spend his time getting people to vote in that election. That is how our system works. His efforts to erode representative democracy have failed in the past and this will meet the same fate.

Clothing Line Re-Launch Has Local Roots

Remember those Hypercolor clothes from the '80s and '90s? You know, the shirts and windbreakers that started blue, and then turned pink with warmth (or was it the other way around)? Well, a duo that includes local attorney Vance VanDrake has bought the trademark (and, presumably, the technology) and is about to re-introduce the thermochromatic clothes to the public.

I met Vance in law school (he was two years behind me at UC). It looks like he and his business partner are taking a very smart approach to the re-launch, making full use of the web and social media. Hypercolor's Facebook page is here. This isn't the easiest business environment in which to launch a new business, and I wish the venture success.