What Happened to the Officials?

Broncos Vs Falcons game:  My thoughts

The Falcons played flawless football.  They dominated the Bronco offense and managed to move the ball against a great Bronco defense.  In the end, I don't think they're a better team than the Broncos.  Although that doesn't' matter because they played that way tonight and that's what really counts.  They're 2-0 and they earned it.  Ultimately, the Broncos played very poorly and dug themselves into a deep hole with four first quarter turnovers.  End of freaking story.  My complaint is with the officials.

I don't want to say that it is because of the officials that the Falcons won.  The game would have most likely had the same outcome considering how well they were playing versus how terrible the Broncos were playing.  The best team won today.  But anyone watching football these past two weeks can easily tell that these replacement referees are destroying professional football.  Every game I've watched these past couple of weeks has been overrun with yellow flags and piss poor calls.  Here are a few you may recall from tonights game.

-The pass interference call against the Broncos defense when the player was clearly three feet away from the receiver.

-The fumble recovery that was awarded to the Falcons when it was a Bronco player who emerged from the pile, ball in hand.  

-The part where the Falcons where called for defensive holding and the refs moved the ball six yards closer to the end zone when it shouldn't have been.

A couple of those are game changing calls.  I think it was a third down incompletion when pass interference was called.  The Falcons went on to score a touchdown.  They wouldn't have had that opportunity if it weren't for that botched call.  The Broncos were in field goal position after that fumble and yet the ball was given to the Falcons.  Would the Broncos have scored that touchdown at the end of the half if the ball was placed where it was supposed to be?  We will never know.  The game is over and the end result is what it is.  But as football fans, we cannot excuse this type of officiating.  The NFL is a professional league and I feel that the refs need to match that standard.  Now we've all been in that position where we blame the refs for a loss, and most of the time we know deep down that it really wouldn't have mattered.  Now, however, fans can probably makes those claims with some validity behind them.  

I'm not entirely sure I can put up with the entire season so as long as these referees are managing the games.  It has been an awful first two weeks in the NFL and I'm sure fans from every team can agree.  My wife is a Steelers fan and she has pointed out all the terrible calls against the Steelers when they faced off against the Broncos.  I think the NFL needs to give in to the real refs and punt these terrible replacements back to wherever they came from so we can get some nice, clean football.  This way, when a team like the Falcons makes my Broncos look like a little league team, I'll have only the donkeys to bitch about.

Leave Me Alone

What's the deal with die hard Apple fans?  I don't understand why every time I have a negative thing to say about an Apple product I get shit thrown in my face yet it's okay for them to tell me what low life piece of shit I am for using a PC.  For anyone to think any less of me as a person because I've chosen to use a specific product that rivals what they like is ludicrous.  I don't go around telling people what morons they are because they play the Playstation 3 rather than the Xbox.  Can't we all get along?  I don't think so.  I have yet to see anyone act superior to other people because they've surrounded themselves with PC stuff.  That's why when I see someone boasting about their Macs I can't help but wonder if that person thinks he or she is better than everyone else who doesn't use one.  I've experienced this type of behavior many times before so it's become a natural thought to me.  I actually had a friend on Facebook tell the world how elitist she was because she uses a Mac Book, iPad, iPhone, and iPod.  She got mad when I told her that I owned an idontfuckingcare.  

So my Facebook friends and my close family members know that I have recently switched schools so that I may pursue a new degree.  I've come to the realization that computer programming is not for me, but writing just might be.  I'm not a perfect writer but I certainly do my best so that I can hone in on a skill set that I believe I possess.  I'm switching from Liberty University Online to Full Sail University Online.  One of the neat little perks about Full Sail, other than caring about their students more than Liberty (long story), is that they send you a Mac Book Pro as a tool to assist with your learning.  The cost of my computer is being added into my tuition.  I've never been a fan of Mac.  I use my mom's Mac all the time and it really just hasn't appealed to me.  Well I just recently received my Mac Book Pro and I have to say that I'm a little impressed and unimpressed at the same time.

This machine is powerful and I totally love that.  2.6 gigahertz compared to my much slower PC running upstairs is a huge plus.  On top of the speed, this machine is drop dead gorgeous.  I love the slim design and how light it is.  I love the silky gray color with the black lining.  I even enjoy looking at the lit up apple on the backside of the lid and on top of that, the keyboard lights up!  I love that.  The computer itself runs very smoothly and its very graceful about the way it takes me from window to window.  I also enjoy the little dashboard area that has all of my applications laid out for my picking.

Here's the thing though, those are the only things that really impressed me about this computer.  I've already had a good share of time spent on my mom's Mac and I've known for a good time that they're not really for me.  I've been able to navigate and learn about using this machine fairly quickly due to some amazing support from my school's website, which is full of very useful tutorials.  I know that I will enjoy going to school on a Mac because Full Sail seems to have a great support system I can fall back on if I hit any road bumps.  But the fact of the matter is, this computer really hasn't offered me anything to do that my PC hasn't.  Hell, I'm typing this blog up on a cruddy word processor titled TextEdit on the Mac which feels like a crappier version of the very first version of Microsoft Word.  It's terrible and it reminds me of the notepad on my desktop.  Fortunately, Full Sail is sending me a copy of Microsoft Office.  Thank, God.

Things I don't like: *Ahem*

I do not like the fact that there isn't a right click.  Don't jump down my throat you psychotic fanboys, I know that I need to press down on the mouse pad with two fingers rather than one to get the "right click" option.  Useless.  I spend more time trying to get this to function properly than I would on the PC where they have a designated button for right click.  I know the Mac likes to "simplify things, but this is just silly.  Is it really that hard to add two separate buttons?  I suppose people could say the same about pressing down on the single clicker with two fingers.  Whatever, this is a personal preference issue.

I do not like how some things are ass backwards.  I suppose it's no big deal, but things like the exit button on a window is in the upper left hand corner rather than the upper right.  Personal preference issue really.  Also, the favorites bar is located on the left hand side and I don't really care being taken to a different page in order to select one.  Why can't it just drop a menu?  To me, it feels so much easier this way.  I'm just set in my ways baby.  

I do not like that Apple wants me to sign up for an Apple ID for EVERYTHING!  Today my computer was telling me that there was a software update that I needed to download.  I said okay, do it Mr. Machine.  So it starts to download and then it tells me that in order to download, it needs me to sign in with my Apple ID or register for an Apple ID if I didn't have one.  Okay, why not.  So I try signing up for an Apple ID and it told me that in order to sign up I had to provide a credit card and billing information.  WHAT!!!!  I don't want to purchase anything from the Apple store, so why would I want to provide that kind of information?  If I'm handing out my credit card info, it's going to be to purchase something.  Not once, ever, has the PC required me to give them my credit information in order to download a software update.  This is just ludicrous, absolutely uncalled for.

So no wonder Apple fans are so dedicated to their company of choice.  It's because they are required to be.  So much time and money is forced out of people that abandoning Apple would result in a loss of all those things.  Being a fan and avid user results into a serious commitment.  The same can be said for other companies though.  People are going to flock to what they like and they will be faithful to it.  I don't have a problem with people enjoying Mac as much as they do, but please don't try to make me feel like a piece of shit because I prefer the rival.  I worked with this girl in Mississippi that was so excited about being a Mac user that she told me that only fat gamer nerds use PC's while smart, sophisticated, upper class people use Macs.  Total.  Crock.  Of.  Shit.  I get this type of reaction out of a lot of Mac fans and I'm rather tired of it.

Overall I have to say that I do not agree with the practices of Apple, but they really do make decent machines.  Other than personal preference issues, i don't think the Mac and PC are all that different.  They both accomplish the exact same things and that's okay.  It all comes down to what a person prefers to use.  I will use the Mac Book Pro, a lot, I can promise you that.  But I will also use my PC just as much if not more.  It's just what I prefer to use.  So please, for the love of God, leave me alone about the products I choose to use.  I'm a consumer and I'm allowed to make my own decisions just like you.  Sheesh.