So it was more than violence and a natural disaster to undo the promised jump in retail sales for the Christmas season. It was the indecision of the fiscal cliff negotiations, many speculated. They may be right.

But it's not the uncertainty that's troubling. It's the fact that this is only going to get worse. The fiscal cliff agreement was an attempt to rise above indecision and it's a test that is proven progress is slowing to a standstill in this country, when it comes to political leadership.

Here's to a new year but we'll likely just be seeing the same problems. Only worse.

The Detroit Lions were to be the last Monday Night Football game of the year, a sign of how badly ESPN was schooled by the 'light weight' in the sports television world.

ESPN is all and everything, when talking about sports and tv, or was. The more they dominate, the more tiresome they become, creating the ultimate in journalistic entertainment, Deadspin.com, where ESPN is put to task. And boy, the dedication to Tebow was not just my own natural skepticism.

Nevermind that, but the Lions were not on TV Christmas Eve, playing the best team in the league, the Atlanta Falcons,  I guess because fewer people would watch then.... than the death night of TV ratings, Saturday? They know their numbers.

And no bowl game on Christmas Day, either. I guess people prefer theimr families and travel over watching a 'big game,' which requires high ratings. The ratings dictate how things are done and schedules made. Throw in the NHL lockout, and there's no real sports, as I can't count the NBA and its view of the season, starting more than a third of the way through. Could you imagine the NFL and its main tv networks premiering their first big game on Columbus Day.

Doesn't count in October, it doesn't count in December or February. But hey, tomorrow is Boxing Day in England and I get a full day of Premiere League delight. Thank you Comcast for finally making the Fox Soccer channel an HD option.

Again, Merry Christmas.

Who wins this Christmas' movie slugfest with some mighty contenders?

I suspect it may be "The Hobbit,' which brings out the dedicated fan base. 'Les Mis' may do ok in the long run as its got some star power, but the little hobbit could be bringing in families.

How will 'Django Unchained' and 'Jack Reacher' do, both carrying massive stars — Tom Cruise and Quentin Tarantino — and also extreme violence, perform? I think they'll do fine in terms of what they're expected to earn. People who like these movies will watch them. I would, and perhaps will.

I wonder if Oscar favorites, or critical darlings, like 'Lincoln' and 'Argo' will reemerge after weeks in release, bringing in big dollars.

Christmas isn't just good for the retail economy, it's crucial to the film and entertainment industries, too.

Merry Christmas!

Saw something I want to check out, or more likely await actual results, but the group that forecasts national sales amended its projection for Christmas, from an increase of 3.3 percent to an increase of 2.5 percent, as CBS News reported on 'Sunday Morning.'

The report said the decrease in the estimate of the holiday's sales came for two reasons: Hurricane Sandy and its devastation of the northeast coast, or NY/NJ area as well as the impact of the Sandy Hook shooting.

I understand fewer sales due to people paying to replace their homes and belongings, spending less on gifts because of the need for essentials. The economic impact of the hurricane affected sales of cars and will force the jump of building materials sales. But the emotional impact of a tragedy? That's kinda surprising, though I guess I can see people less enthusiastic, especially out east.

But I thought the jump in gun sales would counter that.

He's been down this path before and the headlines regarding the break up of Ronnie Wood's last marriage were quite extensive and even entertaining.

Good timing, too, if he's interested in being in the news a lot, finishing the 50th anniversary shows just a week ago and then tying the knot.

Like his last girlfriend, this new wife is younger, which makes this new union a bigger headline in the world of web entertainment journalism. He's 65. He made his last girlfriend - who was much younger than this 34-year-old new wife - famous.

And now the high-priced shows should be providing big paychecks for the Stones and Wood, who recently sparked Stones' related interests with his fabulous auction to raise dough to finish his divorce settlement with his wife of 23 years (and help a charity). He left her for the younger Ekaterina Ivanova, who started as a cocktail waitress, 19, and is now a model and reality tv star at 23; so joining with Wood is not bad for one's resume.

Another benefit of being so wed, the wife of 23 years, Jo Wood, a one-time model, is now an author, writing a memoir that will make more headlines detailing the life of being married to a Rolling Stone. And again, Ronnie Wood will be making news.

This new wife is raved about in media, and she's 15 years older than the last gal he jumped for.

So, congrats to the happy couple. And a look back at the best of times:


More of the glory days



:

Here is where the NRA press conference can be seen.

I'm interested in what they have to say about gun violence and the availability of such powerful weapons, which are often in the news when used to kill many people in these too-frequent mass shootings.

But the NRA caught some grief on Twitter due to requiring reporters to fax in their credentials. Kinda adds to the image of the NRA and its supporters being old timey asking for a fax, not providing an email.

UPDATE:

It appears the NRA is speaking not to America but to its membership. Too bad, because I think they'll lose the public relations battle on this one.

Instead of bringing gun control to the table, and having a stronger say in what is available for Americans to purchase and own, they are blaming:

Schools
Video games
Movies
The media
Federal government

Some reactions:

Travis Wright ‏@WDETravis

NRA brings up the old video game argument. AND music videos. Music videos? TV doesn't even play music videos any more! Get with it.

Matt Yglesias ‏@mattyglesias

Lets get real folks, Mortal Kombat is responsible for the national plague of bare-handed beheadings. #finishhim 

emily bell ‏@emilybell

Given the toxicity of society so forensically identified by the #NRA ...is the widespread availability of guns really a god idea? 

Priscilla Perkins ‏@pdperk

#NRA blames the media and mentally ill. WTF! It's on..... 

Bruce Arthur ‏@bruce_arthur

The NRA wants a national database of the mentally ill, which ranks among the most ironic stances in human history. 

Johanna Barr ‏@JohannaBarr

So this is all the fault of the media, video games, movies, music, and the mentally ill -- everything but guns #NRA 

Dalibor Dimovski ‏@kewlrats

Charlton Heston is rolling in his grave right now. #NRA 

Rob Pitingolo ‏@robpitingolo

Based on what I'm reading about this NRA presser. Sounds like the Mayans were on to something. 

Jeff Jarvis ‏@jeffjarvis

Shorter #NRA: Guns don't kill people. Hollywood does. 

TheMasonGuitars Excuse me sir,, but security will not stop a bullet fired at someone from 200 yards away

Marley Gardner HEY HEY NRA GOT TO GO

williamswalton There's a monster talking right now at the podium.

 wizardkitten ‏@wizardkitten

Wingnuts are all for big government spending and intrusion when it serves their agenda. Never forget that. 

@Waterford_Joe ‏@Waterford_Joe

@TheOaklandPress theres more guns than people in this world, it's not video games or violent movies. #banassultrifles

Rex Huppke ‏@RexHuppke

BREAKING: Following NRA's path, alcohol industry now blaming drunk driving on "too much Mario Kart" 

richardbroughton2 so our children will be learning each day surrounded by armed guard??

 Bella ‏@ciaobella50

The only way this #NRA press conference would make any sense is if someone shouted, "LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!" via...

Swanny ‏@YoSwanny

I have lost all respect for anyone who agrees with the NRA.

Dalibor Dimovski ‏@kewlrats

Seriously, all the NRA had to do was say "We are saddened by the recent events and will work with authorities." And they screwed that up.

Dalibor Dimovski ‏@kewlrats

With this press conference, the NRA just opened up the war on guns. 

Finally, the website being used to document something fully.

What I'm talking about is RollingStone.com, where the magazine has used its ample web space to showcase everything its published about rock and roll and American songwriting icon Bob Dylan.

It'll take a week's vacation to go through the generous reporting, covering interviews, tour updates, album reviews and general news.

Interestingly, rock journalism followed rock acts and their management by being very up on bootlegs and their releases and prominence. Funny, wonder what they think of youtube?

Again, there is an effort to censor news.

And this is a noble effort, the request to not name or show the picture of a serial or spree killer.

OK, you don't name the killer in Connecticut. Does it matter less then when ten adults, or perhaps just one person is killed? Do you not name that killer? Do you not name anyone who commits a crime that is attention-seeking, such as protestors or that guy who threw shoes at President George W. Bush? It's a slippery slope.

The argument is these mass killers want attention. I don't think that is primarily what drives them, though. I think the act is the attention they want, bringing horror into the world, more than infamy for them. Of course, there's no answer for all killers. But it seems the primary goal is to hurt and cause pain.

Our business it give information, not to give some of the information. The idea of not naming rape victims makes sense, because of the tendency to not report the crime because of the humiliation. But then domestic violence advocates ask us to not name accusers in such cases. That's tough, but then it leads to others saying they don't want to be named.

And are sex offenders usually initially victims themselves? Again, if you ask to withhold some information, then what right do you have to release any information — there's always someone who won't want to be named. I've had witnesses in trial beg not to be named, some reasonably and some unreasonably.

Now, there is common sense and good taste. One idea that I've supported is not putting the shooter's picture on the front page in these cases, focusing rightfully on the victims. But that is common sense because that is what the audience wants.

We have to work knowing how the audience will react, going with it sometimes and sometimes against it. But excluding information is not the answer and not going to stop these tragedies.

I'm happy to hear that Richard Engel is free from captivity after his five-day ordeal, being kidnapped in Syria, where he was covering the civil war.

It appears he was taken by 'thugs' working for the regime, which may soon topple. The media coverage is largely positive for the rebels, so attacking the correspondents is one — very ineffective — way perhaps to control a message by a leader who is on his way out. I wonder if Bashar al-Assad will end up like Libya's Muammar Gaddafi or Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

 In NBC's report, nothing was mentioned of the blackout they maintained and asked others to maintain.

I hope Engel and his team do not stop their work but it must have been tough, especially being subjected not just to the terror of being captive but also to the psychological torture of being told they were to be executed as well as seeing people killed.

Nonetheless, while NBC doesn't have to offer up that this has happened (if no one else knows) nor do they have to comment once it is reported, I don't understand a news agency that asks others not to report something, as NBC apparently did to others reporting this news. During most tragedies, many want to be left alone by the media, but media outlets, including NBC News, have to and do ignore those request because of the thirst by the rest of us to know.

Some of the debate about the guns is proving very laughable.

NBC News reported that a lawmaker in Texas defended on Fox News Sunday morning the availability of high powered 'assault' rifles - as many call them - to protect Americans against a tyrannical government. I'm rushing now but I've gotta look this up and watch, for it may be as funny as it sounds.

I'm sure he's not advocating shooting police officers, the front line of the government (local, state or federal, yes, but officers represent law and order and hence government in general). Don't need fancy weapons for that... just ask the families of the many officers gunned down when responding to typical calls. One in East Grand Rapids was killed with a shotgun by a man lying in wait as the officer responded to a call for help reporting domestic violence.

Then there's Patrick O'Rourke's family, mourning the loss of their father and husband, a longtime West Bloomfield police officer.

But I get it, this Texas gentleman is referring to the federal government, which taxes us and interacts with other countries through the United Nations. So if wants weapons available to fight that government, he'll need to legalize surface-to-air rocket launchers and small nuclear weapons, because nowadays, no militia is going to go up against our U.S. military and do any damage.

If that fight is going to be fought, it will be unarmed people being killed in what we now call terrorist acts. Is this political debate becoming so irresponsible? (And I'm not even considering the ludicrous idea of requiring teachers and administrators to be armed and trained to fight off other armed militants.... you know how much more taxes we would have to pay for schools if that were mandated?)

Here are the comments of Texas, hm, er, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, as quoted by Livewire.com's Talking Points Memo:

"Well, for the reason George Washington said a free people should be an armed people," Gohmert said, responding to a question on why people need assault weapons. "It ensures against the tyranny of the government. If they know that the biggest army is the American people, then you don’t have the tyranny that came from King George. That is why it was put in there, that’s why once you start drawing the line, where do you stop? And that’s why it is important to not just look emotionally, our reaction, Chris, is to immediately say, 'let’s get rid of all guns.'" 

Gohmert argued that more guns would lessen gun violence, saying he wished the principle at Sandy Hook Elementary School that was attacked Friday had been armed. "I wish to god she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn’t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands, but she takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids," he said.

Reminds me of the Simpsons, with Homer asking Lisa if she wants the king of England pushing her around. He's living in a fantasyland, where King George is still being fought and answers to problems are taking "his head off." Wow,

Of course, if we are fighting tyranny, I could use a nuke or two. I can be trusted. Believe me, I'm responsible enough to have a button to push. 

I say, yes, absolutely.

But I understand the idea. Don't make a story out of it so we can work to get him back instead of giving potential terrorists a chance to harm him and garner their own headlines.

However, once the story is out there, it would irresponsible to ignore it, especially if the same standards are not maintained for every other story.

In this case, it is gawker.com reporting that NBC's Richard Engel is missing in Syria. Mr. Engel is a fine journalist who has done incredible work as a foreign correspondent, telling stories lately about Egypt's revolution and now Syria's civil war.

I hope his missing is a problem with communications in what seems like a war-torn country that may have damaged or turned off communications equipment. The fear is that he is injured or kidnapped or worse. His is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and he did not seem to shy from the danger in order to do his job.

The story, though, from gawker.com deals with a serious issue: Blackouts of news coverage. Several comments, the majority on the page, were critical of gawker for writing about the story, in effect calling them out for writing about a blackout on the story and then 'violating' it.

What happens is the news agency doesn't want to report on its reporter missing as that may inflame the situation and endanger the reporter. That's fair. But in this business, or calling as some wish journalism would be, once a story is out, it's out.

Gawker correctly reports all the agencies in Europe that are reporting the news as well as people on social media.

But to insist it be held and to criticize others for reporting the news is rather disheartening, especially with all the (sometimes, rightful) criticism of news outlets (such as NBC) for the endless reporting of others' tragedies, the latest one being the Sandy Hook shootings in Connecticut. In fact, the rush to get the story out led to news agencies wrongfully reporting who the shooter was, including The Oakland Press, where we used wire reports that later had to be changed.

Many expressed desires to see the media:

- Leave the victims' families alone,
- Not flood the area with multiple reporters falling over one another,
- Not show the culprit's face and tell a story that would perhaps inspire another crazy person to act as a copycat in seeking out such media attention,
- Not politicize the event by jumping into the natural discussion about guns and gun violence and America's gun culture.

News agencies routinely ignore such requests because of the thirst to know as much as possible about something as fast as possible.

Same goes for a story about a respected journalist who goes missing while on the job in a place that generally accounts for the first or second story on NBC's "Nightly News."

And criticism that a news agency applies different standards when covering itself than it would anyone else are fair.

So, you thought you'd get away from ugly political fights now that the election is over?

Ok, perhaps after jump over or avert (or postpone, typical for our DC leaders) the fiscal cliff, and then we can focus on work, family, sports, entertainment...a Super Bowl, the Academy Awards and awaiting spring?

Nope, it's going to get ugly with the upcoming war on guns arriving. Well, it's not going to be a war on guns, but to the defenders of the guns, it's war just thinking about any kinds of limits. (I wonder what Boehner would do if Obama offered to keep taxes on the rich lower if GOP would vote for a ban of the most deadly semi-automatic rifles.... that'd be an interesting test on the right's desire for guns and lower taxes... which is the  priority?)

The debate is already ugly, judging by the reaction to the mass shooting that killed 20 children in Connecticut just three days ago.

And wow, the news gets better:

Two police officers killed in Topeka.

A man in California arrested after firing off multiple rounds in a mall parking lot. He was releasing tension from the stuff that made his life unhappy, police said. Used to be, beer was enough for that.

Now I hear those 'people' from that church are to protest at the funerals in Connecticut.

Makes one want to turn off the news and lock the doors.

What a day.

It reminded me of the Virginia Tech shootings, when news lingers for hours that one or two were dead and then the update came... dozens killed.

Today, it was two or three dead for hours. Then headlines trickled out that a dozen or so had died, but minutes later, CBS News reported 27 had been killed.

One is enough, but something about such a large number... it was numbing.

Then came the flood of grief, the occasional look at gun issues and anger at individuals who do such things. Also, there was some talk about mental health and helping those with mental illness.

Because you have to be crazy to something like this right?

Or is it evil?

Whatever it is, many find their solace in prayers and sharing grief, nowadays online using social media. It has been, I hate to say, a relief to see at shared grief online, where before 9:30 a.m., the divide remained as strong as ever.

But besides sharing grief, what can we do to stop this? We cannot live this way as a society.

This is my favorite comment on all our stories about the right-to-work bills that raced through the Michigan government like the Millenium Falcon blasting between star systems.

It's by SheltonImaging, as his handle goes.

"Governor Snyder has made a huge blunder. The Democrats could get Bubbles the Chimp and Jar Jar Binks elected in 2014."

Perhaps the least liked character in film history, hmm, could he be more popular than ole what's his name?

I wonder if it will get ugly in Lansing today.

It's a done deal, the vote for right to work, yet thousands will protest.

Knowing they can't accomplish any change, I wonder if they will let their anger rule the day. Politics has been ugly lately.

They will hurt the cause, but knowing the cause is lost, what's the point of holding back some will say.

Another apology I'm not buying came from the Australian DJs who pranked a hospital and its nurse, mocking England's queen as the world and Matt Lauer wondered how the pregnant princess was doing.

OK, I shouldn't gripe about Lauer's show and its almost unpatriotic love of everything royal. I've got nine months of that ahead of me.

But the apologies offered by the now-canned DJs whose prank may have proven fatal rings very hallow. Of course, they are sorry that the person they pranked may have committed suicide. They never intended that.

A gap in their story: They never expected to get through. But if they taped the segment and they got through, why air the segment if that was not what the attended.

(Further bullshit from the station, they said they tried to call the hospital five times after the prank and before it aired. Hmm. They get through when pranking but can't get through to alert hospital to impending airing....right.)

Their apology included phrases like, "this has happened" to nurse Jacintha Saldanha. No, not what happened, but what "we did."

However, they weren't to blame for the death.  One cannot know that someone may commit suicide over an action. What about laying people off from their jobs? What about a bad grade?

Now, impersonating someone could be a fraud, so perhaps there is a crime; but to say this prank or impersonation caused a suicide is going too far. Sure, fire the DJs. Sure, hate and stop listening to the station. Write an angry letter. But they can't be charged with a crime or, I think, even sued. Someone committing suicide is making their own decision to end their life. It's too bad it happened. And it was a stupid prank, but these pranks go on all the time, and we can't legislate good taste.

And they've tried and tried over history to do so.

Yes, more evidence the economy is coming back. I'm not saying limping back, and may even be leaning towards roaring back. Likely, this is wishful thinking, at least here in Michigan.

But most of the news has been good. The unemployment number ticking downward was good, though mostly it's seasonal and impacted by leaving giving up the hunt for a job.

However, housing is back. Locally, home prices are up, up, up.

I heard on radio this morning that office parties are back, another sign of more than survival for many companies.

And CNN reports that today will be FedEx's biggest day of the year and possibly ever with 19 million parcels mailed.

Another good sign, I say.

So perhaps we won't make it to that fiscal cliff, as if the rich are getting richer, they'll be paying more taxes  no matter what. 

I don't buy the idea of being gay as a choice. That's a fantasy.

And if you need proof, here's some, absolute scientific proof being born either straight or gay:

Watch from Deadspin the moment this boy discovers boobs.

GOP leaders, led by Gov. Rick Snyder, said that right to work is a fairness issue.

Here's one part I don't think is fair, exempting the new law from police and fire.

Whenever right-wing types, who are accused of driving down labor costs and thus hurting the middle class, go after unions, they exempt police and firefighters, not wanting to clash with anything related to public safety.

But I've long believed, anything good for unions like police and firefighters is also good for teachers. Teachers often fall victim to political pressures of school boards, who fear single complaints that make the media.

So why do the changes to Michigan's labor laws, if so good for workers, need exemptions for police and fire? I'm not buying their answers because it to do with the disdain for spending money on public education and the resentment many in society have for teachers.

So let's not say it's being fair. 

"I love my game but I hate to hell what I'm seeing now."

That's from Ted Lindsay, the Detroit Red Wing great, who is now 87, speaking to the Detroit News yesterday.

He's right. One of the ambassadors of the game, Lindsay has long been a standup guy for the city, the team and the league. Now he is watching the National Hockey League implode with a second labor shutdown that continues to drive away fans and cost the league's owners and players.

It's amazing watching this again. It was just a few years ago that the NHL seemingly lost it all, losing a postseason and championship year due to labor strife. They had lost their deal with ESPN, perhaps one of the most valuable in sports to the exposure, which is doubly important because the teams are seen on games given added importance and featured prominently in the channel's sports news shows, both "SportsCenter" and the "NHL Tonight."

I remember fondly watching Barry Melrose each night during the Stanley Cup playoffs in the 1990s, when both ESPN and ESPN2 showed multiple games. All the hockey a fan could want was on TV, an interest that was born out of the Tie Domi and Bob Probert battles of the 1980s. Then the ownership decided to go for the short-term quick buck, refusing lower revenues and heightened exposure. Sure, it's not fair that ESPN could have them by their shorthairs but hey, we all should know life's not fair.

So they gave up the revenue, then tried to undo the high salaries they'd given and there was a lockout and a lost season. They were on a channel no one watched, but after a few years and promoting itself in the Winter Classic (a game I don't understand people would want to attend... an intimate game taken to a large stadium, who cares?) But nonetheless, they were pushed by NBC and they slowly made their way back, and now it's all lost.

I lost interest after the first shutdown. I didn't miss hockey. There's too much other entertainment. In the 1990s, I watched little network TV. Now, shows are better, by DVR is filled and when baseball and college football ends, I only have weekend football (English Premiere League in the mornings and NFL on Sunday afternoon.) That's plenty. I don't need hockey and really won't watch. I went to a game a year or two ago, saw the Wings beat the Calgary Flames. In two years, I maybe watched a handful, perhaps six or seven, other complete games worth of hockey on TV - in total.

And I'm a Wings and Canucks fan, and I'd check out their playoff games, flipping to them to see what the score was.

Now, if I would care at all, it would be a negative view of their brand, resentment at both sides. But I don't care. Too bad for NBC, which seemed on the verge of challenging ESPN (about the only thing I care about in this sorry story), by using its new sports channel, which used to be Versus (which used to be the Outdoor Channel), to promote the NHL. Now, I am thrilled that Comcast has added the Fox Soccer Channel's high definition channel to my line up. Oh joy. ESPN2 already has HD for its weekly one or two game. (Next, please, Comcast, add Fox Soccer Plus, so I can get the second game on at the same time.)

Some people in my family resented the baseball strike of 1994-95, when MLB lost a World Series, more than a decade later, angry at the lost postseason. "I'll never watch those guys again," I heard. And it was a real anger. This is different. I don't feel that with NHL. And that may be worse for the league, feeling nothing for something that will never matter again.

Oh, and Ted Lindsay is a class act. I remember when he changed his name legally from Theodore, knowing that Ted is how he is known and wanting to use his name and fame to help families in need. Shame the value has been lost in what he could offer, all his hard work flushed down the drain due to greed.

One man died in one of the most horrific ways I could imagine: pushed into the path of a subway and unable to climb out to safety in time. Image the terror.

Another man took pictures.

The freelance photographer for the New York Post says he took the pictures (one of which ended up on the front of the NY Post) as a way to alert the train's conductor to the plight of the victim, using the flash to signal the driver.

Yeah, I don't quite believe that.

HOWEVER, I'm not one to argue the man should have risked his own life to save the victim. Running or jumping into the path of danger is not easy to do and it's not my place to say what someone should have done. I likely would have hesitated. I also likely would have hesitated to take a picture.

Here is an update to the case from the NYT, looking at the various ethical implications and reflections that this case has on our society.

No one helped the victim. I don't know how far away people were but some reports say the victim had about 20 seconds. I would like to think someone close enough could have reached down to grab his arm and help him up. I wasn't there though, and my guess is that no one did because no one could.

While I don't believe the photographer's excuse, I don't begrudge the photographer. Too many people nowadays like to jump on someone from afar. I'm amazed at the calls to fire people, jail them, or shoot  them by people who simply see a post of Facebook or read an online story. Yes, we all have opinions, and I share mine here sometimes. But people are too quick to condemn.

Why isn't there more outrage for the man who pushed this poor guy? That guy, I could say, should burn in hell after finishing his life in a nasty New York prison. I don't know what led him to push the victim, but my first thought is he shouldn't be, to use the popular phrase, walking the streets, or in this case, taking the subway.

Leave the photographer alone. If people really cared, the newspaper would fold for its insensitivity, but hey, it was a big story, a great photo and a true snapshot into what happened in that instance.

The key name to remember when it comes to what happened outside of Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday is this one: Kasandra Perkins.

She joins thousands of other names of people who were killed during instances of domestic violence. Her child, who she had with linebacker Jovan Belcher, is the one to carry the scars of his father's actions, shooting Perkins to death before shooting himself in the head.

People are wondering why. Was it the gun available during moments of emotional instability? Yes, that made it easier, but plenty of people are killed with knives, blunt objects, hatchets, hands, poison, cement floors.

Was it the head injuries the NFL linebacker suffered? Perhaps, well, possibly and perhaps likely. Was it the drugs and alcohol that may have used as part of a lifestyle or part of a regiment to battle the injuries. Possibly a factor?

Who knows why he did what he did. No one will really know, but there are bound to be signs that were ignored. Could someone have saved her? Likely, yes, but many  times, warning signs are ignored by family, friends, coworkers, the legal system, and, many times too, by victims.

One part of this story that I hate, the calls for the NFL or the Chiefs to cancel or postpone the game. I agree with the NFL on few things, its many stupid rules (see Thanksgiving), its blackout policy, its regular punishment of fans, but I agree the only things that should stop a football game should be related to fan safety... weather, terrorism concerns, stadium damage.

Too many people are relying on the game to occur: fans who travel and make all-day plans after ponying up big bucks for the ticket(s), people who work the game and, yes, even TV people. They pay for the game. Oh, and the fans who watch on TV, who are actually the ones paying the TV people.

When will they replay the game? On Monday or Tuesday? Is that enough time to heal? A week later, or at the end of the season, when the playoffs are starting? No,  you can't cancel a game.

Plus, what then constitutes a tragedy? One player plus another person? One non-starter and two other people/ What if one is a child, does that count as two people? What if it's a former player, who was real, real popular? That's what pre- or during-game moments are for.

And I like how Kansas City executives handled it, from what I heard, honoring all victims of domestic violence, such as Steve McNair.