My Favorite season is around the corner.

Anybody who really knows me knows I am an absolute football fanatic. All forms. Pee-wees to the pros. Particularly, I am passionate about high school and college football. That is why this time of the year my attitude usually changes. Instead of worrying about the heat, the rain or lack of it, how the tomatoes are producing, the local political scene, the national political fiasco or the price of gas, I begin thinking about my trips to Charlottesville, Lexington, Clifton, and local venues such as Cecil Dees Field, Rice Mountjoy Stadium, Gilligan Stadium, Newport Stadium, etc. I begin thinking about seeing old friends, about tailgating, about what new concoction so and so will bring Saturday. I think about how pretty Julie Dammert’s tailgate table will look at the UK – U of L game. What else can you mix with cheap bourbon? Post-game receptions in the Virginia Football Alumni room inside Scott Stadium. Going to the Greyhound Tavern for onion rings and a beer after football Friday night and watching the scores on the TV.

This stuff gets me pumped. It has ever since I was a little boy. Going to the Lloyd games and playing touch football in the end zones with my buddies using a paper cup as the ball. Going with my dad to Covington to watch his Holmes Bulldogs play. "Big Daddy" Tom Ellis. Watching my neighborhood hero, Joe Ashley, walk up Erlanger Road to the game he was about the play in wearing his Lloyd jersey –#71. That became my number. Steve Davis took it from me when I moved on. When I was coaching, one of my prize pupils, Hilliard Vance, was proud to wear it. I always look to see who's wearing the blue and gold number 71 because a little of it belongs to me, always will, and it should be worn with pride and dignity.

I participated in the Lloyd football program for six years as a player, three years on the freshman team in three years as a varsity starter. I was chosen to play in the KY East-West All Star Game at WKU in 1970.  Years later I was privileged to become a paraprofessional assistant coach at the request of Rudy Tassini and then Roy Lucas Jr. I coached young Juggernauts for 15 years. I was a member of the COOL society (coaches of offensive lineman), also known as the mushroom club, because the rest of the coaches keep us in the dark and feed us manure. When I was warming my lineman up for home games I frequently reminded them and motivated them by telling that they were playing on what I consider to be ‘hallowed ground. ‘ That very dirt underneath the grass contained bits and pieces of my blood, my sweat, my tears, and those same components from every Juggernaut that ever played there. I told them that they had to respect the game, respect the uniform that they wore, respect their opponent, respect their family, and realize how privileged they were to be spending a Friday night with their brothers doing something they'll remember the rest of their lives. Other kids were wandering around the stands trying to be cool or sitting at home playing video games. My boys, on the other hand, had worked for this very moment since the last season ended in the weight room, running the streets and on the track, practicing 2 to 3 hours a day, at least, for as long as the state would permit, and were focused on victory. In my book, only one form of victory is evidenced by the scoreboard. Other wins and losses occur on every snap, every rep in practice, every day in the classroom, every time they encounter another human and treat them with kindness, etc. That's what I and the other coaches I was privileged to work with tried to instill in our boys. Victory comes in many forms.

I began officiating football in 1973 when my college career ended (by my choice) and I continued with this through intramurals, Pee-wee, JV and freshman high school, varsity high school and even a couple college JV games. I had hoped to get into officiating college football but then some neurological condition got in the way and, over time, running, then walking, became problematic. When I got the chance to coach, I jumped at it. By the end of my 15 years, I was coaching from a golf cart.

I enjoyed coaching high school football more than I have enjoyed anything in my life other than my children and my family. If I won the lottery today and didn't have to worry about paying bills, I would find some way and somewhere to coach football and smile all the time.

I love college football, too. I have season tickets to the Virginia Cavaliers home games, and to the Kentucky Wildcats home games. I catch a game or two at Nippert Stadium for the Cincinnati Bearcats every year. This fall I am going to Bloomington for a game to watch Virginia play Indiana. I have been to bowl games (Peach (3x), Sugar, Gator, Citrus) in when I was a child, my family went to Champaign – Urbana for Illinois Fighting Illini games as my uncle was a professor there. I played in games at, of course, Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, home of the Hokies, at UNC, at VM I, have been to Tiger Stadium at Clemson, Byrd Stadium at Maryland, Wade Stadium at Duke, Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at Ole Miss, between the hedges at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, Beaver Stadium at Penn State and the Horseshoe in Columbus.

I love the pageantry. I love the colors. I love to see what kind of uniforms teams are wearing and whether or not they are cutting edge, traditional, or boring. I love college bands. I make sure that I'm in my seat in time for the Virginia Cavalier marching band to form the Power-V and march right toward my seats, in time to watch the Wildcat Marching Band form the block K and play ‘On, On, U of K’, and tear up when it plays ‘My Old Kentucky Home.’ I love to watch the Cincinnati Bearcats band run down the stadium steps after the cannon fires, form up on the field, and head toward the 50, expanding as it marches. I am not, admittedly, an Ohio State fan (far from it) but I am a fan of ‘the best damn band in the land’ and ‘Script Ohio.’  The Ole Miss Pride of the South marching onto the field with their fight song and, after a trumpet flourish, breaking into ‘Dixie.’  I love to look at what the fans are wearing – and some of it is downright crazy. I love ESPN's ‘Game Day’, but often have to record it because I am gone to a Stadium by that time. What mascot head is Lee Corso going to put on this week?

Next weekend college athletes will be assembling on campuses from coast-to-coast to prepare for the Labor Day weekend kickoff of college football season. These athletes have been working all summer (actually since the end of last season) on strength and conditioning so when they begin practice, it's all about football and not about getting in shape. If they come to practice out of shape they typically do not see the field on Saturday. High school athletes have been at it all summer, and, except for Kentucky's dead period around the Fourth of July, practice regularly. There have been 7 on 7 competitions (without linemen) . Many practices had been moved to the break of dawn for the safety of the athletes in this heat we have been experiencing lately. The first high school scrimmages will probably start next weekend and I believe the first games of which I am aware are on August 19. It's almost here . . . . .

Football is the greatest game ever devised for young men. Almost any person who has the desire can compete in football and learn and grow as a person from the experience. Football has much more to do with life than X's and O's and the final score. We learn more and more about injuries, and develop equipment and techniques to prevent injuries. Things that I was taught to do in the 60s are now completely illegal in the game is better for it. The athletes are bigger and stronger, the off season conditioning is intense and comprehensive, and the coaching gets better and better every year, even down to the youth league level. There are exceptions and dramatic examples of things going wrong but that happens in every form of life and typically draws media attention because it is so out of the ordinary. I have watched young men who seemingly did not have an athletic bone in their body nor a good idea of how to put a helmet on, with time, effort and instruction, become outstanding young men, leaders in their community, husbands and fathers, and darn good football players. And when I say effort, I mean lots of it because nothing like this happens without being invested in the process. And when the effort is put forth, it is owned and can be called on time and time again.

This stuff gets me pumped. At my age and condition, its good that something does. My view these days is from the seat of an electric scooter, from the end zone where I can watch the line play, and through rose colored glasses. Memories. Nostalgia. Plastic cups filled with ice and whatever. Optimism, realism, hope, tough losses, exciting wins, great times with great friends at great venues watching great football. Caroline and Camden riding on my scooter with me from our parking lot, through the tailgaters, to the Football Alumni entrance at Scott Stadium. Meeting up with Jessica and friends in the blue lot outside of Commonwealth Stadium.

I can't wait!

Passings . . .and getting busy.

The news this week got me to thinking about lawyers, particularly good lawyers who were established and successful when I started this profession in 1978. Two men who I considered giants in the profession passed to the other side this week, and I have only kind thoughts and pleasant memories of them.

Bob Ruberg was a very kind and sweet man, treated me with utmost courtesy and compassion, and has left a professional legacy with his excellent law firm and his two lawyers sons - Don and Mike. In the past few years I only saw Bob at the northern Kentucky bar annual holiday dinner, but it was always very cordial and pleasant experience. I will miss Bob greatly.

Willie Mathis, Jr. also passed away this week. When I started practice he was the Commonwealth's Atty. for Boone Gallatin Counties and was a member of a successful firm, Mathis, Dallas and Frohlich. Willie left the practice a few years ago via retirement and was enjoying life, I am told. I saw him occasionally, usually at bar events, and our relationship continued to be strong through the years and miles. Willie was a fine prosecutor, a keen businessman and a good friend. I will miss Willie, also.

I made the decision several years ago to get deeply involved in Bar Association activities. I was President of the Kenton County Bar when a group of us formed the Northern KY Bar Association.I was on the board and later led that organization. That has led me to my current status as Vice President of the Kentucky Bar Association. I will leave Thursday for two days of meetings called the KBA Board of Governors summer meeting. This year, the meetings will be held at Kentucky Dam Village, very close to Pres. elect Doug Myers' lake house. I have never been there before and am looking forward to a jaunt deep into Western Kentucky. In early August I will attend the American Bar Association convention in Toronto - another place I have not been to, Erlanger's Bill Robinson will become ABA President during the convention (and his Mayor will be there to cheer him on!)

Typically no discipline is taken up at the summer meeting as it is the first meeting of the new board and a great deal of time is spent in training the new board members and handling other programs and missions of the bar. The last board meeting of the year is held the Tuesday before the convention starts, and we had enough discipline that meeting to last a while (Stan Chesley and Jay Bamberger.) A lot of bonding takes place as the new board will have to work together through some very difficult activities.

My experience has shown me that the vast majority of people elected to the board and to office  are excellent attorneys , leaders in their particular area of the Commonwealth, and dedicated to the improvement of the practice of law and the system of justice in our Commonwealth. Very infrequently people with agendas or bones to pick are elected to the board and they are uniformly unsuccessful. I look forward to working with them all, old and new.

 I am of the age now where many attorneys who served as mentors and/or teachers to me have retired  and are leaving us for a different world. A few weeks ago, Judge William Schmedecke and Gerry Patton. This week, Bob and Willie. I know it is a part of life and I accept God's will, but I don't like it. These people have left marks on northern Kentucky that will last for generations. It is only my hope that my work with the Kentucky Bar Association also helps my brothers and sisters at the bar way that the Judge, Jerry , Bob and Willie helped me. God God bless them.

What is the "Tea Party?"

I have been busy lately facing a challenge to a Northern Kentucky institution called the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission (NKAPC). This organization resulted from a consolidation of many planning and zoning operations conducted by the dozens of cities and County governments located in northern Kentucky decades ago. A group of people that call themselves the 'tea party' are proposing that this organization be eliminated and that Northern Kentucky go back to the 1950s with every city having its own planning and zoning operation and its own set of zoning ordinances, creating a patchwork quilt like you have never seen before. Erlanger's city government does not use all the services that NKAPC offers, preferring to conduct some of the operations in-house. Nonetheless, Erlanger firmly supports the continued existence, the direction, and the services offered by NKAPC. In this day of tight government finances and strict scrutiny, consolidated planning and zoning services makes eminent sense.

As I worked my way last month through legislative committee meetings, late night budget committee meetings, the commission's regular budget meeting and Erlanger's City Council deliberations, I began to think about the meaning of the 'Tea Party.' In some respects, the Tea Party means all things to all people -  meaning it can be whatever you want it to be. It is obviously not a political party like the Republicans and Democrats, Libertarians and even Whigs. It has no set of principles, has no party platform that I am aware of, has no party discipline, and apparently no unified leadership. It has no candidates for office –they still belong to the traditional parties or are independents.

I always viewed the Tea Party as a movement, a way of thinking, a line of thought that opposes, in general, the massive spending by our federal government. Almost everyone that I talk to believes that our federal government is out of control, is beyond the reach of the average citizen , and needs a general overhaul. The 'best and brightest' the American people send to Washington can't seem to fix anything, probabl because they are not the best and brightest, but the most wealthy and well connected. I certainly agree with this. My dear cousin believes in this so passionately that she rode a bus to Washington for a Tea Party rally.

Locally, however, it seems to me that the tea party consists of a group of people, socially conservative and Libertarian by nature, that are opposed to everything that has anything to do with the government . They have set their sights on local governments which is ironic because local governments are the closest to the people and most responsive to the constituents.  Local governments provide basic services such as police, fire, rescue, snow removal and street repair . Federal and state governments provide no services such as these.  Perhaps these people feel as helpless as the rest of us do when addressing problems on the national level and do not have enough influence in Frankfort to address state concerns. In any event, I have seen them in meetings of local governments , the mayors group, and of the NKAPC, sitting in the back room like gargoyles on the walls of a cathedral . It may not be their intention, but they appear menacing and intimidating to some, irritating to others and a distraction to everyone trying to get something done in the meeting. I have personally never heard any of the local , self-proclaimed tea party members say they were in support of anything . I know what they are against – any form of government spending any public money – but I have heard no constructive criticism nor suggestion from them on how to do it better .

I feel very safe in saying that no local government elected official in Northern Kentucky seeks the position or fulfills the obligations of office for the money or perks. All that I know do it for the good of their community, always trying to do the right thing, sometimes failing, but always getting up and trudging ahead. The local gargoyles seem to me to believe that local elected officials are out to waste taxpayer money on nonessential activity, personal wealth and hubris. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I am the first to say,and have said it on several occasions since becoming mayor of Erlanger , that I embrace out-of-the-box thinking and new ways to get the job done. Government has to be flexible , inventive and responsive to the needs of its constituents and I think that local government does does this the best. Therefore, if anybody, Tea Party member or atheist or even a Democrat, has a better way to get something done that Erlanger has to do , come talk to us and show us the error of our way and convince us of the merit of your way. Simply sitting back and criticizing , or silently lining the walls of meetings, does nobody any good and is a waste of time and effort. And perhaps talent! No one will know as the gargoyle remains silent!

In my humble opinion.

TLR
7.14.11

Counsel, The Jury has a verdict . . . .

Driving to my daughter Hillary's house near Richmond Virginia takes about eight hours in each direction. Spending that much time in the vehicle, alone, affords me the opportunity to think about a lot of subjects. It also permits a brain cleanse from time to time. I was a little stressed and wiped out when I left here a few days ago but am back and raring  to go. I thought of lots of things to write about in this blog, but upon my return, one news flash seems to have dominated the media, and the pages of Facebook. So, I think I'll weigh in.

Casey Anthony was found not guilty by a Florida jury of first-degree murder, manslaughter, and another serious charge but was found guilty of four counts of lying to the police. She faces up to four years in prison if she receives the maximum sentence on each count, class A misdemeanors. Most people do not get the maximum on their first offense and she's already spent about three years incarcerated, so there is a good chance that she will walk out of the jail a free person shortly. And some freedom she will have: her baby is dead, she is estranged from her parents, everybody on the face of the earth knows who she is and has an opinion about her, she has no place to live unless the parents take her back in, she has no job, etc. Sounds pretty bleak to me. Some think she deserves it, and many more think she deserves much worse. The only people whose thoughts matter are the jury, and by a unanimous verdict they did not find evidence to find her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

In my little piece of the Facebook world, it seems that everybody has an opinion and most people believe that she killed her child. They are stunned at the Florida jury would let her get away with it. However, these opinionated folks were not in the courtroom, did not see, handle nor observe all of the evidence, were not required by the judge to take an oath to base their verdict only on the evidence, were not instructed by the judge on what Florida law is, and did not deliberate with the other jury members behind closed doors and away from media scrutiny. Only that jury experienced the full range of activities involved in a capital murder jury trial. How anyone can say that they were wrong amazes me. It also reveals a flaw in today'a American culture

In my younger days, I performed public defender work in Kenton County, and practiced criminal law in Kenton, Boone, Campbell, Grant, Gallatin and Pendleton counties. I gave up the criminal side of my practice several years ago and now, because I am the Mayor of the city that has a 50 person Police Department, may not practice criminal law. I remember several important points from those days, and from my law school training, and from my study for the bar exam. First, beyond a reasonable doubt means just that – beyond a reasonable doubt. Exactly what is a reasonable doubt is left to each jury on a case-by-case basis but the way I look at it there has to be proof such that a person of ordinary sensibilities is convinced of guilt by at least 95% of the evidence. I think that most criminal cases can result in a verdict in which there is some doubt as to the defendant's guilt, but if that doubt is such that an ordinarily prudent person has doubt as to the guilt, our Constitution requires the accused to be acquitted. Does this mean that the accused didn't do the act? No. It means that the prosecution could not prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and that is a standard that was agreed upon by the founders of this country to protect its citizens from the arbitrary use of power. It has been said that it is better for 10 guilty people to go free than for one innocent person to be convicted and sentenced. I agree with this. Many do not, but it is the system under which we live.

I have watched many trials from afar, especially in the days of increased media scrutiny, starting pretty much from the OJ Simpson trial. I became convinced, from my vantage point, that jurors often ignored the reasonable doubt standard and found people guilty because they think that the accused did it, ignoring the constitutional requirement and the judge's instruction. It appeared to me that these juries took things into their own hands and did what they wanted to do regardless of the law. The fallacy of juries conduct is illustrated by the OJ fiasco: the criminal jury found him not guilty because it was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the crime. Remember, if the glove doesn't fit you must acquit? Another jury in the civil case found that OJ did kill his wife because the standard of proof there was the same standard used in all civil cases, a preponderance of the evidence – more likely than not. Same facts, same people, same actions, different juries, different legal requirements, different results.

For instance, based upon what I read in the paper and watched on television, I do not believe that Ryan Widmer is guilty of murder. He was tried three times, so the media has a lot of the proof in the public record. Many people were convinced that he did, or at least participated in his wife's death to some degree, and two of the three juries convicted him. But, I was not in the courtroom, did not see, hear and handle the evidence, was not instructed by the judge on the law, did not take the oath, and so my opinion is just an opinion. Opinions are like noses, everybody has one.

What about Casey Anthony? From my vantage point – and I did not pay real close attention to the case – I think she was a miserable mother had no business with the child, was narcissistic, is a benign liar, and pretty stupid. The one thing that I did look for in the media reports of the evidence was proof that the child died at the hands of another person – homicide. I am unaware of any convincing proof. I know that the precious little girl is dead, that she was buried in a swampy area, and that her mother lied about her whereabouts. Those three facts do not equal murder. Or manslaughter.

A college classmate of mine named Larry Sabato is a professor of government at the University of Virginia. He wrote a book several years ago that focused on the effect that media scrutiny has on current events, particularly elections. He titled the book "Feeding Frenzy." Well the media certainly had a feeding frenzy with Casey Anthony. While her baby was missing and probably already dead, Casey had pictures taken while she was out partying with most of her body parts exposed, adult averages consumed, and wild expressions on her face. This is perfect ammunition for people like Nancy Grace, people who have an opinion about everything that is based on nothing resembling substance. These talking heads are on TV because people like to watch this stuff for entertainment and it sells soap, beer, erectile dysfunction medications, and Fords.

My point is this: jurors must make their decision based upon the evidence that is presented in the court room in a legal manner. They must not base their verdict upon what loudmouth talking heads say on late night talk TV, nor upon media speculation, nor upon evidence not in the record. I wish all criminal juries took their job as seriously as this Florida jury did.

I have another point. If substantive opinions are based upon what we hear and see on television and read on line or in newspapers, we're in trouble. Way too much of today's social consciousness is based upon sound bites and blurbs on the Internet. I am making a gross generalization here and exceptions can be found by the Legion, but… Far too many people make far too many decisions based on far too little sound, verifiable information. It scares me. People who go out of the way to become informed on the subject and actually base their opinions on verifiable facts are drowned out by the mob. Many people thought that an educated America would be able to make solid decisions, but the problem is the education that Americans are getting is often based upon what the media can sell, and that is frightening.

I hope the jury got it right, and may God bless the little girl. At least she is in good hands now, back home with her maker.

TLR

7.5.2011