In the aftermath of Katrina, the people of New Orleans that did not heed the warning to flee the city were abandoned by their government. The same government, whose main responsibilities are to protect the people and build a stable infrastructure, left their citizens to fend for themselves. Instead of admitting any wrongdoing, officials at every level chose to blame officials at every other level rather than take the blame they deserved. Some even went so far as to call Mother Nature a racist and blamed racism for problems caused by corrupt bureaucrats of every color.

    Every year, half a million residents of New Orleans paid their income tax, sales tax, property tax, this tax and that tax. What did their tax money get them? Levees that could not withstand a moderate sized hurricane, a police force that all but disappeared when it was needed most and hundreds of busses that could have been used to evacuate the city but were left under water instead.

    The state of California rakes in nearly 100 billion dollars through tax revenues and what do we get for our money? We have the most expensive educational system in America and it is one of the worst. We have crime and murder rates that rank among the worst in the nation yet we have law enforcement agencies that concentrate on increasing city and state revenues through traffic fines and petty misdemeanors rather than protecting its citizens. We have a decrepit and overcrowded freeway system with traffic all day every day. For 100 billion dollars every Californian should receive a private education all the way through college, a police officer as their personal bodyguard and roads we can actually drive on. Instead, I feel like those lousy T-shirts my parents used to bring back to me from their vacation – I paid billions in taxes and all I got was free health care for illegal aliens.

    I love sports. I love to play them and I used to love watching them. I grew up on great Yankee captains like Thurman Munson and Don Mattingly. I idolized Michael Jordan. Walter Payton and Earl Campbell were the greatest running backs I had ever seen. They were all great athletes, good role models and decent men. Now, it sickens me just listening to a few minutes of Sportscenter or anything else on ESPN for that matter.

    The last straw for me was actually three last straws. One despicable act, in each of the three major sports, among many despicable acts. First of all is baseball’s ridiculous Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The owner of the Angels, Artie Moreno, tried to boost fan support and revenue from the sales of team merchandise by incorporating the city of Los Angeles into the name of his team. He figured that the 10 million residents of L.A. would instantly become Angels fans because they now shared the name Los Angeles.

    How insulting! Forget the fact that the translation of the name means The Angels Angels of Anaheim. Does Mr. Moreno truly believe that people are like sheep and will be drawn to a team solely based on name recognition rather than the quality of the team on the field? I grew up a Yankee fan, like so many before and after me, because they were a great team, with great players, and a great tradition. If I wanted to root for a bad team just because it was from New York I would’ve been a Mets fan. Unfortunately, the Angels are one in a long line of Major League teams that believes fans are stupid enough to support a team for superficial reasons, like home runs and steroids, rather than fairness and success.

    The next straw came in the form of Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. In 2000, Lewis and his entourage got into a scuffle outside a Tampa Bay nightclub with a couple of guys who ended up getting stabbed to death. After committing murder, Lewis’ entourage hopped into Lewis’ limousine and headed to Lewis’ hotel room to clean up, dispose of evidence and get their stories straight. After months of stonewalling the District Attorney’s office, Lewis would later cop a plea to the lesser charge of fleeing the scene of a crime, without having to serve any jail time, in exchange for testifying against his friends. In the end, Lewis’ testimony was so shoddy that his cohorts were eventually acquitted which meant that Lewis plead guilty to fleeing the scene of a crime that never happened.

    Imagine what would happen if you or I were involved in the stabbing death of two people. Imagine if you or I were caught in our getaway car or destroying evidence in our hotel room. Not only would we still be in prison but we definitely wouldn’t be voted the Super Bowl MVP later that year, we wouldn’t be voted NFL Defensive Player of the Year and we wouldn’t be selected for the cover of Madden ‘05. In fact, ever since Lewis helped his friends commit murder the NFL and its allies at ESPN have done everything in their power to whitewash his responsibility for the death of two people. Shame on the NFL, ESPN and anyone else who hail Ray Lewis as a hero when he is nothing more than a murderer.

    Finally, there is Ron Artest and the brawl against Detroit Pistons fans. I watched the whole ugly incident unfold before my very eyes. I saw Artest cower away from big Ben Wallace before going into the stands to beat the hell out of the little guy who threw a cup of beer at him. I also saw his teammates, Stephen Jackson in particular, go into the stands looking to beat the hell out of any fan. Half of the Indiana Pacers team hurled haymakers at anyone and everyone as if the thrown cup of beer had given them a free pass to assault the nearest fan. It looked like the Pacers hated basketball fans.

    That wasn’t even the worst part. Immediately following the game I listened to ESPN basketball analysts John Saunders and Tim Legler, whose salaries are also paid by the fans, defend Artest and the Pacers while blaming Detroit Pistons fans. John Saunders actually called the fans “a bunch of punks”. I couldn’t believe my ears. These guys were actually condemning the fans for paying hundreds of dollars for courtside seats to watch millionaires run amok in the stands. Instead of paying to see an NBA game, Detroit Pistons supporters should’ve bypassed the middleman and just paid the Pacers to punch the fans. John Saunders displayed his arrogance and ignorance while Tim Legler proved that he was as bad a person as he was a basketball player and analyst.

    The NBA, fearful of the repercussions, did the right thing by suspending Artest for an entire season. However, I believe Stephen Jackson got off lightly with his suspension. His actions were worse than Artest’s yet his suspension was much lighter. Recently, almost two years after the incident and after all the commotion died down, the NBA had the nerve to permanently bar the fan who threw the beer at Artest from ever attending another basketball game. So if you’re keeping score that’s a one year suspension for Artest, thirty games for Stephen Jackson and a lifetime suspension for the fan. In essence, the NBA ultimately placed blame for the fight at the feet of the people who pay with their hard earned money so that the NBA and its players can rake in hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

    A friend of mine went to the Chargers-Chiefs game in San Diego recently and before the game began four F-18 fighter jets did a fly by over the stadium. Shortly thereafter all the San Diego Chargers players received rousing ovations. At halftime, the pilots of the F-18s were on the field and as the announcer said their names you could here a pin drop in the stadium. The fans couldn't be more disinterested. Phony heroes get cheers while true heroes get yawns.

    Yes, it’s true California has the death penalty unlike cold weather states like Wisconsin or Massachusetts. However, you need not worry about California’s death penalty thanks to judges like Stephen Reinhardt who will ensure that the only people who die in our beloved state will be the people you kill. Despite the millions of Californians who voted to institute the death penalty, Mr. Reinhardt believes that they are all too stupid to know that lethal injection is actually cruel and unusual punishment for the likes of Richard Ramirez, Richard Allen Davis, Scott Peterson and Alejandro Avila.

    And speaking of Richard Ramirez, after he was sentenced to death way back in 1988 he said, “Big deal, death always went with the territory. I’ll see you in Disneyland.” Thanks to Judge Reinhardt, death no longer goes with the territory. Twenty-two years after the Night Stalker’s vicious killing spree he has even got married and now he invites you to join him and his lovely new bride in the conjugal visit room. California’s death row is the place to be because, after all, over six hundred death row inmates can’t be wrong.

    You’ll spend years enjoying your own private cell, endless appeals, high powered ACLU attorneys and access to whatever your heart desires because you are a condemned man. You’ll rub elbows with celebrities like Mike Farrell and Alec Baldwin. If you’re black, you’ll also be visited by Jamie Foxx and Jesse Jackson. As an added bonus, the more heinous your crimes the more of a celebrity you will become yourself.

    But wait, there’s more. If you are already a celebrity and are planning to commit murder then California is definitely the place for you. Just ask O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake. For the low, low price of thirty million dollars you too can kill a spouse and an innocent bystander while skipping death row entirely. After book and movie deals the murder will pay for itself.

    That is only if you are caught to begin with. If you drive away from the crime scene slowly, the odds are that a police officer will not stop you and find the body in your trunk while he’s searching for a small bag of marijuana. So come kill in California - Where you get all the perks of being sentenced to death without actually having to die.