Commentary by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Five Cueball thoughts for Nov. 29, 2015…

1. Perspective …

Sumner County was inflicted with wet icy weather this week. And inevitably when that occurs Sumner Coujnty utility workers, whether they work for the city of Wellington or REC or wherever, are asked to take time away from their families and go bear the weather elements to fix fallen lines.

Electricity is something we take so much for granted these days. There has been a lot written and spoken about the recent electric rate increase going into effect in January — so much so that I am putting a moratorium on the subject until something newsworthy comes down the pike on the subject.

Yes, these utility rates are extremely high. Yes, there needs to be vigilance in the analysis on where are money is going. Yes, there is someone very powerful, who is making a lot more money than he/she should be at the expense of us consumers.

But sometimes, it’s best to just sit back and say thanks for the service we receive. We have a lot of hard working people in the utility department and it is important they get their due.

Thank you guys for keeping me warm over the holidays.

This week, I went to Texas to visit relatives near Dallas, and I was thinking about the price of gasoline. It was $1.85 a gallon at the pump. Last year, it was $2.57. We all remember when the price was hovering around $4 a gallon. I figured on my 300 mile trip (600 roundtrip), averaging about 20 miles per gallon, I used 30 gallons of gas to and from my destination. I saved $60 in fuel compared to what I was paying two or three years ago when gas prices were sky high.

Will it be enough to offset my utility rate increase in January? I doubt it. But I haven’t figured my total monthly travel, and the other expenses I incurred throughout the month.

There are so many variables when you look at the cost of living, that it is mind boggling. The utility rate hike is frustrating. But I do not for one second believe this current Wellington City Council has been malicious and incompetent when it comes to this subject. I believe they were caught in a set of circumstances for which they had to react. You don’t spend two hours on a Monday night volunteering your time listening to a long and tedious speech from Kansas Power Pool gurus in hopes of a better tomorrow if you didn’t care (see story here).

It’s all in the perspective. I, for one, am ready to move on and see if we can tackle the next increase heads on, whether it be utility, taxes, or fuel coming down the pike.

———

2. Joseph Randle…

Joseph Randle

Sumner County has made national news again. We are host to what is deemed by many to be a punk pro athlete getting in trouble with the law and basically destroying his pro career. Good to know we can keep up with modern times.

Former Dallas Cowboy running back Joseph Randle was allegedly caught at a Kansas Star Casino blackjack table in northern Sumner County acting badly. The incident turned into a scuffle and eventually got him arrested where he spent the night in one of our jail cells in Wellington, Kansas facing a myriad of charges from assault to battery to disorderly conduct.

Randle isn’t the first athlete (or politician or musician etc.) inflicted with self destructive idiocy. But it seems to me that if you are only going to have a few years to make incredible amounts of money playing pro sports, perhaps poor behavior isn’t your best business decision.

My pick for the dumbest pro athlete digression is getting a DUI. If you are a millionaire type athlete, couldn’t you just pay someone — like say a snot nosed teenager — $20 an hour to sit in a car and drive yourself around town while you partake on a night of revelry and excessive liquid refreshments?

And then there is always the parking lot at a nightclub scenario where a pro athletes gets into some kind of altercation with some drunk lout and ends up in jail. Why don’t pro athletes just walk out of the club get into a limousine and go home. Then they can beat up whomever or the wall in the privacy of their home.

Idiot of the year.

Of course, then there is the truest of all idiot athletes, one who just one the Sportsman of the Year in “Idiot Illustrated.” That would be Cleveland Brown quarterback Johnny Manziel, who seems to have an incident once a week. Manziel has a collection of TMZ videos that might exceed his interception rate in the NFL – and that is quite an accomplishment.

Still, there is one thing that supersedes all punkish behavior. If Randle and Manziel ever get their act together and play well in the NFL, all will be forgiven. Winning trumps everything.

———

3. A&A…

Victoria's Brady Dinkel with the game winning 55-yard touchdown to win 8-Man Divison II title. (via @Sean_Boston_23) pic.twitter.com/oNZ8aABzCa

— Sports in Kansas (@sportsinkansas) November 22, 2015

I saw the best high school football game in years last week. So much so that a week later I’m still thinking about it.

Argonia-Attica, two towns that combined their football programs due to low numbers with fruitful results, lost a 36-28 heart-breaker to Victoria in the waning seconds of the eight-man Div. II state championship game. Victoria running back Brady Dinkel, who runs fast, broke free on a 4th and inches with 16 seconds left and ran 55 yards for a touchdown.

I have ran the play through my mind and saw the video numerous times this week. But even the video doesn’t tell the full story.  At that time, the underdog A&A Titans, had all the momentum having just scored two touchdowns to tie the game late at 28-all. Momentum was on their side. On fourth down, the Titans crowded the line of scrimmage and looked to stop Victoria and turn the ball over on downs.

Unfortunately, Dinkel found a gaping hole provided by their senior-laden offensive line, got ahead of the single safety in the backfield and raced away for glory.

In hind sight, few of us realized how irrelevant the first down was. I’m sure if you asked Luke Greenwood and Lance Vandeveer today, they would have set the defense in a nickel-type formation and allow Dinkel to get the first down and give up maybe 5, 10 or even 20 yards. Yes, A&A could have stopped Dinkel at the line of scrimmage, but it would have been getting the ball with 10 seconds to play with 35 yards to score.

The Titans were making touchdowns in the fourth quarter but they weren’t doing so instantaneously. Their best option was to get Victoria to overtime and take their chances there.

Argonia-Attica football team.

Nevertheless, what a great season for A&A, a team that was so well coached, well prepared, and played the game with such enthusiasm, that I couldn’t get enough of them.

This team proved with the right kind of leadership and available talent, how far a group can go in high school football. The Titans made Sumner County proud.

———

Moooooooooooo.

4. Black Friday …

I’m not about to bash Black Friday sales, since this is what living in a capitalist society is all about.

But I read this comment on Facebook by Phil White of Wellington that made me laugh:

“Perhaps I’m not attracted to Black Friday because when my dad still had cattle it was my job to feed them. Thus, I got to observe the exact same behavior daily and the novelty of the experience wore off some years ago.”

———

5. Shout out of the week…

My shout out goes to that turkey that is still being digested in the pit of my stomach. Dang, is there a better holiday than Thanksgiving – which celebrates eating?

By the way, Black Friday is always the busiest days of the year for plumbers.

Follow us on Twitter.