56 Replies to “March Madness”

  3. They just need to get their kids addicted to crack and shooting up the neighborhood, because everyone knows that more basketball hoops is the solution to that problem.

  4. “you cannot taunt these people” brings my p!ss to a boil. Government thuggery at work. “Thievery is OK.. but heaven help you if you use free speech!”

  5. “Go back in your house sir!”…? This is totally insane. Like this guy can’t even be on his own lawn?
    Reaffirms my total disgust with too much government.

  6. I would like to know what the original complaint was and the reasoning behind the removal. Other than that what I just watched was a blatant abuse of power by a bureaucrat, who hides behind the skirt of authority of whatever elected official. Notice how the authorities needed an armed escort to counter the citizen’s backbone. The same here happens in Canada, the abuse of power by a bureaucrat and has the means to enforce their abuse. If we demand an accountable government, whether it be fed, prov or municipal, the bureaucrats must be held accountable, for in essence they are the government that is unelected.

  7. As a parent and a volunteer with youth sports I am troubled by this story.
    In digging further into this it is ironic that the apparent complainant has a positive and extensive history in the area of youth sports involvement.
    Bottom line is this could have been handled far better especially given the immediate hypocrisy of not allowing the basketball net to be kept by the owners.
    I am reminded of the heated debates over street hockey. I am not sure how the workers involved will be able to sit through their own kids’ or grandkids’ sports activities knowing that their actions were over the top.
    Where is the local government representation who should have been advocating for these families? Couldn’t someone have come up with a better solution?
    If the local media was on it’s game they would have given an overview of what is or is not available in the neighbourhood for basketball courts.
    They would have driven the neighbouring streets to see if there were similar actions taken without a complaint driven response.

  8. Couldn’t someone have come up with a better solution?
    Sure. Let’s start handing over our property to them at 1100 feet per second.
    Fascism never ends well and neither will it this time.

  9. Of all the things for the city to waste resources on, pulling up “basketball poles” has to be way down the list. They were erected on city property though, so it’s well within their rights to remove them.

  10. Here’s the rest of the story.
    http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=13220981&page=2
    An elderly couple complained because the kids were ‘in the street’…
    Clearly the kids will find other things to do now…
    Blondie telling the adult to ‘get in the house’ will return later to tell the children to ‘get in the house’.
    When did this happen to the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

  11. You see this so often – not, perhaps as overt as this example, but it really is an example of government run amok. Stay tuned for more – the demoncrats are in office, after all.

  12. If NJ has enough police to tear down basketball hoops and blatantly lie to decent people (she most obviously did lie to the man) then they have far too many police.
    I’d be interested to see what Chris Christie would say about this.

  14. Remember folks what they keep telling you that “they hate us cause of our freedoms” How long are folks going to keep buying that line of crap.

  15. I’m moving there immediately, when the gov’mint, and donut-slurpers, have nothing else to do but confiscate basketball hoops, crime must be non-existent, no dopers, rapists, robberies, cool:)
    Oh, and wtf did THAT cost? With all that lazy-arsed union “workers” there, they shoulda bought the freakin’ thing from him..hahahahahahaahah..fascism+morons..how can you tell the left is in charge….

  16. (North) American Fear
    “I challenge everyone to ask themselves: when was the last time you even thought about the possibility you might be robbed, your house broken into or shot at? Can you even remember? Now ask yourself when was the last time you were afraid of doing something that could be deemed “illegal” by the government and for which you could be fined, detained or arrested? Something like not wearing a seatbelt, speeding, making a U-turn, going through a yellow light, not crossing the street at the cross-walk, riding a bike on a sidewalk, forgetting your license at home, taking too many deductions on your taxes, talking on your phone while driving, not allowing strangers to touch you or your children at the airport, cutting down a tree on your own property, owning and transporting a gun, collecting rain water and the list goes on.”
    ….more http://www.moneytalks.net/daily-updates/5072-north-american-fear.html

  17. Because you know that basketball is a Canadian game; and is cause for ‘corrupting youth’…!!
    Obviously the enforcers haven’t been to an NBA game lately.
    Children playing in a cul de sac, could be dangerous…er annoying for the complainant.
    I keep a hoop at the end of our driveway are the authorities going start writing up citations and legal actions because kids might actually have fun?
    Well we can’t have that can we?
    Out of all the problems in the world, this would be among the least of them…grow a pair.
    And GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, he DID’T send a BUREAUCRACY!!
    Cheers
    Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
    1st Saint Nicolaas Army
    Army Group “True North”

  18. Not alot different with what is going on in Canada.
    Is you kid allowed to play street hockey these days? Just change the sport from Basketball to Hockey. Only difference is that hockey nets don’t require a payloader to remove them.

  19. Government needs its ass kicked by the people, and hard. The Tea Party, libertarians, whoever has the slightest, and perhaps last, chance of doing that should be supported.
    All the politician’s politicians must be outed and recognized for who they are, we need rational adult outsiders elected.
    At the moment ‘they’ hate Sarah Palin the most, that means she must have the right qualities that strikes fear into them, people in any constituency should back people like Palin.

  20. So far there has not been a comment on whether this action would have taken place if the property owners were a visible minority.
    Possibly this did happen to similar property owners who proudly designate themselves as being a visible minority.
    I will watch Fox News to see if there are visible minority property owners affected. If there are not,this in itself does not prove one way or the other my concern. However I doubt if I am alone in having this thought.
    Anticipating there may be intolerant commenters who label me. I apologize for bringing separate and not equal treatment into the comments. Cheers;

  21. In my perfect world, a half dozen neighbors in that cul-de-sac would have opened up on that crew with automatic gunfire.

  22. simlar thing happened in Calgary, folks set up a portable hoop for the kids to play, busy body complains city comes out and issues tickets.
    every summer there seems to be a news story about kids playing ball hockey on the street and some dolt complaining.
    who ever complained would be getting an ear full that’s for sure. Legality be dammed, kids playing hoops (or hockey) on the street means they are not out with spray paint or slashing tires.

  23. Heh……I can just imagine the homecoming of the big brave police man that went out on that call.
    Hi Honey I’m home.
    How was your day at work dear.
    Great I saved countless wee innocent children from the dreaded basketball pole, yup we finally got it down.
    But hey someone’s property values probably just went up right? That’s all that matters right? /sarc.
    Partner sighing adoringly: My hero…..

  24. I remember when people complaining about kids playing ball on the street used to get laughed at and called a crank-pot.
    Now we have to go down to city council and petition to have the No Street Play bylaws reversed. Not suprised though, this is the same crew that wants to ban composting grass clippings and already banned my kid’s spring loaded nerf pistol.

  25. Fight EVERY parking ticket.
    Fight EVERY fine.
    Question EVERY civic employee as well as EVERY civic politician.
    GO to City Hall, speak in council chambers.
    Ten people speaking are louder than 10,000 standing silently.
    A little civic disobedience can go a LONG way to correcting this b*llsh*t by p*ss ant bureaucrats.
    http://www.iheartregina.com

  28. Charlie Engle’s story is just weird, FBI agents on the lookout for people that appear to have been successful, so are now suspect. I recall the East German Stasi having files on this sort of thing, everyone turning in the goods on their neighbor, every spouse a suspect…
    http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_8_37/ai_n15970519/ … This is from Reason Magazine, on the horrors of Stasi.
    Now what does this have to do with the story in the National Post yesterday that indicated 85% of British Columbians have a police file on them that may prevent them from volunteering for lunch duty at the local school? Ah, it’s going to be here in Alberta within 2 years too… more government protection, for your protection, and at your cost both in the pocketbook and from your freedoms. Where is Canada’s Mark Levin? Soon our tyranny will not be so soft.
    as for Delaware, I imagine those neighborhood watch committees will have to drive to the supermarket for the next 10 years when they find themselves running low on a cup of sugar.

  30. The knee jerk opinion that the Hoop was on city property may be incorrect. In my NJ home the City put in the sidewalks & boulevards, but it was my reasonability to repair & replace that property (including Curb) all the way to the street. A lawyer might make the case that the property became mine by default. I did have to have home insurance to cover Liability on the (city) sidewalk…
    It was Common to have hoops in the Boulevard… Yes some people would complain when the kids didn’t let traffic by, but in NJ a “look” would solve that issue…They then tried the Liability issue scam, “Costs to Much” City council meeting got heated… JUST BUY THE INSURANCE and document what Insurance Company is against sports…Never happened….

  31. I suggest the “neighbors” institute some activities that would make the complaining couple wish the basketball poles were back.
    We live across the street from a huge turf farm owned by “not so nice people”. This past summer they started to cut their turf at 4AM, waking the neighbors due to the heavy equipment. Then to add insult to injury they finished at 6AM. When we complained to them and the city we were told there was nothing we could because it is an agricultural area.
    3 days before Christmas we were awakened in the night by the sound of roaring truck engines but didn’t pay too much attention. I got up, looked out thew window and mistook the neighbors Christmas lights for the running lights on a semi trailer so went back to sleep. In the morning it became apparent what the engine noise was about. Someone with a 4X4 had done donuts over a big portion of the 100 acre turf farm .They caused about $50,000 damage. And to add insult to injury apparently the 4X4 got stuck and had to be pulled out by a tractor.
    Karma (or revenge in this case) is a real bitch. But the topper in this was that the people who owned the farm were notified the day before Christmas during their Christmas dinner and apparently the news ruined their dinner.
    Ya think!!

  32. I watched the clip and read the comment there and here.
    Most opine like PeggyU
    “I hope when the city budget tightens that the blonde Vogon is the first to get the axe.”
    This gal was not uniformed, was not police but most likely some local bureaucrat….pushing her luck….her body language gave that away.
    I suspect she will be the sorry SOB who gets thrown under the bus to placate the angry masses.

  33. The blatant lie will become historically significant. Symbolically, this episode is huge. It’s one thing to lie. Quite another to lie when you don’t have to.

  34. Suggestion (hindsight is 20/20, right?):
    Hang you mailbox on the pole, and put some recently received mail in the box. Bada-bing! Knocking down the mailbox and they are tampering with mail, a federal crime. Or alternatively, balance an open can of red paint on the rim. Give ’em a bloody-looking mess on the front end loader when they yank the pole.
    OK, kind of lame, but final acts of defiance can be satisfying. It’s that or bowing down to our new overlords

  35. I actually feel sorry for the poor state trooper who was tasked with protecting this bureaucrat twit who was obviously enjoying throwing her legal(?) weight around. however he still should have stood up when blondie pulled the fast one with possession of the pole.
    Actually, where was this blond boot-licker’s ID? If I am not mistaken that is a fake FBI hoodie she is wearing. I’ll be she was just some desk jockey who jumped at the chance to do a field trip and has probably watched too many crime shows on TV.

  36. The city government assholes will take these nets to their homes for free once the heat is off.

  37. If it were me I would look for sponsors to help pay the costs and I would replace the pole every week. Keep the state busy pulling poles.

  38. Sasquatch – You are right; she will be the symbolic scapegoat. She needs to go, though, if only because of her mindset. At what point does a worker, government or otherwise, look at what he is doing and say, “This is wrong!”?
    I realize that the city can exercise its right of way here, so it is probably legal. However, the man indicated that he was not ignoring the situation, but had responded and notified a representative. He should have been granted some time to request a variance or make some other appeal, especially given that the pole had stood there for 60 years.
    The other thing is … those poles aren’t cheap!!! They had no business confiscating the man’s property. I hope they return that particular pole, repaired, with an apology.
    When you think about it, though, the government only wants what’s best for our kids. We all know that the government thinks our kids don’t get enough exercise. I suppose, though, that they think goosestepping is more aerobic than playing basketball.

  39. As disgusted as I am with the State thuggery shown, I would suggest that the pole was on the street side of the public sidewalk and therefor on City(?) land…not a lot of legal justification supporting the homeowners.
    On a practical level, I’m also guessing that life is going to become hell for the a-holes who bitched to the authorities in the first place. I remember, with some shame, and along with a number of other neighbourhood kids, taking vengeance on an old couple that objected to the cops about our playing baseball in the street in front of their house. They eventually broke and moved.
    I’ve got to say the cops were pretty good about giving us our little lecture, with a bit of a nudge- nudge, wink wink. They fully understood the concept.

  40. Anyone else notice the Police State creeping in around Saskatchewan? All of a sudden there are RID signs all over advising people to ‘Report Impaired Drivers’.
    What if you substitute the word ‘Police’ for the word ‘Gestapo’, and substitute the word ‘impaired drivers’ with the word ‘Jew’ so the sign now reads ‘report all Jews to the Gestapo’. Have we not seen this before?
    WTF, using crown corporation and tax payer dollars to encourage, no, INCITE citizens to spy and report upon one another.
    Just another goose step towards a total police state.

  41. The state should encourage basketball, it seems like one of the few places to offer employment these days.

  42. This part of any Dying civilization, is know as the Dominate phase.
    The Blond was an idiot. Any real city worker Knows your always being watched, & to act with reason. At least in Parks & Rec.
    People run whole districts that are like her. They enjoy the exercise of bulling others.
    For no reason but they can. I might add they lie so much, truth when told mixes up their brains.
    JMO

  43. Geeze …. basketball hoops ….solar panels …. windmills …. forced tree cutting … bans on parked vehicles …. looks like tough times for property owners.
    These people knew it was coming and they knew why it was happening …. they also knew they had no business putting the net on the boulevard. Or … more importantly leaving it there after being notified to remove it. The truck full of nets removed first were all portable and the owners could have easily taken the away from the curb and out of the easement RoW. They did not and got what they deserved.
    I see a whiner and his half nutcase wife grandstanding over something because they had no legal right to do what they did.
    Yeah … it may be that everyone else on the block was doing it … but that could be part of the problem too eh? As for some busy body neighbour complaining …. yep that was probably unnesessary.
    The blonde civic drone was anoying and petulant … the cop did make a fool of himself by lying about the pole being not confiscated and a host of other things. The whole incident just brought out the worst in everyone … no?
    But if you go back to root causes of this … it was the blatant violation of an ordinance that created the situation and precipitated the action … right or wrong.
    And BTW for all you erstwhile legal experts out there ….curbsides and boulevards are NOT the property of the home owners. They are known as easements and the municipality has absolute control over the use of them. I have uprooted trees … ripped up sidewalks … removed stone work… fences …. gardens …. swingsets … lighting …..destroyed swimming pools … patios …. decks … garages … sheds and just about any other property of homeowners who knew very well that the easement was theirs to use … only as long as that use does not interfere with the holders of legal right of way … the public utilities … transport … streets and operations etc.
    When a utility gives notice that they are exercising their control over the easement RoW the property owner has only one option … and that is to remove their crap within the alloted time.
    Now … having pushed utilities through all sorts of neighborhoods … I can say that the crews usually make every effort to avoid detroying peoples stuff …. but this video and the background story shows that this guy and his wife were interfering with the work crews … which is illegal … they could have been charged criminally for that and it would have been entirely because they brought it upon themselves. He could have just taken the thing out until the dispute was resolved and avoided the confrontation …. but he did not and provoked the incident.
    The city had every right to remove the damned post and net … even if it was handled badly …. it was legal. Regardless of the complainers motivations the nets were a violation.
    The jerkoff with the cane and his neighbours need to take their argument to city hall.

  44. the hoops were creating a problem, they are on public right of way and so they went, and rightfully so. if the kids playing were as rude and combative as the idiot with the cane then I can see were the problem is. who fixes the dents in the carts parked along the boulevard/ who ensures that raucous games don’t go late and keep others up?who sweeps up the busted beer bottles and garbage left behind? This is not a freedom issue, it is about acting in an adult responsible manner and getting along with your nieghbours.the idiot seems incapable of any of that.

  45. Well nice to see a liberal sticking up for the man. Good job Nick.
    No friends to play with when you were growing up?

  46. So, Bear, you’re good with someone parking their monster RV in front of your house and leaving it there for months at a time?
    No? Whyszat?

  47. rv’s and baseket ball hoops are two different thing’s danivan!!!
    The principle is not the same either these are kids playing a game and now they can’t becasue some retards cried ..the other is a storage problem anyway

  48. The teenage cop lied to the homeowner with his hat covering his eyes. At least he flushed pink, maybe he is lying for the very first time to a regular citizen, don’t know.
    But troubling is that these ‘government servants’ will embrace islam, which will allow them to lie to anyone and not feel guilty.
    We are SOL, because you folks (as in ‘North American People’) don’t understand that there is freedom of faith and there are criminal doctrines.
    You don’t seem to understand that:
    1. When someone believes that to attain perfection they must eat only handful of grains a day and stand on their head for 30 min, then it’s their protected faith.
    2. That when someone believes that they must wear long gowns, gather around a stone altar at night and sacrifice a chicken, than it’s protected faith too.
    3. That when some believe that a certain man was a son of god and he was resurrected after death, and told us to turn other cheek, than it’s too a protected faith, but!
    4. That when someone believes that a robber, genocidal dictator, murderer and paedophile wrote a book telling his followers to convert everyone to his faith, make those who refuse pay tax in humiliating manner and kill those who refuse, than it is not a protected faith but criminal militant organization which has to be prosecuted accordingly.
    Sucks to be you. Worse is that you are dragging along those who understand all that.

  49. > When did this happen to the land of the free, and the home of the brave?
    When they forgot that they were given 2A to protect the rest of them.

  50. Hey Nick;
    I wish you were my neighbor so that I could do donuts on your front lawn in the middle of the night….
    Keep working hard at those ESL classes.
    Nob.

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