As far as I am concerned, there is nothing better than a good deal. I look for them everywhere.

I think I am frugal; my wife considers me cheap.

For example, I would never consider paying $75-$100, or more, for a dress shirt, when I could buy a half dozen or so of them at another outlet for the same amount of money.

Well, recently we received a brochure in the mail touting the great deal being offered by a bank.

Basically, if we use our ATM card for purchases, we receive one point for every dollar we spend. So far it doesn’t sound too bad — a one-for-one deal.

But wait, there’s more.

Included in the information sent to us was a list of some of the things we could buy with our points.

For example, we could receive a $5 Starbucks card for 2,000 points, or for 8,000 points (our spending $8,000) we would be the proud owners of a $20 gift certificate from L.L. Bean.

Wow!

I have to spend $2,000 just to get $5 worth of coffee at Starbucks? With the price of some of those drinks, I would more than likely still have to dip into my own pocket to make up the difference.

Where’s the deal?

The bank’s colorful, slick mailing shows people, all of them smiling, reaching into bags to retrieve the purchases made with their points. Apparently they didn’t think this one through enough to realize how much they had to spend to get that little gift card.

The bank even offers a little info box telling how one might spend his or her money and accumulate points.

Under the heading of “See how quickly your points add up,” is the following:

Magazines, $10 a week, 10 points;

Lunch, $40 a week, 40 points;

Groceries, $150 a week, 150 points;

Movies, $20 a week, 20 points;

Dry cleaning, $25 a week, 25 points;

Restaurants, $80 a week, 80 points.

Total: Spent $325, received 325 points.

Now, divide that amount into the 2,000 points it takes to receive that coffee card, and you have six and one-half weeks.

I just don’t see where the deal is.

Well, we didn’t sign up. And now that I have used the bank brochure to write this, it is going into the trash.

I invite the bank to try again with a different program, but make it realistic; make it worth my while.

One game isn’t enough

I see where the University of Miami and Florida International University have suspended a total of 31 players for an on-field brawl that occurred this weekend.

I believe 13 are from UM and the remainder from the FIU.

If you saw the fight, or the tape of it, it was ugly, and some of those players were very violent.

One Miami player even took his helmet off and was using it as a weapon. Other players were stomping on those lying on the ground, reminiscent of Marcus Vick at Virginia Tech last year.

The suspension for the players is only one game.

That is not enough.

Vick was thrown off the team for what he did, and I think that would be appropriate punishment for these players also.

We cannot allow this type of violence to go on and we cannot give any signs of condoning it by handing out light sentences.

Somebody at one, or both of these schools needs to stand up and say enough is enough. These players need to be off the team for the remainder of the season — minimum. And for those seen using a helmet to strike others, or stomping on them while they were down, the penalty should be expulsion from the school.

doug.grant@suffolknewsherald.com