Made it Into the Mailbag

Granted, it wasn't the Sports Guy's mailbag, but it'll do.

I'm a loyal reader of Tim Griffin's Big XII blog on ESPN and I sent him a question last week which made it into his mailbag.

Here's the text:

Ryan from Round Rock, Texas, writes: Tim, Why does everyone fawn over Josh Freeman? I know he has prototypical size for a QB, but he's maddeningly inconsistent. He's Chris Simms, except in a purple uniform. If I were Bill Snyder, I'd make him Kerry Meier 2.0 and put in a signal caller that can really read defenses.

Tim Griffin: The scouts I talk to all love Freeman's size and arm and his ability to move in and outside the pocket, but like you aren't enthralled with his consistency. I think he would do better to return to school, but I think some NFL team will make him a first-day selection if he was to declare.

And with all of the talk about the upcoming rookie salary scale, I think we'll probably see more players than ever declare for the draft this season.

Ruined!!

On our way up to visit family this weekend, we spent some time playing the alphabet song game, where you come up with a song that starts with every letter of the alphabet.

You know the song "He's got the whole world in His hands"?

As soon as we started singing it, my mind went to the scene in "Con Air" when they're leaving the old abandoned airport and Steve Buschemi is singing that while clutching the girl's doll. It's forever etched in my brain and I can't hear that song without thinking about that scene.

Pet Peeves

At work, there are windows along the hallway and on the door.
Why is it that people don't knock?
They just stand there at the door or the window and stare at you.
I guess they just expect me to sense they are there.
Do they think I am Darth Vader? (I can feel him)
Do they think I have eyes in the side or back of my head? (Ever see that episode of Outer Limits with the nanobots? Creepy!)
It bugs me to death.
I think I'll just start ignoring those people.

And another thing...
There is a guy at work that texts while he's on the pot.
I'm in there doing my business and I here this clicking in the stall next to me.
Does that person know they're being texted to from the john?
ICK!

And while we're here...
I'm beginning to be that old guy. You know the type.
Just a few short years ago I was that young punk weaving in and out of traffic, nearly causing a wreck every ten miles.
Tonight there was some jerk in a Spider that would tool around for a bit and just for fun start dartin in and out just because he could with his little sports car.
The best part? We stopped in Hillsboro and the doofus was wearing a Santa hat with a sly grin on his mug.
You know what happened next...he has to prove he's cool by blowing us off the line. Yeah, dude. You're cool. You just whupped a dude in the family car. Here's your sign.

Well, that about does it. Time to get these tired old bones to bed.

The Gory Details

Caution: If you've eaten recently or are not sitting down, come back when you're ready.

To get my beloved's take, click here.

These pictures are at the behest of the Zookeeper.

These are directly after the accident and before I cleaned up.

Please note: I understand that hairy legs aren't necessarily attractive, so adding the blood and subtracting some skin does not help at all.

Scraped nose and a bloody, but not busted, lip

Bloody elbow

Road rash on the right shoulder

Back of the left leg. I don't know where the flesh went. But I do miss it.

Front of left leg. The darker spots are some loose gravel from where the city has been repaving perfectly fine roads around our neighborhood. Something about beautification/upkeep.

All in all, not too bad. A lot of people have asked how my bike fared. The bike shop said it'd be about $65 to fix it. That sounds pretty cheap right? THAT'S BECAUSE MY LEFT LEG CUSHIONED THE BLOW!

The wheels looked okay. The only things that needed replaced were the quick-release mechanism and chain assembly on the back wheel. And the handlebars needed a little tweaking.

Yeah. But you should see the truck. Totalled the poor guy's Ram.

In all seriousness, though, I am very blessed to have walked away from this accident with what looks like only a sprained left knee and some road rash. PRAISE THE LORD!

Week 14 Rankings and the BCS

After last week saw no change in the top 6 spots in my rankings, it's time to publish my final rankings of the year. Again, I apologize for the formatting.


RC1 RC2 BCS
1 Oklahoma 12-1 0.9526 1 Texas 0.9583 1 Oklahoma 0.9757
2 Florida 12-1 0.9444 2 Oklahoma 0.9508 2 Florida 0.9479
3 Texas 11-1 0.9407 3 Florida 0.9427 3 Texas 0.9298
4 Texas Tech 11-1 0.9296 4 Utah 0.9240 4 Alabama 0.8443
5 Utah 12-0 0.9253 5 Alabama 0.9198 5 USC 0.8208
6 Alabama 12-1 0.9036 6 Texas Tech 0.9075 6 Utah 0.7846
7 Boise State 12-0 0.8953 7 Boise State 0.8931 7 Texas Tech 0.7840
8 Penn State 11-1 0.8943 8 Penn State 0.8929 8 Penn State 0.7384
9 Ohio State 10-2 0.8928 9 Ohio State 0.8894 9 Boise State 0.6980
10 Cincinnati 11-2 0.8741 10 Cincinnati 0.8738 10 Ohio State 0.6354
11 Georgia 9-3 0.8632 11 USC 0.8669 11 TCU 0.5848
12 TCU 10-2 0.8577 12 Pittsburgh 0.8661 12 Cincinnati 0.5384
13 USC 11-1 0.8524 13 Georgia 0.8597 13 Oklahoma State 0.4866
14 Georgia Tech 9-3 0.8487 14 TCU 0.8556 14 Georgia Tech 0.4516
14 Pittsburgh 9-3 0.8487 15 Michigan State 0.8477 15 Georgia 0.3775
16 Oklahoma State 9-3 0.8446 16 Oklahoma State 0.8422 16 BYU 0.3580
17 Florida State 8-4 0.8312 17 Ball State 0.8261 17 Oregon 0.3395
18 Michigan State 9-3 0.8310 18 BYU 0.8260 18 Michigan State 0.2866
19 BYU 10-2 0.8265 19 Georgia Tech 0.8258 19 Virginia Tech 0.2440
20 Ball State 12-1 0.8264 20 Nebraska 0.8195 20 Pittsburgh 0.2377
21 Virginia Tech 9-4 0.8216 21 Boston College 0.8194 21 Missouri 0.1627
22 Boston College 9-4 0.8207 22 Missouri 0.8192 22 Ball State 0.1464
23 Missouri 9-4 0.8202 23 Virginia Tech 0.8187 23 Northwestern 0.1377
24 North Carolina 8-4 0.8044 24 Florida State 0.8049 24 Boston College 0.1046
25 Nebraska 8-4 0.8024 25 North Carolina 0.8017 25 Ole Miss 0.0837
26 Ole Miss 8-4 0.7999 26 Ole Miss 0.7974
27 Northwestern 9-3 0.7955 27 Northwestern 0.7948

Some brief thoughts:
1. Except for USC & Oregen being too low and Florida State too high, RC1 was pretty close to the BCS, even jumping Florida over Texas this week. Last year RC2 was closer. That's the fun part.
2. Word to Nate Davis: The ball is not a live ferret. (More props to TMQ). Do not drop it or give it to the other team. (I know one wasn't your fault).

Now, onto the BCS.
You may or may not remember this post back on November 23rd. Let's just say that so far I am two for two. OU did jump Texas for the Big XII South title and the BCS Championship Game is Florida versus Oklahoma. Overall, I'm not too upset. After expecting four losses and only getting tagged with one (a game which we had no business winning), I'm good with how things broke.
Now, youz guyz wit da Burnt Ornge flowing tru dose veins, don't get too upset. I'm flummoxed by the BC-Mess just like everyone else is, but there's not going to be a playoff any time soon, no matter what the President-elect says. I urge Mr. Obama to focus on much more important things like Social Security, Wall Street and the like. With any format you look at with 4, 8 or 16 teams, we still have to go through Florida and OU again. With the 8-team format we'd beat USC fairly easily and then meet Florida. With a 16-team format, we'd take care of Georgia Tech (not without a good fight), then cruise past Utah before meeting Florida. Do we beat Florda? It's not outside the realm of possibility. Our D-line would cause some havoc, which is what Ole Miss used to defeat the Gators at The Swamp. Offensively, we've got more weapons than the Crimson Tide team that fizzled out in the SEC Championship Game. Beat them and we have a rematch with OU that we win or lose by a slim margin.

As far as The Ohio State University making it into the BCS, I think it's a sham. I'd much rather see Boise State in there.

Well, that's it for now. I'll check back later when bowl season starts.

What a Woman!

I know that you know that my Bride is a wonderful woman. Not only is she a godly woman, but she is a great wife to me, an awesome mother to my children and a super friend and family member.

I also know that you know that, like most men, I married up.

And while that corny line "You complete me" remains as corny as ever, it also has quite a bit of truth in it. See, I've historically been a bad finisher. And although last year was "The Year of Follow-through" for me, I still have leaps and bounds to go. But as we heard this past Sunday, I'm not going to get fixed, I'm just going to get better. That's where my Bride comes in.

This weekend brought the enormous task of leaf-gathering at our house. You know that it can be a rather back-breaking go of it after a while. And it was. I was ready to throw in the towel, but my Babe just kept raking. This lesson isn't just for me anymore. It's for my girls. They need not just a Mommy, but a Daddy as well, that knows how to follow through and finish a task, no matter what the cost.

So thanks Babe for being God's instrument for change in my life and instruction for our girls.

I love you.

:o*

Week 12 BCS Rankings

You, my friends, get the rankings that you want and deserve. I'll post them and give some feedback.

For those of you not familiar with my rankings, I have two formulae and the BCS results side by side for comparison. Last year, I liked the way RC2 ended versus the BCS rather than RC1. Maybe next year I won't even fiddle with RC1.

Here is a link to the expanded BCS Standings.

Anyhow, without further ado...

RC1 RC2 BCS
1 Oklahoma 10-1 0.9313 1 Texas 0.9518 1 Alabama 0.9872
2 Texas 10-1 0.9302 2 Alabama 0.9431 2 Texas 0.9209
3 Florida 10- 1 0.9262 3 Oklahoma 0.9322 3 Oklahoma 0.9125
4 Alabama 11- 0 0.9239 4 Florida 0.9274 4 Florida 0.8755
5 Texas Tech 10-1 0.9149 5 Utah 0.9141 5 USC 0.7974
6 Utah 12-0 0.9118 6 Georgia 0.8989 6 Utah 0.7858
7 Georgia 9-2 0.8984 7 Texas Tech 0.8973 7 Texas Tech 0.7789
8 Penn State 11- 1 0.8818 8 Penn State 0.8840 8 Penn State 0.7520
9 Boise State 11- 0 0.8799 9 Boise State 0.8810 9 Boise State 0.6581
10 Okla. State 9- 2 0.8758 10 Okla. State 0.8771 10 Ohio State 0.6210
11 Ohio State 10-2 0.8741 11 Ohio State 0.8749 11 Georgia 0.6020
12 Missouri 9-2 0.8605 12 Missouri 0.8625 12 Okla. State 0.5705
13 Cincinnati 9-2 0.8563 13 Cincinnati 0.8595 13 Missouri 0.5589
14 Ball State 11- 0 0.8493 14 USC 0.8526 14 TCU 0.4702
15 FSU 8- 3 0.8453 15 Ball State 0.8511 15 Ball State 0.4379
16 TCU 10- 2 0.8437 16 TCU 0.8453 16 Cincinnati 0.3971
17 USC 9- 1 0.8351 17 Pittsburgh 0.8370 17 Oregon St. 0.3131
18 GT 8- 3 0.8310 18 Mich. State 0.8335 18 BYU 0.2625
19 BC 8-3 0.8163 19 FSU 0.8240 19 Mich. State 0.2218
20 Pittsburgh 7-3 0.8158 20 BC 0.8177 20 FSU 0.1882
21 BYU 10-2 0.8137 21 BYU 0.8166 21 BC 0.1862
22 Mich. State 9-3 0.8136 22 GT 0.8114 22 GT 0.1812
23 WVU 7- 3 0.8011 23 WVU 0.8027 23 Oregon 0.1551
24 UCONN 7- 3 0.7978 24 Nebraska 0.8027 24 Northwestern 0.1130
25 WMU 9-2 0.7848 25 UCONN 0.7996 25 Pitt 0.0413

I've tried several ways to fiddle with this, but for some reason the formatting simply won't work. Sorry it's such a jumble.

Some thoughts:
1. My formulae have never been friendly to USC. It's the overall weakness of their conference, couple with the fact they've played two fewer games than most of the top teams. From a non-formulaic standpoint, their offense just isn't putting up the points it needs to. They'd get destroyed by a Big XII or SEC team.
2. Other than USC being lower and Georgia being higher, everything jells fairly well with the BCS rankings until you get to the very bottom. Note that Georgia's average computer ranking is 9 and they're not too far away from being #7.
3. In addition to USC, Alabama is being held back by its opponents. The only two teams with a tougher schedule than Texas are Arkansas and Utah State.

Child's Play

So, twice a month or so, my dear wife takes the girls to the Family Connections Library and they bring home fun things to play with. I think this time Daddy had as much, or more, fun than the girls.

There was one more of a giant triangle that I made, but I couldn't find it. Oh well.

Crimson and Creamed

That game was competitive for all of a nanosecond. Oklahoma asserted its dominance on both sides of the ball and it was a rout like none I've seen in a long time.

I loved the decision by Stoops to go for the onside kick after being up 28-0 in the second quarter. He went for the jugular. You get it back and most likely score another TD and it's 35-0. If not, your D holds them and gets the ball back. Our neighbors were here and I said "I'm calling it. Time of death: Second quarter, 7:45 remaining."

What does this mean for the Longhorns? In the words of the immortal Jim Mora, Sr.: "Diddly-poo". Here's how it was going to play out:
1. Tech wins and goes to the Big XII Championship Game.
2. OU wins, but loses to OSU in the Bedlam Game next week, giving Tech the Big XII South title, assuming they beat Baylor.
3. OU wins against both Tech and OSU and jumps us in the BCS rankings to claim the Big XII South.

So I wasn't really rooting for either team. I just think OU will give the Florida-'Bama winner a better game. The way I see it playing out is Florida-OU in the BCS Championship Game with Florida winning their second title in three years, with the score roughly 55-35. There's gonna be a lot of points on the board. What OU will need to do is run straight at the Gators. There's just too much speed to try to bounce it outside. And on D, they need to hold contain, which will be hard to do with the track team that disguises itself as the Florida offense.

You heard it here first.

Oh, and maybe I'll put the time in to post my Rankings. The past few weeks at work haven't been conducive to the Rankings, let alone the consistent Monday-Wednesday night commitments.

Longhorn Football

You knew it was coming. Perhaps you've even pined for it, yearning for my take on that fateful autumn night two weeks ago in Lubbock, Texas.

I'm not going to go into the whole 4th game in a row against a Top 11 team or trying to get up emotionally for the 4th game in a row. I'll just talk exes and ohs.

If you were to tell me that we'd go into Lubbock after that gauntlet and hold Tech to just 30 offensive points, I would've bet the house! And the car. And what's left of my 401K. That is if I was allowed to gamble.

1. This is the biggest game in the history of your opponent's athletic department, not just football. Students had camped out starting on Tuesday for tickets. You know it's going to be loud.
2. You are pinned on your own 2-yard line with said home crowd roaring at military afterburner levels (props to TMQ).
3. Yes, you average better than 4 yards per carry, but you average 12 yards per reception--your bread and butter--and you've almost double passing yards versus rushing yards. If you're as intelligent as a cucumber, you decide a quick slant or at the very least an option to the wide side of the field. Apparently, if you're Greg !%*&^ Davis, you call a slow-developing run into the teeth of a defense just itching to give their crowd one more reason to ratchet up the noise. If A=B and B=C, then Greg Davis is less intelligent than a cucumber.
4. It took 3.5 quarters to figure out what to do on offense after losing Quan Cosby to injury.
5. That pick-six that Colt threw to Charbonnet has been itching to happen for several weeks now. You've seen the Brett Favre coming out where Colt forgets to just throw the ball away. But give credit for Ruffin McNeal having his defense prepared and a few wrinkles to throw McCoy off his game.
6. Tech dominated, flat dominated, the line of scrimmage for 55 minutes of that game.
7. With UT driving for the game-winning touchdown, a smart player falls down at the 1-inch line to take some more time off the clock. If you're the #1 team in the nation and you can't gain 1 inch in two attempts, you don't deserve to be #1.
8. Everybody talks about Blake Gideon's dropped INT, but nobody talks about Earl Thomas taking himself out of the final play. If you watch the replay (by the way, you couldn't miss it because it was all over ESPN.com), you'll see that Thomas (#12) runs slick smooth past Crabtree and onto the sideline. You're a safety. Your job is to hit people and hit people hard. Crabtree's momma should still be feeling that hit. Why didn't you hit anybody? Take a page from the Rodney Harrison playbook and do everything but commit a felony to prevent him from either catching the ball, landing in bounds or making any progress toward the goal-line or sideline.

So our only chance to make the Big XII title game and National Championship game rest on OU and Baylor's porous defenses to shut down The Fighting Mike Leaches? Good luck with that. By the way, this is the best use of the "The Fighting Coaches Name Plural" of any I've seen. The Jeff Tedfords, et cetera just don't have the catchet of the Leaches. Sounds like a CFL summer league team name.

Congrats to Tech on a whale of a game and a downright demolition of the OSU Pokes. See you in Miami.

Finally, it's odd that I am able to have perspective on this sort of thing. But when my preseason expectation was four losses, three at best, I'm excited to see what next year holds. Now if we can just not play down to A&M in a few weeks.

Has it really been that long?

The last post was October 20th. At that time, gas was somewhere in the $2.90 range. Tonight I filled up at the BP on 620 & I35 for $1.99.

It hasn't been in the ones since what, 9-11?

Now if only the cost of everything else starts to come down. I'd like to see milk back in the twos again.

Road Trip!!

My buddy Mike from UT got married this weekend in Albuquerque, NM.

We arranged from some friends to take care of them during the day and Nana to stay with them overnight so we could carpool with the Taps and my buddy Chris. We left at 6AM in the Tap's Odyssey and drove straight through with only a stop in the left armpit of Texas (a.k.a. Lubbock). While in the Quizno's, we hear "Yellow Submarine" over the speakers. At the outset Chris was adamant about the car-ride being the vacation and the time spent in NM was the break from the vacation. Well, I couldn't resist putting it to words: "We all live in a silver Odyssey...a silver Odyssey...a silver Odyssey."

Tap's van came with a TV screen and Chris brought his PS2 and Guitar Hero paraphenalia. Now, when you have 22 hours to kill in van, you can get pretty good at something, and that's just what I did. Now I can't listen to a song without thinking "Man, this would be sweet to play on Guitar Hero." That's just what I do. In college I used to play Freecell and Minesweeper in my head.

We enjoyed hanging out with Mike and his Army buddies on Friday night. We played pool for 2.5 hours or so in this bar that was non-smoking. NON-SMOKING!! YOU HEAR THA T AUSTIN? It's so refreshing to go play pool for a few hours and not come home smelling like an ashtray. I even brought an extra change of clothes specifically for replacing the togs worn to the bar. Needless to say, it was like riding a bike and my partner and I ran the tables for a great deal of the evening.

The wedding was a Catholic wedding, which was a new experience for me since I'd never been to a Catholic service before. At the end they left to a bag-piper leading them through three pairs of sword-wielding Army buddies in their dress blues.

Mike and his bride were to leave the church and go to the reception in his Hummer. A real Army Hummer. The take-up-two-parking-spaces Hummer. The camo Hummer. Well, he needed someone to move said Hummer from across the street to in front of the church. I bet by now you've guessed who he asked to do this most noble of tasks. Yep. Moi. Mike and his bro gave me the instructions on how to start the Beast and I went nice and slow so as not to come within several yards of other cars. After the pictures were done and me and the guys went to the reception, we had to wait for a line of cars to go by. And wouldn't you know, but an H3 Hummer happened to cross in front of us. With indignation and pride befitting such an occasion, I yelled forth "LOSER! I drove the real thing!" Ha. (That gagging sound you hear is my bride after hearing this story the umpteenth time in the past 48 hours.)

After cleaning up from the reception, we headed out to the van to start the trek home. We received several updates about The Game. 14-0. 21-0. 35-0. And on we went. Through construction traffic and Checkpoint Charlie and into the great state of Texas. But we hadn't heard the final score. Luckily, my buddy Knight Rider had left me a voicemail in response to my earlier call with the news: 56-31. Another foe vanquished! We made it home at 8AM Sunday morning, all very tired and ready for some rest. I slept from 9 to noon and then 2 to 4. Then I was able to be a decent Daddy to my very daddy-starved girls. I missed you two. And I can say I love you even more now than I did before the trip.

Thanks to the Fens, Nana and LY & friend for taking such good care of our girls and for the Almighty for keeping us safe especially on the drive home. Thanks to Chris for Guitar Hero and the Taps for their buggy. And thanks to those pesky charlatans of OPEC for allowing the price of oil to go down enough that it didn't add another digit to the national debt for us just to make the 1500-mile journey.

Coming soon, my college football column.

Birthday Week

As you may have heard, I turned 30 on Friday.

But the festivities began before that. Wednesday night, Nana came over to babysit and me and the missus went to Outback for my birthday dinner. I guess they jacked up their prices to pay for all their new place settings, because that was stupid expensive. I'm not going back there again for a long, long time unless someone buys for me.

Thursday night we watched Grey's Anatomy after the girls went to bed. Wow. This show is entering the last season of Alias territory. It's getting just silly with some of the "plot" lines and there's way too much sexuality.

Friday morning, Babe made some chocolate chip oatmeal muffins for breakfast. I had a nice cool ride into work. The day started very well when a major test I run ran completely and all specs were met. Then at the end of the day, I was working on an important special project and I noticed that two analytes were missing at the very end. Thank goodness we hadn't submitted the results yet, or we would've definitely failed. I had another similar project that we submitted on Thursday and passed with flying colors. I got congrats all around, which was a great compliment after having won the Star Award for Q2 last week.

But tragedy struck the C-Fam when Munchkin came down with a fever yesterday. Babe was devastated because she'd planned a surprise party for me to have friends come over to watch the game with me. Munchkin was devastated too. When she woke up this morning, she told me she was sorry that she was sick and my friends couldn't come over. I felt so bad for her. It's not her fault someone brought their germy kid to wherever it was she caught the bug.

Did I mention a game? HOOK 'EM HORNS!!
What a game. I know my Sooner coworkers, the P brothers, are going to harp on the officiating with those two personal fouls that got called against them. My retort? What about the no-call holding penalty on their first drive on third down. When someone is running one way and a split second later is going the other way, there's really only one explanation, right? The best part? When Jordan Shipley caught a slant pass and Quan Cosby came back and absolutely lit up the defender. It was fun watching the replay, especially in slo-mo, where #11 gets decleated. I mean, that's gotta be the highlight of his day, right? I can't imagine anything more fun for a wide receiver than doling out the punishment.

It's been a great week. I would be remiss, however, to not mention the fun Babe had prepared for me when I got home on Friday after work. She had mentioned it before I left for work: a treasure hunt when I got home. It was 30 things she and the girls love about daddy. I'll leave you with some of the highlights:

#1: "Your strong arms. I love that you still pick me up and carry me around some times." - Babe
#9: "The way you spend time with our family..." - Babe
#13: "The way we snuggle on the couch..." - Munchkin
#15: "When we do 'froggy' after bath." - Munchkin
#21: "How you give us Eskimo kisses." - Tiny One
"29: "The way you give the best bear hugs when I run to you after you get home from work." - Tiny One

Thanks so much Babe for all the thought you put into celebrating my birthday. You're the best!

Happy 30th Birthday Babe!

Happy birthday daddy! We love you so much and hope your day is very special!

We're so blessed to be able to spend it with you.

Love, your girls

*posted by cheryl

Clarity Indeed

If you go back a couple of days to this post, I mentioned that this weekend would start to bring some clarity to to chase for the BCS National Championship Game.

It's still pretty much a 3-team Mountain West race to become the BCS crasher, although Boise State is making some noise, with their only remaining challenge (on paper, at least) a Thanksgiving battle with Fresno State at home. ECU: Thanks for stopping by. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

The Unbeatens:
Colorado squeaked by WVU in overtime.
Baylor gave UConn a serious run for their money in Storrs, but came up just short.
Terrelle Pryor TCB (Took Care of Business) against Troy.
Those fightin' Soliches were a TD and 2-pt conversion from sending Northwestern to OT.
Alabama blew away Arkansas (not really unexpected considering the Hogs performance to date).
Again, Boise took down a depleted Oregon squad on their 4th-stringer at QB.
Utah survived Air Force.
Wake Forest won a battle of field goals against Free Shoes University. (sorry, that one never gets old)
Ball State beat Indiana, but might be asking themselves "Where is the Love?" His injury probably holds them back from an undefeated season, but who cares after that kind of incident. Reminds you that football is ancillary.
Vandy moves to 4-0 and into the AP Top 25 for the first time since '84.
LSU won a "hot potato" game against Auburn, where it looked like nobody really wanted to win.

Texas Note:
Well, it looks like we're getting "Good Colt" this year, which is great considering the guantlet the Horns will run the rest of the way. He passed the beloved Major Applewhite for career TD passes. Our young secondary gave up 301 passing yards, but that tends to happen when an opponent is behind. They tend not to run the ball as much because it takes too much time off the clock.

He Is Who I Thought He Was

With apologies to Dennis Green...

1. Josh Freeman -- After Tim Griffin blogs that he was living up to his own bold preseason predictions, he lays an egg with 2 picks in a loss to Louisville last night. Of course it didn't help that they couldn't run the ball and the D couldn't tackle.

2. Mike Teel -- Rutger's QB has been awful again this year (see point #3) even after he was slated to have a good year.

Week 3 College Football Recap

CELLAR-DWELLERS REVENGE!

That's the overarching theme for this last few days of pigskin.
In the ACC, Duke defeats Navy to go to 2-1.
In the Big XII, Baylor crushes Wazzou to move to 2-1 as well.
In the Big 10, Minnesota is showing signs of life at 3-0 after its dismal 1-11 season a year ago.
In the SEC, Vandy moves to 3-0 and Kentucky uses some D to move to 3-0 while Jevan Snead and Ole Miss cruised past Samford to improve to 2-1.
In the Pac-10...OUCH!! Just go here to get an idea of the carnage.
In the Big East, well, Greg Robinson should just be a man and step down. Take this little tidbit from the ESPN recap: Greg Robinson continued to struggle at Syracuse, dropping to 7-31 as head coach. The Orange have been outscored 127-51 in just three games this season.


CINDERELLA?
Hot: BYU
Not: Fresno State, Rice, Arkansas State
Luke-warm: ECU, Utah, TCU

The most likely scenario has a team from the Mountain West, but the road is tricky. Utah, BYU & TCU all must play each other. The best-case scenario is either Utah or BYU running the gauntlet because TCU faces some team from Norman in a couple of weeks.

UNBEATENS
Even more clarity will happen this weekend in the chase for the BCS National Championship game as several contenders and undefeateds square off.
Colorado (3-0) welcomes West Virginia
Baylor takes its potent offense to UConn (3-0)
Troy (2-0) goes into Columbus to try to hand the Buckeyes consecutive losses since a long time ago
A plucky Ohio team travels to face Northwestern (3-0)
The SEC starts its meat-grinder by pitting Alabama (3-0) & Arkansas (3-0)
Boise State (2-0) takes on Oregon (3-0)
Utah (3-0) and Air Force (3-0) start the MWC war of attrition
In the ACC, Wake Forest (2-0) and FSU (2-0) face off
Ball State (3-0) and Indiana (2-0)
Vandy (3-0) takes on Ole Miss
LSU (3-0) travels to Auburn (3-0)

It's gonna be a fun week of NCAA Football! Enjoy.

iPhones

They're handy little devices.
They're a status symbol.
They're also undeniably smug.

You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

When someone sends you an email from their iPhone, what is the last line of the message?

"Sent from my iPhone."

Oh yeah?! You can take your pompous iPhone and stick it where the iSun don't shine!

So, how do you fight back? This is what I do: I end my reply email with "Sent from my PC."

Take that Mac!

Sweetness

Nomenclature change: I will now be referring to S as Tiny One and M as Munchkin for those of you who come from C's blog.

You know how fun it is to come home after a long day at the office, right?

Thursday night I came home and walked in the door to nothing unusual. Nana was here and all the ladies were in the kitchen. Mama told Tiny One that Daddy was home and she came running to me, shouting "HI DADDY!" and gave me a firm embrace. What a way to start the rest of your day!

Both of the girls are prone to give their Daddy some Eskimo kisses. I made it a point to teach them at an early age. It's one of the best things in the world for a daddy. And then there are the times when Munchkin comes up unprompted and snuggles with me and tells me that she loves me.

Tiny One is in love with her blanket right now. She'll search around the house for it and when she finally does find it, it's like a long lost love coming home and she screams in delight 'BLANKIE'.

So it's not all sour grapes around here, even though it feels like it at times. Besides, it's kind of like the old work/golf analogy. The worst day with my family is better than the best day alone.

Ike

What a disappointment!

Last night the weathermen were saying a near 100% chance of rain with up to 4+ inches of rain in the Round Rock area. Now? Just windy and clearing skies. Good thing we didn't water yesterday, huh? I was very tempted to put a sign on our roof that said "Ike, hit it here." But I decided against it.

So now the funny part: Some neighbors were just mowing their lawn, which is a normal thing to do on a Saturday morning. The thing is, the wife was out there with the leaf blower to get the grass out of the driveway. HELLO-OOOO!! You've got 10-15 mph winds with gusts up to 25 and you're using a blower to get rid of your grass. Amazing.

Now we're gonna be lucky just to get a quarter inch.

The Weekend in Sports

This weekend, the Big XII stood for 12-0. An undefeated record for the week against non-conference foes. Granted, there were some 1-AA squads in the mix, but for a league as a whole to go undefeated speaks volumes about the Big 12's depth. Sorry SEC.

The ACC bounced back to have a slightly better week. Duke is, well, Duke. Va Tech beat 1-AA Furman only 24-7 and Maryland laid an egg against their patsy. NC State found some offense after getting shut out by the other USC, but a 34-24 win over William & Mary isn't anything to be proud of.

The Big 10 went 11-0 for an undefeated week, although the boxscore says the Buckeyes had a lackluster performance against Ohio U; Ohio ain't a walkover. They've got some guy named Frank Solich leading the show.

The SEC did well. Florida handled the U, especially with a horrendous overturn in the third quarter. The official on the spot called it correctly. It wasn't that the receiver was out of bounds, it was that he didn't continue possession after getting knocked out of bounds. Arkansas turned in another poor performance, this time against Sun Belt power UL-Monroe. *snicker* LSU didn't have the stones to tell Troy "Hey, let's just play at your place." I mean eight home games isn't enough. You need that ninth one to make sure you have a successful season. NINE HOME GAMES!! That's hogwash. Or at least bayouwash. Ninnies.

Pac10: The biggest news was the criminally awful unsportsmanlike call against Jake Locker after he punched it in for six with the PAT to tie the game. The ESPN analysts beat it into the ground, but you've got to let the kids have emotion in this game.

The Big Least showed its potential with the battle of the century between UConn and Temple, which ended 12-9 in overtime. Temple? Seriously? Meanwhile, Greg Robinson is just counting down the days until he can go back to being a defensive coordinator, although, giving up 42 against the Akron Zips ain't something he's gonna want to put on his ole résumé.

C-USA can sure put some points on the board. However, it's the Skip Holtz-led ECU Pirates that are making headlines by keeping opponents off the scoreboard. East Carolina absolutely dominated the West Virginia Mountaineers, even though WVU was put on notice by the previous week's Va Tech game.

Jason Whitlock spent an entire column doting on his alma mater Ball State and how they have a shot at crashing the BCS party. Who knows with the way ECU jumped up to #14 in the polls. Dan LeFevour and the Chippewas didn't really put on a good game against Georgia. I bet the CMU brass is glad they took out that huge billboard at the baseball stadium (Comerica Park?) and let ESPN follow LeFevour around during the week.

In the Mountain West, rivals BYU and Utah continue on their march toward their end-of-year meeting to decide not only the conference championship, but possibly a berth in a BCS bowl.

Notre Dame laid a blue-and-gold egg against SDSU. I bet the folks at ND are glad they coughed up all that dough on Weis.

So, I think I said last week that I'd have my rankings out this week, but, to be honest, they look silly with ten Big XII teams in the top 11 spots. It'll take several more weeks before things start to sort themselves out.

In other news, Serena Williams! People call Jevon Kearse "The Freak" because of his size and athleticism, but with Serena able to maintain any semblance of athleticism with her new "size", I mean, that's just incredible. I know it sounds bad to make fun of her because her weight looks like it's getting a little out of hand, but she's supposed to be a professional athlete. For all her fashion sense, she should've known to wear vertical stripes instead of what she wore. The thing is, with her 6-4, 7-5 victory over Jelena Jankovic tonight, the rest of the WTA is on notice if she slims down a little.

NCAA

Football Bowl Subdivision.
Football Championship Subdivision.

What does that crap mean? I think it was just another in the long line of "I'm Keith Hernandez!" moments by the NCAA.

Do you remember that failed two-year experiment with March Madness where they went by the pod names instead of the regional monikers and had everyone confused? Don't give me the East Rutherford Regional. Give me the East Regional. Those things had history. Thankfully Miles Brand and his blowhard minions came to their senses and corrected things.

Here is one man's plea for sanity. Give us back D 1-A and D 1-AA. Those make sense. Don't change things just for the sake of change. That's just stupid.

I will never, NEVER use the terms FBS or FCS as descriptors in this space. Appy State is D 1-AA and LSU is 1-A. Too bad their history had to have inane acronyms associated with it.

Week 1 Recap

So, Texas' green secondary grew up in a hurry on Saturday, with freshman safety Earl Thomas providing some big plays after he'd given one up early in the first quarter. The game could've been much closer, say 28-24, at halftime if we didn't get those two turnovers in our red zone in the first quarter.

Even though that first quarter was rough, at least we weren't Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Pitt or any program from the ACC. The ACC merits special detail with the choke-job by Clemson (raise your hand if you were surprised), Beamerball getting turned on its head (the loss wasn't surprising, just the way it went down), Maryland squeaking by the D 1-AA Blue Hens of Delaware 14-7 and Virginia getting taken to the woodshed at home by the Trojans (when your QB is built like Screech you're in for a long season).

The Book 'em Horns are back after going on hiatus during the summer.

My rankings won't come out until next week since not everyone will play their first game until Saturday. The SEC and Big XII are the class of Division I-A, while the Sun Belt is the only conference with a sub-.500 winning percentage.

The early Heisman hopefuls didn't exactly come out slugging this weekend with a combination of injuries (Beanie Wells) and sub-par performances (Tim Tebow, Michael Crabtree), although I know Urban Meyer and Mike Leach are happy that their squads played a complete team game without focusing on just the star player(s).

I did good today with my Aggie buddies at church. One of them remarked to me after a meeting that he appreciated me not bringing it up and that I showed good restraint. That was most evident when a young kid, about 12 or so, walked past me with his A&M shirt on. I wondered, did he not know the outcome of the game? Was he just trying to provoke? Or was he just supporting his team no matter what? At any rate, I kept my mouth shut, because, after all, he's just a kid.

The guys at work on Tuesday? They're fair game. :o)

Let the fun begin!

Uncle Time!!

This past Wednesday night, we had the pleasure of Cheryl's sister and brother-in-law, along with their daughter, over to our house for dinner and fellowship.

We had visited them at their place near Dallas when we'd gone up to see family in Fort Worth, but Niece was teething and not feeling up to par, so it wasn't a great time.

But Wednesday night, she had a fun time with Uncle Ryan. That title feels really weird since they're not close by and we don't talk to them or see them with any regularity. She really giggled and squealed when I poked her belly button and played peekaboo. She even let me hold her for a nanosecond!

Thanks Niece for my Uncle time. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to some more fun in the future; whenever that is.

What A Day!

This is what I saw in the morning while riding my bike to work:

Thankfully I was going against it. Apparently there was a big wreck involving an 18-wheeler on I-35.

This is what it looked like when I was riding my bike home from work:

It didn't take long for me to get tired. When I went over the bridge I got my gangsta lean on so it wouldn't blow me off.

And this is what I came home to:


C is such a trooper for dealing with two of these all day long. I love ya Babe!

Overheard At The Dinner Table

M: "Mommy, I finished my chicken nuggets!"
C: "Okay, you can have your tattoo."

'Lympics

That 4x100 men's relay was just sick. Not only did the 'Mericans smash the world record by 4 seconds. Not only did Lezak smash the 100 split record (46.04) which is a full second faster than the official world record of 47.05 set in the semifinal. But Lezak overtook the world record holder to do it. Although, what would you expect? The French are best at quitting.

Last nights men's gymnastics was fun to watch. We went from "Green Eggs and (No) Hamm" to "Horton Hears a Woohoo!" This Johnny was not worried yet. It was time to go big or go home and Jonathon Horton went big. Congrats especially to Sasha Artemev. No pressure on the kid. His only routine was on the pommel. The other two USA Team Members had a hard time on the horse, especially with both hands around their necks. Germany was making a big move. It was down to him to save the Bronze (could've been silver!) medal. And the little man nailed it!

You'll never listen to women's gymnastics the same again after what I'm about to tell you. Have you watched "Finding Nemo"? You know towards the very end when Marlin and Nemo are on the deck and the pelican picks them up to rescue them from the seagulls? You know how those same seagulls are going "Mine!" and they're all doing it at the same time? That's what the girls sound like when they're cheering on their teammates. That's your laugh for the day.

Hindsight Really IS 20-20

I remember at the time when Ryan Perrilloux reneged on his commitment to Texas to go to LSU, the Burnt Orange Nation was up in arms.

It turns out that was the best move for the Longhorns given his troubles at LSU.

But hey, when you're a gifted athlete, especially a prized quarterback, you get as many chances as you can, as long as someone's willing to put up with a certain amount of pain in order to rent your services.

Here's hoping this kid will finally get his act together. If he screws this opportunity up, he shouldn't be paid to play football. Earn a regular man's wages instead of having everything handed to him.

It's Only a Month Away...

Football season, that is.

I believe this speaks for all my fellow Longhorns...


We've almost made it through those seven months without pigskin. At least now we have the camps beginning and the blogs going. Check out Tim Griffin's Big XII blog on ESPN.com. He's got a good assortment of original pieces and links.

Coincidence?

I think not.

On the same day I began riding my bike to work, this article came out about an incline in road rage in Portland, Oregon. As more riders hit the road in the bike-friendly town, there has been an escalation in accidents and violence between the groups as new cyclists hit the road either uninformed or ignorant of the rules of the road.

I made it safely to both work and home, but there is definitely room for improvement.

It's a great workout and it helps save on gas money.

Links Part Deux

ESPN.com has been running an interesting feature all week ranking each program in Division 1-A basketball for "prestige". Texas ranked 18th. Today they unveiled the Top 10, with no real surprise with Duke at Number 1. They took it back only to the '84-'85 season since that was when the Field of 64 was started and the 3-point line introduced the following year. Check back here to see how Sportsnation has things.

Slate Magazine had an interesting article on Presidential pardons. They wondered if Bush would use his power to preemptively pardon someone. What choice will he make? Since Bush has been more than obvious about his belief and trust in the Creator, his pardons will, and should, be under more scrutiny than, say, William Jefferson Clinton, et al. His integrity is on the line. Will he be a relativist, or will he stand firm under the pressure. My advice to the President? The leftists have already painted you as on of the worst Presidents in history with the unpopular war on terror; stand out for something.

That's Why They Pay Me The Big Bucks

During football and basketball seasons, my old crew and I from UT shoot emails about what's happening. I was cleaning out my Inbox tonight when I ran across this gem.

First, you have to check out this link and see where Texas ended up and who it matched up with in the Sweet 16.

Next, you need to read my email from March of 2007 after the 'Horns were shellacked by USC.

Oh, what to say...I know most of you guys will shoot me down as a pessimist. But before you do, just let my arguments ruminate a little bit.

Augustin needs a little more seasoning. I wonder if he was just spent playing 30 minutes a game at the pace of college ball. He kinda went all White Chocolate Jason Williams on us the last few games.

Abrams never met a shot he didn't like. Like Antoine Walker, only shorter and a little more handsome.

We don't have a legitimate big man who can dominate inside and make opponents respect the middle.

Our youth really, really killed us on Saturday. Thankfully, they'll get better with time. However, I'm not sure that Rick Barnes is the man that can take us to the next level. Sure we went to the final four back in 2003, but that team was loaded.

Mack Brown recruited well enough to put the pieces around Vince Young to the point where even he and Greg Davis couldn't screw up winning a national champtionship. The Longhorn men went basically seven deep this year with the starting five being four fish and a sophomore. Even freaking Duke was deeper than we were! And they were bounced in the first round.

So let's be real for a moment. We should all know what we're getting from a Rick Barnes-coached team at this point.
1. We cannot defend the 3-pointer, even if we play the 2-3 zone.
2. We turn the ball over too much. DJ Augustin only had a 2:1 assist:turnover ratio. Mike Conley Jr, a fellow frosh at Ohio State had a 3:1 ratio.
3. We are never blowout proof. This was something raised on ESPN this year that really caught my eye. Take a look at A&M, UCLA and other programs that were higher-seeded than us. They never got wupped.
4. Especially in our losses, we don't get to the free throw line. We only had 16 attempts against USC. Unacceptable! We only had 9 FTA against Kansas on 3/3. And when we do get to the line, although this year was slightly anomolous, we can't knock 'em down.
Just take a look at our boxscore from K-State and you'll see points 1,2 & 4.

So even if Durant stays around, which he'd be a fool to do, we won't scratch the potential of what this team could do. Sure we'd make the Sweet 16 next year, but would we really make much noise beyond that? I don't think so. If it gets a favorable draw it could even make the Elite 8, but I think the Final Four is too much to ask from Rick Barnes. One of the Sports Guy's readers likened him to Art Shell, just standing there with a blank expression on his face while the game goes on without him. He doesn't seem to have that much fire.

And maybe I'm just bitter because it could've been so much better. I had them getting by UNC but losing to Georgetown in my bracket. But if you listen to what I'm saying and think back all these years that we've had Barnes, I think you'll see that there ain't much more than we're getting from the guy. I don't care if he landed Durant AND Oden. We still wouldn't have made the Final Four.

I know I got a little carried away with that last statement, but MAN IT'S GREAT TO BE RIGHT!

Links

This article is an interesting read. I clicked on because of the perspective of what black people think about Jesse Jackson. I know I've covered him in this space before, but now his people are growing perhaps even more tired of his act than I am. In the piece he is called an "old fool" who is "an increasingly irrelevant, former big shot...who does not seem to realize that the times have passed him by." Can Barack Obama overcome all odds to win the White House? Regardless of the outcome, this can be nothing but good for our country. Young minorities, whether black, Hispanic or Asian, will feel impowered and driven to new heights. It's one thing for all little kids to say they want to be the President some day. Now, much more of our population has a role model for those dreams.

It's almost been a year since this article was published, but it remains relevant. It reminds us of the consequences of relativism and the thinking that all religions are basically the same. While the Word tells us that, as much as it is in our power to live at peace with all men, Colossians 2:8 instructs us to "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." I am reminded of The Chronicles of Narnia, where the Ape and the Calormenes get to calling the Donkey 'Tashlan', a mix of Tash and Aslan. Those who did so paid with their lives the penalty for blaspheming the I AM. Exodus 20:7 warns us "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name."

Love him or hate him, Brett Favre is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. Maybe not Top 5, or even Top 10, but Top 15. Depending on your viewpoint, he held the Packers hostage most of the last four years as he drug out his decision on retirement, even holding news conferences to tell us he hadn't made a decision yet. But he's forgiven because he hasn't missed a game in I don't know how long, even after his dad passed away and there were other family issues. I can't say I blame the Packers brass for giving him the cold shoulder. The only problem is that, unfortunately for Ted Thompson, Favre has become a demigod to the cheeseheads, reaching a stature that is almost above the Pack. My only question is, when they induct him in the Hall of Fame, will they do the typical bust, or will they having a bronzed butt with John Madden's lips on a cheek? Zing!

It's pretty cool watching our new building go up. The change was amazing from the time we left for our trip on June 9th and when we made it back on July 6th. Now when we tell people it's at 360 and 183, they'll know exactly what we're talking about. We won't have to say it's close to the Arboretum or across from the Gateway shopping center (centre if you're from across the pond). God is good!

Olympics

It's cool enough that they're starting on 8.8.08.

It's even cooler that it's happening in Beijing. Why? Because the word Beijing has three dotted letters in succession. It looks cooler than Fiji because the letters are in the middle.

It's the simple things in life.

Welcome Back Cotter!

I was gone for three weeks, so I had the expectation that most of my work would be done for me so I didn't have to deal with the whole "R is only gone for a few days, let's just leave everything for him to do when he gets back" thing. Boy was I wrong. Honestly, there was an extenuating circumstance, namely that our active ingredient we manufacture was going through process validation, which meant three successive, successful batches. All of those were released during my time gone. So I didn't have to deal with that and the circus our lab becomes during the release testing. But when I got back I had, quite literally, 100 tests in my various queues. That is, in a word, unprecedented.

Knowing I had a lot of work ahead of me, and since the girls were up at 5AM, I went in an hour early and stayed a little past 5 even though our CEO had let us off two hours early. I went in for three hours on Saturday, even though it was a holiday weekend, and took some work home.

This proved to be invaluable and made last week much more manageable than it would've been otherwise. So, work has been good, although it was quite overwhelming at first.

Far West Asia

We've been here for a little under two days. I'd like to share a few cultural experiences we've had along the way.

Their keyboard is slightly different than ours. Instead of a period, it's a capital squiggly C and in place of the 'i' is an 'i' without the dot. I learned that the non-dotted 'i' is pronounced 'uh' and the dotted version is 'ee'.

They like to point at you and call you a foreigner. I remember our friend PVA regaled us with a story one time of how a little boy was walking by with his mother and pointed at him saying "Foreigner! Forgeigner!" He shot back at him with "East Asian! East Asian!" I wanted to do this, but I don't know the Far Western equivalent.

Yesterday when we went to have a picnic on the waterfront, an old convertible came past with a guy banging a drum and the driver honking the horn. Seated in the middle, in the place of honor, was a young boy, probably ten years of age, in a white robe with a white hat upon his head. The occassion? Circumcision. It's common for boys 7-14. I believe I can speak on behalf of all mankind when I cringe and say OUCH!

Kids are adored here. Not like they are in the states with the grandparents. Everbody loves kids. Especially pale ones with blonde hair. It's not uncommon for high school boys to come up to kids and want to hold them. Tonight, two gents came up to S after we got ice cream and water and gave her the ole coochie-coo. I could feel C's skin crawl as they did it. I've been with her long enough that I did the same. She suggested that we Purell her face.

Beating the heat: Today was 100 and it's going to be the coolest day of the week. Kabob says 107 is in the forecast for later this week. It plumb wore us out today. It really hit M hard, especially after her and Chickpea were up till midnight last night before falling asleep in Chick's room. We were eating dinner and Kabob noticed her starting to nod off. I excused her and she left the room. I thought she might be playing in Chick's room quietly like she has several times. But when C went to look for her, this is what she found in our room. Poor sweetheart. She even fell back asleep after S woke her up when we put her down.

I consulted my fact-checking team and she confirmed this is the first time M has ever fallen asleep before S. Both girls asleep by 8:30. We can actually have a significant amount of adult interaction with our hosts!

Sunday, Sunday. So Good To Me

Not a bad Father's Day.

C took care of the girls with Tio & Tia and let me sleep in till 11:30. I don't know when the last time it was that I slept in that late. It must've been my last semester in college, which would've been upwards of seven years ago.

We went to the beach and enjoyed some time in the sand and sea. There was a fun paddle game that Tio brought and we had a max 88 consecutive hits between us. That may not sound impressive until you factor in dodging people walking by and the wind blowing in off the Mediterranean.

Then I got some good snuggles from S after she woke up from nap. Since she's such a mommy leech, it's VERY few and far between that she'll just stay still in my arms and nuzzle up to me.

Week two begins today.

Adaptation

There are a lot of things different in Espana than America.

1. Traffic. They incorporate circles with liberty and the rules are quite different. You have to constantly be on your guard. And it doesn't help with all the motos zipping around.

2. Schedule. Namely, everything is done 2-3 hours later than in los Estados Unidos. We've been eating "early" dinners at 7:30. We normally sup at 5:15.

3. Scenery. Sure Austin is green, but you can't look out your balcony and see the Mediterranean Sea in front of you and a mountain range to your left.

4. Currency. Wow the dollar is taking a beating! It's about 1.5 dollars per Euro. I have a better understanding about what the folks are going through over here. Even if you get a steal of a deal on anything, it still kicks your bank account's butt.

5. Trash. It's all over the place. You know how Texas has those signs that say "It's unlAWFUL to litter" and "Don't Mess With Texas!"? It's just like that, except the exact opposite. Graffiti is all over the place. It's not just limited to gang-infested areas. We walked to the supermarket and in the tunnel there was a graffiti with a combo Mickey Mouse/skeleton head that said "Mickey Mouse must die!" Those anarchists are so nice. I'll try to get a foto of it and post it later.

6. Five-Second Rule. Not Applicable. The people over here train their kids with "Caca! No en la boca!" whenever something hits the ground. Tio warned us of it and we heard a lady use it on her grandson.

7. Manners. If you don't cut in line you must be either stupid or slow. No feet on the coffee table or chairs/sofa because you've most likely been walking around in sandals all day. Now I better understand the washing of feet.

8. Laundry. Whereas in the states people are wont to air their dirty laundry, here it is not uncommon to see all types of clothing hanging out to dry on the balcony.

Prayer Requests

Thank you for all your prayers so far. They have been working. Please keep it up.

I have been a lot more mindful of not sinning in my anger. While I haven't responded only in love, it's been good for the most part.

Please pray for C. She got a sinus infection and is on some antibiotics. Please pray that these meds will work well.

Thanks,

R

Recap - Travel

Time flies when you're having fun. It also flies when you're stressed and tired, too.

All in all, it hasn't been that bad. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

M had a beast of a time with the first two flights' descents. We didn't get the nose drops in quick enough and she wailed at the pain in her ears. We apologized to those around us, but in general they responded by telling us what a good job the girls did and what great parents we were. We were very happy to hear those kind words.

Things did not go smoothly from the outset. We arrived at ABIA to find out that our flight to O'Hare was canceled due to weather and they were working with Air France to get us on another flight. Tom from United did a superb job getting us taken care of. At one point he asked if we wanted to come back Tuesday and we declined. Thankfully we got there 2 hours early, or we probably would've been one of the number of people on standby that were left mad and waiting as we taxied down the runway. I had the pleasure of getting the extra search. They had flagged M's ticket too, but the nice FSA gentleman saw she was only 3 and took care of things. The flight to Hotlanta was uneventful. The girls had a great time on their first flight. S was cracking up as M kept opening and closing the window. It's such a joy when those belly laughs come out. At the airport they had a nice underground train to take you to and from the terminals, so we opted to take a ride to get Chick-Fil-A nuggets for the girls instead of Mickey Dees. We have plenty of time, said I. We got back to the gate just in time to board.

As we left the ATL for Paris, a storm was coming in. M didn't care for the lightning and wanted to keep the "door" closed. The staff were quite helpful and gave the girls each a little gift. M got a purse that had a card game and a small numbers puzzle. S got a little green crab with a mouse in it. The meal wasn't too bad. M didn't want any of the ravioli she was given, but munched down on the brownie. Oh well. The girls didn't fall asleep till about 10:30 or so. S slept all the way until we arrived in Paris. M not so much. She woke up with 3-4 hours left in the flight to go to the restroom, which was good because Daddy forgot to put a pull-up on her before she fell asleep. But, as she did during our Nebraska trip, she was fairly quiet while she was awake. C got her to fall back asleep maybe 45 minutes before our arrival and she woke up several minutes after we landed. Our experience at CDG was rather fateful. We got a little lost and finally got to our terminal. We found the way to our gate, but the person had a hard time finding our boarding passes and her disdain for us was so palpable you could cut it with a knife. Thankfully there was a kind man who helped us out and we were able to board our final flight of the day. The mean woman was indignant with him too. I didn't understand her French, but her tone and body language said "You've got to be kidding me!" I think if she rolled her eyes more they might've just stayed in the back of her head.

So we get on the AirEuropa flight to Malaga and the lady says 'Hola'. I respond with 'Buenos Tardes'. I said a couple of other things to her in my best Spanish accent, but either she didn't understand me or she didn't want to. The overall service wasn't too bad, although with only one working toilet in economy, the line got a little long. As the plane touched down, a woman next to us started clapping feverishly and was soon joined by others lending their approval. So did we just happen to get a good pilot that day? Was she a frequent traveler on this route and an uneventful landing isn't routine? Does she have some disorder where she just gets overexcited about normal things. Maybe she was a cheerleader and is always so happy.

We got our bags and only a minute later Tio walked in the door to greet us. He only had to shell out 15 cents for his parking. He fit all the suitcases and the stroller in the trunk and off we went in his Primera. It was a short drive to their apartment and we were in Malaga! Tragedy almost struck, however, as it took us quite some time to find M's pink night-night. C finally found it in one of the backpacks. Phew!! That is one thing we cannot do without.

Praise the Lord!!

Mister Fix-It

As a man, you want to be able to fix things that are broken and perform the basic tasks in the house.

The light-bulb on our garage-door opener cannot stay lit. I bought those special bulbs specifically designed for the opener, but it only took a couple of days before their weak filaments broke. I had an idea. Those newfangled compact fluorescent bulbs don't have filaments. I installed one of those puppies last night. We'll see how long it lasts.

The driver's-side light bulb went out in the car a couple of weeks ago. I found a web thread that discussed how to do it and it sounded simple enough. Doesn't it always seem that way? The final line was "The whole job takes 5 minutes to do. When you have done it once you will kick yourself as to how easy it is." Maybe my problem is that we have a 2002 Sonata and not a 2003. I ended up taking off the lamp assembly and got the new bulb in easy enough. The tough part was getting the spring back on. As most men do, I didn't pay enough attention when taking the spring off to figure out how to get it back on. (Ladies, please try your best to stifle your laughter) So I had to open up the passenger's-side to see how the spring was done. Five minutes later I had that puppy in there. Sheesh! So it took me 30 minutes in all. But hey, if you need a bulb replaced on an '02 Sonata, I'm your man.

Our poor lawn mower sounds like its drunk lately. It'll go puuuuurrrrrrr, cough, cough, wheeze, puuuuurrrrrr, cough, cough, wheeze. Repeat ad nauseum. Today I changed the oil and spark plug. The oil was this blue color and opaque; that didn't look so bad until the new stuff I put in was this blue and clear. I pulled the spark plug out and it was as black as night with the blackness caked on. The new one was nice and shiny silver. We'll see on Monday if it works or if it's a different problem.

But I feel extra manly today. Next thing to do: rinse out the air filter.

See You In July

As I left the lab yesterday, I was able to say that with a big grin on my face.

I'll be out of the office for the rest of the month of June, right at the end of the quarter. If you think about it, pray that C Corp and APL will continue to prosper while I'm not there. I think I left them in pretty good shape with only one unfinished project and all my instruments maintained. The great thing about being out three weeks is that they can't just leave all my work for me when I get back. They'll actually have to do it. :o)

PacMan on the Up-and-Up?

There's funny and there's this:

"Since being traded to the Cowboys, Jones has tried to surround himself with a better support group. He's befriended former Cowboys Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders... Jones also has become friends with...Tank Johnson, whom the Cowboys helped return from a similar suspension last season."

Is he going to start dating Amy Winehouse too?

Perhaps he'll ask Odell Thurman or Chris Henry to rent rooms from his new Dallas digs to cut down on his living expenses.

Hockey

I'm one of those fans that will watch the Finals of just about anything. I actually enjoy watching hockey in addition to the finals. Just love the speed and the artistry with which these men handle the puck and deke a defender out of his skates.

Needless to say, I'm pumped the series is heading back to Pittsburgh for a game six. The NBC crew does an amazing job and they keep the energy going as well, if not better than, Bill Simmon's man-crush Gus Johnson. I thoroughly enjoyed Game 3. The fans were on their game. They cheered for every hit, whether the weak or the bone-crushing variety and the announcers fed off that energy and delivered an Emmy-winning performance. Pierre McGuire sits in a little glass booth between the team benches and gives us a feel for body language and things overheard. Go here for the bios of the color and studio teams.

I know one thing though: If the Pens want to win this series they need to take better care of the puck. They've had a lot of silly passes intercepted by the Wings to start odd-man rushes and there's the example of Hossa, who just can't seem to keep the puck on his stick, wasting opportunities.

Another thing I look forward to is the Canadians. It's not every day that you hear the word Calgary pronounces cal-GARY. Love it. Fires me up.

And then there's this commercial.

Imitation

It's the sincerest form of flattery. I've now had to posts stolen from ESPN columnists. First, Mark Schlabach ripped off my 2008 College Football Preview and now comes the imminent Jayson Stark.

In this article, his second question is Can Lance Berkman or Josh Hamilton win a Triple Crown?

Thank you Jayson. This one is free. The next one will cost you.

TWIB

I used to love watching This Week in Baseball when I was growing up. I love hearing Mel Allen as he went through the show.

One of the token things I always look for during the season is the batting Triple Crown: lead the league in average, homers and ribbies.

Currently, one player from each league has a shot.

In the AL, Josh Hamilton is tied for second in BA (.333 [only .005 behind leader]), second in round trippers (12 [2 behind]) and first in RBI (53 [10 ahead]).

In the NL, Lance "Men at" Berkman is second in BA (.385 [-.032]), tied for first in homers (16) and first in RBI (46 [+3]).

This is only the second year in The Show for Hamilton, so I don't see him sustaining his pace, although he wasn't that shabby last year. He's a lefty, so he'll definitely get the opportunity against a lot of righties to pad those stats, especially since the Rangers aren't exactly a murderer's row. The main question is, will he get enough plate appearances?

Oddly enough, the top two men in average in the NL are switch-hitters. An article a week or so ago about Chipper Jones mentioned how hard it is for him because he has to practice two different swings. Berkman plays at HomeRun Park, so that'll help him a bit. His stats tell us that he's on pace with his 2002 and 2006 campaigns, which were his best years for average, homers and ribbies. He's more patient at the plate this year and he's an every-day player. The question though, is will his average hold up? He's a career .304 hitter. Those '02 and '06 seasons gave us .331 and .315. Plus, he's got Albert Pujols lying in wait for him. Sir Albert is a lifetime .332 hitter and his average, homers and RBI are all higher than Berkman.

One thing these guys can't control, however, is those RBI. They're kinda danged if they do, danged if they don't if the men in front of them get on base. They're likely to see better pitches with nobody on.

It'll be an exciting race to watch.

To be continued...

Grey's Anatomy

So, the season is over. What are we to expect from next season?

Meredith goes into bankruptcy after spending $2000 on candles and glasses for their future house because she can't afford medical care after winds whip up the flames and give her third degree burns over 90% of her body.

Derek gets hurt in an accident on his way to tell Rose that he's going back to Meredith and is in a coma for four weeks. He and Mer are put in the same room. Yang and Rose become best friends as they spend most of their time caring for the two invalids.

The girl that lived through the trial will be pregnant and her parents will sue Seattle Grace, Derek & Meredith. Her child will be a boy and she'll name it after her dead boyfriend with Derek as his middle name.

Meredith (and Derek in absentia) will be suspended for doing the extra attempt even though it worked. The chief will also be suspended for it being at his hospital.

George will retake his intern test, but fail again by one point because he is so disturbed by the new romance between Callie & Hahn. He will then become a manny for Bailey's boy so that her husband can go back to work. Several weeks later, a scoring error will be revealed from the first test, but George decides to stay a manny, saying he has found peace and enlightenment.

Tune in this fall to see what predictions come true.

CMAs

Me and the missus were watching the awards show tonight and two artists threw their guitars off-stage. Now, did they have to go hire a "hands team" to field the guitars, or is it someone from their crew they tour with whose responsibility is to catch the Fender? How much does that person get paid? If you drop one do you get fired? Or do you practice? If so, how many hours of practice do you go through? Do they have guitar crash-test dummies? Do you get your wages garnished if you drop one or break a string?

George Strait. Still going strong after all these years. To give some perspective on how many years that is, he was my big sister's heartthrob back in the day. Him and Joe Montana.

Why did Tony Romo dump Carrie Underwood for Jessica Simpson? That's like a new junior partner in a huge law firm being offered a Bentley as a signing bonus and saying "Do you have a used car I could lease?" Because everybody knows, if you got Jess, you get Joe too. *shudder*

And The Answer Is...

Yes, I can walk today. The only thing I feel is my right shoulder clicking a little bit.

Old Man Haiku

I know, I know. I'm not officially old yet. That'll happen in October.

Nevertheless, I submit the following poem:

Haven't played hoops in
ten years. Will I be able
to walk tomorrow?

Points Proved

In case you missed them, I panned both Jason Castro and Paula Abdul in two recent posts.

Jason did nothing tonight to prove me wrong, and, in fact, made things worse for himself. The only way he gets through is if that web site asks all its readers to vote for him.

Was Paula drunk tonight? I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that she was thrown off by Seacrest's impromptu call for a quick assessment. (He had previously said the judges would give their takes after the second song. When she started talking about Jason's second song, the cameras quickly focused in on the confused host, contestants, judges and audience. And once more I plead with you, LOSE THE BANGS! I know the '80s are coming back, but at least with those bangs we could still see your eyes. Maybe she was trying to hide the dark circles from her hangover!

Simmons Cracks Me Up

For those of you that don't know, I'm a big fan of the Sports Guy on ESPN2. He's got a great sense of humor and regular gets me laughing.

Today at lunch I was reading his Awards column. Scroll to about two-thirds the way down and read the section entitled The Raymond Babbit Award, but especially the aside in parenthesis. I almost spewed the water in my mouth and I was literally crying.

Thanks SG. Keep it up.

Date Night

C and I went out on Wednesday night to the outlet mall.

You know how in most stores the clerks don't care if you go into the dressing room together? Well, we went to this one store called Papaya, where they had two signs posted outside the dressing room area that said "NO BOYS ALLOWED". I applaud them for having the mores to not allow guys in. While it may be a convenience for those married folks who want to put something flirty on just to see how it looks, I'd rather them have a moral compass.

After we were done shopping, we sat down in Starbucks to make some lists to help us be better organized. While we were there, I noticed a sign on a Sirena Espresso Machine that said:

"Everyday low price $399"

If that's the low price, I'd hate to pay the normal price. Sheesh.

American Idol Results Show

Last night on American Idol, Paula Abdul was voted off. A stunned Paula Abdul lashed out at the voting public "I just renewed my contract. You can't vote me off!" Ryan Seacrest asked fellow judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson what Paula could take away from her time on the show to help her in the future.

Randy said "You know, it was just a'ight for me. I wasn't really feeling it this season. I think she found her niche with all the complimenting. Maybe having actual thoughts isn't what she's best at. I think she should try motivational speaking."

Simon replied "I thought her judging this season has been rather cabaret. She had a strong show in week two of the finals when she actually gave a relevant opinion based on the singing. I think going forward she needs to stop focusing on the contestants' appearance and more on their vocals."

Producer Simon Fuller was seen backstage giving high-fives to everyone he saw. He gave an extended hug to a surprised key grip. Asked to explain his jubilation, Fuller gave the following press release, including a job posting:

Dear Idol fans,

Although we were given only six-and-a-half years of Paula's presence on Idol, it felt so much longer. She was a key third member of our judging panel and provided an uplifting spirit to help our contestants feel good about themselves even when they performed poorly. In lieu of flowers, please feel free to buy a Ford, a Coca-Cola product or donate to Idol Gives Back.

In the spirit of Idol Gives Back, we are sending Paula to Ethiopia for what would have been the remainder of her contract with Fox.

Consequently, we are in need of an analyst to join Simon and Randy. The successful candidate must have a mind of her own, be able to form a cogent analysis of the performances, and have a stylist with a sense of current fashion trends (Note: No bangs allowed). Experience feigning romantic tension a plus.

Sincerely,

Simon Fuller

(Sigh) If only that were true.

American Idol

We have some neighbors who casually know Jason Castro.

He seems like a good kid.

But Top 10 good? I don't think so. If he didn't have those eyes of his, he would've been booted a long time ago. But he's garnering the coveted 12-30 female demographic because "He's so dreamy!".

He has yet to really show off his pipes, instead settling for ballads, which, in most Idol seasons, would be enough to get you gone early. But with the weak overall talent, especially from the ladies, he's been able to stay.

Let's just some it up with a question from my 3-year-old last night when we saw the recap:
"Mommy, what's her name?"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnd...

I'm out.

Allergies

If you live in Austin long enough, you'll develop allergies, even if you haven't had them your whole life. We complain about the pollen around here, and rightfully so. Our daughters get nailed with it several times a year. Just recently, M was diagnosed with allergy-induced asthma, which gives her this horrible cough for weeks at a time. It usually hits during the winter, so we'll be ready for it later this year. When it hits S, she's a big snotty mess. C and I usually keep at least one tissue tucked in our pockets so we'll be able to wipe her face before she can get to it. She doesn't quite look like Pizza the Hut, but it can get gruesome.

A Forbes study on worst city for allergies lists Austin as only #54, down from #24 a year ago. It doesn't seem that much better. Of course it doesn't help that we have a yoooge (as The Donald would say) oak tree in our front yard.

Maybe I should just buy stock in Puffs.

Camping

We had a good time, the sleeping battles notwithstanding. We're gonna need a bigger tent next time.

Two nights did prove nicer than just one since we didn't have to hurriedly pack our bags first thing in the morning.

We couldn't have asked for better weather, even though it was in the upper 30s both nights.

Saturday morning I did a terrible job trying to start a fire from the hot ashes. Not being a person that likes to make the same mistake again, I watched Alpha Pig and came back Sunday morning with a good fire going to warm us up.

You know you've been outside too much when you look at your feet and wonder if it's a flip-flop tan or you just got the first layer of dirt off. Thankfully it's the former.

And finally, whereas I usually space out my farmer tanning over several weeks, I just decided to get it done in two days. Nice golden neck and arms. Pale everywhere else.

Links

In this article excerpt republished as the NFL draft approaches, The Hair talks about how Ryan Leaf could throw accurate darts on the run and how it "make[s] you hit the rewind button on the VCR." Bye-bye VCR, hello TiVo. What will it be in 5 years?

A story out of India that a couple's first child has a rare malformation called craniofacial duplication. Beware photos of the child, which may be unsettling for young children possibly sitting in your lap. The unfortunate part is that, in this deeply superstitious part of rural India, people believe Lali is a reincarnation of the goddess Durga and they're petitioning the government for funds to build a shrine to their deity of valor.

This article details the "21 on 21" drinking binge that apparently 30% of kids take part in on their 21st birthday. I remember my freshman year at school when my roommate pledged Acacia house. They took him out drinking on his birthday. He came home in the early-morning hours and woke up still drunk at three in the afternoon. I personally think allowing a child to have a limited amount of alcohol before the turn 21, and maybe sooner, would drive down the incidence of binge drinking and alcoholism in young "adults". I think it's the mystique of illegality that drives young people to dangerous habits, whether it be alcohol or drugs. Take away that mystique before they leave the nest and they're probably less likely to engage in such destructive behavior.

Finally, there's an article about a magazine creator who gives this purpose and drive for his lifestyle:
"I could not bear just being a publisher or a planter of trees or just being a mad hedonist. I'm immensely greedy and I want it all. I'm just trying to have a bloody good time filling in the gap between being born and dying."
That's why I'm scared for my daughters. That is the prevailing mindset for so many lost souls. That is the epitaph for millions of young people and will be for millions, even billions more, if they don't hear about Jesus the Christ. Not the Jesus that's castigated and viewed as just a prophet or a good teacher, but the true Son of God whose perfect life and resurrection from the dead alone gives us the hope of eternal life.