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.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
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!
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!
Friday, October 10, 2008
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
Sunday, September 21, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, September 15, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
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!
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!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
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!
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.
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.
Friday, August 22, 2008
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!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Overheard At The Dinner Table
M: "Mommy, I finished my chicken nuggets!"
C: "Okay, you can have your tattoo."
C: "Okay, you can have your tattoo."
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
'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.
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.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
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 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.
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.
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.
Friday, July 25, 2008
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.
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.
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