S.O.P.
Normally I try to do two things on this blog. One is link to other blogs, especially when I think I can say something myself. Two, discuss politics. So linking to political blogs has got to be really out of the question, right? Well, not today. Read this post about the estate tax and just let it marinate for a while.

Josh Marshall- Talking Points Memo

No Respect
The '05 Panthers schedule was released yesterday, and while there are several highlights, all I can say is we got disrespected by the league office. There is only one primetime game, the Monday-nighter against Green Bay, which puts us in the same area as other one-timers such as Jacksonville, Cleveland, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Detriot, and Arizona.
So that's what the league thinks of the Panthers? In the same class as the Lions and Cardinals, two years after a Super Bowl berth? No respect, no respect at all I tell you.

Games I'm looking forward to-

9/18 vs. Patriots. Expect the crowd to go nuts on this one. Should be good fun and a win would feel really good here.

10/3 vs. Green Bay. Always a treat to play on Monday Nite. I hope Steve Smith has a huge game to make up for getting injured in last year's matchup between these two.

11/6 at Bucs. This rivalry still has some heat to it. Should be a good game, as always between the two.

12/4 vs. Atlanta. Vick comes to town yet again. With the playoff race in full swing, maybe this is the time the Panthers finally take him down.

Whoops
I was going to see Chevelle at Tremont Music Hall tomorrow night- seemed like a good show, was looking forward to it. Except that it turns out the show was actually tonight. So I missed my chance, playing table tennis and watching 24 instead. Well, next time.

It's been a long time
A lot of stuff going on since the last blog entry. Sorry, I've been a little busy. Let's see, Friday I finally finished by policy paper on British Missile Defense, I thought it would never be done, but sure enough I got it finished. Its not being graded by the teacher, but by his teaching assistant in Chapel Hill who I have never met, so I can't say I'm feeling too at ease over that. Hopefully she'll grade it fairly, or at least not too strictly. We'll see.

Interestingly enough I came down with a little bit of a sore throat problem about the time I was wrapping up the paper. Guess it was from the nonstop use of public computers and water fountains, along with the endless shaking of hands at the job fair on Wednesday. With all that going on I guess I can't say that I am too surprised.

I had a job interview with Target on Friday, lucky me I got to dress up all in a suit and go to class. Overall I think it pretty well. It was for a management postion and basically they asked you questions to see how you would react in a leadership situation. I was stumped by some of the questions too but I think I ended up doing alright.

This weekend was Charlotte's big series against Tulane, who is either ranked #2 or #3 in the country depending on which poll you look at. Charlotte ended up getting swept in three games, which stinks, but when two of the three starting pitchers are All-Americans, it's pretty tough. The Niners almost took Saturday's game, but couldn't complete the comeback for a dissapointing loss. It's funny, C-SET was showing today's game, and I actually got kicked out of the press box to make room, and ended up getting a bitchin' sunburn all over. It's gonna feel real good tomorrow. I did see some the highlights on TV, they looked pretty sweet. C-SET should show some more baseball games, even if it does mean I can't stay in the press box with the cool kids. And be sure to pick up the Tuesday UTimes, free on campus, to see my rundown of the week's action.

I had to go back home to sign some tax papers yesterday, and got to see my Aunt visiting from Ohio. We had a good time, went out to eat, shopped at the BJ's Warehouse Club, etc. It's funny, she asked me for something I normally couldn't afford at a supermarket, and all I could think of was Chex Mix. No fancy steaks, no lobster tails, no nothing. But if you think about it, Chex Mix is over two bucks for just this little bag. It is kind of expensive. Or, I'm just that cheap. One or the other.

Saw the Star Wars Episode III Trailer Tonight
I must say, pretty exciting stuff. The trailer looked very intense, as I'm hoping the movie will turn out to be. I know we've been let down by Lucas in the past, but I remain optimistic that this time he can get it right- no need to set anything else up story-wise, just give the Jedi's some lightsabers and let em rip. This will really be the payoff for two prequels worth of awkward dialogue and exposition. At least that's what I've got my fingers crossed for.

I'm actually trying to keep up with Episode III as little as possible. I mean, of course I know roughly what happens, but still this really will probably be the last time I get to watch a new Star Wars flick, and I want to be able to savor it for all it's worth. So, no spoilers, please.

By the way, North Carolina won the National Championship. Congratulations to you guys. You know, I probably could have gone to Chapel Hill, gone out as a senior with the basketball championship... nah, f--- that. I'm a Niner til I die.

Got to love that Daylight Savings Time
As if 24-hour days weren't short enough already...

Official Final Four Post
March may be over, but the madness continues. Illinois, UNC, Louisville, and Michigan State face off to see who will come home with the championship. Only three games left, and based on how the tournament has been going so far, they should all be good ones. Mich. St. is a strong program nobody should have overlooked. UNC is probably the most exiciting team. Louisville was slapped in the face with a #4 seed and are playing with a vengeance. But with Illinois, I have a feeling that they are a team kind of like the Patriots, where they can just steamroll the competition and regular rules of engagement. So they remain my pick to win, but hey, what do I know.

I did do pretty well on my bracket, if anyone cares. Three out of my four Final Four picks made it- Illinois, UNC, and Louisville. My fourth team, Kentucky, almost slipped in there as well. I did best with the Chicago bracket, only losing two games total. I also called Kentucky's mini-bracket perfectly. Unfortunately my Albuquerque and Syracuse brackets were a mess. I'm not sure how well that would stack up against the competition, I didn't enter into any online tourneys. I think that filling out brackets should be something fun, and if you spend more than 5 minutes on it, you're just going to end up endlessly out-thinking and second-guessing yourself, with the end result of picking games wrong. So why bother? And don't even think about gambling over something as unpredictable as the NCAA's. Talk about a huge money pit.

Alllll Byyyyy Myyself
While Sammy is out having fun in Europe, I get the whole apartment to myself. This may sound great, but the fact is it just gets really quiet and dull without anybody else around. I mean, there's just nothing going on, and basically my options are sit in the apartment, or go to the library. Not the most exciting way to spend your life. So with the weather improving later this week, I'm going to set the goal to spend as little time in the apartment as possible. It was cold and rainy today, so that really wasn't an option.

Lucky for me, next week looks like a real doozy. The fun starts on Monday, when I have to deliver a 5 to 8 minute speech for my Public Speaking class. Fortunately I've got most of the research done previously, but still organizing a good speech takes longer than you would think. Putting on a nice, fake smile will continue on Tuesday, as the Spring Job Fair comes to Halton Arena. I even got a new suit for it, so here's hoping that I will able to dress to impress. Then, Friday, the fun continues with a large, 10-page policy paper about British Missile Defense (or Defence, as it may be) for Trans-Atlantic relations. Ah, nothing like a huge report to close out the week. Somewhere in there I get to do some interviews and cover baseball for the school paper. Should be a lot of fun!

Bitchin'
I just got a large package in the mail today from Ayana, and all I can say is it's pretty sweet and full of Japanese consumer goodness. There's just a ton of goodness in there- haichews, instant udon bowls, capsule toys, more snacks, a weird rock CD, curry mix, issues of the Famitsu, the best magazine ever, even some mints for my dad. So it's really awesome and honestly I think that the box of stuff I sent to her doesn't even compare. It's about as good as it gets without actually being there. So thanks for the great stuff Ayana, it's going to be great having all these Japanese snacks again.

Lutz to Tennessee?
As you may or may not know, Bobby Lutz has been interviewed and is a candidate for the head coaching job at Tennessee. I first heard about this as a rumor a couple of weeks ago at cnnsi.com, but I didn't want to believe that it could be true. Lutz is a UNCC alum, reportedly makes seven figures, and has stated that this is his "dream job" in the past. Still, it's tough to turn down that SEC money. College basketball experts have been hyping him for a long time now, so it's no surprise big schools are starting to take notice.

If he goes, which may very well happen, former Tar Heels coach Matt Dougherty has been a name that's been floated around quite a lot to fill the vacancy. I think he ended up with a raw deal when he left Chapel Hill so I wouldn't mind him coaching the Niners. People say he's a jerk, but frankly, maybe that's what this team needs right now.

One not-so-nice rumor that I've heard is that Lutz and Tennesse have already reached a deal several weeks before, around say late February. This also coincides with the Niner's late season collapse- think about it, if you've got your mind on a new job, you're not going to focus on the one at hand. Now I hate to throw dirt a person who's been good for the school for so long, over something that is almost certainly not true, but it is something to think about if he gets the job.