as the season ticks down ....

Was driving 1/1/10 (what kind of idiot wants a car delivered by 8 am January 2?) 

Capital One: in a shocking development, the SEC has asked LSU to resign from the Conference after loosing to a Big 1(1)0 school in a bowl game.

Sugar:  Mike, you still think Cincy is the best college team in Ohio?

Outback - REALLY sorry i missed this one - sounded like quite a game.  I gave up on the radio when it was 35-21!

Gator:  no more Bobby Bowden coaching ineligable athletes, and he got to beat one of the schools that ran him off...how nice ...Joe Pa stays on top

Gruden ... watching NYG/WRS claims never saw a "Swinging Gate" before - you gotta be kidding me! 

Rose - Gruden again, was amazewd at T Pryors speed.  He's been reading the rest of the countries news reports: everybody seems to think the Big 1(1)0 is a bunch of 6'tall white guys with crew cuts, black high tops and no face mask.

Papajohn's Bowl - OK...that does it .... the SEC will now disband - LOOSING a home bowl, going to OT against a mediocre B1(1)0 team and ony winnng when they disable the kicker, then LOSING to a women's basketball team - UConn - I meanGino A's the only coach there, right?

What has happened to Obama’s vaunted fluency?

Because George W. Bush could be such a trial to listen to, sometimes, I got into the habit of reading his speeches, and I always came away from them impressed by how substantive they were. When I read Obama’s speeches, I find myself thinking, “just words; lots and lots of words.” And lately, they’re not even particularly polished words.

The Anchoress concludes:

I suspect that what Obama wanted was to be the King, not the President. ...If a King is on vacation and his country encounters an critical issue, he knows there is no need to come jetting back to the palace, because the Prime Minister is taking care of reality. All the King needs to do is -in a day or three- show up at a microphone in casual dress and do the PR work of expressing concern over the issue and confidence in the government. The King can command instant coverage, even if there is only time for audio.

A King does not worry, so much, about representative governance, since it is irrelevent to his standing.

Sadly, though, America is not in need of his Kingship.

America needs a good old-fashioned President:

I miss old-fashioned American presidents; flawed men who had no allusions that they were perfect. Men who (in Clinton’s case) needed to be loved too much and (in Bush’s case) didn’t need it enough, but who still, for all the personal and political mistakes, were simply trying to lead America, not to rule it, or “remake” it or “save” it from its stiff-necked, fussy, independent, generous, vulgar, valiant, dreaming, energetic, creative, preening, heroic, world-leading, free and glorious self.

.....

I miss having an American President who could describe himself – as Clinton once did – as “a punching clown; you punch me and I’m bounce right back up and into your face;” or a president who could, with ironic self awareness describe himself as “misunderestimated.” America needs a guy who can laugh at himself and take the nation’s chaffing with a shrug, instead of a godling of the press’ needy creation, one “too perfect to be mocked”.

So, we have a King. But we haven’t a Prime Minister. Mrs. Pelosi won’t do, nor will Mr. Reid. We need a president.

To see the danger we face because of Obama’s return to a law-enforcement approach to terrorist interrogation, read today’s front-page story in the Washington Post.

At the very end of the article, the Post notes:

Abdulmutallab remains in a Detroit area prison and, after initial debriefings by the FBI, has restricted his cooperation since securing a defense attorney, according to federal officials. Authorities are holding out hope that he will change his mind and cooperate with the probe, the officials said. (Emphasis added)

Writes Marc Thiessen: Holding out hope? Change his mind? Are they kidding? A terrorist like Abdulmutallab is not a common criminal who should be told he has the “right to remain silent.” He is an enemy combatant, who tried to commit an act of war against the United States of America. He possesses vital intelligence about the terrorist network that deployed him to attack America, and may be planning still more attacks. The Obama administration has a responsibility to make him give up that information. Treating him like a criminal is an abdication of that responsibility, and puts our nation at risk.

Obama is taking heat for his delayed reaction. Mike Allen, among others, calls this “unfair”, and Josh Gerstein writes, in Obama’s defense, as well. Both argue that since President Bush took 6 days to talk publicly about the Richard Reid shoe bomber case, it is wrong to criticize Obama. Fair enough, I guess, except for one consideration which does make a difference: When Reid was prevented from igniting his shoe by his fellow passengers, Americans were completely aware that -silent or not- Bush was committed to the War on Terror and to our protection. Bush probably should have spoken sooner -apparently Michael Moore, among others complained about it- but on this issue, Bush was a completely known entity, and no one could doubt that, even if silent, Bush was working behind-the-scenes. Obama, who has increasingly seemed disengaged from things and gave a shaky performance after the Ft. Hood attack, is not that same known entity; his commitment to combating terrorism is not yet so absolutely defined and assured, and -given the timely warnings about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab- this event is not an exact copy of Reid situation.

Had the opportunity last night to enjoy a new "fad" - the "Livingroom Concert."  Folks host a concert at their house, put out a little gnache, bring in a band, put out a donation basket and voila - livingroom concert.

In this case the group was "The Mercury Retrograde."  

The boys played some of their old stuff and some new things they're working on.  Collaboration in the 21st century is a beautiful thing.  Deezer lays down a new melodic idea, sends it to Remy and Kevin.  Kevin works out some harmonies and Remy kicks out some lyric directions.  A dozen emails later and the new song's ready to be worked out.  You see, Kevin's in Columbus, Remy's in Chicago and Deezer is in NYC.  They come home during breaks, work together 6-8 hours a day for a week, and out pops some new material.

Back to the Livingroom gig.  Underattended but very comfortable, laid back and fun.  If you get a chance - go to one of these.

Haven't talked movies much lately but I just hit 2500 over at Flickchart.com so - here's my current top 10 of all time:

1. The Lord of the Rings
   
2. The Sting
3. Citizen Kane
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
   
5. Lawrence of Arabia
6. Meatballs
7. Young Frankenstein
8. The Princess Bride
9. The Wizard of Oz
10. The Hustler

Who's too high?  Who's too low?  Except Meatballs.  Leave Tripper alone!

Top 10 of the Decade (this is just movie's I've seen fwiw)

 And for the past year?

I look for a couple movies to move up on that list:  Up and The Brothers Bloom.

Notre Dame has changed its motto.

The OLD one: Vitte, Dulcedo, Sipes (Life, Sweetness and Hope)

The NEW one:  Nos quam celerrime nostras regulas decrescamus (We Are Lowering Our Standards as Fast as We Can).

Somebody's going to LA.  Two most likely candidates are Jacksonville and Minnie Ha Ha.  So how does the NFL realign after THAT little Mayflower moment?

Assume it's the Vikes (the SECOND team to leave the state for sunny California!)  This one's easy.  Move the Vikes to the west and add STL to he Black and Blue.  For us oldtimers it'll be a sad day but that's beig a sports fan in the modern era.

Assuming it's JAX the NFL is presented with a GREAT opportunity to correct a few errors from the LAST go-round.

1.  East:  BUF, NYJ, NE ... add BLT

2.  North:  CIN, CLE, PIT and IND!

3.  West:  LA/JAX, SD, DEN, OAK

4.  A reconstructed South:  MIA, KC, TEN, HOU

Both of these make a TON of sense ... which is why the NFL will choose neither.

OK, so the Big 1(1)0 is gonna add a team.  I was in Oklahoma when the news hit and the sports/radio there went ballisitic.  MAN do they hate the 11.  Be that as it may .... here are my thoughts ...

1.  There are a half dozen schools being kicked around.  My pick is Mizzou.  ND SHOULD come in and would be the best fit with the fewest ripples elsewhere, bu they won't.  A few more years of wandering in the  wilderness and they'll feel differently.  Syracuse or Rutgers?  Too far east.  Pitt?  Cincy?  Louisville?  City schools.  Iowa State?  Why?  We already have most of the eyes in Iowa - they bring nothing.  So it's Mizzou.

2.  Here's the alignment:  East:  PSU, OSU, MSU, the school up north, Indiana and Purdua.  West, Minnie Ha Ha, Wisconsin, Iowa, Mizzou, Northwestern, Illinois.  And we get renamed the Great Midwestern Conference, with a hat tip to history.  Ever wonder why "The  Victors" references the champions of the west?  Wonder if they'll change it to "east"?

3.  So the Big 12 needs a team.  The natural  fit IMHO is Arkansas, reuniting the old Southwest Conference teams. If ARK decided to continue loosing to the SEC's chosen teams and getting the SEC paycheck, TCU becomes a good option.  Fort Worth fits the geography.

4.  Assume ARK goes.  That means the SEC needs a team.  This is where it gets tougher.  South Florida from the Big East?  Doubt it.  Sunbelt?  Too small.  That leaves Conference USA and ACC, each of which would then be left with a hole to fill.  Lot's of dominoes.

5.  Assume TCU goes.  Mountain West would drop from nine to eight, actually improving some scheduling issues!

6.  The Pac-10 would then be the sole BCS holdout.  Who to add?  Fresno State?  UNLV?  BYU?  Utah?  Boise?  Pick any two.  Then recombine the Mountain West and the WAC ..... a 16 team super conference.  Two eight team divisions (7 games in, 3-4 games out) and a playoff.

Voila.

I love my wife and most of the time I have NO IDEA why she puts up with me.  And then I realize that there ARE a few socially redeeming traits.  And I'd like to say a word of thanks to the people that put them there: the old gf's whose live I made miserable but from whom I learned valuable lessons in dealing with the opposite sex.

To name names, the major "teachers" would be Marcia M., Abby A., and Laryssa .  And I thank each of you.  So does my wife!

Bonus info:  Note a trend?  I also dated Cary C, Deb D., Mary M,   ANOTHER Carrie C, and a Monica M!

A dynasty league runs year round. You spend Jan thru March watching NFL moves. April you watch the draft to see who the hot rookies are and where they'll go. May thru June start doing your research and projections, deciding which contracts to extend, which free agents to pursue, how high to go on that stud RB. July is the free agent auction. You can't win The League in the auction but you sure can lose it. August is the draft – the maneuvering, the trading. The potential stars and the doomed busts. Once the season starts the old rituals return. The matchups. More projections. Your rival runs off a six game winning streak in September/October. In November you manage to reel him back in. You play him the last week of the season for the Division title and win. You make the playoffs. You survive to the title game against the top scoring team in The League. You know it'll be a struggle but it CAN be won. You've beaten him the last FIVE times you've met. The 1:00 games are uneventful. He establishes a twenty point lead lead. The 4:00 games see you fight back and close the gap to five. You have both RB's left, and a TE. He has a RB and a K. Sunday and Monday night games will decide the issue.

And then it happens. The Play. Dallas leading 7-0, 9:17 to go in the first half, 1^st and 10 from their own 28. I formation, trips left. Romo hits Witten (your TE) in stride going across the middle from the right side of the line at the Dallas 48 ... he cuts up field, across the 50, the 40, the 30 ... as he crosses the 20 all Roy Williams needs to do for the TD is step in front of the pursuing Dbs. He doesn't. Doughty makes the tackle at the three. Two plays later Barber (your opponents RB) scores. A 9 point swing. And you go into Monday night down by 10 instead of 1.

And your season's over.

Thanks Roy, for giving 87% every play whether the 'Boys need it or not.