Here is something I found amusing:
These are the 10 states with the highest levels of adult obesity, according to a 2007 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Source: Associated Press).
1. Mississippi, 32.0 percent
2. Alabama, 30.3
3. Tennessee, 30.1
4. Louisiana, 29.8
5. West Virginia, 29.5
6. Arkansas, 28.7
7. South Carolina, 28.4
8. Georgia, 28.2
9. Oklahoma, 28.1
10. Texas, 28.1
Number 9, ha-ha. By the way, the new team is to be called the Thunder. Seems appropriate. Also, do not eat at Sonic Drive-Ins, the company is based in Oklahoma City. Nor should you watch the Country Music Television Channel and Spike TV, stay at any of the Gaylord Hotels, such as the Opryland Hotel, or, rather, any thing to do with the Grand Ole Opry, and, don’t read the Oklahoman. In the case of the Oklahoman, avoid it not only because of the nefaris connection to the evil that is Clay Bennett but also because, according to its Wiki entry:
“During the management by Edward Gaylord (Bennett’s father-in-law), the newspaper has been regularly accused of having an ultra conservative Republican /conservative bias in both its news coverage and particularly on its editorial pages. The January/February 1999 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review contained an article, titled ‘The Worst Newspaper in America,’ which made a lengthy and well-documented case for that designation.
Edward Gaylord routinely ran front page editorials against any political candidates whom Gaylord accused of supporting ‘big government spending.’ Businessman Gaylord has been accused of using his newspaper for personal financial or political gain at the public expense.
The most recent example was the paper's editorial support for the city to use public funds to promote ‘welfare for the rich’ to help finance the building of a new Bass Pro Shop in Oklahoma City, where Gaylord Entertainment was a large (24%) shareholder of Bass Pro private stock.
Another example of a double standard was one in which Gaylord, who had written strident editorials opposing ‘Affirmative Action’ and ‘Racial Quotas,’ successfully lobbied the US Congress to pass tax incentives in which Gaylord Media could receive tax breaks to sell broadcast stations to corporations which had a small percentage of ownership by what Gaylord had stridently described in editorials as ‘So-Called Minorities.’”
Nice. Do you think they ran any articles about how the state should finance the Ford Center? Oh, avoid Bass Pro Shops. The Gaylord evidently sold their share of the Texas Rangers to Bush. Bennett is reportedly a staunch Republican. Seeing his behavior, i.e., lies (to include potential perjury – see his explanation of the “man possessed” email), that doesn’t surprise me. Then there is his co-owner’s, Aubrey McClendon, stance on homosexuals, but I should get back to work. My point, there really isn’t much to like about these people. Stealing the Sonics was just the tip of the iceberg.
But we will be avenged. When the oil industry crashes in the next couple of decades, the dust bowl days will return. Plus, Willingham will exact revenge this fall!!!
(One more thing, the University of Oklahoma football stadium is named after Gaylord and the coach, Bob Stoops, was on the greeting committee for the NBA when they were “investigating” whether Oklahoma City was a viable NBA location.)
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Husky Recruiting
I waste too much time thinking, or I should say dwelling, or worrying about recruiting. Case in point, the football team has no commitments and the basketball team has two commitments with room for one more but appear to be gunning for two more (taking from Bob Condotta and his blog on the Seattle Times) and I'm concerned, going over the "what ifs" and checking for news everyday.
The football team is easily explained: not a great year D-1 wise in the state, official recruiting visits seem to happen most often during the season, and Willingham's questionable future. The commitments will come (albeit, probably a weaker class than last year, but, mostly due to the state's class), but still, I have to look each day to see if that first commitment came in.
As for basketball, what does Romar do if two more kids want to commit? Romar has 13 kids on scholarship this season. Of the 13, three are seniors; that means in order to take four, there has to be some kind of shake up with the underclassmen. So, if Romar gets a commitment from, say the two Bellermine kids, where does that extra scholarship come from?
I don't believe Romar when he says these things work themselves out. Because if they don't work themselves out, then he has to deny someone the renewal of their scholarship, essentially kicking them off the team. That's bad for the reputation. Let look at the Joel Smith situation. His departure solved the scholarship issue for this season. However, two months ago he was probably planning on returning thus creating a problem in that there would be 14 scholarship players, one over the limit. My thought is that Smith planned on playing next season because it wasn't guaranteed that all four freshmen would qualify. When they did, Smith's potential playing time took a dive (at least in most people's mind – see Thomas and Suggs – and in Smith's mind if my argument is going to fly). So rather than sit on the bench he took his degree and left. Perhaps Romar did kick him off after the four freshmen qualified. No bad guy image because Smith had his degree, he could still play a year somewhere at D-II, getting a free start on a Masters or go for a teaching certificate. But there was some time between the final freshman qualifying and the announcement Smith was leaving, time for him to evaluate the season and his role. So perhaps this was his decision and a surprise to Romar. Thus Romar had to have another backup plan in case all the freshmen qualified. Maybe Brockman volunteers to go off scholarship (getting the bonus publicity for being such a team player, like that guy from WSU last year). He'd pay in-state tuition and will be playing professionally somewhere next year so the cost wouldn't sting too much.
Or maybe Romar was working with Wolfinger, probably the least Pac-10 ready on the team (excluding some of the freshmen, but I think they have a higher potential) to find him a new home. Which brings me to next year. If Romar takes two more commitments, he's back to 14. What to do? Well, I have the solution and it involves Wolfinger. This will be his fourth year at UW. Like Smith, he used a redshirt. Although eligible for another season, if he kept up on his studies, he will graduate and call it a career. As well as having the degree, Wolfinger has dealt with a lot of injuries, missing an entire season (in addition to the redshirt year) and I believe he is resting his foot right now. All the more reason to call it a career. Or, graduate, take the year of eligibility and enroll in a D-II school with Master's programs, apply for a medical redshirt and there you go – two more years of free education going towards a Master's. The timing is perfect, too perfect, so I'll stick with the injury issues as the most likely scenario. But, in the end, like with Smith, Romar is still the good guy and, importantly, getting kids to graduate on time.
The problem with this route is that leaves only one senior on next season's squad (Pondexter, assuming he doesn't make the mistake of going pro after this season, which would completely mess the above plan up) and thus only one scholarship for the following class. I can't believe Romar only takes on one kid (even if it is Josh Smith). So we are back to the over the limit issue again. Unless, the Pondexter mistake occurs…
The football team is easily explained: not a great year D-1 wise in the state, official recruiting visits seem to happen most often during the season, and Willingham's questionable future. The commitments will come (albeit, probably a weaker class than last year, but, mostly due to the state's class), but still, I have to look each day to see if that first commitment came in.
As for basketball, what does Romar do if two more kids want to commit? Romar has 13 kids on scholarship this season. Of the 13, three are seniors; that means in order to take four, there has to be some kind of shake up with the underclassmen. So, if Romar gets a commitment from, say the two Bellermine kids, where does that extra scholarship come from?
I don't believe Romar when he says these things work themselves out. Because if they don't work themselves out, then he has to deny someone the renewal of their scholarship, essentially kicking them off the team. That's bad for the reputation. Let look at the Joel Smith situation. His departure solved the scholarship issue for this season. However, two months ago he was probably planning on returning thus creating a problem in that there would be 14 scholarship players, one over the limit. My thought is that Smith planned on playing next season because it wasn't guaranteed that all four freshmen would qualify. When they did, Smith's potential playing time took a dive (at least in most people's mind – see Thomas and Suggs – and in Smith's mind if my argument is going to fly). So rather than sit on the bench he took his degree and left. Perhaps Romar did kick him off after the four freshmen qualified. No bad guy image because Smith had his degree, he could still play a year somewhere at D-II, getting a free start on a Masters or go for a teaching certificate. But there was some time between the final freshman qualifying and the announcement Smith was leaving, time for him to evaluate the season and his role. So perhaps this was his decision and a surprise to Romar. Thus Romar had to have another backup plan in case all the freshmen qualified. Maybe Brockman volunteers to go off scholarship (getting the bonus publicity for being such a team player, like that guy from WSU last year). He'd pay in-state tuition and will be playing professionally somewhere next year so the cost wouldn't sting too much.
Or maybe Romar was working with Wolfinger, probably the least Pac-10 ready on the team (excluding some of the freshmen, but I think they have a higher potential) to find him a new home. Which brings me to next year. If Romar takes two more commitments, he's back to 14. What to do? Well, I have the solution and it involves Wolfinger. This will be his fourth year at UW. Like Smith, he used a redshirt. Although eligible for another season, if he kept up on his studies, he will graduate and call it a career. As well as having the degree, Wolfinger has dealt with a lot of injuries, missing an entire season (in addition to the redshirt year) and I believe he is resting his foot right now. All the more reason to call it a career. Or, graduate, take the year of eligibility and enroll in a D-II school with Master's programs, apply for a medical redshirt and there you go – two more years of free education going towards a Master's. The timing is perfect, too perfect, so I'll stick with the injury issues as the most likely scenario. But, in the end, like with Smith, Romar is still the good guy and, importantly, getting kids to graduate on time.
The problem with this route is that leaves only one senior on next season's squad (Pondexter, assuming he doesn't make the mistake of going pro after this season, which would completely mess the above plan up) and thus only one scholarship for the following class. I can't believe Romar only takes on one kid (even if it is Josh Smith). So we are back to the over the limit issue again. Unless, the Pondexter mistake occurs…
Friday, July 11, 2008
West Virginia Brewing Company
It has been awhile but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been drinking beer, especially as a method to drown the sorrows of the team that was the SuperSonics.
A few weeks ago, I was in Morgantown, West Virginia, where I discovered the West Virginia Brewing Company. They had about 6 or so beers on tap, that my waiter, I believe named Jason (although that is more than likely way off), honestly described as good or bad. When he got to the Ned’s Pale Ale, these were his words: “This beer is made with more hops than our other beer and is bitter. It’s delicious.” He had me at “more hops.” “I’ll take” I exclaimed.
I liked the atmosphere of the bar. I’m sure it gets quite crowded on Friday and Saturday nights and on Game Day. On a Monday evening, not so much. That was okay as they brewed their own beer and cooked a decent burger. If you ever find yourself in Morgantown, I recommend a stop at the West Virginia Brewing company for Ned’s Pale Ale, it’s delicious.
Rating: 4
A few weeks ago, I was in Morgantown, West Virginia, where I discovered the West Virginia Brewing Company. They had about 6 or so beers on tap, that my waiter, I believe named Jason (although that is more than likely way off), honestly described as good or bad. When he got to the Ned’s Pale Ale, these were his words: “This beer is made with more hops than our other beer and is bitter. It’s delicious.” He had me at “more hops.” “I’ll take” I exclaimed.
I liked the atmosphere of the bar. I’m sure it gets quite crowded on Friday and Saturday nights and on Game Day. On a Monday evening, not so much. That was okay as they brewed their own beer and cooked a decent burger. If you ever find yourself in Morgantown, I recommend a stop at the West Virginia Brewing company for Ned’s Pale Ale, it’s delicious.
Rating: 4
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