November 2004 Archives

30 November 2004

Foolish Words

When Dave Maggard was hired as UH athletics director, he made the statement that he never wanted UH to lose to Rice at anything, ever.

In the major sports so far this season, UH has lost to Rice at football and men's basketball (tonight, by one point). And going back further, it hasn't really gone all that well.

Way to raise the expectations, David!

Maybe UH's new motto needs to be, we'll have no excuses for losing to Sam Houston State at anything!

Still, I like what Penders is doing at UH. It's just going to take some time to revive a program that's been in the toilet as long as UH's has.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/30/04 21:09 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (3)

Big Government And Big Legislation

Reason's Julian Sanchez has an interesting take related to a provision in a recent omnibus appropriations bill that got some bloggers overly excited recently:

To some extent, the problem is a pure function of the state's size. The larger a government becomes, the more it presumes to dabble in economic minutiae, as F.A. Hayek famously argued, the more policy will come to steered by an unaccountable few, as the inherent complexity of the subjects of legislation immunize them from public scrutiny or debate. The insight was scarcely original to Hayek; German sociologist Robert Michels had hit on it as early as 1911 in his Political Parties, where he dubbed it "the iron law of oligarchy." Now--especially as legislators more jealously guard their pork-dispensing prerogatives, rather than letting grant disbursing agencies fill in the details down the line--the effect of the "iron law" is so amplified that even the oligarchs (and the oligarchs among the oligarchs on the conference committees) aren't sure what's going on. One staffer plugs in some language downloaded from the Internet at the last minute, while another makes some handwritten adjustments to this or that dollar amount. Law is made on a darkling plain, where ignorant armies collude by night.

He goes on to suggest a useful (I suppose) reform -- a mandatory cooling-off period during which bloggers and perennial anti-pork grandstanders like John McCain can pore over the minute details of hundreds of pages of legislation.

That reform is unlikely to fix the larger problem that Sanchez describes, which is the sheer scope of the national government. A massive administrative/redistributionist state offers ample opportunities for all sorts of mischief to be introduced in omnibus legislation. Personally, I'm a bit more bothered by the fact that the government mandates everything from the volume of water that can be dispensed in a single toilet flush to the size of doors on public restroom stalls than the fact a committee chairman might have had a look at my tax returns if that provision hadn't been caught. Still, sunshine never hurts, and Sanchez's proposal makes a lot of sense. So much sense that's he's right -- it'll never come to pass.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/30/04 20:30 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

29 November 2004

Sherry Sylvester Moves To State GOP

The Austin Chronicle reports that Sherry Sylvester has accepted a job as communications director for the Texas GOP:

Sherry Sylvester made it official this week. The former San Antonio Express-News reporter, who has spent the last couple of years online impersonating a "non-partisan Texas media monitoring project" called Texas Media Watch (underwritten by the right-wing Lone Star Foundation), has accepted the job of communications director for the Texas Republican Party. Accepting the appointment from party Chair Tina Benkiser, Sylvester said the GOP "has a winning message and a great story to tell. I am excited about working with the dynamic leadership of the majority party." Sylvester shouldn't miss a beat, since she's been happily flogging that "winning message" while pretending to analyze objectively the political coverage of the state's major dailies and finding "liberal bias" everywhere she looked. Most recently, she tied herself into post-modernist knots attempting to explain why all the state's supposedly liberal newspapers endorsed the re-election of President George W. Bush. Sylvester's explanation? The publishers made them do it. She's finally free to speak directly in the voice of her GOP paymasters....

Sylvester was sometimes prone to excess, and recently has seemed to be stretched a bit thin (too many errors in her copy for my taste of late), but her site was a useful source of media criticism in a state where, frankly, most of the big newspapers aren't very good and could use more criticism. And her list of media bias indicators remains useful, whatever one thinks of her application of said indicators.

It's not especially surprising that the Austin Chronicle's reaction to the (apparent) end of Texas Media Watch is snidely cynical. Dinosaur alt-weeklies aren't especially alternative these days, but they are infused with a cynicism that their corporate publishers apparently mistake for alt-journalism. Still, it might have been an interesting alternative angle to ring up Sylvester, and see if she would talk about her transition from political staffer for Geraldine Ferraro and David Dinkins to journalist to media watcher to GOP staffer, and what exactly has motivated what would seem to be quite a change in political philosophy.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/29/04 21:21 | Media Matters | Technorati | Comments (1)

Big 12 Wrap: Week 13

It's time for the final, regular-season Big 12 Wrap, a day late because of a little stomach bug that decided to take me out yesterday.

Anyway, it's been another fun Big 12 season. The North was much worse than I would have anticipated, but the South was somewhat better than I anticipated. I enjoyed it, and I have to say, I enjoy these little blurbs I write each week (even though I wonder at the start of each season whether I want to do it again).

Enough navel gazing -- on to the games!

Texas 26, Texas A&M 13
Texas was too much for their in-state rivals in Austin, dominating the second half with physical defense and a physical running game that was good enough to beat every team on the schedule besides OU. Despite a great season that in a just world would see Mack Brown in his first BCS bowl and Cedric Benson accepting the Heisman trophy, the Horns are probably going to be making a second trip to the Cotton Bowl this season, and Benson will probably get to watch Matt Leinart accept the Heisman. The BCS system is what it is, so I'm less inclined to fret over that. But if I had a Heisman vote, it would go to Benson, who got his yards every week, despite most teams loading up the box because they know Vince Young can't throw accurately enough to make them pay. For A&M, coming close against OU at home and UT at Austin should boost Dennis Franchione's recruiting, making the South even tighter next year.

Texas Tech 31, Oklahoma State 15
When is the last time it could be said that Texas Tech's defense contributed to a win? Surely not since Mike Leach arrived in Lubbock. But they did shut down an OSU offense that has been potent at times this year, and Leach's offense finally got cranked up in the second half. For Tech, getting to 7-4 has to be gratifying after Leach all but accused the team of not showing up in the blowout loss to Texas earlier in the season. For OSU, losing four of six games after going 5-0 to start the season has to be disappointing, although they were a little shorthanded after losing so much talent from last year's team. Les Miles and Mike Leach will probably both get some feelers from bigger programs after the season.

Colorado 26, Nebraska 20
This game wasn't nearly as close as the final score would indicate, as Colorado got out to a nice lead, and there wasn't much the inept Nebraska offense could do about it. It's Nebraska's first losing season in 43 years, and the first time they won't be attending a bowl in 35 years. Bill Callahan was allegedly going to bring all sorts of offense to Nebraska. Instead, the offense was mostly inept all season, and the defense was hardly the unit it was last season under Bo Pelini, the man who probably should have gotten the head coaching job. Callahan will be under the gun to get things turned around next year, but there weren't many signs this season he'll be up to the task. Gary Barnett, on the other hand, survives all the offseason scandal and turbulence to lead his team to the Big 12 Championship game next week against Oklahoma, a rematch of the conference championship of two years ago (but in Kansas City instead of Houston this time).

Missouri 17, Iowa State 14
This game was so representative of the North. Missouri was an early season darling, and probably should have won the sorry division. Instead, they aren't even bowl eligible, but beat the team that emerged in the last few weeks as the frontrunner -- or maybe it's safer to say, Iowa State gave the game away, missing a field goal that would have won in regulation, and then failing to score in overtime after getting a first and goal from Missouri's three yard line. Yes, that pretty much sums up the sorry North. Iowa State will still go bowling, Gary Pinkel may have saved his job with this win, and Gary Barnett ought to offer Pinkel a job as a Colorado assistant if he does get fired.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/29/04 20:51 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (6)

27 November 2004

Back

We're back in Houston after a great Thanksgiving trip to Oklahoma.

We got back in time to take in the second home game for Tom Penders, a resounding 95-52 effort against Grambling. It was another stifling defensive performance, but this time the shots were also falling for the Coogs. The competition will get much tougher, of course, in C-USA, but for a place that hasn't had decent basketball in more than a decade, it's definitely a good start.

We also made a detour to Fry's on our way home. My jaw about hit the floor when I saw these PolkAudio R50 tower speakers advertised for $79 in store ($89 on the website) in my weekly email from that fine store. Considering these great speakers carry a normal sticker price of $199 at Fry's (and other stores), I was impressed. I was even more impressed when we pulled into the store, and they still had the things in stock. The speakers they replaced are an old pair of Technics 3-ways that I've had since high school. They've long been the weak link in my system, but I just rarely find quality speakers on sale. I think $120 off definitely qualifies as a sale. And the things sound AMAZING. If you have a Fry's nearby and are in the market for quality speakers, definitely consider these bad boys.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/27/04 22:47 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)

26 November 2004

When Will Jerry Be Jerry?

I keep waiting for the Jerry-Tuna relationship to run off the tracks.

So far, Jerry has been pretty patient, because he knows what a mess he created when he thought 500 coaches could do the job Jimmy Johnson did (and then proved he had no clue where to find one of those 500).

But comments like this show the old Jerry is always lurking:

"I am tickled to death with this win," Jones said. "[But] it would be exciting for the fans if we win games like this with young players who are going to be on the field for years to come. When I saw we weren't going to get a chance to do it at a key position like quarterback is disappointing. To win that game under Drew Henson would have really added a big plus to things."

You have to wonder if he was even watching the same game. It would have added a big plus to things, yes, except Henson looked confounded most of the time he was in, and wasn't going to be leading the team anywhere.

I've been wanting to see Henson, but frankly he looked just like the guy Parcells has been telling us he is: a guy "who hasn't played much football."

He can't make reads quickly, blitzes overwhelm him, and even when he makes the right read, he has a lot of trouble getting the ball where it belongs.

At some point, I think you probably still have to let him play some ball and learn what he's doing, so you can figure out if you need to get a real quarterback in the draft or free agency (Dree Brees might be a nice fit in Dallas).

Parcells is a hall-of-fame coach. I can't blame him for looking up and saying, I'm not going to be the coach who serves up this kind of offensive football with millions of NFL fans watching on Thanksgiving. Sorry, we'll win this one with Testaverde if the old man can walk.

Besides, the running of Julius Jones was a plus.

(Update) Good lord, it was bad enough yesterday listening to Troy Aikman sound like a girl in criticizing the move to Testaverde, because "fans need a sense of hope about the future." Over and over, he said that. And now Randy Galloway, who used to write whatever Troy whispered in his ear back in the day, is still carrying water for him, and sounding like a girl himself. Sorry, ladies, we don't need a "sense of hope" about the future, we need to find a quarterback.

Here's another ominous quote from Coach Jones though:

"I was disappointed not to get to see Drew come back and win the game," Jones said. "I think he would have done that, and we would have gotten a 21-7 win."

Why am I starting to get the feeling the glorious relationship is about to blow up over the quarterback position, where Coach Jones has previously produced such stellar NFL quarterbacks as Ryan Leaf, Chad Hutchinson, and Quincy Carter? We'll see.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/26/04 09:44 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (0)

24 November 2004

Happy Thanksgiving

This place and the other blog are likely to be a little quiet over the holiday, as we're roadtripping up to Oklahoma.

I'll have wi-fi access, but probably won't be blogging much -- too much good food to eat and bad football to watch.

Anyway, I hope ya'll have a great Thanksgiving, and that the Aggies stomp TU.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/24/04 00:12 | Other | Technorati | Comments (5)

The Universal Nature Of The Problem

I escaped inner-loop Houston earlier today (whoops, yesterday as I glance at the clock) to attend to some business up in The Woodlands.

Of COURSE the road I took was undergoing some sort of construction that narrowed it and detoured it and all sorts of other fun.

And I couldn't even blame it on Lee Brown.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/24/04 00:09 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

New DA Duty: (Non)Partisan Editorializing For The NY Times!

Travis County DA Ronnie Earle isn't partisan, as he continues to make clear to anyone who will listen.

Including the readership of the New York Times.

And since he's not partisan, it must just be an oversight that for so many years, I missed the fact that one of the duties of the Travis County DA is to criticize the entire House Republican membership in the New York Times.

Here some of us silly simpletons thought the duties were probably more along the lines of prosecuting bad guys. But they are kind of wacky in Travis County, so who knows.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/24/04 00:05 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (5)

23 November 2004

It Must Run In The Family

Good lord, I've long thought Paul Begala was annoying.

It seems to run in the family.

Anyway, what is funny about Chris Begala, Media Consultant (love the caps!), is that he goes on and on and on about new CNN hire Jonathan Klein, who he says is going to clean up CNN. And he wrote the same thing yesterday.

He seems blissfully unaware of just WHO Jonathan Klein is -- remember, the guy who dismissed the bloggers who exposed the forged CBS memos as guys sitting around in their pajamas (as opposed to "real" journalists, like those employed by CBS News).

One can't help but think that Other Begala's predictions are not unlike those of the "publisher" of the "blog as big as Texas" regarding the Astros' trip of "destiny" to the World Series -- silly. Bloggers who are not silly have also noted the Klein development.

Anyway, these are just the thoughts of a political scientist (no caps) who is sitting around blogging in his pajamas tonight (nice flannel ones, actually -- quite comfy), so make of it all what you will.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/04 23:44 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

22 November 2004

Davis Soon To Be Replaced By Campo?

Chris Mortenson reports that the Cleveland Browns are on the verge of firing Butch Davis.

He could be replaced by defensive coordinator Dave Campo, which is funny to me.

Anyway, I don't especially care what these former Cowboys assistants wind up doing, aside from the fact that Butch Davis once coached at good ol' Pawhuska (OK) High School.

I hate to see a good Husky get fired, but he could do worse than land at Florida.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/22/04 21:31 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (4)

21 November 2004

Big 12 Wrap: Week 12

It was a slow week in the Big 12, with only three games as we wind down to the end of the season. Here they are:

Oklahoma 35, Baylor 0
After a lackluster first half, the Sooners dominated the second half, as Baylor never threatened. Adrian Peterson had a monster game, running for 240 yards. Jason White had a "quietly" efficient game, winding up 19 of 32 for 194 yards and two touchdowns despite a slow start. Special teams woes continued in this one, with Trey DiCarlo missing yet another field goal -- and Bob Stoops pulling the redshirt off freshman Garrett Hartley, who will now assume kicking duties. Other than that, not much went wrong for the Sooners in this final tuneup for their championship run. Even Stoops' decision to pull his starters instead of trying to run up the score didn't have repercussions, as OU is back in sole possession of the #2 spot in the polls tonight. The victory gives Stoops his third undefeated regular season since taking over at OU, a pretty amazing run in a tough conference.

Iowa State 37, Kansas State 23
Bill Snyder's nightmare season concluded appropriately, as his team gave up three touchdowns in the final three minutes to grasp defeat from victory. Now Iowa State, which at one point this season looked like the doormat of the North, can clinch the division with a win at Missouri next week.

Kansas 31, Missouri 14
Mark Mangino's team could easily be bowl eligible with just a few breaks here and there, but instead finishes up the season playing spoiler -- knocking Missouri out of the bowl and North hunts. It's a disappointing finish for Mizzou, which looked strong early with the combination of Brad Smith and Damien Nash. Instead, they are finishing in a tailspin, losing five straight. They will be the underdog at Iowa State next week, and losing six in a row would almost certainly put Gary Pinkel on the hot seat.

Next week should be fun, as all four games (Colorado-Nebraska, Missouri-Iowa State, Texas A&M-Texas, Oklahoma State-Texas Tech) have either bowl or division championship implications -- not to mention the grudge match aspect.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/21/04 22:26 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (2)

That's Why I Call Him Clueless

NBA Commissioner David Stern handed out stiff penalties today for the exercise in thuggery that took place at the Indiana-Detroit game a few nights ago.

I watched the press conference, and thought the commissioner came off well.

Of more local interest, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan seems still not to get it with regard to one of his players, who just had an arrest warrant issued for him related to the incident in which he (allegedly) headbutted a member of the Sooner spirit group, knocking out several of the guy's teeth and sending him to the hospital.

Here's Clueless Callahan:

Monday, during a Big 12 teleconference, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said he felt "really, really terrible" about the incident. But he said the Ruf/Nek's position near the end zone made an incident almost inevitable.

"I have a lot of empathy for the young man who got injured," Callahan said. "But the safety for those young kids is vital. And for somebody of game management or athletic administration not to realize that -- it's astounding to me that these kids can be right in the midst of a warm-up between these 300 pounds-plus linemen."

Merritt's injuries required the insertion of a metal rod into his mouth, and he was scheduled for oral surgery.

DeLone, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound senior, was not detained by campus police after the incident. DeLone played in last week's game, which Nebraska lost 30-3.

This is the second time in a little more than a year that a Nebraska player has been accused of an on-field altercation with a fan.

Nebraska player Kellen Houston served a one-game suspension and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disturbance of the peace after hitting Missouri fan Matthew Scott after a game at Faurot Field in Columbia last October.

Until Clueless got his arse kicked by the Sooners, nobody questioned Joe Castiglione's management of game days in Norman. The only thing I question is why Castiglione didn't have OU cops slap the cuffs on the player immediately.

Obviously, Nebraska has had problems similar to this one before. If Clueless isn't willing to take charge of his program (no, he wasn't around last year, but he's there now), then maybe Kevin Weiberg should do something about it.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/21/04 19:33 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)

Henson

We expected it most of season, and it finally happened: Iron (old) Man Vinny Testaverde finally broke, and Drew Henson finally got in a game.

On his first play, he fumbled as a result of the pitiful blocking that Vinny had to endure all day.

On his next series, he completed every pass he threw, and led the team to a score.

Granted, the game was over, but the Baltimore starters were still in on defense, and that's a proud unit that doesn't stop playing.

I can't wait to hear Big Bill's response to the question of whether the Henson era has now begun. I wouldn't want to be the journalist asking it.

What a stinker of a game, other than that last little bit.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/21/04 15:01 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (1)

Coach Merv

ESPN has been chronicling the Sooner football program behind the scenes all season, and recently posted the sort of story (on longtime Sooner coach and/or associate Merv Johnson) that only comes about from journalists who have gotten familiar with the program.

Johnson, of course, coached Joe Montana as offensive coordinator at Notre Dame, and coached with Frank Broyles at Arkansas before making his mark as probably the greatest offensive line coach in the history of Sooner football, not to mention stints as offensive coordinator for some of the nation's most prolific rushing offenses.

20 November 2004

Poor Product + Bad Facility = Attendance Woes

As a UH season ticket holder, I've gotten about a dozen emails from athletic director Dave Maggard's office over the past couple of weeks, and now it appears he's pestering the local media with his attendance woes:

Danger Train: Collision #70

The Chron is reporting that a Danger Train collision took place on Thursday morning.

It's unclear why it took until Saturday to report the crash.

It's also unclear how the Chron comes up with its figures for crashes, but that was the 70th collision that we know about between a Metro train and a vehicle or person.

We are world class!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/20/04 13:46 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (0)

19 November 2004

More Tweaks

I've screwed around with things even more here tonight, so if something's broken, leave me a comment (unless comments are broken, then email me). I'll get around to fixing it at some point, but I'm off to watch the UH home basketball opener.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/19/04 19:19 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

Sports Line Of The Day

Randy Galloway has this great line in today's Star-Telegram:

But I've got to admit Ms. Nicolette Sheridan covered Terrell Owens better than any member of the Cowboys' secondary.

Oh my!

He's on to something there. The Cowboys need some hot chicks in their secondary. Give 'em Seven-of-Nine style uniforms. That might at least slow down the opponents' receivers on the way to the end zone.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/19/04 09:31 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (0)

18 November 2004

Dungeons

Peter Bebergal has written an interesting article for the Boston Globe, How "Dungeons" Changed the World.

Here's an excerpt:

To put it simply, Dungeons and Dragons reinvented the use of the imagination as a kid's best toy. The cliche of parents waxing nostalgic for their wooden toys and things "they had to make themselves" has now become my own. Looking around at my toddler's room full of trucks, trains, and Transformers, I want to cry out, "I created worlds with nothing more than a twenty-sided die!"

Dungeons and Dragons was a not a way out of the mainstream, as some parents feared and other kids suspected, but a way back into the realm of story-telling. This was what my friends and I were doing: creating narratives to make sense of feeling socially marginal. We were writing stories, grand in scope, with heroes, villains, and the entire zoology of mythical creatures. Even sports, the arch-nemesis of role-playing games, is a splendid tale of adventure and glory. Though my friends and I were not always athletically inclined, we found agility in the characters we created. We fought, flew through the air, shot arrows out of the park, and scored points by slaying the dragon and disabling the trap.

I never was a role playing fanatic, but I put in some AD&D time with my fellow geeks in good ol' Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Good times, those were.

And those dice WERE cool. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/18/04 06:53 | Other | Technorati | Comments (4)

17 November 2004

Tweak Tweak

I upgraded Nucleus tonight, and made some other changes.

Please leave a comment if you notice that I've broken something. I should never do these things late in the evening, as I inevitably break things.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/17/04 00:10 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)

16 November 2004

Cotton Or Holiday For Mack?

As I noted earlier, the presence of Cal and Utah in the top six of the BCS rankings spells trouble for Texas and their hopes for a BCS bowl.

Jimmy Burch, Cedric Golden, and Jerome Solomon all explain why Texas is out of luck if the rankings remain as they are.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/16/04 23:59 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)

15 November 2004

The Cowboys...

Parcells meltdown

Really, really stink this season.

I wonder how many times Parcells will call them stupid this week?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/15/04 23:01 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (5)

Mansfield

How about Harvey Mansfield getting himself elected to the American Political Science Association Council?

Mansfield is one of those wacky political theorists whose field is not exactly in vogue in the discipline these days.

On the other hand, James L. (Jim) Gibson was elected to the Council as well. Gibson's done a lot of quantitative research on political attitudes and law. In fact, I did my (required) quantitative methods work with him at UH. It's not my sort of political science, but it certainly is ascendant in the discipline, and Gibson is a talented practitioner of it.

I don't know the other folks, and only discovered the election via No Left Turns (I'm afraid I let my *ahem* APSA membership lapse this year).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/15/04 22:58 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)

CRB Goodness

With all the talk of intelligence reform and shakeups at the CIA, now is probably as good a time as any to link to David Tucker's review of several recent books on intelligence for the Claremont Review of Books.

There's other good stuff in the fall issue, including Steve Hayward's essay on Reagan.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/15/04 22:46 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

Clueless Callahan

Dan Patrick's "web paper" takes another stab at Big 12 football today, with a Longhorn fan seeming to find common cause with Nebraska coach Bill Callahan, who cursed the Sooner fans as he trotted off the field Saturday because he apparently thought they were being mean.

Of course, Patrick's crew doesn't mention that the Oklahoma crowd was more riled up than usual because a Nebraska player (allegedly) headbutted a Sooner yell leader with his helmet before the game, sending the guy to the hospital.

Nor does Patrick's crew mention the high emotions related to former Sooner coach John Blake's return to Norman.

Instead, there's this conclusion regarding Callahan's cursing of Sooner fans:

I'm sure said fans responded by giving the "Horns down" handsign. It's apprently [sic] all they know how to do north of the Red River.

Nope, the fans don't really give a crap about Texas at this point, but they sure were fired up for the Nebraska game because of John Blake, and even moreso after that headbutt. If anything, it's the Longhorns who are obsessed with Oklahoma, not the other way around.

The Red River shootout is just one game, albeit a very important game, that the Sooners need to win each year to accomplish their goals (of course, they have beaten Texas five years in a row). The goals are to win conference championships and to compete for national championships. Both of those goals have eluded Mack Brown for his entire career, and the national championship hunt has eluded Texas for several decades now -- so I guess I can understand the confusion.

Just to elaborate a little further. See, once upon a time, there was the Big Eight conference. And Oklahoma and Nebraska regularly competed for the Big Eight title, with their game (usually at the end of the season) frequently deciding it. The Big Eight used to have a tie to the Orange Bowl, and every year fans would (stupidly) pelt the field with oranges at the end, just like they did (stupidly) in this game (the BCS title game is the Orange Bowl this year). No, Bill Callahan, they weren't throwing them at you, you clueless fool (although throwing them was stupid). Frequently, either Nebraska or Oklahoma would be in the National Championship hunt at Orange Bowl time. And even though the two teams have had their down periods (Nebraska under Callahan right now, Oklahoma under John Blake and Schnelly), there's still a rivalry there that goes way back, and a respect.

Anyway, Callahan seems as clueless as ever. Here's hoping the Huskers get their wish of playing Oklahoma again for the Big 12 championship.

(11-16-2004 Update) The yell leader who was (allegedly) assaulted by the Nebraska player will be pressing charges.

(11-16-2004 Update 2) Here's Bob Stoops on Clueless Callahan's notion that crowd control was inadequate:

As of press time, OU officials had not responded to Callahan’s comments. Coach Bob Stoops said he’d never heard complaints from opponents about the game management at Owen Field.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that,” said Stoops of the charge about the Owen Field atmosphere. “But I’m sure (Callahan) has his reasons. I’m not one to dispute it. I’m sure that the atmosphere toward us is different, being that it’s home. I’m not contesting it.

“But I hadn’t heard that before.”

Joe Castiglione runs a great operation, and everyone who knows anything about college sports knows it (except, apparently, Clueless Callahan). I recall some positive comments on CoogFans about the experience of UH fans in Norman that I'd like to link, but it seems as if they've scrolled away now. Maybe Callahan should worry more about getting his own house in order (especially players who assault yell leaders), and less about Castiglione's house.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/15/04 22:42 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (4)

14 November 2004

Big 12 Wrap: Week 11

The South sorted itself out this week, and the North became more complicated. That's the theme for this wrap. Here are the games.

Oklahoma 30, Nebraska 3
Oklahoma dominated this game on both sides of the ball, and special teams were better this week (although a missed PAT suggests there are still troubles). Nebraska becomes the first team to hold Adrian Peterson under 100 yards for the season, although he did not start the game and apparently missed some practice time because of the dislocated shoulder suffered last week. Not to worry -- the team's other Heisman candidate went 28-34 and threw for 376 yards and 3 TDs in shredding the Nebraska secondary. The only thing that kept the score down in this one was Bill Callahan's decison to run every bit of the clock before snapping the ball, running the ball up the gut, and punting. His bizarre strategy seemed to concede any chance of winning the game in exchange for not giving up half-a-hundred. Such is the woeful state of Nebraska football these days. Oklahoma clinched a spot in the Big 12 championship game with the win. Nebraska is still in the running for the North.

Texas 27, Kansas 23
As it has done many times this season, Mark Mangino's Kansas team hung in a game until the very end, only to come up a little short. The frustrated Mangino went off on officials and the conference after the game, and most anyone watching the questionable pass interference call that kept Mack Brown's team in BCS contention can sympathize a little with the big guy. Still, Texas rolled up nearly 600 yards of offense, and Cedric Benson had another monster game on an "off" night for the team -- not bad. Oddly, this 3-7 Kansas team is probably better than last year's bowl team, but too many close losses (20-17, 31-30, 14-8, 13-7, 30-21, and now 27-23) have really hurt. They can play spoilers at Mizzou next week, in an always tough game.

Texas A&M 32, Texas Tech 25 (OT)
Fans expecting offensive fireworks in this one instead got a 12-7 dud through three quarters. But the two teams cranked it up in the final quarter, and in the end A&M simply made more plays than Tech in a game that should improve A&M's bowl standing. The battle with Texas looms in two weeks.

Oklahoma State 49, Baylor 21
No Vernand Morency? No problem. Backup running back Seymore Shaw ran for 172 yards as Oklahoma State rolled up 469 yards against hapless Baylor. The Pokes have to travel to Texas Tech in two weeks. Baylor gets to host Oklahoma next week.

Colorado 38, Kansas State 31
Last week, I noted that Colorado had a chance to play spoiler in their next few games, and maybe even win the North. They will still need some help to win the North, but they certainly spoiled Kansas State's season with a 64 yard touchdown reception with seconds left in a tied game. Bill Snyder's team moves to 4-6, and will not be going to a bowl for the first time in ages (12 years to be exact). Colorado travels to Nebraska in two weeks, with both teams still in contention for the North.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/14/04 22:23 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)

Now It Gets Interesting

The new AP poll is out, and Oklahoma is now sharing the #2 spot it held last week with Auburn, which was at #3 last week.

I think that's exactly what Bob Stoops was trying to head off with his attempt to run up the score against Nebraska. The irony is, however, that he failed to run up the score while trying, which I might be inclined to penalize if I were a voter and had been watching the thing (if you're gonna try to run up the score against a defeated opponent, be successful like Steve Spurrier -- otherwise it just looks lame).

Here's something that's even more interesting -- undefeated Utah leapfrogged #6 Texas to take the #5 slot.

That's bad news for Texas, which escaped Lawrence with a victory thanks to a bad offensive pass interference call, because that puts Cal and Utah in the top six. If those two schools wind up in the top six of the overall BCS standings, Cal and Utah would stand to get the two at-large BCS bids (and most likely send Texas back to the Holiday Bowl).

Obviously, there are games to be played yet and time for things to shake up further, but this is getting really interesting. One constant remains -- Texas under Mack Brown should probably wait until the very end before getting overly excited about that elusive BCS bid.

(11-15-2004) Bad news for Texas -- Utah is #6 in the latest BCS rankings, which would freeze Texas out of a BCS bowl if invitations were extended today.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/14/04 17:52 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)

Mangino Meltdown

I watched most of the Kansas-Texas game yesterday (including the controversial penalty call), but I missed Mark Mangino's meltdown afterwards.

He got a little carried away about the BCS (Mangino is inclined to get riled up and carried away), but he's absolutely correct on that bogus offensive pass interference call on Kansas. It came on a third down reception that should have given Kansas a huge first down with about two minutes left. Instead, the penalty makes it something like third and 20, Kansas can't convert, they punt, and Texas drives to a win.

It was a bad bad bad call. Indeed, I saw a much more blatant push-off in the Texas Tech-A&M game that wasn't called pass interference (but should have been).

Texas was lucky to get out of Lawrence with a victory. It's rare that I would ever argue one call by officials is the difference in a ballgame, but if ever the case could be made, it happened in that game.

Sadly, Mangino overreacted and will get a fine now. But I can't say I entirely blame him.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/14/04 10:25 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)

13 November 2004

Nebraska Is Pathetic

I watch a lot of Big 12 football.

Some of it's good, some of it's not so good.

But I don't think I've ever seen a game until tonight in which one team simply plays not to lose badly.

So far as I can tell, that was Bill Callahan's game plan tonight against Oklahoma. His team milked the clock when it had the ball, they stuck with their bland running game even when down by several touchdowns, and they never acted like they wanted to do anything to try and win the game (i.e. throw the ball, take some chances, etc).

That's pathetic. Even Baylor plays to win games. They don't succeed often, but they at least try.

Before tonight, I didn't think much of Nebraska's athletic director, or his coaching staff. I think even less of the outfit tonight. That's embarrassing, for Nebraska and for the Big 12.

(Update) Oh yeah, I forgot to add -- congrats to Oklahoma, who clinched yet another Big 12 South title with their win tonight. Boomer Sooner!

(11-14-2004 Update) Here's another reason Nebraska is pathetic:

A member of the Ruf/Neks, a University of Oklahoma spirit group, was hospitalized Saturday after a reported sideline altercation with a Nebraska football player during pregame activities.

Adam Merritt was transported from the field on a medical cart and taken to Norman Regional Hospital after having several teeth knocked out and suffering facial lacerations in what was described by witnesses as an assault by Nebraska offensive lineman Darren DeLone.

DeLone, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound senior, reportedly attacked Merritt in the northeast corner of Owen Field during pregame warmups after being heckled by members of the Ruf/Neks. Witnesses in the student section and on the sideline said DeLone head-butted Merritt in the face with his helmet and shoved him into the 3-foot brick wall.

Way to beat up the cheerleaders! That's the most fight the Huskers showed all night!

That's a very nice program Pederson/Callahan have going right now. Their players keep saying they want to rematch in the Big 12 title game (better get a win next week against Colorado and establish your bowl eligibility first, guys). That sounds pretty good to me too.

(11-14-2004 Update 2) And here's more on Stoops trying to run up the score:

As time expired, the Huskers kicked a field goal to prevent a shutout. And Stoops, who moments before had tried to run up the score?

"I laughed,'' he said. "It's good for us, that they ended up scoring at the end when we could have took a knee (and run out the clock).''

And although Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said he wasn't upset by OU's late tactics, Stoops said in retrospect, he shouldn't have done it. Stoops said he felt forced into the move by "BCS talk and style points'' and because the Sooners had been "criticized in winning other games.''

"It's really an odd position to be in,'' he said.

[snip]

"In hindsight -- and not because they scored the field goal -- that's wrong,'' Stoops said.

I think everyone understands what's up, but I would prefer the Sooners just remain classy and not do it. Especially against Kansas a few weeks ago.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/13/04 21:07 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (4)

12 November 2004

Who Needs A Degree When AFL2 Awaits?

Former Sooner Brent Rawls, who found himself in the Stoops doghouse after falling out of a pickup and giving himself a concussion, dropped out of the school he transferred to, Louisiana Tech, earlier this year.

However, the Daily Oklahoman has this update on the guy whom the Sooners once regarded as a great prospect:

Brent Rawls might play football in Oklahoma after all.

The former Oklahoma quarterback - who never played a down of college football - has signed a contract with the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings, an arenafootball2 franchise in the same division with the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz.

Rawls, 22, gave up his final year of college eligibility but said it wasn’t a tough decision.

"School was definitely not my calling," he said at a news conference Thursday in Bossier City, La. "I’m definitely going to enjoy being able to play without worrying about having to go to school. That’s for sure."

Yes, it is "for sure."

Let's just hope the AFL2 team keeps him away from pickup trucks.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/12/04 21:49 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)

R Bar

I have an old friend who's been a buddy since our freshman year of college.

I think for a while we called him by either his first or middle name, but at some point he just became R (his first initial).

Since he leaves comments at all my blogbuddies' places (but not mine), I figured maybe I could at least draw him out to say something about this bar in town that's borrowed his name.

We'll see.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/12/04 16:30 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)

Who Needs FM Anyway?

With the demise of KLOL, there's one less reason for me ever to flip over to FM radio at home.

But I've yet to take full advantage of the streaming capabilities offered through the ol' home stereo rig via the recently acquired Squeezebox.

So, it's reader participation time.

Do you all have any good, high quality mp3/m3u/pls streams you listen to (sorry, wma streams don't play nice with the Squeezebox)?

I'm particularly interested in any favorites you have in the alt-country (say, KPFT before the Commies took over again) and alt/hard rock categories (i.e. KLOL's old niche). I know Gary C has a live365 station (I just figured out I can stream it through the squeezebox) and Cindy has her Texas Gigs radio stream. Very cool, but any other good alt-country streams ya'll would recommend? And rock, especially. I sort of like XRM radio, but I haven't done much in the way of poking around in that genre.

Throw me some links in the comments if you're so inclined. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/12/04 14:08 | Music | Technorati | Comments (7)

11 November 2004

The Tressel Files

Tom Farrey points out that Ohio State's Jim Tressel isn't exactly a stranger to the sorts of things that Maurice Clarett alleges went on at Ohio State.

He had a pretty good run at what could be considered "lack of institutional control" at Youngstown State.

Allegedly.

And, of course, was rewarded with the Ohio State job, where he rode Maurice Clarett to a national championship (which helped boost Ohio State football revenues to $53 million that year).

So, will Jim Tressel be held to account this time (if the Clarett allegations pan out)?

Or does someone have to die before winning coaches will ever be scrutinized?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/11/04 23:31 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

Don't Blame Me - I Didn't Vote For Him

Kenny Chesney

Honestly, I didn't even realize the Nashville folks had given out their little awards.

But Jack Sparks says they did, and even worse, he watched the thing.

This had to be painful:

Dolly and her big boobs. She's actually funny and lively and colorful. I just rewound back to Shania introducing the train wreck to compare. How can folks see a ball of fire like Dolly, then spend billions of dollars on a phoney, plastic piece of sh*t like Shania? I'm lost. Entertainer of the Year. Kenny Chesney. Toby Keith and Alan Jackson shake his hand like it has sh*t on it. He's crying because he's talentless and he knows he finally put one over on all of us. They cut him off. If anyone can find out who the director and producer of this show were, I want to send them a present. That was awesome. F*ck you Kenny Chesney."

Yeah, what Jack said. Except I added the asterisks. We try to stay family-friendly here. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/11/04 23:13 | Music | Technorati | Comments (2)

10 November 2004

The Nobel Terrorist Is Dead

Those Soviet-style illnesses will get ya every time.

I love the fact that even after live, breathing humans were dispatched to confirm the guy was stiff, it STILL took a day or so for the official announcement.

Here's hoping he enjoys his time in Hell.

(Update) The Powerline guys have a nice addendum to the obits that are floating around.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/10/04 23:50 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

Fantasyland, NE

Fantasyland apparently is somewhere near Lincoln in the state of Nebraska.

And former Sooner head coach John Blake lives there.

That's the only way I can explain this sort of reminiscing about the worst three-season stretch (12-22) in Sooner history:

“I had things” on track, Blake told the Lincoln Journal Star. “There ain’t no question about that. That’s something I know for a fact.”

Fortunately, Daily Oklahoman columnist Berry Tramel goes on to take down the big tub of goo:

That’s news to Bob Stoops, who in December 1998 inherited a wasteland of a program. The Sooners had talented but broken-down ballplayers. OU football in 1998 wasn’t on track; it was a wreck.

“It was alarming, the lack of self-esteem, the lack of self-confidence,” Stoops said Tuesday. “The negative perception our team had, our school had, the community had. I was shocked.

“The physical conditioning was alarmingly poor. A lack of strength and ability to run.”

and

Blake defenders point out that his final team went 5-6 and lost two games by a combined three points. Conveniently, they forget those ’98 Sooners also won two games by a combined four points. A 10-9 win at woeful TCU was a miracle of miracles; a 17-14 home win over hapless Iowa State punctuated the Sooners status as a Big 12 also-ran.

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione pulled the plug on Blake, and history, football or otherwise, can be kinder to no other decision. Castiglione said this week OU might have produced a winning season somewhere along the line if Blake had been retained, but he doubts it. Anyone would.

and

The whole discussion is downright silly. John Blake’s program was on the right track, only if the goal was to destroy the Oklahoma football tradition.

Ouch!

And now he's bringing that same magic to Bill Callahan's Nebraska effort. It couldn't happen to a more deserving athletic director. It was nice of them effectively to trade one Bo Pelini for John Blake, but Pelini should have gotten much more consideration for the job there. Eh, scratch that. He should have gotten the job. And that mess of a football program might actually be "on track." Because it certainly isn't now with Callahan, Blake, and crew.

Norman should be rockin' this Saturday. Something that didn't happen much when the big tub of goo was roaming the sidelines for the home team.

(Update) My mom sends along this story from the Tulsa World (the link will expire shortly because the newspaper is retarded). Choice excerpts:

Asked at his Tuesday press conference if he had inherited a program that was on the right track, a sarcastic Stoops said: "Oh, yeah."

Although he never mentioned Blake by name, Stoops twice used the word "alarming" to describe his perception of the shape of the OU program when he took over.

When Stoops was asked if it bothers him when he hears or reads that he inherited a program that was on the right track, he said: "Yeah, because it wasn't.

"I think you (media) guys need to go back and research your articles. Go back and look what you were writing then about the program."

Those of us who covered the woeful Blake era up close and personal don't need to dig through the archives. Some things you never forget, particularly when you witness them happening to a school with as rich and proud a tradition as the Sooners.

OU became the target of jokes nationally when it did such goofy things as changing offensive schemes three times in one season. Special teams play often represented a Keystone Cops routine. And Blake fired his best assistants, surrounding himself with overmatched "yes men," who played roles in his inevitable downfall.

and

So, does Stoops look at Saturday's game as a personal showdown between himself and Blake?

"No, not at all. Shoot, not one bit," said Stoops, who then removed a piece of paper from his pocket and said, "I was looking at the three prior years before 2000 that we played them (Huskers) and the scores were 37-0, 73-21 and 69-7.

"(Do) you (media) guys need those scores again, or did you get them?"

We got them. And we also got Stoops' point -- Blake was coaching the Sooners during those 73-21 and 69-6 blowout losses to Nebraska.

It was worse than anyone who's not a Sooner fan can probably imagine. That John Blake is actually saying the things he's saying -- instead of just responding with "no comment" -- really speaks volumes about the sort of buffoon he was and apparently still is. I mean, Blake getting in a pissing match with Bob Stoops? Unbelievable.

Like I said above, Norman ought to be fun this Saturday.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/10/04 22:39 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (2)

In Search Of Puck

As Anne Linehan announced over at the other blog, Wolfgang Puck is making an appearance in Houston later today.

The blogHOUSTON crew is planning on meeting the Puckster, which we hope doesn't scare him too badly.

Blog readers who would like to come hang out with us are more than welcome. It's like a mini-roadtrip for some of us inner loopsters. Very exciting!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/10/04 13:16 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)

09 November 2004

SBC Puzzle

I got my phone bill today, and the SBC folks are very excited.

It seems they've redesigned their bill to make it even easier to understand!

Not that it was hard to understand before (I understand that the government taxes the crap out of even the most minimal phone service, but I understood that before).

But they have revamped it. There's more white space on the bill. And much better spacing in general. It's all esthetically pleasing.

Except the typeface of the numbers -- you know, the bill part of the bill. The numbers are smaller than ever! All that extra white space, but smaller numbers.

Why do it that way? Why make it even harder to read the dang thing? Especially for old folks whose vision might not be perfect.

Strange.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/09/04 23:02 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

Protecting Peterson or protecting the business?

The OU athletic department seems to have gone a little overboard in its "protection" of Adrian Peterson:

The envelope arrived at [address deleted] several weeks ago.

Meni Troupakis ripped it open and found the letter from the University of Oklahoma, the school this son of Greek immigrants had followed since the days of Jamelle Holieway

Oklahoma wanted him to stop.

"It was a C and D," Troupakis said.

Some weeks earlier, Troupakis, a Web site designer, had crafted an Adrian Peterson site, adrian-peterson.com. On it were links, pictures and stories.

"It was just a fan site," Troupakis said.

But in the eyes of Oklahoma and the NCAA, there was some gray area. There was no disclaimer of non-affiliation with OU or Peterson on the site. There was also no concrete proof Troupakis didn’t profit from the site.

According to the NCAA, that could be construed as a violation. Bylaw 12.5.2.2 states in part: "If a student-athlete’s name or picture appears on commercial items or is used to promote a commercial product sold by an individual or agency without the student-athlete’s knowledge or permission, the student-athlete (or university) is required to take steps to stop such an activity in order to retain his or her eligibility for intercollegiate athletics."

The letter to Troupakis made him cognizant of potential problems if the site did not change.

"Please be aware that this current activity jeopardizes Adrian Peterson’s eligibility," the letter read.

I just love the fact that everyone with a piece of the NCAA -- executive, administrators, coaches, staff -- make so much money off those guys actually running and passing and catching and blocking, but the players see so little of it (yeah yeah, they get a college education out of it -- if they're luckier than, say, Dexter Manley).

It's even more rich that a university feels compelled to send "cease and desist" letters to a fan, because said fan might jeopardize a player's eligibility with a simple website.

Meanwhile, there's this.

I've long thought the university presidents should blow up the NCAA and start over. But it's too big a business to do that now, I suppose.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/09/04 22:56 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (5)

Can We Hit 10,000?

The CoogFans crew is enraged that only 13,000 fans attended UH's homecoming victory on Saturday.

I'm not entirely sure what they expect of us.

I'm a season ticket holder, but didn't go to the game. Sorry, but the product they're putting on the field is gawdawful this year, the stadium they play in is gawdawful, and the early-season schedule was so brutal that it effectively killed what was a rebuilding season about four games in.

The question isn't really why some of us didn't head out to that Robertson dump on a beautiful Saturday. The better question is, why shouldn't we go (or stay home) and watch UT/Oklahoma State, or A&M/Oklahoma, or entertain ourselves in a myriad of more compelling ways in the nation's fourth largest city?

It's kind of funny, because the CoogFans crew has gotten exactly what it wants. They've gotten the last two athletic directors to commit to playing games in that dump (despite the existence of beautiful Reliant). They've convinced Dave Maggard (and maybe themselves) that to be the best, they have to play the best (OU and Miami worked out well -- not). And they've got 13,000 fans as a result of their hard work.

It's not a compelling product that Dave Maggard is trying to sell right now, and that's reality. If he continues to fill two of his three nonconference games with national championship contenders who slaughter UH, and he continues to play so many games in the Robertson dump, he may well find that it's difficult to average the NCAA-required 15,000 fans per game.

I still say that the schedule needs to ease up considerably (this program needs wins much more than the delusion that it can compete with the big boys or -- gawd forbid -- eventually get an invite to the Big 12) and that the games need to be at Reliant (if the product is going to be bad, at least make it comfortable for fans -- and Reliant is certainly comfortable).

But what do I know? I'm just one of those "fickle" fans the CoogFans folks are cursing. Who knows, if they keep up that attitude, maybe they can get attendance down to 10,000!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/09/04 22:32 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)

It's Really Not Complicated

When I was in grad school, I was fortunate enough to take a course in Constitutional Design from my dissertation director, Don Lutz.

At some point relatively early in the semester -- no more than a third of the way through -- we turned our attention to political parties.

Lutz asked simply, "Why have political parties? What are they for?"

Being good grad students eager to show off all our wisdom, we went on and on and on about political parties, regurgitating all sorts of good info from the literature of the discipline.

Through it all, Lutz just observed, in that bemused manner he has. Not once did he let on that we were WAY off track.

Finally, when we were done, and he could solicit no more input from us, he announced:

"The purpose of a political party is to win elections."

I smiled earlier and thought of Lutz when I read this from James Carville:

"We have to treat the disease, not the symptom," Carville said. "The purpose of a political party is to win elections, and we're not doing that."

It's really not much more complicated than that. Unless you get a bunch of zealous grad students involved. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/09/04 21:32 | Other | Technorati | Comments (3)

08 November 2004

Is The Train Wreck Coming?

So far, Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells have been a true odd couple, seemingly getting along better than anyone could have expected.

Of course, it helps that Jerry stepped back from things, and that Big Bill delivered a playoff trip in his first season (after three straight 5-11 seasons prior to his arrival).

Now that the Cowboys have revealed themselves as an awful football team, is the relationship going to deteriorate?

It might if Big Bill keeps saying things like this:

Despite it all, Parcells is not ready to give up on this season. That means he's sticking with Testaverde and not turning to backup Drew Henson, the former Michigan star who spent the last three years playing baseball in the New York Yankees organization.

"Why would you at this point in time take an unproven guy ... and throw him into this?" he said. "Only foolish people would ask the question right now."

Parcells was also dismissive of owner Jerry Jones' postgame comment that the two of them would be discussing personnel changes.

"Jerry's not making the personnel changes," he said. "I am."

Parcells added not to expect many.

Uh oh. This may turn into an interesting season yet.

I still have no idea why the team wouldn't make Henson the starter and see what he can do -- other than the fact that Big Bill apparently wants to show the Dallas media AND owner who's running things.

But maybe he DOES need to assert his identity, since it's so hard (at 3-5) to tell this team apart from any of Dave Campo's.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/08/04 21:57 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (2)

A Laugh As Big As Texas

Who knew Dan Patrick's Lone Star Times (a blog as big as Texas!) would be adding a humor section so soon?

With the 2004 college football season nearing an end, it appears as though the 8-1 Texas Longhorns could find their way into the BCS for the first time.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Okay, maybe it will happen. But given Mack Brown's track record, I don't think any Shorthorns should start getting too excited until the season's over and the final BCS rankings are out.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/08/04 20:59 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (4)

07 November 2004

Big 12 Wrap: Week 10

It was a great week of football in the Big 12 this week, with near upsets, great teams playing each other, and the usual stench from the North. With that introduction, here's the wrap:

Oklahoma 42, Texas A&M 35
For one half of football, the Aggies played like the best team in the Big 12. Susceptibility to the deep pass and poor special teams play had the Sooners down 14-0 at a rocking Kyle Field before Jason White got the Sooner offense revved up. In the second half, the inexperienced Aggies made some mistakes of their own. Along the way, they held Adrian Peterson largely in check (no huge runs, and he was banged up by the end), moved the ball well until Reggie McNeal was injured, and forced Bob Stoops to burn the redshirt on freshman cornerback Marcus Walker. All this from a young (but talented) Aggie team that hasn't quite learned how to win the big one yet. Dennis Franchione seems to have this program turned around. Bob Stoops has some serious problems on special teams and in the secondary to solve if the Sooners are to contend for a national championship. The Big 12 might not be so tough, with Nebraska and Baylor remaining. A&M has tough games against Texas Tech and Texas remaining.

Texas 56, Oklahoma State 35
This was really two games in one. There was the first half, when Oklahoma State manhandled Texas to the tune of 35-14. And then there was the second half, in which Texas scored 42 of 49 unanswered points. At one point in the first half, it seemed that Mack Brown might panic, abandon the game plan, and put in the backup quarterback. Instead, he stayed patient, Vince Young and Cedric Benson started moving the ball, and the Texas defense just put the clamps on the Pokes. Momentum shifted, and Les Miles had no answer.

Texas Tech 42, Baylor 17
Surely Baylor didn't start thinking they were good after last week's fluke upset. They're not. Tech only had to punt three times, Sunny Cumbie was 38 of 49, and the Red Raiders even rolled up 174 yards on the ground. Baylor gets to travel to Stillwater next week for some mad Cowboys, then get the Sooners. Ouch. Tech winds up with A&M and Oklahoma State. All the fun football is in the South!

Kansas State 35, Missouri 24
What the heck? We'll give Kansas State their turn as the best team in the Big 12 North, even with their 4-5 record. Kansas State scored 21 points in the fourth quarter against what is allegedly one of the better defenses in the conference. Damien Nash returned to the Tigers and ran 12 times for 118 yards, but Brad Smith was underwhelming. Kansas State has to win at Colorado and at home against Iowa State to become bowl eligible. Missouri has to win at home against Kansas and on the road against Iowa State to become bowl eligible. That's the state of the pitiful North.

Iowa State 34, Nebraska 27
Somehow, both of these two bad football teams are 5-4, but the schedule isn't exactly friendly for either to become bowl eligible. Nebraska gets Oklahoma next week, and Sooner fans should enjoy John Blake's return to Norman. Iowa State goes to Kansas State.

Colorado 30, Kansas 21
No bowl game for Kansas this season, after they move to 3-6. Colorado has Kansas State at Boulder, and Nebraska at Lincoln, with a chance to play spoiler and maybe even win the North with two victories. So it goes in the North.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/07/04 22:13 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)

Oh My

My friend Mr. Hutchison has a post up about a device that surely would have impressed our crew during the college years.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/07/04 11:32 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

ReplayTV Is Lovely During Football Season

So, I finally got tired of the fact that for whatever reason, we could never manage to remember to record various shows that Callie and I like with the tired old VCR.

I picked up a ReplayTV for Callie for her birthday last week (yeah yeah, all the cool kids have Tivos, but I preferred the built-in ethernet support of the ReplayTV).

The thing ROCKS. What a smart little device. No more missing shows because of the silly old VCR.

And of course it's much better for viewing LIVE television, especially sports, thanks to the pause and replay features.

Yeah yeah, before ya'll give me hell for buying CALLIE a gift that improves my football watching, I'll have you know that Callie's a big football fan as well.

I'm a lucky guy in that regard.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/07/04 11:09 | Other | Technorati | Comments (4)

GOP Telepathy Effort Blows Away Dems

Callie calls my attention to this bit of wisdom from LiveJournal that I hadn't considered in contemplating why the elections turned as they did:

Ok, I can understand the restlessness I've been feeling since yesterday. There's a lot riding on this election, and passions are running high on both sides, so naturally eceryone and their naked brother who has an ounce of Power and no clue about Shielding is leaking energy like a hair dryer in a bathtub. So it's Shields Up for me, but I'm still getting enough bleedover to make me jittery and a little manic if I don't concentrate. That's all to be expected.

What wasn't expected was that once I filtered out all that background noise, I started hearing a calm, resonable, and powerful head-voice saying things like "Kerry doesn't have the experience we need in these troubled times." and "Give Bush a chance to make it better."

Anyone who knows me KNOWS these are not my thoughts!

And besides, I voted last week. No, there's no way in Hades these are my thoughts.

Gods-damn it! The f*cking Republicans have got Magical help pumping out a clear, unified, focused broadcast, and you can be sure, every sensitive is picking it up. These are the people most likely to vote Kerry, and I'd like to think they are resolute enough not to be swayed by telepathic subliminal advertising, but it's such a rarely-done thing, and so few people are properly trained these days, that I fear it will be more effective. Just watch and see who says "I was going to vote for Kerry, but for some reason I changed my mind at the last minute."

*slow whistle*

That Karl Rove is GOOD. I don't think my buddy Ken Layne even realized he was THAT good. The GOP telepathy campaign was BRILLIANT!

More seriously, though -- there's a blogger I've been reading since well before most people had even heard of the term blog. He's had a really good run over the past couple of years at being wrong almost every time he's made any sort of prediction (it's kind of funny, really, for someone who makes a living at making political predictions to watch). And he finally admitted that he based many of his "predictions" on what he was reading on LiveJournal.

Well, DUH -- a large segment of the LiveJournal crowd HATES the President. But to believe a crowd that's made up of so many people who don't particularly know much about politics, who really do view LiveJournal as their "community," and who in some cases are maladjusted but highly intelligent young people who don't have much experience in actually living life (you know, jobs, bills, relationships -- the sorts of things grownups do) is actually representative of real voters is one of the strangest things I've seen this election cycle.

Look, this wasn't complicated. A likable President with solid economic numbers was unlikely to lose this election unless Iraq totally blew up -- which it did not. That's about all one needed to know, and that's what I wrote for clients way back in May or June. It was not much more complicated than that.

Of course, not everyone knew about Karl Rove's secret telepathy effort. I'm glad the GOP has the Dems on the defensive with that!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/07/04 11:02 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)

06 November 2004

Ugh

Not to be an alarmist or anything, but from what I've seen out of the Sooners and Aggies so far, this one is over.

14-0 at Kyle Field is too much for most teams to overcome, and from what I've seen of the Sooners so far today, I don't think they're going to be the exception.

Not sure how they've come out so flat, but my only real question now is whether or not A&M will avenge last year's loss with 77 points of their own today.

Nothing yet suggests they won't.

I bet Chris is smiling so far.

(Update) Live blogging to follow under the Read More link.

Feed Added

I just added a headline feed from blogHOUSTON to the right sidebar.

Obviously, I'm hardly writing about Houston here anymore, because of the new group blog. But the syndication feed makes it easy for those reading here to check out whatever we're doing over there easily.

That's just the first of changes planned for this blog as I find some time to tinker with things.

Over time, this blog is going to be more political than it's been in a while. After that nice Houston Press award, I went out of my way to keep this blog mostly free of all but local (and some Texas) politics, and free of so much of the rancor that is a part of so many partisan blogs these days (especially in the leadup to the last election, when too many previously sensible bloggers lost their cool). I also started to focus on local issues more than ever before -- so much so that I jumped at the opportunity to do this (mistake), and then to do what I really envisioned and let the "publishers" of the first effort pursue their vision (cataracts? Oh, that wasn't nice!).

Now that Mr. Kuffner is the worthy successor to the Houston Press blogging throne and I'm spending so much time on Houston elsewhere, it's a good opportunity to revamp things here, in terms of design (I like to tinker) and substance (call me a wannabe editor). I imagine I'll still do plenty of blogging about sports and music, and whatever political blogging I start to do is likely to be more along the lines of what Orrin does here, and what I once did here (I don't have time for a separate political blog any more, and will be shutting it down after a nice run). I'll still keep the place free of rancor and name-calling as much as I can (I think the track record here is pretty good), but people obviously get more emotional over "big" politics than pension plans for municipal employees. I may implement a punBB message board instead of blog comments to control poker and viagra spam and make conversation easier, which will probably annoy some folks. Unfortunately, a major weakness of Nucleus is its commenting system, but the developer doesn't seem interested in improving it significantly -- so the punBB approach is about the best I can come up with. I will probably even require registration just to thwart spammers, but I certainly won't go the route of my buddy Ken Layne (who shut comments down altogether when too many folks started wondering aloud if this election had made him lose his mind).

I probably won't implement any of the major substantive changes until I throw a new design together (I'm tired of this one), and posting will probably be lighter than usual until then. But it only seems fair to warn loyal readers of what's coming. Because here at PubliusTX.net, we care. :)

There, plenty of Saturday bloggy navel gazing when all I intended to do was tell ya'll about the headline feed.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/06/04 13:59 | Other | Technorati | Comments (4)

04 November 2004

A&M Tough On OU

The Daily Oklahoman reports that Oklahoma has a losing record against only six road teams that it's visited more than once.

The team it's had the most trouble against in terms of winning percentage?

This weekend's opponent, Texas A&M.

The Sooners are 1-5 against the Aggies in College Station.

It's certainly one tough place to play, and the Aggies are already looking for revenge after last year's blowout.

It ought to be exciting on Saturday.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/04/04 23:21 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)

03 November 2004

The Minority Party Files

All sorts of smart observers will be taking apart this election over the coming weeks (if not years).

Here's an interesting tidbit from Oklahoma that may go unnoticed:

Republicans scored a historic victory Tuesday, sweeping into control of the Oklahoma House of Representatives for only the second time since statehood.

With some votes still uncounted at press time, Republicans had apparently won at least 57 seats in the 101-member House, more than what even GOP leaders predicted.

It marks the end of a decade-long erosion of Democratic Party dominance in the House by the GOP, whose members have predicted a takeover for several years.

Despite the fact that Oklahoma is an overwhelmingly conservative state (Bush won 66%, gay-marriage amendment won 76%), the Dems have long held a big edge in voter registration.

But these are not liberal Dems, and their interests increasingly diverge from those of national Dems (hence the makeup of the Oklahoma Congressional delegation, as well as their reliably Republican status in Presidential races). Now, that seems to be filtering down to the local level in the state.

This is one of many problems facing the minority party in the country after the 2004 elections.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/04 10:03 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

Now WHY Was Callie Dreading This Birthday?

Callie's been dreading her birthday, which was yesterday, for a long time.

I think she thought the good guys would get pounded in the big election.

Instead, it was such a broad victory for the good guys across the board that it was more fun than OU whomping Texas five years in a row.

I wish I could have birthdays like that!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/04 09:13 | Other | Technorati | Comments (6)

02 November 2004

A 50 Minute Wait

The wait at my polling place was 50 minutes today, which is an improvement on the hour+ most people waited to vote early at the West Gray location closest to me, but not an improvement on the 30 seconds or so Callie waited at the downtown early voting location.

I didn't vote at this precinct four years ago, so I can't compare today's wait with comparable previous experience. It was, of course, longer than the wait for recent municipal and Congressional elections.

Luckily, the rain held off for the time I was standing in line outside. It didn't seem to deter later voters, though.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/02/04 08:33 | Other | Technorati | Comments (6)

01 November 2004

I Got Nothing

I'm just ready for this election cycle to be done with.

Whatever the outcome, I hope it's resolved sometime tomorrow night, and we can get on with things.

I'm looking forward to voting first thing tomorrow morning, being the old-fashioned sort who prefers voting at the traditional time as opposed to "early."

I may not do any blogging tomorrow, unless we have a resolution far earlier than I suspect we're going to have.

See ya'll on the other side.

(Update) Of course, leave it to Orrin Judd to go and wax eloquent on the whole thing.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/01/04 23:28 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

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