Chizik to Auburn

Two years ago when Pollard hired Chizik, I loved the hire. I knew and understood Chizik's motivation for taking the position as a steppingstone. If I would have known Chizik would be coaching at Auburn two years after being at Iowa State, I probably still would have accepted the hire. Why? No one certainly could have believed Chizik would be here forever, and for Chizik to be the head guy at a perennial SEC power, surely would have meant he proved something at ISU. He did not however prove much, although I am still confident he could have turned it around. I am somewhat upset at the outrage from some of the ISU fans. There is not a single fan that can tell me they would not take over a one million dollar pay raise and a promotion to your dream job after performing sub-par at their current position. I feel for the recruits, most of which, would not even have considered ISU, let alone sign a letter of intent to play four years here. This recruiting class had to think Chizik would be there at least for their time at ISU. I think Chizik can be successful at Auburn, and I hope for his family's sake he is not a complete bust. Afterall, Chizik did do this for his family. I don't believe that for one second. With Chizik gone, and the verdict still out on him, Pollard is given a mulligan. The pressure is entirely on him now, for this hire to be a success. With that being said, I think he should listen to coaches who actively want to be at ISU.

Two years ago Brian Kelly and Jim Harbaugh threw their names in the hat for the ISU job. Pollard did not like the fact that these coaches made themselves candidates. I guess I can agree with him, I mean who wants a coach that feels they are qualified and can turn around a program that most people consider "career suicide". People Pollard needs to at least interview:
Steve Loney- considers ISU his "dream job" -not often you hear that
Bob Elliot- also considers ISU a dream job, although used differnt words
Turner Gill-give him an interview, if he even wants one
There are other candidates out there as well. Don't bring in another coordinator, minus Charlie Strong.

Longshots that Pollard needs to at least survey for interest.

Tuberville...Great coach, has recruits with a chip on their shoulder toward Auburn....He's not coming here though.

Gary Patterson...Another good coach, just beat ISU in the Houston Bowl in 2005 and is probably looking for a better job than State.

Brian Kelly...could easily be here right now, already has said he is staying at Cincinatti and took his name out of the Tennessee running. He is on to something with that Big East automatic BCS bid.

Chris Peterson...Couldn't think of a better coach available right now. He might like the chance to rival with his predecessor Dan Hawkins.

One thing I am thankful for after all of this is that Chizik left. When the rumors started, it would have been mighty tough to reunit that locker room.

Notes from NFL Week 14

Texans @ Packers

Packers fans continue to impress. The place is packed even with the starting temperature of 6 degrees. Green, yellow, camoflauge and safety orange make up the most unique crowd scene in the NFL. Packers fans know their football. The first Green Bay punt of the game was a duck, travelling only 25 yards. It was the punter's first kick for the team and it had to be like trying to kick a block of ice. The second punt was boomed for a respectable 48 yards or so. The Lambeau field crowd started cheering as soon as the ball left the punter's foot. They appreciated and acknowledged the better punt. The crowd cheered after the third punt as well, even though it resulted in a touchback. Fans in Houston (and many other NFL cities) would have been halfway to the nacho cart instead of in their seats cheering for a punt.

Schaub just threw an interception. Williams jumped an out route, something that has happened a couple times earlier in the season. This is never a good sign.

I dislike the sports guy, but he's right about one thing. Gus Johnson makes every game a big game. He's called the last couple of Texans games and they have been enjoyable. Every play is a big play. FUMBLE!!! HE FUMBLED THE FOOTBALL!!! Jim Nance should take notes.

Eagles @ Giants

Fox showed a stat that John Carney led the NFL in points. Earlier this year, Carney was benched for Lawrence Tynes, a kicker they thought about cutting last year because of inconsistency. All Carney had done up to that point was make all of his FG attempts and all of his PAT. The Giants are back to Carney, probably for the rest of the year. It still goes to show that even 11-1, reigning Super Bowl champion teams aren't immune from dumb decisions.

Taking the ball up 17-10 with 9:26 left in the 4th quarter, the Eagles ran the ball with Westbrook 11 times on the 13 play drive, taking more than seven minutes off the clock. I didn't think I'd ever see this type of drive from Andy Reid and the Eagles. Sure I love it because I've got Westbrook on my fantasy team, but also because it's the right way to play against the best team in football when you've got one of the best running backs in the game.

Browns @ Titans

Ahmard Hall caught TD pass for the Titans in this one. It's another chapter in a pretty special story for Hall. He served for 4 years in the Marines, walked-on at Texas and played on the national championship team. For him to get a chance in the NFL, at least 4 years older than most players get a shot, playing the endangered fullback position, is remarkable. As this story mentions, Hall has good perspective. With all the problems the NFL has been facing recently, it would be nice to see a player like Hall succeed.

Promoting Manufacturing Jobs

Manufacturing jobs aren't first on many students' minds. Perhaps the downturn of the financial industry will change the outlook on jobs that help create tangible goods. While the U.S. economy has been service based for a while, our country still has high-quality jobs in manufacturing. While overall employment has decreased in the industry, it is because of automation and engineering. This has created a demand for more highly-skilled workers. The demand is such that wages have really outpaced that of the workforce as a whole. The starting wages at my company have increased almost 25% over the last three years! It is a unique opportunity for engineers with only a bachelor's or master's degree.

This article, from the Evansville Courier and Press, speaks of the promotion of jobs in the manufacturing sector. The article speaks of improving "the standard of living and quality of life for area residents" and "resources within the region, student scholarships and funds available for teachers." I think they would be better served showing how much money can be made in manufacturing! Chemical industry jobs in the Houston area have a median income of $84,000 a year. That's a ton of money. That includes engineers, operators with a high school degree, new operators and technicians with a two year degree and managment and research.

Manufacturing is often thought of as dirty and labor-intensive. This is no longer true. Government regulations have made manufacturing environments clean and safe. Companies are constantly working at reducing their environmental impact and energy requirements. These improvements come from within. Jobs within the "manufacturing" industry include projects, laboratories, operations, managment, electrical engineering, civil engineering, drafting and design, maintenance and other technical-based crafts. No company that manufactures anything is without a research and design group. Many of these skill sets translate across different sectors. The opportunity within manufacturing is great, and the impact is tangible.

Funny Business With the Candidates

There is some charity deal (why do charity deals always involve tuxes and expensive meals?) where both of the candidates get up and try to crack jokes. It looks like the idea behind it is a roast of sorts. Perhaps a chance for both candidates to make fun of themselves and lighten the mood a little bit. There must be a TON of money in the room for two people who will stop at nothing to win the presidency crack jokes at their own expense.

Why did everyone after the debates last night say the two candidates won't meet face to face until the election? This charity soiree has been going on for 60 some years. And it had to be on both of their schedules. The "news" dropped the ball, but I bet the Guardian was on it.

Barack Obama sucked, sucked, sucked! McCain cut me up. Examples of each.



That was pretty funny up until the last minute or so. Let's see Barack. In this clip, he's introduced by Rachel Maddow of CNBC (where did she come from?).



Uh, he stunk. McCain mostly made fun of himself. Obama was pretty much bringing attention to Obama. Seriously, couldn't Obama get Jon Stewart to write some jokes? That Yankee Stadium joke was terrible and the greek column joke bombed.

CNN showed more, and Obama sucked more. There was a terrible, repeat terrible, cross-dressing joke about Rudy Guiliani. I don't like Guiliani very much, but that was a little too much. Obama espounds about Tim Russert, which was very, very odd for this format and audience. Then he pounces into something of a stump speech. So much for politics as usual.

Considering the crowd (probably Democrats from New York (the AIG joke didn't go over very well)), McCain had a much better response, hands down. There was a lot of untimely laughter for McCain, which was akward, but his joke writer was fantastic. The joke about "Joe the plumber" working for a wealthy couple on all their seven houses was great. Everything McCain said was deferential. The Hillary joke was great, even if his timing was off. It showed that the McCain campaign watches the news and the opinion columns.

I loved the quip about strict-constructionists. That's heady. Pretty much from there on out, he lost me.

The youtube clip cuts out a great line by McCain about ACORN. McCain's closing remarks were cut out as well, which is unfortunate. CNN showed a the entirety of McCain's speech and it was fantastic. He was incredibly deferential to Obama, basically saying that the fact he is black and running for president is a testiment to the greatness to our country. McCain was very gracious to his opponent, stating that he can't wish Obama luck, but can wish him well. It was really great to hear a candidate speak about the historical ramifications of a (half) black president.

Watching both in their entirety, I wouldn't be able to tell that the crowd was leaning Democrat.

Third 2008 Presidential Debate - McCain v. Obama

Third and final debate. We're sitting down this time! Totally different format than when they stood behind the podiums.

McCain starts off the debate by reaffirming his wish to buy out and forgive sections of mortgages. I do not think this goes over very well with anyone. McCain says it benefits people who've paid for their house because the house next door won't be empty. I guess I wouldn't really care, because I'd have my house paid for and declining value of my house means I pay less taxes. Seems like pick and choose Socialism to me.

Both these guys are left-handed. Seems odd.

Obama said him and McCain voted for the "economic recovery plan." That is a loose interpretation of the bill that Congress passed. They gave a TON of money to one guy, and told him to fix it. I guess that's what they consider a plan in Washington.

"Joe the Plumber" - this seems slightly demeaning. It's a cheap attempt at a sound bite by the McCain campaign. I hear he used this phrase 20 times. About someone the Obama had met at a campaign stop.

Taxes are only paid on profits, right? I wouldn't think that the tax rate would have anything to do with whether Joe the Plumber can buy his plumbing business. If it takes 100k to run, and he makes 200k, the other 100k (minus taxes) goes into his pocket. Lower taxes, it looks like to me, would go into his pocket. If someone has another take, I'd like to hear it.

McCain reminds me of Powder.

Obama looks like he's wearing the same suit as the last debate.

Schieffer is asking what programs they will cut, and neither of them want to give specifics. McCain says energy independence will create millions of jobs. Energy independence will be a great thing for America when we get there - in 30+ years.

McCain doesn't support subsidies for ethanol because he thinks it distorts the market. Uh, and 700 billion dollars of government intervention won't?

McCain with another zinger. Obama, if you wanted to run against Bush, you should have run 4 years ago. McCain ran against Bush 8 years ago, and lost.

"Clean coal technology" is probably 5-10 years away from being commercially viable, so don't get too excited about Obama's support for that.

McCain seems spiteful. And right after that Schieffer calls both candidates out about saying they would run high road campaigns. Sweet question from the moderator. Crappy answers. McCain answers this question by tying Obama to someone who said McCain was racist. This question turned out terrible. Both bash each other and then complain that the other one is running negative ads.

Apparently McCain made Obama pinky-swear that they would both use public financing, but Obama had his fingers crossed.

ACORN is responsible for "possibly the greatest fraud in voter history." "destroy the very fabric of democracy" That might be an overstatement.

"Repudiate" - I don't think I'd heard that word before McCain used it a couple weeks ago. Is it even a really word?

"worst financial crisis since the great depression" - Obama has used this twice now. I don't care much for politics of fear.

Obama is doing a nice job of using numbers and percentages. He's doing some name-dropping, too. It is an effective way of showing that McCain doesn't seem to consult with advisers when coming up with foreign and domestic policy ideas.

Obama - "Eight years of failed policies"

McCain is slipping up quite a bit tonight. The natural gas pipeline from Alaska probably won't "solve the energy needs of the lower 48."

Biden voted against the first Iraq war, which we needed so that Saddam wouldn't take over the mid-east oil supply. That doesn't seem like a very noble reason to start a war. I figured it had something to do with the oppression of Kuwaiti citizens. Maybe if the mid-east oil supply was cut off, we'd be energy independent now!

Clean coal technology is a key for energy independence - BUT IT DOESN'T EXIST YET! Best bet is 2020 before it is commercially viable.

Obama says borrowing hundreds of billions from China and sending it to Saudi Arabia for oil "is mortgaging our future." Maybe sometime down the road, China will let us renegotiate and make 30% of the principle disappear like McCain wants to do with home mortgages, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Note - Offshore drilling won't add to the oil supply for about 10 years, but everyone is pushing for it. The best way to lower the price and overall usage is lowering demand. The demand is relatively inelastic. For a given change in price, demand is affected minimally. Conversely, a small change in demand would result in a large change in price. Our resources are limited, and would not support our current usage. Oil independence will require efficiencies.

McCain looks like crap. His eyes are all red and watering. He's getting old, and I think he might have pink eye.

McCain is hung up on "spreading the wealth." It's not okay for rich people to pay more taxes because they can afford it, but it's okay to use my tax money to pay for my neighbor's ill-advised mortgage. Pick and choose socialism.

Palin's kid is autistic, too? McCain made it sound like that.

Schieffer: "How would you reform education" Candidates: "Well, we have to reform it! Vouchers, blah, blah, blah, charters, blah, transparency, blah, blah, get rid of bad teachers, blah, blah. But education should be handled at the local level."

McCain is going crazy. I think this is it for his campaign. Obama will roll in November.

Presidential Debate #2

I'm getting a late start on this. But I've got to say a couple things. Warning! This post contains an excessive use of parentheses!

Also, the debate is being aired again. Any additions that I've seen from the second airing, are in blue.

Both candidates talk of keeping people in their homes. Both also spoke of declining house values. At least one of them made it seem like this makes it difficult for people to pay their mortgages. McCain says the government should buy up these mortgages and reissue them at the current value of the home. A couple questions:

1. What does the house value have anything to do with what you pay in mortgage payments? If you paid too much for your house, uh, tough cookies. (Likely neither candidate have to worry about mortgage payments.)
   
2. $800 Bil for a bailout, but we need more money to buy these loans? We (Americans) are buying the loans on the back end and on the front end. Seems like we'll be paying for all this twice.
   
3. Everybody wants their money. If someone buys a house from a builder for $200k, it's actually the bank that pays the builder. US buys the mortgage from the bank (at $200k) and reissues the mortgage at the "value" of the house (say $150k). Someone has to eat that $50k. Me, as an American taxpayer? No thanks.

A question was asked, who would you appoint for Secretary of the Treasury. Both candidates named Warren Buffett and no one else. Who says he would want to take the job? They named him because a lot of people know him and know he's made a ton of money. As far as I know, he's not shown any desire for public office. Naming Buffett is a political ploy, I don't think either would actually nominate him. At first, I was skeptical. I don't think either would actually nominate him. He does a fantastic job with his own money, and I think he would do an even better job with the nation's money. The bailout is money that the government doesn't have. Buffett doesn't spend money that he doesn't have. For that reason, I don't think he would consider the job. Also, this bailout will require the government to take on risks and deals that savvy business people (Buffett included) wouldn't take. That said, his philosophy is to invest in companies that are undervalued (by the time he would take the job, all banking institutions will probably be undervalued) and/or are poorly run. No one would argue that most financial institutions are poorly run. Buffett says "Be fearful when others are greedy, be greedy when others are fearful." I'd trust Warren Buffett with my money, but would he be up for the job?

Ron Paul voted against the bailout.

If McCain knows how to get Bin Laden. If he will get Bin Laden, why does he need to wait until he becomes president? Why doesn't he share this knowledge with the ground forces in Afghanistan? Why can he keep saying this and not get called on it?

Also, John McCain says the solution to Social Security is "easy." He says he's watched other people "do it." Why hasn't he, as a senior member of the Senate, fixed it already? Fixing Social Security (if such is possible) would be handled by the Senate, not the President. There isn't much the executive branch can do to change a legislative issue. McCain trivialized the Social Security issue. Probably because to him, and old people (babyboomers included) who might vote for McCain, Social Security isn't an issue for them. They'll get their money, and we (as young taxpayers) will be paying for it.

Health care. McCain thinks it's a responsibility. Obama thinks it's a right. Obama says in a country as wealthy as ours, everyone should have health care. Unfortunately, I don't think our country is as wealthy as Obama and others would have us believe. This should be painfully obvious over the last few weeks. There is a better way for Americans to get health care than through the emergency room, but I don't think either candidate has articulated this. As an aside, those without health care (illegals, etc.) will continue to use emergency rooms, which is a waste of specialized services and a drain on taxpayers. A more moderate stance on illegal immigrant health care (clinics or something) would ease the strain on taxpayers and make all of our health care cheaper and more efficient.

What the F. is Waziristan? I've heard McCain say three times or more that he's been to Waziristan, and I've never heard about this place. Turns out, Waziristan is a part of Pakistan. Why is he going to Pakistan? Last time I checked, we aren't at war with Pakistan. Who was he visiting there? Better yet, who paid for that trip? (U.S. taxpayers)

Neither of these people answer any of the questions directly. What's the point of taking questions from the crowd and the internet if neither will answer them?

Is a "petrodollar" different from a regular dollar? ("petrodollar" courtesy of Obama and McCain, incidentally)

McCain again brings up this notion of a "league of democracies." What, exactly, is the difference between this and the United Nations? Obama's terminology is "community of nations." I wish these two would speak in terms of what we already have.

The final question was, more or less, "What don't you know?" Obama makes a joke, and then says what he does know is that his mother was on food stamps but he could still go to Harvard, I guess. Indicidive of how this debate has gone. Nobody answers the questions. McCain tried to answer this question, but still didn't do much with it.

I wonder what Ron Paul thinks when he watches these debates? He should have run a third-party candidacy and demanded to take part in the debates. If nothing else, it would have kept the other two honest. My coworker Jonathon brought up a good point. With two candidates, they can't talk about what the other has done or won't do. Three candidates forces each candidate to talk about themselves and what they'll do.

My feelings of this debate, and the first one for that matter, are best summed up by American commentator Jay-Z. No video for it, so you'll just have to listen.

VP Debate - Live Blogging

Full disclosure: I'm looking for Biden to own during this debate. I think this could be entertaining, and I'm hoping for a little substance (out of Biden, I mean. I don't think Palin is capable of substance)

Debates might be as well be two stump speeches given in 90 second parts. Three questions in and they've given half an answer between the two of them.

When John McCain said the fundamentals of the economy were strong, he was talking about the American workforce? Uh, that doesn't make sense.

8:10PM Sarah Palin isn't going to answer the questions the way the moderator wants her to. Probably because she's a maverick!

8:20P At the beginning of this, Biden almost seems like he's sad, but he's starting to warm up now. He's dropped "the ultimate bridge to nowhere." I don't think it really fit there, but he probably wanted to get to it before Palin.

8:24PM Palin claims to be an energy expert. Joke!

8:30PM Palin is also a meterologist apparently. She doesn't believe that every action by man affects climate change. But she thinks we should do more to positively affect the climate? Joe Biden belives that the warming is man-made. He makes a good point that we can't fix something that we don't know the cause.

8:35 Biden hasn't been funny yet. He's fumbled some words, but I think it's because he's into what he's saying. Nothing too damaging yet.

8:40 Iraq: Biden says "I didn't hear a plan!" He called her on not answering the question!

8:53 Palin [hearts] Petraus and Israel!

8:56 Biden does a good job of tying McCain to George Bush's policies. He said that he hasn't heard how McCain's policies would be any different.

8:56 Palin uses cliches to talk about nuclear weapons. And then comes back to Afganistan. And somehow tries to tie it to the Iraq surge.

9:05 Palin [hearts] the pundits who will tomorrow talk about who said what. She must have gotten over that "gotcha" journalism.

9:07 Biden might have overstated the importance of this election. "The most important any of you have voted in, since maybe 1932"

9:13 Palin not knowing what the VP does was a joke? She must not have learned that from her brother, "the best teacher of the year." She's the joke. Now she knows that the VP presides over the Senate. Good job!

9:16 Biden educates Palin about the role of the VP, according to the constitution. VP only participates in the Senate when there is a tie.

9:28 Palin said she wants to answer the tough questions without the "filter of the mainstream media." I guess direct quotes from televised interviews are pretty biased. She'd rather have pundits assume what her policies are and how she'd act and fill an hour and a half without any substance. Kind of like what she did during this debate!

Quotes
"Darn right." (2)
"Joe six-pack"
"Hockey mom"
"East-coast politicians"
"The chant is "Drill, baby, drill"'
"back ya up, there"
"Americans are cravin' that straight talk"
"Wasilla main street"

Keeper League Corner - Rashard Mendenhall

There isn't much written specifically for keeper league players, so I thought I'd try some of my own. Most will be centered on players (probably players I have) that may or may not be keeper worthy even in 5 keeper leagues.

We get our first look at Rashard Mendenhall tonight. He has probably lost carries this year because of his fumbles in the preseason, which is a concern. Running backs can overcome dropping the ball but the stigma is a little more difficult to tackle. Even so, he got the opportunity to start tonight because of the injury to Willie Parker. Mendenhall got banged up and left the game on a cart, but even before wasn't having much success against a stout Ravens defense.

Long term look - he doesn't play on third downs. The elite backs (LT, AP, Westbrook, etc.) play every down. That's where they get their value. Especially in PPR leagues, receptions on third downs can mean lots of points. When Mendenhall was in for passes, he was not effective as a blocker, unable to stop even simple rushes up the middle. Many rookie RBs are probably not used to blocking, but some have been effective this year like Matt Forte and Steve Slaton.

Keeper? - No. Willie Parker has the lock on the spot, even if he struggles to stay healthy through the year. Mendenhall needs to play all three downs to be an elite back and recognize the full potential of the RB spot. He would also need to start and play a full game to have any sort of value. I've got him behind at least two other rookie RBs, Forte and Slaton, and most other RB that start. Take a wait and see approach, maybe his situation will change.

Since writing this, Mendenhall went down with a fractured shoulder and is out for the rest of the season. I'm keeping him in my IR spot and I'll reevaluate next fall before it's time to select keepers. If Parker leaves or gets hurt right before next season, Mendenhall would be a borderline keeper.

Hurricane Ike - Last Update ... probably

Well, since the last update I have regained electricity. Power came back last Wednesday (9/24) afternoon. That made for 12 days without power. Long time! Luckily, I didn't have to spend all of it here. I suppose I should appreciate the electricity, but I'm right back to taking it for granted.

As I write this, approximately 115,000 CenterPoint customers are without power. Some of those customers use wells for water. And without power, those wells don't run. Through this whole ordeal, I realized how terrible it would be without water. You can work around the lack of electricity, but without water you can't shower well or use the toilette.

I think I might sign up for the hurricane ride-out crew at work. They kept power through the whole ordeal, so they could watch TV and use the internet. They had to be at the plant for 5 days, but I think they were released to take a look at their homes. Really, I'd just have to get everything set at home as best I could. Make sure everything was put up and away from the windows. The ride-out crew gets paid to be there! A bunch, I hear!

As someone put it, why would I want to stay here, when I could be somewhere else, watch the coverage on TV and drink cold beer. Oh well, I guess you learn.

Hurricane Ike Update #5

I survived! The power went out shortly after my last update at 8PM. That was a bummer, made for a long night of waiting for the hurricane and then watching the hurricane. Here's a rundown of the events from that night. I was able to find a cd player that also had an FM tuner on it. That's where most of my information has been coming from for the past 4 days.

8:30 - Power went out
10:00 - CenterPoint reports 315,000 customers w/o power - I wasn't alone
10:45 - The rain started at my place, but there were no sustained winds
11:00 - 425,000 w/o power
- Christian's tailgate was still open, and said they'd be open until 12AM. Maybe this is the place Anderson Cooper was talking about
12AM - No sustained winds yet. Rain wasn't too bad.
12:30 - 725,000 customers without power. They said that the outage area was pretty much south of north beltway 8 and east of west beltway 8 toward the coast, if that makes any sense
- The Galveston police department is getting calls to rescue people, but isn't sending anyone out. They apparently quit at 8:30ish.
- It's getting warm, without the air conditioner, but I did manage to sleep from 11PM to 12AM
1AM - Sustained winds out of N, NE. Some rain. Reported gusts of 45 mph
1:15AM - Wind picked up, but rain still isn't bad
- Heard bang that sounded like a tin roof
- Not sure what the wind speed is, but its blowing pretty hard and sustained
- Area across 23rd still have power
1:30AM - 1 million customers w/o power - "transformers popping all over downtown"
- W. Heights reporting 45mph winds, steady
3AM - lots of wind, some water, basically what you'd expect a hurricane to be
- power out across the street. Can't see any working lights.
3:30AM - 1.3 mil. w/o power.
4:15AM - Hellacious wind. "Hurricane" wind. Rain is harder. Won't go outside. Our 3-story brick-front townhouse is shaking in the wind.
- Probably on west or south-west side of eyewall at this point
4:45AM - Winds died down a little. Not quite so ferocious. Still raining some
- Rain/wind very constant. Rain blows N to S. Not much rain hitting the ground.
- Reports that Clear Lake at Hwy 146 has an 11ft storm surge
5AM - Nearly everyone agrees that back end of the storm has been worse than the front.
- 2 mil w/o power. Downtown and Med Center all that's left (served by underground lines)
5:15AM - Kemah Boardwalk is under 6ft of water
- phone system and 911 down
- nearly all overhead power customers are w/o power
5:30AM - Driving rain, everything is wet. Pieces of leaves stuck to the sides of the houses. "Typical" tropical storm
5:30 - 8:30AM - Slept

Still no power. 50-some hours and counting. We maintained enough water pressure to flush the toilets, which was good. In terms of importance; Water/Sewer >> Power. I'd kept the bathtub full so I could flush if we did lose power, but Galveston lost both, and probably won't get those services back for a while. Sunday morning, the shower didn't work so well, but by Monday morning, it was back to normal (and even hot - must be a gas powered water heater).

Sunday afternoon I hooked my 19" TV up to my vehicle through an AC/DC converter. I was able to watch the Saints/Redskins game and root on both Drew Brees and Clinton Portis. That was a good way to spend my time, I was tired of trying to read a magazine.

Most stations aren't open because the pumps don't have power. I noticed very long gas lines around 3:30PM on Sunday. This has continued as of Tuesday afternoon. Gas stations maintain lines until they run out of gas. From what I have noticed, about 25-50 cars will be in line at a time and the stations run out of gas once a day. They should have heeded the interstate signs: "Storm forming in Gulf. Keep your gas tanks full."

The power has been coming back, more quickly than I would have anticipated. CenterPoint is going to throw a bunch of people at it, borrowing workers from all over the US and Canada. Most of the easy fixes have already been done.

Well, that's most of it. There's probably more to it but I'll leave it at that. Here's a sad picture.

NFL Week Two (After 12pm Games)

After watching the first wave of games from Week Two in the NFL, a few things came to mind that I wanted to write about.

1st and 10 (Feel like im John Clayton)

I would like to designate myself as a future NFL Sunday Ticket subscriber. I used to never understand why it was necessary to have every game at my finger tips but this was when I wasn't as big of NFL fan and my Chicago Bears were on TV every Sunday in Cedar Rapids. Now that I am in Ames, the coverage is split between Chicago, Detroit, GB and Minnesota. It would be nice to watch the Bears games in their entirety. Also, there are so many good games in the NFL week in and week out I don't really want to be stuck with KC vs OAK again when Minn vs Ind was on CBS as well.

2nd and 13 (Bears Offense)

The NFL is starting to become really, really fun for me to watch. I used to favor college heavily over pro football and I still do to a certain extent. College games can get ugly really quick. NFL games are close week in and week out. Any team truly can beat any other team. Fantasy Football is awesome and has really sparked my interest in NFL again. I had never understood how people loved the NFL so much but I am beginning to understand the obsession.

3rd and 4 (Matt Forte)

I hate to root for the Packers and by no means am I but being forced to watch them play and having Aaron Rodgers on my team has forced me to pay attention. Rodgers is really good. I have thought he was going to be good for awhile. He was able to sit on the bench and learn for several years and whoa! The Packers were smart and lucky that Favre stayed around for so long but they made the right call this year. By no means does two weeks make a season, but Rodgers is very mobile in the pocket which allows him to find open receivers. He looks through his progressions unlike many other young quarterbacks. I think there is something to be said for how the Packers groomed Rodgers and I think other franchises should take note.

4th and 1(Bears Playcalling)

I couldn't watch the Bears game today which is probably a good thing at the end. Up 17-3 they lost 20-17. I was watching the game on Stat Tracker and they had a drive starting with a little over three minutes left in the 4th quarter. First down resulted in a 9 yard gain from Forte for 2nd and 1. Second down was "Orton incomplete to the left". Ok, maybe they wanted to trick them. Third Down, "Orton incomplete to the right". WTF! The Bears aren't the Colts. Fourth Down, Jason McKie up the middle for no gain. I don't see the reasoning at all by not giving Forte another effort during that sequence. They needed just 20 more yards for a game tying(sp?) field goal. Not happy with this playcalling-would have liked to have seen it live.

Hurricane Ike Update #4

No rain yet at 8PM, but the winds have picked up. The winds are from the north at 10 mph with gusts up to 39 mph. Here's where I'm watching the wind speeds. The winds were stronger when I went outside an hour and a half ago. Everyone thought that the rain and some wind would be here around noon today. It appears that the hurricane is tightening, which means a stronger storm for a shorter period of time.

Waiting for this thing to hit has been brutal. The news just runs on a cycle, giving us the same stuff all the time. Everyone is posted up on Galveston Island, but I'd like to see what's going on closer to Houston. The strangest thing is that there is a bunch of flooding both on the island and in town, and it hasn't rained at all yet. The storm surge is flowing from the gulf, up the bay, up the ship channel and into the bayous.

We've just had our fifth and sixth power blips. I'm not sure if the next one will be the last one. It isn't enough to kill my clock, but the lights go out, the AC trips and the tv cuts out. I've heard parts of town have reported power outages, so maybe the blips are coming from load dropping off the grid.

I'll write shorter posts more frequently so I don't get cut off. The power blips probably aren't good for my TV, so I think I'll be moving it into the closet here shortly. I'm hoping to keep power for a while, because I don't think I have a battery powered radio. Oops.

Satellite Image of Ike

Hurricane Ike Update #3

This is getting serious ... Anderson Cooper is here! Ahhhh!!! And I thought it was bad when Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel was in Galveston! Cooper keeps asking everyone where he should broadcast from tomorrow night. No one wants to tell him he should be right in the middle of it, but he's looking for the good stuff. Some tie-him-to-a-pole-type stuff. He's getting cavalier, he didn't get to New Orleans until after the actual storm. Having somebody out there in the middle of it gives some perspective, but I don't need every major news anchor out there in a slicker in the middle of the hurricane.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox. Back to the hurricane at hand. The "new" news: apparently, one of the weather services is telling people that if they stay on Galveston Island, it means "certain death." Hardcore! That sounds a little far-fetched for me. The storm of 1900 killed 8000 of roughly 100,000 people living on the island and that was in
View Larger Map'>wooden structures. I haven't taken the time to get any numbers on the 1900 storm, but I'd think that the storm surge in 1900 would have been worse then than after construction of the 16 foot storm wall. In any case, it appears that this hurricane will come "straight up the gut" as we have been saying.



I guess what this means, the winds and the storm surge could be worse. The storm surge isn't nearly as bad on the "left" side of the storm, so if it moved just east of Galveston Bay, Houston would get the wind, but not the surge. It sure looks like downtown Houston, of which I'll call myself a part, will be getting some serious winds. 80+ for sure. Sustained for hours. Should be intense.

Earlier in the day, I missed a couple things. There is a small community called Bayou Vista, TX that started taking on water as early as 4PM this afternoon. The local news showed video of cars driving through a foot or more of water. I didn't find a pictures of this on the internet, so I've included a map. As you can see, it's on the mainland side of the bay, right before the bridge to Galveston Island. Oh, this flooding occurred 36 hours before the eye of the storm was to hit landfall.



Another unsettling thing I saw while driving about, was the boarding up of houses and businesses. A couple homes were boarded up and the funeral home (I'll have to post a picture!) was boarded up all the way around. Hopefully they don't know something I don't. Like I said earlier, the worst we have is eastern exposure on the windows, which is probably bad news if the hurricane comes in directly south of us.

If anyone is wondering, our 2nd (what's it called if it's twice in one year?) official CPC Hurricane Party occurred at Onion Creek in the Heights neighborhood and was delightful and breezy. I had Red Stripes because they were an affordable $2 each! We didn't have any hurricane parties for two summers and now have had two in one summer, wonder when the next one will be?

I'm off to find Anderson Cooper!

Hurricane Ike Update #2

I've seen some places near me that have boarded up. That makes me a little worried. The forcasts are for possibly 96mph wind where we are at. Our place doesn't have any southern exposed windows, but the windows to my bedroom and the doors to the other room face the east, which is probably the second most vulnerable. At this point, its probably too late to think about boarding up. I've got a closet that I might put my TV in to keep it safer.

It seems people are taking this seriously. The grocery store parking lot was completely full and there were quite a few people out driving around. Most people must be off work, and a lot are buying supplies.

The evacuation is going well, but the roads are starting to back up. I get why they want to stagger the evacuations, but it doesn't seem like they did a very good job. The toll roads are free, and too many people are excited to use them. The south beltway is getting backed up even though 610 looks good. The picture below must be old because I-45 over the bridge from Galveston is stop and go, and they said it would take better than 2 hours to get from Galveston to downtown (usually an hour or better drive).

Ike Traffic 2PM Thur

Preparations:

Doing laundry - hey got to have clean undies

Cleaned bathroom - something that had to be done

Clean dishes

Grocery Store - (water, beer, canned goods)

Start filling cooler with ice

Vacuum room

Clean out pantry - (smells like something died)

Lift weights

Find somewhere with drink specials for tonight

The "preparations" I've listed look a little goofy, but if I were to watch the hurricane coverage for another 48 hours until the storm passed, I'd go crazy. The weathermen would fly away if they flapped their arms any harder. And there's only so many times you can hear that mobile homes will be destroyed.

Hurricanes Ike! Update #1

Neither of the previous two summers have been like this one. Before July, I was largely ignorant of our work's hurricane policy. Hurricane supplies, evacutations, missed work hadn't really entered my mind. We've been kept home from work once and now we've been sent home for two days for Ike. This seems like it will be the real deal. Here's a few highlights from the hurricane preparedness so far.


The hurricane track






This is the second time this summer that we've been within the 3-day track. To me, that means you need to be getting ready. Hurricane warnings are new to me. What's different about this storm is that it's very large. I would think it would be unusual for hurricane warnings to be in effect outside the projected landfall area. The storm is about 500 miles across.

We were told to go home from work this morning at 8:30 after Harris County called for a mandatory evacuation of some areas. Many people who work at the plant live in Clear Lake, La Porte, Baytown, and other areas along the bay.

Zones 1 and 2 are under mandatory evacuation

The reason for the evacuation of these areas is the storm surge. If Ike hits southwest of Houston, as is planned, Galveston Bay will be on the "dirty" side of the hurricane. The winds might not be as high as near the eye, but the storm surge is worse.

The mandatory evacuation was called for Zones A and B for 12PM, but it looks like people have already started leaving. Unfortunately, they waited to call for the evacuation of Galveston Island until later this morning, so I-45 northbound between Galveston and Beltway 8 is getting very bad, but still moving. I-45 through downtown is bad but still moving. I-10 west by the beltway is also bad in a small stretch.

I'll give more updates as I see fit.

Democratic National Convention - the speeches

The four days of the DNC will bring many speeches. I listened to a couple last night and read another just now. The response is overwhelmingly positive at the convention, as can be expected. The Republicans are trying to jump on anything they can, which is expected. Generally, I lean left, but there are some items which I've got problems with.


Bill Clinton's speech was good. Really, really good. Clinton is probably the best orator of our time. Instead of delivering the speech to the camera, which I find odd and annoying, he spoke to the crowd assembled. It's a lot like American Idol, most people who perform or speak before a live crowd and television would benefit by forgetting about the camera. A transfixed stare into the camera is disconcerting. Take care of the people who are actually standing in front of you, and it will translate just fine to television.


The content of Clinton's speech was good, as well. He drove home that he and Hillary are fully behind Barack Obama while seeming sincere. McCain and the Republicans were a target, but he wasn't chippy. Paralleling Clinton's quick rise to the presidency with Obama might win over some Democrats with questions about Obama's (lack of) experience.



While Obama will surely benefit from the whole-hearted endorsement by Clinton, the biggest result of the night might have been Bill Clinton's ascension to the Democratic Party patriarch. The ovation he received was surprising, especially since he had been campaigning for Hillary. Also, his events had begun to draw smaller crowds toward the end of the primary campaign. Just when it seemed as though interest in Bill Clinton had waned, he came roaring back.


Joe Biden is feisty. He showed some fire in his speech, unfortunately, he had to follow Clinton. It will be nice to have someone in the campaign who isn't quite so scripted. Ultimately, I can't remember him saying anything that I thought was too disagreeable.


Some are making a big deal about the stage set up for Obama's speech. Seeing the columns, I didn't immediately think of Romans and Greece or any of that, but apparently pundits did. Seeing it everyday, they must forget that Washington, D.C. is full of columns. Much more pretentious was Obama introducing Biden (after kicking off his campaign) in front of the old Illinois state capitol, the same place where Lincoln cut his political teeth. It is my assumption that Obama was trying to parallel his run with the significance of Lincoln's presidency. Indeed, Lincoln was rather green, having only served at the state level briefly and then nationally only briefly before becoming the president. Obama's analogy is a little much. While Obama's nomination has already been historic, it was what Lincoln did in office that was special, not how he got there.

Obama's speech was pretty decent. He offered some more details than I'd seen before in his speeches. I think he could have spoke more about expecting more out of Americans, but it was good he mentioned it. Republicans see Democrats as advocates of handouts and that's what sours a lot of people to the Democratic party. He reminds listeners that they are the party of Roosevelt, they are the party of Kennedy. Roosevelt helped thousands through the Depression with his alphebet soup, but he made them work for it. The WPA, CCC, TVA and others put Americans in direct employment by the government. Money wasn't handed out, it was earned and the government wasn't a charity. These projects (Hoover Dam, hydro electricity in Tennessee) benefited the nation. Kennedy told citizens to ask what they could do for the country. The space race leaned heavily on hard-working, intelligent Americans in pursuit of something worthwhile. Obama should suggest that America demand more of its citizens.

Overall, Obama's speech was good. All of the speeches at the convention were good, with Bill Clinton's being the only one I'd consider great. It would have been nice if everyone who spoke elevated beyond the politics of criticizing John McCain, but that's probably a naive thought. The convention was a good show, and one that apparently appealed to many Americans.

Houston Texans 2007 Season Wrap-Up

By almost any account, last year was the best season ever for the Texans. They finished with their best record ever, 8-8. After fourteen different weeks last year, they had their best ever record at that point in the season. (That might not make sense, take a look at the records spreadsheet.) Four weeks were spent over .500 in 2007, after only three weeks over .500 in the previous five years of Texans football. They spent 11 weeks at or above .500, after only 9 weeks at or above .500 in 2002-2006.

It was a banner year for the QBs as well. They set records in yardage, touchdowns, and rating. Individually, both QBs were at the top of Texans' records. Rosenfels threw the second most touchdowns in a season, despite only playing in nine games and throwing 240 attempts. He managed this by throwing at least one touchdown in every game in which he appeared. Schaub, was consistent, if not spectacular. His 87.2 passer rating set a record for Texans QBs, however, he only threw nine touchdowns in 289 attempts, a TD% of less than half of Rosenfels' record 6.3%. Schaub's Texans record 7.75 yards/attempt proved he was trying to move the ball vertically, which is a good sign.

The rushing "attack" was feeble last year, even by Texans standards. They managed only 12 touchdowns and 1586 yards on 3.8 yards/carry. Not very good at all.

The record last year was something to be proud of, especially since they played playoff teams nine times. I don't see Schaub's TD% exploding this year, but if he stays healthy, he should get more attempts. 500 attempts at 3.2% would be 16 TD passes. That's ok, but not spectacular. 7.75 yards per attempt times 500 attempts would equal an impressive 3875 yards.

The Texans look like they will try running the ball more this year. More attempts, but I'm not sure where the yds/carry will end up. They should be on track for at least 1700 yards rushing. Rushing TDs are tougher to predict, but anything less than 13 would be an absolute dissapointment.

NL Central

So much is made of how crappy the NL Central is year in adn year out. I am here to set the record straight this year. Currently the Central has four out of six teams with winning records. The fourth place team, the Houston Astros, would be winning the West and woudl only be three games out of first in the East. In the Central? They are 12 games out. For anyone that is going to give the Cubs crap for playign in a bad division can you know what. Keep in mind that if the playoffs were based on record not division, the Central would have three teams out of four. This is even with them all beating each other up. All that I am saying is the Cubs schedule hasn't been as cake as thoguht. Their September schedule is brutal with only 9 home games and endign with four in NY and three in MIL.

Houston Landmark - The End of the Universe

Another Houston landmark to visit for your next trip to the Bayou City. The End of the Universe, identified by Lewis Black. Here's his comedy bit about it, for a refresher.




Lewis Black was so struck by this Houston landmark he chose to name his cd after it, and included a picture of it as his front cover.




This landmark is located at the corner of S. Shepherd and W. Gray. I've had the good fortune of travelling between the two on numerous occasions, having lived a mere two miles away. Traffic in the area has prevented me from stopping between the two Starbucks' and verifying that time does indeed stand still. I'll have to take Mr. Black's word for it.

I'm full of myself - more from Bleacher Report

Turns out I've already made the front page if you wait long enough.

On the NBA tab on the front page

And on the College Basketball tab.

NBA front page on Bleacher Report!

It didn't take long. I'm on the NBA front page for Bleacher Report. We'll really see how people receive my article. Next step will be the overall front page!

Athletes Don't Need to be Paid

Note: I've started posting on bleacherreport.com. Any sports stuff I write will appear on houstonramblins and bleacher report. The following article can also be found here.

Playing collegiate sports is mutually beneficial for both the players and the NCAA. The NCAA gets the better end of it, but its still a good deal for players of all skill levels.

OJ Mayo was the example used in Mr. Watkins' article. OJ Mayo went to one year of school at USC. He was not able to go directly to the NBA. That wasn't the NCAA or USC's fault, that is a NBA law. Formerly, kids with top-level talent would go directly to the NBA, but that's no longer an option. However, no one forced OJ Mayo to attend a university. If he didn't feel right about USC and Tim Floyd banking off his star talent, he could have chosen to wait out the required year by practicing his crossover and jump shot in a gym. But why would he want to do that? There are more than 3 dozen professional basketball leagues worldwide. He could get paid to play! Right out of high school! Sounds like we've got a solution.

That sucks, though, that he might have to go overseas to get his "fair market value." Nobody would be able to see him play. Nike wouldn't know whether to give him a contract. He wouldn't be playing against the best that he could be. Maybe he looks great, maybe he stinks it up. How would the NBA have graded him? Would he still go #5 in the draft after playing overseas for a year? Would anyone even know who OJ Mayo was? Therein lies the rub - OJ Mayo's payment at USC was the exposure afforded by major college basketball, ESPN, Los Angelos, the NCAA tournament, etc. OJ Mayo's future earnings will likely be higher because he attended college. Isn't that why most people go to school?

OJ Mayo and other lottery-type talent are one case. The "guys who are superstars in college but don't have the body type or athleticism to compete in the NBA" could play overseas after college. Paul Shirley carved out a decent career playing basketball professionally and no one would confuse him with a superstar.

The other 95% of college basketball players? Make sure to get your free diploma!

With all due respect to Mr. Watkins, there is a difference between playing collegiate basketball and working in a sweatshop. These kids aren't forced labor. If they need to help support their family, they can take a day job at McDonald's and work the night shift at Burger King. Nowhere is it written that one who has sports talent must be compensated for it.

Garnett post - response from blogger

I got this response from my email to the guy who wrote the Garnett post. He was appreciative of my support.

Hey Jeremy, thanks for the kind words, I appreciate the positivity after all of boston came raining down, but after truehoop linked i expected it, i realize i represent the minority voice by not supporting kg in this instance - which is why i feel it needed to be said, anyway, thanks again

*i'm a big supporter of the rockets as well, love yao and hated seeing him go down after the run ya'll made, hopefully this year everyone stays healthy

NBA 2008 Draft - Aftermath

With all the talk about Dorsey, everyone is missing the fact that the Rockets turned one draft pick into two players. This work assesses the relative value of the first 30 picks of the draft. Through a couple trades, the Rockets turned the 25th pick into the 28th and 33rd. They added roughly 50% more value to their draft for free. I'm liking the Daryl Morey era already.

The Rockets are really high on Joey Dorsey. Like really high. I have no idea why. But here's what they say.

Joey Dorsey
This guy likes Joey Dorsey. As you can see from my comment, I'm not so hot on him.

Shane Battier
Don't know whether the USA team would have picked him or not, but he won't be playing for the red, white and blue. This story points out that he was on the 2nd All-NBA defensive team, but was 3rd in the Defensive POY voting. The math doesn't work out on that, but it shows he's one of the best on the defensive end.

Carl Landry
The Rockets want to sign Landry. Last year was his rookie season, but he was a second round pick so there was no future years to the contract. This is another position I thought they were in good shape. The Rockets would like to see what's up with Landry's knee. Landry's agent doesn't seem like he wants to play along. Something is amiss.

Steve Novak
Novak has been resigned. Cheap, but this doesn't really help the Rockets. They like something about him, but if they don't play him ...

Brent Barry
The Rockets want to sign him. Don't know if this is just the family name that attracts them or what. He's a good player that can help a veteran team off the bench. He'd help during a postseason run. The Rockets need help elsewhere, and don't seem poised for such a postseason run. I have a hard time arguing this though. I Like a shooter who doesn't complain about playing. (Tough to complain about playing time when you're 30-something making 2 mil off the bench.) Seems though, that the Novak signing and Barry courting are redundant.


Russell Robinson
He's on the summer squad for the Rockets. It seems like this guy was at Kansas forever. He's got decent size for a point guard, is a good defender and takes care of the ball (4 assists/game, 2.1 A/T ratio). Robinson was overshadowed at KU by the 4 other Jayhawks that got drafted.

Seven Cubs in the All-Star game and more baseball..

Thrilled to see the red, white and blue well represented in the All-Star game for the first time in awhile gets me excited about what might become of the season. The Cubs players chosen for the most part were well deserving of their bid. Soriano has been hurt, but is one of the top three NL outfielders and Fukudome, struggling of late, has still had a decent season. I am happy for Geovany Soto, who is the hands down favorite to win the ROY, and glad to see that a player from the Cubs' farm system has panned out. Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood were well deserving of their All-Star bids and have really been the anchor to the team. What makes more sense to me though is that the team with the best record in the National League throughout the first half of the season is well represented. If the game truly means something and determines home-field advantage then the teams fighting toward winning the World Series should be well represented. The Tampa Rays are not well represented and should be. They are the story of the season and are just flat out good. There is talks they could get Matt Holliday....scary. Speaking of scary, Sabathia to the Brewers scares me. Milwaukee was on top of their game by getting him this early. He will make two starts before the All-Star break and then another two before the trading deadline. Having four more starts than other deadline pitchers means this trade will have more impact than any other. The Cubs are talking about dealing with the A's for Rich Harden. I have always been a fan of Rich Harden, but two things scare me;Hardens arm and Billy Beane's brain. There is no doubt the Cubs will have to pay the price for Harden. If he stays healthy it could be worth it, but Beane will take a good portion of the Cubs' future for an often injured arm. My prediction: I still believe the Cubs are deep enough to win the NL Central but I believe this move puts the Brewers as the favorites for the NL Wild Card with Sheets and Sabathia being the two best pitchers in the National League.

More about Kevin Garnett -- make me gag

I left this comment on someone's blog a couple weeks ago. He'd written a pretty good little note saying 'no thanks' to Garnett's offer that "This is for everybody in 'Sota!" The comment section was FILLED with people, presumably all from Boston, calling the blogger dumb or worse.

Mike, I don't know how you'll find this amongst all the worked up Boston fans (I thought this was a Garnett dis piece?) but I feel you. Some athletes (of which Garnett is the most notable) somehow get a free pass. Where does heart show up on the box score? Or "backbone" or "motivation" or whatever else you want to call it. Duncan can unload for 40 points on a given night, Karl Malone was a big guy and a prolific scorer. LeBron made it to the NBA finals (and out of the first round each of the last three years) playing alongside Carrot Top and a guy named Boobie. Why couldn't Garnett do it? The NBA is a team sport but the only constant on that team for a decade was Garnett. Just like the only constant on the Celtics had been Pierce, and the Celtics stunk for most of the last decade!

As a Rockets fan, I understand that it isn't necessarily about the championships that Garnett didn't bring to Minn, its about getting out of the first round of the playoffs! If TMac ran off to join the Clippers or somebody and won a championship, the last thing I'd want to hear is "This is for you H-town (and Orlando, and Vancouver)." Allegiances are for a team, not a player.

I thought I was over hating on Garnett for a while until I came across this. Another gratuitous puff piece about how Garnett wanted a championship worse than any other athlete of all time ever. Seriously, what's the point of sticking with a team for a decade to leave and get a ring somewhere else? Shouldn't he have left in 2005 when he was tired of losing? Maybe the Wolves would have been competetive by now. Notice how the good people at Slate don't mention the profanity-laced rant Garnett went on during the press conference. That's a little tougher to love.

My Golfing Adventure

Having just started golfing last summer, I am already addicted. I think it is because of how competitive I am. I really wanted to get decent at golf to the point where I can play respectable with anyone. Not necessarily beat them, but not make a fool of myself. Just when I think I have it figured out, I shank one and just when I am ready to give up, I hit a beautiful shot. What I decided to do to keep track of my progress, is to try to start keeping my golf handicap. Although officially you must record 12 rounds I am going to do it longhand until then. The course I typically play is Airport National because of the cheap rates and relative ease in play. I have golfed at least 6 or 7 times this year for a total of at least 10 eighteen hole rounds. For 21 dollars I can golf unlimited holes at Airport, including a cart. I typically take advantage of it golfing at least 27 and occasionally 36 in a day. The course rating is pretty low, as is the slope rating. This makes it more important for a good score for my handicap. I am keeping track of my scores online at keepmygolfscore.com. I will start with the first 18 holes of my round today to start my golf handicap. The handicap is found by finding "adjusted differentials" for each round. The adjusted differential is found by (total score-course rating)/(slope rating)*113. The 10 lowest differentials are then added together, multiplied by .96 and divided by ten to find your handicap. The ten lowest differentials doesn't quite make sense to me for the fact that a bad round doesn't seem to hurt your handicap. Well, today I shot a 94 at Airport National, 48 on the front nine and 46 on the back nine. Par for the course is 63. This is my best 18 ever, even with a quintuple bogey 9 on the first hole. What I was pleased about was that I was very consistent the rest of the round, I socred all 4's-6's the rest of the round. I can't hit my driver so I was using a 6-iron to tee off the rest of the round. It makes for tough saves when you can't get that much distance on your tee shot, but I found that my irons are more consistent and so thats what I went with. So, for the moment you have all been waiting for.... My score (94)-course rating(58.5)/slope rating(80)*113=an adjusted differential of 50.14375. I will just multiply this by .96 to get my handicap of 48. That is incredibly high but, for an easy course you really have to score well. I will approach lowering my handicap 10 at a time. First, the goal is to get below 40. This is not terribly accurate right nwo because it is just one round, but as I log more rounds I should have a better idea of how I am doing.

NBA 2008 Draft - Results (Rockets)

Well, the Rockets picked a couple of small forwards. Not what I would have done, but it might work out for them. With their picks that late in the draft, you take what you can. Hopefully you find someone with some upside. The Rockets probably weren't going to fill any holes.

Well, it looks like Houston has trade the rights to Nicolas Batum. I'm not sure yet what they got in return. His size looked good, apparently he has upside but his averages (8.5 pts/3.5 rbs) in Europe weren't anything special.

I guess they traded Batum for another SF, Dante Green and a future second round pick. I'm not real sure about this one. Unlike the NFL draft, two 2nd round picks don't get close to a 1st round pick. I'd guess they took who they thought they should take at that specific position in the draft and worked with it. It looks like they also got Joey Dorsey (I'm not a big fan) out of their dealings. Incidentaly, they had the rights to Darrell Arthur for awhile. Arthur was ranked #15 by ESPN - he went 27th - but their PF situation is pretty strong.

Seems like the Rockets were really gunning for a small forward. I like that they turned one pick into two players and a future pick. That's what the good franchises do. Usually, teams do that when they're already set, but the Rockets weren't going to benefit from their first round pick this year anyway, so they might as well get some players and stockpile some picks for the future.

The talk about Batum was good, but his numbers didn't back it up. Dorsey talks a lot and benefitted from being on a good team. Arthur did too, but he seemed to be a pretty good player without a lot of moves (indicating some upside).

Looks like the Rockets are hoping to be healthy next year. I really think the management and ownership are intoxicated with the thought of Yao and TMac playing on the same team for a majority of a season. In my opinion, there were some spots that could have been filled with the 25th pick. Obviously, the Rockets' brass thinks otherwise, or they have identified other holes.

NBA Draft 2008 - Rockets

Before I get into the Rockets' draft picks, let me first discuss which spots I thought they should be looking to fill. Basically, I'll look at the depth chart and highlight positions I think the Rockets could improve.

POS Starter 2nd 3rd
PG Rafer Alston Bobby Jackson Aaron Brooks
SG Tracy McGrady Luther Head Steve Francis
SF Shane Battier Steve Novak Mike Harris
PF Luis Scola Carl Landry Chuck Hayes
C Yao Ming Dikembe Mutombo Loren Woods

The starting lineup, should everyone ever be healthy at the same time, would be good enough to contend. The scoring would come from McGrady, Ming and Alston. Defense from Battier. And rebounds and general scrappiness from Scola. The bench of Brooks, Harris, Landry and Hayes is very good. Undersized, but very good.

Yao and McGrady aren't ever healthy together, or at least that's what it seems. Mutombo played well in relief, even though the team seemed reluctant to play him. He brings zero offense, but still has that defensive presence and some rebounding ability. Number one priority to me would be a backup center. One who can relieve Yao of some minutes and play some big minutes when Yao is hurt. The center they are looking for should have an emphasis of defense, with the ability to score some scrappy points - the offense would go through McGrady. I'm looking for a guy who can put up 10 pts, 7 rbs, 1blk when playing for more than 24 minutes. (Note: this may seem like a lot, someone who can average 20 pts, 14rbs per 48 minutes, but the other players on the bench can explode for some good numbers when given the chance). Besides, I've never heard of Loren Woods.

Second priority should be a big guard. McGrady doesn't stay health either. When he is healthy, he isn't TMac anymore. Anybody can take 20 15-foot jumpers a game. But say I give him the benefit of the doubt. He could use somebody to spell him. Play significant stretches off the bench with the ability to score while not being upset by the irregularity of playing behind McGrady. Not an easy find. However, I think CDR would fit very well. A tenured player in college, big guard, can defend and can create a shot with the ball in his hands. But I digress. Luther Head is undersized and okay at best, Stevie Franchise used to be good.

Third priority - point guard. The Rockets seem hellbent on replacing Rafer Alston every year. Yet every year, Skip wins the spot and performs well if not very well at the position. He assists when Yao and McGrady are in the lineup and scores when they aren't. Rafer seems to embrace the opportunity to prove himself and shifts his game to compensate for the team's absences. I'm okay with Rafer. Bobby Jackson did great down the stretch and in the playoffs. He takes a lot of shots and hits some of them, but he's getting old. Time to find some new blood. Aaron Brooks is really quick and seems sharp. Maybe he could take the reigns with some veteran leadership. It's hard for me to believe that Rafer and Jackson haven't already taken this kid under their wing. Bottom line, I don't think this is a position the Rockets should address in the draft. Yet. If they can find a PG better than Rafer, they should do it, but it would be unlikely for them to find something in the draft better than the Jackson/Brooks combo.

Small Forward - I hated the draft day trade that brought Shane Battier to Houston for Rudy Gay. It should also be noted, I wasn't that hot on Rudy Gay. That said, I really, really like what Shane Battier brings to the Rockets. In addition to being the default (read: college educated) team spokesman every night, he is a legitimate first-team all-defensive player. He takes the hardest defensive assignment (Kobe, Carmelo, etc.) and still brings energy to the offensive and defensive glass, along with some three-point threat. The impact of this type of player would be invaluable should the Rockets ever find themselves beyond the first round of the playoffs. And because Battier does it the right way (moving his feet, body position, jazz hand to the face-type deal) he should be able to defend well for seasons to come. Because he isn't a scorer, he can be had on the cheap. I'm high on this guy. I'm also high on Mike Harris. That dude works every minute he's in the game. Rebounds and put-backs, he's money. Unfortunately, at 6-6 he's undersized for the position. I don't like putting a lot of stock into the prototypical size requirements of the NBA, but I know he isn't an every day, every minute SF. Steve Novak is a great shooter, and should have warranted some more minutes, but he doesn't play inside the three point line at all. This is a position the Rockets could gain some ground.

I love the Rockets' power forwards. All three of them. Chuck is a defensive presence, even though he's 6-6. Landry showed some flashes of offensive brilliance, along with a willingness to do the dirty work. Luis Scola blends the best of European finesse and offensive rebounding of a player hungry to succeed in the NBA. If Yao is healthy, I think Scola is a great fit for the Rockets. He has shown a willingness to score points without having the offense run through him (which it won't) and is also a more active rebounder than Yao.

It seems to me the obvious holes are SG and C. The order in which they are addressed probably isn't important. Dead weight at center isn't necessary. The Rockets can play small effectively, moving Scola to the 5. Without McGrady, the Rockets currently play very, very small with Rafer at the point and Head at the two.

Those are the holes, next comes my draft commentary.

OJ Mayo splits with Agent

Mayo has split with his agent and the runner who was supposedly hired to bring Mayo to the agent. It's the right move. Makes him look sincere when he says he didn't know what was going on. Reduces the media frenzy surrounding him a little bit. Showed he's willing to make a definitive stance and return to a focus on basketball. Not sure about his mom being so involved in the process though, NBA moms are usually the craziest people in players' lives. Anyway, she said this, "As a family, we decided to modify O.J.'s inner circle and allow him to solely focus on improving his game without distraction in a structured, disciplined environment."

Reading through the comments, I found this one particularly amusing:

G8RUSA (9 hours ago)
Alltell lets me modify my inner circle anytime I like without any hidden fees.

NBA Postseason Suggestions

This season's postseason just proves my continuing argument that the NBA needs to reconsider their playoff format. Their most recent mistake was making the first round best-of-seven series instead of best-of-five. This enhances the top seed's chances to win. My suggestion is to throw out the first round completely. What would this do? It would eliminate almost two and a half weeks of the NBA postseason. It would make the regular season more meaningful. It would eliminate teams with sub-.500 records competing in the postseason. It, in my opinion, would make the postseason better to watch. Looking at this years results thus far, no lower seeded team has won a series, including the conferences semi-finals. Sure, there was Golden State over Dallas last year and that was fun to watch. Was it worth the two and a half weeks? No. Even if Stern does not want to get rid of the first round, he desperately needs to move it back to five games. In EVERY series this year, including the conference semi-finals, every team that has led the series after FIVE games has won the best-of-seven series. None of this will ever change because of money, but just think about how successful baseball pennant races are and only 8 out of 30 teams make the playoffs rather than 16 out of 32. With that being said, I look forward to watching the remaining series, now that they actually mean something.

NFL News - sad state of affairs

When I use the term "affairs" I mean just that. Take a look at this list of NFL local news stories. As of 5/16/08 the breakdown was such:

2 - injury updates
8 - legal/offense issues
9 - depth chart/signings
6 - contract disputes
4 - spygate
1 - steroids

There were some other stories assorted in there. It's sad that at a time of the year that teams should be focusing on fielding a competitve team in the fall, there is so much about contracts and legal issues, spygate and steroids. The NFL may have cleaned up its act, but it still has a ways to go.

I'm proud to say the Texans had no news stories concerning any problems on this page, just one about a position coach pushing his young players.

Houston news report #2 - May 2008

I hadn't posted this yet. Here's a couple news stories from a couple months ago.

You can't make this stuff up.

3 Kingwood teens accused of abusing corpse
"Kevin Wade Jones, 17, and Matthew Richard Gonzalez, 17, both of Kingwood, told Houston police that around March 15 they and a 16-year old juvenile dug up a grave, removed the skull from the coffin and converted it into a "bong," a device used to smoke marijuana, according to court documents."

Not in Texas, but no less ridiculous. Jim Bob has been gettin' busy.

I bet Eight Belles would be delicious. Short article, but two quotes from this one.
" 'Mexico kills horses, whether we like it or not, and people in France eat them. And sometimes the slaughterhouses like to ship the meat out of Corpus or Houston,' Chisum said."
"American Airlines has stopped shipping horse meat from Texas, said airline spokesman Tim Wagner."

“the Sinkhole de Mayo,” People in East Texas are pretty clever with their nicknames.

Tyler's Leap

Much discussion has been made over Tyler Hansborough's leap from a second floor balcony into a pool. Most of the columnists are calling this a horrible decision, saying he is costing himself thousands of dollars. I have gone back and forth over this issue, but when he decided to stay in school I commended him and although I don't commend him for taking the plunge, I am not going to get all over him. Roy Williams has a reason to be pissed, but would he rather have Tyler jumping into pools or jumping into the draft? Hansborough has had a great career and he most likely will not be a good NBA player. He is enjoying his life in college and I applaud him for that. Sure he could have broken a leg or hurt himself in this act, but he also could hurt himself doing a lot of other things. I know little about Tyler and have no clue what other stupid stuff he does, but if this is the extent of his stupidity then I say get off his back. He wasn't putting others in danger like many other college students that drink and get behind the wheel or decide to throw haymakers in a bar. If Micheal Beasley had done this, I would have had a different feel. The truth is Tyler is one of the great college basketball players (his number has already been approved to be retired at UNC) and he actually fufilled his committment to the university to play basketball for four years. If college basketball players aren't allowed to act like college students once in awhile, then they might as well get rid of the one-year rule and let high school players go straight to the NBA. So much is discussed of players being student-athletes. Tyler was simply living up the student part of that as much of college basketball players don't. Part of being a college student is having a few beers and doing something stupid while you are still young and fearless. Im sure Tyler will look back in thirty years and say his time at UNC was the best time of his life. He can always reside in Chapel Hill and open a car dealership. There is one thing I am upset with Tyler about. Stay away from the fratertinity man. You have to know someone else with a two-story balcony.

I just realized I misspelled Hansbrough the entire entry. Sorry "brough".

Houston 2008 Draft Rating - the Pundits

(B) AOL Sports Blog by Stephanie Stradley: NFL Draft Grades: Houston Texans

(C) USAToday by Larry Weisman: Draft grades: Which team scored the best?

(B-) Bleacher Report by Peter Bukowski: NFL Draft 2008: Report Card

(F) Viking Report by John Holler: Draft’s Winners and Losers

(C-) KFFL by Cory J. Bonini: NFL Draft Grapevine: 2008 Losers

(B) NFL Draft University by Greg Trippiedi: NFL Draft Recap and Grades

(C-) MertleBeachOnline.com by Rick Gosselin: Making the Grade?

(C-) SignonSanDiego.com by Jerry Magee: Handing out the grades

(C) CBSSports Community by Billdawg12185: NFL Draft Grades

(C-) Star-Telegram.com by Charean Williams: Grading the Draft

These are the first ten grades I found. What does this mean? Probably not much, but you get an idea that people weren't terribly impressed with the Texans' draft. The pick of Duane Brown was widely slammed, most people thought he was anywhere from a second round to a third round pick. As the Texans didn't have a second round pick, they probably felt they needed to take a tackle with this pick. They gambled once by moving down, and the Chargers were apparently looking for a tackle as well. Not much was said about the other picks, which I think were decent.

Average grade: C

Like I said, no one was too impressed.

The Texans' 2008 Draft

The draft went fairly well for the Texans. They moved down in the first to acquire more picks later, a strategy that many successful teams employ. The Texans filled their stated needs (OT, CB, RB) in order, and used later picks on some lesser needs (OLB, DT). Overall, I gave it a B.


They've shown the ability to find good players (DeMeco Ryans 2nd rd, Owen Daniels 4th rd, Fred Bennett 4th rd, Jacoby Jones 6th rd) which makes me think that one of the later picks will make an impact.


The Texans have spent a lot of high draft picks (2002 - 3rd, 6th, 7th, 7th; 2003 - 3rd, 6th; 2004 - 1st, 7th; 2005 - 1st; 2006 - 1st; 2007 - 1st; 2008 - 5th) and a lot of money on the defensive line, so I was happy that they didn't go there again. They haven't spent high picks on offensive line players. The OL picks by round (2002 - 2nd, 3rd; 2003 - 3rd, 7th; 2004 - NONE; 2005 - 5th; 2006 - 3rd, 3rd; 2007 - 2nd, 5th; 2008 - 1st). The Texans haven't even tried an OL in the first, so there isn't much track record there.


It does feel like the Texans kinda got burnt by the Dallas Cowboys. They got both Felix Jones, a coveted RB and Mike Jenkins, a CB who was probably on the Texans' draft board. When Jenkins came off the board right in front of the Texans' pick, it sure didn't look to me like there was anyone there for them to pick. I was rooting for another trade, letting the Texans slip lower (where they probably still could have picked Duane Brown) and pick up another 3rd round pick. Jerry Jones didn't think there was anyone good enough to pick in the 3rd, but Dallas is a lot better team than the Texans.


Draft Pick #1 - Duane Brown, Virginia Tech, OT


The Good - "I think I can fit in great with what (Alex Gibbs, a new assistant head coach) does," Brown said about the zone blocking system. "His zone scheme fits athletic tackles and guards. My athleticism is my biggest asset, being able to move, get on the second level and cut (block) down." That's the hope anyway.

- Brown was the fastest player at his position at the combine, running the 40-yard dash in 5 seconds.


The Bad - "Brown was a former tight end like Texans right tackle Eric Winston." Winston is just that, a right tackle. Hopefully Brown can stay at the left tackle position and doesn't need to get hidden at G.


The Ugly - "The Texans will ask Brown, who allowed 8 1/2 sacks as a senior, to make the field a safer place for Matt Schaub" 8 1/2 sacks as a senior?!? That's not very good. Jake Long hasn't given up a sack in like two years. The NFL will be harder than college, and if he allowed that many sacks in college...


Draft Pick #2 - Antwaun Molden, Eastern Kentucky, CB


"Molden will compete for the nickel job." Ouch. Hopefully that's meant for just this year. In the third round, you'd like to get a guy who could compete for the #2 CB spot, especially with Dunta Robinson down through half the season. Not a glowing endorsement.


Draft Pick #3 - Steve Slaton, West Virginia, RB

"Slaton should become the third-down back with speed that's been missing." - He's projected to play in certain situations, a reasonable expectation for the first year of a third round pick. That means the Texans will be looking again next year for a #1 RB. That said, I've always liked Slaton. The WVU offense that they ran with Pat White was one of the most fun to watch over the last three years.


"Slaton (5'9/197) might get run over in pass pro. Chris Brown is a pretty good third-down back already and Darius Walker can work those downs too. The Texans have a whole lot of competition at tailback with nothing set in stone. " - good thoughts, but the Texans haven't been afraid to cut RBs loose. They might see Chris Brown as a #1a RB (which I'd be ok with) and Slaton as the 3rd down back. Walker is probably back to the practice squad.


Draft Pick #4 - Xavier Adibi, Virginia Tech, OLB

Technically, Adibi was listed as an inside linebacker at Virginia Tech, but he said he played more like an outside backer. - That's convienent, considering the Texans really need an OLB. If nothing else, they could use him as a PR person next year. 'Technically, we were a 6-10 team, but we played more like a 10-6 team'

Draft Pick #5 - Frank Okam, Texas, DT

"The fact Okam lasted as long as he did speaks volumes about how many teams question his desire. " - Uh oh. His redeeming quality is his sheer size - 328 lbs. That type of huge DT seems better suited for a 3-4 type defense (think Wilfork) but the Texans have the luxury of experimenting with one of the DT spots already filled for the forseeable future.


Draft Pick #6 - Dominique Barber, Minnesota, S

"Barber is the younger brother of Cowboys running back Marion Barber III and the son of former Jets running back Marion Barber Jr." - Not good if that's the only thing they had to say.


Draft Pick #7 - Alex Brink, Washington State, QB

"Brink started for 3 years for the Cougars in the pass-happy Pac-10. He set the school's career passing records of 76 touchdowns and 10,913 yards. Kubiak likes the fact that Brink has been chased by some very good players and knows how to get rid of the ball. " - Well, I suppose Kubiak is only being practical (in that Texans' QBs usually get hammered)