Thursday, May 25, 2006

When R.D. is bored at work.

Anyway, Because I was bored on a workday, I messed around on the internet and found my way to one of those quizzes on "Blogthings.com", tried the quiz, and here was the result




You Are Austin



A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll.

You're totally weird and very proud of it.

Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in... in your own strange way.



Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick



I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

BlogPoll Roundtable: Spring and Post-Spring editions

OK, enough movie chat, let's get back to sports.

Let's catch up on the BlogPoll Roundtables, shall we?

Spring Roundtable (hosted by Schembechler Hall)

1.It's early, but thus far, which off-season change or changes in college football are you most excited about?

I think the biggest think I'm excited about is that next year's title is really up for grabs, which is great for those who like seeing the BCS blow up in the faces of the people who made it.

There's a lot of great teams, but none one could really consider "dominant." We may end up with 4 or 5 one-loss teams competing for those 2 spots in the National Championship game.

As this is the first year of the new TV deal, I will be watching with interest to see how Fox handles the BCS. Say what you want about ABC and ESPN, they were willing to be critical of the BCS when necessary, and Fox Sports (Fox anything, really) has a reputation of promoting rather than addressing serious issues.

2. With spring practice underway, what are the three concerns about your team that are causing you the most anxiety?

First, the impact of injuries on spring drills. A lot of starting defenders got hurt in the offseason, and while it gave the young guys a chance to step up, the coaching staff seems to pick positions based on seniority, and the older guys didn't get a chance to improve

Second, who takes over the Safety and Running Back positions? Vince Meeks, Dwayne Slay, and Taurean Henderson all graduated and the replacements aren't exactly looking like world beaters.

Third, if the young defenders who played most of the spring are really as good as the coaching staff says, how come none of them are getting a serious look at starting jobs.

3. Care to take a stab at a preseason top five?

Hell no. I need my preseason mags first.

Post-Spring Roundtable (hosted by Burnt Orange Nation)

1. Which off-season story are you most tired of, and on the flip side, interested in? (e.g. Reggie Bush's house, Jimmy Claussen, etc.)

I'm tired of stories about '08 recruiting verbal commitments. I hate recruiting stories in general, but verbal commits are the worst because they are completely unverifiable. Nothings official until a player signs on signing day, and even then you have to put him through Spring drills to see what you got.

Plus, a school should never have a player verbally commit prior to his senior year. There's too much time for a guy to get injured or change his mind.

2. Your head coach comes down with a mystery illness and has to step aside. You get to hand pick the replacement for the 2006 season. Who gets your vote?

The same guy it would be if Mike Leach got canned: Mike Price. The guy's learned how to recruit Texas in a short period of time, there's not a whole lot of transition in between Leach's offense and his, pro scouts might actually notice our QBs for once, and he actually coaches defense once in a while.

3. Lastly, we'll mix the football and the blogging together here. If you could have anyone switch allegiances and start covering your team, who you gonna pick?

Probably, Matt from My Opinion on Sports, since he's probably taken over the mantle of "Best Big XII Blog"

Sunday, May 21, 2006

So dark the con of Lee Harvey Oswald?

I actually saw the Da Vinci Code movie today, having never read the book. But, I do like a good conspiracy theory, even if it is just that. I have several conspiracy theory books. I was also intrigued by all the codes and symbols, plus the idea that symbols can change over time.

For those who are still clueless about the Da Vinci Code, or, you're bothered by the religious symbolism of the story here's an analogy that might help explain the story:

The year is 3963. The area we know as the United States, at some point, has collapsed and gone through 700 or so years of dark ages, and later re-emerged as several successor countries that each speak a vaguely English-sounding language, but just different enough that the different countries still has to translate each other's language. The ideas that are regarded as "liberal" in our time have coaleced into a religion that revolved around the man we know as John F. Kennedy, and this religion is the majority religion of the successor states.

Suppose however, that a great council was convened at one point before these dark ages to settle the matter of a holy book for this religion. Obviously such a book would include all sorts of writings on doctrines the founders agreed on: equal rights, freedoms, feminism, and so forth. But when it came down to writing the history of Kennedy himself, the same debate that has puzzled historians since November 22, 1963 comes up: Was Kennedy shot by a single assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, or was there a group of people who conspired to kill him?

The faction that believes in the single assassin theory wins out, and the history section of the holy book is framed around this theory. The resulting religion goes to great lengths to conceal any evidence contrary to the single assassin theory

The losing faction that believes that Kennedy was killed by a grand conspiracy does not give up, concealing themselves in a secret society and the proof of their theories over time in a mixture of symbols and codes.

Anyway, in 3963 a leading university professor, along with the help of the granddaughter of the head of the secret society somehow stumbles on to these codes and symbols and unravels the mystery of the conspiracy that killed Kennedy, all the time being pursued by another secret society dedicated to eliminating any evidence that contradicts the accepted single assassin doctrine.

That's basically the Da Vinci Code in a nutshell.

Anyway, I didn't see the point of the whole "controversy". Maybe it's because I'm a non-Catholic Christian, maybe my theology's off, but the whole idea of Jesus marrying and having kids doesn't change the central message of Christianity: that Jesus, the Son of God, died for all our sins to atone us to God and re-establish the relationship between God and humanity. Besides, it's a work of fiction.

As for the actual movie, my biggest complaint is that Tom Hanks barely showed any emotion throughout the film. His acting was kind of stiff and robotic.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Do they really need a scoreboard that big?

An Austin American-Statesman rendering of the new scoreboardAn Austin American-Statesman rendering of the new scoreboard.

Apparently the University of Texas decided to do what most guys do when they redo the living room, put a better HDTV in it.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, UT is kicking in $8 million in Audio/Visual improvements to DKR-Memorial Stadium, including what will soon be the largest high-def TV screen in the world in the South end zone.

No info on whether or not the scoreboard will be named after Joe Jamail, Red McCombs, Jim Bob Moffett, or one of UT's other wealthy contributors.

Which begs the question, I know everything is supposed to be bigger here in Texas, but why does that have to extend to the scoreboard?

(More and funnier commentary on the subject at Every Day Should Be Saturday)

As if the entire tenure of Gary Barnett and Ward Churchill wasn't enough, CU is in trouble again.

Two separate investigations, one into racial allegations, another into sexual allegations have recently been launched by the CU athletics department against the basketball team.

Most people will hear these stories and think "Here we go again."

However, there are several noteworthy differences

First, the sexual allegations involve "a former employee" of the men's hoops program at CU, not the players. One thing for a player to be involved, quite another for a paid employee of the university.

Second, the racial allegations involve a person that many thought was the one above-board person in CU athletics, Ricardo Patton, who told and African-American player he should be tougher because of his race. Even if Patton is African-American himself, there's really no reason for him to perpetuate any racial stereotype, even if to motivate his players.

(Story courtesy My Opinion on Sports)

Casserly resigns as Houston's GM

I'd like to say I called this one, but I'm pretty sure others were thinking it, I just haven't done a Technorati search to confirm it.

The only surprising thing here is the timing. Guess Charlie saw the writing on the wall and wanted to get out of Dodge.

R.I.P John Kimbrough 1919-2006

John Kimbrough, the Haskell, Texas football star who has basically done everything in his life except climb Mt. Everest, died this week at the age of 87.

Kimbrough first made his name with the Texas A&M football team, leading them to wins in the 1940 Sugar Bowl (capping an undefeated season for the Aggies), and the 1941 Cotton Bowl (back when a Cotton Bowl win meant something).

Kimbrough also starred in Westerns, piloted a fighter during World War II, played pro football, and served in the Texas Legislature.

Not bad for a person's life.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Two champions in one year? Maybe.

Austin, give it up for your playoff-bound Wranglers

The 3-year old AFL franchise, perhaps buoyed by the addition of one Deion “Prime Time” Sanders as part of the ownership group, finally clinched it’s first ever playoff berth by basically walking over Grand Rapids last weekend, 57-38.

All the while, Sanders' one alleged hit, "Must Be the Money", blared over the Erwin Center loudspeakers.

How good were the Wranglers last weekend? Grand Rapids almost went scoreless for the first half, which in Arena Football is saying something considering defensive stops in the AFL are often as rare as defensive stops by Baylor’s men’s basketball team.

Austin, on the other hand, scored on every possession in the game.

This is an exciting time for Austin-area football as the UT football team is coming off a national championship and UT’s Vince Young and Michael Huff were both top-10 NFL draft picks.

Now it’s time to see if the Wranglers can carry that Central Texas momentum into the playoffs. The Wranglers could help themselves by securing a home playoff game, which the Wranglers can do with a road win against the Orlando Predators Saturday. Not an easy task as the old O-Rena (now the TD Waterhouse Center) is a tough place to play because of the wall configurations and loud crowd. Oh by the way, the Preds laid a 47-37 beat down of the Wranglers earlier this year.

So this game will be a good indicator as to whether or not the Wranglers will be able to handle a playoff atmosphere and have a legit shot at the Arena Bowl.

Two football champions in one year for the Capitol City? Anything's possible.

----------

As for Deion Sanders in the owner's box... In terms of getting some visibility outside of Austin for the franchise, it's a great move to bring him in.

My only concern is he may not mesh well with Austin. In most places, Deion would be big news simply because he's got charisma. In Austin, where the slogan is "Keep Austin Weird", he's just another "interesting character" in a town where they're a dime a dozen.

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Funk Dat! (Draft Edition)

Question... Why is it that when the Texans need an offensive lineman, they pass on both D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Winston Justice.

FUNK DAT

(Come on Texans, get a new GM)

Question... Why is it that when the Cowboys finally have a decent draft under Jerry Jones, the Eagles gotta have a better one.

FUNK DAT

Question... Why is it that "system quarterbacks" like Phillip Rivers and Matt Leinart get drafted high, when Texas Tech QBs put up better numbers with lesser surrounding talent and get downgraded for being "system quarterbacks"?

FUNK DAT

Question... What would possess Denver's Reggie Evans to grab Chris Kamen's package?

FUNK DAT

Question... Why is it when the Astros are doing well, Brad Lidge has to go Mark Wohlers on us?

FUNK DAT

Question... Why is it that R.D. can't post his Monday blog on time?

FUNK DAT

------------

The inspiration: Funk Dat by Sagat
The other inspiration: Sports and Bremertonians who once did a similar post after watching Beavis and Butthead reruns.