Done

For reasons I cannot mention, I have officially given up all hope with the current adminstration. I had remained quiet in my disenchantment for some time, but I've past the breaking point. GW is clueless as to what his long term country goals entail, and it shudders me to think he actually has paid advisors pushing his policy further from reality. Essentially:

- we are fighting a war in Iraq
- we have pledged to rebuild NOLA ($250B +)
- we are not raising taxes to accomplish the aforementioned two goals.

The money has to come from somewhere. It is going to come from arenas that will choose to sustain current capacity, without planning for the future. We are going to look back in 2025 and realize how GW screwed the long-term advancement of the country for short-term goals. I am sick of it.

White Spot

What a bunch of crap, really doesn't embody what I left in 2000. For $5, as opposed to my customary eat and leave, I got a Gus (no Spot Specials is garbage) and fries. Sadly, the burger and the egg were preprepared, and just slopped on the bun. I attribute the drop in quality to the fact the place is now run by the demographic that has an inclination towards driving 1992 Toyota 4Runners.

Also, I can't believe both Skid Row and Motley Crue would have songs called 'Rattlesnake Shake' within a two year period, how drugged out were their publicists?

PC v. RC

The President's Cup got underweay yesterday in Gainsville, and while I won't be paying for tickets, I will follow the event, as it is good drama and, in my opinion, on par with the Ryder Cup. Granted, it is not without flaws, including the miserable traffic situation on 66, 29 in Gainsville, RTJ losing 1/3 of its greens this summer, and the blatant attempt at exposure by stretching the event to four days, but it does have its advantages, which in combination with the Ryder Cup being overly trumped up, makes the two equivalent.

While the PC lacks the history of the RC, what venerable history are we talking about? The most remembered event causes the most acrimony between teams, in 1999 at Brookline. What else is there? 80 years where the Americans were dominant, a miserable stint where they played at PGA National, possibly the worst course to host an event of this caliber, and the US getting smoked when in Europe. Besides Valderrama and The Belfry, I can't name another European venue that has hosted the Ryder Cup.

What I like about the President's Cup is that it chooses a Captain who was integral to the game. I will gladly watch an event with is supported by Nicklaus and Player, two true gentlemen. RC captaincy is a process of elimination, not selection, based on unwritten criteria that is unfounded. Be between 45-52 in the twilight of your PGA career, and have won a major. The idea has led to miserable US Captains, most recently Hal Sutton, and most notably Curtis Strange, the biggest prick in golf of the last 20 years.

Finally, the PC brings a better field of golfers to the table. If the 2005 matches are closely contested and end in a late Sunday afternoon finale' that could swing in either direction, I will be both satisfied and looking forward to 2007.

When not to Demand a Raise

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/21/AR2005092102395.html

While not on par with the Bacchus-like proceedings at Tyco, the sorry state of affairs at AU and the self-aggrandized motives of Ladner make me laugh. Essentially, his call for a raise ignited the spark that materialized into the fire that will eventually lead to his ouster. In keeping with the analogy, our modern-day Nero should have expended AU funds on research analysts to determine comparable salaries at similar Universities before demanding an increase.

Hopefully, like myself, you chuckled aloud at the alcohol expense he rang up, which would make an drunken undergraduate proud. At least his blatant disregard for thrift and decency was not abandoned when he attempted to settle the issue informally, without legal counseling. In truth, most likely unbeknownst to him, he was saving AU dollars with the suggestion, as legal counsel would have been expensed right back to the school.

To his credit, his contract riders would make any rock star jealous.

Archnemesis

Did I ever mention how the Metro hates me as much as I hate the Metro. Returning from tonights kick-in-the-sack Nats game my card somehow became demagnitized after being in a pocket with nothing else, specifically so it wouldn't demagnitize. After trying in vain to swipe and enter, I decided to just slip through with my Father, and collided with a 6'3" Metro authority who wasn't too pleased. I was past the point of activing civil if asked my intentions, so I did the smartest thing, and kept my yap shut.

If ever driving by a Metro, scan the area for a man with a grimace on his face, shaking a cartoonish fist at the Metro sign. Feel free to give me a quarter, I'm probably crazier than the nearest homeless guy.

Sleeping Giant / Polls

Am I the only one who thinks FSU has a great chance to run the table? I cannot remember a year when FSU has received less hype. After winning as underdogs against Miami (at home) and BC , they look to have their half of the ACC wrapped up, and wins against Florida and the ACC Championship could have them heading to Pasadena.

While FSU is still growing into its young offense, its senior-laden defense is nasty, and will keep them in all games. As the offense catches up during the remainder of the season, they should hit their stride @ mid October (coinciding, as always, with the UVA game) and guarantee themselves a BCS bowl. They have great young talent (Xavier Lee, Fred Rouse, Antone Smith) and the speed and depth necessary to win it all.

As much as I enjoy NCAA football, it is a shame it has become an isolated event, with the joke that was/is the BCS, and now how miserable the polls have become. It has skewed an objective game to complete subjectivity. Case in point, in the current poll:

- Tennessee, losing to 7 Florida, on the road, in a close contest, falls just as far as Notre Dame, who lost at home, to an unranked team.

- Michigan is ranked higher than ND, by whom they were defeated, and Michigan State, who defeated ND.

- Clemson falls out of the polls after losing on 3OT to Miami, while ND only drops 6 spots, after losing to an unranked team.

- Virginia has looked awful in both wins, and currently belongs nowhere near any of the Top 25s.

The Missing Brain

Is it possible for a person to be as ignorant as Skip Bayless?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=bayless/050915&num=0

I have never seen a sportswriter so impervious to intelligence. What scares me the most about Bayless is his schtick is a thinly veiled cover of what he truly is, an overzealous fan with a soapbox.

My response:

Mr. Bayless,

It sickens me that you can endorse the 'win at all costs' approach highlighted in your most recent piece. While I don't prescribe to the Pollyanna mentality that all athletes equally weigh athletics and academics, the mercenary approach to athletics you laud would polarize University communities and be serve only overzealous fans like yourself. Intuitively, you dismiss the underage drinking and assualt antics of OU players, choosing a self-centered approach without considering college atheletes do not operate in a vaccuum, and their actions/misdeeds influence others. I doubt you would take such a lenient approach if it was you our your son/daughter who was assaulted by an OU player, who was back on the sidelines thereafter.

Your depiction of athletes as being responsible to deliver a school wins degrades the hard work and dedication of true student athletes who sacrifice both in the classroom and on the field to be successful, and whose idea of success isn't a 10 win season, but a degree.

Sadly, your piece keeps with the tomes you have established, opting for sensational journalism over researched fact, and I made the mistake of reading/responding, at the cost of five minutes of my life. Thankfully, I will never make that mistake again.

Random Musings

Last night I pulled a Rip Van Winkle after work, sleeping from 6:40pm until my alarm this morning. I heard the Eagles lost 14-10 and McNabb had a few turnovers. Turns out that is exactly the recap I needed from the game.

Shocking that friends I have who work for FBR (Halliburton) are being rushed to NOLA after Hurrican Katrina, as they have already been awarded no-bid contracts for recovery services. Did Bush not learn his lesson in Iraq? Is Cheney Co. really this greedy? Luckily, I've learned even under-estimation of the Bush administration results in sleepless nights. At what point does GW finally go Costanza-esque and start doing the opposite of what he and his politicos are thinking?

I am worried about UVA going to Syracuse this weekend. Very young, untested team on the road that barely slipped by Western (who?) Michigan, in a game that saw Lundy exit early with a high-ankle sprain. This is either a game that UVA wins or loses by 20.

I turned off last weekend's Maryland game after Hollenbach put the Terps up 24-14, thinking they had the game in the bag.

As those who have met me know, I don't buy into the UVA superiority complex like some, unless it involves ribbing of alumni of other ACC schools, but I ask anyone who doesn't think UVA has a leg-up on aesthetics to check out the October 2005 Playmate.

Not too Smart

I found it funny on Friday night, being at a bar, and seeing some poor schmuck teetering around on crutches, in a cast. Bars are noisy, smoky, packed areas I find difficult to navigate sober. Evidently, this guy can't take good enough care of himself normally (hence cast), so he thinks it would be a good idea to have a few drinks? God forbid he miss a night out at a miserable bar with his friends, in lieu of his injury. It was quite laughable.

Visor Tossing at its Finest

As college football resumes (finally) nothing makes me happier than Steve Spurrier coaching at South Carolina. After he ruined the Redskins, I delight in the fact he is resigned to toil in purgatory with a marginal team while the big boys of the SEC run it up on a weekly basis.

I can without reservation say he has no chance to succeed (i.e. BCS Bowl) at South Carolina. He will have no standout success recruiting against Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, and Clemson, and will not be able to take the Gamecocks to the 'next level', which entails both a team of superstars and superstar depth. He will be able to woo good QBs and WRs to USC-East, but will never build a defense capable of returning the football to the offense on a consistent basis.

The greatest part of USpurrierC was his rushed decision to take the job, and dig out from Lou Holtz sanctions, kept him from landing the LSU job, which would have been available if he waited for 10 days. Have fun going 5-7 for the forseeable future!