Tuesday, January 04, 2005
1.4.05
Here we go on Tuesday as we watch the BCS Championship game:
- Game has yet to kick off. My money is on USC and I'll give up 6 points to OU. Glad it's just fake money.
- Why is Shaq tossing the coin? At a time when American troops are fighting wars or assisting Tsunami victims, we've got a basketball player who admits he doesn't give a 100-percent effort on every play tossing the coin in the limelight? Is it a reflection on our society? Probably, but we're also cutting funding to schools which is a bigger reflection on our culture.
- Have the ABC announcers for the BCS games been weak? Brad Nessler is one of the best in the business and Mike Tirico has been a bright spot. But the rest have been mediocre. And that includes Keith Jackson, Brent Musburger, and Gary Thorne have been marginal. It's time to bring in a new crop, but that's a challenge. A youngster might be hard to sell to a national audience. The young hip announcers tend to get turned off by the AARP set (that's 50-plus in age, not septuagenarian). Declining ratings are already a problem. Messing with an established lineup might see the decline continue - although the decline will continue unabated (best use of an NFL referee's word).
- To continue going Rudy Martzke on your ass, Terry Bowden is terrible. Terrible. Terrible. He needs to get off the mic. Yet, how weird was it to hear him call an Auburn game?
- On the Terry Bowden note, what did he do while at Auburn that prevents him from getting another gig? Even Mike Price has resurfaced. Bowden doesn't even seem to get a whiff. It could be his choice. Maybe he accomplished what he wanted to accomplish in coaching and is busy with the next step in his life.
- Lovie Smith whacked Terry Shea. His first hire. His first fire. I wonder how much that was forced down his throat. Can the guy be blamed when there is no talent on the o-line, quarterback, or receiver? I thought Lovie was more of a stand-up guy than that, but now I'm not sure.
- My wife and I just finished a drive from Houston to Madison, Wisconsin. Saw a lot of America in one fell swoop. I've been to almost evey spot in the country and I must say one of the ugliest stretches is from Marshall, Texas to St. Louis. It's not the natural scenery that brings out the beast, it's culture of the people. Washers on the front porch. Cigarette stands on every corner. The acceptance of a seventh-grade reading level. The right wing republican politics. Glad it's an area we can just pass through on the way to the wonderful towns of the Midwest - Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, St. Louis.
-30-
- Game has yet to kick off. My money is on USC and I'll give up 6 points to OU. Glad it's just fake money.
- Why is Shaq tossing the coin? At a time when American troops are fighting wars or assisting Tsunami victims, we've got a basketball player who admits he doesn't give a 100-percent effort on every play tossing the coin in the limelight? Is it a reflection on our society? Probably, but we're also cutting funding to schools which is a bigger reflection on our culture.
- Have the ABC announcers for the BCS games been weak? Brad Nessler is one of the best in the business and Mike Tirico has been a bright spot. But the rest have been mediocre. And that includes Keith Jackson, Brent Musburger, and Gary Thorne have been marginal. It's time to bring in a new crop, but that's a challenge. A youngster might be hard to sell to a national audience. The young hip announcers tend to get turned off by the AARP set (that's 50-plus in age, not septuagenarian). Declining ratings are already a problem. Messing with an established lineup might see the decline continue - although the decline will continue unabated (best use of an NFL referee's word).
- To continue going Rudy Martzke on your ass, Terry Bowden is terrible. Terrible. Terrible. He needs to get off the mic. Yet, how weird was it to hear him call an Auburn game?
- On the Terry Bowden note, what did he do while at Auburn that prevents him from getting another gig? Even Mike Price has resurfaced. Bowden doesn't even seem to get a whiff. It could be his choice. Maybe he accomplished what he wanted to accomplish in coaching and is busy with the next step in his life.
- Lovie Smith whacked Terry Shea. His first hire. His first fire. I wonder how much that was forced down his throat. Can the guy be blamed when there is no talent on the o-line, quarterback, or receiver? I thought Lovie was more of a stand-up guy than that, but now I'm not sure.
- My wife and I just finished a drive from Houston to Madison, Wisconsin. Saw a lot of America in one fell swoop. I've been to almost evey spot in the country and I must say one of the ugliest stretches is from Marshall, Texas to St. Louis. It's not the natural scenery that brings out the beast, it's culture of the people. Washers on the front porch. Cigarette stands on every corner. The acceptance of a seventh-grade reading level. The right wing republican politics. Glad it's an area we can just pass through on the way to the wonderful towns of the Midwest - Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, St. Louis.
-30-
