Blogs, Black Friday shoppers, football, etc…

I haven’t blogged in months.  I realize now that people who blog either have a lot of time, or do it for a job. 

I can’t believe someone  would camp out,  in freezing weather, just to enter a store.  But apparently there’s a lot of people who do. Or, they’ll get up in the early A.M. to queue up (oops, I went British!) in front of stores or malls to be first in when they open at ridiculously early hours.  And then I read about stampedes and tramplings and fights within these holiday crazed crowds.

What is it about the “holiday season” that brings out the maniac in a person?  I don’t know, but it happens every year.

Congratulations to Jason Garrett for going 2-1 so far with the Cowboys.  He may not be the answer to their long term head coach question, but at least he acts like a coach…  Looks and sounds like one too.  I used to give Wade Phillips the benefit of the doubt, but when he compared his winning percentage to Coach Tom Landry’s , I realized he is a fool. 

I also have to congratulate the Texas Aggies for turning their football season around.  I think they’re finally recovering from the folly of firing Coach R.C. Slocum.   I hope my alma mater, Texas Tech,recovers from our folly of firing the winningest coach in our school’s history-- in my lifetime…

The Texas Longhorns?  I don’t worry about them.   Anytime a school has an annual lineup of great players wanting to go there, they’ll  always be a contender.   They’re proving this year  though, that all programs go through cycles.  I wonder how long the TCU will last?  I really wonder how the TCU powerhouse got started?  For years they were cellar dwellers.  What caused their phoenix to rise?  I guess Gary Patterson is that good of a coach and recruiter. 

I’d post more here that I’ve been trying to find time to write about, but I see that it’s time to get in the Black Saturday shopping groove!

Which Sport has the Best Athletes?

I always hear this argument whenever sports seasons run into each other… Sure enough, I’m sitting in a water hole last night, or last week, or something like that, and up comes the proclamation that, “Basketball players are the best athletes!” Oh really? Compared to what? Well, obviously most basketball players possess great leaping ability. But that’s important in football, baseball, and soccer too.


I think most people agree that any team sport that has a ball to be moved has to have great runners. Okay, that’s a given. The ability to leap high helps in most of those sports as well.  That's probably why a recognized symbol for athletics is Mercury's winged foot.

Here’s my take on the greatest athletes argument:

Boxers/MMA fighters—Probably the best conditioned athletes. However, they don’t have to worry about leaping ability.

Basketball players— physically conditioned, and they can leap. Many are plenty tough also. But they don’t train to take punishment like fighters do.

American football/rugby/hockey players-- In great shape and very tough, since they train to take punishment. Most are good brawlers, but I’d take a boxer over them in an even-weight match against each other. Leaping is highly valued in football. What Cowboys fan old enough to remember isn’t still haunted by “The Catch” of the 49ers Dwight Clark? However, I also remember the numerous leaping catches of Alvin Harper that was contributed much to the Cowboys glory years of the early 90s.

Soccer players— Outstanding physical conditioning, since running is about all they do. Many have good leaping ability as well. A soccer player has to be very tough, because they’re getting the crap kicked out of them as they advance the ball down the field.

Swimmers/Gymnasts-- Both have fine conditioning and ability.  I would think swimmers have the least wear and tear on their bodies.  Therefore I'm giving them the title of "Best Athletes."  Swimmers can probably get ouf of bed easier than the above mentioned sports participants, especially when they're older.

Golfers? Hell yeah golfers are some good athletes. Not only do they have to develop a good swing rythym, they have to have great eyesight: A. For lining up on distant targets, and B, to spot the beercart girl on the horizon!

Beer Tasting, August 26, 2010

The first week of school seemed really long , and I was ready for a recharge. I was looking forward to the Reserve Tasting of seasonal kegs at the Gingerman on August 26th. I’d been anticipating this for a month, but as luck would have it, I had a “Meet the Teacher” Night that got penciled in that same evening. However, fortune smiled on me and I was able to get from one side of Dallas to the other in fast time by catching a streak of greenlights.


As for the beers sampled, I have to say I hope they’re all still available by this Sunday. My favorite was “Festina Peche,” by the Dogfish Head Brewery of Delaware. It was a Berliner Weisse—a slightly sour wheat beer with a shot of peach syrup. Really good and only 4.5% a.b.v (alcohol by volume).

My next very close favorite was the Allagash “Four”—a dark Belgian style quadrupel ale from the Allagash Brewery in Maine. It’s fermented four times (hence the name), with four malts, four sugars, and four types of yeast. The taste? A little thick,like a barley wine, but very smooth. At 10% a.b.v. though, you won’t be slamming this one. Maybe one before bedtime and you’ll sleep like a baby.

Also on the table was…

Harpoon Pott’s “Landbier, “ from their brewery in Boston – a Vienna style Lager: medium styled brownish lager(4.8% a.b.v.) Pretty good stuff.

Harpoon “Triticus”—a barley wine (11.5% a.b.v.) Very good , a little stronger than I care for. I like the Allagash better. The word Triticus is Latin for wheat. I must have asked that question somewhere in the evening. Seems like one could get in trouble if they don’t pronounce it exactly right.

Last but not least, Real Ale “Empire” Ale, from their Blanco, Texas, Brewery. It’s a stronger than average IPA (6.6% a.b.v.), but not as hoppy tasting as it might otherwise could be. A very good beer overall.



Stay thirsty my friends.

This Ground Zero Mosque Business

I'm past tired about this, it should be a no-brainer. No mosque should be built adjacent to Ground Zero.  New York already has lots of mosques.  If it's so important that another one has to be built, can they find absolutely no other place in the country's largest city?

It's ridiculous, dishonest, and direct slap to all Americans, not just 9/11 families.

What's even more ridiculous are the proponents  who belittle those of us who have the guts to call this what it is. 
"Oh, you can't see the emperor's new clothes?  Then you must be an idiot, and a redneck hick, and, oh yeah, you're a racist against tailors... "  Yeah right.

They follow the playbooks of Saul Alinsky and Joseph Goebbels to the letter.

(Not) Knowing when to Quit

I see 41 year-old Brett Favre is back for ANOTHER season… This man is playing years beyond the average NFL career. I wonder why he keeps returning. He already has a Super Bowl ring, tons of cash, nice house, and several cars I imagine… I mean, he’s set for life. So why does he return and face the punishment that an NFL quarterback is bound to take? Is the fame and adulation that intoxicating? With my 2 ounces of athletic ability, I’ll never know. One bad hit is all it takes to end it all anyway, like in Michael Irvin’s case (by the way, I have an interesting story Michael Irvin story I will post soon).

I vaguely remember George Blanda, a QB and kicker for the Raiders and several other teams. He was the oldest man to play in the NFL… He played until he was 48! However, he went from starter to backup, and the last few years of his career were strictly as a kicker.



Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, even Emmitt Smith… They all squeezed extra years past their glory days .

Many boxers don’t know when to quit. I hear a lot of them can’t afford to though, due to bad handling of their finances. That happened to George Foreman. Look (or try to listen) to Muhammed Ali nowadays… It’s pretty obvious he didn’t know when to quit. Roberto Duran, Larry Holmes, even Oscar Dela Hoya should have hung it up before he finally did.

Nolan Ryan didn’t know when to quit. I remember watching his last game on TV. He was pitching In Seattle and was getting shelled, then a ligament tore in his arm. He never pitched again. Granted, he was trying to finish the year out and retire afterwards, but his body said, “Enough already.”



What Dallas (or Minnesota) Stars fan is ready to see Mike Modano in a Detroit Redwings uniform next year? He’s spent over 20 years in the Stars organization!

Sports Thoughts, Aug. 17/10

Thoughts about the last week's PGA Championship...

A-- That course, Whistling Straits, is about the hardest I've ever seen, with a 151 slope rating (a system devised by the USGA to rank difficulty of a golf course). By comparison, the hardest course I've played was 137 (Fossil Creek) and the easiest was New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM (116).

B-- While Whistling Straits is not a private course, it's green fees are exorbitant... $340 before twilight times, and they make you rent a caddy before twilight for $60 more.  After twighlight, the fee drops to $230. Still too rich for my blood.  Bottom line, I won't be playing there anytime soon.

C-- I'll be shocked if Tiger ever wins another major.  Why? The other players don't get scared by him anymore. Especially the younger ones.
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Texas Rangers Sunday afternoon game 8/15/10

A-- What idiot schedules a starting time for 2 PM in Texas, in August?
B-- What idiot pays for tickets and sits in triple-digit Farenheit for 3 hours to watch that game? 
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Mike Leach's new gig--

So Mike Leach has been hired by CBS to be a college football commentator.  I predict he'll last one season.  He's bound to say something too over-the-top.  That's what happens when networks hire these guys who shoot from the lip (Dennis Miller, Rush Limbaugh).  At least he'll make some much needed cash to pay his lawyers a bit from his ongoing court case against Texas Tech.

Japan Surrenders 8/15/45, and Denies their Role

August 15th is the 65th the anniversary of the end of World War II, the day when Japan finally surrendered.  And from that day on, they've been trying to portray themselves as the VICTIMS of the Americans.

The horrific actions of Japan during World War II are largely forgotten in the West,   The Japanese had occupied much of the Chinese countryside in the late 1930s and committed enough atrocities for American journalists to get a steady supply of gruesome stories.  They would often conduct bayonet practice on Chinese prisoners and similar horrors. It was Japanese aggression in China that caused the United States to impose a raw materials embargo on Japan, and "forced Japan" (as the Japanese like to describe it) to attack the United States in December, 1941.


The Japanese allowed their army surgeons to use prisoners for trying new procedures or simply to improve their skills. The "patients" usually didn't survive. If they did, they were killed anyway as the Japanese did not see any reason to practice post-operative skills. These surgeries were usually done without anesthesia. American prisoners were subjected to it on Guadalcanal and other battlefields.   Japan also used prisoners for testing chemical and biological weapons (which were later used against the Chinese). The death rate among American and British prisoners ran about 30 percent, more than three times higher than those in German prisoner camps.
Bottom line? The Japanese were some bad dudes.  It's one thing for them to deny their role. What galls me is Americans that think WE were the bad guys for dropping nukes. 

We didn't start the war, folks, but we did end it. We should always celebrate the victors and give them their due for preserving our country. Besides, what other country than the United States rebuilds their enemies' homelands? [A sidenote: In 1990, I took a train from Munich to Berlin. As I crossed into the former East Germany, the landscaped changed dramatically. It was eerily fascinating to see mostly crumbling, shot up, and bombed out towns and villages that hadn't been touched in 45 years.]