Who actually watched the disaster yesterday on TV? I'm talking about the Lions vs the Titans. That was one of the worse performances I have ever seen a by a football team. I think the Lions have finally hit bottom at least I hope so. A 0-16 record is a very real possibility after yesterdays performance. I hope the Ford family just blows up the whole organization and starts over what can it hurt now. This franchise is in worse shape than the auto industry right now. Do you think congress might consider a bailout package for the Lions?
Normally I would be against firing a whole coaching staff in the middle of the season but in this case why not? They have almost a week and a half to hire another coach and give him a chance to evaluate the lack of talent the Lions have right now. But before they hire a coach they need to hire a real general manager. There is a good one out there right now and his name is Floyd Reese. Who is Floyd Reese you ask? Well he is the general manager responsible for building the Tennessee Titans football team.
Here is what Wikipedia says about him:
"Floyd Reese is the winningest General Manager in the history of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise. He has amassed 111 wins. Only Reese and the highly established Kansas City Chiefs General Manager, Carl Peterson, have accomplished since the institution of the salary cap. Only two active General Managers in the NFL have more wins than Floyd Reese.
From 1999 - 2006, Reese was 3rd in the league in draft choices that remain playing in the NFL and 7th in the NFL in draft choices remaining on the Titans' roster. Since 1997, Reese brought the Titans to one Super Bowl, two AFC Championships, 2 divisional championships, 4 playoff appearances, and a 5-4 playoff record. He also had two 13-3 seasons and four 11+ win seasons. Reese had a league-high 56 wins from 1999-2003."
Not to shabby eh? And guess what else? He was the Lions strength and conditioning coach back in the mid '70s. And guess what else? He wants to come to Detroit and rebuild the team. Here is what he had to say:
“If I had Williams Clay Ford's number, you'd be hearing a dial tone right now. I'm in a unique situation. I've been in the league 32 years. ... I could be in Detroit tomorrow.
“One of the real uncut gems in the NFL is Detroit. It has a great owner. He's got a lot of money. He wants to win very badly, and he's not one of those guys that's on the sidelines. He just wants to find someone that can help him win.”
I know a lot of people bash William Clay Ford and also think he should sell the franchise but I'm not one of them. The only problem I have had with Ford is he is to slow to make changes when they need to be done. The only reason Millen got fired when he did is because the fans finally had enough and yelled loud enough so WCF heard it. He isn't like a lot of other owners in the league trying to get on TV any chance he gets just so he can spew garbage out of his mouth. He has always let the general manager run the team. I know he let Matt Millen have to much power but with the right GM it's the way it has to be done. Owners don't know the players, scouting reports or potential draftees that is the GM job and a good GM like Reese will bring those players to Detroit.
The Lions can be rebuilt within a year or two with smart drafting and signing of free agents. This year the Lions have a whole slew a draft picks and if use wisely they can get back to respectability.
The only college football anybody cares about that is playing this weekend is Notre Dame. Thank goodness Michigan was put out of their misery last weekend and all Michigan State has to do is wait to see what bowl they get embarrassed in this year.
Notre Dame will go to a bowl game win or loose this weekend because even at 6-6 let's face it they're still Notre Dame and the football gods want them on TV. I have had some thoughts if Notre Dame should except an invitation to a bowl game with the season they had this year and I finally decided they would be foolish to turn down a bowl invitation no matter where it is or who they are playing. By playing a bowl game you essentially get one more month of practice and what football team can't use another month of practice. It helps a team tremendously especially a young team like Notre Dame.
This week ND has the unenviable task of going out to southern California and playing the Trojans of USC. The Trojans are ranked number 5 in the country and if not for the uninspired game they played against Oregon State would still be undefeated and headed for the national championship game. It looks at though all the chips are stacked against ND this week but like Lee Corso says "Not so fast my friend." I know ND has played uninspired the last two weeks if not three, I know they haven't lived up to their potential yet this year, and I know ND hasn't fared so well for the last couple of years against USC but, and I mean but Notre Dame is due. They are due for that one big game, the one that shocks everybody because they haven't had one for at least a couple of years. With all the talk about Charlie possibly loosing his job at the end of the year I think the players will respond.
If I was Charlie I would bring in the master motivator himself, Lou Holtz, to give the pregame speech. Did anyone else notice who was in the locker room before the Michigan game when Notre Dame came out with all their guns blazing? That's right Lou Holtz and I bet he gave the team the pregame speech. Swallow your pride Charlie and bring him in your job may depend on it.
I really think this game will be closer than a lot of people think I wouldn't be surprised if the Irish pull the upset. If this game was at ND I would pick them but it's in southern California so I have to go with USC 32 ND 23. And ND will go to a bowl game and Charlie will keep his job for one more year but that will be his last chance.
USC used to be my second favorite college team years ago but anymore I have grown to hate them. This might actually be the first time I openly root for ND. I must be going insane. HELP!!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
After reading a couple of blogs this last week regarding the freshly fallen snow I was reminded of this little bit I read a few years ago. After a little searching, thank god for google, I found it again. I thought it might be appropriate to post it now before it's to late for everybody to move somewhere warm. I did change a couple of words to make it more "family" friendly.
Sept. 12, 1993 Moved to our new home in Maine. It is so beautiful here! I
love it!
Nov. 24, 1993 It snowed last night! Woke up to find everything blanketed
with white. It looks just like a post-card. We went outside and cleaned
the snow off the steps and shoveled the driveway. We had a little snow-
ball fight, (I won!), and then the snow-plow came by, we had to shovel
the driveway again. What a beautiful day! I love it in Maine.
Dec. 2, 1993 Well all the snow melted. I hope we get some more.
Dec. 12, 1993 More snow last night! I love it! The snow-plow did his
trick again at the driveway.
Dec. 19, 1993 More snow. Couldn't get out of the driveway to get to work.
Am exhausted from shoveling. Frickin’ snow-plow!
Dec. 25, 1993 More of the white shit fell last night. I've got blisters
on my hands from shoveling. I think the snow-plow hides around the corner
and waits until I'm done with the driveway! Asshole!
Dec. 25, 1993 Merry Frickin' Christmas! More goddamn snow! If I ever get
my hands on the son-of-a-bitch who drives the snow-plow... I swear I'll
frickin’ kill him!!!
Dec. 27, 1993 More white shit last night! Been inside for 3 days! Can't
go anywhere, cars stuck in a mountain of goddamn snow! The weather man
says to expect another 10" of the white shit tonight. Do you know how
many shovels full of snow 10" is?!!!
Dec. 28, 1993 The weather man was wrong. We got 14" of the white shit!
At this rate it won't melt 'till frickin' August!!! The snow-plow got stuck
just up the street. The guy asked if he could borrow my shovel... I hit
him with it!!!!!!
Sept. 12, 1993 Moved to our new home in Maine. It is so beautiful here! I
love it!
Nov. 24, 1993 It snowed last night! Woke up to find everything blanketed
with white. It looks just like a post-card. We went outside and cleaned
the snow off the steps and shoveled the driveway. We had a little snow-
ball fight, (I won!), and then the snow-plow came by, we had to shovel
the driveway again. What a beautiful day! I love it in Maine.
Dec. 2, 1993 Well all the snow melted. I hope we get some more.
Dec. 12, 1993 More snow last night! I love it! The snow-plow did his
trick again at the driveway.
Dec. 19, 1993 More snow. Couldn't get out of the driveway to get to work.
Am exhausted from shoveling. Frickin’ snow-plow!
Dec. 25, 1993 More of the white shit fell last night. I've got blisters
on my hands from shoveling. I think the snow-plow hides around the corner
and waits until I'm done with the driveway! Asshole!
Dec. 25, 1993 Merry Frickin' Christmas! More goddamn snow! If I ever get
my hands on the son-of-a-bitch who drives the snow-plow... I swear I'll
frickin’ kill him!!!
Dec. 27, 1993 More white shit last night! Been inside for 3 days! Can't
go anywhere, cars stuck in a mountain of goddamn snow! The weather man
says to expect another 10" of the white shit tonight. Do you know how
many shovels full of snow 10" is?!!!
Dec. 28, 1993 The weather man was wrong. We got 14" of the white shit!
At this rate it won't melt 'till frickin' August!!! The snow-plow got stuck
just up the street. The guy asked if he could borrow my shovel... I hit
him with it!!!!!!
Monday, November 24, 2008
A Trip to the Barbershop Part Duex
Well that didn't take long, the snow is back today. Yep 2" of the white stuff, enough snow that I had to shovel off my decks today. Doesn't it seem a little early? I wouldn't mind a little global warming sent this way if anyone has any to spare right now.
Saturday was time for another haircut and none to soon I might add. I had let it grow out a little and I was starting to look like a certain nephew who shall remain nameless. Well maybe it wasn't that bad but it sure felt like it. I have been getting my hair cut here in town since we moved here but I have never been satisfied with the barber. Every time I told him how I wanted it cut he would cut it the way he wanted. Frustrating. I procrastinated for a month longer than I should have trying to find a new barber so finally Friday night I got serious.
I started by getting online and googling barbershops in Fond Du Lac. You see I gave up hope trying to find a barbershop around here so I figured I would search the largest town close to us which is Fond Du Lac. My search found places like Sam's, Charlies, you know places that sound like barbershops. It also found hair salons, beauty parlors (I don't think so), and tanning salons. Tanning salons? I thought I was looking for a barbershop. Ah but one name stood out among all the others, a place called The Barbershop. Now for those of you that can still remember what you did more than 2 hours ago you might recall back in March I wrote a post about a place in Virginia I use to get my hair cut at called The Barbershop. Yippe kay yay could it be? Have I finally found what I have been missing in Virginia? Can this be the place when you walk in you pull yourself up to bar and watch the high definition plasma TV on the wall while you wait? Wood floors, lots of barber chairs, and mens magazines? Yes I said mens magazines no Red Book, or Glamour, or Seventeen here only Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated, and Field and Stream, real magazines. And as luck would have it there is one of these bad boys in Sheboygan too. So the decision was made, Saturday morning, opening day of deer season here in Wisconsin, I would venture to Sheboygan and get my hair cut.
Saturday morning I drove myself to Sheboygan in search of The Barbershop. It wasn't to hard to find since it was right across from the new Pig in Sheboygan. (For those of you not familar with the Pig it is a chain grocery store here in Wisconsin also known as Piggly Wiggly, dumb name for a grocery store huh?) So far so good, not a lot of cars in the parking lot today just as I had expected because like I said earlier it was the first day of gun deer season here in Wisconsin. I walked through the door and to my right are all the barber chairs all in their own individual stalls. To my left was what I wanted to see. The waiting area with two big screen plasma TV's, mens magazines, free peanuts to eat and you even get to throw the shells on the floor, free coffee and bottle water, yep this is how a waiting area should be.
For me the waiting area will have to wait for another day because today it's not busy and the hair cutter, barber, stylist, whatever says to me "Is this your first time here?"
Of course I answered "Yes."
"Well then let me explain" she says as I notice the almost perfect English in a completely understandable voice, "Over here....yak, yak yak....over there....yak, yak, yak...and finally right here...yak, yak, yak." Finally she says "Follow me."
It was nice to have a natural born, English speaking, full blooded American from Green Bay Wisconsin (I learned this as she was cutting my hair) explain things to me but I'm just here to get a hair cut how hard can that be?
She led me back to my own personal stall (kind of reminded me of a horse stall) and barber chair. "Hang your coat up there and have a seat." she says cheerfully.
Have you noticed I haven't once said "huh?" or "what?" to her. That's because I can understand every word she is saying to me, miracles do happen.
I settle into the barber chair and she spins me around and says "Here." She hands be a remote control to a TV. "You get your own privite high definition plasma TV to watch while I cut your hair."
"SWEEEEET! What channel is ESPN? I want to watch Sports Center."
I'm not sure what good this did me since I had to take off my glasses and I couldn't see a damn thing after that.
She asks "How do you want your hair cut?"
Me: "Short."
Stylist (Isn't that what they call lady barbers?): "You sure?"
I'm not sure she wanted to cut my hair off like I wanted so I responded "Yeah I haven't had a hair cut for a while because I couldn't find a barber that would cut it the way I want it cut."
Stylist: "Okay I will cut it like I cut my fiancé 3/4" long all over."
Me: "I want it cut with a number 4 guard on top and a number 2 guard on the sides."
Stylist: "You sure that's pretty short?"
Me: "Listen I'm here because the last barber I went to didn't listen to me and always cut my hair the way he wanted to."
Stylist: "Ok short it is."
Now things are going pretty normal for the type of haircut I usually get. Buzz off the hair, trim the eyebrows, trim the ear and nose hair, good conversation and ESPN Sports Center playing in the background. Life is good, I found a barber shop I like.
Normally this is where my barber shop story ends but not today we're just getting started.
Just about the time I think we're done she spins me around in the barber chair and says "Lean back."
Me: "Whoa where we going here?"
Stylist: "I'm going to wash your hair."
Now for some of you people out there this might seem normal but for me the only people ever to wash my hair are my mother and myself and I got to tell you I didn't enjoy it when my mother washed my hair she scrubbed so hard it used to hurt.
When she tipped me back I wasn't sure how far I was going but I had comfort in knowing I couldn't go any farther then the floor. For some reason either I am to tall or too short but my head on the first try didn't line up with her head washing sink. Finally after a couple of adjustments success.
While she was washing my hair she suds up my hair and starts to message my head and face. I think she is trying to get me to relax but I got to tell you I hate people touching me especially when I'm not sure what is going to happen next. I found out later this is part of the haircut I'm not sure why but it is and we'll leave it at that. I was starting to enjoy it when she quit and rinsed off my hair. My hair gets washed, without any more incidents and it didn't even hurt, while the stylist (I just can't call her a barber) is gabbing away. She then dries my hair off.
At this point I have my eyes closed because I didn't want her to poke me or get shampoo in my eyes. When I finally open them I see the stylist coming at me with a rolled up towel. She forms it into an 'O' and lays it on my face. It's warm and its actually feels pretty darn good. I'm not sure what is going to happen next, legal or illegal, but she starts to message me again and it's starting to feel really good. Just about the time I think I could doze off she rips off the towel, kicks up the barber chair and takes off the garment they put on you when you get your hair cut. But she's not done yet off to my left she plugs in some vibrating device and starts to move it all over my shoulders and back. What a way to end a hair cut.
I finally get up out of the barber chair and for some strange reason I have a craving for a cigarette. I follow her up to the cash register and she asks me "Are you paying with cash or credit? If you pay cash it's $10.00 and if you pay by credit it's $10.50."
I tell her "Cash" and also give her a $2 tip and walk back out into the cold trying figure out what just happened all I wanted was a haircut.
I might have to go back again this Saturday and see if I can figure it out.
Yippe Kay Yay.
Saturday was time for another haircut and none to soon I might add. I had let it grow out a little and I was starting to look like a certain nephew who shall remain nameless. Well maybe it wasn't that bad but it sure felt like it. I have been getting my hair cut here in town since we moved here but I have never been satisfied with the barber. Every time I told him how I wanted it cut he would cut it the way he wanted. Frustrating. I procrastinated for a month longer than I should have trying to find a new barber so finally Friday night I got serious.
I started by getting online and googling barbershops in Fond Du Lac. You see I gave up hope trying to find a barbershop around here so I figured I would search the largest town close to us which is Fond Du Lac. My search found places like Sam's, Charlies, you know places that sound like barbershops. It also found hair salons, beauty parlors (I don't think so), and tanning salons. Tanning salons? I thought I was looking for a barbershop. Ah but one name stood out among all the others, a place called The Barbershop. Now for those of you that can still remember what you did more than 2 hours ago you might recall back in March I wrote a post about a place in Virginia I use to get my hair cut at called The Barbershop. Yippe kay yay could it be? Have I finally found what I have been missing in Virginia? Can this be the place when you walk in you pull yourself up to bar and watch the high definition plasma TV on the wall while you wait? Wood floors, lots of barber chairs, and mens magazines? Yes I said mens magazines no Red Book, or Glamour, or Seventeen here only Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated, and Field and Stream, real magazines. And as luck would have it there is one of these bad boys in Sheboygan too. So the decision was made, Saturday morning, opening day of deer season here in Wisconsin, I would venture to Sheboygan and get my hair cut.
Saturday morning I drove myself to Sheboygan in search of The Barbershop. It wasn't to hard to find since it was right across from the new Pig in Sheboygan. (For those of you not familar with the Pig it is a chain grocery store here in Wisconsin also known as Piggly Wiggly, dumb name for a grocery store huh?) So far so good, not a lot of cars in the parking lot today just as I had expected because like I said earlier it was the first day of gun deer season here in Wisconsin. I walked through the door and to my right are all the barber chairs all in their own individual stalls. To my left was what I wanted to see. The waiting area with two big screen plasma TV's, mens magazines, free peanuts to eat and you even get to throw the shells on the floor, free coffee and bottle water, yep this is how a waiting area should be.
For me the waiting area will have to wait for another day because today it's not busy and the hair cutter, barber, stylist, whatever says to me "Is this your first time here?"
Of course I answered "Yes."
"Well then let me explain" she says as I notice the almost perfect English in a completely understandable voice, "Over here....yak, yak yak....over there....yak, yak, yak...and finally right here...yak, yak, yak." Finally she says "Follow me."
It was nice to have a natural born, English speaking, full blooded American from Green Bay Wisconsin (I learned this as she was cutting my hair) explain things to me but I'm just here to get a hair cut how hard can that be?
She led me back to my own personal stall (kind of reminded me of a horse stall) and barber chair. "Hang your coat up there and have a seat." she says cheerfully.
Have you noticed I haven't once said "huh?" or "what?" to her. That's because I can understand every word she is saying to me, miracles do happen.
I settle into the barber chair and she spins me around and says "Here." She hands be a remote control to a TV. "You get your own privite high definition plasma TV to watch while I cut your hair."
"SWEEEEET! What channel is ESPN? I want to watch Sports Center."
I'm not sure what good this did me since I had to take off my glasses and I couldn't see a damn thing after that.
She asks "How do you want your hair cut?"
Me: "Short."
Stylist (Isn't that what they call lady barbers?): "You sure?"
I'm not sure she wanted to cut my hair off like I wanted so I responded "Yeah I haven't had a hair cut for a while because I couldn't find a barber that would cut it the way I want it cut."
Stylist: "Okay I will cut it like I cut my fiancé 3/4" long all over."
Me: "I want it cut with a number 4 guard on top and a number 2 guard on the sides."
Stylist: "You sure that's pretty short?"
Me: "Listen I'm here because the last barber I went to didn't listen to me and always cut my hair the way he wanted to."
Stylist: "Ok short it is."
Now things are going pretty normal for the type of haircut I usually get. Buzz off the hair, trim the eyebrows, trim the ear and nose hair, good conversation and ESPN Sports Center playing in the background. Life is good, I found a barber shop I like.
Normally this is where my barber shop story ends but not today we're just getting started.
Just about the time I think we're done she spins me around in the barber chair and says "Lean back."
Me: "Whoa where we going here?"
Stylist: "I'm going to wash your hair."
Now for some of you people out there this might seem normal but for me the only people ever to wash my hair are my mother and myself and I got to tell you I didn't enjoy it when my mother washed my hair she scrubbed so hard it used to hurt.
When she tipped me back I wasn't sure how far I was going but I had comfort in knowing I couldn't go any farther then the floor. For some reason either I am to tall or too short but my head on the first try didn't line up with her head washing sink. Finally after a couple of adjustments success.
While she was washing my hair she suds up my hair and starts to message my head and face. I think she is trying to get me to relax but I got to tell you I hate people touching me especially when I'm not sure what is going to happen next. I found out later this is part of the haircut I'm not sure why but it is and we'll leave it at that. I was starting to enjoy it when she quit and rinsed off my hair. My hair gets washed, without any more incidents and it didn't even hurt, while the stylist (I just can't call her a barber) is gabbing away. She then dries my hair off.
At this point I have my eyes closed because I didn't want her to poke me or get shampoo in my eyes. When I finally open them I see the stylist coming at me with a rolled up towel. She forms it into an 'O' and lays it on my face. It's warm and its actually feels pretty darn good. I'm not sure what is going to happen next, legal or illegal, but she starts to message me again and it's starting to feel really good. Just about the time I think I could doze off she rips off the towel, kicks up the barber chair and takes off the garment they put on you when you get your hair cut. But she's not done yet off to my left she plugs in some vibrating device and starts to move it all over my shoulders and back. What a way to end a hair cut.
I finally get up out of the barber chair and for some strange reason I have a craving for a cigarette. I follow her up to the cash register and she asks me "Are you paying with cash or credit? If you pay cash it's $10.00 and if you pay by credit it's $10.50."
I tell her "Cash" and also give her a $2 tip and walk back out into the cold trying figure out what just happened all I wanted was a haircut.
I might have to go back again this Saturday and see if I can figure it out.
Yippe Kay Yay.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
History is Made
Thank god that's over with. I'm not talking about a trip to the doctors, a funeral or even a wedding what I am talking about is Michigan football. Yep Michigan made history this year and I'm not talking about good history either. You see Michigan just completed its worse year ever in its one hundred and some years of college football. I knew yesterday against Ohio State would be ugly heck I even watched a couple of episodes of Man Cave during the game just because I couldn't take it anymore.
Some people want to know what is wrong with Michigan. Well nothing really I knew a year ago they would struggle to get into a bowl game I was just hoping they would make it. Lloyd Carr left the cupboard bare so to say. I think he knew there was going to be a serious lack of talent this year and so he retired last year. Or maybe he knew he was going to retire soon and he didn't recruit near as hard as he should have for the last couple of years. Either way he left Coach Rodriquez nothing on offense this year. I believe there was one returning starter from last year. All the skill positions were filled by freshman or walk ons this year. I heard the announcers say yesterday that Michigan dressed 30 freshman or walk ons for yesterdays game. It's hard to win against quality teams when that happens.
The defense is another story though. This is a unit that was returning some starters from last year. And the positions where players graduated from last year new players were filling the spots that weren't freshman. The defense was a huge disappointment this year. While at times they could be dominating far to many times they gave up big plays. In years past you rarely saw Michigan give up big plays to any team. Yesterday there were at least two long runs for touchdowns and a couple of long passes. I would keep the defensive coordinator, Scott Shafer, for one more year but he would be on a short leash. One more year like that and he's gone.
Michigan will be better next year and probably even get into a bowl game to start a new streak. Coach Rod has already recruited two new quarterbacks that fit his style and run his offense next year. I wouldn't be surprise if both Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan leave Michigan withing in the next couple of years because I doubt either one of them will get another chance at Michigan. I have nothing against these two its just Michigan's spread offense just doesn't fit them. I think Steven Threet can be a good quarterback in the right system. A year ago I was excited by the hiring of Rich Rodriquez but at the same time dreading this season but now the season is done and I'm just excited for next year.
On to Michigan State, it turns out they are frauds after all. I didn't expect them to win yesterday but I thought they might at least make a game of it. All I am going to say is MSU doesn't deserve a New Years Day bowl game. Why embarrass the Big Ten anymore then they have been already this year. How many years away are we from the MAC conference being more relevant than the Big Ten?
Notre Dame. Okay I'll try not to laugh while I type this and I will openly admit I was cheering for Syracuse yesterday. How can you not want a team that just fired its coach, going on the road to play, and a 20 point underdog to win? I have a question, where was touchdown Jesus on that last field goal? Normally whenever ND is in that situation a big gust of wind will come along and carry the football through the goal post for a game winning field goal. I also have a question for Charlie, the play caller, Wies; Why did you throw three straight bombs at the end of the game when you had 45 seconds on the clock to work the ball down into good field goal range? I know you didn't have any time outs left but the clock does stop in college football whenever you get a first down. You would have plenty of time to get lined up and spike the ball and call a decent play. There is only one person to blame here and it's Charlie. I doubt if ND fires him this year because of the contract Charlie has but I'll bet there are some pissed off alumni this morning. Oh one last question, will Notre Dame except any bowl invitations this year? They have turned them down before after mediocre years.
Notre Dame made history this year too. The most loses over a two year span since they have been playing football. Congratulations to both them and Michigan.
Here is this weeks top 5.
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. USC
Good bye to Texas Tech you pretenders. I'm sorry but when you get beat by over 40 points I have a hard time considering you for my top five. As impressive as Oklahoma was last night I still have Texas ahead of them because if you remember Texas beat them fair and square earlier this year. I'm not sold on Alabama being my number one team yet but they still have to play Florida this year so that will work itself out. It looks like it's going to be a SEC vs. Big 12 national championship this year.
My Heisman is as follows:
1. Colt McCoy - Texas
2. Tim Tebow - Florida
3. Sam Bradford - Oklahoma
4. Gramham Harrel - Texas Tech
I don't think Colt McCoy will win the Heisman this year but I think he is the best college quarterback and the best overall player this year in college football.
It's time for my Detroit Lions prediction. Everyone knows they are chasing history to be the first team in the NFL to finish a season 0-16. I don't think it will happen (but I also didn't think Obama would get elected either). The Lions have two chances left to win a game this year, this weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and in a couple of weeks against the Vikings. I have no stats or logical reasoning why the Lions have a chance to win today so I am going on gut feeling and saying today is the day. Detroit Lions 24 Tampa Bay (boy are we embarrassed) Buccaneers 17.
Be sure to tune in next week when I give some more useless uninformed predictions and opinions.
Some people want to know what is wrong with Michigan. Well nothing really I knew a year ago they would struggle to get into a bowl game I was just hoping they would make it. Lloyd Carr left the cupboard bare so to say. I think he knew there was going to be a serious lack of talent this year and so he retired last year. Or maybe he knew he was going to retire soon and he didn't recruit near as hard as he should have for the last couple of years. Either way he left Coach Rodriquez nothing on offense this year. I believe there was one returning starter from last year. All the skill positions were filled by freshman or walk ons this year. I heard the announcers say yesterday that Michigan dressed 30 freshman or walk ons for yesterdays game. It's hard to win against quality teams when that happens.
The defense is another story though. This is a unit that was returning some starters from last year. And the positions where players graduated from last year new players were filling the spots that weren't freshman. The defense was a huge disappointment this year. While at times they could be dominating far to many times they gave up big plays. In years past you rarely saw Michigan give up big plays to any team. Yesterday there were at least two long runs for touchdowns and a couple of long passes. I would keep the defensive coordinator, Scott Shafer, for one more year but he would be on a short leash. One more year like that and he's gone.
Michigan will be better next year and probably even get into a bowl game to start a new streak. Coach Rod has already recruited two new quarterbacks that fit his style and run his offense next year. I wouldn't be surprise if both Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan leave Michigan withing in the next couple of years because I doubt either one of them will get another chance at Michigan. I have nothing against these two its just Michigan's spread offense just doesn't fit them. I think Steven Threet can be a good quarterback in the right system. A year ago I was excited by the hiring of Rich Rodriquez but at the same time dreading this season but now the season is done and I'm just excited for next year.
On to Michigan State, it turns out they are frauds after all. I didn't expect them to win yesterday but I thought they might at least make a game of it. All I am going to say is MSU doesn't deserve a New Years Day bowl game. Why embarrass the Big Ten anymore then they have been already this year. How many years away are we from the MAC conference being more relevant than the Big Ten?
Notre Dame. Okay I'll try not to laugh while I type this and I will openly admit I was cheering for Syracuse yesterday. How can you not want a team that just fired its coach, going on the road to play, and a 20 point underdog to win? I have a question, where was touchdown Jesus on that last field goal? Normally whenever ND is in that situation a big gust of wind will come along and carry the football through the goal post for a game winning field goal. I also have a question for Charlie, the play caller, Wies; Why did you throw three straight bombs at the end of the game when you had 45 seconds on the clock to work the ball down into good field goal range? I know you didn't have any time outs left but the clock does stop in college football whenever you get a first down. You would have plenty of time to get lined up and spike the ball and call a decent play. There is only one person to blame here and it's Charlie. I doubt if ND fires him this year because of the contract Charlie has but I'll bet there are some pissed off alumni this morning. Oh one last question, will Notre Dame except any bowl invitations this year? They have turned them down before after mediocre years.
Notre Dame made history this year too. The most loses over a two year span since they have been playing football. Congratulations to both them and Michigan.
Here is this weeks top 5.
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. USC
Good bye to Texas Tech you pretenders. I'm sorry but when you get beat by over 40 points I have a hard time considering you for my top five. As impressive as Oklahoma was last night I still have Texas ahead of them because if you remember Texas beat them fair and square earlier this year. I'm not sold on Alabama being my number one team yet but they still have to play Florida this year so that will work itself out. It looks like it's going to be a SEC vs. Big 12 national championship this year.
My Heisman is as follows:
1. Colt McCoy - Texas
2. Tim Tebow - Florida
3. Sam Bradford - Oklahoma
4. Gramham Harrel - Texas Tech
I don't think Colt McCoy will win the Heisman this year but I think he is the best college quarterback and the best overall player this year in college football.
It's time for my Detroit Lions prediction. Everyone knows they are chasing history to be the first team in the NFL to finish a season 0-16. I don't think it will happen (but I also didn't think Obama would get elected either). The Lions have two chances left to win a game this year, this weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and in a couple of weeks against the Vikings. I have no stats or logical reasoning why the Lions have a chance to win today so I am going on gut feeling and saying today is the day. Detroit Lions 24 Tampa Bay (boy are we embarrassed) Buccaneers 17.
Be sure to tune in next week when I give some more useless uninformed predictions and opinions.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Bachelors, Frozen Turf, and Babies
If you are reading this part because you think this is some update on the show "The Bachelor" well you are in for a big disappointment. This is about me being a bachelor again, well at least for the next month. This morning I dropped the wife off out in the middle of nowhere so she could hitch a ride back to Michigan. She will be staying in Michigan until Christmas when she will come back to Wisconsin with me. If you're thinking Christmas? That means he must not be coming for Thanksgiving you would be right. I will be spending Thanksgiving alone this year, well not alone I will be with the Lions. The Lions? What did I do to deserve this?
This also give me a chance to cook some meals I normally wouldn't cook if the wife were here. That means watch my other blog for the next month and you will see the kinds of food I really like. You can expect lots of shrimp, rice and pasta.
I'm hoping while I'm here alone for the next month the walls don't start talking to me. And if they do I hope I don't answer.
When I got home tonight I walked out to the mailbox and discovered the ground is froze. When did this happen? I'm not sure I was ready for that after all didn't I just mow the lawn not to long ago? How far away is snow now? I got to tell you it's way to early. I'm thinking about writing mother nature a letter to remind her it's not Thanksgiving yet so there is no reason to get in a hurry to turn down the temperature. I think I will remind her about global warming too. How will we ever prove global warming if our ground is frozen in November?
Today while a work I received a phone call from Amy. You might not think this is unusual but this is the first time she has called me at work. She calls me from time to time on my cell phone or on the home phone (usually fathers day or my birthday)but never at work. At first I thought something must be wrong but she was in a cheerful mood, which is a minor miracle. (I hope she doesn't read this and if she is I am only kidding, honestly). Anyway she says to me "You're going to be a grandpa!" I say "I am. Who did Lee knock up?" Well I thought it was funny. I told her she was making me feel old too. Just in case you don't get my ramblings Amy is pregnant. Let's hope for a healthy baby.
So that was my Friday a little lonely, cold and feeling a little bit older tonight.
This also give me a chance to cook some meals I normally wouldn't cook if the wife were here. That means watch my other blog for the next month and you will see the kinds of food I really like. You can expect lots of shrimp, rice and pasta.
I'm hoping while I'm here alone for the next month the walls don't start talking to me. And if they do I hope I don't answer.
When I got home tonight I walked out to the mailbox and discovered the ground is froze. When did this happen? I'm not sure I was ready for that after all didn't I just mow the lawn not to long ago? How far away is snow now? I got to tell you it's way to early. I'm thinking about writing mother nature a letter to remind her it's not Thanksgiving yet so there is no reason to get in a hurry to turn down the temperature. I think I will remind her about global warming too. How will we ever prove global warming if our ground is frozen in November?
Today while a work I received a phone call from Amy. You might not think this is unusual but this is the first time she has called me at work. She calls me from time to time on my cell phone or on the home phone (usually fathers day or my birthday)but never at work. At first I thought something must be wrong but she was in a cheerful mood, which is a minor miracle. (I hope she doesn't read this and if she is I am only kidding, honestly). Anyway she says to me "You're going to be a grandpa!" I say "I am. Who did Lee knock up?" Well I thought it was funny. I told her she was making me feel old too. Just in case you don't get my ramblings Amy is pregnant. Let's hope for a healthy baby.
So that was my Friday a little lonely, cold and feeling a little bit older tonight.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Introducing: Jock's Good Grub
I think I may have mentioned in an earlier post I was going to create a second blog where I was going to put all my cooking episodes. If you look over to the right of this blog under BS Somewhat Worth Reading you will see on top a link to my new blog.
The blog is still under construction (but let's be honest all blogs are always under construction) but I think it is good enough to finally unveil. I see a couple of people have already found it but so far all they have been able to read are reruns from this blog. I have been moving some of my old post from here to that blog so if some of the episodes look familiar you will know why. Be patient because scattered among the reruns will be first run episodes for the next month or so and after that everything will be new. Tonight is the first episode for the new season.
I am also adding some of the wifes baking. She has been doing some pretty darn good desserts lately and I think they deserve to be mentioned. I have a pumpkin pie episode she made already to go and I will be posting it in the next couple of days. I think this might be the best pumpkin pie I have ever had.
I hope you enjoy reading the blog as much as I enjoy cooking the episodes to share with you.
The blog is still under construction (but let's be honest all blogs are always under construction) but I think it is good enough to finally unveil. I see a couple of people have already found it but so far all they have been able to read are reruns from this blog. I have been moving some of my old post from here to that blog so if some of the episodes look familiar you will know why. Be patient because scattered among the reruns will be first run episodes for the next month or so and after that everything will be new. Tonight is the first episode for the new season.
I am also adding some of the wifes baking. She has been doing some pretty darn good desserts lately and I think they deserve to be mentioned. I have a pumpkin pie episode she made already to go and I will be posting it in the next couple of days. I think this might be the best pumpkin pie I have ever had.
I hope you enjoy reading the blog as much as I enjoy cooking the episodes to share with you.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Frozen Tundra....Part Duex
When I left you yesterday we were about to walk through these gates to a real live football game.
Only one problem, we had to get through the security check first. It took just about 20 minutes to get through the security check station. They pat down everyone going through the gates for contraband. The guy next to me got caught trying to sneak in a bottle of peppermint schnapps. The security guard gets a disgusted look on his face and casually tosses the bottle behind him into a dumpster that is full from all the other bottles that have been confiscated. This is the worse line I have every been in to get into an event. Don't they know about the wands every other stadium uses to check people? Probably not after all this is Wisconsin.
Once inside we find our seats (it is now midway through the first quarter) and the first thing I notice is the names that go around the stadium on the ring of fame.
I chose Reggie White because out of all the names on the ring of fame because I think he best exemplifies what pro sport athletes should be. Reggie was a class act and it is too bad he died shortly after retiring from the NFL.
Let's get to some action on the field, afterall that's why we are here.
Halftime.
The guys in the front in full dress uniforms just got back from Iraq a week ago. The guys in the back just got sworn into the Army and more than likely be heading to Iraq in a few weeks.
This was a great halftime show with a tribute to the men and women serving in the military complete with a song being sung by a soldier.
And an eagle that took a lap around the field before landing on this guys arm.
Halftime is over and back to the game.
As I mentioned earlier this game was all Packers as they won 37-3. I had plenty of chances to get pictures of Devon Hester returning kicks. I was hoping he would return one all the way but it never happened.
I wish I had taken more pictures of the people that dress up for these games. The Packer fans certainly get the award for the most creative costumes. I did get this picture of a lady (at least I think it was a lady) sitting in front of us.
This is one of the milder getups I saw on Sunday. Next time I will give a better effort to get some of these pictures.
That's it, that's all I got. Next time I will do better and take pictures of some of the more interesting things like people and vehicles.
Only one problem, we had to get through the security check first. It took just about 20 minutes to get through the security check station. They pat down everyone going through the gates for contraband. The guy next to me got caught trying to sneak in a bottle of peppermint schnapps. The security guard gets a disgusted look on his face and casually tosses the bottle behind him into a dumpster that is full from all the other bottles that have been confiscated. This is the worse line I have every been in to get into an event. Don't they know about the wands every other stadium uses to check people? Probably not after all this is Wisconsin.
Once inside we find our seats (it is now midway through the first quarter) and the first thing I notice is the names that go around the stadium on the ring of fame.
I chose Reggie White because out of all the names on the ring of fame because I think he best exemplifies what pro sport athletes should be. Reggie was a class act and it is too bad he died shortly after retiring from the NFL.
Let's get to some action on the field, afterall that's why we are here.
Halftime.
The guys in the front in full dress uniforms just got back from Iraq a week ago. The guys in the back just got sworn into the Army and more than likely be heading to Iraq in a few weeks.
This was a great halftime show with a tribute to the men and women serving in the military complete with a song being sung by a soldier.
And an eagle that took a lap around the field before landing on this guys arm.
Halftime is over and back to the game.
As I mentioned earlier this game was all Packers as they won 37-3. I had plenty of chances to get pictures of Devon Hester returning kicks. I was hoping he would return one all the way but it never happened.
I wish I had taken more pictures of the people that dress up for these games. The Packer fans certainly get the award for the most creative costumes. I did get this picture of a lady (at least I think it was a lady) sitting in front of us.
This is one of the milder getups I saw on Sunday. Next time I will give a better effort to get some of these pictures.
That's it, that's all I got. Next time I will do better and take pictures of some of the more interesting things like people and vehicles.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Welcome to the Frozen Tundra
What a beautiful day for a football game, 32 degrees, snow flurries in the air and a slight breeze. Yep football was meant to be played outside, it's the only way to watch it too.
I was offered a ticket to the Packers and Bears game Saturday morning and there was no way I was going to turn it down since I think one of the items on my bucket list is to go to a football game at Lambeau Field in December. Ok so it's not December yet but the weather felt like December.
Just in case you are not sure what Lambeau Field looks like here is a reminder a picture I took last summer on a rainy day.
I was told if I ever went to a game I must do the tailgating thing before a the Packers game. This was definitely the largest tailgating party I have been to. I think there are a lot of people here that only go for the tailgating and I don't blame them. I think the tailgating might have been more fun than the game itself. Unfortunatly I didn't get all the pictures I wanted too we got rushed for time because of how long it took us to get to the stadium. There were several cars, buses, vans and who knows what else all in that pukey green and gold of the packers. And I don't know why they call it gold when it looks yellow to me.
But we did have time to fire up a grill before the game and down a couple of brats and since it is Wisconsin a couple of beers too.
There are all sorts of people wearing all sorts of stuff too. This guy was tailgating next to us and believe me he was having a good time.
How true that shirt ended up being since the Packers beat the Bears 37-3.
We got the brats on the grill along with the sauerkraut.
They're looking good eh? Time to eat.
Come on, come on put some of that kraut on here.
Mmm good stuff, I think I found a new way to eat my brats, sauerkraut and dijon mustard.
Since it is getting late tonight I will save some pictures for tomorrow night. If you come back tomorrow will go through these gates and see what's on the other side.
I was offered a ticket to the Packers and Bears game Saturday morning and there was no way I was going to turn it down since I think one of the items on my bucket list is to go to a football game at Lambeau Field in December. Ok so it's not December yet but the weather felt like December.
Just in case you are not sure what Lambeau Field looks like here is a reminder a picture I took last summer on a rainy day.
I was told if I ever went to a game I must do the tailgating thing before a the Packers game. This was definitely the largest tailgating party I have been to. I think there are a lot of people here that only go for the tailgating and I don't blame them. I think the tailgating might have been more fun than the game itself. Unfortunatly I didn't get all the pictures I wanted too we got rushed for time because of how long it took us to get to the stadium. There were several cars, buses, vans and who knows what else all in that pukey green and gold of the packers. And I don't know why they call it gold when it looks yellow to me.
But we did have time to fire up a grill before the game and down a couple of brats and since it is Wisconsin a couple of beers too.
There are all sorts of people wearing all sorts of stuff too. This guy was tailgating next to us and believe me he was having a good time.
How true that shirt ended up being since the Packers beat the Bears 37-3.
We got the brats on the grill along with the sauerkraut.
They're looking good eh? Time to eat.
Come on, come on put some of that kraut on here.
Mmm good stuff, I think I found a new way to eat my brats, sauerkraut and dijon mustard.
Since it is getting late tonight I will save some pictures for tomorrow night. If you come back tomorrow will go through these gates and see what's on the other side.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
How to Fix Michigan
After reading a couple of other blogs this week it reminded of an article I read a few years ago about Michigan. We all know what is wrong with Michigan but what we really need are solutions. This article comes from the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy. I think they hit the nail on the head with their 10 points here and this would be a good beginning. If you want to read more from the Mackinaw Center you can go to their web site.
http://www.mackinac.org/
Transforming Michigan
(Note: The numbered points below are key policy recommendations that the Mackinac Center is distributing around the state on pocket-sized cards. Here, under each point, we incorporate links to other documents that provide further explanation and documentation. Dozens of additional policy suggestions can be found in a 2002 study from the Mackinac Center entitled "Keeping Michigan on Track: A Blueprint for a Freer State" and in a 2005 speech entitled "Michigan at the Crossroads: A State of the State Address.")
___________
In today’s global environment, Michigan’s economy must be strong and competitive. Anything less means we lose jobs and businesses to other states and countries. A strong economy means we can better support our families, our schools and universities, our charitable institutions, and our local communities. Here’s a partial list of what we need to do:
1. Eliminate the Single Business Tax. The SBT has been rated the worst business tax in the nation. Removing it, not redistributing its burden, is critical to job creation and expansion.
A New Beginning: Ending the Single Business Tax
2. Impose constitutional restraints on expenditures. Future state spending increases should be limited to population and inflation in the form of a Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights amendment to the state constitution.
New Year’s Resolution: A Taxpayer Bill of Rights
3. Restore financial integrity to Detroit. The appointment of an emergency financial manager for Michigan’s largest city is necessary to restore the fiscal management Detroit needs to once again be a driver, not a drag, for the state’s economic development.
Privatization: The Motor City’s Renaissance Engine
4. Eliminate discriminatory economic development programs in favor of broad-based reforms. The state should focus on creating a fair and positive environment for everyone, not picking winners and losers through subsidies or selective tax favors.
Why Michigan Should Shelve "Economic Development" Programs
Should Government Hand Out Economic Favors?
Time To End the Economic War Between the States
MEGA’s Track Record
5. Require legislative approval for new regulations. State agencies should submit major regulations for approval by the legislature before they become law. Regulations should be subject to rigorous analysis of their costs, benefits and implications for the rights of property owners.
Seven Environmental Challenges Facing Michigan
Improving Michigan’s Regulatory Environment
Proposed Water Legacy Act: A Bad Idea for Michigan
Is the Governor’s Water Legacy Act All Wet?
Regulating the Regulators: Adopt a “No-More-Stringent” Law
6. Repeal the Prevailing Wage Act. It needlessly balloons the cost of state and school construction/renovation costs by nearly $300 million every year.
The Wages of "Prevailing Wages" Less Money for Education
Prevailing Wage Repeal Would Save State $400 Million Annually
Michigan's Prevailing Wage Law Forces Schools to Waste Money
7. Expand the ability of parents to choose the best and safest schools. Make schools more competitive, accountable, cost-conscious and choice-driven. Reform tenure, certification, teacher health insurance and school finance to empower parents and school boards instead of union hierarchies and distant bureaucracies.
School Choice in Michigan: A Primer for Freedom in Education
A New Direction for Education Reform
8. Protect property rights. Enact a statutory prohibition against the exercise of eminent domain for private economic development and require compensation to property owners for regulatory "takings."
A Strategy for Reform in Michigan
Michigan Supreme Court Ruling on “Beachwalking” Erodes Property Rights Ruling
Property Damage
9. Deregulate telecommunications and electricity. Michigan’s archaic regulatory regime is stifling innovative technologies and keeping rates artificially higher than the national average.
A Variety of Telecom Publications
Assessing Electric Choice in Michigan
10. Pass a Right-to-Work Law to ensure freedom in workplace representation. No worker should be compelled to pay money to a labor organization as a condition of employment. The 22 Right-to-Work states have all outpaced Michigan in economic growth.
The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Economic Development
The Time is Right for a Right-to-Work Law
Should Michigan Become a Right-to-Work State?
Categories: Economic Development; Regulation
Publication: Special Items
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Fri., Nov. 14 - Sun., Nov. 16, 2008
20-20 Vision
The Mackinac Center celebrates 20 years and looks ahead.
Would you like to see more information like this? Learn how you can help the Mackinac Center provide incisive, accurate and timely analysis of critical policy issues.
Copyright © 2005 Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Terms of Use | Contribute | Contact Us
http://www.mackinac.org/
Transforming Michigan
(Note: The numbered points below are key policy recommendations that the Mackinac Center is distributing around the state on pocket-sized cards. Here, under each point, we incorporate links to other documents that provide further explanation and documentation. Dozens of additional policy suggestions can be found in a 2002 study from the Mackinac Center entitled "Keeping Michigan on Track: A Blueprint for a Freer State" and in a 2005 speech entitled "Michigan at the Crossroads: A State of the State Address.")
___________
In today’s global environment, Michigan’s economy must be strong and competitive. Anything less means we lose jobs and businesses to other states and countries. A strong economy means we can better support our families, our schools and universities, our charitable institutions, and our local communities. Here’s a partial list of what we need to do:
1. Eliminate the Single Business Tax. The SBT has been rated the worst business tax in the nation. Removing it, not redistributing its burden, is critical to job creation and expansion.
A New Beginning: Ending the Single Business Tax
2. Impose constitutional restraints on expenditures. Future state spending increases should be limited to population and inflation in the form of a Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights amendment to the state constitution.
New Year’s Resolution: A Taxpayer Bill of Rights
3. Restore financial integrity to Detroit. The appointment of an emergency financial manager for Michigan’s largest city is necessary to restore the fiscal management Detroit needs to once again be a driver, not a drag, for the state’s economic development.
Privatization: The Motor City’s Renaissance Engine
4. Eliminate discriminatory economic development programs in favor of broad-based reforms. The state should focus on creating a fair and positive environment for everyone, not picking winners and losers through subsidies or selective tax favors.
Why Michigan Should Shelve "Economic Development" Programs
Should Government Hand Out Economic Favors?
Time To End the Economic War Between the States
MEGA’s Track Record
5. Require legislative approval for new regulations. State agencies should submit major regulations for approval by the legislature before they become law. Regulations should be subject to rigorous analysis of their costs, benefits and implications for the rights of property owners.
Seven Environmental Challenges Facing Michigan
Improving Michigan’s Regulatory Environment
Proposed Water Legacy Act: A Bad Idea for Michigan
Is the Governor’s Water Legacy Act All Wet?
Regulating the Regulators: Adopt a “No-More-Stringent” Law
6. Repeal the Prevailing Wage Act. It needlessly balloons the cost of state and school construction/renovation costs by nearly $300 million every year.
The Wages of "Prevailing Wages" Less Money for Education
Prevailing Wage Repeal Would Save State $400 Million Annually
Michigan's Prevailing Wage Law Forces Schools to Waste Money
7. Expand the ability of parents to choose the best and safest schools. Make schools more competitive, accountable, cost-conscious and choice-driven. Reform tenure, certification, teacher health insurance and school finance to empower parents and school boards instead of union hierarchies and distant bureaucracies.
School Choice in Michigan: A Primer for Freedom in Education
A New Direction for Education Reform
8. Protect property rights. Enact a statutory prohibition against the exercise of eminent domain for private economic development and require compensation to property owners for regulatory "takings."
A Strategy for Reform in Michigan
Michigan Supreme Court Ruling on “Beachwalking” Erodes Property Rights Ruling
Property Damage
9. Deregulate telecommunications and electricity. Michigan’s archaic regulatory regime is stifling innovative technologies and keeping rates artificially higher than the national average.
A Variety of Telecom Publications
Assessing Electric Choice in Michigan
10. Pass a Right-to-Work Law to ensure freedom in workplace representation. No worker should be compelled to pay money to a labor organization as a condition of employment. The 22 Right-to-Work states have all outpaced Michigan in economic growth.
The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Economic Development
The Time is Right for a Right-to-Work Law
Should Michigan Become a Right-to-Work State?
Categories: Economic Development; Regulation
Publication: Special Items
Print articleEmail this articleSync article to your PDA using AvantGoPrint version not availableDownload not available
Top of this pageHome pageAdvanced Search
Print articleEmail this articleSync article to your PDA using AvantGoPrint version not availableDownload not available
Fri., Nov. 14 - Sun., Nov. 16, 2008
20-20 Vision
The Mackinac Center celebrates 20 years and looks ahead.
Would you like to see more information like this? Learn how you can help the Mackinac Center provide incisive, accurate and timely analysis of critical policy issues.
Copyright © 2005 Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Terms of Use | Contribute | Contact Us
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Only Two More Weeks Left
Well there is only two weeks left for college football, well okay there is only two more weeks left for Michigan football and afterall that's all that really counts anyway.
We do have several weeks left for the Detroit Lions though. How lovely is that? Yeah I know they are 0 for the season so far but for some odd reason I still watch them every Sunday. I am starting to think I like disappointment in my life. This week they are at the Carolina Panthers who are at the opposite end of pro football life with a 7-2 record. There is no reason to think the Lions actually have a chance to win this game. I know the great Daunte Culpepper is starting for the Lions again, I mean who can argue with last weeks performance 5 for 10 passing for 105 yards and 1 interception. I think he deserves to start don't you? Actually I am glad he is starting because I don't think it really matters who starts at quarterback for the Lions on Sunday because they aren't going to survive anyway. Let's keep this short and simple Panthers 38 Lions 6. Thank god the Lions have Jason Hanson or they would be in real trouble.
Michigan plays those brainy guys from Northwestern today at Michigan Stadium. Northwestern was having a good year until two weeks ago and now they seem to be going in the wrong direction. Michigan on the other hand looks like they are improving every week. Two weeks ago I would have given NW an easy win but now I'm not so sure. If, and I mean if, Michigan plays the way they did last weekend they will win this game easily. I think Michigan may have played its best game of the year last week so I don't think they will duplicate it again this week.
Hold on I got a phone call coming in...Hello....Hi John (not peej)...You got an extra ticket?...To what?...Green Bay Packers football game?...Sure I'll go.....We're tailgating before the game?....I pick up the brats for you.....Ok...Thanks, see you tomorrow.
Okay I'm back. Anyway Michigan 27 Northwestern 24.
Michigan State is off this week so they shouldn't be able to screw up their chance for the Rose Bowl but I wouldn't bet on that this is afterall still Michigan State football team and anything is possible.
As we already know if you read Sarah's blog Notre Dame is playing Navy this week at the home of the Baltimore Ravens. I say the heck with the game I am more interested in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, that's a much more interesting place than a Notre Dame football game. ND has struggled for the last couple of weeks on offense so it will be interesting to see what ND team shows up today. I think this could be a good game today because Navy is much improved in the last couple of years. Navy is riding a one game winning streak in this series after ND won like 40,000 games in a row. I really think this game can go either way but I am picking the Irish today. It's hard to see them losing 3 games in a row. Notre Dame 31 Navy Midshipmen 24.
There you go this weeks useless uninformed predictions. Let's see your predictions and see how you stack up.
Update on Michigan Tech football: They didn't make the Division II football playoffs so their season is done. They finished at 8-3, not to bad especially where the program was at just a few short years ago.
We do have several weeks left for the Detroit Lions though. How lovely is that? Yeah I know they are 0 for the season so far but for some odd reason I still watch them every Sunday. I am starting to think I like disappointment in my life. This week they are at the Carolina Panthers who are at the opposite end of pro football life with a 7-2 record. There is no reason to think the Lions actually have a chance to win this game. I know the great Daunte Culpepper is starting for the Lions again, I mean who can argue with last weeks performance 5 for 10 passing for 105 yards and 1 interception. I think he deserves to start don't you? Actually I am glad he is starting because I don't think it really matters who starts at quarterback for the Lions on Sunday because they aren't going to survive anyway. Let's keep this short and simple Panthers 38 Lions 6. Thank god the Lions have Jason Hanson or they would be in real trouble.
Michigan plays those brainy guys from Northwestern today at Michigan Stadium. Northwestern was having a good year until two weeks ago and now they seem to be going in the wrong direction. Michigan on the other hand looks like they are improving every week. Two weeks ago I would have given NW an easy win but now I'm not so sure. If, and I mean if, Michigan plays the way they did last weekend they will win this game easily. I think Michigan may have played its best game of the year last week so I don't think they will duplicate it again this week.
Hold on I got a phone call coming in...Hello....Hi John (not peej)...You got an extra ticket?...To what?...Green Bay Packers football game?...Sure I'll go.....We're tailgating before the game?....I pick up the brats for you.....Ok...Thanks, see you tomorrow.
Okay I'm back. Anyway Michigan 27 Northwestern 24.
Michigan State is off this week so they shouldn't be able to screw up their chance for the Rose Bowl but I wouldn't bet on that this is afterall still Michigan State football team and anything is possible.
As we already know if you read Sarah's blog Notre Dame is playing Navy this week at the home of the Baltimore Ravens. I say the heck with the game I am more interested in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, that's a much more interesting place than a Notre Dame football game. ND has struggled for the last couple of weeks on offense so it will be interesting to see what ND team shows up today. I think this could be a good game today because Navy is much improved in the last couple of years. Navy is riding a one game winning streak in this series after ND won like 40,000 games in a row. I really think this game can go either way but I am picking the Irish today. It's hard to see them losing 3 games in a row. Notre Dame 31 Navy Midshipmen 24.
There you go this weeks useless uninformed predictions. Let's see your predictions and see how you stack up.
Update on Michigan Tech football: They didn't make the Division II football playoffs so their season is done. They finished at 8-3, not to bad especially where the program was at just a few short years ago.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Sweet and Sour Pork
Notice the name change this week? No more Sunday Dinner - 9 November 2008 type headlines. I found out whenever I wanted to go back and find a meal I previously cooked I had to click on every Sunday Dinner Post to find it. Needless to say it got to be frustrating so now I am starting to label my titles with the meal of the week or formally known as Sunday Dinners. Does it mean I'm not cooking a meal every Sunday anymore? No not necessarily it only means that whatever I post might be cooked on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc. Or maybe I cooked it in the morning, noon or night. You see Sunday Dinners was starting to run my weekends. I felt like I had to do a dinner every Sunday and it was starting to feel like a job. There were times the wife wanted to cook something and I would say NO NO you can't I HAVE to do my Sunday Dinner today. I also felt like I had to do full blown dinners every week. There are lots of other ideas I want to do they just aren't Sunday Dinner types. I think this will help me do these other ideas.
I am also think about putting my cooking stuff on another blog much like young Shae did with her stories. They never seem to fit in here and the title Jock's Random Thoughts just doesn't fit a food blog. I think I have done enough meals in the last year to have a pretty good food blog right now. (If anyone knows how to move posts from one blog to another please share.) This blog will be left for all those family related things, sports posts, and maybe a little politics. To be honest that is what it started out to be the food thing was just an accident.
Okay enough rambling let's get on with this weeks Sund....opps I mean this weeks meal of the week.
Anyone who lives around Midland knows they have the best Chinese restaurants and if you aren't aware of that just move anywhere else and you soon will be aware of it. We have lived in both Virginia and Wisconsin and we have never been able to find any chinese restaurants equaled to he ones in Midland.
I love my chinese food and I have withdrawal pains when I don't eat it every now and then. Since we can't find good chinese restaurants around here naturally I thought maybe I should try to make my own. Most of my forays into chinese cooking so far have been disappointments but one dish I have started to figure out is Sweet and Sour Pork.
Let's introduce the cast of characters.
I think I got everything in the picture this week.
If you want to make good sweet and sour pork you first need to have a good sweet and sour sauce. Sometimes when I am making this at night I reach in the cupboard and grab this stuff....
That's kind of like cheating for todays meal so I decided to go the old fashion way and make my own. It really isn't all that hard and I actually have all the ingredients already in the cupboard.
The sauce is garlic, ginger, apple cider vinegar, pineapple juice, sesame oil, ketchup, soy sauce, red pepper, and brown sugar. Bring all this to a boil and add sherry or red wine vinegar with corn starch to thicken it up a bit. It's as easy as that and in five minutes I have a pretty darn good sweet and sour sauce.
Time to cube up the pork and start browning it.
Now if you really know your sweet and sour pork you will already know the pork is usually coated with corn starch and deep fried. Since I'm not into deep frying and really don't need any more deep fried foods than necessary I brown mine on the stove. I know it's not really classic sweet and sour pork but since I'm running this operation I will cook it anyway I find fit.
Since the pork is browned now things start to happen. I crank up the heat and add the onions and green peppers.
Mix them in with the pork and let cook for a couple of minutes.
Quickly add the sweet and sour sauce I made earlier.
Stir everything together and bring up to temperature and then add the pineapple and green onions.
Time to plate up this delicious meal, start with some rice.
Every now and then I forget to start the rice but not this time.
Now add the sweet and sour pork to it.
Mmm good stuff if you like sweet and sour pork. Here take another look....
Go ahead and smell it. Smells like chinese, probably because of the sesame oil I used.
My next chinese meal I make will be Mongolian Shrimp, my favorite. I have tried to make it before but always been disappointed. In that true Porter spirited though I will not give up, sooner or later I will figure it out and when I do you can be sure to find it here or my new blog.
Stayed tuned.
I am also think about putting my cooking stuff on another blog much like young Shae did with her stories. They never seem to fit in here and the title Jock's Random Thoughts just doesn't fit a food blog. I think I have done enough meals in the last year to have a pretty good food blog right now. (If anyone knows how to move posts from one blog to another please share.) This blog will be left for all those family related things, sports posts, and maybe a little politics. To be honest that is what it started out to be the food thing was just an accident.
Okay enough rambling let's get on with this weeks Sund....opps I mean this weeks meal of the week.
Anyone who lives around Midland knows they have the best Chinese restaurants and if you aren't aware of that just move anywhere else and you soon will be aware of it. We have lived in both Virginia and Wisconsin and we have never been able to find any chinese restaurants equaled to he ones in Midland.
I love my chinese food and I have withdrawal pains when I don't eat it every now and then. Since we can't find good chinese restaurants around here naturally I thought maybe I should try to make my own. Most of my forays into chinese cooking so far have been disappointments but one dish I have started to figure out is Sweet and Sour Pork.
Let's introduce the cast of characters.
I think I got everything in the picture this week.
If you want to make good sweet and sour pork you first need to have a good sweet and sour sauce. Sometimes when I am making this at night I reach in the cupboard and grab this stuff....
That's kind of like cheating for todays meal so I decided to go the old fashion way and make my own. It really isn't all that hard and I actually have all the ingredients already in the cupboard.
The sauce is garlic, ginger, apple cider vinegar, pineapple juice, sesame oil, ketchup, soy sauce, red pepper, and brown sugar. Bring all this to a boil and add sherry or red wine vinegar with corn starch to thicken it up a bit. It's as easy as that and in five minutes I have a pretty darn good sweet and sour sauce.
Time to cube up the pork and start browning it.
Now if you really know your sweet and sour pork you will already know the pork is usually coated with corn starch and deep fried. Since I'm not into deep frying and really don't need any more deep fried foods than necessary I brown mine on the stove. I know it's not really classic sweet and sour pork but since I'm running this operation I will cook it anyway I find fit.
Since the pork is browned now things start to happen. I crank up the heat and add the onions and green peppers.
Mix them in with the pork and let cook for a couple of minutes.
Quickly add the sweet and sour sauce I made earlier.
Stir everything together and bring up to temperature and then add the pineapple and green onions.
Time to plate up this delicious meal, start with some rice.
Every now and then I forget to start the rice but not this time.
Now add the sweet and sour pork to it.
Mmm good stuff if you like sweet and sour pork. Here take another look....
Go ahead and smell it. Smells like chinese, probably because of the sesame oil I used.
My next chinese meal I make will be Mongolian Shrimp, my favorite. I have tried to make it before but always been disappointed. In that true Porter spirited though I will not give up, sooner or later I will figure it out and when I do you can be sure to find it here or my new blog.
Stayed tuned.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Welcome to the Party
I didn't do my college football predictions this week because after I posted my Sunday Dinner Episode on Friday night I really didn't feel like writing another post on Saturday. If I had I would have picked Michigan to loose, MSU to win and to be honest I wasn't really sure who I would have picked between ND and Boston College. But guess what? We still have time to predict the Lions game today.
Jacksonville Jags vs. the Detroit Lions
First of all let's welcome to the party the Lions newest quarterback Daunte Culpepper. I'm not sure this is a wise decision for either party. Daunte has not been in football for the last year and a half because of a severe knee injury a couple of years ago. With the problems of the Detroit Lions offensive line, and if you watch them you know they are really offensive, Daunte will have to run for his life. Just one problem he can't run. I suspect his game life with the Lions will only last a couple of games before he gets hurt and spends the rest of the year on injured reserve with Kitna and Orlovsky.
On the other hand what are the Lions thinking signing a washed up, has been, never was quarterback? Culpepper's best years were when he had Randy Moss and Cris Carter as wide receivers and all he had to do (or any quarterback with Minnesota at that time) was throw the ball up in the air and either one of them would come down with it. Once Moss and Carter were gone from the Vikings Culpepper turned into one of the worst quarterbacks in he league.
I just don't understand why the Lions would waste money on him. What does this say about their number 2 draft pick, Drew Stanton, two years ago? Is this another Matt Millan wasted draft pick? I say let's get him in there and see what he can do and find out if the Lions need another quarterback. I would use Drew Hanson, their practice team quarterback, before I would use Culpepper. I have a feeling that we will see one if not both of the Drew's before the season is done.
If the Lions hope to win a game this year it has to be today against he Jaguars. The Jags lost against the Bengals last week who were the only other team that hadn't won a game this year. The Jags have some internal problems of their own but I'm not too sure that will prevent them from winning the game today. I think this may be the most boring game in the NFL this season with neither team doing a whole lot of scoring. Jags 17 Lions 9.
MICHIGAN
We must send out another welcome to the Michigan defense for showing up to the party in Minnesota yesterday. All I can say it's about time too. The defense was suppose to be the back bone of the Michigan team this year until the offense got itself on track. Up to this point they have been a big disappointment but yesterday they finally played like they are suppose too. The big difference was they tackled. Meanwhile the offense looks like it is starting to figure out this spread offense. I know they still have a long way to go but there is improvement every week and you can't ask for any more than that. The score to the game, 29-3, was a lot closer than the score should have been. I think the Wolverines could have easily scored 45 points if the offense was running in top gear. Once Coach Rod gets the right quarterback in his system the future will be bright.
Notre Dame
There is nobody to welcome here in fact I think we might want to send out and invitation and invite the Irish offense to the next game. What happened? Ever since the second half of the Pitt game last week the offense has gone into the tank. I predicted a 6-6 finished for the Irish but that was more wishful thinking on my part. I actually thought they would end up with a winning record but now I'm not to sure. They need one more win to become bowl eligible and right now I'm not sure where the win will come from. If they don't make a bowl game will they fire Charlie? If they fire Charlie who will the next coach be? Will it be Brian Kelly one of the masters of the spread offenses? Am I getting ahead of myself? Probably but I like it when the scrutiny is on the other team and not mine.
Michigan State
Didn't watch this game and didn't really care about this game but we must welcome the Spartans to the Big Ten Championship game. Boy that's hard to admit but it looks as though the Spartans and Penn State will be playing for the right to go to the Rose Bowl in a couple of weeks. Boy talk about a screwed up season.
Michigan Tech
Michigan Tech beat Northwood University yesterday 25-13 to finish the season at 8-3. The only thing left for Tech to do is to wait for an invitation to the Division II playoffs. I will keep you posted.
Here is this weeks top 6.
1. Alabama
2. Texas Tech
3. Florida
4. USC
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
No changes this week but stay tuned I think we may have some changes coming in the next two weeks. It looks like I was right about Penn State they have a good team but they don't deserve to be in the top five and if I did a top 10 it would be close there too. If I have to predict who will end up in the national championship game this year right now I will guess Florida and Texas.
My Heisman is as follows:
1. Gramham Harrel - Texas Tech
2. Colt McCoy - Texas
3. Tim Tebow - Florida
I moved Harrel from Texas Tech ahead of Colt McCoy because he was on national TV last night and he impressed everyone. I still think he is a product of a system and if I was drafting a quarterback for the NFL I will still take Colt McCoy ahead of him.
Be sure to tune in next week when I give some more useless uninformed predictions and opinions.
Jacksonville Jags vs. the Detroit Lions
First of all let's welcome to the party the Lions newest quarterback Daunte Culpepper. I'm not sure this is a wise decision for either party. Daunte has not been in football for the last year and a half because of a severe knee injury a couple of years ago. With the problems of the Detroit Lions offensive line, and if you watch them you know they are really offensive, Daunte will have to run for his life. Just one problem he can't run. I suspect his game life with the Lions will only last a couple of games before he gets hurt and spends the rest of the year on injured reserve with Kitna and Orlovsky.
On the other hand what are the Lions thinking signing a washed up, has been, never was quarterback? Culpepper's best years were when he had Randy Moss and Cris Carter as wide receivers and all he had to do (or any quarterback with Minnesota at that time) was throw the ball up in the air and either one of them would come down with it. Once Moss and Carter were gone from the Vikings Culpepper turned into one of the worst quarterbacks in he league.
I just don't understand why the Lions would waste money on him. What does this say about their number 2 draft pick, Drew Stanton, two years ago? Is this another Matt Millan wasted draft pick? I say let's get him in there and see what he can do and find out if the Lions need another quarterback. I would use Drew Hanson, their practice team quarterback, before I would use Culpepper. I have a feeling that we will see one if not both of the Drew's before the season is done.
If the Lions hope to win a game this year it has to be today against he Jaguars. The Jags lost against the Bengals last week who were the only other team that hadn't won a game this year. The Jags have some internal problems of their own but I'm not too sure that will prevent them from winning the game today. I think this may be the most boring game in the NFL this season with neither team doing a whole lot of scoring. Jags 17 Lions 9.
MICHIGAN
We must send out another welcome to the Michigan defense for showing up to the party in Minnesota yesterday. All I can say it's about time too. The defense was suppose to be the back bone of the Michigan team this year until the offense got itself on track. Up to this point they have been a big disappointment but yesterday they finally played like they are suppose too. The big difference was they tackled. Meanwhile the offense looks like it is starting to figure out this spread offense. I know they still have a long way to go but there is improvement every week and you can't ask for any more than that. The score to the game, 29-3, was a lot closer than the score should have been. I think the Wolverines could have easily scored 45 points if the offense was running in top gear. Once Coach Rod gets the right quarterback in his system the future will be bright.
Notre Dame
There is nobody to welcome here in fact I think we might want to send out and invitation and invite the Irish offense to the next game. What happened? Ever since the second half of the Pitt game last week the offense has gone into the tank. I predicted a 6-6 finished for the Irish but that was more wishful thinking on my part. I actually thought they would end up with a winning record but now I'm not to sure. They need one more win to become bowl eligible and right now I'm not sure where the win will come from. If they don't make a bowl game will they fire Charlie? If they fire Charlie who will the next coach be? Will it be Brian Kelly one of the masters of the spread offenses? Am I getting ahead of myself? Probably but I like it when the scrutiny is on the other team and not mine.
Michigan State
Didn't watch this game and didn't really care about this game but we must welcome the Spartans to the Big Ten Championship game. Boy that's hard to admit but it looks as though the Spartans and Penn State will be playing for the right to go to the Rose Bowl in a couple of weeks. Boy talk about a screwed up season.
Michigan Tech
Michigan Tech beat Northwood University yesterday 25-13 to finish the season at 8-3. The only thing left for Tech to do is to wait for an invitation to the Division II playoffs. I will keep you posted.
Here is this weeks top 6.
1. Alabama
2. Texas Tech
3. Florida
4. USC
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
No changes this week but stay tuned I think we may have some changes coming in the next two weeks. It looks like I was right about Penn State they have a good team but they don't deserve to be in the top five and if I did a top 10 it would be close there too. If I have to predict who will end up in the national championship game this year right now I will guess Florida and Texas.
My Heisman is as follows:
1. Gramham Harrel - Texas Tech
2. Colt McCoy - Texas
3. Tim Tebow - Florida
I moved Harrel from Texas Tech ahead of Colt McCoy because he was on national TV last night and he impressed everyone. I still think he is a product of a system and if I was drafting a quarterback for the NFL I will still take Colt McCoy ahead of him.
Be sure to tune in next week when I give some more useless uninformed predictions and opinions.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Sunday Dinner - 2 November 2008
It's that time of year again when the sun starts to slowly sink farther to the south making the days shorter and shorter. That means the mornings are getting chillier and the days are getting colder. It also means hunting season is here and it won't be long until deer season opens. Even though I haven't gone deer hunting for the last couple of years it doesn't mean I can't cook some of the food I normally cook for hunting season. The one meal I like to cook this time of year when the temperatures cool off is..............
......Chili.
Just so you know I am not a big fan of "normal" chili, by that I mean burger, chili powder, beans, tomatoes and water. A few years ago I was watching an Emeril Live Episode and he made chili, not just any type of chili but sausage chili and instead of using water he used beer. Needless to say he got my attention. It wasn't long and I decided to make it and ever since then I make sausage chili once if not twice a year. I did make one slight change from his recipe Emeril used andouille sausage. Since I could never find andouille sausage when I lived in Michigan I decided to use chirizo instead. If I was the only one eating the chili I would only use chirizo but since I was afraid it would be too spicey if I did only use chirizo sausage I decided to use half chirizo and half sweet italian sausage. I will mention that I did use all chirizo once and ended up winning a chili cook off. Grand prize was a $25 gift certificate from WalMart. Lucky me eh?
Let's get started with the good stuff. First let me introduce you to this weeks cast of characters.
First we must start by browning the sausage and then add some the this weeks cast in the browned sausage.
Now it is time to add the beer.
Okay so I didn't use all beer this time like I normally do I decided since it was just me and the wife I would only use a half of bottle of beer and a half of box of chicken broth.
Bring this to a boil and time to add some more stuff.
Let this cook for a hour to and hour and a half and it should look like this.
Nice and thick and tasty just the way chili should be.
Now that we have the chili cooked we need to decide what type of bowl to serve it in. We might choose one of these...
Nah that bowl is for cereal.
How about this one?
This bowl is normally used for soups, chowders and stews. I suppose it can be used for chili but I think I have a better idea. How about this....
You don't think that looks like a bowl? How about if we do this then?
Now does it look like a bowl? It is hard to beat a bread bowl but try to find one that is the right size. Normally they are to big or to small I can never find the right size. This particular one is a little big but it will do.
I think it is time to fill it....
Don't forget to add the shredded cheddar cheese and green onions on top.
How about a little different angle......
I'll rate this chili a 4.75 spoons out of 5 only because I used chicken broth instead of just beer.
The big bonus with this meal is you get to eat the chili soaked bowl afterwords too. Now how can you beat that no bowls to wash.
How about one more look at this weeks episode.
Perfect meal for a cold chilly Sunday but the only problem was it was 65 degrees on Sunday. Oh well can't be perfect.
......Chili.
Just so you know I am not a big fan of "normal" chili, by that I mean burger, chili powder, beans, tomatoes and water. A few years ago I was watching an Emeril Live Episode and he made chili, not just any type of chili but sausage chili and instead of using water he used beer. Needless to say he got my attention. It wasn't long and I decided to make it and ever since then I make sausage chili once if not twice a year. I did make one slight change from his recipe Emeril used andouille sausage. Since I could never find andouille sausage when I lived in Michigan I decided to use chirizo instead. If I was the only one eating the chili I would only use chirizo but since I was afraid it would be too spicey if I did only use chirizo sausage I decided to use half chirizo and half sweet italian sausage. I will mention that I did use all chirizo once and ended up winning a chili cook off. Grand prize was a $25 gift certificate from WalMart. Lucky me eh?
Let's get started with the good stuff. First let me introduce you to this weeks cast of characters.
First we must start by browning the sausage and then add some the this weeks cast in the browned sausage.
Now it is time to add the beer.
Okay so I didn't use all beer this time like I normally do I decided since it was just me and the wife I would only use a half of bottle of beer and a half of box of chicken broth.
Bring this to a boil and time to add some more stuff.
Let this cook for a hour to and hour and a half and it should look like this.
Nice and thick and tasty just the way chili should be.
Now that we have the chili cooked we need to decide what type of bowl to serve it in. We might choose one of these...
Nah that bowl is for cereal.
How about this one?
This bowl is normally used for soups, chowders and stews. I suppose it can be used for chili but I think I have a better idea. How about this....
You don't think that looks like a bowl? How about if we do this then?
Now does it look like a bowl? It is hard to beat a bread bowl but try to find one that is the right size. Normally they are to big or to small I can never find the right size. This particular one is a little big but it will do.
I think it is time to fill it....
Don't forget to add the shredded cheddar cheese and green onions on top.
How about a little different angle......
I'll rate this chili a 4.75 spoons out of 5 only because I used chicken broth instead of just beer.
The big bonus with this meal is you get to eat the chili soaked bowl afterwords too. Now how can you beat that no bowls to wash.
How about one more look at this weeks episode.
Perfect meal for a cold chilly Sunday but the only problem was it was 65 degrees on Sunday. Oh well can't be perfect.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
It's a New Day and the Sun Will Rise Again
I think this may be the first political type of post I have done since the election started. I refrained from doing any political post before now because I want everyone to vote but I want them to learn about the candidates themselves and vote for their candidates because they think they are the right ones for the job. I want people to be informed and to get informed on their own. I want people to discover for themselves values and issues they think are important and vote accordingly. I don't want people voting for candidates just because I am. I want people to think for themselves and do what they think is right.
I hope the election went well for everyone because it sure didn't for me. If you haven't figured out by now I tend to lean just a little to the right when it comes to politics. I have had people ask me how can you be a republican when both of your parents are democrats? The answer is simple and can be summed up very easily. In my view the republicans stand for small government where people should take care of themselves and not depend on the government. The democrats believe in big government and believe the government should provide for all our needs and services. I know this is very broad and simple definition of republicans and democrats but this is how I see it. Since I believe everyone should take care of themselves and not look for handouts from the government that puts me in the republican party. It shouldn't surprise anyone that I don't believe in taking money from one class of people and redistributing it to another. In its simplest terms it is called welfare. Welfare has been proved to make people lazy and even more dependent on government.
Obama doesn't worry me as much as Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid do. I can't stand to even look at Pelosi she looks so clueless whenever she speaks. Pelosi and Reid will try to push their liberal agenda down the American people's throats but I think Obama will govern from the center and not agree with everything they try to do. I really think he will do what he thinks is best for the country whether or not I agree with him. I won't fault him or anybody else for doing what they believe in or think is best for the country I just hopes he has an open mind and listens to the other side too, I think he will.
I'm not real upset that Obama got elected I don't dislike him like I did the Clinton's. That just may be the best thing about Obama getting elected now the Clinton's will be out of the White House for at least another 8 years, that's something I can live with. If you remember the first thing Clinton did when he got into the White House is reneged on his tax cut promise to millions of Americans. After just 3 weeks in office he declared the country couldn't afford it and all tax cuts would be suspended. I will be interested to see if Obama does the same thing, it wouldn't surprise me. If he does the republicans will take over the house in 2 years and they will control the senate within the next 4. That is what happened to Clinton and it will happen to Obama if he doesn't make good on his promise to cut taxes to the middle class. Since I am squarely in the middle of the middle class (I think anyway, who can ever tell) I am looking forward to that tax cut but I'm not expecting it to arrive anytime soon. I just don't think it is going to happen.
The stock market went down today and I am sure that had something to do with the election results but it will bounce back, it always does. I think it will be a slower recovery than if McCain had gotten elected but that's my opinion.
I am not a big McCain supporter either. He is one of the problems with the republican party. Some of the republicans think they need to pander to everyone much like Clinton used to. I think the republican party needs to get some "balls" and go back to their roots. The party has lost its way and seems to be wondering around lost. Let's get back to the conservative values that made the party great.
Here is a list of what I think us conservatives need to do:
1. We need to get people to believe in themselves and take care of themselves.
2. We need to tackle the immigration issue, put up that fence in the southwest, throw the illegals out of the country and make them come into the country legally.
3. We need to get independence off foreign oil. We need to drill, drill, drill and drill some more baby. Wind and solar, while sounds nice, isn't the answer to complete energy independence.
4. We need to start building more nuclear power plants. We need to get rid of the red tape and fast track the nuclear plants and get them online as soon as possible. We need to further develop clean coal technology.
5. We need to start developing hydrogen fuel cell for cars no matter how long it takes to develop. Hydrogen fuel cells are a long term solution but there is no reason this country can't be leading the way. Hybrid cars aren't the answer. Do you realize that if everybody owned a hybrid car and plugged it in at night to recharge the batteries that there isn't enough electrical power in the country to charge them? And quite possibly when you plug that car into your wall outlet you may be polluting even more because your power maybe coming from a old worn out coal plant that is discharging more pollutants into the air than a gas powered car does?
6. We need to stop bailing out Neanderthal companies that just can't seem to keep pace with the needs or wants of the people. We need to even up the playing field by taxing imports as much as other countries tax our exports. I believe in free trade but I also believe in an even playing field.
7. We need to build a strong defense and a strong military. We need to be able to keep our country safe and strong. We're not safe from the terrorist and probably never will be again. We need to chase terrorist no matter where they go and let them know they can't hide from us.
8. We need to privatize social security and let the people have the say how their retirement is handled. We need to make it mandatory everyone must have a retirement account (presently called social security) but have a choice where it is invested. If you were to take the money you pay into social security plus the matching money your employer pays in for you and invest it in your own plan and keep the capital gains without being taxed you will have over $1,000,000 when you retire at 62. Right now you are left with about $225,000 the way the government does it.
9. We need to have competition among all school systems. Competition and choices makes for better services and products. This is how it works in the "real" world why can't it work in our school systems? Our colleges and universitys' seem to do alright with the competition for students I'm sure the rest of our school systems would do just fine too. Competition would rid our schools of the bad teachers that presently litter our school systems. Would some school systems fail? Probably but so what, maybe they shouldn't be teaching our children anyway. People should be able to take the money from the state for each student and use in whatever school they choose. It can be either privite, public or charter, it shouldn't matter it should be our choice.
10. We need to get rid of special interest groups they are ruining this country.
11. We need to get rid of pork barrel spending. I am tired of senators and congressman taking money for their home districts for useless an unnecessary programs and projects.
12. We need to get rid of big government.
That's a few of my points I think the republicans need to do to get back to their roots.
I am not a President Bush fan either. I am grateful to him for keeping us safe ever since 9-11 and I don't think this was an easy job. But I didn't like him taking a big government under the Clinton administration and making it even bigger during his administration. I didn't like his stance on immigration, I didn't like his pandering to big oil and I didn't like his bailout of the banking industry.
We need to get new leaders for the republican party, leaders who will take us back to what the republican party is suppose to be. There are a few people out there that can fill this void but we need to find more.
It reminds of the title to Bernard Goldberg's book "Crazies to the Left of Me and Wimps to the Right." How true it turned out to be.
I hope the election went well for everyone because it sure didn't for me. If you haven't figured out by now I tend to lean just a little to the right when it comes to politics. I have had people ask me how can you be a republican when both of your parents are democrats? The answer is simple and can be summed up very easily. In my view the republicans stand for small government where people should take care of themselves and not depend on the government. The democrats believe in big government and believe the government should provide for all our needs and services. I know this is very broad and simple definition of republicans and democrats but this is how I see it. Since I believe everyone should take care of themselves and not look for handouts from the government that puts me in the republican party. It shouldn't surprise anyone that I don't believe in taking money from one class of people and redistributing it to another. In its simplest terms it is called welfare. Welfare has been proved to make people lazy and even more dependent on government.
Obama doesn't worry me as much as Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid do. I can't stand to even look at Pelosi she looks so clueless whenever she speaks. Pelosi and Reid will try to push their liberal agenda down the American people's throats but I think Obama will govern from the center and not agree with everything they try to do. I really think he will do what he thinks is best for the country whether or not I agree with him. I won't fault him or anybody else for doing what they believe in or think is best for the country I just hopes he has an open mind and listens to the other side too, I think he will.
I'm not real upset that Obama got elected I don't dislike him like I did the Clinton's. That just may be the best thing about Obama getting elected now the Clinton's will be out of the White House for at least another 8 years, that's something I can live with. If you remember the first thing Clinton did when he got into the White House is reneged on his tax cut promise to millions of Americans. After just 3 weeks in office he declared the country couldn't afford it and all tax cuts would be suspended. I will be interested to see if Obama does the same thing, it wouldn't surprise me. If he does the republicans will take over the house in 2 years and they will control the senate within the next 4. That is what happened to Clinton and it will happen to Obama if he doesn't make good on his promise to cut taxes to the middle class. Since I am squarely in the middle of the middle class (I think anyway, who can ever tell) I am looking forward to that tax cut but I'm not expecting it to arrive anytime soon. I just don't think it is going to happen.
The stock market went down today and I am sure that had something to do with the election results but it will bounce back, it always does. I think it will be a slower recovery than if McCain had gotten elected but that's my opinion.
I am not a big McCain supporter either. He is one of the problems with the republican party. Some of the republicans think they need to pander to everyone much like Clinton used to. I think the republican party needs to get some "balls" and go back to their roots. The party has lost its way and seems to be wondering around lost. Let's get back to the conservative values that made the party great.
Here is a list of what I think us conservatives need to do:
1. We need to get people to believe in themselves and take care of themselves.
2. We need to tackle the immigration issue, put up that fence in the southwest, throw the illegals out of the country and make them come into the country legally.
3. We need to get independence off foreign oil. We need to drill, drill, drill and drill some more baby. Wind and solar, while sounds nice, isn't the answer to complete energy independence.
4. We need to start building more nuclear power plants. We need to get rid of the red tape and fast track the nuclear plants and get them online as soon as possible. We need to further develop clean coal technology.
5. We need to start developing hydrogen fuel cell for cars no matter how long it takes to develop. Hydrogen fuel cells are a long term solution but there is no reason this country can't be leading the way. Hybrid cars aren't the answer. Do you realize that if everybody owned a hybrid car and plugged it in at night to recharge the batteries that there isn't enough electrical power in the country to charge them? And quite possibly when you plug that car into your wall outlet you may be polluting even more because your power maybe coming from a old worn out coal plant that is discharging more pollutants into the air than a gas powered car does?
6. We need to stop bailing out Neanderthal companies that just can't seem to keep pace with the needs or wants of the people. We need to even up the playing field by taxing imports as much as other countries tax our exports. I believe in free trade but I also believe in an even playing field.
7. We need to build a strong defense and a strong military. We need to be able to keep our country safe and strong. We're not safe from the terrorist and probably never will be again. We need to chase terrorist no matter where they go and let them know they can't hide from us.
8. We need to privatize social security and let the people have the say how their retirement is handled. We need to make it mandatory everyone must have a retirement account (presently called social security) but have a choice where it is invested. If you were to take the money you pay into social security plus the matching money your employer pays in for you and invest it in your own plan and keep the capital gains without being taxed you will have over $1,000,000 when you retire at 62. Right now you are left with about $225,000 the way the government does it.
9. We need to have competition among all school systems. Competition and choices makes for better services and products. This is how it works in the "real" world why can't it work in our school systems? Our colleges and universitys' seem to do alright with the competition for students I'm sure the rest of our school systems would do just fine too. Competition would rid our schools of the bad teachers that presently litter our school systems. Would some school systems fail? Probably but so what, maybe they shouldn't be teaching our children anyway. People should be able to take the money from the state for each student and use in whatever school they choose. It can be either privite, public or charter, it shouldn't matter it should be our choice.
10. We need to get rid of special interest groups they are ruining this country.
11. We need to get rid of pork barrel spending. I am tired of senators and congressman taking money for their home districts for useless an unnecessary programs and projects.
12. We need to get rid of big government.
That's a few of my points I think the republicans need to do to get back to their roots.
I am not a President Bush fan either. I am grateful to him for keeping us safe ever since 9-11 and I don't think this was an easy job. But I didn't like him taking a big government under the Clinton administration and making it even bigger during his administration. I didn't like his stance on immigration, I didn't like his pandering to big oil and I didn't like his bailout of the banking industry.
We need to get new leaders for the republican party, leaders who will take us back to what the republican party is suppose to be. There are a few people out there that can fill this void but we need to find more.
It reminds of the title to Bernard Goldberg's book "Crazies to the Left of Me and Wimps to the Right." How true it turned out to be.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
How to Go From Hero to Goat in 5 Minutes
Anybody who reads my post knows I am not a big fan of Notre Dame football but even I felt a little bad for the field goal kicker for the Irish. The poor guy hits a long field goal in the third overtime to tie the game up again to sent it in to a 4th overtime and then he misses a chip shot in the 4th overtime. From there Pittsburgh runs the ball down near the goal line and hits what amounts to a point after attempt to win the game. As much as you can put the blame on the field goal kicker for ND for losing this game I put the blame on the ND defense for not being able to stop Pitts during regulation. I think ND was up at one time 17-3 and again late in the 4th quarter they were up 24-17. Pitts ran the same play 3 times in a row late in the 4th quarter to tie the game up. Now I'm no genius but when a team runs the same play 2 times in a row don't your think you should defend against it the third time too just in case they may try it again? The blame for this loss goes clearly on the coaching staff.
The ND/Pitt game was the best game I watched yesterday. It was a well played game with both teams playing hard and clean. Clausen is finally living up to his billing as a quarterback. The offense finally looks like it is coming around and is much improved from a year ago. The defense is improving too but they have to be able to stop the other team when it counts. Until they are able to do that they will be just an average team. The next few weeks will be interesting because the Irish play a lot of average teams and the games can go either way. Somewhere the Irish will get the final win and become bowl eligible but I have my doubts if they will get to play on New Years. The next few games will be entertaining until they get to USC and then they will get slaughtered.
What the hell was Wisconsin thinking yesterday? They had the game won against MSU and gave it away. MSU was prime to be beat yesterday and Wisconsin blew it. MSU didn't even deserve to win the game and in the end neither did Wisconsin. The Big Ten championship is going to come down to the Penn State/MSU game at the end of the year. Talk about a confernence being turned upside down. MSU better enjoy this year because next year they will be back where they belong at the bottom of the Big Ten.
I suppose I have to mention Michigan somewhere in this post. I think they are trying out Obama's economic plan this year. Mich is redistributing their wins to the less fortunate. Socialism doesn't work in economics or football. When I look at Michigan's remaining schedule I can see them redistributing more wins. When the season started I knew the offense would struggle because Rodriguez doesn't have the type of quarterback he needs to be successful. But the defense? Come on, they returned most of the starters from last year. This defense should be able to dominate teams like Purdue and MSU. While the offense is showing gradual improvement in every game the defense continues to get worse. I can't tell you how many times they have stopped the opposing team behind the line of scrimmage just to let them go and get a first down. It comes down to this, TACKLING. Michigan doesn't tackle very good. This all comes down to coaching. I'm not going to blame Rodriquez for the defense, although he needs to take responsibility for hiring the guy, I am going to blame the defensive coordinator. When Ron English was the coordinator Mich rarely missed tackles. Rodriguez hired Stanford's defensive coordinator from last year. Stanford. When was the last time any Stanford team won anything? They hired him because his teams are always at the top of the NCAA in sacks on the quarterback. But what good does it do to get to the quarterback if you can't tackle him once you get there? Hey Scott Shafer I got an idea why not teach your players how to tackle. That's all I got to say about that.
On a brighter note this week Michigan Tech beat Tiffin in a thrilling come from behind win 32-28. You can read the complete story here:
www.michigantechhuskies.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18800&ATCLID=1615982
Here is this weeks top 6.
1. Alabama
2. Texas Tech
3. Florida
4. USC
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
There's my top six for this week. I don't like Alabama at No. 1 but I can't find a reason for them not being there for now. Texas lost to Texas Tech last night but I think if they played 10 times Texas would win 8 of the games. I will still rank Texas Tech above them because they beat Texas when they had too. I can't put Oklahoma above Texas either because Texas has already beat the Sooners this year. Texas Tech plays Oklahoma State next week and Oklahoma the following week so stayed tuned I have a feeling this may change. I also moved Florida and USC up because I think in the end they may be the best teams in college football. And still no Penn State, sorry I'm not a believer.
My Heisman is as follows:
1. Colt McCoy - Texas
2. Gramham Harrel - Texas Tech
3. Tim Tebow - Florida
I think the Heisman race has come down to three finalist with Colt McCoy having a slight lead on the other two right now. I like watching Gramham Harrel of Texas Texas but I think he is a product of a system. Colt McCoy is the real deal.
Be sure to tune in next week when I give some more useless uninformed predictions and opinions.
The ND/Pitt game was the best game I watched yesterday. It was a well played game with both teams playing hard and clean. Clausen is finally living up to his billing as a quarterback. The offense finally looks like it is coming around and is much improved from a year ago. The defense is improving too but they have to be able to stop the other team when it counts. Until they are able to do that they will be just an average team. The next few weeks will be interesting because the Irish play a lot of average teams and the games can go either way. Somewhere the Irish will get the final win and become bowl eligible but I have my doubts if they will get to play on New Years. The next few games will be entertaining until they get to USC and then they will get slaughtered.
What the hell was Wisconsin thinking yesterday? They had the game won against MSU and gave it away. MSU was prime to be beat yesterday and Wisconsin blew it. MSU didn't even deserve to win the game and in the end neither did Wisconsin. The Big Ten championship is going to come down to the Penn State/MSU game at the end of the year. Talk about a confernence being turned upside down. MSU better enjoy this year because next year they will be back where they belong at the bottom of the Big Ten.
I suppose I have to mention Michigan somewhere in this post. I think they are trying out Obama's economic plan this year. Mich is redistributing their wins to the less fortunate. Socialism doesn't work in economics or football. When I look at Michigan's remaining schedule I can see them redistributing more wins. When the season started I knew the offense would struggle because Rodriguez doesn't have the type of quarterback he needs to be successful. But the defense? Come on, they returned most of the starters from last year. This defense should be able to dominate teams like Purdue and MSU. While the offense is showing gradual improvement in every game the defense continues to get worse. I can't tell you how many times they have stopped the opposing team behind the line of scrimmage just to let them go and get a first down. It comes down to this, TACKLING. Michigan doesn't tackle very good. This all comes down to coaching. I'm not going to blame Rodriquez for the defense, although he needs to take responsibility for hiring the guy, I am going to blame the defensive coordinator. When Ron English was the coordinator Mich rarely missed tackles. Rodriguez hired Stanford's defensive coordinator from last year. Stanford. When was the last time any Stanford team won anything? They hired him because his teams are always at the top of the NCAA in sacks on the quarterback. But what good does it do to get to the quarterback if you can't tackle him once you get there? Hey Scott Shafer I got an idea why not teach your players how to tackle. That's all I got to say about that.
On a brighter note this week Michigan Tech beat Tiffin in a thrilling come from behind win 32-28. You can read the complete story here:
www.michigantechhuskies.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18800&ATCLID=1615982
Here is this weeks top 6.
1. Alabama
2. Texas Tech
3. Florida
4. USC
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
There's my top six for this week. I don't like Alabama at No. 1 but I can't find a reason for them not being there for now. Texas lost to Texas Tech last night but I think if they played 10 times Texas would win 8 of the games. I will still rank Texas Tech above them because they beat Texas when they had too. I can't put Oklahoma above Texas either because Texas has already beat the Sooners this year. Texas Tech plays Oklahoma State next week and Oklahoma the following week so stayed tuned I have a feeling this may change. I also moved Florida and USC up because I think in the end they may be the best teams in college football. And still no Penn State, sorry I'm not a believer.
My Heisman is as follows:
1. Colt McCoy - Texas
2. Gramham Harrel - Texas Tech
3. Tim Tebow - Florida
I think the Heisman race has come down to three finalist with Colt McCoy having a slight lead on the other two right now. I like watching Gramham Harrel of Texas Texas but I think he is a product of a system. Colt McCoy is the real deal.
Be sure to tune in next week when I give some more useless uninformed predictions and opinions.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
I Need Help!!!
Oh boy here we go again another weekend of depressing football games. I think I may find some help from a doctor to help cure my weekend depression. What did I ever do to deserve the punishment of watching Michigan and Detroit Lion football games? Haven't I had to endure enough torture this fall? Between the two of them they have 2 wins in 15 games. Oh well I can always hope for the future because that is all I really have anyway.
Let's do something different this week and start at the bottom of the food chain and work our way up.
First up is the Detroit Lions. They are playing at Chicago this week and I'm not sure anything else needs to be said. The Lions are looking for their first victory but I don't think they will find it here. Chicago has a good defense and Detroit has a terrible offense. I can't see the Lions improving this week since the game will be outside and could be a little cold too. Da Bears will run the football, throw the football and control the clock. Let me see now how about Chicago 31 Detroit 6.
Next up is Michigan State. Wisconsin comes into Lansing this week riding a one game winning streak while MSU is coming off their emotional high of beating some team to the east of them (I can't seem to remember who that team was.) If you look at the records of the two teams this seems like an easy pick since MSU has a much better record than Wisconsin. Wisconsin has been a big disappointment this year. At one time they were ranked number nine in the country and then Michigan beat them. They preceded to loose their next three to start 0-4 in the Big Ten. I really don't understand this team and I think they are better than their record indicates. When I consider this and the fact that MSU is coming off an emotional high from last week I think I will pick Wisconsin. I know the game is in East Lansing but I think in true Spartan fashion they will go into the tank this week. Wisconsin will stop Ringer which is the only offense the Spartans have. MSU is too one dimensional on offense to beat the better teams. Wisconsin 27 MSU 10.
Now we come to Notre Dame. A week ago I was ready to pick Pittsburgh in this game despite the fact that ND is playing at home. What happened? Well Pittsburgh got throttled last week and their quarterback got knocked out of the game and spent the night in the hospital. I'm not sure if he is playing this week or not but even if he is I'm not sure if he will be okay. I also remembered who coaches this team, Dave Wannsetedt, Mr. choke artist. I don't know if he has ever won a big game in either the NFL or college. Since I came to my senses now I will pick ND 27 Pitts 17.
Michigan plays at Purdue this week and this is the game to see who stays out of last place. Michigan's season is shot, a bowl game is out of the question and all they have to look forward to is next year. But Purdue is in worse shape with their decade being shot, a coach who is retiring after this year (at least I think he is), and going steadily downhill since Drew Brees and Kyle Orton graduated. Purdue has never been known to play good defensive football and now their offense is just as bad. If Michigan's disappointing defense plays anywhere near their ability I think the offense can get enough done to get them a win. I will pick Michigan 17 Purdue 13.
There you have it this weeks uninformed, fly by the seat of my pants predictions. Let's see yours.
Let's do something different this week and start at the bottom of the food chain and work our way up.
First up is the Detroit Lions. They are playing at Chicago this week and I'm not sure anything else needs to be said. The Lions are looking for their first victory but I don't think they will find it here. Chicago has a good defense and Detroit has a terrible offense. I can't see the Lions improving this week since the game will be outside and could be a little cold too. Da Bears will run the football, throw the football and control the clock. Let me see now how about Chicago 31 Detroit 6.
Next up is Michigan State. Wisconsin comes into Lansing this week riding a one game winning streak while MSU is coming off their emotional high of beating some team to the east of them (I can't seem to remember who that team was.) If you look at the records of the two teams this seems like an easy pick since MSU has a much better record than Wisconsin. Wisconsin has been a big disappointment this year. At one time they were ranked number nine in the country and then Michigan beat them. They preceded to loose their next three to start 0-4 in the Big Ten. I really don't understand this team and I think they are better than their record indicates. When I consider this and the fact that MSU is coming off an emotional high from last week I think I will pick Wisconsin. I know the game is in East Lansing but I think in true Spartan fashion they will go into the tank this week. Wisconsin will stop Ringer which is the only offense the Spartans have. MSU is too one dimensional on offense to beat the better teams. Wisconsin 27 MSU 10.
Now we come to Notre Dame. A week ago I was ready to pick Pittsburgh in this game despite the fact that ND is playing at home. What happened? Well Pittsburgh got throttled last week and their quarterback got knocked out of the game and spent the night in the hospital. I'm not sure if he is playing this week or not but even if he is I'm not sure if he will be okay. I also remembered who coaches this team, Dave Wannsetedt, Mr. choke artist. I don't know if he has ever won a big game in either the NFL or college. Since I came to my senses now I will pick ND 27 Pitts 17.
Michigan plays at Purdue this week and this is the game to see who stays out of last place. Michigan's season is shot, a bowl game is out of the question and all they have to look forward to is next year. But Purdue is in worse shape with their decade being shot, a coach who is retiring after this year (at least I think he is), and going steadily downhill since Drew Brees and Kyle Orton graduated. Purdue has never been known to play good defensive football and now their offense is just as bad. If Michigan's disappointing defense plays anywhere near their ability I think the offense can get enough done to get them a win. I will pick Michigan 17 Purdue 13.
There you have it this weeks uninformed, fly by the seat of my pants predictions. Let's see yours.
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