Longhorns, Goats, Ponies, and a Man from Iowa

Funny story before I get into the Longhorns' post-season and the Mountain Goats show I saw last night. My buddy Jeremy was in town this weekend from D.C., he works for Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, planning and arranging fundraising events. I call him Josh Lyman. Anyway, we went out Saturday night for dinner and drinks with some friends, and as he gets into the car he says to me, "How'd you like to be Charlie Young tomorrow?" Turns out he wanted to return the rental car early so he and the Senator wouldn't have to sit and wait for the shuttle, which would buy them a little more time in getting ready to leave LA. So, because I'm such a good friend, and because I've never had a United States Senator in my 626, I accepted his proposition.

Nice guy, that Senator Harkin. Seemed thoroughly confused when I told him I drafted him on my Fantasy Congress team, though he was concerned enough to ask who else was on the team and if there was anything he could do to help. I was excited to tell him that so far, he was the first member of my fantasy congress team who's ever been in my car. So far.

Now, on to more pressing issues. Texas has played some of the best (and worst) basketball I've seen over the past week and a half. It seems they can't put 2 halves of great basketball into the same game. In our last regular season game a week ago, we jumped out to an improbable 12 point lead over #3 Kansas at halftime, only to crap the bed and allow 22 points in the first 4 minutes of the second half and lose by 6. Then against Baylor, in our first Big 12 Tournament game, we were ice cold in the first half (even soon-to-be-player-of-the-year Kevin Durant only had 4 points), but overcame a 20 point deficit in the second half to win it, behind Durant's 24 second half points. I guess the Oklahoma State game the next day was somewhat complete, though it wasn't like we didn't try to throw it away once or twice. Luckily for us, we got to meet Kansas again in the conference finals (this time they were #2), and again, we jumped out to an amazing 21 point lead in the first half (KD started the game with our first 13 points, and he had over 20 in the first half, finishing with 37 for the game), but let them right back into it before halftime, and ultimately we just ran out of gas and lost in OT by 4 points. Durant had 0 points in the final minutes of the game, and 0 in OT. Inexcusable.

Anyway, we drew a 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which I think is robbery - there's no way Washington State is better than us from a mediocre Pac-10 conference (not even making the finals), and there's absolutely no way Pittsburgh is better than us coming off of a 30-plus point blowout loss to Georgetown over the weekend. Even Texas A&M got a 3 seed, and we beat them in double OT last week, and they didn't even make the SEMI-finals of the conference tournament, a tournament that I might have mentioned in the last paragraph that we only lost in our 3rd overtime game in our last 5 games. The only silver lining, for me at least, is that if all goes well, we will play USC in the second round, and you know how I love it when my Horns stick it to those Trojans. I'm picking us to win it all. What can I say, I'm a dreamer.

Jeremy (not the one who works for Harkin) and I went to see the Mountain Goats last night at the El Rey. They were awesome. I mean awesome. Neola saw them recently in Portland, and after reading her comments on the show, I was even more excited to see them. We were impressed. I need to get ahold of some of their earlier stuff, b/c they played a lot of it last night and I was a fan of it all. The opening band was this group of 4 girls from Montreal called Pony Up. I think they might have been 14 years old. Nothing on their Wikipedia page to confirm or disconfirm that. Either way, they were young, and sort of a junior version of Sleater-Kinney. They really had the crowd behind them from the get-go, and everybody seemed kind of sad when their set ended. Luckily they all came back out during a Mountain Goats encore to sing backup vocals on a cover of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town." Aside from the dude standing in front of me who kept backing up slowly, like a glacier, until I was at least 2 feet away from where I started, who kept running his hands through his hair, scaring the crap out of me because I was convinced there was stuff falling all over me (this dude was too close), it was a great show and a great experience.

I didn't write down their setlist (sorry, Andy), mainly because I don't know enough of their songs to know what was being played all the time. If you're interested, I can tell you that "Dance Music," "This Year," "Lion's Teeth," and "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod" were all played.

Ever Since the Fire Went Out

Pretty excited to be heading back to Mississippi this weekend, for a friend's wedding. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a flight to Jackson or to New Orleans that I could afford, so instead I'm flying to Houston and driving over with the folks. We're stopping in New Orleans so we can check out a few rehearsal dinner options on Friday morning, and I'm also going to get to meet Alan's baby girl, who is supposed to make her debut tomorrow. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

When I made my plane reservations, I decided to fly back to LA on the 2nd, so that I'd be sure not to miss the Fiesta Bowl, which, at the time, was where the Longhorns were supposed to be playing. That was before we dropped two in a row to Kansas State and Texas A&M, dropping us to #4 in the Big 12. Instead, we're playing in the Alamo Bowl on the 30th. So, not only will I not be watching Texas in a BCS bowl on the 2nd, but I won't be watching them in a crappy bowl on the 30th either, because we'll be at the wedding during the game. Those bastards. That sentence is equally applicable to the Horns and to Hannah and Will for scheduling their wedding during the bowl game.

Thinking About the Longhorns

Wow. It's been almost 2 years since I've had to deal with Texas losing a football game, and I'd forgotten how hard it is. To "borrow" a gimmick from Peter King, the Monday Morning Quarterback, these are Ten Things I Think I Think. Some of them are from my good-sport side, some of them are from my sore-loser side. They're conflicted right now.

1. I think a loss early in the season is better than a loss later in the season, and I think a loss to a higher ranked team is better than a loss to a lower or unranked team. So, if you have to lose a game, I think losing in week 2 to the #1 team in the country is about as good a loss as you can take.

2. I think we still won the National Championship only 2 games ago. 2 games ago. And I think I'm still pretty damn excited about that.

3. I think Jamaal Charles is a stud. The kid can run through brick walls like the Kool-Aid Man.

4. I think that Terrel Brown should be suspended from the team for the rest of the season. He was one of the kids caught last Saturday night in a car that was pulled over with drugs and a gun in it. The drugs were in the car, and the gun (loaded) was on his lap. The drugs were not on his person, and he passed a drug test, so the drug charge was dropped, but here's my question: If you're not stoned, how are you too stupid to know that you shouldn't have a loaded gun on your lap IF IT'S NOT YOUR GUN??? Anyway, he was supposed to start for us at cornerback and match up with Ted Ginn, Jr. (94 yds. receiving, 1 TD). Listen, when you screw up, you screw it up for the rest of the team. We had HUGE coverage issues last night, and I'm not saying it would have been different if he was in the game, but it probably would have. He needs to learn his lesson from this.

5. I think that Greg Davis should be a little worried about his job. People (and not just me, a lot of people) were saying that we needed to get rid of him (and to a lesser extent, Mack Brown, who was stubbornly loyal to his offensive coordinator and wouldn't fire him) for years, and then the second half of the 2004 season happened, and the 2005 season happened, and everybody forgot about it and thought, "Maybe he's figured it out, maybe he's not that bad." I've got news for you: He is that bad. You know what the difference was in the 2004 and 2005 seasons? It sure wasn't the Offensive Coordinator's play calling. It was a guy by the name of Vince Young, a guy who is only vulnerable to kryptonite and written tests. Without Vince, Greg Davis must rely on mere mortals to run his plays, and HE NEEDS TO CALL THE RIGHT PLAYS FOR THEM TO RUN. We have two running backs (Jamaal Charles and Selvin Young) who are pretty unbelievable, and had 27 carries for 164 yards rushing between them (not to mention the 10 receptions for 84 yards they shared - as our top two receivers in the game last night) against an Ohio State defense that was having a legitimately hard time stopping our running game and gave up 171 rushing yards to ONE GUY in their last game. Yet on five separate third down opportunities, Greg Davis called passing plays that were incomplete. I don't really even know anything about football, but I could have done a better job, even with the amount of beer I had to drink yesterday. We lose another game this year, and I mean ONE more game, Davis needs to go. Brown can stay.

6. I think Colt McCoy has some work to do with his receivers. I know he's green, but your top two receivers shouldn't be your running backs, not when you've got Limas Sweed on your team. I think he's remarkably mature, though, when it comes to poise. Kid took a couple of pretty big hits last night and was able to remain calm, even while Greg Davis was busy knocking the wheels off of the whole operation.

7. I think Billy Pittman's teammates need to give him a Code Red while he sleeps one night this week, covering his head with a pillowcase and punching him in the arms, then pouring glue over his hands. He won't fumble on the two yard line again, I can guarantee you that. Just ask Lowden Downey.

8. I think we can still go 11-1, but we've got some tough games ahead. Luckily, we only have one really tough road game, at Nebraska on October 21, though Texas Tech will probably also be a challenge. I don't count Rice (in Houston) and Oklahoma (in Dallas) as road games, and we're home for the rest of the season, except for a late visit to Kansas State, who seem to have forgotten that they were a legitimate powerhouse about 4 years ago.

9. I think I'd love to know what that thing on Mack Brown's upper lip was during the game last night. Did anybody else catch that? It looked like his herpes was flaring up. Actually, if it was herpes, I'd rather not know about it.

10. I think that when we came home last night and watched Remember the Titans on tv, I teared up like I normally do when I watch most sports movies. However, I think that maybe some of those tears didn't have anything to do with the movie.

All in all, I'm handling this loss much better than I expected to, based on how I've handled them in the past. Maybe it's because I'm older and wiser. All I know is this: if we don't go 11-1, Greg Davis needs to update his resume.

Sorry Folks, Bandwagon's Full

What do these three guys have in common? Evidently they're all Longhorn fans. McConaughey I can understand, b/c he was a student there once, and Armstrong lives in Austin, but Jake Gyllenhaal?? Come on. I haven't seen a bandwagon jump like this since I started rooting for the Spurs back in 2003. He even admits in the article that he's not even really a fan of college football at all but watches the big games. Yeah, that's dedication, man. And yes, I do realize that I sold my ticket to the Rose Bowl and went to Hawaii. I stand by my decision, so kiss my ass. You know who you are.

So, for the record, we've got Lance "Is it too late to reconcile with Sheryl Crow?" Armstrong, Matthew "Wooderson" McConaughey, Jake "Brokeback mother-f'ing Aquaman" Gyllenhaal, Chuck "Potato Sack" Norris, and Cowboy Troy (who might be the worst singer of all time). Marvelous. Is there any other crappy celebrity out there who hasn't pledged allegiance to a college football team that wants to get on board real quick, before it's too late? Seriously, we'll leave the doors open until gametime tomorrow. Maybe Kevin Dillon, Nicole Richie, Chris Parnell (nothing but love for you, Parnell), Kathy Griffin, and George Takei will show up on the sidelines sporting their burnt orange. Is it that hard to find somebody who is a better celebrity fan than Matthew McConaughey?? Really, he's our best one?? The rest of these punks can't even carry his jock.

(I just had to duck a roundhouse kick. Man, that thing came out of nowhere! Ok, I'm through ranting.)

HOOK EM!

The Sporting Life, How They Love

There's a lot going on right now in the wide world of sports.



The Red Sox are on an astonishing streak, winning their last 10 games (mostly on the back of the mighty David Ortiz). Of course, Pedro's pitching against them tonight, so the streak could very well come to an end, but Beckett's no slouch himself, and he's pitching at home, so we'll see what happens. We'll keep our fingers crossed.



How great is that picture?? VY was given the esteemed honor of being named the best college football player ever to wear #10. It was a very scientific process, I'm sure. He's up for a couple of ESPY Awards for College Athlete of the Year. His competition, not surprisingly, includes Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, JJ Redick, and Adam Morrison, owner of the greatest porn 'stache outside of Van Nuys.

Morrison is a projected top 3 pick in tonight's NBA Draft. My buddy Micah will be live-blogging the draft for the Atlanta Hawks, so check it out on their site by CLICKING THIS LINK. If he's as good as he was last year, then you'll enjoy it for sure. Speaking of the NBA Draft, I leave you with the greatest NBA Draft picture in the history of NBA Draft pictures. Ahh, memories. Misty, watercolor memories...

Faith in the Longhorns

Took this picture of a painting of St. John the Baptist at the Getty Museum last weekend. Is it just me, or was he of the Longhorn Faithful??

College Football on Saturday Morning

Looks like Saturday morning college football was just given an opportunity for an encore performance. I just got my Rose Bowl DVD in the mail. My parents are in town right now. I wonder if Mom wants to watch with me while Dad's at services on Saturday morning. I wonder if she really has a choice in the matter.

So, I've been waiting not so patiently for this DVD, which officially was available on February 21, even though I pre-ordered in the beginning of January. Let me tell you, that's a long wait for something like this. Of course, I still have the game on my TiVo, as well as the SportsCenter from later that night, but now I can delete the game from the TiVo to clear up some much needed space for things like Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and Project Runway.

I hope I'm not jinxing anything here, but the last time I was nearly this excited (but not quite) for a sports championship DVD arrival was when I got my Faith Rewarded DVD. I rushed home, watched it once, loved it, and our house got robbed 2 days later. The DVD was one of the casualties. Let's hope that's not a pattern.

What a Douche

I may not like his politics, but how can I argue with his sports affiliations.

The Honeymoon Is Nowhere Near Over

I don't seem to get too much in the way of comments when I post anything at all about the Rose Bowl, the Longhorns, or Vince Young. You know what? I don't really care. I'm still just so damn excited about the whole thing. Every time I see a picture or a video or anything having to do with the Longhorns winning the National Championship, I get all worked up, like it just happened. Probably what a girl feels like when somebody gives her some diamond necklaces. Heh, heh. Sorry, had to squeeze that one in.

But hey, how 'bout those Longhorns, huh?

Forever Young

I still just can't get over this guy. Check out this video, it's INCREDIBLE!!
(It's a real video, by the way, not one of those random links I've been including, I PROMISE.)

City of Pasadena to Be Renamed "Youngstown"

So, I just had to get this out there. I didn't have the energy to post about The Game and really get all of my thoughts out in a semi-articulate manner, but I had this to say in an email exchange with my buddy the other day. This dude's a fellow SEC man and one of Amanda's classmates at USC. For the record, we weren't upset with each other, though at times it looks that way, though I did find out later that he was just trying to egg me on, and, well, it worked.
___________________________________________________________________

My Initial Email (to a bunch of USC folks and a few of the Texas faithful):

to the naysayers, i have only this to say:

STOP BEING NAYSAYERS

to the rest of you, i have this to say:

HOOK EM, BABY!! WE ARE NUMBER F#*%&ING ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

usc played one HELL of a game last night, but texas is just better. that's all there is to it. USC played an incredible season and an incredible game last night, both by matt leinart (who had about as perfect a second half as possible) and the forgotten superstar lendale white, who probably played himself into a top 10 pick should he leave school. hell, even the heisman trophy had almost 200 total yards, including 95 receiving yards, which is pretty good for a running back.

unfortunately, they were going up against a group of guys who just flat out wanted it more, led by the guy who maybe didn't deserve the heisman as much as reggie bush, based on the regular seasons they both had, but certainly deserved it more than the votes showed, and if they did the voting after the bowl games, like they should, there would be no question. the heisman trophy would be resting its weary head in austin, texas for at least a few more months, then possibly to houston or new orleans or green bay or whoever decides to grab vince in the draft. instead, vince didn't win the heisman, so he "settled" for the next best thing. singlehandedly kicking the collective asses of the "greatest college football team in history."

to be the best, you have to beat the best, there's no question about that. usc was the best, deserving of the #1 ranking all year, so i was glad that we had to go through them on our road to the top, otherwise it might not have meant as much. sort of like the red sox breaking through the yankees on their way to their first world series title in 86 years. either way, though, there should be absolutely NO question in anybody's mind that the longhorns are NOT to be dismissed, NOT to be ignored, VY's performance last night will go down in history as one of the probably 5 best single-game performances in NCAA history (along with reggie's heisman sealing 516 total yards against fresno state), and that the PAC-10 does NOT have what it takes to hang with the other major conferences (maybe the ACC), and that the streak is over.

'till gabriel blows his horn,
ben

My Friend's Response:

Um....I think that VY and Texas got lucky. They are not that good and that game was the biggest fluke of all time. If they played 10 more times it wouldn't even be close, USC would win every single one. VY can't hold a candle to Bush, Leinart, White or even Jarret. Young is slow, awkward and makes poor decisions. How he won that game, I'll never know. I almost want to review the game tape so I can figure it out.

As for being number one, I think it should be Penn State. Their incredibly impressive win over a healthy and talented FSU team in the Orange Bowl has convinced me that they should have been in that Rose Bowl, not a lousy team like Texas.

What a joke that game was. If I were a Texas fan I would be ashamed. Just ashamed of the way they played. USC practically laid down and tried to let Texas win and still it took a last second score by Young to win. Pathetic. Just pathetic.

That is all.

My Rebuttal to His Response:

first of all, let me address your erroneous recap of penn state's bowl game. i love penn state, my whole family went there before me (i'm the black sheep). they should have BLOWN AWAY florida state, who was unranked and lucked themselves into a BCS game by winning an inferior conference and by virginia tech blowing big games. penn state's win wasn't impressive, what was impressive was that florida state nearly won it with a much less talented team.

second of all, you need to go back and watch any game this season that texas played in, or any game last season. vince young does not get lucky, vince young is the human highlight reel. he might not have leinart's arm, but he still managed to pass for a paltry 267 yards, and leinart couldn't move like vince even if the payoff was a 3-way with jessica simpson and his boyfriend nick lachey.

vince might not have been the heisman winner this year, and bush definitely deserved it, largely due to his fresno state performance and vince's slow start against texas A&M, when we scored a measly 40 points and ended a perfect 11-0 regular season. the fact remains, though, that last night, vince blew away not only bush and every other player on the field (with a possible 8-10 nfl draftees this year), he blew away just about every player who has ever played college football. go back and watch the game (i have it on tivo if you want to come over). vince WILLED himself into the end zone time and time again, just like he did in the rose bowl last year against michigan, when the naysayers were whining about cal (CAL??) being left out.

not only that, but bush and white COMBINED only had 6 more rushing yards than VY. there was nothing about last night's game that was a fluke, except maybe bush coughing it up in the 2nd quarter. nobody expected that, least of all the guy he tried to pitch the ball to, who lost his chance to tell his grandkids that he was the first guy to congratulate bush on his first TD of the game of the century.

the only truly lucky thing texas got last night was that no-call on the knee down for the TD pitch, but even if he had been called down, it would have been first and goal from the 3. VY would have glided in on the very next play.

the other thing that we got lucky with was the RIDICULOUS coaching by USC. 4th and 2, to SEAL THE GAME. forget getting stuffed, that\'s not such a big deal. it happens to everyone. but to do it with your golden boy heisman winner sitting on the sidelines, not even in the game as a second option or even a DECOY, for crying out loud?? poor, poor coaching. that's what carroll was famous for in the NFL, and it's back to haunt him now. the second example of ridiculous coaching was that horrific play call on 1st and 10 with 0:08 left in the game, leaving leinart to scramble around and let your dreams of an illegitimate "three-pete" slip away (the only true mistake leinart made all night, by the way. even that interception was a good pass and 9 times out of 10 gets caught for 6.).

if you want to talk luck, talk about the fact that USC was even considered REPEAT national champions. their first one has an asterisk b/c it wasn't a BCS championship game. their second one has an asterisk b/c auburn was in the same position that USC was in when they "won"; their first one. you, as an SEC man, should know that. either way, their 2 titles were impressively played and they parlayed that into a season of infamy, but they couldn't finish it, and it's over. they're not even going to win the pac-10 next year, which is pathetic, and i'm glad i'll be around as a constant reminder of this game to all of you trojans next season. i fully intend to wear burnt orange every time i walk into the coliseum, to a tailgate, or even to sharkeez to watch one of those quidditch games on TV.

FIGHT ON
___________________________________________________________________

Ok, in retrospect, maybe I went a little overboard in that one. Like I said, neither of us were really upset with each other, he was egging me on purposefully, and I was having a blast screaming the praises of the Horns.

Best Game Ever

I'm not going to try to recap the game, or gush about VY's spectacular, historical, transcendent performance. What I will say is, "Wow." I have never been as instantly happy or excited as I was last night when the clock ticked down to 0:00.

Here are some pics from the tailgating and game watch.


My take on the "Without Sports, This Wouldn't Be Disgusting" ESPN Ads.


This banner was on a USC tent at the tailgate. So arrogant, and so foretelling.
The streak ends with Texas, no question about that.


This tailgate is brought to you by Bud Light and the Texas Longhorns. Those are my buddies Jeff (the "other Jeff", Kristin), Abram, me (the fat one, 3rd from your left) and Micah.


There have never been 2 guys enjoying their Beam and Cokes more than Jeremy and I were when this picture was taken.

Selling Out, Volume Three

Remember how excited I was when Amanda found out she got Rose Bowl tickets? Probably the most excited I've ever been in my life. Well, guess what. We sold them on eBay. Once we saw how much people were getting for these puppies, it was almost a no-brainer. Actually, it was probably the hardest decision I have ever made in my life, but in the end I realized two things. The first was that if we won the game, I'd be just as excited whether I was actually at the game or not (and I was probably 98 or 99% , if being there was 100), but if we lost and didn't sell, I would have been so pissed had we not gotten that cash. The second thing I realized was that I'd be a fool not to try to turn my $175 into the $900 I ended up pulling ($1800 for the pair). Garrett told me he was a bit disappointed in me as a Texas fan, and that's something I'm going to have to come to terms with.

I'll be thinking about that this summer when I'm deep into my 5th pina colada on the beach in Maui.

Every Rose Has Its Horns

Well, about 5 hours or so after I made the last post, Amanda found out that she got 2 tickets to the Rose Bowl through USC's lottery. So, I'M GOING TO THE ROSE BOWL. I don't think it's possible for me to be more excited. I've never been so excited for a sporting event in my life as I am for this. Possibly for anything. This could very well be one of the most hyped college football games of all time, and with good reason. The reason: I'm going. I'M GOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I've been numb with excitement for 2 straight days. I can barely get any work done or think about anything else. I thought about wearing burnt orange from now until gameday, but I reconsidered, because I was afraid even I'd be sick of it after a month. So instead, this week I instituted "Texas Mondays." Every Monday from now until game time, I will be wearing some sort of Texas paraphernalia. This town is so in love with USC and Matt Leinart, I'm hoping to shake things up a bit. In theory. I'm theoretically shaking things up.

BRING IT ON

Texas walloped Colorado on Saturday to the tune of 70-3, to win the Big 12 Championship and clinch a spot in the National Championship Rose Bowl game, against USC on January 4. It remains to be seen whether or not I will be able to get a ticket to the game, but rest assured that I am going to do everything in my power, and my powers are substantial.

That said, we are presented with another fabulous opportunity for my semi-annual facial hair growth, which I have presently titled (that's right, I'm giving titles to my facial hair - this is what it's like in LA, I guess) the "Rose Bowl Beard." Needless to say, Amanda's not thrilled, but she'll have to learn to live with this one, at least until January 5, when, win or lose, I will be shaving. But not until then.

Expect a lot of Texas-related posts in the coming weeks, I guess. There's going to be a lot of hype for this game, and I'm not one to go against the grain on such matters. Other matters, maybe, but not this such matter. I think this is what I'll be doing on January 3. If anyone wants to come to LA and join me, please let me know.

Doctor, My Eyes

I really wanted to write tonight about the trip to Santa Barbara that Amanda and I took this weekend, but I'm not really feeling too well, and my eyes really hurt (which is sort of freaking me out), so I'm just gonna say this.

Texas sure played like crap on Friday, but we still managed to put up 40 points, and we're 11-0 heading into this weekend's Big 12 championship game against Colorado, who we pounded 42-17 earlier this season. That's all that's standing in our way until we meet (hopefully) USC for the national championship on January 4 at the Rose Bowl.

Check back on January 5, by the way, for pictures of the celebration.

(If we happen to lose Saturday, don't mention it to me. I'll likely be VERY unstable, and probably in tears.)

Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy Sir!

College basketball season is upon us, and Texas has started the season ranked #2. That seems to have worked out pretty well for our football team, so let's hope it translates for the basketball team as well.

This is Brad Buckman. He's a senior forward for the Longhorns, and he's been my favorite player since his freshman year when we went to the Final 4 and lost to Syracuse, who ultimately ended up winning the whole thing. In that game, our "star" player, T.J. Ford, played scared and was never able to turn into the player we all thought he was. We had no upperclassmen leadership on the floor, and we lost to a better team, led by soon to be multimillionaire freshman Carmelo Anthony. Buckman was the only Longhorn playing his heart out late in the game, grabbing every rebound that came his way, and diving for loose balls (sounds like my buddy Jeremy's prom night - I know, I need to stop making that joke, especially since I stole it in the first place), and I've been impressed with him ever since. I checked our schedule today, and we have an astounding 18 GAMES on tv this season, and I'm gonna watch them all, or at least try to watch them all.

Also, in honor of Brad Buckman's senior year, I'm going to post Buckman's line for each game here in the blog, just for the hell of it. I can't help it, I'm gonna miss him in the burnt orange next year.

Tonight, we opened against the Southern Jaguars. Buckman's line was as follows:

16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, 2-for-2 from the 3 point line, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks (yeah, boy!), and 1 steal. 2 turnovers.

Look out for this kid, he f'ing rocks. Also, doesn't he look just like Billy Zabka, the guy who plays Johnny in the Karate Kid?





Speaking of F'ING ROCKS, I just picked up the new live Wilco album, Kicking Television. It is unbelievable. There's a decent chance I like this band more than anyone in the world likes this band, but as unbiased as I can be, I can tell you that this album is great. Check out some of the songs here on their website. You will not be disappointed, unless you only like crappy music.