The Idiot Meter

     Today might just have hit the tops in stupid driver observations.   I watched as a woman driving a mini-van was holding a soda in one hand, driving with the other, and talking on her cell that she had pinched between her ear and shoulder.   Where do we get these people?  If they drive, and apparently they must, I propose the following sign be displayed to warn others.

 

     How do the Lions follow up a successful season?   Why, by 5 arrests in the off season.   Apparently integrity does not accompany ability.   One of the apprehended has been released by the Detroit, but our old friend Nick Fairley, twice cuffed, is still a part of the plan in Motown.   

How long will they stay behind this guy?   I'm not sure who is the bigger idiot, Fairley or the Lion management.   I thought they had upgraded when they fired Matt Millen, maybe not so much.

        Tyrann Mathieu has been dismissed from LSU's football team.   Inside sources say it is due to failing a drug test for the 3rd time.   Apparently, he really didn't care.   Does he know Cliff Harris by any chance? 

Channeling My Inner Geek

I admit it, I am a bit of a Geek.  You would think that athletics and Geekdom would do the oil and water thing,  but in my case the two share equal time in my confused cranium.

 As a kid, I couldn't wait until the original Star Trek aired each Thursday night.   I still remember the premier like it was yesterday.   "Salt Vampire" with the creature doing its extra-terrestrial Dracula bit.

Isolated in eastern Oregon, we couldn't wait for the monthly delivery of comic books to local grocery stores.  After mowing lawns, picking up pop bottles, and collecting allowances, we would scurry downtown and spend our hard-earned bounty on as many comics as the budgets would allow.   By the way, comics were 12 cents each at that time. 

 

Me Mum was a librarian (like the British accent?), giving me access to the latest in Sci Fi books.   I can't tell you the number of times I woke up in my bed, face down in the pages of Ray Bradbury or Isaac Asimov.

 

When (yes, when) desktop computers came out and became readily available, I plunged right in to the world of Mac's and then PC's.  Note here, my first computer was a Tandy, anybody remember these?

 

I conned my wife into allowing me to buy a VCR (I think it was about $500, yikes!) in the 80's to "break down football films".   Sure, and it also let me tape Dr. Who.   I keep waiting for Tom Baker to bring me some jelly babies, but no TARDIS sightings yet.   

  

Late on Fridays I was glued to the boob tube, when Star Gate SG1 took me through the wormhole.   Star Gate allowed me to feed both my sci fi side and my jock side.   How, you ask?    One of the principal characters of the show, Teal'c was played by actor Christopher Judge. I first watched him as All-American Duck safety, Doug Judge in the 80's.




What could be better than sci fi movies?  Hmmm, maybe I'll list a few;

Star Wars
- spent the only night I had off while working as the trainer for the Eugene Emeralds sitting in the antiquated Mayflower theater mesmerized by The Force, marveling at a large man balancing popcorn on his giant stomach, and wondering when the AC would turn on.

Back To The Future
-rode the ride when it first opened at Universal Studios!

Indiana Jones
-bought my first fedora because of this flick.

Harry Potter
-became a family tradition to view as soon as it premiered.









Enough of this Geek Speak, I need lunch.

My youngest believes I'm obsessed with the Big Bang Theory, but I don't see it.

I'll leave you with a

Ethics?

 
 Recently USC head coach, Lane Kiffin,  put on a recruiting blitz for current Penn State running back Silas Redd.








     At the urging of Kiffin, current Trojan and former Pop Warner team mate of Redd's, Max Wittek, has bombarded Redd with calls.   Kiffin pleaded his case for transfer when he traveled to Connecticut for a 3 hour meeting highlighted with a power point presentation showing how Redd would fit into the USC scheme.

     USC is not alone, Illinois sent 8 assistant coaches to College Park to lure current Nittany Lions away to the Illini.  Current Penn St. players have tweeted about other coaches stalking them.  Does this seem hinky to anybody else?   The NCAA has stated that players from Penn St. may transfer and become immediately eligible, but shouldn't the players be the ones to initiate the transfer process?   Talk about sleazy tactics, but isn't that we West Coasters have come to expect from the Trojan program.   Kiffin should know how this feels, two years ago when the NCAA placed sanctions on USC for Reggie-Gate, other schools came calling and whisked away several prized players from the Trojan roster.  Laney-Boy cried foul when that happened, but doesn't seem to see the similarities to this situation.   Ah, selective memory, a wonderful thing.  Kiffin even went so far as to offer advice to current Penn St. coach at the Pac-12 media day.   Oh brother, hey coach O'Brien ever heard the Undisputed Truth's song "Smiling Faces"?

"Smiling faces, sometimes, pretend to be your friend.
Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within.
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes,
They don't tell the truth, uh"

On A Rant

     First, let me say I am not a political person.   I find the whole thing somewhat annoying.   If politicians were children (by age) we would ground them, send them to their rooms, and take away all their electronics.  Behavior that they exhibit would land them in the vice-principals office in a heartbeat.  Instead we have to endure their antics, as juvenile as they are.  When Obama took office, one prominent Republican said he would make it his first priority to make sure Obama was a one term president.  Funny, I was so naive as to think the first priority might be to solve our country's problems.   Silly me!

     Recently there have been studies and statements that our youth are facing obesity in major numbers.  One in three school-aged children are either overweight or obese.  Get out and move is the message sent by the White House.   Yet, we continue to cut physical education from our schools.   Play 60 from the NFL is a push to get out and play at least an hour each day, but the push seems to be geared to the urban populations surrounding the NFL cities.   Oops, forgot about us yokels far away from the franchises.   Yep, get out and play, but don't increase funds for P.E.  Great solution, thanks feds.

     Car accident rates are highest among 16 - 19 year olds in our country.   One of the major factors leading to this statistic is, are you ready, lack of skill.  "Novice teenage drivers have not yet completely mastered basic vehicle handling skills and safe-driving knowledge they need to drive safely" - California Department of Motor Vehicles.  Can you really be surprised?   Little to no driver's ed is taught in schools.   Once upon a time our schools required this class of all 15 year olds to prepare them for the hazards of the road.   In the small school district where I grew up, a local car dealership donated cars for use in the summer for practical experience behind the wheel with a driver's ed teacher.  Hmm, still could work.   Insurance companies are you listening?   I would bet funding the re-institution of driver's ed in our schools would be cheaper than paying out all the claims.   Think about it....

     Today I passed a new Eugene Police Department car.   It was, are you ready, a Prius.    Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of criminals than the ominous visage of a Toyota.    Are you serious?   If we are a part of city government and by that an extension of the U.S., shouldn't we be driving cars made in the U.S.?  Stick with Mopar, Chevy, or Ford.   You need to show some love for Detroit!   

     Wow, pretty heavy stuff coming from me.   Usually I stay away from this type of subject, but if you know me, you know I can get my dander up when the right button is pushed.   I promise not to publish more than a few of these types of posts.  Next one will have no socially redeeming value, as usual.

I Blinked

      For just a moment I looked away and what happened?   The Tigers are in first place, a nice surprise.   I watched a Mariner's game with Ichiro leading off, blinked, and there he is in Yankee pinstripes!  It must be the time of year when time is warped by the baseball gods.

 

    The Tigers are finally performing as everyone predicted.   Prince Fielder has done more than hold up his end of the bargain, now others are chipping in. Looks like a race to October. 

  I have long thought of the Mariners as a feeder club for the rest of the major leagues.  But now they seem to have accepted a role as part of the Yankees farm system.   Watching a recent game, there were three former M's starting for the Yanks.   Ichiro, Raul Ibanez, and starting pitcher Freddy Garcia all were in the lineup for the league-leading Bronx Bombers.

     I know I'm doing it again, counting the number of ex-Mariners having great years with other clubs, while the Mariners find themselves in their usual spot, last in their division.   But can you blame me, this trend just seems to go on and on.

     Mariner owners, Nintendo, need to take a long look at management and scouting and shake things up.   Their usual tact is to fire the manager, a guy who is trying to do the best with what is given him.   Not his fault!   What is former Seattle Mariner manager Bob Melvin doing these days?   Oh just leading the Oakland A's to a record that may place them in the top Wild Card spot in the A.L.

    I feel for the current crop of Mariner up n' comers, I wonder if they secretly hope to go to another club where the bad juju of Safeco is flushed from their system.   I see great potential for several players, Dustin Ackely, Kyle Seager, Jason Saunders, and Mike Carp have shown flashes, but will their development climb or plummet?  Justin Smoak, once their prized trade acquisition for Cliff Lee has been sent down to AAA, batting a paltry .189!

    Free agency has not been their friend, signing Chone Figgins has resulted in a bust.  Figgins is currently hitting .189 and the Mariners still owe him $17 million.   

    Time for change in the Emerald City, c'mon can't the Mario Brothers see the need?  I could go on, but the following link is a better illustration of the Mariner front office's ineptitude. 10 Worst Trades In Mariner History

Hey, anybody miss me?

Three Stars

     Hockey has a wonderful tradition called the "three stars".    It honors the three best players in each game as chosen by a third party, usually sports writers.  In keeping with this honored tradition, I have chosen three individuals who have caught my attention and deserve recognition for their recent and past efforts.  

My 3rd star goes to Bo Jackson

      His bicycle ride to raise money for the devastation caused by the tornadoes in Alabama is something to be admired.  The 300 mile ride hoped to raise $500,000 to donate to the governor's relief fund.  The final tally, $410,000!  It is refreshing to hear about an athlete giving back instead of taking away.

My 2nd star goes to Coach Dick Harter

 

     All Oregon hoops fans are saddened to say good bye to Coach Harter, passing away in March.  Orchestrator of the Kamikaze Kids, his idea of practice fun was loose ball drill until somebody needed stitches and defensive shuffles with bricks in the player's hands.   He was a tough one, but he gave us some of the most historical moments at Mac Court.   His teams were revered by the student body and inspired characters such as the Lone Ranger (Kenny Hoiland) to incite the crowd into such a frenzy that the scoreboard above the floor would bounce from the incredible fan noise.   The play of the Kamikaze Kids even turned my Dad into a basketball fan (he loved their style of play - reminded him of a hockey game).  Our fan base was so raucous that it prompted UCLA coach Gene Bartow to tab us as "deranged idiots", a moniker we quickly embraced.  Thanks Coach Harter for some great Mac Memories!

My 1st star goes to Oregon Baseball player Kevin Shepherd.  

     He was told he wouldn't get much playing time and that perhaps he should look into another program, but he wanted to be a Duck.   Watching and waiting, when J.J. Altobelli went down with a shoulder injury - he got his chance.   He was stellar in the field, making the hard plays look easy.  He hung in there and got his chance, helping the Ducks climb to a #6 ranking.   Here is a guy who put the team first and was willing to help in what ever way he could.   Truly a great team player, he obviously will be a success in the future with this kind of attitude.

Number Crunching

First, Happy Hockey Day in America to you all!

 Some numbers popped out at me and 

I thought I'd better share them with my faithful.

 

26
The number of days since my last blog.  Did ya miss me?


 



23
The number of consecutive home wins the Red Wings have pounded out to set a new NHL record.

8 - 1
The odds the Detroit Tigers will make it to the 2012 World Series - by contrast the Mariners are 90-1.



 


7
The number of Ducks invited to the NFL combine.  This ranks tied for second most among all colleges.

4
The place Duck basketball must finish in order to avoid playing in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament.

1
The number of runs the Ducks produced in their season opener with Hawaii.




  




0
The chances that Chip Kelly will talk about recruits to Mike Bellotti in the future.