Basketball players from both Rutgers and Tennessee have opined that shock-jock Imus has tarnished their seasons. Hey, players: Don't give this joker credit for ruining anything. He didn't. He can't. He has demonstrated simply how ignorant he is by his woefully pathetic attempts at humor, and a person this ignorant can only be pitied, that is, if you want to give him any thoughts at all.
Ruin the season. No! Ruin the championship game. Hell, no! Certainly, it is upsetting that someone can do what this man did, but the quick withdrawal of sponsorships followed by the withdrawal of his employment status should signal any other such ignorant person what might happen to him/her should such a stunt be pulled again.
My daughter is a Rutgers graduate. I am a Tennessee graduate. Neither of us gives Imus a second thought.
He doesn't deserve it.
Basketball players, like the coach used to tell us: "shake it off", and realize that public attestations that this ignorant person has somehow lessened great achievement might only give another misguided person inspiration to make similar ignorant statements. Don't give these idiots that fuel.
Ignore it. Don't give it any more press.
Imus can't ruin Tennessee's championship season.
Imus can't ruin Rutgers' exciting and surprising arrival at the Championship game.
These achievements are forever.
Imus is gone.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Monday, January 1, 2007
Boise State (12-0)* vs. Oklahoma (12-1)* _____ 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
New Year's Day, 2007 - I must admit a bit of irritation when I first saw the Fiesta Bowl matchup of Boise State vs. Oklahoma. I mean, why couldn't they match Boise State, with no losses in 2006, against Rutgers, with only one loss on the year, instead of sticking them in bowls against two powerful Big 12 teams, Oklahoma and Kansas State? Before the Sooners caught their breath, Boise State had a 14-0 lead and led 28-10 at halftime. With about two minutes left in the game, Oklahoma scored to bring the score to 28-26. The Sooners had to go for two to tie, hoping to take the game to overtime. It took three tries, because of two penalties, but the Sooners tied it. With a little more than a minute left to play, the Broncos had other ideas about going to overtime, but the first pass was intercepted by Oklahoma and returned for a TD. Leading 35-28, Oklahoma kicked off for the second time in only a few seconds, and with 52 seconds left in the game, Boise State started driving and scored with 4 seconds left in the game on the most unusual, best-looking, and most smoothly executed hook-and-lateral play I've seen in more than fifty years of watching college football.
35-35. Overtime begins, and Oklahoma scores on the first play.
42-35. Oklahoma. Time after time, it appears that Boise State is stopped, but they grind out two first downs then score with the quarterback going in motion to the left and a receiver taking the snap, rolling to the right sideline and throwing a pass to the tight end.
42-41 Oklahoma. Boise State reveals its Statue of Liberty with a fake pass towards a Bronco trio in the right corner of the end zone, and with the ball well-hidden on the right hip, the handoff is made and no one can catch the runner to the left corner of the end zone.
Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42. In 61 years of life (and I attended my first college game at age 8), I don't think I've ever been so elated at the end of a bowl game.
And for an absolutely perfect ending, a Boise State star player (the one who carried the ball across the goal line for the winning two-point conversion) proposed to the head cheerleader on national t.v. at the end of his post-game interview.
*** stars in my eyes ***
==========================================
It's been quite a day, January 1, 2007. After the Boise State victory, it no longer seems to matter that Arkansas lost to Wisconsin, that West Virginia defeated Georgia Tech, or that Penn State topped Tennessee, all three come-from-behind victories (I predicted the first two and missed the third, but I wanted the other three to win). Auburn came through with a win over Nebraska, as predicted, and as desired, and so did Southern Cal, showing the nation that if either team in the Rose Bowl deserved to play for the National Championship, maybe it wasn't Michigan after all, as so many people had opined. The Trojans more or less trounced the Wolverines. Like a number of other pollsters, I have a rating system which had Ohio State and Michigan ranked first and second. But that's on paper. On the field, things are often a bit different than they are on paper.
I now love Boise State, obnoxious blue field and all. Their uniform colors may hurt my eyes, but their spirit inspires my soul. Go, Broncos! You guys made me happy today.
<><><><><> old guy disclaimer <><><><><><><>
It's late; I'm in my sixties; If I missed some of the
details, y`all give me a break - This is the way I
remember it. Feel free to post a comment to this
blog to correct my imperfect recollection.
~~~~~~~~ about the records~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The title shows the team records prior to the bowl game.
Since Oklahoma didn't really lose to Oregon, I have not
recorded that game as a loss. The NCAA record books
will record the final records, after playing the bowl game,
as 13-0 for Boise State and 11-3 for Oklahoma.
35-35. Overtime begins, and Oklahoma scores on the first play.
42-35. Oklahoma. Time after time, it appears that Boise State is stopped, but they grind out two first downs then score with the quarterback going in motion to the left and a receiver taking the snap, rolling to the right sideline and throwing a pass to the tight end.
42-41 Oklahoma. Boise State reveals its Statue of Liberty with a fake pass towards a Bronco trio in the right corner of the end zone, and with the ball well-hidden on the right hip, the handoff is made and no one can catch the runner to the left corner of the end zone.
Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42. In 61 years of life (and I attended my first college game at age 8), I don't think I've ever been so elated at the end of a bowl game.
And for an absolutely perfect ending, a Boise State star player (the one who carried the ball across the goal line for the winning two-point conversion) proposed to the head cheerleader on national t.v. at the end of his post-game interview.
*** stars in my eyes ***
==========================================
It's been quite a day, January 1, 2007. After the Boise State victory, it no longer seems to matter that Arkansas lost to Wisconsin, that West Virginia defeated Georgia Tech, or that Penn State topped Tennessee, all three come-from-behind victories (I predicted the first two and missed the third, but I wanted the other three to win). Auburn came through with a win over Nebraska, as predicted, and as desired, and so did Southern Cal, showing the nation that if either team in the Rose Bowl deserved to play for the National Championship, maybe it wasn't Michigan after all, as so many people had opined. The Trojans more or less trounced the Wolverines. Like a number of other pollsters, I have a rating system which had Ohio State and Michigan ranked first and second. But that's on paper. On the field, things are often a bit different than they are on paper.
I now love Boise State, obnoxious blue field and all. Their uniform colors may hurt my eyes, but their spirit inspires my soul. Go, Broncos! You guys made me happy today.
<><><><><> old guy disclaimer <><><><><><><>
It's late; I'm in my sixties; If I missed some of the
details, y`all give me a break - This is the way I
remember it. Feel free to post a comment to this
blog to correct my imperfect recollection.
~~~~~~~~ about the records~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The title shows the team records prior to the bowl game.
Since Oklahoma didn't really lose to Oregon, I have not
recorded that game as a loss. The NCAA record books
will record the final records, after playing the bowl game,
as 13-0 for Boise State and 11-3 for Oklahoma.
Friday, December 8, 2006
Same Old Lang Syne
Amazed. I am simply amazed at how many comments are posted on Dan Fogelberg's 30-year-old classic Same Old Lang Syne. Every year it's the same. People seem to love it or get sick when they hear it. And they take time to write about it! Must be a real catchy tune (o.k., English majors - I know it's "really catchy tune", but "real" adds the proper emphasis) to get this much blogplay. Most of the comments this year are of the nausea variety, but I am astonished that it brings such strong feelings that listeners feel compelled to write about it.
My theory is that mamas between the current ages of forty and fifty-five loved Dan Fogelberg, and, accordingly, loved Same Old Lang Syne, from 1980 through 1989 when it appeared seasonally in the charts. I was thirty-five when the song was released, and I recall young women swooning over Dan and listening to that song incessantly. Small children, or maybe even unborn children in the womb, heard the song repeatedly, and they had no control over what mama was playing. Something in the song was unpleasant to the small tykes, and those people, now in their late teens or early to mid-twenties, are blogging about it. Maybe they didn't like the "...and felt that old familiar pain," or maybe they didn't like the saxaphone solo at the end, or maybe they didn't like the fact that the song wasn't really a Christmas song at all but was being played amongst carols, thus impairing the normal balance of things, but for whatever reason, some people seem to truly despise it.
For those who hate the song, it will likely make no difference that the song had its beginning as a joke and that Dan had no intention of writing a song that landed in the Top Ten. He had attended the symphony on Christmas Eve. The performance ended with The 1812 Overture, and it was on Dan's mind while he went to the Quick-Mart to buy some whipped cream which his mother needed for Christmas Eve dessert. At the store, the events happened as described in the song, and later that evening as he sat at the piano playing the 10-note introductory portion of the Overture's French invasion of Russia (the part where they shoot the fireworks in the concerts in the park), he began absent-mindedly singing "Met my old lover at the grocery store..." and the rest is history. It has been a mainstay in Fogelberg's live concerts since its release, nowadays usually the first encore, and there was, for ten years or so, audience interaction with "I said the audience was heavenly", but Dan no longer pauses at that point...
The college where I was an adjunct professor for awhile taught songwriting, and the textbook for introductory songwriting had a chapter on "Songs which tell a story." The two songs used as the best examples of such songs were Same Old Lang Syne and Cat Stevens' Taxi, so perhaps the appearance of the song in such an authoritative reminder as a textbook turned off some of the younger generation.
Deejays really have no business playing the song only at Christmas, since it is not a Christmas song, but I think we all know why they do it. When a pop star has a song which evens mentions the season, it becomes fodder for airplay seasonally so listeners won't be stuck with just carols or traditional songs. I know some people really don't like this song. I don't understand the objection, but I know it exists.
Free advice to those who do not wish to hear the song:
(1) Call the deejays at your favorite stations and explain that it's not a Christmas song.
(2) When the song comes on the air, use the buttons on your radio.
(3) Stay out of elevators and grocery stores.
And have a very Merry Christmas.
My theory is that mamas between the current ages of forty and fifty-five loved Dan Fogelberg, and, accordingly, loved Same Old Lang Syne, from 1980 through 1989 when it appeared seasonally in the charts. I was thirty-five when the song was released, and I recall young women swooning over Dan and listening to that song incessantly. Small children, or maybe even unborn children in the womb, heard the song repeatedly, and they had no control over what mama was playing. Something in the song was unpleasant to the small tykes, and those people, now in their late teens or early to mid-twenties, are blogging about it. Maybe they didn't like the "...and felt that old familiar pain," or maybe they didn't like the saxaphone solo at the end, or maybe they didn't like the fact that the song wasn't really a Christmas song at all but was being played amongst carols, thus impairing the normal balance of things, but for whatever reason, some people seem to truly despise it.
For those who hate the song, it will likely make no difference that the song had its beginning as a joke and that Dan had no intention of writing a song that landed in the Top Ten. He had attended the symphony on Christmas Eve. The performance ended with The 1812 Overture, and it was on Dan's mind while he went to the Quick-Mart to buy some whipped cream which his mother needed for Christmas Eve dessert. At the store, the events happened as described in the song, and later that evening as he sat at the piano playing the 10-note introductory portion of the Overture's French invasion of Russia (the part where they shoot the fireworks in the concerts in the park), he began absent-mindedly singing "Met my old lover at the grocery store..." and the rest is history. It has been a mainstay in Fogelberg's live concerts since its release, nowadays usually the first encore, and there was, for ten years or so, audience interaction with "I said the audience was heavenly", but Dan no longer pauses at that point...
The college where I was an adjunct professor for awhile taught songwriting, and the textbook for introductory songwriting had a chapter on "Songs which tell a story." The two songs used as the best examples of such songs were Same Old Lang Syne and Cat Stevens' Taxi, so perhaps the appearance of the song in such an authoritative reminder as a textbook turned off some of the younger generation.
Deejays really have no business playing the song only at Christmas, since it is not a Christmas song, but I think we all know why they do it. When a pop star has a song which evens mentions the season, it becomes fodder for airplay seasonally so listeners won't be stuck with just carols or traditional songs. I know some people really don't like this song. I don't understand the objection, but I know it exists.
Free advice to those who do not wish to hear the song:
(1) Call the deejays at your favorite stations and explain that it's not a Christmas song.
(2) When the song comes on the air, use the buttons on your radio.
(3) Stay out of elevators and grocery stores.
And have a very Merry Christmas.
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