Until College football season starts. Now see, you were looking for something more exciting. But really could be more exciting than this. That video is the best because Rondeau uses the word "scamper". Okay, so those were the glory days. This is the now:



You liked the gold endzones you say? They're back. And Steve Sarkisian just picked up a HUGE commitment out of California. Can that Skyline-Oaks Christian game on ESPNU get any bigger? By the way, awesome that he loves our classic dept. That was the dept that my Latin class, my last obstacle on the way to graduation, was in. Oh man, should've seen me when I got that final back...

More solid stuff from Bob Condotta's blog, actually by way of Percy Allen.

This story about the Pac-10's agreement with the Las Vegas bowl is interesting from the MWC side. You'll recall that the MWC was something like 5-1 against the Pac-10 last year, including BYU's 59-0 embarrassment of UCLA (couldn't resist, Rick). Anyway, the MWC is playing to receive an automatic bid to the BCS sometime in the next couple of years, as part of the four-year cycle. Obviously a twice-undefeated Utah team has proven its worthiness.

But, as I was saying, if you are hyped for football, how can you not be excited for this:



"There's no one that's gonna outwork us this year. You better get up early and go to bed late."

Can't get into SEC football? Don't worry. This year LSU travels to Seattle, ASU goes to Georgia and UCLA pays a visit to Neyland. You have to feel bad for Rick Neuheisal on this one. The Bruins first road trip is to Tennessee where they will lineup against a guy named Eric Berry. Never heard of him? That link is to his Heisman website. Also, he was the one in the video above making just about every defensive play, including flattening Knowshon Moreno at the end. Then UCLA ends it's season on the other side of town at the Coliseum where not only are they gonna get drilled by the SC, they will go up against another likely top-10 pick in Taylor Mays. And it very well could happen with a freshman quarterback on the field, that, wait for it, Neuheisal stole from UW (we're doin' alright though, some guy named Montana is coming...). Ouch.

In case you didn't notice, I am pretty hyped for football.

On other thing, for you Jim, on your argument about the SEC vs. Pac-10. Check out the stat about halfway down.

Couple other sports links:

The Rockies are making life pretty tough for San Fran. Seems like there is a wild finish everyday in the bigs.

Think Griffey wasn't a good pickup for the M's? I was there on opening day when he was announced. You couldn't hear the next three names the P.A. announcer said. And it seems like some young kid says stuff like this about him everyday. There are also his numbers, which, will some may argue the Mariners can't afford those as a DH, he projects to 20 homers and 60 RBI in limited playing time and for only $2 million. Given his presence and the fact that teams still pitch around him (he has 52 walks and has shown that he can still hit for some power), hard to argue that is a bad move. Not mention, come on, he's Ken Griffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey Junior. Get real.

ESPN makes fun of itself for all the coverage of the guy that won't retire.




I've actually given this story a lot of thought over the last 12 hours or so. People tend to not cut athletes any slack. Ever. "What do they have to be depressed about. Multimillionaires with everything that are just corrupt," and on and on. That is why I like one line in this column, "Beasley, a second-year forward, is only 20 -- he could be your son or mine..." Sometimes we forget that athletes are human beings. Constantly we tell our kids that, "money can't buy you happiness," yet we look at athletes and expect them to be perfect and content all the time. If you've been paying attention to the recent town hall forums where Congressman have been getting grilled by the public, imagine being an athlete. That is a daily thing for them. Watch the movie "61" where they talk about Roger Maris losing his hair from the stress. And drug addiction is very real. A lot of athletes come from homes with addicted parents or family members. This issues are human and they are serious, and Cote is right. Give the man credit for checking himself in. And don't blame the Heat for taking him because they did know. And now they are both protecting their multimillion dollar investment and the man. Give them credit too.

Finally, I'll have some more politically-minded stuff later today, I think. But I wanted to leave you with these ads, released today.

Morning y'all from the town that got the outstretches of a hurricane on Saturday. First time I've done an extended day of basketball, which in my growing age is about 2.5 hours. But we did it outside over in NE which is pretty ghetto. It was horribly humid and just difficult to move. Between the four of us we drank at least three gallons of water while we were playing and probably lost more than that to sweat. And it was right as we were finishing that the rains came.

And they didn't stop until Sunday morning. The the storm actually started Friday afternoon and we had about a 36 hour lightning storm with a small break from the rain on Saturday morning. It was nice to have rain back and get the air cleared out. Yesterday was just amazing. Clear and mid-80's.

Alright, enough about the weather. I possibly have real things to talk about.

(This is an interjection. It occurred to me that I didn't actually write anything about the Yankees. Well, they beat Boston. Again. sixth time in seven games. And they hit five homers off Josh Beckett. And their awesome. See grandpa, we don't disagree on everything. However, the Raiders? Well, let's just say - actually let's not.).

-

Okay wow. I had to add a gap there. Now, I knew today was going to be busy. I started the blog post before I left this morning because I knew this and I'm liking the trend of two-a-day (as long as content keeps up, which I know hasn't quite been the case - sorry). I already had plans for the second blog that I hashed out on the bus this morning. On the DC public school system. Some interesting stuff that hopefully I will visit tomorrow. But instead of being able to finish it off, here I am at 9:36 pm finishing, trying frantically to get done because I have work to do as well.

Oh, Monday. The day always feels short because we have a staff meeting and often times other meetings throughout. Even though the big meeting only takes about 30 minutes, it is at 11 am so it feels like it just cuts the day in half. I also don't like to leave projects undone so that really bugs me. That would be a normal Monday, though. On this Monday I had all the normal stuff to do, as well as a couple of blog posts to write, updating the Heat Is On (HIO) site (which hasn't been done yet) and a couple more meetings to sit. Oh yeah, and one more thing: the Sarah Palin project.

I cannot really reveal the details yet because the entire project is not completed, but as soon as it is, look for a link. One of the requirements was to just find something ridiculous that Palin has said. Obviously this isn't hard. However, it needed to be an audio or video clip (not just text) and it needed to be in the context of energy. Even if it was about energy, as long as she was talking about energy and then just said something like "my foreign policy experience is great because Russia is my neighbor," that would've been find. Now that is harder than you think. Hard to the tune of, wait for it, SIX HOURS of listening to Sarah Palin speeches, interviews, town halls, ropeline discussions, fishing tips, you name it. If I have to hear the words maverick, drill, baby, gosh, well, or her voice again I might jump off the Washington Monument. Six hours of her high-pitched squeaky voice in which she can never string a series of words together into that thing some of us call a sentence. I watched her last speech at the Governor's picnic (her last day in office) three times. That is when she tells the press to stop making things up, in honor of the military. WHAT?! I remember when I first heard the on the day she gave it, telling someone it was a "train wreck" and that person responding to me, "those are the exact words someone else used to describe it." At least I'm not alone. At one point I actually got up, walked down the hall to my boss'as office and said rather matter-of-factly, "I bet you could walk down Crenshaw and hear better English." That is not racist, it's the truth. Period. Still, at some point in the near future, this final video should be hilarious.

That right there was six of my 9.5 hours physically in my office today. Not including before I left or now. Which could very well stretch into the night. Hard to tell you more about today than that, honestly.

So here are some links for you to check out:

First a quote that is moving around the internet today, attributed to Kirk Herstreit, even though he didn't really say it:

“Ducks are the college football version of Paris Hilton… they’re famous for no reason, they look pretty and they got a rich daddy.” - Again, sorry grandfather. Truer words have rarely been spoken.

Continuing with sports first:

Pete Rose should have been inducted into the Hall of Fame 17 years ago this month.




This has only happened twice in history. And only the fourth time since 1950 that a team has done it and hit an inside-the-park homerun in the same game.

Edge is a Hawk.

Social media is taking over the world, as evidenced by UW Athletics having a YouTube page (to go along with Twitter, Facebook, you name it). LCV actually has multiple YouTube pages, as well. Unfortunately it is too new to have any video content that I was involved it, but here's something I will really miss.



That Jon Brockman was special huh?

-

If this is even remotely true then it only heaps more sadness on an already sad tale. Regardless of your feelings for the man, Michael Jackson was one of the most talented musicians in history.

Only in SoCal.

Boycotting Whisky? That might be taking it a little too far. However, Scotland screw this one up, big time.

I've already shared this on my Facebook, but Glenn Beck is from Mount Vernon, Wash.

I honestly really do like the pre-Presidential politics John McCain. Nice words about Ted Kennedy.

As always you should check out Act Green. But on this day story about Southwest was written by me. It is actually pretty cool.

I'd like to make a habit of highlighting something that a friend, new or old, of mine is doing on a regular basis. Today I have nothing. However, I will point out that I have just started ready The Ragin Cajun himself, James Carville's new book, 40 More Years. I'll let you know how it goes.

As always, thank you for reading. Stay Classy.