Friday, September 29, 2006

How I Hate Making Phone Calls, So I Lead a Lonely Life

My apologies for announcing yesterday that Dan Carlson named "Pancho and Lefty" by Townes Van Zandt/Willie Nelson as the Wednesday Song of the Day.

Do you remember what it was like when you found out that there was no Santa Claus? How about when you discovered that the Tooth Fairy was a big dental conspiracy? The Easter Bunny? A larger plot of deceit than the circumstances surrounding JFK's assassination. I had such a moment yesterday.

Someone told me to check out The Sports Guy's apperance on The Colbert Report. I thought to myself, "The Sports Guy and Colbert? This is going to be great. Two of the people whose humor I have enjoyed the most recently." You can view the segment here.

It was alright, but someone who commented on the video at You Tube nailed the problem: We're talking about two different forms of humor with Simmons and Colbert and those forms of humor do not always mix well. Both men are funny, but they operate in different styles. Picasso and Matisse if you will.
Simmons is accustomed to communicating his humor and ideas mainly through the form of writing, but Colbert is a verbal communicator. Also, Colbert's method is very different from most talk show hosts in that he plays the straight man and makes the guest uncomfortable unless the guest understands Colbert's style. I think Simmons understands Colbert's style, but he isn't comfortable with the "on-air" comedy at this point.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

I Don't Care If It's Chinatown or on Riverside

I promised you photos of the members of Team Jodayyy's Upper Management Structure, and now I deliver.

The ever mysterious Connor Parker gave me this picture.

I'm not sure if Mr. Parker shares the belief of some African tribes that photos steal a small part of your soul or if no one in Virginia owns cameras. It has to be one of those two options. In the interest of democracy, I'll let you decide which one.

Next, here is a fantastic photo of our VP of Player Development, Mr. Cody Blair.

In the interest of dispelling the potential fears of parents on Team Jodayyy, Mr. Blair may wear a creepy "Chester the Molester" stash, but appearances can be deceiving.

Team Jodayyy 2006: "We're Just Living the Dream"

I Don't Have Any Reasons, I've Left Them All Behind

Is law school tough? Yes. Is it as bad as everyone makes it out to be? Probably not, at least not yet.

Previously, I've mentioned the brilliant t-shirts that you see all over BLS, describing the law school as the place where "Fun Goes to Die." I think those shirts are great, but probably a bit over the top. I guess that's just part of the inherent nature of organizations like law schools and the military. People love to make it worse than it actually is.

It's not exciting to walk up to someone wearing a shirt that says, "Baylor Law School: I Study alot, but it's not all that bad." It's much more enjoyable to say that you go to what the Texas Bar Association sometimes refers to as the "Marine Corps of law schools."

If anything, people love to tell war stories about how a professor completely obliterated someone in class, because when others hear those stories they somehow admire your resiliency in being able to withstand such punishment on a day in/day out basis. To tell you the truth, people do get kicked out from time to time, but it's not like profs do it for entirely arbitrary reasons.

In summation, here's what all of you out there need to do when you hear law students whine and moan about how hard things are, learn to take it with a grain of salt. Start throwing things back like, "Oh yeah, well how about being in labor for 23 hours." or "It could be worse, you could have to sit and listen to Brent Musberger doing college football games for the rest of your life."

You're right, I'll take law school.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

He Wore His Gun Outside His Pants

I'll begin today's post with a little SAT analogy question.
  • As Iran is to the United States, the internet is to...........
  • A. Al Gore
  • B. The founder of Amazon.com (Jeff Bezos)
  • C. My father
  • D. Steven Seagal (that's for you Jim's Lake Air Barber Shop)

All of you who guessed answer choice C. My father, you are correct. Didn't you learn anything from all of those years guessing and bluffing your way through objective tests? Always choose C when you have no idea.

When my parents visited this past weekend, the internet came up in one of our conversations and my father expressed his disdain for the worldwide web. Now, I happen to know that he frequently uses the internet to look up guitar tabs and persue the Tyler Bicycle Club website, but I understand his point. Sometimes the web can be a bramble bush of nonsense, but on certain days it yields nuggets of gold. Today, my friends, was one of those days.

First, I stumbled across this gem on the NY Times website.
Yes, that's right. On the Anti-Castro TV network that the U.S. government beams into Cuban homes, there is a show called "Office of the Chief" where the whole family gets to chuckle at the zany exploits of fictional Fidel and Raul. I could be mistaken, but isn't that Jerry Stiller portraying Fidel in the above photo? I can hear it now, "Workers of the world unite. Serenity now!"

Second, you knew I was going to comment on this. When I first heard the story, I knew it wasn't true. You may ask, "Justin, how did you know that? Have you acquired some type of clairvoyant abilities?" The answer is none of the above. Think about it with me. Would T.O., the master of shenigans that raise the greatest amount of public hype, ever think about committing suicide in such a private way as overdosing on pills? No way.

He's going to pull the stunt that generates the most press coverage before he does it. He would stand on top of Texas Stadium threatening to jump through the hole in the roof before he plunged like Icarus. We know this guy too well to think that he would pick something as quiet as pills.

P.S. I'm not trying to make light of suicide, but merely attempting to point out the absurd nature of the coverage surrounding this whole story. If I have offended anyone, I apologize.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

To Me This Love Was True and Shining, These Years Were Real and Defining

As they say, all good things must come to an end. Team Jodayyy suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of El Mojo, owned by Brandon Maenius. It all came down to Reggie Bush's performance last night on Monday Night Football, and as you probably have guessed, betting against Reggie is not a good idea. He's having the best year by far for a guy with the last name of Bush.
We have a big matchup with Team Nate Low, owned by Cole Griffith, next week so don't hang your heads for too long.

Monday, September 25, 2006

I'm Gonna Miss You Like I Miss the Ocean When I Go to Sleep

Congratulations to Dan Carlson for correctly naming "Still Fighting It" by Ben Folds as the Sunday Song of the Day.

Do you ever wish that you could print out cards to hand to people when you know you are going to be asked the same question over and over again? Ideally these cards would have a terse response to the query that so many have.

I would have paid a hefty sum for these from time to time throughout my life so far. If you are reading this and you asked me one of these questions, don't feel bad, it's part of life.
  • So how do you like working at Trek?
  • How is ACU?
  • How is law school?

Don't get me wrong here. I enjoy talking to people and interacting with those around me, but I knew that when I went back to Abilene last weekend, I was going to be inundated with questions about law school. I guess that's natural because it is a new portion of my life, but after awhile I just get tired of the trite "it's good" answer.

Part of the responsibility to provide more creative answers lies with me of course, but I'm not sure that people want to hear things about establishing territorial jurisdiction over non-present defendants. Perhaps they do and not telling them was my grand mistake. I could have this all wrong. We'll just have to see...

I'll share my favorite quote from Professor Counseller today: "The other day I was watching MSNBC, and it must have been a slow news day because they had a story about how Willie Nelson's tour bus had been pulled over and a search revealed marijuana on the bus. In other shocking news, the sun rose in the east this morning."

Sunday, September 24, 2006

The Roast Beef Combo's Only $9.95

You may have no idea who Terry Berry was, but Abilene lost one of its local icons this past week. You can read an article from the Abilene Reporter-News here that Sarah Carlson has provided.

Almost every city has people that stand out for various reasons, but their names are not always known because they don't occupy traditional positions of power and leadership. When I was in high school, there was a guy who always ran around Tyler carrying an American flag. You would see him on S. Broadway, at Bergfeld Park, and running down 110.

Everywhere he went he carried the American flag. I always wondered what his story was, and one night the local ABC affiliate did a story on him. He was a former marine who had been injured and could no longer serve in the military, but he began running with the flag after 9/11 as part of his own patriotic contribution.

Current Reading



Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There by David Brooks


Current Listening


Rockin' the Suburbs by Ben Folds

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Hollywood Hills and Suburban Thrills

Congratulations to Ms. Heidi Hipp for naming "Helicopter" by Bloc Party as the Friday Song of the Day all the way from China. It's pretty interesting that I have two friends who are over in China right now teaching at universities.

You can read about Patty V's adventures in Wuhan here, and about Heidi Hipp's time in Hangzhou here. That is one the fun parts about growing up and moving out into the world. All of your friends are moving into these next experiences and everyone is learning and growing. It's an exciting time.

I took another trip to Jim's Lake Air Barber Shop this morning, but much to my dismay Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal were not part of the talking points. When my barber asked me where I was from and I told him Tyler, he responded that he had dated a girl from Tyler who was very good looking. Taking this comment by itself, it would not have meant much, but I had also had a similar conversation with some of my fellow first year students when I told them where I was from. I'm not sure how true these comments are, but hearing them in a relatively short period of time might give them some creedence.

I loved seeing the Herbstreit children on the College Gameday set this morning, but one of Kirk's sons looked pretty disturbed when Lee Corso put on his Brutus the Buckeye head. Lee Corso, a torment to children everywhere.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Are You Hoping for a Miracle?

At the risk of being terribly self-ironic and hating myself in 5 years for writing this...at popular demand I bring you the first public annoucement of the upper management structure for Team Jodayyy.

Owner, C.E.O., and President-J. Thomas Scott.

Hey, I started the team, I make all the actual decisions, and this is my blog. Sounds like a perfect recipe for power if you ask me.

VP of Wit and Sarcasm/Liasion to the Stars--Mr. Dan Carlson.

I envision Dan's role with the team as part announcer/part demoralizer of the opposition. He will fit nicely into the role of the announcer who is completely biased and derides the other team at all moments. A mix of Dennis Miller/Al Franken/Ann Coulter. That's not Dan, but this is the role we need him to play.

VP of Vigilante Justice/Retribution--Mr. Joseph R. Halbert.


Joey is the go-to guy if I need someone to be "taken care of." I'm pretty sure that he is capable to fill this role after all of the Counter-Strike/Rainbow Six that he has played.

VP of Chemical Tactics--Mr. Connor Parker.

There is no photo available at this time for Mr. Parker.

If Joey cannot seal the deal, we will send in Connor who will basically pull a Jim Jones on the opposition. Nothing is quite as tasty as cyanide-laced Gatorade.

I know what you are thinking as you sit there reading this. Justin, is your team really that vicious and dastardly? The answer is yes. It's a hard life out there kids. Kill or be killed. Welcome to the neighborhood.

Added at 12: 11 p.m.

Due to a great error on my part, I forgot to introduce you to another important member of our management team:

VP of Player Development--Mr. Cody Blair

(Blogger is being difficult with pictures right now, but I'll try to post one later. Trust me, it's a doozy.)

I'm pretty sure that Cody has no idea which players I have on my team, but he is developing them folks.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Your Bright Eyes Are What the Time is, Twenty Five Past Eternity

Congratulations to Andrew Tuegel for correctly naming "Bartender" by the Dave Matthews Band as the Wednesday Song of the Day.

It is difficult for me to listen to music and not allow that song to take me back to a particular memory or period in my life. In 5th Grade it was listening to the album Cracked Rear View by Hootie and the Blowfish. I hate to admit this, but my sophomore year of high school I actually thought Creed was pretty good. I was young and foolish. Chastise me if you must. My junior and senior years I was practically obsessed with the Dave Matthews Band. It was difficult to ride with me without listening to Crash or Before These Crowded Streets. Once I arrived at ACU, I began to delve into the world of Phish. When I say delve, that means I did not go full-scale into the Phish sub-culture by growing dreads and smoking large amounts of ganja.

When I look back on this period at the beginning of law school, one album is probably going to stand out. That album is White Ladder by David Gray.
White Ladder is not Gray's most recent album, but for some reason the music connects with where I am at this point in my life. Gray deals with a lot of themes about what it means to be on your own, how that process can be painful, but how there is growth in continuing to press on.

What are the albums that you listen to and are immediately reminded of a certain phase in your life?

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

If All This Gold Should Steal My Soul Away

It's funny what you can find out about yourself when you enter your name into a Google search. I honestly had no idea that I was a rising star on the poker circuit.
It is my distinct pleasure to introduce you to my alter ego, Justin "Raise the Pot" Scott. Apparently I just won the World Series of Poker, but no one informed me of this. I really need to start paying more attention to my own life. As if all of that was not enough, my doppleganger is also 22. Excuse me, sir...could you pass a little bit of that cash my way?

Somehow and someway I still find time for law school. It's a busy life being everywhere at once.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

I Wanted to Sail Upon Your Waters Since I Was Three Feet Tall

Team Jodayyy Week 2 Update for Silent (but valuable) Partners Dan Carlson and Connor Parker--We continued our ascent towards greatness by destroying Team Jiggerscout (Jacob Wardell). Up next week, El Mojo led by Brandon "Sideshow Bob" Maenius.

All dividends, royalties, and income from the team will be paid out in Christmas Bonus checks. That last part is not true in the least, but I wanted to see if I could somehow sucker anyone else into joining as a silent partner. The more the merrier!

I didn't get to catch the Dodgers v. Padres game last night, but that might have been one of the most amazing finishes for a baseball game that I have ever heard of. Four straight solo homers in the 9th to tie the score, with two of those homers coming off of Trevor Hoffman, one of the best closers of his generation. Then, as if that was not enough, Nomahhhh wins the game in the 10th with a two-run shot. Not a bad way to move into first place for the boys from Tinseltown. Here is a link to an article on ESPN.com by Eric Neel detailing the roller-coaster ride.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Lighting the Fuse Might Result in a Bang

I have returned from my voyage to the Key City. It is always good to see friends and to see people holding watermelons in the Beauchamp Ampitheater. It's funny to think that I am one of the old guys coming back telling what Austin Henley likes to call BWIP stories (Back when I pledged....we had to hold Volkswaged Beetles instead of watermelons....it was Bid Year not Bid Night....etc.).
I guess I am going to have to become accustomed to it always seeming too short when I see my friends again, but it was hard leaving yesterday. As we all sat in the Burg on Saturday night and flipped back and forth between games it seemed like nothing had changed in the last 4-5 months but so much has changed.

Guys had to leave in order to go back to their wives. Yes, I said WIVES. It's weird, I know. People were getting tired at 10 and we began to go to bed on the various couches and recliners throughout the house. Yesterday, we all went our separate ways once again. Some headed back to school, some stayed in Abilene, and others went back to jobs. Part of life is learning to adjust to what is coming down the pipe, but that does mean that you always have to like it.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

A Heart of Stone, A Smoking Gun, I Can Give You Life, I Can Take it Away

It's getting late and I'm ready for bed, but I wanted to write because this might be my last post for the next day or so.

I'm headed back to the Key City tomorrow for Bid Night. I had a Sibling call me tonight talking some kind of nonsense. I guess you can graduate but still have friends on campus who will find ways to pull pranks on you by having unsuspecting Siblings call you. I can remember this night three years ago as if it were yesterday. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I have come to find that pledging was one of the best, if not the best, decisions that I made at ACU. I know it's not for everybody, but I am still thankful each day that I pledged GSP.

P.S. Another reason I'm thankful for GSP is that without it, I probably would not have a very interactive experience here on the blog. Special thanks goes out to Joey Halbert, Chris Field, Dan Carlson, Joel Weckerly, Austin Henley, Connor Parker, Patrick Vincent, Cole Griffith, Heath Huston, Mason Orr, and Cody Blair on that front. If I left anyone out, please accept my deep apologies.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

My Occupational Hazard Being My Occupation's Just Not Around

Dan Carlson left the following comment on yesterday's post:

"Does the Rule of 2 extend to sports-related clothing? A guy in the office wore a Redskins jersey and a Chargers cap the other day, and he looked like a douche (though he always does, so I could be biased). Your advice on this would be greatly appreciated. "

I left a short response on yesterday's post, but I think this subject deserves a much more intensive examination. Here we go...




The Unofficial Rules of Wearing Sports Related Apparel (in no order)
  • Never, and I repeat never, simultaneously wear pieces of apparel from teams in the same league/sport. This rule applies to the situation that Dan mentioned. No one should be caught dead in a Seahawks jersey and a Texans hat.

  • A note on the previous rule: Many New Yorkers tried to justify their defiance of the last rule during the Subway Series between the Yankees and Mets in 2000. The "I'm from New York and I will be happy no matter which team wins" defense is no excuse to wear a Yankees cap and a Mets jersey.

  • Do not simultaneously wear apparel from two different colleges. I saw this one all the time at ACU. People wearing ACU hats and Harvard t-shirts. ACU shirts with University of Texas hats.

  • A slight exception to the previous rule exists. If you are wearing a shirt or hat for a fraternity/sorority/"social club" at your university, you can wear apparel relating to another university at the same time. I.e. a GSP shirt with a UT hat. I've pulled this one many times, so maybe that's why it's an exception.

  • You may simultaneously wear items from a pro sports team and a college. A Minnesota Vikings hat with a University of Minnesota Golden Gophers sweatshirt is appropriate. It is not necessary that these two items represent teams in a geographically similar area as my example might suggest.

  • If you are wearing two pieces of sports apparel at the same time, please limit to it 2 items from the same team/university. The Texas Rangers cap with the jersey is appropriate, but in the name of Ian Kinsler leave the Rangers flip-flops or sweatpants at home.

  • The only time you should wear the jersey of someone no longer on your team is if they have retired. Rangers fans, if any of you are audacious enough to still even own A-Fraud jerseys, don't wear them to games simply because they have the team name on the front.

  • For goodness sakes, quit being a cheapskate, fork over your cash or plastic for a jersey of a player currently on the team. When Juan Gonzalez or Pudge ever retire, it is appropriate to wear their Rangers jerseys because they had some quality years with the franchise.

That's all I have for right now, but if any of you can think of additional rules, please feel free to offer them.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

The Cannons Don't Thunder, There' s Nothing to Plunder

I've never been a big morning exercise fan. At ACU, I would usually go run or ride my bike in the afternoon or early evening. Maybe that was because most semesters I had 8 o'clocks, but the afternoon seemed like a great time to be out. Since my first class this quarter does not begin until 10:30, I have decided to make the switch to the early morning workout program.
As I ride down the streets of Waco as it is waking to a new day, I always enjoy seeing the routines of people as I pass by their houses. Day after day the same people out mowing their lawns, walking their dogs, and leaving for work. I guess it's something inherently enjoyable about observing the daily rhythms of people.

In other unrelated news, Team Jodayyy (run by yours truly) obliterated Team Nate Low (run by Cole Griffith) in the first weekend of Fantasy Football. Team Jiggerscout (Jake Wardell) has been warned, You're next.

Monday, September 11, 2006

The Only Things Worth Living for are Innocence and Magic

One of the greatest struggles for any Christian is the day in/day out remembrance that we are living as part of something that is not of this world. Yesterday morning as I sat in church and the communion trays were passed down the aisles, everything began to move in slow motion. I remembered why that time is so special.

It is the time each week when I am forced to remember that as I take the body and blood, I am taking in Christ. The early Christians were accused of being cannibals because they ate flesh and drank blood. Yesterday I was reminded that as I take in the life of Christ a small part of me is lost and I gain part of his life.

I cannot believe it has been 5 years. I was walking in from band practice at the beginning of my senior year of high school. Mr. Whitley said that there was some kind of national emergency and they would tell us more about in our second period class. As I walked down the hall, it was the most deafening silence that I had ever heard at Whitehouse High School. No one was talking. Everyone walked around as if they could not believe what they had seen.

As I walked into Mrs. Butler's classroom, all eyes were turned toward the TV. There was smoke pouring out of one of the towers and everyone knew that something had gone terribly wrong. I do not think I will ever see anything as visually unbelievable as the sight of the towers coming down in an apocalyptic cloud of dust, concrete, and glass.

We sat at dinner that night and watched the talking heads attempt to do what no of us could do. How can you describe that kind of loss? How do you begin to paint a picture of that much pain? You cannot. There are no words. As I went to bed that night, I knew that something was different in the world. My children and their children will know what it is like to always wonder if it could happen again. I cannot believe it has been 5 years.

Friday, September 8, 2006

There's Just too Much to See Waiting in Front of Me, and I Know That I Just Can't Go Wrong

Why do you do what you do? I know, the question is very vague and not incredibly poetic, but one that I've been thinking about lately.

As I have been reading through The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, I have been struck by the dark humor with which Wolfe describes the demise of a number of fictional characters in New York. Wolfe's first novel portrays a number of characters all chasing after something amorphous. That "something" varys for each of the characters. For some it is money, others it is power, and others are simply looking for respect.

I guess that part of being in your early 20's is asking the question: what am I going to do with the years that I have on this spinning rock? When I was in high school and ACU, the idea of law school was always this sort of shimmering mirage that was out there on the horizon. I would imagine myself there, but it always seemed like something that would never come. Now, I am here. So, what do I do know?

I think the secret is finding something that really challenges me and causes me to stretch. Maybe that's part of the reason that I came here. Sure, I love reading and writing, but more than anything I love a challenge. I want something that is going to push me and cause me to find out my true potential. Deep down, that's why I ran the marathon. That's part of the reason I work at Trek. I need challenges so I don't sleepwalk through life.

Thursday, September 7, 2006

With All of My Running and All of My Cunning

Why do I enjoy reading the writing of Chuck Klosterman so much? It's probably because whether he is writing about how everyone in the world is either a "Celtics person" or a "Lakers person" or how The Empire Strikes Back is the defining movie for Generation X, he is convincing, albeit convincing in his own bizarre way.

In his latest article for ESPN.com, Chuck has put forth his plan to save USA basketball, and I have to admit, he puts forth a pretty good plan.

"When Greece beat the U.S. in the semifinals, it was the greatest day in the history of Greek basketball; in fact, I assume it was the greatest day every member of that Greek squad will ever experience. When Mihalis Kakiouzis is lying on his Athenian deathbed five decades from this summer, he will still be thinking of the day he beat LeBron James in 2006. Who can compete with that kind of emotive intensity? How do you defeat an enemy who's playing for his self-identity? These are the same reasons America won the Revolutionary War but lost in Vietnam -- motivation matters. And it's unreasonable to expect guys like Dwyane and LeBron to care about beating Argentina more than they care about beating each other."

I Took Off for a Weekend Last Month Just to Try and Recall the Whole Year

This post may not mean a lot to people outside of the Tyler/Whitehouse area, but don't quit reading just because of that. One of my friends from high school, Travis Chick, is getting called up to pitch for the Seattle Mariners during the last month of the season. You may say, "That's nice, but who cares?" The answer is: I do!

One day during our senior year, we were sitting in government class and Travis said that since I was going to law school I could be his agent one day. We have not spoken since graduation, but I may make some phone calls to see if the deal is still on the table.

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Reading Departure Signs in Some Big Airport Reminds Me of the Places I've Been

Congratulations to Mr. Tim Henderson for correctly naming "Sympathy for the Devil" as the Monday Song of the Day.

The dinner last night with Solicitor General Clement was very interesting. One of the things that he pointed out during his speech that really surprised me was that all potential appeals from U.S. Attorney's offices across the nation come across his desk and need his approval. At first I thought that sounded like a tremendous logjam, but his explanation made a lot of sense.

He pointed out that at any time in the country, various US Attorney's offices are pursuing cases on the same subject matter. If the US Attorney in Idaho takes a very different position on an issue from the US Attorney in Ohio, the potential for conflicting cases is increased. In order to insure a consistent opinion and approach on certain issues, there must be some coordination from the office of the Solicitor General.

There are times when the government is incredibly inefficient, but there are other times when practices that at first glance appear to be inefficient actually have some kind of method to the madness.

P.S. Everyone needs to just relax about the "New Facebook". It will be okay. I promise.

Monday, September 4, 2006

I Shouted Out "Who Killed the Kennedys?"

Congratulations again to Mr. Andrew Tuegel for correctly naming "Babylon" by David Gray as the Sunday Song of the Day. It must be something about artists from the British Isles, Andrew.

You have probably already seen the news reports, but in case you have not, Steve Irwin died earlier today. This may sound odd, but when someone like Irwin dies, it almost does not seem real. Because of his outlandish stunts and oversized personality, Irwin always seemed like a cartoonish figure. Hearing that Steve Irwin died, is almost like hearing that Wile E. Coyote died. Because he has defied death and serious injury so many times, it is hard to believe that it finally caught up to him.
Tomorrow night I have the honor of having dinner with United States Solicitor General Paul Clement. Mr. Clement is coming to Baylor as part of the Public Leadership Lecture Series. It is great opportunity to hear a lecture from the attorney that represents the U.S. government in front of the Supreme Court.

P.S. Did anyone watching the FSU-Miami game tonight notice President David Palmer making a guest appearance as the referee? Good times all around.

Sunday, September 3, 2006

Turning Over TV Stations, Situations Running Through My Head

Congratulations to Mr. Andrew Tuegel for correctly naming "Stuck in a Moment" by U2 as the Saturday Song of the Day. If there is anything you can count in the world along with death and taxes, it is Andrew Tuegel identifying the posts with U2 lyrics.

The Bears are currently down 17-7 to the Horned Frogs in the 4th Quarter. It's one of the enjoyable parts of going to a Big 12 school to see some evidence of interest in the football team as you go around town. Today, as we went to lunch at Buzzard Billy's the tables were divided among TCU fans and Baylor fans. I'm pretty sure that I never walked into Joe Allen's or Harold's on a Saturday afternoon to see any West Texas A&M fans gathering for a pre-game meal.


Why is this man crying?

As we were finishing up lunch today, my eyes turned toward the TV screen to see the end of Andre Agassi's match at the U.S. Open. The volume on the TV was low, but the images on the screen told me everything that I needed to know. Not very many people were watching the match when it was being played, but as soon as Andre began to take his curtain call, almost all of the eyes were turned toward the screen.

I'm not sure what it is about watching people cry on live TV, but it is almost as if you cannot turn away. There's something magnetic about it. Perhaps it is because we are drawn to authentic demonstrations of emotions or maybe because it makes us a little uncomfortable. I'm not sure what it is, but I do know that is the only time in my life that I have ever seen that many people watching the end of a tennis match.

Saturday, September 2, 2006

I'm Just Trying to Find a Decent Melody

Congratulations to Mr. Tim Henderson for correctly naming "Piano Man" by Billy Joel as the Friday Song of the Day.

My friends, I come to you today with good news and bad news. I'll give you the bad news first.

Yes, the rumors are true. Mr. Austin Henley is leaving the blogging ranks. Austin, it's been a joy to read your thoughts this past year. I'm not sure if anyone else possesses your unique combination of sports knowledge and attention to detail that brought the MLB Uniform Rankings List into our consciousness. Enough saccharine sweetness, on to the good news.

I enjoy baseball season, March Madness is a special time of year, but for my sheer enjoyment it does not get any better than college football. I am sure that Coleman is very happy after the Vols thrashed the Golden Bears in Knoxville, and I am currently wondering if the Ramblin' Wreck can sustain this performance against the Irish. I'm really not sure why the telecast tonight is called "ESPN Saturday Night College Football on ABC", but I guess there are some things in life that we will never understand.

The Bears take on the Horned Frogs tomorrow at Floyd Casey. There are a lot of people in Waco who say that this could be "the year" for the Bears. When the phrase "the year" is spoken at other schools, usually it is an indication of a possible national title run, but at Baylor that is merely hope for a bowl bid. You have to start somewhere.

Friday, September 1, 2006

They Sit at the Bar and Put Bread In My Jar and Say, "Man, What Are You Doing Here?"

Well, as Chris said in a comment on yesterday's post: "Two weeks down, three years to go." It is a common cliche, but life really is a marathon and not a sprint.

As if I had not already drawn too much of my humor and reading material from the man, today the Sports Guy gave out his list of recommendations from the summer of 2006.

Last weekend I took the maiden haircut voyage into the city of Waco. On recommendation from my uncle and cousins, I headed for Jim's Lake Air Barber Shop. When I walked in I immediately knew that this was the kind of place where you might get shot if you called it a "salon". I'm the only guy in the place under 55, and I settle in to read a Rolling Stone while I wait for the next available chair. I'm pretty sure that no one in this barber shop agrees with the majority of the opinions expressed in Rolling Stone, but it is part of the duty of maintaining a barber shop that you supply your customers with a wide variety of magazines to choose from as they wait but I digress.

As I head for my chair, the barbers begin to talk about the previous evening's Steelers-Eagles game and inquire about who won. My barber says that he did not watch the football game because he was watching Hard to Kill with Steven Seagal. This comment was made about five times because he pronounced Seagal as Sea-gal instead of Sea-gall. Perhaps this phonetic explanation does not make sense, but you have to trust me on this one. Also, remember that this comment came from a 75 year old barber in Waco.

This comment leads to my barber wondering who would win in a movie fight between Seagal and Jackie Chan. I withheld comment. The general consensus in the barber shop was Seagal, but he could not stand unchallenged for so long so the shop sought a challenger for Steven. Who did they come up with? "That Walker Texas Ranger guy!"

As they sat there and searched for his name, I kept my mouth shut. I'll just let them work this out on their own. That way they'll be pleased with themselves and I can stay out of the conversation but the name remained elusive.

Finally, I could not take it any longer and stated,"Chuck Norris....his name....is Chuck Norris." My barber:"Oh yeah, Chuck Norris! That guy is a tough son of a gun."
(To myself): "Yes, so tough that he does infomercials."

Needless to say, I'll be heading back to Jim's Lake Air Barber Shop for all of my future hair care needs.