Most of My Friends Back Then Have Moved Along

As detailed on Deadspin and the journalistic juggernaut that is the Abilene Reporter-News, the Abilene Ruff Riders opened their franchise win account with a 39-24 victory on Monday over the Odessa Roughnecks in the air-conditioned confines of the Taylor County Expo Center.

A brief digression, though, my friends: Can we have a little more name variety out of our West Texas quasi-Arena League football teams? Failing that, can we at least agree on a uniform spelling of "Rough/Ruff"? I foresee a generation of young West Texans writing book reports on Teddy Roosevelt and describing the heroic charge of the “Ruff” Riders up San Juan Hill. The public deserves no less than an authoritative ruling on this, my friends.
The big story, though, was the performance of the Abilene quarterback, one Quincy Carter. Yes, that Quincy Carter. The former University of Georgia and Dallas Cowboys signal caller is now playing minor league arena football in Abilene. For those of who support America’s Team, that's about as depressing as the time one of my friends went to see Vanilla Ice for $5 bucks at the Harvey Hall Convention Center in Tyler at some point in the late 90's.

Man, We Make Our Own Movies

Tomorrow I promise to break out of the "1 sentence and a YouTube video" posting format, but for tonight, I'll leave you with the knowledge that I had a great visit to Abilene this weekend, and the men of Gamma Sigma Phi made me quite proud in bringing home their 7th Sing Song title in the last 8 years.

I Wish I Was As Fortunate, As Fortunate As Me

Congratulations to Mr. Stephen Olson a/k/a "Richtoria's Secret" for correctly naming "Backstreets" by Bruce Springsteen as the Tuesday Song of the Day. Given that this is Mr. Olson's second victory in the Song of the Day Contest, it would be an apt time to pass along my endorsement of his work over at Richtoria's Secret, which, if you love SEC football and puns utilizing the surname of the Georgia head football coach, you're going to love as well.

With those formalities taken care of, it is now time to place an All Points Bulletin on the interwebs for all readers of this blog who will be in or around the fair city of Abilene, Texas this Saturday. I'm passing through the Key City on my way to Mexico for a medical mission trip next week. As part of some bizarre tradition that I am much too young to influence, we will be dining at that pillar of the Abilene culinary experience known as the Towne (extra "e" for added pretentiousness) Crier Steakhouse.

I would love to have any and/or all of you there to share that meal with me. If you think you might be able to make it, just leave a note in the comments section or drop me an email at Justin_Scott@baylor.edu. After all, what better way to spend a Saturday lunch than a meal at a middle of the road West Texas dining establishment.
Finally, if you think I'm paying for any of you, disabuse yourselves of that notion immediately.

Current Reading
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Someday, Everything is Gonna Sound Like a Rhapsody

As a follow-up to Tuesday's post on ACU's new iPhone/iPod Touch program, I thought I would bring together a few different voices from the interwebs on the topic:

• The Optimist: "Freshmen to Receive iPhone/iPod Touch"
• The Engadget Blog: "ACU Dishing Out iPhone/iPod Touch to All Incoming Freshmen". Also, please check out that comment section for a healthy dose of bigotry, speculation, and cynicism.
• Technovelgy: "iPhones for Freshmen at ACU"
• Innovation in College Media: "ACU and the iPhone: A Challenge for College Media". All the JMC readers of Running Down a Dream will note the Cade White shoutout in this article.
• Apple Links: "ACU to Give iPhone or iPod Touch to All Incoming Freshmen"
• streetinsider.com: "ACU to Pioneer New Learning Strategies Using Apple iPhone/iPod Touch"

Finally, the videos that started the phenomenon can be found here:

"Connected" Part 1: Social Uses

"Connected" Part 2: Academic Uses

Also, here's a video featuring ACU professor Dr. Bill Rankin and Director of Public Relations Lynne Bruton explaining the concept behind the videos:

Wondering What We Might Have Been

Note: This story was shamelessly stolen from the Blahg.

An Apple iPhone or iPod Touch will become a central part of Abilene Christian University's innovative learning experience this fall when all freshmen are provided one of these converged media devices, said Phil Schubert, ACU executive vice president.

At ACU - the first university in the nation to provide these cutting-edge media devices to its incoming class - freshmen will use the iPhones or iPod Touches to receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors' offices, and check their meal and account balances - among more than 15 other useful web applications already developed, said ACU Chief Information Officer Kevin Roberts.

"ACU First University in Nation to Provide iPhone or iPod Touch to all Incoming Freshmen"

So, if I burn my diploma and move back into Mabee Hall, does that mean you'll give me a phone?

Where'd You Park the Car?

At the beginning of the post, I should take the time to apologize to those of you who live outside of the "bubble" and have no idea what I am talking about when I say the words "Sing Song." In fact, I apologize because if I took the time to actually explain it to you in sufficient detail, you probably still would not be interested in the subject matter and I would have deprived you of a small portion of your life, which is ebbing away right now...tick, tick, tick.

If you're still reading, and I have no idea why you would be after that stirring exposition, here is my $.02 on Sing Song 2008.

Of course, everyone left Moody on Saturday night talking about how the 6-time reigning champions had been dethroned in both the men's and women's divisions by the Kojie Bumblebess and the evil empire's train conductors, but as someone whose time in Sing Song is past, I'll tell you this: It's almost more difficult to watch as a spectator, than it was to be involved as a competitor/participant (sure, I could use the more gentle, affirming term "participant" solely, but in anything that involved a contest with the moonies, it was nothing if not a competition).

Sure, my time standing on the stage is gone, and that's a good thing, but a small part of me still hurts for the guys in club that had to be there when the dream died. Those that I talked to on Saturday night kept saying that the streak had to end sometime, but you never want to be part of the group responsible for such an event. Despite the fact that ACU has the 4th-highest total number of NCAA Championships behind UCLA, USC, and Stanford, the largest bragging rights on the Hill each year belong to those who win the big event in February.

From Huck Finn to the Beatles to Top Gun to John Travolta to Frogs who turn into Princes to Firemen, that group for the past 6 years was the men of Gamma Sigma Phi. Now, that title has been passed (albeit unwillingly) to our bitter archrivals, the evil empire. Wherever you are to read this, take a little time to hum a few bars of "We Believe" in remembrance of a fairly remarkable streak.