Always look on the Bright Side

I can use the time that the Cowboys would have been playing next week and on Super Bowl Sunday to exercise.

Meet the Coach

My oldest three girls all started softball this morning with H.E.A.D. (Home Educators Association of Dallas). The middle two are playing T-Ball, and the oldest is playing Coach Pitch. I am one of the two coaches for that group. We don't have enough kids to make up even one team, so for now, we're just teaching some skills. We're hoping that more kids will come out in the next couple of weeks so that they can actually play some competitive games.

My oldest got hit in the head twice this morning. The first time, it was just one of those things that happens. She missed the ball when it was thrown to her, and it hit her right in front of her left ear. The second time, she was afraid of getting hit in the head, so she turned away at the wrong moment. In her effort to avoid getting hit, she wound up getting smacked in the back of her head. She is fine, if a little sore.

Sic 'Em Bears

I went to the Dallas unofficial Baylor watching location for tonight's National Invitational Tournament's semi-final game with San Diego State University.

Ran into an old college fraternity brother, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the game with dozens of fellow Baylor Alums.

Blind Refs?

I am no fan of Texas A&M, but they got jobbed in their game in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against UCLA. Here's the photographic evidence. That was on A&M's final drive in an effort to tie the game at 51-51. In the second half of the game, A&M went over 10 minutes without a basket from the field. Several times, they took the ball inside and got rejected. I have to wonder how many of those "blocks" were really fouls as well.

Bowling for Dollars

Not for me.

For Big Brothers/Big Sisters. If you would like to donate, you can click the link below and sponsor my pathetic attempts to knock down pins with a 16 pound ball (or maybe a 14 pound ball).

Sponsorship Page

UPDATE: I edited the sponsorship link, and hopefully it will work this time.

The Evil Empire Falls

The Duke Blue Devils lost their First Round game in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament 79-77 to theVirginia Commonwealth Rams. Despite the fact that it busted my tourney bracket, I can never feel bad when Duke loses.

The Sun'll Come Out Today

Once again, I find myself unable to get to sleep. I have Court in the morning, but I just haven't gotten the least bit sleepy. I've been surfing the web. I Googled my best friend, Rod Martin and spent a lot of time sifting through 21 pages of results. If you Google my name, you get almost 80 pages, but very few of the links are about me. Most of them are about the former President of the Fort Worth Cats minor league baseball team or some guy who is in a Beatles tribute band.

I also found some info about a church I may visit soon. It's closer to us now than our previous church was before we moved, so it's worth the consideration if the church is good. I like the folks at the church we currently attend, but I feel like a fish out of water because we're not really Lutherans.

The Way the Basketball Bounces

So, Bob Knight has become the all-time leader for coaching wins in Men's College Basketball. I was listening to ESPN Radio today, and the host was asking if Knight has to be considered the greatest Men's College Basketball coach ever. That host, whose name escapes me, concluded that Knight has to be respected for the accomplishment, but that in the host's opinion, Dean Smith is still the best. I am a huge fan of the UNC Tar Heels, but even I can't elevate Smith to Number 1. Here's my Top 5:

5. Adolph Rupp
4. Bob Knight
3. Mike Krzyzewski
2. Dean Smith
1. John Wooden

As much as I depise the Duke Blue Devils, I have to give Coach K the respect he deserves as a great coach. I also believe that before he retires, he will hold the record that Knight just broke.

Rating NFL Players

Adam Schefter writes over at NFL.com that Marvin Harrison is a better Wide Receiver than Terrell Owens. I don't necessarily disagree with his conclusion, but I definitely take issue with his methodology. Schefter argues that Harrison's superior stats mean he's the better receiver. That's way too simplistic of an approach. Harrison has been playing in a completely different system than Owens all these years. Yes, the West Coast offense that Owens had played in before coming to Dallas features the passing game, but it's not primarily known as a deep-threat offense. Also, the nature of the West Coast offense is such that it involves the Running Backs and Tight Ends more in the passing game than the Colts wide-open approach.

Harrison may be the better Receiver, and he's most likely the better person, but just looking at the raw numbers isn't the way to prove it.

The Skeptical Glare

I often tell folks that I haven't always been a big guy. I tell them that until some point in college, I was downright skinny. Some believe me and make some token comment about aging and metabolism. Others, however, give me this look that I interpret as, "Yeah, right. Sure you were skinny, you big tub of lard."

Well, just to prove that I was once a skinny kid, here's a picture of me from Seventh Grade in my football uniform.



I mentioned my less than illustrious football career in a previous post, but I may recount a few other stories in the next few days.

College Football

Here's a great article at msnbc.com about the college football bowl system.

The writer made one point that I had thought about this past week.

There are 117 Division 1-A teams.

56 of them are going to bowl games.

That means 47.86% of the teams play in a bowl.

That stat alone tells you both why the bowls need to go and precisely why it is highly unlikely that they ever will.

It also illustrates why most opposition to Playoffs is silly.

Lets say we instituted a 16 team playoff. That would still leave 20 possible bowls to exist if they wanted. And the matchups they would get wouldn't be any less intriguing than under the current system.

It's time for a Division 1-A Football Playoff.

NOW!

Heisman Watch

Tomorrow night, the Downtown Athletic Club in New York will award the Heisman Trophy to one of these five young men: Jason White, Adrian Peterson, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, or Alex Smith. This award is supposed to go to the Most Outstanding Player in college football for the season. White is last year's winner, but the conventional wisdom is that he won't win it this year.

By all appearances, it seems that once again a less-deserving USC player (Leinart) will stop an Oklahoma Sooner from winning the award two years in a row (see: Charles White & Billy Sims).

I have nothing against Leinart, and he's done a great job leading his team for the past two years, but what amazes me are the people who say that White just hasn't done anything special this season to justify giving him the Heisman again. If he hadn't won it last year, I'm not sure this year's voting would even be close. Anyone who has watched White (and being in Texas, I've seen him on television a lot this season) has seen a tremendous field leader who rarely makes mistakes that hurt his team.

One argument I've heard is that White may not be the best player on his own team. These folks consider Freshman Running Back, Adrian Peterson, to be better. There is no question in my mind that Peterson is a better athlete or that he will ultimately be a premiere Running Back in the NFL, but there's no way he was a better player this year. Don't get me wrong, I am utterly amazed everytime I see Peterson run, but that doesn't make him OU's best player.

If you took Peterson off OU's roster this year, there is every reason to believe that the Sooners would still be undefeated and playing for the National Championship. I contend that if White had not been the Quarterback, OU would have lost at least one game, and probably more. Peterson is the better athlete, but White was the better player.

My knock on Leinart is similar. Take away Reggie Bush, and Leinart wouldn't have helmed an undefeated team. Plus, he's playing against the weak sisters in the PAC-10.

If I had a Heisman Ballot, I would vote (1) Jason White; (2) Matt Leinart; and (3) Adrian Peterson. If Peterson stays healthy, he should have a few more opportunities to win the Heisman. Leinart will be a front runner next year if he stays for his Senior year. Jason White was the Most Outstanding Player in college football this year, and it will be a shame if voters let other considerations keep them from voting for him.

Cream colored window treatments

Sometimes I feel like a walking contradiction.

I'm Conservative, Republican, Heterosexual, Manly even.

I like the Dallas Cowboys.

I love NASCAR.

Yet, at the same time, I think there's no denying that my absolutely favorite style of music is Broadway Show Tunes.

Just today, I've listened to the Soundtracks for Songs For a New World, Nunsense, and Wicked.

In my car, I have others: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Urinetown, Little Shop of Horrors (2003 Broadway version), Little Shop of Horrors (1982 Off-Broadway version), Anything Goes, Cabaret (1998 Broadway Revival), and A Year With Frog and Toad.

I bought most of these at Borders Bookstore.

All Kidding Aside

As I sit here listening to my High School alma mater's football game on the radio—You heard me right, the high school football game is broadcast live on the radio—it makes me think. Although I have turned into a pretty big guy (not tall), I was small, bordering on puny, when I was in High School. When I graduated in 1986, I was only 5'6" and weighed about 130 pounds. Since then, I've grown 4 inches in height and several in girth.

Anyway, I didn't have the build to be a football player. I tried. I played in 7th grade when I was 4'8" and 60 pounds. I even started in the secondary. I didn't like hitting people. Think Deion Sanders. However, I had a good excuse. Every time I hit someone, I got a splitting headache. Let me tell you the story. When we were supposed to go to the Field House for equipment check out, we got there a little late. When I approached the Coach to get my helmet, he took a look at my tiny frame and handed me a helmet sized 6 1/2.

Allow me to digress for a moment. I have a large head (some would say I also have a big head, but that's a whole other discussion). I currently wear a size 7 3/4 hat.

Back to 1980. The Coach gave me bigger helmets going up in 1/8 increments. When he got to 6 7/8, I was finally able to get it over my ears, but it was still way too tight. Coach told me that was the biggest helmet he had left, so I had no choice. The bottom line is that I played an entire season with a helmet that was 2 or 3 sizes too small. It gave me a headache just to wear it. Hitting someone made the pain just about unbearable.

My only claim to fame in my football career is that in our intra-squad Red-White game, I tackled the Quarterback. That Quarterback was none other than Jamie Foxx (that wasn't his name back then). I don't remember speaking to Jamie since we graduated from High School. He missed out 10-year reunion because he was shooting a movie. Maybe he'll make it back for the 20-year.

When I figured out that athletics wasn't going to be my thing, I turned my focus to band and drama. Theatre is still one of the most important things in my life. I've been in 20 plays and musicals ranging from Macbeth to The Odd Couple and Sound of Music to Little Shop of Horrors. That last one was the show I just closed recently. I was the voice of the plant, Audrey II. After one performance, an audience member told me she was surprised to discover I wasn't black. I had tried to do the voice as a combination of Elvis and Barry White. I guess I pulled it off fairly well.

Over the years, theatre has provided a much needed creative outlet and emotional release for me. It's exhilirating to step out in front of an audience and just let the character take over. I'm sure I'll have more to say on here about my theatre experince as this blog grows. I'm not sure when I'll be able to do another show because of the part-time teaching I'm doing now.