Hate to say I told you so....

...but I TOLD YOU SO, DUMOCRATS!!!!

My mother was filled with good old-fashioned common sense; the kind that only comes from being raised by parents with the same kind of common sense and a lifetime of opportunities to use it and see how well it works!

She once said,"If everyone else is jumping off a bridge, that doesn't make it a smart thing to do, does it?"

Well, DOES IT, DUMOCRATS?

How many throats got slit this past Tuesday because you idiots got strong-armed by the queen of idiots, Nancy Pelosi? What ever happened to "no thank you, Madame Speaker. I'm doing just fine listening to my constituents and voting the way THEY want me to vote. Take your stupid socialist agenda and sell it to some other rube; it doesn't play very well in my district!"? If only a few more week-kneed spineless Dumocrat back-roomers had simply followed that simple advice, they'd still be employed today!

D-U-M-B-O-C-R-A-T-S-!-!-!-!-!

The only sad part of the whole thing is that the King of Idiots, Harry Reid, managed to convince enough of the deceased and criminally insane in Nevada to re-elect HIM. What are they smoking out there? So, Reid gets to keep his position as Senate Majority Leader only to face the largest conservative mandate EVER! Don't they know he was an idiot before and now he's a POWERLESS idiot?

Almost sounds like the kind of people that would invest long green in worthless desert property so they can be close to legalized prostitution and profligate spending on gambling!

Oh.....never mind!

Here's what's next. Congress may not be able to gut health care with Obama on the throne, but they don't have to fund it, either. Congress has the power of the purse, so don't be surprised if they send budgets to the WH that have no FUNDING for the whole health care fiasco and then don't be double surprised when Obama refuses to sign them or outright vetoes them.

Let's start the lay-offs with the 10,000 new IRS agents you hired to enforce you new health care taxes!

MORON!!!!

Well, tomorrow's the day!

Long time, no see, blogfan!

WWWAAAAAYYYYY back in March, I predicted that the Democratic Party would sing it's swan song in November because of the VERY troubling manner in which the Health Care reform legislation was jammed down our collective throats.

Tommorow's the day!

MDB and I voted early, but that's not to say that readers here shouldn't get out and do their civic duty as well! If you haven't yet voted, GET OUT AND DO IT!!!

Maybe a little humble pie is just what the doctor ordered for Nobraina and the rest of the Dumocrats who foisted this monstosity on us!

He probably won't listen because he hasn't heard anything we've said YET, but he won't be able to do anything about it anymore, either!

Let's just pray that enough people who vote in senate races around the country are smart enough to vote out their Dumocrat incumbents as well!

So long, Dumocrats! It was NOT nice knowing you!

We need to outlaw FOOD!!!!

Hello again, blogfan!

The ridiculousness just keeps getting more and more absurd, so much so that words scarcely even begin to touch the ridiculousness of it all!

To wit; NAACP vs the Tea Party Movement!

According to the resolution, the NAACP has officially condemned the Tea Party movement as racist. They've done so regardless of the fact that such an allegation had already been raised and a reward of $100,000 posted to whoever could find credible evidence of ANY racism associated with the Tea Party! None of which has been forthcoming, no less!

On Sean Hannity's show the other day, a spokesman for the NAACP admitted that no evidence was available. However, according to the spokesman, movements LIKE the Tea Party movement (i.e., conservative movements) had been racist in the past and therefore the Tea Party presented a venue for potential racism and THEREFORE must be opposed!

Uhhhhh........WHAT?!?!

Let's see....according to that logic, we must outlaw the following as well then:

1. Air. Breathing air contains the potential for future lung cancer, so we must all stop breathing immediately!

2. Food. Eating contains the potential for gluttony, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc., so we must all stop eating RIGHT NOW!!!

3. Work. We must outlaw work because work causes stress and stress causes all of the above!

4. Thought. People who think eventually reach the unavoidable conclusion that the NAACP is an antiquated irrelevant institution that is NOT concerned with racism UNLESS that racism is white on black racism. Any institution that was legitimate and relevant would denounce the "kill all the Crackers and kill their babies" smack from the new Black Panthers and then support their prosecution by the Federal Justice Department; actions and positions, mind you, that have NOT been taken by either the NAACP or Attorney General Holder. We must, therefore, outlaw THOUGHT since any thinking person comes to the inescapable conclusion that the NAACP is ridiculous!

Let's see; NAACP. That stands for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, right? How long has it been since it was PC to refer to people whose family tree began in Africa as "Colored?" I mean, we've gone through about 4 progressions since "colored" haven't we? We did "negro" and then "colored," right? Maybe it was the other way around, I don't remember. In any case, one or the other was followed by "black" and eventually by "African-American." Frankly, I don't think any of those labels is better than any other; we won't be where we need to be until we are all simply "American" and any other distinction is simply irrelevant. I mean, wasn't it MLK's dream that one day we would only be judged by the content of our character and NOT the color of our skin? Who, I ask you, continues to point to the color of skin as a prerequisite for judgement?

When you answer THAT question, you'll know who's racist and who's not!

In any case, the NAACP is exactly what it says it is; an organization who's sole purpose is to advance the cause of African-Americans, whether that cause is legitimate, illegitimate; just or unjust. Personally, the NAACP might actually have some merit if it denounced racism of ANY stripe, but it refuses to do so, much to it's own discredit!

Well, that's about it for now. Obama's approval rating is dropping right along the lines I said it would after that socialized medicine program passed! Stay tunes as conservatives take this country back in November!

Marketing Idea of the Week

Last week's idea, the self-destructing piggy bank for federal debt relief, went nowhere.

This week's idea: a bumper sticker that says "...screw up the country in less than a year!"

For posting below all of those "Yes We Can!" bumper stickers with Obama's image blazoned across them, of course!

Who even THINKS of this?

Okay, I admit it; I nearly soiled myself when I read this article! I mean, who even IMAGINES something like this?

For those of you who are too lazy to pull up the article, here's the synopsis; A man at a Phillies game (where ELSE?!?!), apparently upset that his crude, rude, and socially unacceptable "partner" was removed from the game for spitting at, spilling beer on, and cursing at (expletives NOT deleted!) an off-duty police officer and his daughters, forced himself to vomit on the man and his children!

Uhhh.....VOMIT?!?!

That's pretty inventive, huh? I mean, who says to himself "uhh...here's a good idea! I'll spend a hunny or two at the ballpark slamming beers and hot dogs (believe me, if you pulled up the article and got a load of this guy, you KNOW he was slamming beers and dogs!), then I'll tick off an off-duty Policeman and THEN I'll V-O-M-I-T on his family! Done! GREAT plan!!!"

Uhhh.....WHAT?

Is it something in the water, Philly? Was the embarrassment suffered by your "partner" not enough? Didn't your "lucky ship" already come in when the cop didn't bust your skull and play the "I'm a cop" card to get off with a slap on the back and a chuckle?

What kind of idiot comes up with a "to do" list like this?

Buy overalls check!
Polish the ElCamino check!
Pick up a case of PBR to warm up check!
Drive to the stadium (gotta get Adam Dunn's autograph!) check!
Eat a couple of (pounds of) sloppy dogs check!
Drink another 15 beers check!
Get obnoxious with cop
a. spit
b. cuss
c. spill beer check!
Get belligerent when "partner" gets ejected check!
Vomit on cop and family check!!!!!!

Spend night in jail check!

Oh my gosh! This world truly is going to hell in a handbasket! Sheesh!

RIP, Democratic Party

Well, in a vote of 219 to 212, the Democratic Party just signed it's own death warrant. Mark my words; not a single Democrat who voted for this leap into Socialism will be re-elected in November.

I'll grant you; the Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. Since they took control of the House in '94, all they did was attempt to "out-Democrat" the Dems, much to their own chagrin and eventual demise.

Now, however, at this critical time in our fiscal history as a nation, the Dems have chosen to sign us up for another trillion or so of debt.

We can't afford it!

Great job, Dumocrats! I hope there's something left to pick up after the general in November!

Churchill was right!

Churchill said (and I paraphrase) "If you're not liberal as a youth, then you have no heart; if you're not conservative when you're older, then you have no brain!"

How many brainless youths do we have in Congress, anyway?

It seems that the endless cadre of idiots in Congress are going to yield to White House pressure and vote for this idiotic health care reform legislation DESPITE overwhelming public opinion against it and despite election results that would make anyone not named Kennedy quiver! Voting for this thing is electoral suicide, but Obama seems to have convinced them otherwise.

He's a one-term wonder (well...they DO call people with an IQ of 60 "exceptional" these days, don't they?) and anyone who votes with him on this is doomed much earlier than that!

What's worse is the VERY troubling news coming from the financial sector! People who are much wiser and more informed than I on such matters are predicting that if we don't get a handle on our deficit and STOP borrowing to pay for all of this garbage, we are in SEVERE danger of losing our AAA credit rating as a nation! If we lose our triple A rating, it's all over, folks! The dollar will be practically worthless and nothing that has no intrinsic value (gold, silver, manufactured goods, food, etc) will have any value whatsoever! We're talking a financial meltdown that would make the Great Depression look like a cakewalk! Yet, despite the dire warnings of those in the know, Nero Obama keeps fiddling and doing everything he can to ruin this nation.

People, wake up!

That apple in the Garden looked pretty good, too, but the serpent offering it up KNEW what taking it meant to Eve!

Don't take that apple, America! There's no free lunch and our nation can't afford to buy lunch for the rest of the world AND our own Ne're-do-wells here at home any more!

Here's what needs to happen to restore faith in our economy:

1. Eliminate (over several years, of course) any program of our government that is not mandated by the Constitution. The examples are endless, but Space, Education, Welfare, Public Housing, the Arts, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are a few of the programs that come to mind. Sorry, Grandma! We can't afford it anymore! (Oh, and I don't want to hear all of your whining right about now, either! I have over $200,000 in Social Security that I would never see but, with all of the fiscal mismanagement in Washington, I really don't EXPECT to ever see it anyway!). Look, I know that there will be a HUGE uproar about the whole Social Security thing. The whole thing is going to come crashing down in a couple of years anyway, but here's how you fix it. As the debt is being paid off (see #5 below), make payments to people as part of paying off the debt for whatever they're owed. After all, the government borrowed THAT money as well, so it can be paid BACK just as the other creditors are being paid back! Oh, and I know what comes next. "Space?! You can't let all of those people go just like that!" Really? If there's a market for it (and I've been led to believe that there IS a market for the things that have been generated by the Space Program), then those folks will have jobs; mark my word!
2. Change hiring/firing guidelines for Federal employment YESTERDAY!!! A government job is not supposed to be a lifelong entitlement, but that's exactly what it's become! When someone's job becomes obsolete or superfluous, offer them retraining. If they refuse, fire them! That's what would happen in a private sector job! That's what needs to happen in public employment as well!
3. Completely eliminate the IRS and replace it with a simple government accounting office. Eliminate our unGodly tax code and make everyone pay a flat 10% of their income. Period! Yes, all corporations, businesses, and individuals. Period!
4. Make it ILLEGAL for the government to borrow money to pay for anything. If the money is not in the treasury, it can't be spent.

Look, when I get overextended, I have to tighten my belt and say "no" to things I might like to have. I might have to make an old car last a little longer. I may have to live with hamburger instead of steak. I might even have to sew up the holes in my socks instead of buying new ones, all in the name of saving money so I can pay off my debt. Now is the time to do that on a national level! We cannot afford to continue borrowing and spending money that we don't have! We have to tighten our belt, STOP borrowing our children's money, and pay for what's already been spent!

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, we worked together as a nation to fight a common enemy. With national resolve, we worked together to defeat them and we came out on the other side bloodied, but victorious! We can and we MUST do it again! Only, this time, our common enemy is an attitude, not a nation. We have become lazy and slothful as a nation. We have come to believe that we are entitled to things that we have not earned; that we have coming to us those things that politicians promised but could not deliver! We must come to realize that "the Great Society" was the pipe dream of a clever politician who knew that he'd be long gone before that check ever came due! We must know that the "New Deal" was never new and it was never a deal, not for Americans then, and not for us now! We must wake up before it's too late, because it is very nearly too late RIGHT NOW!

5. Start paying down the national debt. Oh, and I don't mean start paying on the interest. If we don't start working on the principle, the interest is going to eat up all of the GDP is less than 5 years! I mean pay the interest AND make a substantial payment on the principle and do that each year until it's all paid off. Then, when we're debt free, we can start thinking about what we'd like to do with the money in the treasury that's been going towards the debt. We may even be able to lower tax rates at that point! Woo-hoo! ME keeping MY money!? What a concept!
6. Let market forces do what they do! If a car company has been mismanaged, LET it go out of business! If people stop riding passenger trains, LET them go out of business! Believe me, if there's a demand for commuter rail sometime in the future, some enterprising entrepreneur will finance their come-back and do it much more efficiently than Uncle Sam ever did!
7. Enact term limits for every public office. Congress was never supposed to be a career! Civic-minded people who care about their country were to go to Washington for a limited time to work for the public good! The Federal government was supposed to do ONLY what was granted to it by our Constitution and EVERYTHING ELSE that was not SPECIFICALLY granted to the federal government was supposed to be taken care of by the states. They managed to work around that by taking money in taxes from the people and then giving that money back to the states but ONLY if they work within the boundaries of whatever social framework was deemed appropriate by the Fed. THAT, my friends, is unConstitutional and the whole practice needs to be abolished YESTERDAY!
8. Allow people to save for their own retirements! Since we're doing away with Social Security, people need incentive to save on their own! Let them save as much as they're able BEFORE taxes are taken out. In other words, whatever they save will reduce their taxable income. Let them put it into whatever vehicle they choose. Let employers match employee contributions to reduce THEIR taxable income as well! It's a win-win and now the government is completely out of the social engineering business! Woo-hoo!
9. Make it a criminal offense to live here illegally. Oh...nevermind! It already IS a crime to live here illegally! So, here' how to do it. If someone is caught trying to live here illegally, return them to their country of origin (well, take them to their nation's Consulate and let that nation foot the bill for their return!). If they're caught here a second time, put them in prison for 5 years and then return them to their nation's Consulate. If they come back after that, put them in prison for life! Obviously, after three times, they're too stupid to do anything here that's legal anyway and, last time I checked, "illegal" meant AGAINST THE LAW!!!! If they have family here and that's why they want to live here; fine! Go through the proper channels, become a resident alien and then become a naturalized citizen of the country. What's so hard about that?

Well, it's a start, but it's certainly not the end of it. As I said, the first thing that needs to change is attitude. As soon as we realize that the emperor's naked, we'll be on the road to recovery!

Can manners make a come-back? (part II)

Hello, blogfan!

Not that long ago (I'd post the link, but I couldn't find it!), I posted just that question, wondering if it is, in fact, too late for most of this generation to get off of the "me first" plank they're on and jump to another one.

Apparently, it IS!

Last night, MDB and I attended the rodeo. We go several times a year to see artists that we like or simply to watch the goings on and marvel at the spectacle. I've wondered aloud several times if today's kids are lost, at least in terms of having any common courtesy or even the slightest consideration for anyone else.

I'm done wondering now!

Last night, we had tickets, thanks to a co-worker, that are the most expensive in the place. You would think that the clientele in that section would have a little class; you know, actually ACT like they've had some upbringing or some sense of social grace.

Wrong again!

It all started on the bus ride over to the place. I've always been taught that it's "last on, first off" and you should wait your turn. Well, that's what I thought until I got run over by a lady from the back of the bus, who apparently was raised by chimpanzees or something. Oh well...let it go; just one moron out of 100,000 people, right?

Wrong!

As we weaved our way through the crowd, person after person ran in front of us (from the side) as if we weren't even there! Look; I'm not a small guy! You'd have to be Ray Charles not to see me and MDB coming! How about wait for us to pass and move BEHIND us instead of forcing us to stop so you can get your sausage on a stick 2 seconds earlier?

Mindboggling!

Then, we finally got into the arena and sat down. Now, I know that not all that many people are there to see the rodeo. I get that. What's wrong with finding your seat by concert time and then sitting there (or getting up when everyone else does) so as not to disturb the other people around you? The group behind us must have had 4,372 beers between the four of them. How do I know? They kicked me in the back of the head EVERY TIME they got up to get one, that's how! Not to be topped by that group, the group sitting to the inside of us had 2,327! I know THAT because I counted every time one of the idiots stepped on my foot (oh, and, silly me, I rose to my feet on each occasion to be COURTEOUS and to prevent them from having to step on me, for all the good THAT did!)!! Then, there was the cadre of clowns in the row just in front of us. They seemed to be a nice little family, but mom apparently quit at step 5 since she had 2,156 beers ALL BY HERSELF during the performance! First of all, at $4.50 a pop, WHO CAN AFFORD TO DRINK THAT MUCH??? Second, if you're only there to get drunk, why didn't you stay at home so you're not endangering anyone else and not disturbing half the arena with your constant "get a beer, go to the bathroom" routine?

I don't get it!

Then, the straw that paralyzed the camel came when a group of four people showed up 15 minutes into the concert and insisted that the four people who were already there get up and move. This was really odd for a couple of reasons. First, why on earth would you pay that much for a ticket (x4) and then show up when there's all of about 30 minutes left in the show? Secondly, when you DO show up that late, why not just take the 4 seats that are empty to the right of the group that's already seated? Why do we have to disturb everyone else behind you? Finally, HOW FREAKIN' LAZY was it for the group that was already there to not simply sit in the seats they had tickets for in the first place (the 4 empty seats that the late-comers could easily have chosen WITHOUT all the fanfare!)? That was the end of it for me! I said as loudly as necessary, "Match the number on the seat with the one on the freakin' ticket! It's not that hard!", but I don't think they heard me, because they continued to ruin it for everyone behind them for another 10 minutes! Unbelievable!

Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest! I feel better now!

Okay...it's been awhile!

Hello again, blogfan!

I know it's been awhile, but I've been a little busy! However, here we are at the beginning of Spring Break, so no time like the present, right?

The NCAA tournament seeded on Sunday, and I have no early-bracket favorites...

We voted here in Texas about two weeks ago. I voted for Rick Perry (surprise!) and Ron Paul (ANOTHER surprise, right?). Meanwhile, Obama and his co-conspirators continue on their quest to usurp 20% of the American economy by any means possible, knowing full-well that once the lid is off of that Pandora's box, it will be political suicide to put it back again (a la Social Security).

May God help us all if they're able to pass this monstrosity of a bill!

Now....a top ten of stuff that turns my STOMACH!!!

1. People who refer to their pets as "my kids."
2. People who refuse to acknowledge the existence of God
3. Drama Queens or any other totally self-absorbed person who thinks it's all about them 24-7
4. People who use trite, worn-out sayings like "24-7" a lot!
5. Obama supporters who refuse to acknowledge that they only supported him (and continue to do so!) because he's AA.
6. People who drive Japanese cars because they're more "fuel-efficient" or "better-built" than the American alternative (despite not having driven an American car for thirty years!)
7. People who vote Democrat because the Democrats are the party of "the common man" (despite the fact that there hasn't been a "common man" Democrat since Harry Truman!
8. Homosexuals who pretend to fall within the definition of "normal" and insist that I do likewise (look...I don't hate anybody, but homosexuality is NOT normal!)
9. Educators (ostensibly) who do the bare minimum of classroom time and then move into management because of "the kids." It's not about the kids, loser! It's about the bottom line for your paycheck, so stop pretending otherwise!
10. Legislators who pretend to know what I want or need more than I do. Look; get out of my back pocket and stay there! NOW you know what I want!!!

There....I feel better!

2009-10's in the can!

Well, another basketball season is in the can! We didn't finish as strong as we started, but we ended up with a 10-2 total record, second place in the district and second in our end-of season tournament.

Why can't we ever wind up IN FIRST????!!!!!

Sometimes, you just don't match up well with another team. The team that finished first and beat us twice down the stretch was very tall and athletic for a 7th-grade group. We're pretty athletic, but not really that tall. In fact, we were thin in the front-court all year. I had a guy who probably should have been a 4 playing at the 5 all year, and a true 3 playing the 4, so we never really had a real center playing that position. The guy who started the year starting at the 4 got hurt, so we were playing guys out of position for the rest of the year.

Not the way you want it if you had your 'druthers!

Not only that, but we had really inconsistent play at the point down the stretch, which was something that we rather took for granted for nearly 3 quarters of the season.

Just couldn't get over the hump!

Regardless, it was a GREAT season overall! We finished with double-digits in the win column, which is a big plus for the program! We finished the season with a scoring average well over 50 points per game (I haven't calculated the final average, but it was 56 going into the last week of the season!). We beat a couple of teams that we've NEVER beaten before (well...not since I've been coaching them!), and we had a season high (and perhaps a school record for 7th-grade, I'm not sure) of 86 points in a single game! I've had teams that didn't score 86 total in FOUR games, so that kind of output is not to be taken for granted!

Last evening, after our game in the tournament final (we played absolutely TERRIBLE but only lost by 6 I think it was) the parents threw a party for the team, which was really, really nice! I'm telling you, this is the best group of parents I've EVER had! I didn't hear anything but encouragement all season long! I mean, there was none of the "why isn't my kid playing the point?" or "why isn't my kid getting the same kind of minutes as Little Johnny?" kind of stuff that parents usually come up with. It was all very positive and productive! The parents had gotten together and bought trophies for all of them AND a very nice plaque for me! When me and MDB walked into the room, they gave us a really nice round of applause, which was really uplifting as well. They had food, drinks (well, MDB went and got drinks, which was why I knew something was up!), cake and ice cream, and the trophies!

SPECTACULAR!!

They asked me to say a few words, so I told them that they needed to give themselves a big round of applause first, because they are the best group of parents I've ever had at any level. Then I basically told them that even though the kids were disappointed, they had nothing to be ashamed about; they played their hearts out and simply came up against a team that they did not match up well against. I told them that we have some simply outstanding athletes, several of whom could be D-1 scholarship athletes if they keep working on their game, keep their heads clear and stay out of trouble, and continue working on their academics. I told them that the 8th-grade coach, who came to our game on Friday, was absolutely DROOLING over the thought of getting these guys next year and that I was really looking forward to following their progress as they continue their careers.

Then I thanked them for the plaque and the wonderful party, and sat down!

So, here's good-bye to 2009-10 and a look forward to 2010-11!

Double-whammy!!!

My "B" team got their first win tonight, 38-14, which was really nice for a change, but the real damage was done by the "A" team, who wrecked shop BIG TIME with an 86 to 35 win over another 2-win team!

We weren't about to repeat LAST WEEK'S mistake!

The other team's coach was really upset, which, by the way, I understand completely. I mean, I can't tell you how many times some other team has laid a 40+ on one of my teams. You hate it and it leaves you with a big knot in the pit of your stomach, but you just have to take it, congratulate the other team, and thank them for pointing out your weaknesses.

I wasn't going to have another "let our foot off the gas and let the other team back into the game" moments, so we never let up.

Sorry!

Not only that, but we have a really big game coming up next week against the second-place team who, as of this writing, only has one loss. A loss to them means finishing second in our district because we lose the head-to-head tie-breaker and we'd have the same season record. All that said, we needed to use this game to tune up for next week.

Sorry, coach! You were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong team!

We wanted to send a statement to the rest of the district as well. We want them to know that the old Cowboys are back! You know, the ones who were dropping 30+ point wins on practically everyone not all that long ago! Well, the pure fear factor to everyone else was worth the trouble.

Well, I hope it was, at any rate!

So, we're now 8-0 with one regular-season game to go, and then comes our tournament!

We want to take that one, too!!!

Well, THIS one wasn't easy!

This week, my undefeated 7th-graders went up against a team that had only 2 wins coming into the contest.....



DANGEROUS!!!!



We won the game, but we had to fight tooth and nail for it! Final score; 58-54!



Games like this are dangerous for any number of reasons! First, everyone brings their "A" game when the first-place team rolls in, no exceptions! Second, your team is liable to come in overconfident having seen the other team's record. Third, the combination of the above AND a cold-shooting night from several of the better players on the team makes for one very exciting night indeed!



So, we're now 7-0 with two regular season games to go! This week, another 2 win team rolls in and then the second-place, one-loss team comes in for the finale! Should be exciting!

Well, that's about as easy as it gets!

Dear Blogfan,

You know I never like to take a win for granted. I mean, everyone knows the old "on any given Sunday" mantra; any team can go unconscious and hit everything they throw up on almost any occasion and, at the same time, the other team can go arctic frigid and not be able to make the simplest lay-up.

I know.....I know!

Well, that didn't happen last night! The team we played last night came into our game with the same record we had....if you're dyslexic! We came in 5-0 and they came in without a win; 0-5.

We left 6-0 and they kept their perfect streak alive as well!

I may have seen more inept teams at this level, but I can't remember when. They simply could not get the ball across half-court on us! The score at halftime was 30 to nothing! At the half, the other coach asked if we could run the clock during the second half. I said "sure, why not?" I subbed out all of my starters and played only 3nd and 3rd string guys the entire second half. With those conditions, we only scored 12 more points for a total of 42.

They scored 6!

Not 6 in the 3rd quarter, or 6 in the 4th quarter, or 6 in the first minute and a half of the third.....

6

TOTAL!!!

I felt sorry for them! Having been in their shoes more than I'd care to mention over the years, I did everything I could to keep it from becoming an embarrassment, but, short of simply stalling the entire second half, I don't know what else I could've done to keep the margin any less than I did.

I hope karma pays me back in the end!

The other battle I've been facing has come to an end very much in our favor! At this point last week, I had about 15 guys failing one or more classes and they were going to become ineligible as of a week from this coming Thursday. That would force them to miss their end-of-season tournament and their last regular-season game. Fortunately, their efforts in tutoring (and my size 12 up their backside) paid off. NOW, with grades final as of this afternoon, only 4 guys are being lost to grades! Woo-hoo! AND (and this is a big "and"), only one of those is an "A" team guy!

In the immortal words of the Taco Bell guy, we're "good to go!"

Now, if we can avoid getting the "big head!"

We'll see!

football, basketball, and any other sport with balls

Sorry, did I really say that?

It's kind of like the Solar System Unit; you just can't avoid that costly "Uranus" joke, can you?

MDB and I had the opportunity to attend a couple of NFL games here in town this year and I have to admit something; I'm more amazed by the athletic prowess of these athletes now than I ever was! Why do I say that? If you've ever been to a game, you don't need to wonder. It goes something like this:

Kickoff, 5-minute TV timeout; first series team 'A', 7-minute TV timeout; 1st series team 'B', punt and return, 5-minute TV timeout. 2nd series team 'A', 2 minute station identification; 2nd series team 'B', break to the network for highlights, finish 2nd series team 'B', 10 minute break at the quarter change, etc., etc., etc.!!!!

OMA!!!! - how do these guys manage to stay warmed up enough to actually play football when they're actually PLAYING??? No WONDER there are so many pulled muscles in the NFL!!!

Speaking of the NFL, my beloved Browns hired Mike Holmgren as President al la Big Tuna in Miami and his first decision was to retain Eric Mangini as Browns Head Coach. Smart move, in my opinion. First of all, Mangini said (and I believe him) that he inherited "a mess" when he got there and he needed to do some pretty drastic things to turn things around. Since the Browns truly were "a mess" under Romeo Crenell, his claim isn't too hard to believe. Secondly, he had to turn over a large (and I mean LARGE) percentage of his personnel since they were used to how Romeo did things and would resist whatever change he brought about (obviously!). Finally, when his people and his system eventually caught on, the Browns finished with a 4-game winning streak and looked pretty good (especially on the defensive side of the ball!!!) doing it, so it would simply not have been fair to blow the Browns up AGAIN and not give Mangini a chance to finish what he started. Frankly, it's a wonder that Mangini isn't still in New York. As far as I can tell, the only reason he had eventual failure there is the fact that management crammed Bret Favre down his throat and the old man simply didn't have what it took to win over the course of a whole season! As long as Mangini was allowed to do things his way, the Jets were having success!

I have a feeling that the Browns are on their way up and the rest of the AFC North (with the possible exception of Baltimore) is on its way down. Too bad for Pittsburgh, too! I really love those guys with their silly little towels! NOT!!!

Basketball is going really well this year so far!! My 'A' team has won 5 games and has not lost as of yet; a precarious situation for any basketball coach! Why precarious? Well, the dangers are numerous! First, in Texas, we have "no pass-no play" to deal with. Players who don't pass their classes are not eligible to compete in extracurricular activities. Grades for the third 6 weeks will be posted as of Thursday this coming week and ineligibility begins on Thursday the following week, which means that any of my players who become ineligible due to grades are finished for the season! Not a pretty picture for us if any of my "A" team players become ineligible! Second, our schedule has us playing only 4 more regular season games. Three of those four games are against opponents who have a total of 3 wins between them. In other words, they're not very good! The danger there is that we'll get soft and start to think that we're "all that," setting us up for a fall in our last game, which is against an opponent who has only lost one game, that loss coming to a team that we only beat by 5 points. In other words, they're pretty good! I'd hate to have 8 wins going into the final game of the year with a team with an overinflated estimate of their own abilities only to have it handed to us by a team who's hungry and more than ready for us! Lastly, we have a real chance at injury in any one of those games. We're perilously thin in the front court and any injury there could sink us very easily. I've already lost my starting '4' to a hand injury and his back-up is currently failing two classes. We could put ourselves in a position to lose that final game and wind up in a tie for first with the first tie-breaker being head to head competition. If we lose that final game and wind up tied with that team, they would win the championship despite having the same record as us!

Oooohhhh!!! My head is swimming!

Somehow, we've developed an adversarial relationship with our girls programs and I'm not really sure why! The 8th grade girls have a new coach this year and she seems to think that her program is the only one that counts despite the fact that they're not really very good and they don't seem to be in a position to really make anything happen this year! It's getting old!

Back to football! The Bengals lost (what a surprise!) and the Eagles got beat, rather badly, by the Cowgirls! All I can say is that it's about time that team from Dallas lived up to all the hype! However, who else out there is ready to finally agree with Rush Limbaugh and state that Donovan McNabb is perhaps the most over-hyped quarterback of this generation and the main reason for it is his race!

If Donovan McNabb were white, would anyone say that he's a perennial all-pro or, as the illustrious commentator Charles Barkley stated yesterday, the greatest quarterback in Eagles history? Uhhhh.....anyone out there ever heard of Norm Van Brocklin?

That's what I thought!

McNabb is good, no question; but the "greatest quarterback in Eagles history?" I don't even think he cracks the top 5!!! I mean, come on! Van Brocklin, Cunningham, Snead, Jurgensen, and Jaworski all played for the Eagles! I'm sure if I dig a little harder, I could come up with 5 or 6 more who are better than McNabb! Let's face it; McNabb is good and the Eagles will only go as far as he takes them but at this point, he's not even the greatest quarterback on the Eagles roster RIGHT NOW, let alone the greatest in Eagles history!!!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!

5-0, here we go!!!

Well, dear blogfan, we started off 2010 just as we finished 2009; with a lopsided victory and a comfortable maintenance of our first-place credentials, 48-17!

What was interesting this time was the official. He's a guy who's coached at one of our upcoming rivals (a team we have traditionally had a hard time against) for many years but recently retired a couple of years ago. He came to me after the game and told me that our group was the best 7th-grade group he'd seen in a very long time!

Pretty high praise!

Our challenge now is to make sure everyone passes their classes, no one gets injured, and we don't get overconfident!

We'll see how it goes!