Channel-Z's Paranoid Ramblings

At the beginning of the year, I yelled from the upper deck of Dolphin Stadium; I yelled until my throat hurt, because I wanted our section to be louder than Virginia Tech.  We wanted to prove we could hang with a bigtime football team, but with their fans as well.  We won the Orange Bowl, and I was proud of the noise the fans made.

This year KU plays for pride.  We're 6-5, looking mediocre and slow at times, and downright lost in some cases.  If we lose, we're probably going to the Insight Bowl.  If we win, we're still going to the Insight Bowl.  Missouri has already wrapped up the Big 12 North.  But that doesn't mean fans should let their guard down.  Get loud.  Remember the line from Ride With the Devil:  anything from Missouri has a taint to it.  Get loud.  Missouri has won the last two border war football games.  Don't let Double Chin Chase to walk out of Arrowhead with a third.  Yell until it hurts.  Soothe your throat with booze and yell some more.

Realistically, the current 14-point spread is about right.  KU's offensive line, a strength last year, is a liability this year.  Todd Reesing plays hurt, and it shows.  Same with Joe Mortensen and Mike Rivera.  Jake Sharp and Kerry Meier are so beaten up, they might not play at all.  And we still can't muster a pass rush without sending an extra guy.  If it were up to me, I would play fast cornerbacks at safety, safeties at linebacker, and linebackers at defensive end.  I don't want Joe Mortensen picking up Jeremy Maclin on a crossing route. 

This game doesn't have the same stakes as last year, but it is important nonetheless for kU not to end the season losing five out of their last six games.  I think KU will play hard, but sadly, regrettably, I think they will tire and come up 10-20 points short.  Take the month off to get reps for the young guys, play hard for the bowl game, then look to next year with revenge on your mind.

It's been a while since I've posted anything.  So enjoy these songs which seem so appropriate today.

Lesiure Process-"Cashflow" (I always thought he was singing "where did those bugs go." I guess bucks makes more sense, ha ha.)

10cc-"Wall Street Shuffle"

Midnight Oil-"Blue Sky Mine"

Steely Dan - "Black Friday"

If you live in Northern Johnson County ("NoJo"), I might see you at the Northeast Offices on Lamar tomorrow.  That's where I vote, and where I hope to break my streak of voting for the presidential loser.  Ultimately, I decided voting for Chuck Baldwin would not break that streak.  By the way, I'll be the one wearing my iPod while I wait in line.

I was born a little late for the voting process, unfortunately.  I have a November birthday, but it falls after election day.  When I turned 18 in 1994, voters had already handed Republicans the majority in Congress.  When I first voted (the next year in municipal elections in Lawrence), I voted in the garage of a fire station.  I started putting those "I voted" stickers on my alarm clock a few years later.  I'm out of room now, so I'm debating whether to start overlapping the now yellow-colored stickers.  Or maybe I'll drive to Chik-Fil-A for a free chicken sandwich.

Seeing all the long lines for advance voting, it makes me support the idea of a national holiday for a national election, or perhaps moving election day to a weekend (making it a two-day affair).  Many countries already do that.

I think we legitimately learned how it is in Big 12 football.  It is Texas, Oklahoma, and everyone else.

I watched both my Jayhawks lose to the Sooners and my hated rival Missouri lose to the Longhorns Saturday (with ABC's complete master control meltdown in the middle).  All four teams run the spread offense, and all four teams score at a ridiculous pace.  But with the coaching pretty much the same, it is up to the athletes to take over.  And I clearly discerned who has the speed, the power and the athleticism at every position.  You can scheme and plan all you want, but at some point, athletic ability trumps all of it.

I'm proud of the way the Jayhawks played, but they committed too many penalties, they couldn't protect Todd Reesing, and they couldn't hassle Sam Bradford.  If I had ten seconds in the pocket, I could probably complete a pass too.  And when you can't create chaos at the line of scrimmage, your linebackers and defensive backs have very little chance of staying with fast receivers and running backs building momentum.

Missouri shackled themselves in similar fashion.  They have more game-changing players and a better defensive line than Kansas.  But Texas has superior athletes at nearly every position.  Colt McCoy completed 29 of 32 passes.  That is insane.

And that is Saturday's lament.  KU and MU say "baby steps, baby steps," but they've been saying it since the 1970s.  Both teams can be decent; they can appear in bowl games consistently.  With a more populous home recruiting base, MU enjoys a slight advantage.  But the same schools land the same superior athletes every year.  It is truly tough to change college football.

I've never paid much attention to the band Level 42.  You might remember them for the songs "Lessons in Love" and "Something About You" in the mid-1980s.  Saturday I received an aircheck of Toronto radio station CFNY from November 21, 1986.  In the second song on the aircheck, I kept hearing the line "Kansas City Milkman."  I had never heard it before - who would possibly a record a song like that?  After searching the lyrics, it turns out Level 42 recorded a song in 1984 called "Kansas City Milkman."  But I have no idea if it truly has any Kansas City meaning.  It doesn't sound like it.  I found a concert version of the song on YouTube so you can listen for yourself.

I think retrieving the security deposit is out of the question.  Whoever lives here loves Whataburger, Shipley's Donuts and Taco Cabana.  All the food groups are represented.

You might live in filth, but at least you have wrinkle-free shirts.

http://www.holytaco.com/2008/09/23/worlds-most-disg
usting-apartment-is-in-houston/

Either I am a glutton for punishment or a fan of high comedy, because I watched the Chiefs/Raiders game Sunday.  I felt awful for the people who actually paid to attend the game, especially when that 5'9" Hagans fellow took a few snaps.  No, that wasn't Trent Green wearing #10.  That was a guy, shorter than me, drafted by St. Louis as a wide receiver, who didn't make their team.  He lined up as a quarterback for the Chiefs.  USC probably could've beaten the Chiefs by a couple of TDs yesterday.

They have a legitimate shot at losing all 16 games.  The Chiefs do have to play Oakland again, they get Atlanta next week, and they finish December with Miami and Cincinnati - all poor teams.  But I think the Chiefs have what it takes to lose 'em all.  If you lose all 16 games, you have a place in history.  If you go 1-15, you're just another terrible football team.

The roller coaster isn't over yet.

Dear 'Rio and Shady,

I know the NBA rookie transition camp is boring.  The NBA teaches you about finance, personal conduct and the pressure of professional sports.  It's boring.  They tell you not to mess around with gold diggers and to stay away from the hippie lettuce.  It's boring, and apparently, they had not reached that lesson yet.

In case you missed it, the NBA kicked Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur out of the rookie symposium for having weed in their hotel room.  You couldn't wait until you got home?  As a KU grad I am disappointed.  Some of my fellow Jayhawk fans will try to spin the news.  75% of the NBA smokes weed anyway.  Lawrence is exactly free of the hippie lettuce either.  There's no spin.  You can't spin stupidity like that.

TheNBA will enlighten both of them on the economics of missing games.  A first-time drug offense results in a five-game suspension.  Nice way to start your rookie season.  Each was fined $20,000 as well.

A few days before the Republican convention, and a little over two months before election day, there are no more mysteries.  It's Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin; Illinois meets Delaware and Arizona meets Alaska.  A black man occupies one ticket and a woman is on the other.  Someone will make history, one way or the other.

I'll be interested to see how this plays out among my parents.  I come from a family with opposite, but interesting political leanings.  Right now, my mom is conservative and Republican.  But in college in the 1960s, she was a Democrat, moderate, and anti-war.  In the 1960s, my dad briefly led the Young Republicans of Groton, Connecticut.  Now he votes Democrat.  In between, he placed Ross Perot bumper stickers in our house.  I wouldn't be surprised if he sneaked in a vote for John Anderson too, just for good measure.

After an invigorating speech under the spectre of John Elway, you knew Obama would have momentum.  You also know McCain will have equal momentum coming out of his convention.  Conventions are essentially negated.  Electoral votes through V.P. choices are not a factor, as the two candidates come from two of the least-populated states in the union.

I am curious, though, about McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.  She's a woman, but with the opposite beliefs of Hillary Clinton.  Unless women vote purely on gender, that might not help McCain.  Palin's experience includes 18 months as Alaska's governor, a few years as a small town mayor, and some time on a state ethics board.  Like me, Sarah Palin has a journalism degree.  I realize the big donors didn't want an abortion rights supporter on the ticket (Ridge), McCain didn't want any Bush links (Rice, Pawlenty, etc.), and McCain didn't want the "rich white guy" tag to haunt him any further (Romney).  But seriously, Sarah Palin?  McCain could've chosen the savior of the 2002 Winter Olympics and a man with unquestioned economic stature, or a man who won the governorship of a traditionally Democratic state, the man who once led the key swing state of Pennsylvania, or a man who after being ousted in his party's primary, kept his Senate seat as an independent.  Sarah Palin might be a maverick, but if McCain wins and something happens to him, she's in way over her head, I'm afraid.

Personally, I'm not overly enthusiastic about anyone.  In the time I have been eligible to vote, I have never voted for a winner in the Presidential election (that includes both Clinton and Bush).  I would lean Obama in a choice between the two.  Of any of the original candidates, I would've chosen Ron Paul, and perhaps Chris Dodd a distant second.

This will be an interesting run to the finish line.  Key things to watch:

-Will a fresh but inexperienced face energize McCain?  What about Palin's views on abortion and teaching creationism, as well as the scandal over her brother-in-law?

-Will women vote Republican because of a woman on the ticket, regardless of views?

-Can Obama keep the same energy from his acceptance speech?  Will an experienced running mate matter?  The Presidential candidates debate three times; the potential VPs debate once.

-Economics!  Who will be more persuasive to voters who lost or downgraded their jobs?

-Our place in the world:  China, Japan, Russia and others hold us by the economic balls.  How will either candidate smooth things over with Russia when we don't have the moral high ground, nor the economic clout?  Can either candidate restructure and balance our longtime Israeli-dominated foreign policy?

I know the Olympics aren't on FOX (and be glad they aren't), but they have kept me glued to the television for the past week.  I don't watch much TV, so how do I manage to get hooked on team handball every four years?  Observations...

Michael Phelps, enjoy your moment in the spotlight.  You are one of the greatest athletes in modern history.  But your 12,000 calorie daily diet makes me queasy!  Little chocolate donuts really are the breakfast of champions!

Speaking of the pool, some of those Australian female swimmers are awfully intimidating.  Even more intimidating than this guy:

A North Korean shooting athlete was disqualified for "doping."  Pull!  Inject!

Jamaicans are fast. 

If you're in the lead after 100 meters of a rowing event, you're probably going to win. 

Moreover, I think the rowing announcer likes to hear himself say "repechage."  I don't know what repechage means, other than if one loses a rowing qualifying event, they can still advance through this extra race.  I'm sure their abdominal muscles would agree it's worth it.

I would require the loser in a diving event to perform a cannonball off the platform.

Furthermore, let's move the gymnastics vault to the end of the platform diving board.

To the Russian chick who vaulted without waiting for the green light:

  Zero ... point ... zero!

If I were President, I would nominate Shawn Johnson as Secretary of State.  I don't care if she's 4'2" and still in high school.  She just needs to flutter those brown eyes and smile, and anyone will do anything she asks.

 "Three silver medals?  Aww, come on.  I really deserved a gold there. **flutters eyelashes**  Also, I think you need to withdraw troops from Georgia, or I'll snap your neck with my thighs of steel. **smiles**

The smog in Beijing is so pervasive, it has three medals of its own.  But a clumsy baton pass doomed Selenium, Lead, Arsenic and Antimony in the 4 x 100 relay.

Finally, jeers to the U.S. soccer team for failing against lesser opponents.  I'll be disappointed if the U.S. men's and women's basketball teams don't bring home gold.

I love women's beach volleyball.

July 11

This is really just a driving day, returning to Boston so I can awaken at 4:30 in the morning to catch a Midwest Airlines flight home.

Apparently I didn't eat enough at breakfast, because I required a cranberry ice cream cone as I filled up the gas tank. ($4.19/gal.)  Cranberry ice cream?  For the win!  The time of day didn't matter; I just couldn't pass up cranberry ice cream.  I tried taking a detour into Hyannis, but road construction prevented me from enjoying the town.  If you think road construction around here is annoying, try maneuvering through a work site on a two-lane highway with summer tourist traffic.

I stopped for lunch in Plymouth.  Would you believe Plymouth Rock is under renovation?  Plymouth reminded me of Lawrence, Kansas, in many ways.  I shouldn't be surprised, considering the church I attended as a kid in Lawrence was Plymouth Congregational Church.

(Plymouth:  note the "I Love Cops" sticker on the right-hand traffic signal)

For the record, I had a tuna sandwich, but it was huge -- far more than I could eat.  I felt awful, because I really couldn't take tuna fish in the hot car with me to save for later.  Restaurants don't learn.

I'm staying near the airport, which requires using the McClellan Highway again.  This is the highway that doesn't allow for left turns, instead making drivers turn around at either end (one of those ends being the airport).  My Mapquest directions from Plymouth to the hotel are not accurate, so I wing it in rush hour traffic.  I make the right move every time.  Take that, Boston. :+)

In the morning, at the rental car office, I see mosquitoes everywhere.  It's 5:00 in the morning, mind you.  These mosquitoes are huge ... much larger than the ones in Alaska.  Logan Airport is playing that Frankie Valli song currently used in the Planters Peanuts commercials.  Midwest Airlines wants $8 for a ham and cheese omelet again.  No thanks.

Despite heavy rain at KCI, we land on time.  But lightning delays my airport escape, because the baggage handlers won't turn on the carousel if they see lightning.  When I finally receive my luggage, it's soaked.  Oh well, at least I had a few days to dry out!