Football 2013 - Week 13

by Bill Holmes

My recap of the only football games that matter

The season is winding down. While the pros still have five weeks left in the regular season, high schools are already into playoffs and colleges only have one or two games left. Then we have a few conference championship games followed by 742 college bowl games.

The Falcons start out the week with a Thursday home game against New Orleans. Of course this would be a blowout by the 8-2 Saints vs 2-8 Atlanta. Not exactly, remember this is the very unpredictable NFL. As it turns out it was a low scoring and close game. Have no fear though the Falcons did succumb to the Saints 17-13. The game was 14-13 at halftime, so you can imagine what a thrilling second half it was. There was one thrilling field goal in the third quarter and no scoring in the final 20 minutes. The difference turned out to be the five sacks by NO and an Atlanta fumble. This is the fifth loss in a row for the Falcons. It assures a losing season and eliminates them from the division race. The 2-9 Birds next travel to frigid Buffalo to play the 4-7 Bills.

Unfortunately this will be the last high school update for this season. The Bishop Kenny Crusaders finally lost a game but they didn't go down easily. The Clay County Blue Devils won the game 74-73. That is not a misprint or a basketball score. Amazingly it was a regulation football game, no overtime. The bad news of course is that Kenny is eliminated from the playoffs. BK was leading 60-44 after three quarters but Clay outscored Kenny 30-13 in the final period for the upset. As you can imagine there were a few yards gained by both sides. The Blue Devils had 638 total yards, the Crusaders had 834. There was some good news for BKs outstanding quarterback John Wolford. He alone accounted for 773 total yards, 234 rushing and 539 passing, scoring 10 touchdowns, 2 rushing and 8 passing. Too bad he had no defensive support. Wolford broke the all-time Florida high school records for career passing yards and touchdowns. He passed Tim Tebow to take the touchdown crown. Well done John on a great four years. Too bad he's a senior. The Crusaders finish the season with a 10-1 record. They had a great run. Congratulations to the team and John Wolford.

John Wolford

The only good news on Saturday was that TCU had an off week. That's the high point.

The USF Bulls lost at home to the always powerful SMU Mustangs 16-6. It was another outstanding offensive performance by South Florida. They were held scoreless until about 2½ minutes were left in the game and that was on a 50 yard punt return, not by the offense. The Bulls threw two interceptions and were penalized 107 yards. An absolute terrible showing. USF falls to 2-8, 2-4 for the season. Unfortunately they still have two games to play. Next game is Friday at state rival the #19 University of Central Florida Knights who sport a 9-1, 6-0 record, a road trip of less than 100 miles.

As bad as the USF lose was, there was an even more pitiful game that took place in Gainesville. The once mighty Florida Gators were beaten by the Georgia Southern Eagles 26-20. Losing football games by this edition of the Gators is not unusual this season but two factors make this lose especially egregious. First, the game was in The Swamp, the once secure home field of nasty Gators. Secondly, and even more appalling, the Eagles are a Division II (now call FCS) team. It is like the varsity losing to the junior varsity. Want some more good news? GSU outgained Florida 429 to 279 yards. More, all 429 yards were via the rush. The Eagles only attempted three passes and completed exactly none. So, the mighty Gator defense knew what was coming and still couldn't stop it. GSU even lost two fumbles just to make it a more even game. Florida gave up runs of 66, 53 and 45 yards. Two Eagles rushed for over 100 yards and a third had 94. Did I mention the Gators even got off to a 10-0 lead? This is the first Florida lose ever to an FCS team, the first losing season since 1979, their sixth consecutive lose. The Gators will not be going to a bowl this year either, the first time in 22 years. There are probably some other milestones, all bad, that I missed. UF falls to 4-7, 3-5 for the year. Next they host the #2 ranked Florida State Seminoles who sport an 11-0 record. That could be very ugly. It seems to me that Seminoles are at home in the swamp.

In the SEC there were three non-conference games. Alabama and South Carolina managed to win easily against patsy teams. Florida lost to their patsy opponent. The big game was #12 Texas A&M at #22 LSU. Johnny Football and the Aggies didn't fair too well in Baton Rouge, LSU won 34-10. The Tigers never trailed. Manziel was only 16/41 and two interceptions. There will be some shakeup in the rankings and the Heisman race. The other SEC games ended pretty much as expected. Missouri and Alabama lead the two divisions but both can still be overtaken in the last games next week. In the new BCS rankings, there are three SEC teams in the top 5. four in the top 10 and six in the top 25. Alabama is still ranked #1 but they play #4 Auburn on Saturday. 

A final college note, #2 FSU mashed the Idaho Potatoes (actually Vandals) 80-14. I'm sure the Noles were extra inspired because my oldest son and his family were in the stands. The Seminoles are now 11-0, 8-0 for the year. They strengthened their overall hold on the second spot in the BCS rankings and actually bested #1 Alabama in the computer polls. There next game is at the hapless Florida Gators then on to the ACC championship game probably against Duke although Georgia Tech can still win the Coastal Division too. FSU's biggest problem now is can they keep their quarterback Jameis Winston on the field. He is under investigation for sexual assault.

In the professional action, Atlanta had already lost on Thursday. Would the Jags and Bucs hold up their end? Not exactly.

The Jacksonville Jaguars pounded the Houston Texans 13-6. It seems the Texans are even more inept on offense than the Jags. Maurice Jones-Drew scored a touchdown in the first quarter then the teams traded field goals the rest of the game. Jax actually won the statistical battle. Chad Henne was 23/32 for 239 passing yards. Jones-Drew had 84 rushing yards. Neither total is spectacular but you must remember what team we're talking about. The Jaguars improve to 2-9 for the season and are now in a three way tie for the top draft choice. They are also now tied with the Texans for last place in the AFC South after holding sole possession of that position all year. The two teams meet again on 12/5 to break that tie. The Jags next travel to beautiful Cleveland to play the 4-7 Browns.

Just a few minutes after the Jaguars victory another miracle happened. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Detroit Lions 24-21. The Bucs lost everything but the turnover stat and game. The Lions had five turnovers. Despite that TB needed an 85 yard TD passing play in the fourth quarter to come from behind. The final interception came inside there own five yard line in the final minute to seal the deal. There were six lead changes in the game. This dominating win gives the Bucs a 3-8 record, all three wins in a row. The victory moves Tampa Bay one game behind in the draft race and moves them into third place in the NFC South one game ahead of Atlanta. They travel to the 8-3 Carolina Panthers next so their win streak is in jeopardy of being stopped at three.

In one other NFL note, the Vikings and Packers tied at 26 on the frozen tundra. It was the first tie of the year and the first ever tie effected by the new OT rules. In years prior to 2012 the Packers would have won since they scored a field goal first in the OT period. With the new rules, the first team to score must get a TD for OT to end in sudden death. In this case, Minnesota came back and scored there own field goal to again tie the score. Time ran out before either team could score again.  

wjh

Remembering the Kennedy Assassination

This article was originally published 11/22/2013, the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination. It has now been 56 years.

Do you remember where you were? Were you even alive or old enough to realize what was going on? I was alive, am old enough and I vividly remember the moment I heard the news. It was the first of those "where were you" events in my life. There were other events and days before this that are permanently etched into my brain but they are more personal. There were also events like the Cuban Missile Crisis that didn't have a specific day or time although those of us living in Florida were very concerned just the year before this fateful day. This particular event was shared with the whole country, no, the whole world. What am I talking about? It was the day President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. It was November 22, 1963. It was a Friday the week before Thanksgiving which was very late that year. Ironically on this 50th anniversary of the assassination, the calendar lines up exactly the same. November 22 is again a Friday and Thanksgiving are late on the 28th.

JFK in Fort Worth 11/22/63

There have been thousands of essays, reports, studies, theories, documentaries, books, TV shows and movies about the assassination. Especially in the last couple of weeks and especially here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Everybody has an opinion about the who, how and why of the event. This post is neither a recount of the actual events or my theory on those events. This is about one teenager's remembrance of that day. While I distinctly remember first hearing the news, some of the details after that moment are fuzzy. Part of that is because it happened 50 years ago and part is because I think we were all in at least partial shock at the time. Even 1963's self-centered teenagers were shaken from their insulated world.

I was in my 11th grade English class which was probably my second period after lunch. Kennedy was shot at 1:30 PM EST (12:30 CST in Dallas) and pronounced dead at 2:00 PM EST. The official announcement was at 2:30 PM EST. This was in the days way before the internet, cell phones, and Twitter so we would have gotten the news at least several minutes after the events occurred. Since it wasn't World Series time, none of us had sneaked a radio into class.

I attended a Catholic high school. Although it was technically a co-ed school, we did not have co-ed classes and in fact, had separate girl and boy buildings which were across the street from each other. There was minimal sanctioned cross-pollination between the genders. The girls had to come to our building for lunch or to use the library. We had to cross the street to the girls' side to take typing class or maybe go to a yearbook or prom meeting. Lunch was still segregated as was the typing class.

The Alma Mater

My English class was taught by Sister Violetta. It was one of the few classes I had in my four years of high school that was taught by a nun. The boys mostly had priests and lay male teachers, the nuns mostly taught the girls. Sister Violetta was probably the youngest nun at the school. As I remember she was a good teacher. She tried to be serious and very professional but some of our male teenage antics made her smile. The classroom was the homeroom for Coach Parete. In fact, we had Coach Parete as our American History teacher in that room either right before or right after English. We even got a break on a couple of assignments. Coach P. would grade a paper on the history content and Sr. Violetta would grade it on grammar and spelling for English. One paper, two grades, sweet. I digress.

That particular classroom's front door was the first one you would run into when coming from the administration wing to the classroom wing. So on that tragic day, we were probably the first class, at least in the boy's building to get the news. We were going along normally in class when Sister Thomas Joseph (Sr. TJ),  our principal, came to the door and knocked. There were small windows in the doors, so we saw who it was. Sr. Violetta went to the door and had a short hushed conversation with Sr. TJ. When she came back into the room she was crying. I sat near the front and had caught a glimpse of Sr. TJ. She was or at least had been crying too. Sr. Violetta went to her desk, sat down and told us the sad news. We were all shocked. She said class was over and to just stay in our seats. The advice was to put our heads on our desks. I'm sure we were told to pray too. How is a 16-year old supposed to process that kind of devastating news? We didn't have an army of school counselors available, in fact, we didn't have any counselors.

I honestly don't remember what happened at the end of that period. Did we change classes, did we stay where we were, did we go to our homeroom? The funeral was the following Monday, November 25th. I remember watching on TV, CBS in our house. Walter Cronkite was anchoring and it was in black and white, at least on our TV. I also don't remember whether we went back to school on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week before the normal Thanksgiving holiday. I do know it was a sad Thanksgiving. It was also probably my Mom's saddest birthday on November 25th, the day of the funeral. Like 9/11 almost four decades later, everything stopped for a few days and then the country got on with life.

JFK Funeral Procession

This was a devastating event in our history. It was a particularly devastating event for an Irish Catholic teenager. Kennedy was the first Catholic president in our history. I'm mostly Irish. I was in the 12th year of my 13 years in Catholic schools (K-12). I was an altar boy. I was in a class taught by a nun when the news broke. Kennedy was adored by the nuns. JFK was the youngest elected president, 43 years old. Younger than my parents. Every other politician I knew of was an old fart.

Like the nuns, my Mom was devastated. John Kennedy may have been the first national Democrat she ever voted for. My parents were only five years older than JFK who besides being the first Catholic was also the first president born in the 20th century.

We eventually recovered from this tragedy. School continued, we went back to our self-absorbed teenage lives. We immersed ourselves in our romances, the Beach Boy, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kingston Trio, finding booze, going to the beach, talking dad into using the car, and a myriad of other very important activities. Despite our return to almost normal, we were never the same. Camelot was gone. In the years to come almost everything got turned around. The Vietnam war and the draft hung over us. Bobby and Martin were assassinated. Nixon came and went. We lost our unquestioning faith in the government. The post-WWII victory blush and boom were gone.

I think those quantum changes started that November day in 1963.

I know that day changed Dallas. The establishment got a little more tolerant. Even to this day, there is some guilt and embarrassment. For the first time ever, Dallas is recognizing the anniversary of the event. There are finally ceremonies at Dealey Plaza for the first time in 50 years. I find it somewhat ironic that I now live in the area where JFK spent the last two days of his life. I've been to all the places the Kennedy's went back then. I've been to Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum.

Dealey Plaza 

I also find it ironic that this area (D/FW) is so anti-Obama. In some ways, the old white conservative anti-Catholic (maybe anti-black) guard are reemerging. It died down a little for a few years. I guess 50 years is too long ago to remember or to learn from. They once hated a Catholic president, now they hate a Black president. Funny, in 1963 Ft. Worth was much more blue collar and Democratic. Kennedy had a good reception there. Now it's mostly a very red area.

We are all a conglomeration of our genes, upbringing, environment, education, friends and extraordinary events we witness or live through. This was one of those extraordinary events that shaped my life and my views. I am a child (a very old child) of the 60"s. It's too bad we had to kill our best and brightest before we emerged from that decade.

Where were you that day?

wjh

Perceptions of Youth

by Bill Holmes 

I have no idea what triggered this line of thought but the other day I found myself looking up something about the area of New Jersey where I was born. I consider myself a Floridian but in fact I was born well north of the Mason-Dixon line. I got to the South as soon as I could. One thing led to another and before long I was checking information about the towns some of my cousins lived in. We moved to Florida when I was six years old so many of my memories are faded or distorted by the eyes and memories of a four or five year old. There were a few visits back to the old neighborhood in New Jersey during my youth and a couple in my adulthood but things change. I don't think I've been back to the old haunts in 35 years. I've been to the New York City area many times in those 35 years but it was always on business and I never seemed to have time to venture into Northern New Jersey to just wander around. Most of the relatives are either dead, have moved from the area or I've lost touch with them so there wasn't any family to visit. Most of my NYC area business trips were to IBM in White Plains, Poughkeepsie, Fish Kill or to GTE in Stamford or Norwalk. All those places are north of the city. Those times I was in Manhattan for meetings or a conference I never had a car. I didn't want to take a bus or the PATH trains across the river without having transportation at the other end. The closest I've gotten to that area lately is when I watched the Sopranos.

Both my grandmothers and a couple of aunts lived in the town right next to the one we lived in when I was little. My parents each had two sisters so we didn't have a huge extended family. I only had eight first cousins, two of whom were born around the time we moved to Florida. One of my mom's sisters and one of my dad's sisters lived way far away, or so I thought. I remember piling into the family car, initially a 1938 Olds later a 1946 Pontiac, for the trips. It seemed like we had to drive through the country to get to their houses. That was exotic to me. The town we lived in and the next one over where most relatives lived were pretty much built out even way back then. Those two distant aunts also lived in what I thought were big houses on huge lots. We lived in an apartment as did most of the rest of our relatives. One other local aunt lived in a house with a postage stamp yard. The front yard was only a couple of steps deep and a couple of feet wider than the house. So, for our visits to the boondocks we had to go for a long drive through the country and then we arrived at a large estate.

Now the reality. I recently looked up the distances on Google Maps. One of these country families lived about 15 miles away. The other a whopping 25 miles. Now I know the roads in 1950 would be different than those today and speed limits were lower but there would have been less traffic and I doubt the total distance would vary by much. We also usually made those visits on the weekend so traffic shouldn't have been too bad. To put this into perspective many people have daily one way commutes to work longer than 25 miles. Many Sundays I ride my bike over 30 miles often over 40 miles. I ride more than 15 miles during many weekdays.

Another big deal and long trip was when Mom would take me to Manhattan. It was actually about a 12 mile bus ride and then a couple of more miles by subway to the Museum of Natural History. Radio City Music Hall was about eight or ten blocks from the new Port Authority Bus Terminal. We would go after morning rush hour and although the bus made a few stops, it was not like a local route with stops every block or two. Not exactly an epic journey.

Museum of Natural History - NYC

Another thing I had no concept of was the population of those towns. As I said earlier, the towns in our immediate vicinity were mostly built out. One town ran into the next with no unincorporated land to be found. Ironically the town I live in now is almost built out and is completely surrounded by other towns with no unincorporated land. There is still unincorporated and vacant land in other parts of the county though. The town I live in now is about three times more populated than the crowded town I lived in back then. Part of that is because a big chunk of the old home town is a cemetery with a population of almost 300,000. That includes several relatives including my Mom's ashes and my maternal grand parents. As a child, we lived a block from the cemetery and my friends and I used to play in the open areas. We never played near the graves. If you did that you would become a resident immediately and go to Hell. By the way, the cemetery seemed huge back then and in fact it is, over 200 acres.

It isn't just little kids that have problems with distance perception. One of my cousins who is a few years older than I am was in Miami at a convention in the 1960's. This cousin had lived his entire life in New Jersey and hadn't been out of the Northeast very often. While in Miami he called my dad, his uncle, to say he had some free time during the convention and since he was in the same state thought maybe he'd drive up to visit us and have lunch or dinner. Well, it's approximately 350 miles from Miami to Jacksonville. I think a 700 mile round trip would have been a little much for lunch. Needless to say he didn't drop by. Turns out Florida is a little bigger than New Jersey. I don't know what he'd think if he ever visited Texas

It's funny how our perceptions change over time. That huge house or long trip of our youth becomes a little cottage and a 15 minute drive. I'll never again see my grandparents big house or drive to that aunt and uncle who lived way out in the country. I'll never take that adventurous bus ride to Manhattan again to see the dinosaurs at the museum or a movie at Radio City Music Hall. What I will always have are the memories. As long as I have those memories, Aunt Helen will live far away in the country with a huge yard and Manhattan is another world only reachable by a big bus. All those trips requiring me to take care of my wonderful Mom, or maybe the other way around.

Do you have any huge places that have shrunk or far away places that got closer?

wjh

Scattershooting 11-17-13

by Bill Holmes

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to the great  

Roberto Clemente

Sunday's Summary

My incomplete recap of the week

• Is there hope for the Gators next year? Maybe a real QB next season.

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/recruiting/florida-commit-grier-throws-9tds/

It was very scary for a couple of minutes. The Kroger I shop in is being remodeled. I've seen very few results except removal of most of the floor tiles and a little paint for at least three weeks. That changed today. I noticed some shelves and a few other things moved near the front. Then came the scary part. I turned onto the beer aisle and found yogurt, juice, etc. but no beer. That whole dairy/beverage side of the store is being moved around. Where was the beer? Finally found it on some temporary shelves in the back. There was no cold beer, in fact those coolers are gone. I almost called Beerman to come to the rescue. Cold beer needs to be Kroger's highest priority. Just in case, I bought a little extra.

For those of you who were concerned for my well being I have good news. The lukecool beer that I was forced to buy today due to store remodeling has reached acceptable drinking temperature. I'm testing it right now to be sure.

I'm not too crazy about the wind/temp Tuesday or that 29° Wednesday morning.

My favorite future veteran and his lovely wife not too long before his current tour in the Middle East. Thanks son. Be safe.

It was one of those days -

This is not my idea of southern living. It's 30° with 24° wind chill. It has dropped to 65° inside. May have to turn the heat on.

• Oh no, Muscamp gets a vote of confidence. You all know what that means.

http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=26727

Richard Cohen wrote in the Washington Post - "People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York — a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children. (Should I mention that Bill de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, used to be a lesbian?)"

You gotta give him credit, Cohen offended almost everybody in just one sentence and a parenthetical phrase. Also according to him he is not racist. Apparently not anti-LGBT either.

BTW, if one parent is black and the other white what kind of kids are they suppose to have? I think biracial is a good choice.

Illness will keep Alex Rodriguez from being questioned by MLB tomorrow (11/14)

Probably got a bad batch of roids. Not sure if that's steroids or hemorrhoids. Poor A-Roid.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/11/14/illness-will-keep-alex-rodriguez-from-being-questioned-by-mlb-tomorrow/

So what does this portend for Android?

Waaaaaaaaaay too early. KLUV, an oldies station, started playing all Christmas music this morning (11/15). Guess I won't be listening to them for awhile. Crank up the Pandora.

Giving Linux Mint 16 (Petra) 64 bit Cinnamon RC a try. Running off a USB ISO for now. Seems to be working OK. (11/15)

Turned out to be a great day(11/17) for a bike ride. Temps in the 80's, calm winds. Lotsa traffic though. Every convertible in D/FW was on the road, all with the top down and many with dogs. The Bedford Bark Park had several visitors too.

Update: It appears the east end of the local Kroger remodeling is substantially done. The beer (most important section) is in new coolers where the cheese used to be, the cheese is where the juice was, the juice and most other dairy, including yogurt, is where the beer was, milk expanded into the old yogurt area and a few other tweaks. Got it? The rest of the store is still pretty much the same although it looks like the deli area may be next. I'm sure all these changes are scientifically determined by marketing geniuses and will cause a huge improvement in profits for this store.

wjh

Football 2013 - Week 12

by Bill Holmes

My recap of the only football games that matter.

We start the football week early with a Monday night game. Apparently lightening can strike twice. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the dysfunctional bully or bullied Miami Dolphins 22-19 to become the last NFL team to get a victory this season. The Bucs got out to a 15-0 lead and then watched the Dolphins score 19 straight points. Tampa Bay finally scored again with about 10 minutes to go and then held on. This has been the modus operandi for TB all season. They get off to a fast start and then fade. The difference this time is they somehow found the end zone for a late score and the win. The Bucs improve to 1-8 and are now tied with Jacksonville, who also won for the first time the day before, for the first draft pick. Next up the 2-7 Atlanta Falcons in Tampa.  

Friday night brought us high school playoffs. We have good news and bad news here.

The LD Bell Blue Raiders didn't show their best in their 5A Division II Bi-District game against the Hebron Hawks. Final score was Hawks 27 Raiders 0. Although Bell actually finished slightly ahead in most statistics, the killer was five turnovers. This ends the Raiders season with a 7-4 overall record. It was a good but not great season. See you next year Raiders. Baseball season in a couple of months. 

The continuing good news comes from the Bishop Kenny Crusaders. They easily beat the Palatka Panthers 44-22 in a game that wasn't that close. BK had 550 total yards to 182 for Palatka. The Crusaders quarterback, John Wolford, had a milestone game. He passed for 355 yds. which moved him into third place in history for passing yards by a Florida high school player. He moved past Tim Tebow (you may have heard of him) on the all-time list. Wolford is collecting state records this year. He has set the mark for career completions and career TD passes. Kenny is now 10-0 for the season and next host the 7-4 Clay County Blue Devils. Who will triumph, Devils or Crusaders?  

John Wolford

Not so great a Saturday for my college teams. It started with a thrilling game between TCU at the Kansas State Wildcats. There were seven lead changes and the game wasn't decided until the 59:57 mark. The Frogs scored a go ahead FG with 2:13 remaining but then couldn't stop K-State from marching down the field and kicking a 41 yard FG for the win. Final score 33-31. This drops the Frogs to 4-7, 2-6. They are now officially out of the bowl picture. After a bye week, TCU hosts the undefeated #5 Baylor Bears. Good luck with that. 

The bad news continued with a USF 23-10 home lose to the Memphis Tigers. The Bulls won the statistical battle but also had five turnovers. Offensively challenged teams like USF can't afford any turnovers, let alone five. The game was close at 6-3 after three quarters but then Memphis scored 17 straight points. The old alma mater falls to 2-7, 2-3 for the season and next host the 4-5, 3-2 SMU Mustangs.

Next the Florida Gators made a valiant effort at #10 South Carolina. The Gators went into the game with no chance. They were having to play with their third string and first time starting quarterback, Skyler Mornhinweg. Well, moniker challenged Skyler did an adequate job while the Gator defense played an outstanding game. Florida actually led 14-6 at halftime before the Fighting Spurriers came back and outscored them 13-0 in the second half. In this terrible Gator's season there were some signs of life and pride. Of course in big time SEC football a moral victory still counts as a lose. It was Florida's fifth straight lose for the first time since 1979. The Gators fall to 4-6, 3-5 and next host Division II (or whatever the hell they're now called) Georgia Southern. Not a sure win for this Gators' team. They have to beat the GS Eagles and then #2 FSU to become bowl eligible. I'm thinking the Gators will be idle in December. 

In the SEC, only nine teams were in action. Ole Miss won the non-conference game. All the favorites won the conference matchups, although #7 Auburn almost blew it against Georgia. The Tigers jumped out to a 13-0 lead, 27-10 halftime advantage and 37-17 early in the fourth quarter. Then the Dawgs got hot. After three straight TDs, the Bulldogs actually led 38-37. Then the War Eagle flew in and made a miraculous catch with 25 seconds remaining to score a TD for a 43-38 Auburn victory. It was a great game, probably the best of the day. Georgia is now eliminated from the SEC East race. Auburn can still win the West with a victory over #1 Alabama in two weeks. With their lose to Auburn, Georgia fell out of the BCS top 25 but six SEC teams remain in the rankings with four in the top 12. Alabama remains #1. 

In the race for the BCS championship game, #2 FSU further cemented their position. They completely dominated the Syracuse Orange 59-3. Despite the Noles domination, there was one statistical anomaly, Syracuse handily won time of possession 42 minutes to only 18 for FSU. That just shows that the Noles scored very quickly and easily. The Seminoles improve to 10-0, 8-0. FSU has only the 1-9 Idaho Vandals and the 4-6 Gators remaining on the regular season schedule. They then have to play the ACC championship game. The Seminoles are solidly in the #2 position in the BCS rankings. They are much closer to #1 Alabama than #3 Ohio State. They are now tied with 'Bama for first spot in the computer rankings.

Since Atlanta traveled to Tampa this week, I was assured of one pro win. I actually expected the Falcons to be that winning team since they beat the Bucs a month ago. That was not the outcome as TB beat Atlanta 41-28 for an amazing two wins in a row and in the same week. It was the Buccaneers biggest points explosion by far this season. The game statistics were pretty close but once again turnovers played a big part. TB had none, Atlanta had three. The Birds and the Bucs are now tied with 2-8 records. They both are one game behind in the race for the first draft pick. Atlanta next plays at the 8-2 Saints. The now streaking Bucs travel to the 6-4 Lions.

Jacksonville on the other hand returned to their losing ways. The Arizona Cardinals were in town. The Jags actually led 14-7 after one quarter and were tied at 14 at the half. Then thankfully they came to their senses and decided not to play after halftime. They lost the second half 13-0 and the game 27-14. The Jaguars came in second place in most statistical categories but made up for that by throwing two interceptions. The defense did OK with three sacks and holding the Cardinals to 14 rushing yards. Sadly, I think we are seeing the end of the line for once great running back Maurice Jones-Drew. He had only only 23 yards on 14 carries and only about 450 yards this season. With this lose Jax takes sole possession of last place in the NFL with a 1-9 record and therefore first place in the draft race. They can not let their guard down though as there are four teams with 2-8 records. Next up the Jaguars face one of those teams as they travel to the almost as inept 2-8 Houston Texans.

As the high school playoffs continue, all I can say is 

Go Bishop Kenny Crusaders!

wjh

 

    

 

NFL Bullying and Hazing

by Bill Holmes

Incognito & Martin

Here we go again with the utter surprise and universal condemnation about the alleged bullying charges concerning Jonathan Martin, Richie Incognito and the Miami Dolphins. I have no idea if the charges are true, false or somewhere in between. That is not the point of this post.

What bothers me is the sense of outrage by the media, the NFL, players' union, current and former players, coaches and several thousand talking heads. While many of the "experts" have never played football, those in the game are being completely disingenuous about this topic.

Not Hazing - Tim chose that haircut

This is now a full blown public relations (PR) issue for the NFL. The story has dominated the media's NFL coverage for days and it was the main topic on all the NFL TV studio shows. Many of these programs include five or six ex-players and coaches. Amazingly none of those people ever experienced the kind of bullying in the locker room that is alleged in this instance. Who the hell are they trying to fool? I never played in the NFL but I can assure you that every team in any sport that I was on had a pecking order, hazing and bullying. Sometimes it gets out of hand but usually it's just the right of passage agenda. On the Monday Night Football pre-game show Iron Mike Ditka said he never saw bullying in all his years in the NFL. Do you believe that? Mike Ditka probably was the leader of the hazing group when he played. To deny he ever saw bullying means Mike was blind, in denial, mentally diminished or flat out lying. The same for all the other ex-jocks on the panel.

More Not Hazing

Now I'm not saying that whatever happened on the Dolphins wasn't above and beyond what normally happens in the locker room. From what I've seen and heard Richie Incognito is a full blown jerk with a history of not knowing where the bounds are and has been disciplined by the Dolphins and other teams. I guess none of that behavior ever included bullying. He is certainly not the first jerk in the NFL with boundary issues. The NFL is a macho league full of very big testosterone fueled, often PED enhanced, men who are encouraged to be violent, dominating, domineering and aggressive. You think they play patty cakes and hop scotch during their down time? Despite any previous behavior problems, Incognito was on the roster because he can play football. That is almost always the only important and deciding character trait for an athlete.

The NFL and probably a dozen other organizations promise a comprehensive and thorough investigation into this instance. That is the response to everything now days. There will be lawyers and unions and administration representatives involved. They will come up with a final report that has no or a very few fall guys and exoneration for those in power. Some token changes will be made to ensure this never happens again or until the public furor subsides, whichever comes first.

This false dismay, indignation and horror is a bunch of BS. Every time some untoward behavior is brought to light there is an investigation and total surprise that this could ever happen. Remember the bounty issue with the Saints a couple of years ago? Was that the first time bounties were offered for taking an opposing player out of a game? Hell no, it was the time it went public and took on a life of it's own. That's the only time the NFL, or any other big enterprise, takes action. Is it because they are concerned about the individuals, fairness or justice? Hell no, it's about the money. If public thinks the NFL condones bullying, encourages bounties or doesn't care about brain damage they may stop watching games and buying their merchandise.

Big time sports, collegiate or professional, and big time business want us to believe that no one in a position of authority is aware of any practice that is suspect. They are oblivious of the organization's culture or methods. More importantly, they are completely unaware of the adverse behavior in question. How can people at the top of their field be so unaware and incompetent? There are only two choices for us to choose from. Those leaders are stupid or liars. How can you pay a top head coach $5 or $6 million or a CEO $20 or $30 million and then accept his insistence that he didn't know what was going on in the organization? Tell you what, I'll be ignorant of what's going on for half that salary.

Let's accept that bullying is not a good thing in the NFL or anywhere else. Let's also acknowledge that 300 lb. millionaires bullying another 300 lb. millionaire is not the end of the world. Some bullying, especially among pre-teens and teens, is deadly. That's what we need to fix, not some NFL locker room. Because the NFL is such a big deal in this country we are led to believe this is the most important issue, at least this week, in the world. I suspect the people in the Philippines may disagree.

Fix the stuff that is broken or no longer politically correct but don't pretend no one knew it existed. Oh, and let's also acknowledge that hardly anything that happens in sports, or entertainment, is really a big deal in the overall scheme of things.

I'm sure we'll be hearing much more about this issue. After all we have a comprehensive, official investigation underway. I just wish the BS would stop. You guys got caught, fess up.

wjh

Quick Music - TV Reviews

by Bill Holmes

Another evening of cleaning up some music shows on the DVR -

The first is an Austin City Limits that first aired on PBS on 11/02/13 but didn't air here until 11/07. It was a concert by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. These two have been playing together off and on since 1975. Rodney was a member of Emmylou's band for three years, so they know each other well. 

Then

They played some songs from their new Old Yellow Moon album and some old favorites. It was a good concert. I'm a fan of Emmylou. They sound OK together but it's not necessarily great harmony. Many of the songs were almost solos by one or the other with limited participation by the other. That's OK. Rosanne Cash showed up for the last song. Rosanne and Rodney were married at one time. They still collaborate. If you like Emmylou you will probably enjoy this program. I give it a B+.

Now

You can stream the Austin City Limits episode at PBS.org. The full concert or some shorter clips.

Another PBS program is Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin' which originally aired 11/05 as part of the American Masters series. This documentary was promoted as having new performance video and interviews with those who knew Jimi. There was some new commentary and a little bit of new footage but some of the talking heads are dead so you know that isn't new stuff. I've also seen much of the performance video before.

I was around when Jimi burst on the scene. I owned the album Are You Experienced on vinyl, I now own the CD and have ripped it to my PC and the cloud. I liked and still like his music. He was a great talent. Jimi would be 71 if he were still alive. How much music have we missed because he died at 27?  

I didn't really learn much if anything new about Jimi, his life, music or death. I probably wouldn't be as critical of the documentary if it wasn't hyped as "new" stuff. If you weren't around during Jimi's time or a student of his music, you will learn about him and his journey. It's wasn't a great show but it was good, probably a solid B. I would have preferred some more uninterrupted music and fewer talking heads.

Hear My Train A Comin' is available on PBS.org also. Give it a watch.

The third PBS program I watched is an old one originally aired in 2009 titled How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin. The premise of this documentary is that the Beatles and their music helped bring down the communist government. Despite the Beatles music being banned, the youth of the 1960's and 70's Soviet Union smuggled it into the country and made bootlegged copies. They also illegally listened to Radio Luxembourg. This civil disobedience and Western influence supposedly ultimately caused the collapse of the oppressive communist rule.

If you are looking for a program about the Beatles, this is not it. There is not much music at all and what there is comes from Russian cover musicians, most not very good. It is mostly narration and retelling of the experiences of those now grown kids.

While this is an interesting subject, it is a pretty boring show. There is no way to determine the actual impact the Beatles had on the fall of the Soviet Union. The filmmaker thinks it was a major factor but he may be a little prejudiced. There was no mention of any other Western bands or music so I guess the Beatles did this all by themselves. I have a feeling that economic problems and Ronald Reagan might have had some impact on the demise of the USSR.

I suggest you skip this program. Instead listen to some Beatles recordings. The real guys do the songs much better than the Russians.

wjh