January 5, 2005
Five thoughts...1. I know this casts doubt on my already dubious adulthood credentials, but I really love bad weather. Except, of course, if there's death or severe injury involved. Otherwise, I think it's fabulous.("You reporters just like bad news," a coffeehouse compatriot grumbled at me this morning. Nah.)So the challenge of getting around an icy downtown this morning, I think, is great fun.2. What I'm Reading: "Dark Star Safari" by Paul Theroux. My, he's cranky -- but also a highly observant, highly curious traveler making his way across Africa in the aftermath of 9-11. He's one of the greatest of the modern travel writers, proving how much earth there still is to discover if one goes about it in the proper frame of mind.3. What I'm Listening To: "Garden State" soundtrack. I wasn't a huge fan of the movie -- it was OK -- but the music has been following me everywhere, particularly Simon and Garfunkel's "Only Living Boy in New York." Over the weekend, I broke down and purchased.4. Boy. Oklahoma sure stunk, huh?5. OK. I don't even have five thoughts today.
Comments
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Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
It doesn't seem that bad to me here in Lawrence, but I think I have really high standards for bad. Some power's out in town, and driving should be done cautiously. I don't think we got an inch of ice, but we got ice.
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Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
Your girlfriend hasn't lived in California for a year. Tell her to get over it.
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quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
How bad is the weather? I heard on AP this morning that KC got an inch of ice.
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Rigg (Mike Rigg) says…
Trynasty? That's genious.
But your list is incomplete without mention of the Atlanta Braves.
And I, too, enjoy cold weather -- even though my girlfriend is about to turn into a popsicle.
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Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
Is there some kind of category for second place
dynasties? You know, teams like the Vikings in the
70s, the Broncos in the 80s and the Bills in the 90s
that were really good, but consistently failed to win
the final big game of the season? Would OU, after the
last two years, be in such a category?
Would we call them "Trynasties?"
As in, you know, they really tried?
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Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
For example, we could call all those heavily talented KU teams of the 1990s -- the ones that had the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, only to fall in the first or second round -- a "trynasty." They had a remarkable run of almost-greatness.
Trynasty. I'm trademarking this word.
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quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
OED, watch out! Here comes Joel!
"Trynasty" is just... perfect. Last night my roommate and I were comparing Stoops to Bud Grant and Marv Levy, although I felt more fan affection for Grant and Levy than I do for Stoops.
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Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
God bless you, Quinno. I'm working up a full-length blog treatment of the word now -- I'm not nearly as prolific as you these days in the blogging department.
Maybe in 20 years it will be possible to feel affection for Stoops, but he lacks the crusty old football Lombardiness that made Bud Grant and Marv Levy hard to hate.
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Bad_Brad (anonymous) says…
I, for one, thorougly enjoyed watching OU getting lambasted last night. I have had a dislike for Bob Stoops ever since he politicked his way into the national title game a year ago, and I dislike his co-defensive coordinator Bo Pellini even more. A couple years ago, KSU handed Nebraska its ass on a platter in Lincoln. KSU ran a late TD in to make the final score something like 38 to 9. The first thing Pellini did was run to midfield and call Bill Snyder a fucking asshole for running up the score. All I can say is that Pellini has a short memory, given that Nebraska was notorious for running up the score on everyone for decades.
Not to mention, earlier this year, I lost money because of Stoops running up the score. I had KU + 28 points in Norman. KU trailed 34 to 10 in the 4th quarter, when KU turned the ball over at about midfield with about 1:30 to go. I figured OU would either take a knee and end the game, or at most, maybe run the 2nd or 3rd string tailback into the line a few times. Oh no! Stoops left all his big guns in there (White, Peterson, Clayton, etc) and ran a no huddle offense and called all three timeouts so that White could throw a meaningless TD with seconds to go and make it 41 to 10. Of course, Stoops knew two things: 1) A lot of wealthy OU boosters probably had money on OU in that game, so he needed to cover the spread to make them happy, and 2) The computer rankings (a component of the BCS) consider margin of victory, not to mention the fact that many voters in both polls look at victory margin as well.
Still, to leave your Heisman winning QB and Heisman candidate freshman RB in there with the game well in hand is an unforgivable sin. I don't wish injury on anyone, but had one of those two gone down with a season-ending injury, it would have been fitting for Stoops. As it is, last night's severe beating at the hands of a superior-coached team will have to suffice.
I loved the 4th quarter usc td. usc leading 48 to 10, 4th down and 1 on about the OU 5. USC goes for it and runs it in for a TD. A Bob Stoops classic, only it was Bob Stoops on the receiving end!!! Man, that was poetry. I almost cried I was so happy. I was, however, disappointed that USC didn't go for two to make it 56 to 10, and I was also disappointed that USC gave up 9 points at the end of the game. I wanted that one to be a beating for the record books. Oh well. I'll take it!!!
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quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
Grant and Levy always looked haunted to me. Dan Reeves, too. Stoops just looks smug. That's unfair, I know, and certainly Coach Stoops didn't look very smug at the end of the game last night, but "smug" comes to mind most of the time.
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Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
Ah, well then, in Kansas we must seem like a bunch of crybabies to you.
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quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
Snow up here, and rather a lot, although not so much compared to southwestern Colorado. Telluride got 25 inches in the past 24 hours; Durango 29. We've seen between five inches and a foot so far here in Summit County, but it's still snowing....
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quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
Not a bit. I've wintered in Scotland, Michigan, and Maine (twice), and it seems to me that places like that (and like Colorado) are better-equipped than Kansas to deal with heavy weather. Kansas, and I guess most of the Plains, is occasionally subject to hellish ice storms that would shut down most places. The only real difference I've noticed is that Kansas is a scosh more willing to close schools, which in general I approve of. Snow days are good things.
It's the grown-ups who take snow days up here. I'm alone at the station at the moment--it's a powder day.
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