My 2005 COLLEGE Football Preview

First I will give you my national top 10, then I will get into my Big 12 preview, followed by a few other notes, and then my Husker Preview.

First is my top 10. This is my prediction of FINAL POSTSEASON standing. So it's not how good a team is, but how good they are along with their schedule, thus giving them their finish. In other words my #1 is who I think will win the BCS Championship.

10 - Louisville. This is not the most talented team out there, but they have one of the easiest schedules of any good team. They lost some serious talent but are just reloading this year. I expect them to win the Big East in their first year in the conference. However even if they go unbeaten (I think they will lose 1), they won't be in the BCS Title game because of the weak schedule.

9 - Ohio St. Have some huge games, including Texas in week 2. If they win that game they could easily be unbeaten going into the final game of the year at Michigan. I don't think they'll win that last game however, and wouldn't be surprised to see them lose 1 or 2 more. They have great lines and a legit Heisman receiver in Ginn, and this is a serious BCS Title contender.

8 - Oklahoma. Serious reload for the Sooners this year. They lose lots on both sides of the ball except Adrian Peterson. In fact they only have 9 starters returning. The schedule isn't too bad with Nebraska and Tech on the road, A&M at home, and Texas neutral, but I think this is the year they finally lose to Texas, knocking them out of the title race. But if they win that one, don't be surprised to see them up there in the end.

7 - Miami (FL). Only return 4 starters on offense, but luckily one of those 7 they lost is Brock Berlin. They have tons of talent at QB now, and have the best defense in the ACC, maybe the country. They go to FSU first game of the year but will win that one. The tough one is late in the year at Va Tech, plus now there is an ACC title game. Should be another great year for the Canes.

6 - Georgia. They lost many good players at QB, WR, and DE (Green, Brown, Pollack), but have tons of talent coming back, including DJ Shockley at QB. Both their O-Line and D-Line are great, and they have a decent schedule. They have 3 tough games at Tennessee, home against Auburn, and neutral against Florida, and if they win 2 of the 3 along with the SEC Title game, they could be looking at a BCS Championship bid.

5 - Purdue. This team returns ALL 11 starters on defense, which was a very good defense last year. They lose QB Orton, but he didn't play well and was hurt last year and the returning QB's saw plenty of action. They could have gone unbeaten last year, as they had a chance to win every single game. They also miss Ohio St AND Michigan this year, but do travel to Minnesota, Penn St, and Wisconsin, and have ND and Iowa at home. Wisconsin will be very bad this year, and the only possible losses I see are Penn St, ND, and Iowa. This team could easily be unbeaten at the end of the year, but may get snubbed. I had a dream a few weeks ago that Purdue won the whole thing, but I decided to pick against them anyway.

4 - Texas. This is one of the best Texas teams in some time. My only problem is they lost their 2 best players, RB Cedric Benson and LB Derrick Johnson. They play at Ohio St in the 2nd game of the year and also travel to a much improved A&M, which is one of the toughest places to play. This is the year they knock off Oklahoma however, and if they win at Ohio St and A&M they will be in the BCS title game. This team has the most talent in the Big 12, maybe in the country, including Heisman Trophy candidate QB Vince Young, and even with 1 loss could win it all.

3 - LSU. This team is the most talented team in the country outside of Pasadena. They get Florida and Auburn at home and only tough road game is Alabama. However, as I'll talk about later, Alabama will be a damn good football team, and I could see a stumble. The new coach situation with Les Miles worries me, but this team has as good a shot as anyone at winning the whole thing with that talent and the schedule.

2 - USC. Most talented team in the land, no question. But history is against them. They also will get every team's best shot every second of every game. It is hard to keep such a large group of kids motivated that long. They have lots of holes on defense to replace, but won't have a problem with that. However, I think a loss at Cal this year is very possible, as they should have lost last year. Still, it is so hard to pick them to lose any game, I just chose to pick against them for 2 reasons - 1) I don't want them to win and 2) No one has ever won 3 straight titles. Not very good reasons.

1 - Michigan. Yes, Michigan. Definitely not the most popular title pick but I'm going with them. I see 2 losable games on the schedule - at Iowa and home against Ohio St. They have more skill than Iowa and I think they can win that one. It would be fun if Ohio St came into that last game unbeaten, and I think with the home field advantage they beat OSU to get to the Rose Bowl (which is where the BCS title game is played this year). I love strong lines in college football, and they have 2 of the best in the country, with tons of experience. They had an all Freshman backfield last year, and they were both very good, so with a year under their belts and one of the best O-lines around they will thrive. They did lose Braylon Edwards but have 3 other guys ready to fill his shoes. We've seen so many great WR's in the NFL from Michigan and they have more where that came from. They have one weakness - the secondary, but by the time they get to that Iowa game later in the year it will no longer be a weakness. Michigan goes to the Rose Bowl and beats USC 27-24.

BIG 12 PREVIEW
Here are my Big 12 picks:
North - 1.Colorado, 2(tie).Nebraska and Iowa St, 4.Missouri, 5.Kansas St, 6.Kansas
South - 1.Texas, 2.Oklahoma, 3(tie).Texas Tech and Texas A&M, 5.Oklahoma St, 6.Baylor
Big 12 Title - Texas beats Colorado 35-17

OVERVIEW
2005 should be a great season. From my top 10, I wouldn't be surprised to see 3 or 4 unbeatens, or even those same 3 or 4 with one loss. In other words, I really do think it's wide open. Many people think it's going to be easy for USC, and USC deserves that credit. But I'm not ready to give up on all those other great teams out there. Players can easily become complacent, lose focus, and if you do that even for a second another team will be right there to take advantage. In the end, the best teams will emerge, though we may not know who really is the best. In other words, we need a playoff system!!! But the BCS is fun too, and I will enjoy every minute of it.

I have a few other teams that deserve mention. I brought up Alabama earlier. They had an injured QB in Brody Croyle last year, who is back and healthy. They also have 16 starters returning, and are my #1 upset team this year, where I wouldn't be surprised seeing them take down the likes of Florida, Tennesse, LSU, or Auburn.
Iowa is next. They are overrated. They have lots of holes to fill on defense. I love QB Tate, and I think Ferentz is the best coach in the country, but lots of experts are picking them at or near the top. The schedule is brutal with games at Iowa St, Ohio St, and Purdue, plus have Michigan at home. Expect a top 25 finish, but not a top 10.
Florida. There is so much talent on this team. The only reason they are not in my top 5 is the toughest schedule in the country - Tennesse, Florida St, Georgia (neutral), and at Alabama, LSU, and South Carolina. That should be a fun one going against Spurrier. Next year expect this team to be #1 preseason.

HUSKER PREVIEW
Now it's time for my Husker preview. I think this will be a fun year with all of the talent Callahan has brought into Lincoln. Many talk about not liking the changes, some of which I also don't agree with, but I'm a Husker fan no matter what. Let's go over it postition by position:

QB - With Dailey gone, we now have the type of QB's this system needs. With Taylor, Ganz, and Beck we should be in good shape here and I expect an immediate improvement.
RB - Not much needs to be said here. 1000 yard back Cory Ross is back, with tremendous backups Brandon Jackson and Marlon Lucky contributing as well, this should be one of the best groups of RB's in the country.
WR - How can they not improve? Nunn had a great 2nd half of the year last year, and he and Taylor have worked very hard in the offseason. I expect Nunn to have a huge year (remember the last 1000 yard receiver? It's going to happen). There are also plenty of JUCO's to go along with Mark LeFlore (if he's healthy), and if Herian can get healthy this group will be solid.
OL - This is the 2nd year in this offense, and although some talent is lost, I expect good things anyway. There is a nice mix of experience and youth in this line, and I expect it to be solid.
DL - This should be one of the best DL's in the country this year, with 3 starters back in LeKevin Smith, Adam Carriker, and Titus Adams. Their backups are also solid, and I expect this great, experienced group to set the tone for the defense.
LB - The loss of Ruud will definitely hurt, but his brother will be a nice fill in for him. Add to that freshman Phillip Dillard, JUCO Steve Octavien, and Stewart Bradley, this unit should still be very solid.
DB - There are tough losses here too losing Fabian Washington and Josh Bullocks, but plenty of talent is ready to step in. Tierre Green and Cortney Grixby were named the starters, and have backup talent in JUCO Zackary Bowman. Don't forget possible All American Daniel Bullocks, and I expect this secondary to be much better.
Special Teams - How can punt returns get any worse? I think we may even get a return of longer than 10 yards. This area has been emphasized much and will be the strongest area of improvement, especially when the #1 high school kicker is added to the group in Jordan Congdon.
Overall - I expect serious improvement. Last season quit was written all over the faces of those players. Some blame coaching, which I agree was part of it, but a bigger part of it was bitterness. Those same players were the ones that hated to see Solich go (as was I). All those bitter players with bad attitudes are no longer on the team, and this group seems ready to move on to the next era of Husker football.

Here is how I see the results. We start with 5 home games. To go undefeated would not be easy, but wouldn't be that hard either. If we win 4 of those 5, then go to Baylor and win, that's a 5-1 start. The last half is tougher, but there are plenty of possible wins on the weak schedule. I see the last game against Colorado as the Big 12 North Championship - the winner goes on to the Big 12 Championship. But I see us losing that game. In the end, the Huskers go 7-4 and get to a decent bowl game, where we beat a middle of the road Big 10, SEC, or Pac 10 team, for an 8-4 finish. Pretty solid improvement and it will only get better in 2006!

GO BIG RED!!!

My 2005 NFL Predictions

Finally, I'm ready for my NFL Predictions. Let's not waste any time. First a few notes before I get to all my division, playoff, and Super Bowl picks. We'll start with surprise teams, one from each conference:

NFC: Arizona Cardinals - The Cards finally may have a decent team this year. They have an experienced QB in Kurt Warner, and the biggest group of receivers in the league with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin - and they are not just big, they are good. Fitzgerald was one of the best receivers in college 2 years ago, and he had a pretty solid year despite a poor QB. Boldin had a great rookie year 2 years ago, missed almost half of 2004, and still had over 600 yards. They drafted a very good running back out of Cal, JJ Arrington. Defensively they were the most underrated defense in the league in 2004, and are greatly improved on that side of the ball as well - they should have one of the top defenses in the NFC. In addition this is Dennis Green's 2nd year as head coach, whom I believe was unfairly fired by the Vikings. If they can get a few breaks and a few upsets don't be surprised to see this team in the playoffs.

AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars - My predictions say that they tie for the 6th playoff spot in the AFC but lose the tiebreak to the Jets. Leftwich has done nothing but improve thus far, they have a healthy Fred Taylor at RB (and a good backup in LaBrandon Toefield just in case), along with an excellent offensive line. The strength of this team however is the defense, and they are the most unheralded defense in the league. Last year they could not score yet still managed to find ways to win games. I like what Del Rio is doing with this team, and if just one thing goes their way, this team could make the playoffs and scare some teams once they get there.

One more thing before my picks. The most improved team this year will be my Kansas City Chiefs. The offense is going to be amazing again, especially with Priest and Larry Johnson in the backfield - as long as the O line stays healthy, this offense will score as many points as anyone. However, they've been doing that for a few years now - what KC needs is defense. They did just that this season by picking up Patrick Surtain, Sammy Knight, and Kendrell Bell. In addition they drafted who I think will be the #1 player of the 2005 draft - LB Derrick Johnson out of Texas. This guy is a beast, so keep an eye on him - I expect an immediate impact. They came close to being my Super Bowl pick, and if they can somehow grab home field, they could easily do it.

Now to my picks. Let's start with the division winners and wildcards for each conference:

AFC Division winners: 1. Indianapolis, 2. Kansas City, 3. Baltimore, 4. New England
AFC Wildcards: 5. Pittsburgh and 6. New York Jets (because they will beat Jacksonville in Week 3 for the tiebreak)
NFC Division winners: 1. Philadelphia, 2. Minnesota, 3. St Louis, 4. Atlanta
NFC Wildcards: 5. Carolina and 6. Seattle

AFC Playoffs: I expect the top 2 seeds to get through, with Indianapolis facing the Chiefs to go to the Super Bowl. Peyton Manning leads Indy to tough win, finally reaching a Super Bowl.

NFC Playoffs: I expect the Vikings to face Atlanta in the NFC Championship, after Atlanta knocks off the Eagles. The Vikings then roll over the Falcons to reach the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl: If the Vikings play the Colts, that sure would be a fun Super Bowl. I think both defenses are vastly improved over last year, but not improved enough as we see one of the higher scoring Super Bowls ever. The Colts win the Super Bowl over the Vikings 30-24.

Final analysis: Everyone expects the Eagles to get there, but I don't see it happening. TO is great, and will be playing, but chemistry is important - advantage Vikings. They got rid of Randy Moss, and as a result will benefit in more of a team atmosphere. Watch out for the Ravens in the AFC too. This will be one of the best defenses ever, including their Super Bowl team from a few years ago. They should have an improved offense too with a more experienced Kyle Boller and Derrick Mason catching passes.

OK, my picks are now set in stone. My college picks will be posted before Friday morning. Enjoy the NFL season!

Wow

Well, it's been quite a few days with this hurricane. I don't know about anyone else but I've been somewhat obsessed by the whole thing - it's terrible. I just look at the Superdome - how it was always this big white impressive structure - and now there is a whole in the top and all that white cover has been blown off. And that is about the least damaged part of the city.

Anyway, we'll avoid that because there is plenty of coverage all over on the hurricane. I'm starting to get excited. I leave for D.C. and NYC on Friday, and the first Husker game is Saturday! Also, as I mentioned before, I'm done with taking classes. I just found out recently that I can do this experiential learning credit because I still need 22 credits before I graduate. One guy from my class said he sent in an updated resume and an autobiography to Bellevue and they gave him 12 credits. I need to get that done before I go out of town. While I am away keep checking the blog - I will be updating every couple of days to talk about what I am doing out there. My only plans so far are going to NYC to hang out, going to a Redskins game (1st game of the year), going to a Nationals game, and going to an Orioles game, and lots of sight seeing in DC because I have never been there. It's going to be a blast.

I still need to get my football previews out here. I'm ready for both the NFL and college - expect my NFL predictions today sometime and my college picks will be out here before I leave.

One more thing. On Thursday, Sep. 15 there are some extra tickets for The Graduate at the Omaha Community Playhouse. It should be a very good play. If you are interested email me or comment on this post. The show is at 7:30.

Everyone have a great week.

Bright Eyes Tickets

FYI. The tickets for Bright Eyes and Spoon at the Orpheum on November 11 go on sale Monday morning (8/29) at 10:00. You should be able to get the tickets online at Saddle Creek or One Percent. Get them early, it will sell out quick.

I like Friday

Happy Friday, everyone. This week has just flown by. I was hoping that this would be a nice, relaxing weekend, but that has changed. Tonight I am going to the Playhouse. No, not the one in Iowa, the Community Playhouse. I am going for the free booze, but there is also a play going on I guess. Some of you may remember Debbie from Boston, who was here about a year and a half ago working at Saddle Creek. She will be in town Saturday - if anyone wants to come out with us give me a call. Sunday night we have our Fantasy Football draft, which really marks the time when football is about to start - I can't wait. Next week I'm going out of town, so I need to get my football previews out here. I'm close, but not quite ready. They will be posted before next Friday.

It's Friday, so I'll post something fun to read once again. This Pat Robertson shit is hilarious. How Christian of him to call for an assasination. I'll pass on that though. Check this one out. I've discussed how Bill O'Reilly is unethical and has an overall blurred view of reality (see my posting "Out of Context" from Aug 11). In this one O'Reilly calls extremists "admirers of Third Reich philosophy and fans of Outfoxed". You can either read the text or watch his video at that link. Also Outfoxed defends itself in the column, and you can link to the video of that within the O'Reilly link.

Have a great Friday and great Weekend!

Hope Everyone Had A Great Weekend

I know that I did. Friday night was a baby shower for Ben and Beth Kriegler. After that we went to the Old Dundee, then to my house for after hours. It was much more tame than the last few parties, which we wanted. I still spent all day Saturday recovering however. Saturday night was the Criteria show at Sokol and it was great. I highly suggest picking up their new album, which just released. After the show I skipped the bar and went home to watch a movie. Unfortunately a handful of people decided to show up at my house! Oh well, most were friends so I stayed up and had a few drinks and was glad they came over. Sunday night was the showing of the new Saddle Creek documentary at the Dundee Theater. It was impossible to look at it objectively since it was all my friends behind it, but I loved it.

Let's change gears. Often times Republicans just sit back and let things happen while their President continues to, well, fuck things up. It's almost surprising when Republicans speak out against anything that has happened in the last 5 years. Still more surprising is when a Republican from Nebraska speaks out against him and Iraq, as Chuck Hagel did this weekend.

Hope everyone has a great week.
DK

Solich

Check out this very nice article on Frank Solich on ESPN.COM.

Welcome, Friday

Yes, it's Friday. Even better, last night was my last class!!! Every damn Thursday since last August, and now I am done. Just a few more credits and I may actually graduate!

This will once again be a quiet weekend. There is a good show tomorrow night with Criteria headlining. Sunday night is the showing of the movie "Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek" at the Dundee Theater. I can't wait for that. It is being played at 7:00 and 9:00. I am going to the 7:00 showing, so if anyone wants to go let me know. It is probably a good idea to get there early. Other than that I will probably just work on the house and go golfing.

I thought since it's Friday I would just find a fun link to post. I don't feel like bitching about the White House today. I'll just let someone else make fun of them. So here is an Onion article headlined Rumsfeld Makes Surprise Visit To Wife's Vagina. Enjoy.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Joe Biden - Unite Our States

I don't know if anyone else has thought about the 2008 election yet, but if you haven't it's never too early to start. I think that one of the biggest downfalls for John Kerry was that no one knew who he was until months before the election. I am not officially endorsing Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), but right now I am strongly leaning towards him.

I agree with almost everything he has said recently and he has tremendous views on foreign policy, terrorism, Iraq, and about everything else. Visit this Website to learn more about Senator Biden and his "Unite Our States" initiative.

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple days

It's just been kind of busy. Last night was the Faint show (and Monday, but I went Tuesday). For those that didn't go I'm sorry for you. They put on an amazing show.

We are getting so damn close to the football season. 17 days until the first Husker game! I'm going to need much more time for my previews, but just be sure that I will get both a college and pro preview out here before the season starts. I have to have my predictions documented. I've changed my Super Bowl picks in my mind 5 times this week, so I think I better wait until closer to the season to make my definite picks.

That's all for now. I'll try to post something real today or tomorrow.

I was right, it was a quiet weekend

The golf tournament on Friday was great. I won 2 shirts and a gift certificate to the great Warren Swigart golf course! It was a lot of fun, and the results were tremendous. $6000 was donated to a scholarship fund to help the needy attend St Vincent DePaul, and another $6000 was donated for teacher raises. Next year it should be even better.

The Neva Dinova - Mayday show on Saturday was great too. Both bands sounded as good as I've ever heard them.

Other than that I pretty much just watched the PGA Tounrament. It was a great tournament, but it sucks that it was postponed until today. They just started their rounds and unfortunately I have to work because I'd much rather be watching those last few holes!

Everyone have a great week!

I Believe It's Friday

Of course my Friday was yesterday - I'm off work today. The Patty Buttell Memorial Scholarship golf tournament is today out at Pines. It should be a fun tournament. It looks like the weather should hold off and it will be a decent day. This should be a pretty tame weekend compared to last week. Tonight I have nothing going on - I'll probably feel like crashing after the tournament. Last night I went to the casino and won a whopping $20. I would have lost but the dealer was an idiot. He miscounted my hand 3 times, paying me when I should have lost. One time he had 20 and everyone at the table lost - he picked up all the cards but forgot to take away the chips! It's the first time I've ever pushed on 14 in my life. I saw him pay another guy at the table double for blackjack. Solid.

Tomorrow night there is a really good show at Sokol - Neva Dinova and Mayday with 2 other bands. The real great shows are next week though. Monday and Tuesday The Faint plays at Sokol. The Monday show sold out quickly so they added a second show, and I am going to the Tuesday show.

My NFL preseason picks are now postponed. This shows how important TO is to the NFL and more importantly, the Eagles. With TO the Eagles are definitely my pick to win the Super Bowl, despite any distractions. They are a different team with him in the lineup. If the Eagles want to win it all - pay him! The Eagles have no leverage here and if they care about winning the Super Bowl they need him on their team. I respect that they are holding their ground, but it's getting out of hand and again, they need him out there. He is the most important player on the team. Anyway, because of all this my NFL picks will be out in a few weeks.

Everyone have a great weekend!!!

Out of Context

Taking things out of context has become one of the most popular habits of the Right Wing Media. Rush does it, Fox does it, Drudge does it, and the king of it is O'Reilly. Luckily we have Media Matters for America to point it out to us. It's hard to spot sometimes, and it can be sneaky. They are good at it, making an art of it. The Bush Administration has used these outlets from day one by taking so much out of context themselves (see John Kerry flip-flopper from the election, Al Gore claiming he invented the Internet, etc.). Now everyone knows Gore never said that and Kerry wasn't any more of a flip-flopper than Bush. So everyone knows about this Cindy Sheehan camping out at Bush's ranch waiting to talk to him. She recently got taken extremely out of context by the media mentioned above. I will link you directly to the story at Media Matters.

The most blatant out of context report I've ever seen occurred on the O'Reilly Factor. I wasn't actually watching it, but I saw it on the Al Franken Show (televised on Sundance 10:30 PM to 11:30 PM CST weeknights, on Air America Radio or AirAmericaradio.com from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM CST weekdays). Senator Joe Biden (possibly, and the way I feel now, hopefully our next President) was on ABC with George Stephanapolous. George asked him what he thought about Abu Ghraib. Biden answered that an independent committee, similar to the 9/11 Commission, should be appointed to look into everything that happened at the prison and advise accordingly. Then George asked if the prison should be shut down, and Biden answered that yes, he thinks it should be shut down, but he would like a committee to be formed to make sure that is the necessary action.

Well, O'Reilly had better ideas. On his show he blasted Biden for saying the prison should be shut down - O'Reilly went on to play the video of Stephanopolous asking what Biden thought about Abu Ghraib - and used the answer that Abu Ghraib should be shut down. Nothing about the committee, just that it should be shut down. O'Reilly said, Mr. Biden, you are wrong. What I think is that an independent committee, similar to the 9/11 Commission, should be appointed to look into everything that happened at the prison and advise accordingly. Seriously. It was word for word. He took Biden's words and made them his own! I laughed for 5 minutes at that one. But you know what? He got away with it. Every viewer thought it was O'Reilly's idea and that Biden is calling for Abu Ghraib to be shut down. I have to hand it to them - it works. But it's just low down and dirty.

Great Onion Article

I love the Onion. Check out this article headlined Bush Vows To Eliminate U.S. Dependence On Oil By 4920.

Just Posting to Post Something

I don't have much to say, but I can always come up with a few things. I bet some of you thought I would come out and bitch about the Energy Bill that Bush just signed, but I think it has some good and bad points - but too many of both to point out. The worst part is the excessive tax cuts to oil companies. How can we give them free money when oil barrel costs are through the roof?

The PGA Championship is this weekend, and Tiger goes for his 3rd Major victory of the year. I predict he wins this weekend, especially now that Ernie Els is out for the year, who would be one of his toughest competitors. Watch out for Sergio, Goosen, and Vijay, who I think have the best chances of taking it from Tiger.

Oh, back to that energy bill. It was 1724 pages long. Think Bush read all that? I'm guessing he hasn't read 1724 combined pages in his entire life! Well, while we're talking about Bush, his ratings are as low as ever. I think those are still too high! Who are these people that think Iraq is going well? Who are these people that "like" Bush? I think I've met two of these such people and I must know hundreds of people! Let's find out - vote in my new poll on the right.

Keep an eye out in the next couple of days for my NFL Preview Posting! I will have my picks for playoff spots and the Super Bowl, surprise teams, overrated teams, as well as a couple of articles on the season in general.

What a party!!!

I think. For those of you that missed it, you missed a lot. It's kind of blurry, but I know everyone had a great time. The bar was completely filled by about 11:00, but when I went to clean up in the morning it was almost completely empty - there must have been 20-25 empty bottles sitting around the bar - we did end up with plenty of liquor so we do have a pretty solid bar still. We had a lot of people show up, a few people throw up, and a lot of people pass out. Quote of the night came from Ian McElroy when he asked Shilee Mullin "What's your status?" Classic. I went to bed (excuse me, passed out) around 5:00 and it was still hopping pretty good. The cops showed up twice, once around 11:30 and the second time somewhere between 2 and 4, I don't know for sure because I lost track of time. I would say at least 100 people showed up, and that is a very conservative estimate. At one point the basement, back porch, front porch, and most of the main floor was full. That may be the last one of those for a while.

For those of you that were there, I hope you had a blast. For those that weren't there, we are going to have a smaller party in a few weeks for you and we'll drink some of those leftovers!

We Have Friday!

I'm glad the weekend is almost here. Don't forget the big party tonight. We kick off around 9:00 and I imagine it will last until 4:00 or 5:00 (though I probably won't)! Come on over and help us stock the bar. That is the only thing I have going on this weekend. Last night I had my final presentation for school! I have one more small paper and then this year long program is over! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I may be using my exclamation points haphazardly but I'm happy about it!!!

In my last Friday notes I need to toot my own horn for a second, and point out the utter ignorance of Donald Rumsfeld. I honestly can't stop chuckling about this - it is the only reaction I can have any more. I honestly don't understand what is going through his mind, and the anger is gone because we've seen it time and time again, and that anger is being replaced with laughter. Anyway, I mentioned in a post on July 26 that "The so-called War on Terror has done nothing except create more terror. Insurgency in Iraq has not decreased and gets stronger every day. With the war in Iraq, our enemies in other countries that we are not fighting are developing leaders and gaining followers that are creating new terrorists all over the region. Impressionable young people are seeing their neighboring country of Iraq get worse every day - homes destroyed, children and other people killed, jobs eliminated - and they can look to only a couple of places to place blame - the United States and its allies. The terrorists are winning this war, and we are not doing what should be done to stop it, instead we are fueling it. It's too late to turn back now.

Look at London right now. England was our #1 supporter in this war. Would these attacks have happened if they hadn't supported the U.S.? Would that city be living in fear? I think not...Accountability is not in the vocabulary of this administration."

I truly believe this and it was confirmed by Bin Laden's #2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, when he said that the London bombings occured because of Tony Blair and his support of the United States. To me that is a direct hit on why it happened, and that's all there is to it.

Well, I guess I'm wrong. Rumsfeld somehow sees it differently. He says Britain attacks were not tied to the U.S. alliance, that the U.S. and allies 'did not provoke terrorists.' What? This is a direct response to al-Zawahiri? As I wrote that the anger kicked in. OK, I'm done. I'm pissed off now. Read it here.

Job Posting

Looking for a new job? Trying to get away from that daily grind? We have the job for you.

Do you have the skill to take our company's multi-billion dollar surplus and turn it into a $400 billion or more deficit? Would you like to have the power to hire whoever you want, even though every person that works for you hates the person and knows they shouldn't have the job? Well, we give you the power to just sneak him into the job on the weekend! Is one of your best abilities to turn every other company against you, and more importantly, against every person in your company? Not enough vacation? Hey, it's hot in August, there's nothing going on. Just take the whole month off! We want you to set the record for most days off in the history of our company! There's nothing that can't wait a month! Back in 2001 the person in this position took the month off and all he did was allow the worst attack our company has ever seen happen. Sound good? If so, then you should think about becoming President of the United States!

Kyle Korver

Looks like Korver is going to be a rich man. I'm just glad he's staying with the 76ers. I saw him play in one game last year - he outplayed LeBron James! Of course, it was probably the only game I'll ever see LeBron play and he goes 2-19 from the floor.

More On Bolton

To see an example of why Bolton should not be the US Ambassador to the UN, check out Bolton's rant. Find The Bolton Scream-Revisited and watch it. You will be shocked by it's content and more shocked that he is our new ambassador. There is also some other cool stuff on that site, including lots of good information on Paul Hackett, who Bart posted a comment about earlier.

What happened this weekend?

This last weekend was a ton of fun. The wedding was great, and the reception was even better. Free beer, wine, and liquor, how can you beat that? They gave out koozies with the saying "To have and to hold, and to keep your beer cold". Very nice. After the reception we went to a couple of bars downtown and then after hours at my house. It was a long, fun evening. Sunday was the float trip down the Elkhorn River. The drift was very slow, and as a result we were on the water for 6-7 hours. I didn't get home until 9:15. As a result, I am tired and sore today. But it was a great time nonetheless. I would say around 25 people showed up, and for those who missed it you missed a great time.

It looks like Bush is going to appoint Bolton as U.N. Ambassador, well, any minute now. The President has the power to appoint people without Senate approval while the Senate is in recess. To sneak him in there at this moment would be a huge mistake. The Democrats have blocked a vote numerous times, and Bush needs to realize why this appointment would be a mistake. Certainly there are times when blocking a vote is political - but it is not political in this case, they truly believe he is the wrong guy. And it is not just Democrats, many Republicans are opposed as well. He has had many problems in handling foreign relations in the past, and obviously that would be his #1 priority in this job. In a nutshell, his supporters say that because he is such a prick that he will be able to get this tough job done (my words, obviously). This may be true, but we need to keep good relations if possible worldwide, and he is not the man for this. It seems that he will basically be a guy who would try and push through to the UN whatever Bush wants. Our relations with other countries is bad enough right now, and with him it will only get worse.