Michael Makes Some Great Plays for the Panthers
I was going through some old videos and found these from Michael playing football in high school. They are short clips, but they demonstrate has versatility on the field! I’m hoping to find some of his track stuff.
Rain in the Desert on CBS
The Accenture Match Play World Championships is played here every February. The weather has been terrific all week, that is until today. I love telling my friends from around the country to watch Match Play to see how beautiful it is here in Tucson. Here’s a snippet of what it was like to play championship golf in a chilly rain:
Cotton Pickin’!
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Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl just a little over two hours away as I type! Very exciting amidst the disappointment. Don’t get me wrong. The match up is a good one, but honestly, Tech deserved better.
11-1 in the Big 12 South. The only loss at Oklahoma. The same Oklahoma that is ranked number one in the country and will be playing for a National Championship. Texas Tech went from #7 to #2 when they beat Texas at Tech that fateful October day. A day that throw the whole BCS in a tale spin!
Mississippi has had a great finish to their season. They went 3-4 before winning their last 5 games. Their biggest win was against Florida in the swamp! The same Florida that is ranked #2 in the country and will play Oklahoma next week for the National Championship.
Texas Tech is a heavy favorite in this game. Tech is a team that easily should have been BCS qualified, but since Texas and Oklahoma were ahead of them in the BCS standings, Texas Tech is left out. This is where the danger is for Tech.
Flashback to 2004. California had just one loss going into the Holiday Bowl. They had lost out to the BCS rankings and ended up out of a BCS Bowl. Very similar to what happened to Texas Tech this year. California complained all over the media and then ended up losing to Texas Tech in that Holiday Bowl 45-31. It was really fun for this Tech fan to watch!
However, the scenario is too close to this year. Texas Tech should beat Mississippi. They are heavily favored. That means all the pressure is on Tech. They have to guard against their disappointment of being slighted this year and take that frustration out on the Rebels this afternoon! Tech cannot afford to take Mississippi lightly. If they can do all that, they should win.
I’m hoping Tech WINS BIG to make a statement.
UPDATE: Final – Mississippi 47, Texas Tech 34
Ouch
What About Texas?
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It’s a little aggravating. All this talk of Florida being in the National Championship after beating Alabama. I guess I understand that Florida IS playing great football right now. They just beat number one at a neutral site. In fact Florida has been playing great football since their loss to Ol’ Miss. What? Ol’ Miss beat Florida? Yeah. In the swamp! AT Florida! When they were unranked!
Meanwhile, Texas has one loss. It was on the road against #7 Texas Tech. Tech beat ‘em on the last play of the game. Now, it wasn’t all that. Tech lead the whole game except for 1:29 of the fourth quarter. However Texas mounted an impressive comeback in the second half of that game before they got beat with :08 on the clock.
Assuming Oklahoma beats Missouri in the Big 12 Championship that is about 2 minutes awy from starting as I type this, then I contend it should be Texas and Oklahoma for the National Championship. It’s the right and fair thing to do, but I doubt it will happen.
Texas Tech is being left out of the conversation because of the way they lost to Oklahoma on national TV. But, don’t forget. Tech has only one loss and they have impressive victories over Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas in Lawrence. Not really fair that after that kind of season they should play a Mississippi team that has lost 4 games. Not a slam on Mississippi. If that’s the way it is then Tech could have lost a couple of more games and still gone Cotton.
Utah, USC (who lost to Oregon State, who lost to Oregon), Cincinnati all are probably going to be in BCS Bowls and Tech won’t? I don’t think it’s fair, but maybe I’m just being a fan.
To me it should be Texas and Oklahoma for the National Championship and Texas Tech to the Fiesta Bowl. They all earned it!
We’ll find out for sure when the Bowl bids are given out I think later tonight.
UPDATE: Bowl Selection Show is Sunday Night at 8:00 Eastern. That’s 6:00 pm for me here in Arizona. College Football needs a playoff. Take the top 16 teams and play it out through December. Fun times!
Aclimated
Did I spell that right? No worries!
The bike ride was awesome this morning after a frustrating week. I got called in the early early AM twice. Tuesday and Thursday. The second time to go in and work. It really threw off my work out rhythm! As a result, I only rode my bike twice this week :-(
I was really looking forward to a hike this morning, but after sleeping in I didn’t think I’d have time. I have an eye appointment at 11:00. So, I rode the bike. It was 91 degress when I left at 9:00. After I carried my bike downstairs and hopped on, I was thinking. “91 is pleasant.” I must be used to the heat.
So up the hill I went. It was the first time since I restarted my workout that I was able to climb the hill with no rest in the middle! Normally I stop at a stop sign at the top of the steepest hill on the climb to catch my breath and have some water before I continue on. This morning I huffed and puffed right through!
I didn’t stay long at the Pima Canyon Trailhead either. A few drinks of water and bit of stretching and then it was back down the hill. Yippeeeeeeee!
Then I noticed. I had a bit of a head wind going down slowing me down. that means my climb was a bit wind aided :-) Still. It’s progress. I still want to loose like 30 pounds of fat and add half that back as muscle. If I keep working, maybe someday it’ll be more than just a dream!
Sad but True
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Italia no more in Euro Cup 2008. Italy plays for penalty kicks and get just that. Penalized. Spain had the best of the play throughout the match with almost 2/3 of the possession. Italy’s defense was awesome! Italian goalie Buffon is amazing and had a couple of great saves. However, Italy got away with at least two penalties in the box, but the official was on the Italian side this match. Perhaps he was making up for the first two Italian matches? Italy’s defense held through extra time, but it was Spain’s night. 4-2 in penalty kicks.
Bummer, but the best team did win tonight. Not sure who I want to win Euro 2008 now. Spain probably. Rumor has it that I has a “drop” of Spanish royal blood on my Mom’s side.
Since I’m 1/4 Sicilian, I probably have at least a drop of almost every kind of blood on the planet!
Italia! Italia! Italia!
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I’m thinking about getting a DVR after this. I was able to watch a replay and enjoy it immensely! I’ve always said I can’t record sports because I’ll find out the score before I get a chance to watch it and that would ruin it. I guess because it’s soccer the risk of hearing the score is diminished :-)
The important thing is Italy won! 2-0 (that’s two, nil) Italy is through to the quarterfinals! Their next match is against Spain Sunday morning. I have two choices if I want to watch it. Go to early service only. Get a DVR and record it.
Or I can miss the match and watch highlights at some point. I don’t think so!
Italia Euro 2008
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It’s been tragic so far. Italy getting absolutely schooled by The Netherlands in their first match 3-0. The first goal the official missed an obvious offside by the Dutch, but the goal was awarded. It went downhill for the Italians from there. It was Italy’s worst defeat ever in the European Championships and the first time they ever allowed 3 goals in same. I mean, they only gave up 2 goals in the entire World Cup in 2006! Which, in case you hadn’t heard (or don’t care!), Italy WON!
Then in their second match against Romania they were robbed! It ended in a 1-1 tie, but Italy scored two goals. One was disallowed for offsides, but he WASN’T! No respect for the world champs.
Now Italy and France are tied at the bottom of Group C, also known as the “group of death” because of the impossible competition. Italy and France have a history. Italy lost to France in the final of the Euro Championship in 2000. Italy revenged that loss by beating France in the final of the last World Cup! Both teams are powerhouses of soccer. Did I mention that Italy is the defending World Cup Champions? If the official hadn’t messed up in their second game, Italy would be sitting pretty in second place in the group with 4 points.
That brings me to now. The game has already been played, but I’ve been out of town. I would have missed it anyway because of work. ESPN 2 is replaying it at 7pm tonight. That’s in one minute! I have successfully avoided the score and now I get to enjoy the reply. Italy MUST WIN if it hopes to ove to the quarterfinal round. Same for France. Should be a great match! Don’t read this and then call me with the result, or at least wait until the replay is over :-)
Update: College World Series Game still on. I had to turn away for fear they would show the score of the match on the “bottom line.” Now I must wait more. I’m ready. The popcorn is already popped!
This Morning
I almost didn’t. I got up a little later than I wanted and by the time I had my coffee and smoothie breakfast I thought it might be too late. I decided to jump on my bike anyway and give it a go. I’m so glad I did! What a great ride! I did my usual that I’ve been talking about the last few days. It was a good workout, not much traffic and I had the satisfaction of knowing that I had my workout done for the day! Anything extra would be extra :-)
I left about 6:42 and it was already 80 degrees! Still a lot less than this afternoon’s high of 107 or so :-)
There were a lot of fat lizards on the road this morning that scurried off as I approached. There were also a few joggers and one old guy walking. A couple people on bikes too. On the way downhill, I was moving and got the thumbs up from another old guy walking. I love that downhill! Unfortunately the speed limit is only 25, so I know I am speeding on the way down. It was that downhill that prompted me to buy a helmet.
I used to say, “I survived growing up riding my bike everywhere without a helmet.” That’s what happens when you get old. Going 40 mph down a hill and you wonder, gee, what happens if my tire blows? I don’t recommend getting old, but I do recommend the helmet if you are riding downhill.
I got home around 7:15 and it was already 83 I think. Kinda cool for this time of year, actually :-)
Tomorrow I’m leaving early for Phoenix, so unless I’m up pretty early, the bike will get a rest for a day. I’m glad I followed through with my promise to myself to ride. There needs to be more where that came from!
Bike on the Bike Again Still
Awesome!
I’m going to a later church service this morning to hear one of my co-workers preach at the Salvation Army, so I decided to make good use of the extra time. I went on my usual bike ride up Pusch Peak on East McGee. Much better today! It was still hard, but my legs did better and I didn’t feel ill when I got home like yesterday.
I left a half hour earlier than yesterday and the temperature was almost 90 both days! When I got back at 9:00 (same time I left yesterday) it was already 92.4. Expecting maybe 108 this afternoon. We topped out at 106 yesterday, I think.
It is that time of year. Seeing as how I have trouble exercising after work, (it is too hot to hike at 5:30pm) I’m starting to think I can do my bike ride every morning before work! Why not? It gets light around 5am. I can get up by 5ish, (I’m usually up around 5:30 anyway) drink my coffee and a smootie while I read my Bible until 6ish, then I could ride from around 6:00 to 6:30 and still have plenty of time to get to work by 8:00!
Great idea. Now I just need implementation.
