Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Is one of the underrated reasons for the fall of the Soviet Union the opening of China to the West by Nixon? The economy and military capabilities of China have greatly expanded in the years since Nixon's historic visit at a pace the Soviet Union could never match... I wonder what the hammer-throwing girl (Anya Major) from Apple's iconic 1984 commercial is doing these days... Pretty sure if the Earth were hit by a giant asteroid there are many who would somehow blame the event on man-made global warming... A healthy list indeed... In other news Syracuse University forced to change nickname of athletic teams after campus wide breakout of TDS... I did not know this...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- An interesting look at Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama and the song's meaning.

- Just when you thought that Facebook couldn't get any scummier. I'm not on Facebook but I'm sure these maggots have my data too. If you're still on Facebook take a long look in the mirror an ask yourself why.

- The unusual books that shaped billionaires, mega best-selling authors, and other prodigies. So many books - so little time.

- And while we are talking about books - here's Shane Parrish's recommended reading list for 2018. I'm getting fearful of getting a complex related to the knowledge that there's so many great books out there that I haven't read or even heard of!

- And once again speaking of books - a day long trip to the Last Bookstore in LA is now on my bucket list

- Interesting opinion - why Vladimir Putin is a terrible strategist

- This is such a great story. Syracuse should be proud of getting such a high caliber recruit.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Whatever happened to the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome epidemic? Interesting question.

- Rocket Frog - awesome!

- Good news - Syracuse and Georgetown about to renew basketball rivalry.

- More good news - JK Rowling to pen Harry Potter related prequel movie EDIT: Link fixed

- This is awful and surprising. The name of the paper reporting is either ironic or an Onion spinoff.

- Better Call Saul is really happening.

- Speaking of Breaking Bad - this Jimmy Fallon parody Joking Bad is pretty funny. I thought it ran long but the final joke is well worth the wait.

- Student athletes or employee athletes? Interesting look at the legal side of the argument. I say employee athletes.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

For many casual basketball fans Jim Calhoun of UConn and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse are the same person. It is this confusion that forced the Big East to contractually make Boeheim wear glasses so people could tell them apart. This was the main reason Syracuse is leaving Big East... Tim Burton's Dark Shadows looks pretty cool... I am saddened to learn that O'Sheas on the Vegas strip will be closing in April. A visit to O'Sheas to watch the midget pour drinks into people's mouths while blaring his whistle was always a highlight of any Vegas trip... HBO cancels Luck but Broadway doesn't cancel Spiderman? Just saying... When is an iPod worth $8 billion? Rob Reid does the comedic Copyright Math... I get the feeling that if a Make-a-Wish kid wanted @JayBilas to follow him on Twitter as his dying wish that Bilas would say "F you kid".

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Laurie Fine's nephew tells CNN that Bobby Davis "tampered with" tape released over the weekend. I have to admit that elsewhere I had mentioned that the Bobby Davis tapes were making me think of the movie Primary Colors.

- Funny because it's true. As a bonus - I bet the woman on the right likes bacon.

- Very interesting. So who is the real number two? Based on the evidence presented I did not pick Alabama.

- Tobey Macguire knows when to fold em. Pays $80k to settle out of poker lawsuit.

- The WKRP Turkey Drop Quiz

Saturday Picks

Thought I'd offer up my picks for Saturday's NCAAF action. As always these are for entertainment purposes only.

Alabama -47 vs North Texas - I really think that when a line goes over 40 points it should be taken off the board. The temptation to run up the score just gets too great and nobody likes "style points" better then Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide may win this one 70-3.

Southern Cal -15 vs Syracuse - the Orangemen aren't that great to begin with and now they have to deal with the distractions of Southern California plus the news that the team may be going to the ACC. On top of everything else - the game is at 8:00 EST which may add in the jet lag factor.

Auburn +3 at Clemson - Death Valley hasn't been an intimidating place for visitors for some time (Clemson is just 1-4 ATS in last 5 home games). Auburn does well in close games plus this is an SEC vs ACC match-up (and I know that the ACC actually does pretty well in those matchups but I think that's due to small sample size).

Oklahoma -3.5 at Florida State - I think Florida State is improving but not quite ready to tackle a team like Oklahoma.

For record keeping let's say that each pick is for a mythical $100.

Good luck.

College Football Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous college football thoughts and observations.

Once again the Michigan Wolverines were clubbed. This time Oregon whipped 'em 39-7. Last week Michigan was famously upset by Appalachian State. That loss dropped Michigan from 5th in the AP poll to out of the top 25. In fact if you look at the vote totals - Michigan was dropped out of the top 30 (they had 39 votes to place them in 32nd place). Last week the question following their loss was whether they would drop out of the top 25. This week the question is whether they will receive a single vote in the polls.... If you had West Virginia Tech and 86 points - you lost!.... I think Georgia coach Mark Richt lost the game yesterday for the Bulldogs. He thought too much. South Carolina is a team you can run on but instead of a steady diet of off-tackle and up the gut runs - Richt's offense called for 45 passes to just 31 runs. I know many of those passes came late in the game when Georgia was in desperation mode but if they had focused on the run in the first 3 quarters - they wouldn't have been in a desperate position. If Richt had stuck to a simple game plan instead of getting cute then Georgia would be 2-0 today.... How bad is Syracuse? Iowa beat them 35-0. The Orangemen may not get their first win until October 20th when Buffalo comes to the Carrier Dome. And judging by how Buffalo handled Temple 42-7 yesterday - I wouldn't put that game in the win column just yet. I'm pretty sure 1-AA UMass could beat Syracuse right now and even Holy Cross would be a close game... The real National Championship may just be October 6th when Florida visits LSU who looked great beating Virginia Tech. Two observations here - if LSU is as good as it looked last night then USC better put a king size whipping on Nebraska next week if they want to keep that top spot in the rankings. I'm sure that fact is not lost on Pete Carrol and his staff. USC should be a good pick next week. My second thought is that Virginia Tech is probably grateful to Michigan this week because the collapse of the Wolverine program is obscuring the fact that Virginia Tech really isn't that good right now. They just squeaked by East Carolina and got pummeled by LSU. They will probably win the next three weeks to continue the charade but to my eyes this isn't close to being an elite team...