Should be a great week, but first, gotta put the week that was in the rear view mirror ...
* Watched as much of the O'Reilly / Obama interview as I could yesterday, then watched it uninterrupted online this morning. I know some people questioned why this interview mattered. I argue it does for three reasons:
1. There is no doubt the President's sit down with Bill O'Reilly in September 2008 was the key jump-start to his election. Coming off a (relatively) disasterous DNC, a bad weekend with New Orleans (again) threatened by a hurricane, and the dynamic speech by Sarah Palin, Obama was reeling. Sitting down with O'Reilly, and holding his own, was a huge moment for him.
2. Obama appearing on FOX News, for an interview with their top anchor, is about as insane a thought as former President Bush agreeing to a no-holds-barred interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. And yet, unlike Bush on MSNBC, this thing happened. But also
3. There is no doubt the American public has (at best) some concerns with the President's progressive agenda, or that (at worst) they raised two middle fingers and whizzed on his accomplishments via the midterm vote. Not even a person as delusional as me can deny that the 2010 election was a swift kick in the ass to progressives. So the President appearing on the network that fueled the conservative tide of 2010 is, in the words of our Vice President, it's a "big f*cking deal".
Overall ... well, O'Reilly, to his credit, stayed down the middle. No "gotcha journalism" that I am not a fan of. Obama, to his credit, didn't trip up, and (for once) didn't remind everyone in the greater Kansas City metropolitan era of Steve Bono with his constant use of the word "uum". The main highlights as I saw them:
a. admitting he has no idea how Egypt will turn out ... and basically admitting he has no say over how Egypt will turn out. Wonderful. I can't say I disagree with the President here -- nobody is a psychic, other than that Alison Dubois chick on "Medium", and that show got cancelled anyways. But don't admit "we're clueless" to the nation and to the world. Especially when the one (only?) aspect of your administration that is competently run is the foreign policy wing.
b. I concur with the President that the individual mandate is not unconstitutional. However, I sure as all hell wouldn't be betting on a Supreme Court that tends to vote 5-4 to the right to support that stance.
c. anyone who believes the whole point of this administration is to "redistribute wealth" is insane. OK, that's my editorializing. But I wish the President had said it. He was far more gracious in his response. But those folks are freaking insane.
d. Loved the President hammering home the fact that he hasn't raised taxes. (more steve editorializing) God forbid the self-righteous blowhards on the far right actually examine what ARRA was, and see that 64% of the stimulus bill wasn't spending, but immediate tax cuts and rebate checks.
e. I thought the most accurate, truthful, and self-revealing moment was near the end of the interview, when Obama made the following statement when asked by O'Reilly what the thing about the job that surprised him the most is. "The easy stuff gets solved somewhere by someone else. By the time it gets to me, you don't have easy answers ... you have to make your best judgment about this is probably the best approach for the American people. But you know that you don't have perfect information, and you know that you're not going to produce a perfect solution".
f. also loved his response to the folks that blindly hate him: "What they hate is whatever funhouse mirror image of you that's out there. And they don't know you. And so, you don't take it personally".
g. my favorite moment though, was when he flat out refused to pick a winner, because "once the Bears were knocked out, I didn't care anymore". THAT'S what I want in a fan of a team!
But overall? I was disappointed. As always seems to be the case with this man, you enter expecting greatness, and leave with mediocrity.
* One thing I cannot get over though, is how much the President divides public opinion. It seems like I’m the only person alive who is in the “respectable middle” – I didn’t vote for the man, I probably won’t vote for his re-election, but the office demands I respect the holder of said office. It amazes me how polarizing Mr. Obama is. Then again, it doesn’t surprise me one bit that the folks who spent the first eight years of the decade demanding the left reign in its criticism of President Bush, are now doing the exact same thing(s) they whined about back at that time.
* As for the game itself, I really didn't pay much attention. Like the President, once my team was eliminated, I stopped caring as well. Congratulations to the Packers on their victory, and to the Steelers for winning the AFC. Here's to raising an optimistic vodka tonic that (a) the 2011 season starts on time, and (b) the Chiefs kick both of your team's asses next fall (we host both Green Bay and Pittsburgh).
* Fun time watching the game, for the most part. Went over to Russ and Mona's, enjoyed a couple cold Shiners, a few ... ok, a lot, of glasses of wine, and some really good food. The brisket was great, the meatballs were phenomenal, and I even ate the cheezy potatoes because everyone was complimenting them so much. (Deservedly so).
* Halftime: well ... as the founding member of the "The Black Eyed Peas are the Worst Band in Music History" club ... it was shockingly bearable. I actually enjoyed Fergie and Slash's duet on "Sweet Child of Mine". (In the interest of full disclosure: I do NOT believe it is a coincidence that the Chiefs stopped playing "Sweet Child of Mine" during player introductions in the late 1990s ... and we haven't mattered one damned bit on the national football landscape since. Bring back "Sweet Child of Mine" already!) Loved the segue into Usher. Then again, I enjoy Usher's music tremendously.
The only disappointment? That Justin Timberlake didn't show up to perform his part of "Where Is the Love", and cause a wardrobe malfunction for Fergie. Now THAT would have been awesome.
Still, it sucks that football's done on the field until at least August, and off the field for ... who knows how long. Let's get this done guys. If you can't figure out a way to divvy up $9 billion dollars that ensures everyone profits at the end of the day, you're all dumber than even I think you are.
* Now that football's over, it's time for hoops to heat up! I love Rivalry Week. I love that ESPN schedules this blatant play-on-the-emotions for the week immediately after the Super Bowl every year. Three must-see games in three days, you gotta love it. Mizzou / KU tonight at the Field House. Georgetown / Cuse at the Dome to tip things off Wednesday night, followed by UNC getting boatraced at Cameron by Duke as the night cap.
(Let's just say, Team Have You Seen My Headpin will be bowling faster than any team ever has before, come Wednesday evening. We'd better be wrapped up by halftime of the Hoyas / Orange).
I love KU / MU. Can't get enough of it. No matter what, it's usually a great game. Tonight's should be intriguing, as Josh Selby is likely a no-go for Kansas. As I mentioned last week, KU is fatally flawed -- our foul shooting is horrendous. (And was God awful yet again on Saturday in the Hawks surprisingly easy victory at Nebraska. I expected the Huskers to fight to the finish, not collapse by the under 12). Is this the night it finally bites them in the ass?
On the other hand, for all the good Mike Anderson has done at MU (three tourney bids, four tourney wins, and an Elite Eight appearance in four years), he doesn't really have that "break-through victory" yet. He has some nice home wins. Demolishing Memphis in the Sweet Sixteen a couple years ago was impressive. But he doesn't have that signature victory yet. A solid 8-12 point win at the Field House would definitely qualify as a "break-through victory", considering MU hasn't won at KU since Norm Stewart's final season, in 1999.
KU should win this game. They're three games ahead of MU with eight to play for a reason -- they're the better team. But I can't shake this feeling that MU is about to go on a run that is going to end in Houston at the end of March. And no, I have not been drinking. Or smoking anything of a medicinal nature. I really like this Mizzou team, the last couple road games aside. (And even those wouldn't concern me -- losing at Texas, and at a "do or die" Oklahoma State squad, no shame in either loss).
Here's what Mizzou's got left:
at Kansas
vs Oklahoma
vs Texas Tech
at Iowa State
vs Baylor
at Kansas State
at Nebraska
vs Kansas
They win this one tonight, I can envision MU sweeping their way to the finish. This is a huge momentum shifter tonight potentially as well -- KU has not failed to win at least a share of the Big XII regular season championship since 2004. A loss tonight, and KU is basically drawing dead -- they'd be two behind Texas with seven to play, and Texas doesn't exactly face murderers row the rest of the way -- they're through with KU and MU (having beaten both), they get KSU in Austin, and while they have Baylor twice and A&M at home still, I can't envision them losing more than twice in those four tough-on-paper games remaining. And ... well, more when I get to KSU in a second.
Anyways, I think tonight's game is one of those sneaky "turning point" type of games to the season. So far KU has been solid, but rarely spectacular (the second half Saturday against a mediocre Huskers squad notwithstanding). I can envision a KU win by 25 tonight sparking another run to the Big XII Finals and an Elite Eight appearance. I also can envision a MU victory tonight doing the same for them. A loss by either side wouldn't be fatal, but certainly it would start making Tiger fans nervous (this would be 3 out of 4 into the L column), and considering KU hadn't lost at home since 2007 prior to the Texas game, let alone losing twice at the Field House in two weeks? Unthinkable.
My pick? MU 81, KU 72. Got a bad feeling about this one.
* KSU -- what a huge comeback win on Saturday for them. They're the Michael Corleone in Godfather III of this conference -- "just when I think I'm out, somebody pulls me back in!"
They're back in at-large discussion at 4-5 in the conference, and they've got a full week to prepare for their trip to Colorado on Saturday night. If they take care of business in Boulder (and I believe they will), then they've got two of the next three Big Monday's to prove they belong in the tournament -- hosting Kansas, visiting Texas. This team isn't dead yet. If anything, they're the most intriguing team on the board right now in the Big XII. I still have no clue where their season is headed. They're talented enough to finish 10-6 and reach the Big XII Finals and nail down a 5 seed ... and they're so screwed up that they're capable of finishing 6-10 and not even qualifying for the NIT.
They're the most intriguing team around here since Quin's 2003-2004 Tigers. A team that kept taking two steps back, then posting a huge victory (beat Final Four bound Oklahoma State, beat Elite Eight bound Kansas) to keep hope alive, before coming up just short in the end. Can't wait to see how this turns out.
* For those who claim that I have no life, that I never get out of my mommy's basement, and that I wouldn't know how to entertain a member of the opposite sex even if I was spotted an official handbook and fifteen straight hours of lessons from Dusty himself: April 29th. Already have a date locked up. Granted, it's with the ex. And granted, it's to see the new Fast and the Furious movie. But still. Stick that in your joint and smoke it.
* From the "That's No Bueno" department -- it had to have dropped a solid 20 degrees from my drive in this morning, to the drive home tonight. Plus more snow is on the way tomorrow.
* Speaking of which, I had to laugh at all the national "outrage" of the weather conditions in Dallas this week. Literally laugh. Anyone who's ever lived in the Metroplex knew EXACTLY what was going to happen, which is exactly what did happen.
They don't invest money in salt to clear the roads, because (a) this week was the first time it's snowed in Dallas in 22 years, (b) even on the rare day that ice falls, it melts within another day or so usually, so it's not worth the cost, and (c) the average temperature at this time of year in Dallas is 61. Chalk up the week for what it was -- a once-in-a-generation confluence of the worst weather imaginable.
(It was completely unusual for this thing to last a week. I have about four or five different "only in Texas" weather stories I could haul out, but trust me -- this week was a once-in-a-generation debacle).
(Also loved everyone saying "well, they should invest in plows". One big problem with that -- they don't paint the road markers in North Texas, they use raised reflector lights. A plow would destroy all the road markings, and (at least) triple or quadruple the clean-up costs. It's in everyone's best interest to just let the crap sit until it melts. The real outrage should be watching Texans try to drive in this garbage. It's hysterical, in a "oh God, he's going to kill someone!" kind of way. They have no clue how to drive on ice. They honestly believe they can still go flying along at 85 in the left lane, and stop on a dime.
Half the fun of living down there was days like this week. For starters, you always got snow days. Wasn't even a question. But also, the pics of Texans driving in this, is beyond hilarious. "Whoa, look at him fly into the median!" "Yeah, couldn't help it -- the cow didn't move out of the way. But sir, you're five hundred feet off the road here. Yeah, kinda lost control of the car on whatever this clear stuff on the road is". You gotta love crazy Texans).
There's a reason why the Super Bowl was given to Dallas -- Jerry Jones' new stadium. (ka boom boom ching). But also, because it's usually 60 and sunny at this time of year in Dallas.
And if the media thinks this year was cold, uuh, fellas? Ladies? You'll be broadcasting live from Indianapolis at this time next year. Dallas is gonna look like a beach compared to Indy in February.
* NASCAR returns Saturday night! Granted, it's the meaningless Bud Shootout, but I'll take what I can get. Not even two weeks to races that count. And not even 120 days until my favorite day of the summer returns! Summer Race Day at the Speedway! After this winter, "t-shirt optional" tailgating weather cannot get here soon enough ...
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