Bama Llama

And student managers with towels. GP is a fine coach but watching him pace and jitter and sweat all over the sideline kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies. Who would have ever believed Francione's replacement would still be there what, 18 years later?

My thoughts, exactly; or, why not have a big boy physical, including a heart cath, _before_ competing in triathlons in frigid water? Hate it for the kid, but as the guy next to me on the loading dock said in 1971, "Man, tomorrow ain't promised to NOBODY."

I would willingly do a week of latrine box duty for my wife's legion of cats if TV at tOSU/TCU discovers Urbs on the mezzanine at Jerry World, scanning the field, wearing a Groucho disguise w/an earpiece, urgently whispering into his cuff. Great band, though, Buckeyes.

Another of these was Paul Bryant. Even though he never had a win vs the Longhorns (DKR), he could coach like hell. Still he paid dues at Vandy, Maryland, Kentucky and A&M over what, 17 or 18 years before going to coach Alabama in 1958. I did get an uneasy feeling seeing the Tom Herman Kissing Booth Pregame Queue when he was at Cougar High. Is he still doing that?

Merchandising and marketing and licensing revenue! Team colors "evolve" because someone convinces a focus group of nitwits that blood orange, for example, looks more attractive than tangerine. Example: Auburn's "e'erbody wear they arnge Sairdy" home games. The shade of orange has changed two or three times since Ralph "Shug" Jordan coached there, from pumpkin to burnt orange to tangerine to darn near vermilion. Alabama's product licensing agreements provide a special ink color number for images and imprinted materials. The color number has changed over time so little Johnny can ask Dad to buy "this year's" crimson jersey. All of the above a more subtle, sinister ploy than Oregonism.

Shorpy now in Favorites. Much obliged, NYC! 8" negatives - there you go - I am a photomoron.

Celebrity Coach of the Week - Texas Fight! It's the hot new series now streaming on Vice. Watch as Tom Herman, muzzled and bound in a Hannibel Lecter straight jacket and tied to a dolly, is forced to watch as Matthew McConaughey, Owen Wilson, Neal deGrasse Tyson, a plaster mannequin in a Horns uniform, Janis Joplin's ashes and a chicken pecking a cell phone keyboard lead the horns to victory, playing better than they did vs Maryland or Tulsa. In 1984, my good friend Andy, between long drags on his Winston, said "I druther have Bear's bones in box sittin' out there on the sideline than that damned Perkins."

He played winning football yesterday, showing pluck and grit. We are one Tua scramble and ACL away from needing him in a big way; Mac Jones, too. I'm more concerned about the D, but I ain't crying.

There must be some kind of way out of here

I've been lawyering since 1985, drafting and revising a never ending stream of documents. I used WP as long as I could. Only interested in efficient, SIMPLE, basic word processing. I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the hell that is Word because some, then most then fucking ALL of the non-pdf docs I received via email were in Word as was the email itself. WP worked just fine for me, TYVM. And so what if the dude is 100? Good for him for giving a shit. Sure Trump and Friends are dangerous opinionated assholes. But I really REALLY hated the way Word ruined my simple Wordperfect docs. I'm over it now, but want us to have open minds. Just because my hands are incapable of any motion that will result in a vote for a Republican candidate for national office has nothing to do with it. By the way Donald, when exactly was America last great? 1865? 1959? 1991? 1975? Why not just drop the "Again" and do something truly great? Okay, enough.

PBS reran the Ken Burns biomentary "Mark Twain" earlier this week. I'm about 75% along and so far have savored and enjoyed it more than the first time around. Keith David's narration is right on the money, and the images draw you right into the pre- and postwar era. One thing jumps out. The clarity and quality of nineteenth century still photos. Samuel Clemens comes off as somewhat full of himself but he was entitled, right? We sure could use a voice like his today.

Jalen will be just fine. He is tough and his feet are unhappy. His mind is serene. He's the only college or pro football player or coach I have ever heard use work "stoic" in an interview (postgame 2016 SECCG). I am not, however, familiar with all Mike Leach interviews.

The former M Creosote here, pleased to discover, after so many months of mourning its demise that Shaggdom yet lives. If I can cipher out the combination on how to get my old name back I'll shed this temporary sobriquet. I was at the double watershed 2009 UT/Bama game and I'll tell you one thing Mack or the Horns' special teams coach did well. Bama had the national punt return leader, Javier Arenas, a points maker extraordinare, a field flipper. On that night, fateful in so many other ways, ole Mack took Bama's return game "right off" like Ned Beatty's painties. Arenas needed like only nine or eleven return yards to set some kind of record. He did not get them, much less flip a field or take one back for a score. Every kickoff was a sky kick, the first of which Bama booted, and every punt but a couple was long and out of bounds. I've been watching Bama since 1956 and that was the most effective defensive kicking I've seen. The Horns now remind me of Tuscaloosa before Saban. Great fans yearning for a return to what was once called glory. All we wanted was to sniff it again. It clicked about halfway through his second year. I hope it clicks for Texas this year as well. Looking forward to an epic home and home.