Monday, September 29, 2008

Latest Observations........

I've been busy and haven't had much time for Thoughts from the Southland the last few weeks. Therefore, here's a quick snapshot on what's on my mind:

1. Tommy Bowden is done at Clemson. Or, Clemson's administration is completely out of touch with the boosters and they keep him around from yet ANOTHER disappointing year. I don't really care for Clemson, but I know a lot of people who do am I'm confident that they've seen enough.

2. Winning at Football is about playing smart and playing more physical than the team you're playing. If you want to see a great example of this pay attention to what Nick Saban is doing at Alabama. If you want to see a good example of what your offense will look like if you don't run physical practices in the preseason and durning weekly practice's see what Steve Spurrier is doing at Carolina. Carolina's Offensive Line was pushed around by the 117th ranked defense on Saturday night. They cannot run the ball effectively and they cannot dominate a team offensively. Thank God we have one of the top rated defenses or this season would be uglier than it already is. At least we're 2-2 and not 0-4.

3. I watched the last half of the first debate on Friday night. I wasn't that impressed with either candidate. I thought McCain was reaching a little bit, trying a little too hard to make Obama look like a flip-flopper. And I thought Obama was rude and arrogant. He often interrupted McCain (who impressively talked right through Obama's interruptions) and seemed to make arrogant, sarcastic remarks when McCain said something he didn't agree with.

My hope is that the next debate actually accomplishes something. I really have no interest in the "He said, She said" tactics.

4. The first round of the Government Bailout plan has been voted down. Stocks have plummeted as a result. I'm trying to decide if now is a good time to invest?

5. Along the lines of the Government Bailout....here's my beef (and understand that I haven't formed an opinion either way yet): Reckless companies have made poor business decisions. However, because of the negative economic impact these decisions have on all of us these companies are getting "a little" assistance from the Government. As a result, the Government gets more control over these businesses. Honestly, it sounds a lot like Socialism, but the question is, because our Capitalistic system has gotten so reckless is a Socialistic reaction necessary?

Next, the Golden Parachute.....Are you serious! You're going to run a company into the ground, yet you think you deserve a Golden Parachute so you can live happily ever after while my tax dollars foot the bill for saving your ass? You know, that Golden Parachute would go a long way to helping YOUR company bail itself out of all the bad investments that you oversaw.

Is too much government involvement a good thing, or a bad thing? I heard an interesting point today that is worthy of repeating. If you look at the most unhappy people in this country....the folks most angry with the system and angry with the government who are they? Are they the ones that are self sustaining, or are they the ones who are most reliant on Government Programs? I think you know the answer. So, why, if these people are so unhappy with the government and the system, why are they so supportive of more Government involvement?

Friday, September 12, 2008

Gas Prices and Hurricane Ike

Well, here we go again. Yesterday a bunch of local gas station owners jacked gas prices up more than the $1 per gallon on fears that Hurricane Ike may cut distribution from the Gulf. Funny, I thought we got most of our oil from Terrorist countries?

You know, had the stations owners not said anything or started raising prices people would have gone about their business and the 20 deep lines at gas stations around South Carolina would not have happened last night. Nevertheless, any opportunity to gouge your neighbors for an extra buck seems to be the plan for these crooks.

Just like the rest of you, I want to know where the government is during all of this gouging? They have to know what is happening and who's responsible, yet no price freeze, no reassurance......interesting......two questions come to mind:
1. Do oil companies have politicians so firmly in their back pockets that there's no way in hell that the people that represent us will fight for us?
2. If you're a gas station owner or big oil executive how do you look at yourself in the mirror each day? Does it suck when the neighborhood throws a cook out you're the only one that doesn't get invited? How does it feel to be UN-American?

The American spirit has always been about coming to the aid of your neighbors. However, the oil industry does the opposite. When our neighbors are in need, or ensuing crisis is on the horizon they raise prices. Again, where are our fearless leaders? At what point will they jump in and say, "FREEZE!"?

I'd write my local representative but apparently they don't seem to care (See Martha Alexander). I know this because I've written them in the past and they haven't responded. So, aside from Pork Barrel spending and earmarks what good are they?

As an aside, I really need to know if Martha Alexander believes that dinosaurs walked the earth 4,000 years ago. That's really important to me.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Seven Years Later......

Seven years ago today our Country came under attack. Most of us remember exactly where we were and what we were doing. We remember the aftermath and how people reacted around them throughout the day. We couldn't wait to get home and be together, sitting around the TV just watching, waiting, hoping......

Now, seven years later, even though many if not all TV stations will no longer show the footage of that day the images and the feeling of complete and total helplessness still rings fresh.

Eventually, my feelings turned to anger. I was fresh out of school as were a lot my friends. A few of us talked about enlisting in the service. We knew our country would not let this attack go unanswered and we wanted in.

After initial sadness and the initial pain, the measure of an individual is determined by what they do next. We took a huge sucker punch on that fateful day and when we answered, WE ANSWERED. People cheered and high-fived each other at the site of our military going after these terrorists. Up from the rubble and the destruction America grew stronger and we felt more pride than we had ever felt.

In such a terrible time, it was great to be an American.

Today, all politics will take a break and hopefully celebrities like Matt Damon will not use this anniversary as a forum. Hopefully, all Americans will stop their propaganda and do nothing more but be a united America, remembering those heroes who lost their lives.

It's a sick and sad world out there and we learned that so painfully on September 11, 2001. We're very fortunately to be Americans and today is a day to remember the sacrifices many have made.

God bless us all and may God mercy on the souls of those who harm us.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Obama and the O'Reilly Factor

So I watched a little bit of The O'Reilly Factor last night with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News. While you may be rolling your eyes at the mere mention of Fox News (I do that with MSNBC), hear me out first.

First off, I came away impressed with Obama in this interview. O'Reilly, while respectful, did not hold back and asked Obama some very pointed questions about his affiliations, background and record. I've gotta give credit when credit's due....Obama was very honest and straight foward with his answers. In the past, he's sort of tip-toed around questions he doesn't like and has also not really shown an ability to talk coherently unscripted. Last night was different. He and Bill had a very straightforward conversation and Bill I thought did an excellent job from a journalistic standpoint of asking tough questions, but being fair.

Apparently, Obama had the same type of interview with the NBC folks and they threw softballs at him all night. I don't know for sure who the interviewer was, but my quess would be either Andrea Mitchell, Chris Matthews or Keith Olbermann.

Regardless, Obama's still not my guy because we seem to have fundamental differences on what the people of this country need. Nevertheless, I'd love to sitdown, one on one, unscripted with Obama and give him to opportunity to set the record straight.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Palin's Spending in Alaska under scrutiny

Dear One or Two readers,

I noticed today on Msn.com that Sarah Palin's expenditures are being scrutinized. If you read it, and develop a negative opinion of Governor Palin and consider this "typical" for Republicans then please read my "Considerable Waste" blog post from July. I believe Mary Easley has set the bar on wasteful spending.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Russell Brand Part 1

I'm going to get into this more later. However, uneducated individuals like Russell Brand make it easier and easier everyday to vote for John McCain. Besides the fact that Brand is Brit and really has no place in U.S. Politics, it's equally as shameful that an entertainment entity, MTV/Viacom, allows this type of garbage on an awards TV show designed to entertain people. Instead of Jack Black, MTV now gets second rate idiots like Russell Brand who come on national television insulting our country and telling us what HE thinks is in the best interest of Americans. Funny, last time someone from Britain did that we started our own Country.

Of course, this all speaks to the liberal media and the influence, or lack thereof, that MTV has on the country these days. MTV used to be all about the music; however, they never show music videos on their station anymore and like many others, I stopped watching MTV a long time ago. I will say this though, today is probably the most attention MTV has gotten in a long time. Unfortunately for them it'll probably do more harm than good.

For my one or two readers who are anxiously awaiting my gospel, more to come later.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Briefly: Back to Politics

A few notes after watching the RNC last night.

- If there was ever any doubt about Sarah Palin's ability I think she answered those last night. She had to come out, be firm, charismatic and confident and she was all of these.

- I was definitely moved to see her on stage holding her new-born child who has Downs Syndrome. Regardless of politics, the realness of her and her family became evident as they stood there. I have a friend who has a child who is in a similar situation. I have and will always admire them knowing the challenges and battles they go through on a daily basis.

- I miss Tucker Carlson.

- I like MSNBC's format and presentation, so I primarily watch their coverage on events like the RNC and DNC. However, their liberal bias is painful to watch. Last week they were the media cheerleaders after each key-note speech at the DNC. However, this week they have refuted much of the speeches given at the RNC. Watching Andrea Mitchell interview Republicans on the floor is just painful. She is so spiteful and so cynical that MSNBC would be better served to remove her from the RNC. If I'm wrong, correct me. However, she clearly does not like Republicans and is trying everything in her power to degrade them when speaking to individuals from the floor of the RNC. It's really sad to see MSNBC be painfully biased. I wonder how Tim Russert would react if here were here today. I'd like to think that he would force his team to maintain journalistic integrity. Last night, Pat Buchanan tried to give a more conservative opinion on the night and Chris Matthews quickly tightened the leash, cutting Pat off in mid-sentence. Chris did the same for the one of the other panelist (Sorry couldn't find the MSNBC bios to give you her name). It's sad and painful. If you're going to cover an event and profess yourselves as a news leader then report the NEWS, not biased editorial BS.

- I hope the Republicans do a better job of aligning themselves with traditional Conservative environmental groups like Ducks Unlimited, CCA and The Wild Turkey Federation (to name a few). Many individuals that vote Democrat do so because of the perception that Democrats are more concerned about the environment. That's simply not true. All of my friends are Republicans and we are all members of DU, CCA and other conservation organizations. Much of the world's corporate CEOs, COOs, Presidents and so on are members of these same organizations. You typically don't see "Sportsmen for Obama" signs, but you always see "Sportsmen for McCain" signs. Maybe it just because I'm in the South, but every Sportsman and/or Steward of our natural resources and environment that I know is a Republican. Bottom-line, we need to do a better job of promoting our involvement with our Conservation Organizations.

*It's gameday. Carolina plays Vanderbilt tonight in the first SEC match of the year. Last year, we lost badly to Vandy. Tonight, I am hoping for revenge. Go Cocks!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Smelley to start, Bowden makes questionable call(s)....

-While this is not Breaking News, Coach Spurrier has decided to start Chris Smelley at QB this week in place of banged up Tommy Beecher. Given the way Chris moved the offense on Thursday night against NC State it's hard not to give him the nod. Plus, the Vandy misery from last year seemed to be Chris's undoing for the rest of the season. The Gamecocks are thinking revenge after doing everything in their power to make Vanderbilt look like the number 1 team in the country.

As with last week, this game could go either way. It could be close, or we could beat Vandy easily. We have the potential, but with a suspect O-Line it's hard to know for sure until the game starts.

-So word got out yesterday that Tommy Bowden has been calling other coaches to ask what he needs to do to help his team improve. While I admire his humility and willingness to reach out to other coaches it also raises a huge flag about his abilities. Tommy's been at Clemson for 10 years and makes a boat load of money. To me, a phone call like this is something that I'd expect an inexperienced coach to make. Not someone like Tommy Bowden. Nevertheless, coaches talk all the time and trade ideas. This situation was probably nothing different aside from the fact that Tommy actually came out and told the media he did so.

-Seems like everyone is coming down on Clemson in the state of South Carolina.

Many of the CU fans have had enough and are ready to start looking for their next coach.

Last night, "Sports Talk" out of Columbia made a few comments about CU's football program and the way in which Clemson manages information coming in and out of Tigertown.

Thinking about it now, after hearing it last night, the idea of controling how information is and is not presented to the public and the media is a lot like the way Socialist Countries operate. They tell you what they want you to hear and sugarcoat the things they don't want you to hear to sound often more favorable than they really are.
-Case in Point: One caller last night called into Sports Talk talking about the Clemson Coach's Show. He joked that as far as the Coach's Show was concerned Alabama never scored a point and all they showed was the positive stuff that Clemson did (which wasn't much).

Enough for now. More later.

Cheers!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Week 1 Thoughts.....

So, in staying with my theme to skip on the politics for a while I'm going to keep in line with something that actually hits my passion: College Football

First off, being in Columbia Thursday, with all the usual crowd and tailgating just like we always have was great. Then being in the stadium, sweating our asses off in the student section while Tommy Beecher threw 4 INTS was a bit challenging, but we hung in there and when the 4th Quarter rolled around things really started going. Our defense dominated the whole game, giving up 138 total yards and once Chris Smelley replaced Beecher things really started moving on offense as well. The 4th Quarter is what I expect of our team all year. An all around team effort in which we dominate both sides of the ball. We're 1-0 and hope is still eternal!

A few Observations:
1. I'm not kidding when I say that I watched College Football from about 11am on Saturday until after midnight that night. I ran a few errands throughout the day, but for the most part I watched football. I've waited more than seven months for this day to come and while it might not have been the most productive thing in the world, it was what I wanted and it's what I did.

2. Seeing Rich Rod lose to Utah was great. Sorry, but I just don't have much love for a guy that leaves his home state school, his school and his "dream job" in the dust for greener pastures. Serves him right that his team looked sloppy and unorganized. Meanwhile, WVU looked excellent as Pat White threw for 5 TDs and WVU rolled. Next up for WVU, Skip Holtz's surprise ECU team.

3. Speaking of Skip....Congrats to the whole coaching staff and players at ECU. Skip got a raw deal at Carolina. With all due respect to his daddy, he took the fall for his dad's deficiencies at Carolina and has rebounded nicely. Plus, he has Phil Petty on his staff which further deepens the ties to between ECU and Carolina. While I like WVU and will find myself pulling for them throughout the year, you're crazy if you think I won't be pulling for another big ECU win this weekend.

4. Clemson. Let's see....what can I say that hasn't already been said? My guess is when Tommy got home late Saturday night (Early Sunday morning) he probably wasn't surprised to find a bunch of "For Sale" signs in his front yard. Tommy has soooo much talent at Clemson. Yet, he can't get them to play as a team. Seriously, he's been there for 10 years, has some of the best talent in the country and CANNOT coach these guys into consistent winners. Tommy either better get his team to rebound and rebound in a hurry or this year will be his last. There are way too many coaches that get more out less talent just waiting for an opportunity like Clemson. Tommy better watch his back.

5. Dammit Tennessee.....You had'em right where you wanted them and you "LET'EM OFF THE HOOK!" Seriously, UCLA was BEAT. How do you lose to those guys? Now we probably have to listen to the PAC 10 say they are on the same level as the SEC. After the weekend we had as representatives of the SEC (less MSU) you had a chance to but an exclamation on the dominance of our conference and you dropped the ball.

6. I thought Virginia might have had a shot to keep it close against SoCal. I thought wrong. By the time Virginia finally woke up the game was over.

7. The ACC is soft. UNC almost lost to McNeese State, Virginia got smacked by SoCal, NC State only managed 138 total yards against South Carolina, VaTech got beat by ECU and Clemson, well Clemson dropped the biggest bomb of them all. The good news is the ACC basketball schedule came out last week and Midnight Madness should start in another month or so. By the way, the class of the ACC this past weekend was Duke and Wake. How would've ever imagined that?

8. Seemed like defense was really the theme this past weekend. Saw a lot of sloppiness on the offensive side of the ball and saw a lot of heads up play on the defense side. The Bear would be awfully proud.