Rich Rodriguez is rich!

Well Alabama athletic director Mal Moore got his man. Nope, it’s not Steve Spurrier. It’s not even Nick Saban. It’s Rich Rodriguez of West Virginia, or so WKRG in Mobile is reporting. (Don’t bother checking the web site. Looks like they update it about once a week and it’s only been five days since the last one.)

Coach Rodriguez has built his alma mater, West Virginia University, into a national power. Last year’s Mountaineers systematically destroyed SEC champion Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, which is a pretty good indication that his philosophy and system will indeed work in the SEC.

Whether it’ll work right away, however, is another matter. Part of Rodriguez’s system is based on a highly mobile, option quarterback. Alabama has an up and coming star at quarterback in John Parker Wilson, but he’s not an option quarterback. Whether it’s curtains for John Parker, or Rodriguez’s offensive system, remains to be seen.

Additionally, Rodriguez’s West Virginia team is two deep. That’s part of his philosophy. Alabama figures to be thin for at least another year, if not two, due to scholarship losses that ran from 2003 through 2005.

Hopefully the fan base at Alabama will grasp that it’ll take at least a couple of years to get things rolling under Rodriguez. If they are a little patient, good times may very well be back in Tuscaloosa by the end of the decade.

Around WordPress.com – 12/6/06

Here are a few more posts I found interesting, amusing, whatever.

• How About Punishing The Owners
• Update on “Times says we’re getting away with murder”
• Funding Terrorist note: As far as I can tell, the title and the actual post are utterly unrelated. Nevertheless, it’s a good rant.
• Military Strength v The Will to Win
• Rodriguez playing Alabama to stay at WVU?
• Enough!!!
• Robert Plant Records in Nashville
• Brownback 2008
• Science, Skeptics, God, and Magick
• Cherokee County, GA Passes Anti-Immigrant Ordinance

Slide by and leave a comment. You don’t have to agree with ‘em. It’s just blogging.

Around WordPress.com – 12/5/06

Here are a few posts from around WordPress.com.  I’m linking to them because I enjoyed reading them and thought maybe somebody else would too. They aren’t in any order, other than how they popped up in my aggregator , or the order I found them via their tags.

• A Broken Promise Under the Golden Arches
• What’s Your Favorite?
• Rainforest Catastrophe: Chevron’s Fraud and Deceit in Ecuador
• Metropolis: The Vanishing Class
• Oregon Fiscal Recklessness
• Agents, landowners killing more wolves
• Evangelizing Atheists
• New York City Trans Fat Ban is No Good

That I liked something doesn’t mean I agree with it, believe it, or anything else. It just means I liked it.

“War on Terror” a misnomer

We need to rename the “War on Terror”. Maybe we should call it “Guarding Against Terrorism”. I don’t know, but I’m open to suggestions.

9/11 scared the bejesus out of me. I realize fear is unbecoming of a middle-aged Southern boy. Nevertheless it did. Still does. It’s time to put it in perspective though.

I never thought twice as the US embarked on the “War on Terror”. It was obvious something had to be done about al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I’d have nuked ‘em, but nobody asked me.

To hear our government tell it, we’re still waging the “War on Terror”. We will be, they promise, for a generation. Our leaders want us to believe our way of life is under attack. It may be, but not from the terrorists. The politicians want us to be afraid so they can usurp our rights and do things like invade other countries in our name. It’s worked well for them so far.

The fact is, though, being afraid of Muslim fanatics is just ridiculous. Yes, 9/11 was a horrific event. If terrorists could pull something similar off on a somewhat regular basis, then it would make sense to fear them. But to fear them, in light of who and what they really are, is ridiculous. (But flattering, I’m sure, for the terrorist themselves).

Oil is the only thing we need that is produced in the Muslim world. It seems safe to surmise that if the western oil companies shut down their operations, dismantled their wells, storage facilities, and pipelines, the oil would stay right where it is, under the sand, until someone from outside the Muslim world extracted it. Muslims lack the technology to do much of anything for themselves. Sadly, the only things they are good at making are terrorists and WMD. Such a people don’t constitute much of threat to our way of life.

Consider tiny Israel. They are some six million strong, surrounded by a billion Muslims, most of whom profess to want Israel wiped from the face of the earth. But they’re still there, right in the Muslim’s backyard. The US is infinitely more powerful than Israel, not to mention exponentially further removed from the apex of the threat.

It’s time to rename the “War on Terror”. It’s time to tell the government we expect them to protect us, not scare us to death, and certainly not infringe on our rights. In reality the politicians are a much greater threat to the American way of life than are the terrorists.

Is Britain a police state?

I ran across a fascinating post at The Big Picture about the surveillance society in Britain. Apparently Britain is well on its way to becoming a police state. Could the same thing happen here in the US? It’s inevitable if the politicians get their way. Power is their drug and there’s never enough of it.

James Taylor honored

Last night I caught part of “A Tribute to James Taylor” on PBS’s Great Performances. The performers and their renderings were a mixed bag. Taylor played a few tunes at the end and, as anyone who’s seen him would predict, stole the show.

I liked Bonnie Raitt’s version of “Rainy Day Man” and Alison Krauss’ “Going to Carolina”. Keith Urban proved (to me) that he’s more than just a pretty rock-n-roll wannabe with his rendition of “Country Road”. Sting was overmatched in his attempt to cover the complex “Close Your Eyes”, but it was a fine choice of a relatively obscure Taylor tune. Bruce Springsteen’s offering of “Millworker” was powerful and another brilliant choice of Taylor’s little known material. It was a nice show but would have been exponentially better if they’d just shown a JT concert.

James Taylor is one of handful of artists that can claim complete mastery of all aspects of his craft; singing, playing, and writing. He’s also a stellar live performer. Of the three finest concerts I’ve attended over 30 years, two of them were Taylor’s. If you haven’t seen JT, you owe it to yourself to do it, especially if it’s at Mud Island (Memphis) in the rain.

Crimson Tide’s coaching carousel

The circus that is Alabama football is once again a source of amusement, or embarrassment, depending on your point of view. You know the numbers. ‘Bama is on its eighth coach in the past 25 years, its fifth since 2000. It’s just ridiculous.

Coach Mike Shula, brought in to restore credibility and stability to the mess in Tuscaloosa, was unceremoniously dismissed under the cover of darkness, just a few hours shy of midnight last Sunday. It was gutless and shameful, words that haven’t, until now, been associated with Alabama football. Well, shameful maybe, but not gutless. ‘Atta good ole boy, Mal Moore.

So who’s next? The faithful, tripping on crimson-sunshine, foresee Steve Spurrier or Nick Saban riding to the rescue and righting the again-teetering ship. That’s not going to happen though. In fact, it’s a safe bet that the new coach will be someone whose name most don’t recognize.

Will the new man win? Who knows? Mike Shula has left him loaded with talented sophomores and redshirt-freshmen. Another top-10 class was poised to sign with the Tide and Shula next year, but all bets are off now.

At any rate, he’ll have four years to bring the national championship back to Alabama. Won’t happen though, unless he’s the Chosen One. Smart money says ‘Bama winds up on probation again before they play for another title.

“And that’s the way it is”

Click over to Doug’s Darkworld and read his entertaining but bleak assessment of some of what’s going on in the world. I’m a regular reader now. If you’re not an ideologue you’ll enjoy his writing.

Censorship 101: Polonium 210

If you need to shut somebody up, and duct tape is too short-term, consider Polonium 210. What is Polonium 210? Click over to A Quantum Diaries Survivor for the nasty facts.

Michael Richards works the apology circuit

On the evening news I saw Michael Richards apologizing, yet again, this time on Jesse Jackson’s radio program. It called to mind the following not-very-amusing, but perhaps instructive story.

Once there were two psychiatrist, one short and one tall, who daily shared an elevator up to their offices. Everyday, as the doors opened and the short psychiatrist prepared to disembark, he turned to the tall one and spit on him. This went on, day in and day out, for years.

On his last day prior to retirement, the elevator attendant who’d witnessed this ritual countless times was overcome with curiosity. “Sir”, he asked the tall psychiatrist, “why does that little man spit on you everyday, and why don’t you do something about it?”

The tall psychiatrist, without looking at the attendant, replied as if annoyed, “How should I know? It’s his problem“.

Anyway, …