RandomFailure

Why Does Duke Football Suck?

Steve — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:47:00 +0000

Or, if Rutgers can find the wins, why can't we?
(Apologies to CaseyBoy.)

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a big Duke fan, as well as a Duke grad and an Iron Dukes member. But what I really can't figure out is how the football program has gotten to be so bad - currently riding a 14 game losing streak, dating back to last season. And a steady fixture in ESPN.com's Bottom 10 (see this week's edition). It's maddening because there doesn't seem to be only one problem that can be fixed. So where to begin?

I have no solutions, but can identify a few potential problem areas. Any solution suggestions are welcome. I don't know if they'll do any good, but it can't hurt.

Coaching. Been a revolving door. Lack of stability means too many changes that the existing players have to implement. But how long of a leash do you provide?

Play calling. Even good coaches call bad plays. But how do you differentiate between bad coaching and bad play calling? Other than the obvious - that a bad coach will consistently call bad plays.

Recruiting. Is the talent just not there? Not really sure about this one. High school talent is not the same as college-level talent. Of course, injuries don't help.

Facilities. This is something that the school admits has been lacking in the past, and has been throwing dollars at the problem to correct it. So this is about neutral.

This has got to end sooner or later - hopefully sooner. In the mid-1990's it was Northwestern. This year, it's Rutgers. So it's not impossible for a bottom-feeding program to crawl from the wreckage. But it's a rare occurrence.

Butley - Kinda boring

Steve — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 01:28:00 +0000

I went to see the preview edition of Nathan Lane's revival of Butley this past weekend. Being a fan of Nathan Lane (having seen him on stage six times), I had high expectations. Apparently, I should've looked into the story a little deeper - I was bored at times. I even dozed off a little, as did my wife and my father. The moments of comedy were dry at best and few and far between. A character study of a man whose life goes into the toilet from the get-go, this is almost a one-man show. I just couldn't really get into it, mainly because I was expecting a bit more comedy in the mix.

Got soaked heading home today

Steve — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 02:44:00 +0000

I have absolutely the worst sense of timing when it comes to leaving work during bad weather. A few weeks ago, I had a late afternoon dentist appointment. It was pouring rain. I went two blocks and got soaked.

Today, I had to leave when I did to be able to make the two buses to get home. I had to run for the first one, after crossing the recently-repaved-but-poorly-draining 17th Street (i.e., a frickin' lake at the crosswalk). Running for the bus wouldn't have been so bad by itself, except for the fact that I was wearing a suit and loafers - not exactly running gear. And the umbrella didn't help while running. I got initially wet.

Then I had to wait for the second bus, the always-late 57 South. At least I got to wait somewhere dry and even dried out a little bit on the ride down to my stop. I got off the bus when it was pouring. Within about 15 seconds, I was soaked again. I knew there was no way to stay even slightly dry for the three block walk home, so I just kept the umbrella low and walked as quickly as I could. I could feel my shoes filling with water, which sucks if you've ever experienced it.

I got into the house and called for help: I wanted a change of pants and some towels to dry off. My pants soaked through to the point my underwear was wet. That's a new low for me. I just hope the suit isn't ruined - I like the suit.

On T.O.

Steve — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 01:22:00 +0000

Now that the general media blitz has subsided (and I have some free time), I offer my two cents on the whole "T.O. Thing". First, it's good that he had an awful game (see the NFL News article via ESPN).

As for the whole suicide attempt thing, I don't buy it. Suicide is generally quiet and private. Unless, of course, you happen to dive off of a building onto a busy street or something like that. And T.O. isn't a quiet person. No, he loves the spotlight. Suicide by O.D. would be too tame for him.

A few days ago at work, we were tossing around a few ideas before the start of a breakfast meeting. I suggested a shotgun between his legs while he did crunches in his driveway and then pulling the trigger at around 20 crunches. Then someone mentioned, "That would make one heck of a touchdown dance. T.O. scores, pulls a gun out of his sock, and blows his brains out." Either one of those options would be more suited to his personality.

But, alas, such messy and permanent events did not come to pass. Maybe next time. Remember T.O., if you want help killing yourself, I'm sure that there are plenty of folks here in Philly who'd be more than happy to help out.

Torre with Yankees for 2007

Steve — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 01:14:00 +0000

It looks like George Steinbrenner didn't completely lose his mind after all. He decided that Joe Torre would be the Yankees' manager for 2007. See the "official" article.

CBS cancels Smith

Steve — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 01:10:00 +0000

When trying to set the DVR for tonight, I noticed that Smith wasn't on - a CSI rerun was on instead. Thanks to the magic of Internet searching, I found out that Smith was canceled. But there weren't many articles; this article from the Baltimore Sun has only a few facts, namely, that the viewership was really low (about 8.4 million). But Karen and I liked it, not that it matters now. Oh well. I get 48 minutes a week back (DVR'ed minus the commercials).

Damn Yankees

Steve — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 01:35:00 +0000

Funny that I started typing "Damn Tankees," since that's a more appropriate description of their most recent October folding. Now, I've been a Yankees fan for 30 years (since I could understand baseball at age 6), so it's not easy for me to say.

But I'm older, perhaps wiser, and definitely more cynical now. And I don't accept piss-poor performances like A-Rod's (1 for 14 for the series) as a viable excuse. (Dammit, do you job!) At the same time, I don't think all the blame should fall on Torre either (see this article from ESPN about the possibility of Torre being replaced). I do think that Steinbrenner has lost his mind again. I can't think of another manager or coach in any sport who could manage the player egos and media scrutiny the way Torre can.

Though it would be an interesting proposition to see Don Mattingly managing the Yankees at some point in the future. Disclaimer: I am a huge Mattingly fan. I think he's the best baseball player to never make it to the World Series.

Jim Gardner scares me

Steve — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 01:22:00 +0000

Now, I've never met the Channel 6 (Philly's local ABC affiliate) anchor (see his bio), so I don't know if he's intimidating in person or not. I'm referring to this picture:

This is the billboard that's behind my house. I took this picture from the landing between the second and third floors; you can see part of my reflection in the lower right.

This is large and scary and brightly lit at night.

Nothing personal Jim, but it is kinda creepy.

A great idea, but I'm a little late to post it here

Steve — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 01:47:00 +0000

My friend Joe, over on his blog, had the really good idea of getting people involved in commenting on the other blogs they read, instead of just lurking. Which is perfectly fine in its own right. Anyway, the post is here: It's 10-4, Good Buddy: Leave Someone Else a Comment!

My PDR report

Steve — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 02:33:00 +0000

I thought I was overdue for a good PDR; my pattern had been one good, one not so good. Since last year fell into the "not so good" category, I figured this year would be "good". I had a good plan: run with John W (see his PDR report) at 7:00 or slightly better, since he would be going slow for marathon training.

"7:00 per mile shouldn't be a problem. If we feel good after halfway, we can pick it up from there."

Hey, for once I started out being right. Mile 1 at 7:02 (at least that's what I remember, silly me missed the Lap button on the watch). Miles 2 through 6 were all between 6:54 and 7:05. A little vacillation, but otherwise pretty good. Then things started feeling funky - a little tightness in the chest (more like solar plexus area, but since I'm not a doctor, I could be off a little) and some short breaths. Mile 7 was in 7:17, and I wasn't feeling all that optimistic. John was a trooper and tried to encourage me back up to speed, but I just didn't have it. I cut him loose shortly after the Mile 7 mark. Thanks for the help John!

I purposely slowed at that point, to try to catch my breath. I thought about stopping for just a moment, and then continue. I jumped the curb and realized that stopping would be a bad idea. So I got back into the road and hugged the curb (not literally). Mile 8 was in 8:01. OK, I blew up rather badly, but I can recover.

I hate the way my brain tries to trick my body into thinking that I can do something like that. Mile 9 in 8:04. Ugh. At least I'm not fading too badly. Mile 10 in 7:55, but still not really feeling better. Mind starts to wander a bit: I wonder if I'll see anybody else I know running. With over 11,000 people out, the chances aren't so good. Even if someone I knew did pass me, I was only half paying attention (sorry to anyone who did and I didn't say anything). Mile 11 on 8:00, mile 12 in 8:11.

The one thing about the course change that I really don't like is the movement of the finish line to Eakins Oval. That means the last hill heading up towards the Art Museum is where I need to put in the push to the finish. The straight really isn't long enough for much more than a final kick. I finish the last 1.1 miles in 8:55, for a total of 1:38:27 (my official time is 1:38:23). Not a PR, but better than last year.

The new Tickle Me Elmo is hysterical

Steve — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:22:00 +0000

We happened to catch the end of a segment on Good Morning America this morning before I left for work about the new Tickle Me Elmo, called T.M.X. (for Tickle Me Extreme?). Anyway, Karen saw it and said she wanted one.

"Look at the line outside Toys R Us in New York." I told her. "If you want one, you'd better get it today."

And she did, at Target. I told her she should have gotten two: one to keep and one to sell on eBay. (Apparently, quite a few other people have had the same idea, based on the number of listings.)

We opened it up tonight. There's even a little voice box connected to the outer box that says (in Elmo's voice, of course): "Uh. Uh. Uh! No peeking! Hahahaha!"

Running on 6 AA batteries, this Elmo laughs, slaps its right arm up and down, bends in half in fits of laughter, on his back, on his side, on his stomach. The amount of movement is impressive.

But I highly suggest a clean floor. We put Elmo on our hardwood floor, and he was Swiffering the darn thing will all the convulsing, getting a little dirty in the process.

Got Internet access again!

Steve — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 01:24:00 +0000

Turns out, after having to wait for 10 days (!), that my cable modem is shot. I'm now running on one "rented" from Comcast, at I think $3 a month. I just ordered a new Motorola cable modem from Newegg.com. This is a great site, if you ever need any computer stuff.

Still no cable modem access

Steve — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:09:00 +0000

(written offline, September 7)

(OK, make that very spotty access; poted Sept. 11.)

I can't believe it has been six days since I first lost the cable modem access. I have to wait until Sept. 12 before Comcast will even show up. When I called to make the appointment on Sept. 2, I was told that the first available appointment was on Tuesday. I took this to mean Sept. 5, only a few days away. However, on Sept. 5, I had Karen call (since she was at home), and we were informed that they meant Sept. 12.

Un-friggin-believable! We gave a monopoly to a bunch of jackasses. The City of Philadelphia having no balls for permitting competition on Comcast's home turf is another story entirely. But the short version is: a few years ago, City Council delayed hearings for whether RCN could come into Philadelphia long enough that RCN could no longer viably stay in the picture. Perfect example of Philly politics at work. Damn bunch of crooks. Your choice as to who I'm referring to.

An atomic spinach worker asked for some construction energy

Steve — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 01:29:00 +0000

No, I have no idea what that means either. I was going through some boxes of old stuff this past weekend, and came across this piece of paper that I had written, probably at age 9 or 10. It looks like it was part of some classroom Mad Libs exercise. The above sentence is the trippiest of the bunch.

Other interesting snippets include:

Hot dog and dinosaurs (the title of this work)
a computer made of jelly
My shadow is made of fish

Nothing really to say about these weird lines, other than to offer them to share. I think there might be a story idea in there somewhere...

Trip to Hersheypark

Steve — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 02:08:00 +0000

We (Karen, Victoria, and I) got ourselves out to Hersheypark this past weekend. I had never been there before - it was a lot of fun! The only drawback was that there was only the three of us, which meant that any ride Victoria couldn't go on or wouldn't go on, we couldn't do since there was nobody to leave her with.

The interesting thing was when we walking into the park on Saturday morning, there was a lovely smell of brownies in the air. Karen thought it was a pumped in smell; I thought something was actually being baked. But with all the food and other chocolate products around, it was hard to tell exactly where it was coming from.

Karen nearlly punched me in the head when I asked, "Which road is the Hershey Highway? It wasn't listed on the directions."

And if you weren't thinking of the drink recipe, I imagine that you were thinking of something else.