In The Zone

Every sport has a crucial area or aspect of the game where it is do or die time. In Football it is the Red Zone, that area inside the opponent's 20 yard line. The importance of a team's ability to maximize it's opportunities once it moves the ball into the Zone is pivotal. Getting into the Red Zone is all but a certain scoring opportunity but scoring is not the only factor in determining the success of a team. While there is much talk about a team's Red Zone scoring efficiency, it must also prevent it's opponent from scoring. The difference between the number of times a team moves the ball into the Zone vs the number of times a team lets it's opponent enter the Zone is a great predictor of how good a team really is. This year in the regular season one team stood out above all the rest in that category, that team was the New England Patriots. They entered the Red Zone 72 times while their opponent entered the Zone 41 times making for a +31. Their opponent in this years Super Bowl, the New York Giants, entered the Red Zone 55 times while letting their opponents enter the Zone 42 times making for a +13. The New York Giant's +13 ranked best in the NFC and only 1 ahead of the Dallas Cowboy's +12 but no team came close to the Patriot's +31. This is why I think the New England Patriots are a supper team the likes of which we have not seen in a long time if not ever. Yes the Cowboys, Chargers, Colts, Giants, and Packers are very good teams but their Red Zone differentials are where good team's Zone stats should be, right around the +15 mark. The Patriot's +31 is a once in a life time stat. So as you watch this years Super bowl remember this! Big plays from within the Red Zone may be entertaining but it's the team that consistently moves the ball from mid field into the Red Zone and can prevent the other team from doing the same that will likely earn the title of Super Bowl XLII Champs.

Ugly Sure Taste Good

They are one of the ugliest things you'll ever see, yet their very common and will make their self at home anywhere there is a little fresh water. They are slimy opportunist who will eat just about anything that is placed before them and if you are a Texan it is rare that you have not shared a dinner table with them. No I am not talking about a group of Aggies at a Texas vs Texas A&M football game. I am talking about those bottom feeders that most so called "Polite Folks" would never invite to dinner. Catfish is as common as the barbecue, pinto beans and blue bell ice cream and one of the things that make up the staple of a Texans diet. I'll eat fried catfish every chance I get, preferring a community fund raiser "all you can eat" fish fry where in a matter of a couple of hours hundreds of people enjoy a meal of the ugly creature. Rolled in corn meal and served on Styrofoam plates along with hush puppies, cole slaw and pinto beans a fish fry is one of the best ways for an organization to raise money for their cause. I never care what the cause is, if they are serving fried catfish I consider the cause justified. My favorite fried catfish dinner fund raiser is held once a month at the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Granite Shoals TX. I get so full of the fried fish I could almost swim home or surely swim back to Granite Shoals in thirty days.
The world and everything around it is changing but I hope the community fish fry never changes. The smell of hot oil, frying corn meal, men standing around giant deep fryers and stacks of Styrofoam plates will make most Texans dream they are in heaven even if he or she has to share the dream with Mr. Ugly.

Campaign of Insanity

The modern day road to the White House is too long and too expensive. It's full of campaign consultants and spin doctors making the debates leading up to the vote a cross between "The Bachelor" "American Idol" and "Who's Smarter than a Fifth Grader". A Presidential candidate has only two jobs, raise money and hire a consultant to figure out the thirty second answers he or she needs to deliver to get elected. The need to raise tens of millions of dollars has driven the campaigns to crank up earlier every Presidential election. As the campaigns get longer the candidates began telling us in 2007 what they will do in 2009 when they really don't have a clue what they will do in 2009 because they don't have any ideal what the world will be like in 2009. There is no way a thirty second sound bite in January of 2007 can convince myself or any one else which candidate has the right ideals, the right character and the right capacity to be a leader in January 2009.
Whether your are a Republican, Democrat or Independent, the average Joe or Jane has no true in site into the candidate's thinking or knows if the candidate will honor his or her campaign promises. The road to the White house is one big gamble. A gamble who's odds are factored from thirty second sound bites and influence from millions of corporate dollars. Whether it's a two dollar lotto ticket or a Presidential election, only an idiot gambles because sooner or later a gamble will always come back and bite you in your insane ass.

Photos of 2007

During 2007 Central Texas experienced floods, ice storms and lots of beautiful sunrises and sunsets but there was still plenty of time for me to see a lot of people and go a lot of places. In 2007 I attended family gatherings, parades, peace rallies, sports events, musical concerts, ate a few burgers, saw animals of every description and looked upon lots of pretty women. I can't wait to see what 2008 will bring. Here are a 100 of my favorite people, places and things I saw in 2007.