Does NY want us?

Our favorite bookstore is closing. That is Murder Ink and its companion, Ivy Books. They are located on Broadway and 94th Street, or thereabouts. The Murder Ink is of course the mystery store. Mrs. Bubba bought alot of mysteries there the past 3 years. I enjoyed seeing what they would put out and recommend, and I enjoyed chatting with the employees, or petting the old dog. We tried to buy all our Christmas books there, but we did some Barnes and Noble shopping as well, just too easy to ship back to Texas. But alas they can't afford increasing rents, so they are closing the doors.

That is a little how the Bubba's feel. But while the NY Times featured the closing of the bookstore in its Sunday "City" section, there will be no mention of the Bubba's moving out of the city in the NY press. More and more the local resturants, book stores, and curiosity shops are closing. Manhattan looks like a big suburban mall, all the same chain stores. But what is more alarming to us is Manhattan is becoming a place for the rich only. We did alright without child, but now with child we can no longer afford our 1 bedroom and child care. Remeber that we are professionals, licensed engineers, it's not like we're waiting tables. When the average bonus for the Goldman Sachs folks is 800,000 dollars, there is just not room for us. Sad really. I feel for NY, as it has "recovered" from the dark 70's, but it faces another crisis now, it is losing it's identity and becoming a enclave for the rich and famous.

If you read the previous post you might think I'm conflicted on my views of NY. You're right.

Visting NY

I had the day off today, so I went down towards work and met Mrs. Bubba for lunch, then went to get my haircut at Astor Place. I decided to walk back to 7th Ave to the subway instead of doing a subway switch. I was walking through Washington Square Park and noticed some tourist standing there taking in the park. It got me thinking about visiting NY. These folks will probably spend 10 minutes in Washington Square Park, take a picture, then move on. Then they will tell everyone they went to Washington Square Park. But did they? Mrs. Bubba and I used to work a short walk from there and on Friday's, especially in the summer, we would walk down to the park after work and sit and relax before we went out to dinner or met friends, or whatever we had planned for that Friday night. Mrs. Bubba is not as big of a fan of this particular spot as I am. But it's a nice spot to sit, talk about the week, watch the various people walk by: students at NYU, rich Village folks, freaky people, and generally a street performer and some war protestors. I've come to love the place, now mainly because I remember those Friday summer evenings when we would sit and and be amazed we lived in Manhattan, thought of what we'd do next in our lives, and then look forward to our Friday evenings. Surely those tourist haven't visited Washington Square Park like we have.

When folks come to visit us I generally make them go to Central Park as well. We walk them through the highlights, taking an afternoon. But I don't think anyone is as impressed as they should be. Why? Well, Central Park is our front yard, our back yard. It's where we go to see flowers bloom in the spring, to escape the hot concrete in the summer, and to see the foliage in the fall. When it snows it's the place we go to see snow, as the streets are swept in Manhattan almost immediately. Central Park is what makes NYC livable. It's our favorite part of NYC. I love it in the winter, when it is cold, and no one is around.

I understand what it is to be a tourist, as we have travelled and we "did" NYC before we moved here. But I don't think you get a fair shake at what it's like to live in New York doing the highlight tour. There are "stops" on the tour, but they hold so much more meaning to those of us that live here. New York is the best city in the world, and I'll always feel that way.

Bubba's Christmas Letter

Dear fellow Bubbas:

This year was a great year for the Bubbas. In January we moved into our new trailer. We opted for double high vs. double wide, after all, it's Manhattan, ya gotta go vertical. In Feb. we had some bad news, Mrs. Bubba's Granddadder had passed away so we had to go back to Texas for the funeral. It was a nice trip, and we got to visit with lots of her kin. In March we went to Tenn. and the Smokey Mnts. Now, we did enjoy being back in America on that trip. We lost our drawers on the flight in, but luckily we found one of them Old Navy's and got some drawers I guess were left over from the last time the Navy ordered drawers.

That brings us to April. Not much happened in April. Bubba was busy with work. May, that's Mrs. Bubba's b-day month, so we celebrated with a fancy dinner. We also went with our friends to Virginia. There we went to Jefferson's house. It was real nice.

In June we found out that Mrs. Bubba was knocked up. You think a fancy dinner on your birthday and it's over, but looks like we'll be living with that night for awhile. But we're happy to bring a little Bubba into the world, still waiting on him. In late June Bubba's Maw Maw passed away, so we went to Dallas for the funeral. Bubba lost his suitcase and had to borrow a suit. Again, we had to go buy underwears on an emergency trip. July came and went and then we were in August. We decide to pack up our stuff, rent a hoopie and drive up to Maine. In Maine they got Bubba's, but they talk different and refer to themselves as downeasters. But they're Bubba's alright.

September Bubba started to figure on how to move the family back to Texas, with the little Bubba on the way. We also confirmed we were indeed having a Bubba and not a Sissy. Then October came and it was Bubba's birthday. But Bubba didn't end up with a bun in the oven after his birthday. In Nov. Bubba flew to Houston to talk with some gas station guys about moving back to Houston. Then we gave thanks for all our "stuff" the Good Lord has Blessed Us with.

Now it's December and I should brag about how wonderful life is in the Bubba house. We got the gas station job waiting for us, we got the little Bubba getting ready to come out, and we got a full sized Christmas tree in our double tall trailer this year. Now, if it only snow, we'd be set.

Stuck in NYC

As we plot our escape from the city, we have had a recurring conversation with ourselves and our friends. That is, we like the city, but it is tough with kids, then justification for moving out of the city. Some of our friends response is, "We'd love to move home, but right now our jobs are here." It seems, NYC is hard to escape. It's hard to escape for several reasons: top jobs in finance, banking and law; a life of no cars and everything literally always open and right around the corner from you; friends in the city; and of course all the big buildings, bright lights and fast times. But, our entire time in the city has been marked by friends leaving. And when someone leaves, we all gather around, mourn their loss, and congratulate ourselves for making it just a bit longer.

We like to think of it as graduating from college. We had our time here, it was fun, we will always remember it, but now we are moving on to something new and different. But still, we sometimes find ourselves justifying again our reasons for leaving. Seems we are a little bit stuck in NYC.

Weather

So, while here in NYC we've had a very warm fall, 50's and 60's every day except one week in the 40's, in Texas it will snow tomorrow (Thursday) in Wellington. Don't know where Wellington is, well, go to the middle of no where and turn right, in 30 miles you'll be in Wellington. I'd love to be there right now. Anyway, we get asked all the time, "Does it get cold in Texas?" So it's fun to say on a 65 degree day, "Well, it's snowing in Texas today."

Aggies are going to the Holiday Bowl. Funny how a win over texas cures all.

Thankful...

Man, time has flown, November is gone.

First, HOW ABOUT THEM AGGIES!!! 12-7 over the dreadful, awful t-sips. (My wife is a longhorn, as a graduate of the University of Texas, we are a mixed marriage.) This is the first time the Aggies have won since we've known each other. This morning I played the Aggie War Hymn, (I have the cd, I know, I know, ) and told her, "Only 364 more days of this." We handle this rivarly better than I think most do, and most of the credit goes to her, not me. But, as I told her as she seemed a bit amazed at my excitement, "It's different when you're on the dominated end of a rivarly game."

Second, I like Thanksgiving alot, as I think it is a truely American holiday. We spend this Thanksgiving with our dear friends in the city, that we will miss terribly when we return to the mother land.

Finally, we have alot to be thankful for in our family. Baby is on the way. (We don't need socks, I think Drew has more socks than the two of us together now.) We have two nice choices on jobs for Bubba, both of which work with Mrs. Bubba's old job in Dallas. We have all the "stuff" we need for the baby. Baby and Mommy are both healthy! We have great friends in the city that help and support us. We have great families at home that help and support us. We're doing pretty good. I never thought at 30 I would have this much to look forward to, but I'm more excited about the future at 30 than I was at 18 or 24.

Converting a Longhorn to an Aggie

Everyone must go to this website.

SWC Game of the Week: Texas A&M Aggies at Texas Longhorns

This week’s SWC Game of the Week is one of the state’s oldest and nation’s oldest rivalries. The Aggies and Longhorns will meet the Friday after Thanksgiving for the 113^th time. Only Wisconsin vs. Minnesota (115) and Kansas vs. Missouri (114) have met more often. The series started in 1894 and has been played every year since 1915. In 1914 the Longhorns refused to play the Aggies because of their rough style of play under legendary Aggie coach Charlie Moran.

The Longhorns lead the all time series 73-34-5 and 50-13-3 series lead for games played in Austin. The longhorns have won 6 straight and 9 of 11. But over the last 20 years the series is split 10-10 and over the past 30 years the series is split 15-15. The game has been played on Thanksgiving Day 60 times in the 106 year history. Now of course the game is played the day after Thanksgiving because of ABC.

This year’s game will feature a favored Texas squad looking to clinch a Big 12 South title and a berth in the Big 12 Championship game against the North winner, Nebraska. A&M will try to play spoiler, after losing its last two conference games by a combined total of 2 points. The story revolves around whether Texas starting QB Colt McCoy will be healthy enough to earn the start. Jevan Snead played in relief of Colt McCoy in Texas lost to Kansas State in their last game. The last time Texas started a true freshman at QB, Chris Simms, the Aggies beat them. This is also the last time the Aggies beat Texas, and the last Thanksgiving before one Aggie boy met another Longhorn girl. Coach Fran will try to avoid starting his coaching career at A&M 0-4 against the hated Longhorns. The last coach to lose more than 4 in a row to Texas and not be replaced with a new coach was Homer Norton who lost 8 in a row to Texas before being removed after the 1947 season. I guess the 1939 National Championship Coach Norton won for the Aggies gave him a bit of wiggle room. Coach Fran didn’t win a National Championship with A&M.

There are many stories from this great game, but let’s take one from the 1965 Game. Gene Stallings was the A&M coach, his first year coaching the Aggies. The Aggies were 3-6 and were playing a disappointing 5-4 Texas squad coached by Darrell Royal. The last A&M win was 1956 in the series. Texas had A&M backed up to its own 9 yard line when Coach Stallings called for the “Texas Special.” On the snap, Aggie QB Harry Ledbetter threw a low spiral that hit the ground in front of the wingback on the left side (Jim Kauffman), and skittered into his hands. Kauffman stomped the ground in disgust, and Harry Ledbetter threw down his hands in frustration. Everybody on the field and in the stands relaxed, as the play was apparently over and the pass incomplete. But then Kauffman suddenly turned and threw a long pass to Ken “Dude” McLean, who was running alone down the right center of the field, and across the goal line with no defenders anywhere close. When the referee signaled a touchdown, the stunned crowd slowly realized that the bounced pass was actually a lateral thrown slightly backwards to Kauffman, who had lined up two to three yards back of the line of scrimmage. It was a 91 touchdown pass that had been put in the playbook just for Texas. The field judge ha been tipped off before the game by Stallings so that an inadvertent whistle would not be blown when the lateral hit the ground. The momentum spurred the Aggies to a 17-0 half time lead, but Texas recovered to win 21-17.

Other big games this week:

SMU at Rice (Both teams are bowl eligible, winner might get the bowl.)

Arkansas vs LSU

TCU at Colorado State

Last week:

Rice beat East Carolina in the SWC Game of the week 34-24 for win #6 and to become bowl eligible.

Arkansas 28 Mississippi State 14

Baylor 10 OU 36

Houston 23 Memphis 20 OT (Houston will host CUSA championship game.)

SMU 34 Tulsa 24 (SMU with win #6)

TCU 52 San Diego State 0

Texas Tech 30 Ok. State 24

Coming Home

One of the best things about living in New York, is coming home to New York. Nothing beats flying into LaGuardia airport and flying right by Manhattan. I think this is because the best way to view Manhattan is from a distance. It looks majestic, and you pinch yourself and think, "Do I really live there?" You get the same effect coming around the ramp in New Jersey on your approach to the Lincoln Tunnel. I had to take a car service to NJ for work and was coming back and the driver was chatting me up. I wanted to say, "Shhh, look."

Katie's cousin came to visit when we first moved here and was staying in Times Square on a high floor. Katie and I went up to their room and then glued ourselves to the windows looking out. They thought it was funny, "Don't you live here?" they asked. We should have answered, "No, we live underground in the subway tunnels, we live in a cube in the middle of a room, we live in the back apartment, we live in the booth in the back of the bar, we don't live HERE."

New York at street level is hard, a fight everyday, and often you catch yourself with your head down, trudging along. But from afar, up high in an airplane, New York is magic.

SWC Game of the Week: East Carolina at Rice

This week’s SWC Game of the week features the Rice Owls playing host to the East Carolina Pirates. This correspondent knows where South Carolina is located, and knows where North Carolina is located, but not sure about East Carolina. Anyway, this game’s focus will be the Rice Owls, winners of 4 in a row. This is the first time they have won 4 in a row in one season since 1999. They have improved their 2005 record by 4 games, with only SWC foe Arkansas improving their record by more games (5). This season they have won their first two road games as a member of Conference USA, over UCF and last week’s win over Tulsa, a preseason favorite in C-USA. Wide Receiver Jarrett Dillard has been named one of the 14 semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the best receiver in the country. The architect of this Rice Owl explosion, first year head coach Todd Graham. Todd Graham has the best first year turn around of any Rice coach since Jess Neely, back in the days when teams like Alabama had to have subs jump off their bench to tackle streaking Rice ball carriers. Graham comes to Rice from Tulsa, where he coached under Steve Kragthrope and they turned a 1-10 program around to C-USA champions in year 4. This game will be played at Rice Stadium on the Rice campus in Houston. Now, for this writer, no stadium is better than Rice Stadium. Built for the 1950 season to house the large crowds the SWC champion Rice Owls were drawing, it has hosted many memorable events, including Super Bowl VIII. This year Rice Stadium underwent a 6 million dollar renovation, replacing the athletic surface with field turf, installing new bleachers and a new scoreboard. If you have never been to a game at Rice Stadium, you don’t know what you are missing. It is a true masterpiece. The end zone seats have been covered this year to reduce capacity to 47,000, but they can regain the original 70,000 seats.

Other games this week:

Arkansas at Mississippi State

Baylor vs. Oklahoma

Houston at Memphis (To clinch hosting C-USA championship)

SMU vs. Tulsa

TCU vs. San Diego State

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State

Last week’s game:

U of H came back to beat SMU 37-27 and take one step closer to hosting the C-USA Championship game.

Other games:
Arkansas 31 Tennessee 14

OSU 66 Baylor 24

Houston 37 SMU 27

Rice 41 Tulsa 38

Kansas State 45 Texas 42 (UPSET ALERT)

Nebraska 28 Texas A&M 27 (Nov. woes continue)

TCU 27 New Mexico 21

Oklahoma 34 Texas Tech 24

SWC Game of the Week: Houston at SMU

This week’s SWC Game of the Week is the Houston Cougars traveling to the Hilltop in Dallas to take on the Southern Methodist Mustangs. SMU is one win away from becoming bowl eligible. It would be the first bowl game for the Mustangs since 1984. The road gets tough for SMU starting with this game against Houston, followed by Tulsa and a visit to Rice. Houston on the other hand is setting its self up nicely to host the Conference USA Championship Game. The trip to SMU appears to be the last hurdle, as they finish the season on the road against last place Memphis. U of H is bowl eligible for the 3^rd time in 4 years, the first time that has happened since 1978-1981. If the Coogs win this one, it will be their 8^th victory, the first time that has happened since 1990. Think, the Coogs are winning all these games without splicing porno clips into the game film. The U oh H QB, Kevin Kolb, has been nominated as a finalist for the O’Brien National QB Award. (Of course we all know that Davy O’Brien played QB at TCU (Dallas Woodrow Wilson High School Grad) in the Southwest Conference. Ahh, the glory days. He won the national championship at TCU in 1938 but he might not be the best QB in Horn Frog history. Some could argue those honors should be saved for one Slingin’ Sammy Baugh.) This should be a good match of old SWC foes, and has championship implications.

Other notable games this week:

Arkansas vs. Tennessee

Rice at Tulsa

Texas at K-State (Could wrap up Big 12 South Title)

Texas A&M vs. Nebraska (Fran: Touchdowns = 7 points, Field Goals = 3 points)

TCU at New Mexico

Texas Tech at OU

Last week’s Game of the Week:

Oklahoma defeated Texas A&M before a rowdy crowd at Kyle Field 17-16. OU jumped out to an early 14-3 lead in the first quarter, but would only score a field goal the rest of the way off an A&M turnover. The Aggies tried to catch up in 3’s. After a failed 3^rd and goal pass from the 2, A&M settled for a field goal with 7 minutes to go to cut the lead to 17-13. With 3 minutes to go, A&M again elected to kick a field goal. They would never get the ball back, with OU converting a 4^th and inches on the 29 yard line and sealing the win. After the game the media informed Fran that field goals are worth 3 points, not 4, and touchdowns are worth 6 points with a chance for 1 or 2 more. He’s going to put that in the game plan for Nebraska.

Other scores;

Arkansas 26 S. Carolina 20 (Look out for the Hogs…, how great would an Arkansas vs. Texas game be this year?)

Texas Tech 55 Baylor 21 (Baylor is missing starting QB Bell.)

Houston 27 Tulsa 10

Rice 37 UTEP 31 (Rice has won 3 in a row!)

Texas 36 OSU 10

TCU 25 UNLV 10

One final note:

After Saturday, if you are an Aggie and happen to be married to a longhorn, then you have permission to make fun of the longhorns until THE GAME. This is in the pre-nup, so no back talk.

Texans

The last 6 months I've had the pleasure of sitting next to our exchange engineer from Denmark at work. She worked on our project, and we became friends. (A friend at work I've needed lately.) Anyway, she had to write a report as she is going back to her Denmark firm. In her report she put the following, "I've learned that Texans are Texans before they are Americans." I felt so proud, I did my job!

Overheard on Subway

Little Kid to Dad: What is your job?

Dad: I'm a lawyer.

Little Kid: Gibberish, something like what do you do...

Dad: I'm a partner, I'm a head lawyer.

Little Kid: Why is your head so big?

Little kids sometimes are more aware of things than their parents.

What do you want to be when you grow up.

O.K. thanks for b-day wishes, and part II of turning 30, career. When I was little I really thought I'd be a professional baseball player. I think I knew the odds were slim, but I'd overcome them. Then when that dream kinda ended (I still may be discovered on the Central Park softball fields) I wanted to be an architect. Then I figured I was too good at math, so I chose civil engineering.

Now, back track a bit. I loved Legos growing up and built stadiums out of them. Now I'm a structural engineering working on a baseball stadium. Not bad, huh? But what do I want to be when I grow up?

I like my job o.k. but not the industry, which tends to over work people until they jump off a building. But at 30, and after working for a few years, I feel like I know what I want out of a job more than ever, so I feel good about it. I want to be challenged at work. I want to do meanful work. I'm proud of civil engineering and feel like in a certain way we serve the public. I like to say civil engineers have added more years to your life than doctors have. I don't want to just push money around. It'd pay better, but I don't think I'd have as high of a satisfaction. I'm not putting anyone down, just telling you how I feel. I also want to go home at 5:30 or 6:00 and have the weekends off. I think I'm a motivated and hard worker, but there is a long list of things I like to do outside of work. I enjoy my softball leagues, I like to have time to read books, I like to jog, I like to go to events (performances, sports, etc.), I enjoy teaching Sunday School at Church, and I like to spend time with my wife and soon to be baby. I think this makes me better at my job as well.

So, at 30 I feel like I know what I want out of a career more than I did when I started. And I'm looking for it, and have some nice leads.

Coming up...

Family, Where to Live, Friends ...

SWC Game of the Week; OU at Texas A&M

This week’s game of the week is the OU Sooners traveling down to College Station to play the Texas A&M Aggies on prime time ABC. Kickoff will be at 7 PM Eastern, or 8 PM for the East Coast Media outlets, like this one. OU is ranked #18 but is without their star running back, Adrian Peterson. Not to mention they are playing without projected starting QB Rhett Bomar who cheated this summer so they didn’t let him play. But the Sooners only lost is to the Texas Longhorns, who have not had the privilege of beating A&M yet. A&M, ranked 21^st, is a bit of a surprise this year at 8-1, only losing to Texas Tech at the last minute. The Aggies seem to be hanging on by the “skin of their teeth” but come up winners each week. They will be tested this November though, as the schedule gets a big tougher with OU, Nebraska at home, then the annual showdown with texas in Austin. Now, are the Aggies all hat and no cattle, or are they ready to play with the big boys? This game will go a long way to determining that. OU’s defense is coming together and will be the test for QB Steven McGee who has led A&M on several drives late to win games.

Bit of series information, OU leads all time14-10 with the first meeting in 1908. OU was a charter member of the SWC before leaving a few years later. OU has won the last 3 games, but the A&M victory was over a #1 ranked OU squad at Kyle Field. Of course that got a man fired. OU then won the next game 77-0, and it was worse than the score indicated.

Other games this week:

Arkansas at South Carolina

Baylor at Texas Tech (Old SWC foes)

Houston vs. Tulsa (Cue Coog fans, go to a game.)

Rice at UTEP

Texas vs. OK State

TCU at UNLV (see editorial comment about TCU below.)

SMU has a bye after playing on Tuesday, Tuesday?

Last week’s game of week:

A&M defeated Baylor 31-21 and won the Battle of the Brazos for another year. A late 65 yard TD run by Michael Goodson sealed the win for the Aggies.

Texas beat Texas Tech 35-31 at Jones Stadium in Lubboch. Tech lead most of the game. QB Colt McCoy had another solid game and Texas won a game that good teams do.

Other games last week:

Arkansas 44 La Monroe 10

Houston 51 UCF 31 (Where are the Cougar fans? Not at the games.)

SMU 22 UAB 9 (on Halloween, on ESPN2, with the worse commentating ever.)

TCU 26 Wyoming 3

Who else thinks TCU isolated themselves from the rest of the state by joining the Mountain West? 4 of the Texas teams are in the Big 12, the other 3 in CUSA, then TCU. They play no in state rivals for conference play. Not smart in this writer’s opinion.

Lyrics

One of my favorite songs is Guy Clark's Dublin Blues. I like this line, "I'd loved you from the git go, and I'll love you when I die. I loved you on the Spainish Steps the day you said goodbye."

I think that's how Katie and I are, I loved her from the git go, and I'll love her when I die. She did not however say goodbye to me last fall when we were on the Spainish Steps in Rome.

I like the first line too, "I wish I was in Austin, In the Chili Parlour Bar, Drinkin' Mad Dog Margaritas, And not carin' where you are." That's what I want to say to my boss some days.

You know, I turn 30 on Monday. So I thought I should blog on turning 30. This is the first installment. Number one in my life is my love, Katielady. And I loved her from the git go.

Golden Arches

So, there is a new McDonald's in my neighborhood. Now, our neighborhood is rich yuppies with kids in the Upper West Side, so politically they hate big stories like McDonald's and Walmart. After all, those are for the ignorant bunch in "middle America." But, one blog east is a lower income neighborhood, including public housing. These folks eat at McDonald's.

So, today, they had the clown, Ronald, out there talking to the kids. It must have been a nightmare for the yuppie parents with their kids.

Now, we don't eat at McDonald's. It is more because we really don't eat fast food unless we are on a road trip, then you don't really have choices. And we watched "Super Size Me," so now we don't want eat there for health reasons. But, if they want to put a McDonald's on your street, I don't see how it is worth getting upset about. Just don't eat there. And if it's 11 PM and you want tasty fries, you have that option.

Another thing about this that is interesting is to me it relates the growing trend in Manhattan of the dreaded chains moving in. It is ironic, that normal people can't hardly afford to live here, and those that are rich don't like chains, but chains are the only ones that can afford to put a store in. So, Manhattan is turning into a big outdoor mall.

SWC Game of the Week: Texas vs. Texas Tech: A&M vs. Baylor

This week we have a double header featuring the Texas Longhorns traveling to West Texas to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Battle of the Brazos as the Texas Aggies go to Waco to play the Baylor Bears.

First Texas vs. Texas Tech. Texas leads the all time series 40-14 with 3 wins in a row. They first played in 1928 and played 9 times before Texas Tech joined the SWC in 1960. Texas is coming off a big win in Nebraska, but has questions in the secondary. Those questions will be tested against Texas Tech and their circus offense. Texas Tech is not very good this year, remember, I keep saying that. But, never underestimate the power of a drunken rowdy crowd for this night game. Texas is lead by red-shirt freshman Colt McCoy, who proves you don’t have to be outstanding to play QB, just don’t make mistakes.

The Aggies and the Bears will meet for the 103^rd time, the 2^nd longest rivalry in Baylor history. A&M leads the series 63-30-9, but the last two games have gone to overtime, with each side taking home a victory. The first game was in 1899 (WHOOP!), and A&M won 33-0. Now, there was a time when certain folks were in school that a game against Baylor was a time to get out of the big city of BCS, go to the Dr. Pepper Museum, eat at Health Camp, enjoy the Baylor girls (“if you can’t get a wife at Baylor, you can’t get a wife”) and watch a football game. No more, these Bears are getting better under Guy Morris and A&M won last week on two missed extra points to a team that U of H destroyed. Of course I think I remember Baylor being ranked when A&M played them in 1995. Anyway, Baylor is not the doormat of the league anymore and A&M isn’t the power it used to be. Should be a good game.

Other notable games:

Arkansas vs. La Monroe

Houston vs. UCF (18,000 at the last UH home game, come on Houston)

SMU vs. UAB on ESPN on Halloween. Go Ponies!

TCU vs. Wyoming

Rice has a bye, but no “I think they can win this one” jokes, they are on a 2 game win streak

Last Week:

Arkansas 38 Ole Miss 3

Baylor 36 Kansas 35

Houston 34 UTEP 17

Rice 40 UCF 29

East Carolina 38 SMU 21

Texas 22 Nebraska 20

Texas A&M 34 OK State 33

TCU 31 Army 17

Texas Tech 42 Iowa State 27

College Football Fans

This is from Richard Justice's Blog on the Houston Chronicle web site. I couldn't agree more. As I've stepped back now these past few years. What I like to say is how many millions are spent on stadiums, locker rooms, whatever they think of next so I can brag at work on Monday morning that my college team beat your college team.

Don't tell anyone this, but I love poking college football fans. They take themselves so seriously. I just don't get this dressing up in the school colors and going to a college football game 30 years after leaving school. I don't get the whole "Longhorn Bob" and "Cougar Scott" thing. As Russ Springer said last year when Chris Burke was cheering loudly for the University of Tennessee, "Cut the cord.'' I love the University of Texas more than you can imagine. I love Garrison Hall and, uh, Scholz Garten. But writing about the football team is my job. I like to see them do well. I think it would be kind of sick to root for someone to fail. I root for Stoops and Fran and Mike Leach, too. I also occasionally take a few shots because when you criticize a college team, people act as if you've offended a member of the family. It's actually pretty funny if you stop and think how ridiculous it all is. And here's the thing: you're all alike. You'll never admit this, but all of you are alike. Tech fans curse a little more. UH fans have more of a chip on their shoulders. Texas fans are a little more arrogant. Aggie fans are a little more goofy. Before you write in and tell me, I acknowledge that University of Texas fans dress nicer and are better educated (Editor's note: this is a shot at UT; in some of the early posts, many of you have taken it as praise). So cool it. But at the end of the day, there are far more similarities than differences. They all run around screaming like this stuff is important and getting all worked up when they think they've been offended. It's fun.

Now, I like to go to the games, but I think we all need some perspective.

Baby

I felt the baby kick last night. It was cool.

Baseball live blogging:
Do you see how much gum that Detroit player on the bench has in his mouth? Must be like 8 pieces.

Is that a #11 bar Frank Thomas is swinging in the on deck circle?

That's all, going to bed while I can still fall asleep listening to the rain against the windows. Quite a day in NY, what with a plane crashing into a building and it turning out to be the Yankees, again dominating the news despite the fact the Mets are in the NLCS. And the Mets got rained out. I'd feel sorry for them, but the Mets are evil.

What age are you too old to dress up for Halloween? I say 12.