Tie-Break Tweak Needed Before Playoff

The Texas Longhorns beat Oklahoma and Missouri in Big 12 play, yet the 'Horns will not participate in the Big 12 title game because of a conference tie-break system that values BCS numbers over on-the-field performance. Ironically, Oklahoma and Missouri will play for the Big 12 title instead.

Granted, Oklahoma had the same record as Texas, but Texas outclassed Oklahoma head to head by 10 points. When two conference football rivals end up with identical records, the team that wins by 10 points on the field should advance to the conference championship game. It is that simple. I cannot believe that Texas will suffer such an indignity, watching two teams it beat compete for the Big 12 title.

It is the Big 12's fault, too. That conference needs a tie-break system that puts head-to-head results ahead of BCS computer figures. Folks lavish praise on the BCS numbers, saying they have no bias. Yes. That is true. There is no bias involved when comparing BCS numbers. But there is no bias in selecting teams that win on the field over other deserving teams either. Where is the bias in selecting teams that do better in head-to-head competition?

If we had a college football playoff, would the playoff organizers organize things so that winners on the field lose there, too? It makes one wonder. Putting BCS numbers ahead of head-to-head competition defies sound logic. College football fans want results that make better sense. Let's begin by using tie-break scenarios that make sense. The priorities here are way out of wack. BCS numbers are fine, but they shouldn't outweigh accomplishments on the football field. Texas got slighted big time.

Metallic Purple Air Jordans

This is the kind of stuff I love, original Air Jordans with a metallic purple Swoosh. Check out the link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/AIR-JORDAN-I-OG-1985-METALLIC-PURPLE-DS-9-TAG-VINTAGE_W0QQitemZ190270233244QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Men_s_Shoes?hash=item190270233244&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Sometimes I search eBay for vintage Nikes. This is what I found today. The seller will accept $5,500 or the best offer. My first pair of Air Jordans were similar to these in the auction. They were white with a metallic blue Swoosh. Nothing wrong with metallic blue.

Nike needs to revisit stuff like this. This is the basics. I would buy a shoe like the one in the auction if Nike manufactured it correctly. That means no Jumpmen on the heel counters.

Lose the gaudy Air Jordan XI retros with the black patent leather. Definitely stop reissuing the XV. No one cares save for people without any common sense, fashion sense or self-awareness. The Air Jordan XV might be the most atrocious shoe in history. White Js with metallic accents equal sublimity.

Vulcan, Alberta, Canada

I love reading CNN.com. The site provides readers with so much interesting information. Today there is a story about Vulcan, Alberta, Canada. They like Star Trek in Vulcan. Check out the Wikipedia link below to read about Vulcan, Alberta and the city's Trek-themed tourist attractions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan,_Alberta

Here is city's official website. http://www.town.vulcan.ab.ca/

Here is the CNN.com iReport. http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-154795

I love Vulcan's U.S.S. Enterprise replica and the fact that Vulcan has elk. Arkansas doesn't have elk or moose or bison like O Canada.

LeBron James' Gaffe

This week Charles Barkley made remarks about LeBron James and the young All-Star's propensity to talk about his free-agency plans with the media. James doesn't become a free agent until two years from now. Rumors have him going to several teams, including the New York Knicks.

Barkley was on Dan Patrick's ESPN radio show Wednesday when he said, "If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up. I'm a big LeBron fan. He's a stud. You gotta give him his props. I'm getting so annoyed he's talking about what he's going to do in two years. I think it's disrespectful to the game. I think it's disrespectful to the Cavaliers."

James responded Friday before a game against Golden State. "He's stupid," James said. "That's all I've got to say about that."

Stupid? James called Charles Barkley stupid? Charles Barkley? That's amazing. Doesn't that kind of remark sum James up?

This summer, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates sat courtside to watch the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team. They were guests of LeBron James. I couldn't figure out why these two brilliant men would give a guy like James the time of day. I still can't figure it out. They're Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. They don't need to socialize with LeBron James. They don't need him, particularly when James calls a rather intelligent basketball legend stupid when that rather intelligent basketball legend is right.

Marbury Docked Six Figures

Knicks Guard Suspended, Too

Stephan Marbury was suspended one game and had nearly $400,000 worth of pay docked because he allegedly refused to play in a game. The New York Knicks were playing with a short roster. The Knicks organization claims coach Mike D'Antoni asked Marbury to play and Marbury refused. Marbury's contract pays him about $21 million this season minus the money docked.

What a great way to spend about $21 million. Marbury has proven to be a great investment of time and resources for the New York Knicks. He is such a great investment that he will probably never play in the NBA again after this season.

The Mike Huckabee Book Tour

You never know what you might see or who you might run into when you go out for a little coffee. Former Arkansas governor and recent presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was at the Little Rock Barnes & Noble Wednesday night to promote and sign his latest book Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America. A line of Huckabee fans gathered for the book signing and a chance for face time with Huckabee himself.


This last photograph shows Huckabee's tour bus. The bus was parked in the Barnes & Noble parking lot. Huckabee's Little Rock stop is part of a 56-city book tour. Huckabee also published Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork : A 12-Stop Program to End Bad Habits and Begin a Healthy Lifestyle.

Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple MacBooks on Sale

Apple slashed prices on its MacBooks. A white MacBook listed for $999 in the Apple Store is now $899.99 at Best Buy. Other retailers have slashed their price on the same model by around $100.

This means only one thing. Apple is getting ready for Black Friday.

No, no, no. That is not what it means. It means new and improved MacBooks are on the horizon. Don't do MacBooks for Christmas unless you really need an Apple laptop. As soon as you get the one for sale now, Apple will release another for the same price or less, and you will feel the same way I felt when I bought my iPod Nano only to see a new wave of Nanos on the market three weeks later. They cost the same as what I had bought, but they had an extra gigabyte of memory.

I also made the same lamebrained mistake with my iPhone, and I knew better. I didn't care though. I lost my other phone and I wanted another one stat. I couldn't wait. The next time I buy an Apple product I will vet like crazy. I will check Apple message boards and read all of the websites devoted to all things Apple. You should do the same.

Regardless however, in spite of the slow Safari browsing on my first-gen iPhone, in spite of the fact that the 3G network iPhones are night and day faster than what I have, I think it is kind of cool to own and use an original iPhone.

Three Press Conferences in Three Days

Is Barack Obama going to have a press conference every day of his presidency? He isn't even sworn in yet and he has already held three press conferences regarding his staff.

The White House Press Corps might have its work cut out for it starting in January. There might be a lot of turnover there.

Green Bay Struggling Without Favre

The New Orleans Saints beat the Green Bay Packers 51-29 on Monday Night Football. The Packers had the game tied at 21. The loss puts the team at 5-6. While not mathematically eliminated, the Packers likely will not return to the NFC Championship game or even the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Brett Favre and the New York Jets are 8-3 after dashing the Tennessee Titans' hopes of an undefeated season. By far the Titans have played like the best team in the AFC and have looked like the best team in the NFL. The loss dropped them to 10-1, which is the same record as the defending champion Giants. Who is the best team now? Hey, the best team might be the Jets if they can beat the Titans again in the playoffs. That is a big if.

Regardless of how the Jets do in the playoffs, they will be in the playoffs and the Packers will not. Getting rid of Favre is not looking so good now for Green Bay management. Those guys essentially imploded their chances of competing for a Super Bowl by doing that. Meanwhile, the Jets have an outside shot of winning it all. That is all one can ask of the Jets, a 4-12 franchise last season. I firmly believe the team's remarkable turnaround can be attributed to good old No. 4, Brett Favre. I firmly believe Green Bay management made a colossal mistake with their quarterback situation. They should have brought Favre back.

Quentin Tarantino's Next Flick

Tarantino's next motion picture project stars Brad Pitt. Yeah. I know. Great, huh? That's not all. It gets even better. The story is about a group of Jewish Americans who are dropped into Nazi-occupied France to do one thing, kill and scalp Nazis.

Are you kidding me? This movie will be another Tarantino masterpiece! Tarantino calls the project Inglorious Basterds. It is due next year.

Citigroup Gets Help

The federal government announced a $20 billion bailout plan to rescue Citigroup. The Treasury Department and the FDIC will also guarantee over $300 billion in Citigroup assets.

Man, I think I might lobby for a financial bailout. I could use one of those, too!

24 Takes 39

It took 39 minutes for Jack Bauer to go Jack Bauer. He's outnumbered, outgunned and still not dead! Go Jack!

24 Debuts

I feel the same way about 24 as I do about Heroes. I don't think I have the patience to keep up. The story arcs are too complicated to follow, too tedious to pay attention to from week to week. I think I will skip 24 and focus on sports instead. That means basketball and football!

Islamic Militants to Address Hijacking

This story is on CNN.com, too. Islamic militants have traveled to Somalia to retrieve the Saudi tanker that was hijacked off the Kenyan coast. The pirates who hijacked the tanker say they will defend the ship from attackers.

Oh, this will be fun.

You Know It's a Slow News Day When ...

You know it's a slow news day when you see a headline like this.



















This headline is from CNN.com.

Isn't it awesome? It is so great that Obama will "do what's necessary" to fix the economy. It is so great that Obama will do his job.

Yes. Fixing the economy is part of his job. He is supposed to fix the economy. By law, he has to provide a budget, too. (I mean, doesn't he? Don't answer. I know I'm right.) His budget, one would think, is supposed to address this financial crisis. One would also think that lawmakers will pass a few bills that outlaw all of the overleveraging that led to America's current financial mess. One would think.

Anyway, and I don't want to pick on the writers at CNN, but perhaps a better headline would have said something to the effect that Obama insiders insist that the Pres.-elect's financial plan will work. That should be CNN's headline.

Pizza as Pies

Pizzas really aren't pies. The word "pie" when used as a colloquialism meaning "pizza" doesn't float my boat. Pizzas are shaped like a pie, but there is no filling in a pizza. There is topping but no filling.

Pies. Like, really?

"Pizza pie" makes sense, because a pizza is shaped and cut like a pie, but just "pie?" That's too informal and confusing. A pizza is not just a pie, it's a pizza pie. "Pie," just "pie," suggests a lack of attention to detail. "Pie," just "pie," sounds sloppy and too irreverent.

Jimmy Connors Arrested

Police Take Tennis Great Into Custody at UC Santa Barbara Game

Eight-time Grand Slam winner Jimmy Connors was arrested by police following a confrontation outside the campus arena at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The arrest took place in the early stages of a basketball game between UC Santa Barbara and top-ranked North Carolina.

According to the Associated Press, Connors was arrested after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near an entrance following the confrontation.

Let me get this straight. Police arrested Jimmy Connors (Jimmy Connors!) because he refused to leave a certain area? Do they have a right to do such a thing? I am pretty sure they do not. Common sense is pretty sure, too.

The Associated Press reports that Connors lives in Santa Barbara and attends several UC Santa Barbara games each season. That makes one assume that Connors had tickets to the North Carolina game. If he did indeed have tickets, he has grounds for a lawsuit because he had every right to be where he was. Tickets solidify his position. Season tickets increases punitive damages.

Conners knew what his rights were. He knew those police officers couldn't make him leave. He refused to leave. He got arrested. Now go file the suit. Confrontation be danged. Connors was in a public area.

Texas Tech Scores 167 in Win

Can you say "beat down?"

The Texas Tech Red Raiders beat the East Central University Tigers in basketball 167-115. Texas Tech scored 90 points in the second half, and 10 players reached double figures.

The Associated Press story quoted East Central coach Terry Shannon like this: "Wow, that was fun, wasn't it? We came in with a couple of ideas. We want to play an up-tempo game. We want to force people to play our pace. We didn't have to force them. They went with us and boy they shot the ball well."

Wow?

That was fun?

What is so fun about losing a basketball game by 52 points? Coach, your team got destroyed.

I get his point of view. Up tempo games are fun, but still, they lost by 52! Whew that's ugly.

Oh, and they went in with "a couple of ideas." They must have gone in with the wrong ones because they gave up 167 points. Here are two ideas they needed and didn't use: defense and slowing the game down.

Paris Hilton Calls It Quits

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton ended her relationship with Benji Madden. Isn't his name supposed to be Joel? Oh yeah. Joel is the brother, the one with Nicole Richie. Whatever.

Barbara Walters

Walters Bashes O'Donnell, Tries Preserving Dignity ... and Fails.

Like Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Barbara Walters acts so annoying. Here is the deal. Apparently, Rosie O'Donnell opened her big mouth about Walters and The View.

While promoting her Rosie Live prime-time special on NBC, O'Donnell said, "[Walters] wanted everyone to believe and think and act as if [the women on The View] get along and are really good friends and happy and hang out together, and, you know, that's just not the reality. I'm not saying they loathe each other, but the fact of the matter is there was not a lot of camaraderie off camera."

Essentially, this sounds like the truth from O'Donnell. Her claim sounds quite plausible. All she said was that there wasn't a lot of camaraderie off camera between the co-hosts and that Walters wanted the public to think otherwise. It really isn't a big thing.

So O'Donnell said what she said. Then Walters responded. Here is the annoying part: Walters responded, but she tried to play coy with her opponent's name by withholding it. She was talking about O'Donnell and, to some extent, Star Jones. Here is Walters' remark. "There are some people who have done this show and then for years feel they have to dump on it, maybe for publicity, and that not only hurts me, but I resent it. So if the shoe fits, lady—ladies—get on with your lives."

Look, if you're going to accuse someone of dumping on your show for publicity's sake, then have the guts to say that person's name. There is no tip-toeing though the rose garden with the grace and poise of Doris Day when you're calling someone out as a publicity junkie. There is no well-mannered way to do it. Walters bashed O'Donnell, and Jones, by suggesting that they criticize others to generate publicity for themselves. If Walters wants to go that far with it, then she needs to say names. It is pretty outrageous of her to elect not to. Why does this woman insist on acting like a problem?

People's Sexiest Man Alive

People named Hugh Jackman as the Sexiest Man Alive for 2008.

Well that's People for you. An actor is the sexiest man alive? Really? What a surprise.

Aren't all of People's sexiest men actors?

Yes. They are aren't they.

Even John F. Kennedy Jr. was an actor. He did theater, and he wanted to pursue a Hollywood career, but his mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, thought acting wasn't a good enough profession for her son. As we all know, John Jr. pursued law instead and turned himself into a successful magazine publisher. Like the rest of People's Sexiest Men Alive, John F. Kennedy Jr. had acting in his blood.

Since everyone on People's list is an actor, it kind of makes me scoff. If you listen to People, only actors have a chance at being the sexiest man in the world. What a crock.

I wonder what securities broker, accountant, real estate agent, semi-professional athlete or whatever out there is sexier than Hugh Jackman. Odds are there has to be at least one person women would prefer. There are a lot of men in the world People doesn't know about. What People should do is name Hugh Jackman and all of these other guys "The Sexiest Actor Alive" because the list covers only actors. There has to be someone in the world who is not a public figure who does not live their life in front of a camera with just as much merit as a Hugh Jackman or a Richard Gere or a Ben Affleck. If People doesn't like "Sexiest Actor Alive" it could opt for "The Sexiest Man That We Know About" because, as mentioned, there are a lot of people in the world. Odds are ...

Maritime Pirates

Pirates have hijacked a Saudi oil tanker, according to a report on CNN.com. The report says the tanker was attacked more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya. The East African coast has seen 95 incidents involving pirates. Many of the stolen ships are taken to ports in Somalia, a wore-torn country ruled by lawless violence.

The pirate attacks make passage through the Suez Canal a dicey prospect. Warships from the U.S., the UK and Russia are patrolling the Indian Ocean, but that is not enough. Why aren't we doing more? Instead of wasting time in Iraq, we should be going after these pirates to put them out of the world's misery.

New-G iPhones, iPods

I will probably complain about iPhones and iPods the same way I complain about modern movies and modern athletic shoes. One day, I predict, Apple will mess up and put out a consumer electronics product with some useless, inane design detail in place of an old one that was better. And every Apple product in question will be sold with that same unavoidable detail. Consumers will have no say in the matter and no choice at all. They will be stuck with lame products that operate more efficiently but look like junk.

Compelling Nikes for November

The Blogadier General Lists Five Compelling Nikes for the Month of November.

Basketball season is here, so Hyperdunks reign supreme. Honorable mentions go out to the Jordan III from the Jordan Collezione III/XX Countdown package and the Air Jordan II from the Jordan Collezione II/XXI Countdown package. The current makeups of the original Air Jordan fail to make this blog's list because Jordan Brand insists on adding a Jumpman logo to the heel counters, and the tongue tags are historically inaccurate and all wrong.

Nike currently offers a black canvas Air Jordan high top with a strap. The strap is a new and unusual addition to this historic shoe. As a purist, I should not like the strap. For some reason though, I find it to be a palatable and interesting addition, something different. Jumpmen and weird tongue tags do not agree with me at all.

Nike and Jordan Brand almost nailed this canvas Air Jordan, but they missed the branding on the strap. Since the shoe is a canvas Air Jordan, Nike should have revisited the AJKO branding that was used on the original canvas Air Jordans. An AJKO label would have enhanced this new shoe's authenticity and, hence, the shoe's value, making it more desirable. Nike and Jordan Brand miscalculated in a major way. This missed detail is tantamount to a mispelling on the top headline of a big-circulation daily newspaper. It is that big of a gaffe. The same error in judgement was committed on the shoe itself. All this does is create credibility problems for Nike management and the folks who manage Nike's branding.

This month's list contains the same models as October. The order has been rearranged in part because of the weather and the time of year, basketball season. Hyperdunks are the hottest general release athletic shoe on the market, and they hold the most relevance with the NBA season in full swing and college teams popping up on television.

The Air Pegasus celebrates its 25th anniversary. Nike has released new color schemes for the shoe and even a special edition 25th anniversary redesign with a Considered upper that resembles the original Air Pegasus from 1983. The Air Pegasus + 25 SE has the same sole as the standard Air Pegasus + 25 model.

Nike's third-generation Air Zoom Vomero makes the list because it fits the publisher's foot better than anything else on the market, save for the Air Zoom Vomero + 2.

The Jordan Ol' Skool II is a favorite on this blog because the design is rather clean and clever. It is too bad that the white, black and red version has to be defiled with vile white patent leather. How can you beat a shoe to death when it has prissy, glossy white patent leather that demands such respect and clean living? To top it off, the patent leather has glitter in the finish. Is this shoe meant for hard core ballers or eight-year-old girls in cute pink sweat suits and Cindy Brady pigtails? The leather looks great, but the Jordan Ol' Skool II is the wrong place to use it. Leave it up to Nike to do too much with a shoe when good old full grain leather would suffice.

The Lunar Trainer falls to fifth place on this list because it has a mesh upper and it is November. Mesh in November equals cold feet. This is why I chose to replace my second-generation Vomeros with third-generation Vomeros. I wanted the try the Lunar Trainer, but I am not putting up with mesh in the winter. It is not functional right now, and the Vomero has Zoom Air, which is still the best cushioning on the planet, beating Lunar Foam by miles.

Here are the rankings this month. All of these are men's sneakers.

1. Hyperdunks
2. Air Pegasus + 25
3. Air Zoom Vomero + 3
4. Jordan Ol' Skool II, black/varsity red/white in particular
5. Lunar Trainer (The publisher prefers the white version.)

The New James Bond

I haven't even seen Casino Royale yet. Octopussy was the first Bond movie I saw at a theater. Actually, I saw it at a drive in theater if you can believe that. It was the only time I had ever gone to one of those. After Octopussy I used to always catch the new Bond movie in the theaters.

Alas, I managed to miss Casino Royale. It's probably not very good anyway. It doesn't sound very good. Great title, but bad interpretation of the James Bond character, and the entire franchise for that matter. I still don't buy Judith Dench as M. A female M is a little ridiculous. The M character is supposed to be a man, not a woman. Dench's M is condescending and mean while previous Ms were condescending and worried. A worried and male M is much more appeasing than a mean and female M.

After watching Die Another Day, I figured these new Bond adventures could only get worse and worse. I think, still, I may be right. Ice castles and graphic violence just do not mesh with the James Bond franchise. These modern Bond projects do no justice to the character, the established style of James Bond filmmaking or the actors that played Bond in the past. These new movies should pay homage to previous ones. They should emulate for the sake of authenticity. They clearly do not. Unfortunately, the current Bond filmmakers apparently feel that they can't make anything that lives up to what's been done before, so they've gone off on their own ultra-violent, fast-paced, low brow tangent, creating a complete and total mess that will certainly annoy me.

And I am aware of a story arc for the Daniel Craig version of Bond in which the British government would like to see Bond dead. This is an absolutely inexcusible idea. It was insulting enough to have to sit through Die Another Day as the Pierce Brosnan Bond was captured and beaten. And to top that all off, the Brosnan Bond didn't even escape. He was set free by way of negotiation. This is absoulutely stupid and absurd, unconscionable, would never happen. James Bond isn't the kind of character that gets captured, beaten bloody and set free through a hostage trade. He effects escape on his own, bests his opponents and saves the girl. That is how the Bond story works.

Now the British government wouldn't mind if Bond were dead. Nice. This too is absoulutely stupid and absurd, unconscionable, would never happen.

Oh, and I also understand that Quantum of Solace is a sequel to Casino Royale. That means I have to see Casino Royale before I watch Quantum of Solace. I have been told that I will not know what is going on in Quantum of Solace if I skip Casino Royale. This urks me. I want to just run to the theater on my day off and watch Quantum of Solace. I can't do that. I have to rent and watch Casino Royale first. To top things off, I know there will be major style changes in both movies that will not agree with me.

I feel fortunate that a complete catalog of Sean Connery and Roger Moore Bond films exist for my enjoyment. If I feel annoyed enough by the the new Bond films, I can always resort to the archives and enjoy Bond the way Bond is supposed to be.

One last note: Anyone who thinks Daniel Craig is the best Bond ever is likely too young and dumb to know what they are talking about. Craig is third best at best. He will never be better than Connery or Moore. That is not opinion. That is established fact.

The Detroit Pistons and Allen Iverson

Wow. This season's Detroit Piston squad is so athletic. Joe Dumars is cooking up a new and unusual dish. He won with teamwork and execution. Now he is trying to win with athleticism and execution. Adding Allen Iverson helps immensely.

Iverson's presence makes the Pistons more interesting to watch. He lends a harried immediacy to Detroit's offense. Plus he seems to mesh well with the rest of the team. That is nice to see after the Denver experiment. Iverson and Carmello Anthony seemed like an interesting combination, but those two never meshed well. Denver's team chemistry always seemed awkward with Iverson in the mix. Maybe the Nuggets could have flourished if Iverson and Anthony had been surrounded by above-average defenders and a stronger center.

The Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins have a 6-4 record. That is a far cry from the 1-15 record the team recorded in 2007. The franchise has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, going undefeated in 1972 and nearly winless last season. I hope the modern Dolphins are remembered not for winning one game, but for how they responded this season. What a turnaround they have made.

Floor Tile and Wood

I took these photographs at Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock during my recent visit to Banana, just Banana. The first four shots depict floor tile. The fifth is a flight of stairs. I wish I had a light ... and a tripod ... and a real camera. I took these on my first-gen iPhone. Iphones are hard to shoot with. The job takes a steady hand, which I don't exactly have.






The penultimate photograph shows a bench. The last one shows the wood grain finish on a support column. That one might be blurry. I can't tell.

Just Banana

Once upon a time, a coworker of mine referred to Banana Republic as "Banana," just Banana. I picked up on what she was talking about, but I had never heard anyone refer to Banana Republic as Banana only.























Now when I search Google to get to bananarepublic.com, I wish I could just type "banana" and pull up the site. That would be so cool.

Did I Mean Blogadeur?

No. Oh no. I'm pretty sure I meant Blogadier.

"Free Cre-dit Report Dot Com"

Say this in your electronic voice, like in the one where they're working the pool party. I love that one!

A Catalyst for Absurdity

Perhaps the images below will reveal the inspiration for the slogan that appears in this blog's header box underneath the title. No, the idea didn't come from a Wheaties box.

These tags are from vintage Nike running shoes. I blogged about them a few posts back. The tags serve as a reminder of the good old days when Nikes were made here in the United States and also in Japan. Today's Nikes are made in China and Vietnam, much to the disdain of human rights activists.


For some reason, I like to write some absurd saying in the header box. It amuses me. None of them should ever be treated seriously or factually correct. Obviously, none of them really ever are. An argument could be made that I have watched David Letterman way too much.

Oh Stop It With Palin

Stop. Stop. Stop it. Stop throwing Sarah Palin under the bus over the election. I love it how everyone is pointing the finger at her like she was the problem. The problem for Republicans was a majority of Americans preferred Barack Obama over John McCain. That is why the GOP lost. Anyone short of Jesus Christ reincarnated would have lost against Obama. Well, I think Pope John Paul II could have beat him even if he was the leader of the Catholic Church, which a lot of folks might not like, but he's deceased, too, and not likely to return.

This loss by the GOP can't be blamed on Palin. It shouldn't be anyway. She tried her best. Is it her fault her party didn't prepare her for Katie Couric? No, that's not her fault. That's the party's fault. You would think that the McCain campaign would have help from the most brilliant minds of the party. What was Karl Rove doing during all of this? Isn't he supposed to be a genius? Where was he? He sure didn't get his party in the oval office again.

Honestly though, the GOP's biggest problem was the cyclical nature of politics. The pendulum of momentum swayed left after swinging right for two straight elections. That's what happened. No one can control that. Too many voters wanted the exact opposite of what they had, so they voted for Obama, a black, bi-racial liberal with better diction and brighter promise as a leader.

Old Nikes Make Great Collectibles

Antiques are cool. Many adults have their own personal niche interest when it comes to vintage pieces.

Some like to collect quilts or rugs. Others have a passion for dolls, craftsman furniture, cars or pottery. I like Mason jars and vintage Nikes among other things. Vintage Nikes fascinate me to no end. The older the better imo, and they can be in the most ratty condition. It really does not matter to me. Vintage Nikes make for some cool antiques even if they are a quaint 30 years old or so.

Like coins, stamps and comic books and most everything else old and coveted, vintage sneakers hold value with respect to condition. The better their condition, the more they are worth.

Today, I found a vintage pair of Nike LD 1000 running shoes on eBay as seen below. I love the thin shape of the Swoosh logo. Modern Nikes are issued with Swooshes I find a little too thick for my taste. Anyway, the shade of orange and the thin material make the Swoosh on the original LD 1000 stand out nicely, boldly. That was the Swoosh's point back then right? To stand out and exude boldness? Swooshes meant more then than they do now, and that's a shame. The world is so familiar with this iconic logo, so over-saturated with it that the novelty has plain worn off. It wore off a long time ago.

I once bought a pair of vintage canvas Nike court shoes that were popular around 1980. I found them on eBay. They were very much like a pair I wore to school when I was much younger. I do not have the pair from school anymore, but I still own the pair from eBay. They appear in the photo below.

This pair has a rubber toe cap, vulcanized herringbone sole and a light blue Swoosh. If I am not mistaken, John McEnroe competed in this model against Borg at Wimbledon. At the time, I thought the shoes were revolutionary because they had a built-in arch insert. The insert was made of foam. No other shoe manufacturer had such in their products. Early on, I could tell that Nike was an innovator instead of a follower. It is no surprise that Nike rose to the market leader status it holds today.

Do Not Name Your Child After 44

Folks are naming their newborns after Pres.-elect Barack Obama. Please do not do this, for it is absurd, and we are talking about your child's name. Take it seriously.

Trends and "the thrill of the moment" should not factor into the naming of your child. His or her name will last long after Obama's four to eight years. Trends should never ever affect how parents name a child. Show some respect for the child. Treat this matter seriously and earnestly.

Obama Projected as Winner

It looks like Sen. Barack Obama will be the 44th American president.

Hillary Clinton is owed apologies for this result.

Historic Election ... Really?

Election 2008 is under way right now. John McCain is losing to Barack Obama 174-69 in the electoral vote tally, according to CNN. Two hundred seventy electoral votes are required to win.

Pundits keep calling this election historic.

You wanna' know something? It's a presidential election. All presidential elections are historic. It's like kind of their nature. It's not like historians don't bother to keep records on who wins and loses these things. It's not like they keep records of the big ones and skip less-important ones. They're all important. The word "historic" sounds rather annoying tonight.

Election Day

Election Day 2008 is here. This is the last day to vote for president!

Daylight Savings Time Begins

Today is the first day for Daylight Savings Time, which I like to refer to as Daylight Wasting Time. How are we saving time here? What are we saving it for? Let's use it lest we lose it!