Saturdays and Sundays are gonna suck for a while

I am going to find solace in the fact that "Montlake" Jake Locker will be in Seattle for two more years and Mike Holmgren is retiring... but still it is going to really suck getting thru this football season. I won't even address October--when basketball starts and I have to start being a fan of a new team.

Hurricane Ike hit Texas and pretty hard it sounds like. There aren't official damage numbers or death tolls, but I am sure there will be a significant amout of damage and a far higher number of deaths than should be. For whatever reason some people did not heed the warnings and decided they would just chill. Yesterday, I saw footage on CNN of some guys walking with their dog right up where the water was surging over barriers... bleepin' stupid.

Gas prices rose dramatically, as there are a great deal of the country's oil refineries are located in Texas. Gas has risen 6 cents nationally, I think about 20 cents in Kentucky and certain areas in Texas don't have gas at all. I wouldn't be surprised if gas stays a few cents higher after all of this is resolved. That's what they do.

I would say this is further proof that we need to find something else to do besides drill for oil and build pipelines. The fact that we are having exponential increases in price of gas because of a seasonal natural disaster is even more proof. A pipeline from Alaska and offshore drilling aren't solving this problem either. You cant completely get rid of oil dependency, but you can definitely become less dependent.

For those who are not as cynical as I am, here's a little story about the U.S. Interior Department in relation to oil companies.
It is pretty lengthy, but definitely worth the read. We have so many problems in this country that need exposure... this is a really big step.

Since I took the semester off in Fall '05 I have been more up on what goes on in national news. From that point I have heard quarter after quarter of record profits by the oil companies as prices rose and rose. This article alleges that there were improper benefits, not collecting federal royalties, drug usage, sexual impropriety, and many other ethical practices and actions. This is just plain sickening considering the American people are feeling the brunt of said decisions... and those making the decisions and enforcing rules can't keep their pants on, their noses clean or their minds right.

Back to sports, I didn't think Ty Willingham was on the hot seat going into the season, but considering the field goal attempt before the half with 1 second on the clock, I think he just put himself in that seat. You're down 34 and you need to score points, you gotta go for the TD. The kicker missed the field goal, so it's easy to criticize the decision, but if you're down at that point, you go big or go home.

I feel really bad for this Husky team because the schedule has been tough, facing three top 25 teams in the first three games of the year. Not only that, but the team isn't getting any breaks going back to last year. I keep waiting for them to turn the corner and get back to that prominence that I grew up accustomed to, but it just isn't working. Last year they lost a lot of close games to a lot of good teams and many fans figured this year things would yield a few more wins, but it hasn't worked out that way.

It will go a long way when they get their act together and gain that confidence and swagger that you see from winning teams, but until then Jake Locker & Co. are really struggling with being a young, inexperienced, not good team. Jake Locker is capable of turning in a Herculean effort that will inspire his team to glory and I feel that effort coming very soon. The team WILL be galvanized by these experiences, mark my words!

I still have hope for the Huskies, like I do the country which is in the midst of being dealt a lot of bad breaks, especially politically. If more of the injustices and misdealings are exposed the United States can turn it around. Go Huskies! And Go USA! After November 4th you'll get your leader that will deliver the Herculean effort.

Salute

A Disappointed Seattle/Washington Fan

Right now is not at all a good time to be a sports fan in the state of Washington. I don't know where to start... so I will start with what I saw less than half an hour ago.

The University of Washington Huskies was a powerhouse in the Pac-10 as I grew up and a couple of years while I have been in Kentucky. Recently that has not been the case, but currently UW is lead by Tim Tebowesque quarterback named Jack Locker. The problem is the rest of the team is no where near as talented as Florida, and consequently, Locker has not had the ability to develop as much as Tebow. Well, just a little while ago UW drove down the field against #15 BYU and scored with 2 seconds left. Jake Locker being the man that he is, made a gutsy play to run into the end zone, bringing the game within an extra point of being tied. After scoring the TD locker threw the ball behind his head and celebrated with his team... 15 yard penalty, PAT blocked. Game over.

I am not necessarily mad that BYU won because it was a good game from the jump. I just have a problem with the referees taking the game out of the hands of the players. The officials clearly were on the field during the game, so they knew the struggles Washington was endured over the course of the game. Not to mention, the celebration wasn't any more excessive than the touchdown that lead to the game tying PAT in the Ole Miss/Wake Forest Game--and even then, you cant take away the game from the players like that. I realize the Huskies had the opportunity to convert the PAT from 35 yards... but think about that for a second. A celebration with your teammates with 2 seconds left taking away the game. I guess they call them the same. Make a play and celebrate with your team on the field 15 yard penalty. Make a play and your entire team runs on the field to celebrate 15 yard penalty. What a joke.

As far as basketball, I will be brief. I am now a Portland Trailblazers fan. They have a couple Seattle guys on the team and are right down I-5 from Seattle. Howard Schultz former Seattle Supersonics owner rescinded his lawsuit against the current Oklahoma City Thunder management so the team is gone for sure. Lame. But I am glad there is some closure.

Brandon Morrow, the Mariners top draft pick from a couple of years ago made his first major league start last night and looked incredible. That's something to look forward to. Also, the Seahawks will no longer be coached by Mike "playnottolose" Holmgren after this season, so I won't have to worry about my team snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Remember last year's NFC divisional playoff game against the Packers? The Seahawks were up 21-0 and went to prevent offense and promptly 3 and outed 4 straight series. Green Bay went on to win obviously and I was a sad Seahawk.

Optimism courses through my veins and I know the Mariners will be alright eventually. The people in charge keep saying stupid stuff and will be fired sooner rather than later. The Huskies will return to prominence if they just hang in there and do things the right way. Ty Willingham has struggled yes, but he is bringing in his players and getting close and starting this season, and if he is around next year, the Huskies will make significant progress. The Seahawks will learn to step on teams throats and really be successful starting next year. And the Blazers will be a dominant team. I know Seattle will get another team once the city gets it together, but I don’t know if I can go back…

Salute

Labor Day: No Work=Music

It's now Labor Day and I have an extra day off to blog. YAY!

On a serious note, please be praying for New Orleans. Hopefully, all the evacuation and precaution doesn't equal Gustav being as devastating as Katrina. I was watching CNN Friday night and one of the commentators said that the levees are only about 20% to where they need to be... I also hope that the Republicans and the RNC don't have to deal with such a disaster during their convention.

Moving on to lighter business, College football started this weekend and the NFL starts next weekend. I started to do a serious in-depth comprehensive breakdown of both, but I don't get paid to do it so I'll just stick to predictions. The two best teams in college football are USC and Florida. I would like to see them both play in the BCS title game so I'm gonna pick Tim Tebow, the first three Heisman winner, and the USC Trojans, with NFL talent up and down their roster. A team like Oklahoma, Missouri, or Ohio State (whom the BCS seems to love) could stop that matchup because Florida will most likely not go undefeated and one of those teams, in weaker conferences has a better opportunity. USC ain't losing though, watch what they do to Ohio State next week. They are incredible.

Likewise are the New England Patriots. My roommate will tell you that the second the Pats got my man Randy Moss, I said they weren’t going to lose a game... I was almost right and this year I think I will be totally right. Actually, I’m lying—I have no idea what they will do. That defense got really old really fast last year, and aside from being a little healthier the only thing that happened was getting older. That said I hope they do it, but I don’t think they will. They’ll get that Superbowl though. Why? Because they are Incredible too.

Speaking of incredible Mickey Factz has a song called, guess what? Incredible. The beat is hot especially during the chorus and already the likes of Skyzoo, Cory Gunz, Tyga, Travis McCoy (of Gym Class Heroes), and a few others have already hit this beat which will probably get a lot of play. As far as Mr. Factz goes, I’ll say he’s pretty good. I found this track about 5 weeks ago and have been on a quest to find more and more of his music.

A few other people to check out are Wale, Charles Hamilton and Grafh. I have listened to Grafh for a while and I can say without a doubt the man is really nice lyrically. He has more of a hard, raw style, but is still prolific with the words. I’m not going to link any of his music, ‘cause Grafh is a little more explicit than most (but if you want to find him you know who he is now).

Wale and Charles Hamilton are listening byproducts of listening to Mickey Factz and the people he says know that he is incredible. Charles Hamilton’s style is nice and I really like that he’s a Sega nerd. He will drop all kinds of references to the 16 bit Genesis a lot, and if you visit his blog you’ll see what makes him tick.

Wale’s “The Mixtape About Nothing” is kinda hot, I’m not gonna lie. It’s also kinda big so if you download it have a few minutes to download the .zip file and unpack it. I’m feeling kinda lazy so I won’t critique it either… just know it has my stamp of approval, whatever that’s worth.

In completely unrelated music, go get Coldplay's new album. Chris Martin is a genius, he has the rare talent of putting together good sounds in a way that a black man can enjoy "white" music LOL. Really though go buy "Viva La Vida", it's good. Since they are mainstream artists I'm gonna say go buy it, in fact I may drop something in the Kernel about buying music... hmm

Happy Labor Day, pray for New Orleans, and tell a friend!

Salute