Messenger Above The Fold

Friday Night Lights When It Felt Like Fall

Decatur (3-0) 52
WF Hirschi (1-2) 16
Instant Analysis: No coach. No problem.

Springtown (0-3) 28
Bridgeport (3-0) 49
Instant Analysis: Springtown isn't very good. (Video from last night - which has 24 views as I post this)

First Baptist (1-2) 31
Chico (2-1) 14
Instant Analysis: That's the private school which is part of the First Baptist Church of Dallas where the annual tuition is over $12,000 a year. (Gulp!) I'm stunned they won after suffering culture shock from seeing an Allsups for the first time.

Electra (2-1) 28
Alvord (2-1) 49
Instant Analysis: Alvord trailed 21-28 going into the 4th quarter. Somebody pulled out a Rally Monkey.

Boyd (2-1) 41
Henrietta (1-2) 6
Instant Analysis: A Beatdown.

Rio Vista (1-2) 28
Paradise (2-1) 55
Instant Analysis: Did you know Rio Vista is the home of a landmark Supreme Court case on whether it is constitutional to arrest someone for a traffic violation? As for the game, I'll go with almost "cruel and unusual."  Edit: Sheesh. It's Lago Vista and not Rio Vista that went to the Supreme Court.  I got my bodies of water mixed up.

So Coach, What Did You Tell Your Players To Get Them Fired Up?

Man, this coaching stuff is complicated.

Jenny McCarthy Still Killin' It And Taking Us Into The Weekend

One Final Pic Of The Bastrop Fires

(Thanks, Kevin.)

Perry On Death Penalty During The Debate

• That cheering from the crowd is bizarre. Just bizarre.
• Texas has a "thoughtful" process before the death penalty is imposed? Thoughtful? Well, I'll shut up then. 
• And you "will" face the ultimate penalty in Texas if you commit capital murder? Well, that is if the DA decides to seek the death penalty -- his discretion and no one else's. And there are no legislative standards to aid or guide him in his decision. 
• Sixteen states have now banned the death penalty. 
• And a quick bit of research shows that Texas juries aren't adding (or DA's aren't seeking) people to death row like they used to: 

9/11 News Coverage Documented

Pretty amazing site.

Edit: Kind of helps to have this 9/11 Timeline handy.  (And I watched some of NBC's coverage of the first tower collapsing and it was stunningly inept. The camera was on the tower and you could clearly see it fall in on itself (4:38 mark). Tom Brokaw and Matt Lauer mention that part of the building had collapsed but seconds later Brokaw says that both of the buildings would probably have to brought down because of the damage. They then cut to the Pentagon and yap for almost the next 8 minutes.  It wasn't until the 12:20 mark when finally Matt Lauer tells viewers of the total collapse and they pull the video to show.)

Cop To The Rescue

Video analysis:

0:00 to 0:12: What a great cop. Killing a snake probably isn't in his job description, but he's going to town on that thing like it's nobody's business. A true public servant!  Thanks for helping out your average American beach-goer! You are a credit to the uniform and  . . .

0:12 to 0:19: Wait a second. What do we have here?

0:19 to the end:  Conduct explained. Girls in bikinis: Causing extra effort every day of the week.

Now That's Funny

Aggie supporters are putting up a few billboards in response to Baylor's lawsuit threat blocking the Ags move to the Southeastern Conference.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Career explosion of the week: "Arkansas TV weatherman Brett Cummins has been questioned by police after waking up in an empty hot tub next to a dead man wearing a dog collar." There's just not many ways you can put a positive spin on that.  (And you know your life has gone horribly wrong when . . . . )
• Something noticeably absent in Wise County right now: Crickets.
• About 50 people gathered in Slidell last night to lobby to keep the local post office open. I think you have a rally of 50,000 people, and it wouldn't have an impact. And if the news is true this week, there might not be any post offices open in the very near future. 
• Saw that the Decatur head coach missed the football game last night because his son was in the hospital due to "emergency surgery" on his leg that he injured last week. Sounds kind of bad.
• Mrs. LL saw "The Help" and said it was a multiple Kleenex movie.
• It may be easy to say since my team won, but TCU v. Baylor last Friday might end up being the most exciting game of the year. 
• Idiocracy continued: (1) The Fox NFL robot, Cleatus, has a twitter account, and (2) the NFL is making all stadiums display fantasy football stats on stadium scoreboards.
• Criminal appellate opinion: A an illegal immigrant in Wise County fights to overturn his misdemeanor marijuana non-conviction probation  after it lead to deportation proceedings. (You would be stunned by the number of crimes that do not lead to deportation issues, but at least 30 grams of marijuana is not one of them.)
• You are asking: "An illegal immigrant can be prosecuted and receive probation or jail time in Texas and not automatically be deported?" I'd say 9 out of 10 times. 
• A treasure trove of audio of 9/11 released by the FAA. 
• For you Ticket Fans: Paradise v. Rio Vista was the "Big Black Computer's Craig Way Memorial Game of The Week" this morning. (That sounds insane and even I understand it.)
• And The Ticket also replayed their audio of 9/11 this morning. I'll always remember being on FM 1810 when I heard the morning boys describe the second plane hitting the building, and how flat out frightened I was when I heard George Dunham say, "This is now a military operation." 
• Sheriff Joe yesterday: "At 2:00 today I will have a press conference at Basic Training in Scottsdale concerning citizens requesting a crime suppression operation." Is that the same thing as saying, today I'll answer questions from citizens requesting that I actually work?
• The power of the compliment: Of everything that's happened with girl's softball, I still appreciate a dad coming up to me for the first practice and saying, "I just want to say thanks. I know this takes a lot of time and just want to tell you my wife and I appreciate your efforts."  

Political Junkies Only

I'm never sure exactly is going to set the Liberally Lean Nation off (callback joke, see below), but I figured this might -- at least for the politics loving folks. We have crazy Fox Anchor Gretchen Carlson (who has an incredible academic background but tries to act like a simpleton) jumping on the relatively new White House Press Secretary who is, admittedly, awful at his job.  Throw in a New Jobs speech, and you've got some Fair and Balanced reporting. (Good stuff starts around 3:15).

Wise County Just Upgraded Its Court Software . . .

including an online calendar. Now comes news that all Parker County court dates have been wiped from their system by a "support person."  I guess that means someone in the Support Section of a company that provides some software the county uses.  The County's system administrator referred to that person as not very "competent" --- probably in response to a million questions of ,"Just how did this happen?"  

Court administrators are asking lawyers to tell them of any court dates they have scheduled.  Hmmm. If you do criminal defense work, that would technically mean volunteering information to assist in the prosecution of your client. That's a little tricky. 

Want To Cry Again?

A plane crash in Russia this week killed a former Dallas Stars hockey player whom I had never heard of.  Someone else who never heard of him was a taxi/limo/van driver in Dallas who was sent on a routine call to take someone to the airport on the same day.

Her first hand account is here. Wow. I mean, wow.

Edit: The author deleted it after receiving some criticism, but the Google cashed version of it is here.

I'm Calling Sports Foul

These flags all over Decatur (they read "Eagle Nation"), and I'm throwing a penalty flag down. The "[insert name] Nation" implies either (1) your fan base is spread out all over the USA or, (2) your fan base is large and expansive.  Those definitions are official because I just thought them up.  We've got a Sports Violation going on which has to be rectified.

You can have a Yankee Nation, a Cowboys Nation, or maybe even a Longhorn Nation. But you can't have an Eagle Nation. And, admittedly, you can't have a . . .

Random Friday Monday Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Edit: You'll thank me for not posting the krillions of comments telling me I got the day wrong. Twice. 
• Motorcycle chase leads to messy motorcycle death that shut down I-20 in Dallas this morning. I heard that the bike hit the back of an 18-wheeler so hard that it bent the truck's rear underride bar.
• Did you know that the underride bar is also known as the "Mansfield Bar" named after a Jayne Mansfield car accident?  Me neither until this morning. (I know that sounds like an Urban Legend but a quick search seems to indicate it is true.)
• Lake Bridgeport is now 13 feet low and it looks like it's losing a foot every one and half weeks.
• But "black bass are good on medium running crankbaits in shad patterns and Texas rigged Jackall Sasuteki Craws." That's probably what I would have chosen. 
• The Decatur Eagles play tonight? On Thursday? Maybe I'm losing it, but has that ever happened in the regular season? 
• I've seen just a little of the Republican debate from last night, but Rick Perry continues to have uncomfortable reactions whenever someone takes a jab at him. It's almost a George W type "smirk".
• Perry called the El Paso border unsafe last night (and suggested President Obama might be an "abject liar" to suggest otherwise). That's a murky claim.  If he's talking about the Mexican side, he's right because it's a death zone. If he's talking about the El Paso side, he's wrong because it has one of the lowest crime rates in America. So is the "border" safe or unsafe? Maybe he was talking about swimming in the Rio Grande.
• Mitt Romney didn't wear a lapel pin! Mitt Romney didn't wear a lapel pin!
• Reporter angrily tells man to take a walk. (Language warning.)
• An "official UNT" twitter account which is anything but "official" but it is kind of funny. And will likely be shut down unless it puts up a disclaimer. 
• I learned something as a softball coach: Never announce a new practice session on short notice and say that you will understand if your child can't make it. Guess what happens?
• Two times this year, a Ranger pitcher has entered the game and given up a walk off home run on his very first pitch. Yesterday was one of them.
• The Dallas Morning News laid off 38 people this week.
• Miley Cyrus image makeover continues. (Pic).  How old is she again?
• A Ticket host is in Honduras to adopt a child and before he left he had to sign a Ransom Waiver provided by the Adoption Agency.  That is, if a kidnapping occurs and he is asked for a ransom, the Adoption Agency would not be responsible, would not pay, and would not negotiate on his behalf. How many times did that have to happen before they decided to put a waiver in the standard paperwork? 
• Dallas Cowboys are in big trouble Sunday: They were already going to use three first time starters on the offensive line, but things got worse yesterday when the best one (first round pick Smith) suffered a knee injury. And both cornerbacks (Jenkins and Newman) have been hurt all preseason, and it was announced yesterday that Newman is out for the first game and that Jenkins hurt a knee in practice.
• Coach Jason Garrett says, "We welcome the challenge" as he continues to prove he's the most boring interview in the NFL.
• WBAP's Hal Jay's new catch phrase is, "You can't fix stupid." I'm not saying a thing.
• Mrs. LL didn't read yesterday's Random Thoughts until this morning. I walked into the room and she was just stared at me. I hope it wasn't one of those "I don't even know you anymore" looks. 

Messenger Above The Fold

We'll Stop Your End Around Play With A Lawsuit Blitz

The Aggies get an invitation to join the SEC so long as there will be no Big 12 lawsuits. The Big 12, as an entity,  says it won't sue.  Everyone other school says the same. Except Baylor.

This thing is dead. Let 'em go. Baylor needs to scramble and try to follow Texas or Oklahoma wherever they go and, if that doesn't work, beg the Big East or even the Mountain West.   This ship is sinking and it's time -- long past time, in fact -- to start looking for a raft.

Julia Roberts In "Pretty Woman"

Toddlers and Tiaras gets an "oh, my!"