Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Being one strike from being a World Series Champion seems like a long time ago.
• What an epic collapse. But if the Rangers get back to the World Series (cough), all would be forgotten.
• I wonder if this has anything to do with me watching Moneyball last weekend?
• I've always proclaimed Josh Hamilton to be dumber than a box of rocks. I just didn't know he was going to prove it to the world.  
• Mitt Romney showed the power of low expectations last night. A person can, and he did, take advantage of it.
• President Obama seemed to be holding back. I bet he's saving a haymaker for debate two or three. You know, like Muhammad Ali used to do.
• But the Republicans have a right to have a little hope this morning.
• Odd motorcycle death: A guy fleeing from police near Ridgmar Mall causes it. 
• Odd motorcycle death #2: Two cyclists, who knew each other, died in Denton County when they collided head on.
• I'm being blocked, albeit inconsistently, by the Star-Telegram's pay wall. 
• I watched the first half of ESPN's 30 for 30 new documentary, Broke, about athletes blowing through millions of dollars. I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I believe if I had been handed three million when I was 21 years old that I'd still have most of it. 
• The Arlington pastor's alleged murder's girlfriend took the stand yesterday and admitted she was a man. (Yep, you read that correctly.)
• As much as I think I'm in the know, the courthouse kept me in the dark about the death threat that is in today's news about the courthouse fire arrest.
• I had a dark email scam waiting for me this morning which was, in essence, a hit man wanting to be paid off or he'd kill me.  An example of the email is here. 
• Bag of Nothing found a clip of the crowd at the WVU/Baylor game staying after the game to sing John Denver's Country Roads.  I don't think I've ever been so surprised to like something so much. 

Place Your Bets

Do they blow this?

Developing.

Edit:  Wash was not happy with Josh after fourth inning error. Josh just smiles. He got money on the A's?

Fox 4 Invaded My Office

My old nemesis Lari Barager of Fox 4 News went all 60 Minutes on me in my office today.  It looks like County Law has made an arrest in the big "trashcan fire in the courthouse" incident of 2012.  And since I was a witness to history, an interview was of utmost importance. In other words, a slow news day.

P.S. She didn't even remember that we had met on one prior occasion back in 1997. She got all pissy with me when I wouldn't go on camera with her when I was the D.A. I smelled an ambush back then.

I Can Hardly Spell Nicki Minaj

This has been making the rounds today, and I can honestly say I don't know what the heck that gal is babbling about. They say she's going off on Mariah Carey but who can tell?  I could understand the teacher from Charlie Brown better than her.

But if she did go off on Mariah, I'm surprised Mariah didn't attack her like a UFC fighter. I've always heard that girl is a diva who will not be taken lightly.  Now that would have been worthy of a viral video.

P.S. What are the chances that Keith Urban is going to hit the bottle again after sitting between these two?

Oh, My!

That's on I-30 in Arlington this morning. Fortunately, no one is on board.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• It's panic time for Ranger Nation.  Since being in first place in the division since April 9th, that is no longer true as of late last night. They play Oakland this afternoon and, if they lose, they'll play a one-and-done wildcard playoff game against either Baltimore or New York (site to be determined) on Friday. I've been warning you.
• In two games, they have the chance to go from home field advantage for the American League playoffs to a road team in a wild card game. Incredible. 
• Mark Cuban dancing and possibly drunk. How old is that guy? How can anyone take him seriously?
• The Cruz/Sadler debate (which I suspect few people saw) last night was actually entertaining. Cruz was called a "troll", and WFAA host Brad Watson was trampled while the whole thing happened.
• Sean Hannity and Drudge promoted all afternoon a "bombshell" video of the President from way back in 2007. As could easily be predicted, it landed with a thud. It was like a Hail Mary that landed in the third row.
• I watched the fourth quarter of the Texas/Oklahoma State game on the Longhorn Network last night. Kudos to the Longhorns -- that was a heck of a comeback and a heck of a fourth down conversion by quarterback David Ash.
• I doubt if I'll watch it, but tonight's Southpark will feature an angry Cartman realizing that Honey Boo Boo has replaced him as America's "new child sweetheart." Now that sounds funny.
• Highs in the 50s on Saturday.
• The oral argument at the Fort Worth Court of Appeals was remarkably relaxed yesterday. The three judge (and all female) panel was engaged and interested, and referred to me and opposing counsel by our first names. 
• Prosecutors behaving badly: Two of them with the Galveston County DA's office are gone after accusations arose that they withheld evidence in a murder trial. Incredible. 
• The girls in the "Stingray Photobomb" picture I posted last week were going to TCU at the time the photo was taken on spring break. Amazingly, it was taken five years but only went viral last month. 
• Coppell High School football is 5-0 and their quarterback is a transfer from Bridgeport.
• I'll be glad when the Doberman is gone. That dog won't shut up. 

Messenger Above The Fold

It's a "told you" edition!

That Hot Bouncy Runner Returns To Take You Into, uh, Tuesday Night

It's either worth the wait to download or not. The rain was the deciding factor.

Cowboys Flashback

Since the Cowboys got killed last night, I suppose the Dallas Morning News decided to run some more carnage by posting this photo from 1982. The accompanying story said she was originally run over by Tony Dorsett. But that can't be true. He could avoid anything.

Personal Responsibility vs. Cops' Duty To Protect and Serve

We've got a collision of values.

(It looks like a wrecker driver ratted out the cop who allegedly made the decision to not arrest the girl. But the story says the wrecker driver wanted his voice disguised because he "works closely" with the police. Hey, hoss, if your story is true then the chances of your identify being discovered are about 100%. )

Story.

"The Thrilla In Philidelpha"*

I saw this thing floating around but didn't watch it until I saw that it was about a half a minute long. (That passes my ADD threshold.)

I'm not sure what's going on her but those cops in the blue shirt sure seem to be distancing from the  guy in the white shirt who is pre-disposed to throw haymakers.

Story.

_______
*Horrible headline, I know. 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Why in the world do people pay that much money to go to Cowboys Stadium to watch that?
• I'm surprised Dez Bryant can remember which route to take home. 
• Is ABC color commentary guy Jon Gruden on crack? He kept bouncing off the walls last night and at one point went to bizarre references to the Outlaw Josey Wales. (Which is kind of odd because I mentioned that movie out of the blue about three weeks ago.)
• The defendant on trial for the murder of the Arlington pastor going on right now is wearing shackles. They better make sure the jury doesn't see them or that's a good way to have to do it all over again. 
• I watched the 20/20 episode on Friday about the Mansfield school teacher.  I was struck by the prosecutor who seemed to think this was the crime of the century. 
• Dallas night club "Hey, nows"
• Well, your Texas Rangers have to win one of the next two games against Oakland to avoid the one game wildcard playoff. That would be an epic meltdown.
• Unless something weird happens, I've got oral arguments at the Fort Worth Court of Appeals this afternoon. Hate doing that. 
• The Right Wing is in the weird "Don't believe the polls!" mode right now. It's like they are trying to convince themselves.
• Weird things are happening at American Airlines, but if one of its planes were to go down right now, we'd never see the AA logo again. 
• I think the housing bust is over. 
• Does anyone believe Ranger pitcher Derek Holland that his twitter account was hacked moments after he was pulled from the game Sunday night? A gay slur was posted. That guy is 100% knucklehead.
• What did happened to the 29 year old from Boyd listed in the Update?
• Last spring I quoted this sentence: "When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving something in its place I have traded for it."  I just loved the concept of how we make a choice to trade a day of our lives for something else. It came from this story about the relationship between former Alabama coach Bear Bryant and his driver. A driver who died yesterday.

Fire at Fuzzy's!

Plot To Kill Federal Judge John McBryde?

Well, even though he was unsuccessful, that's one way to get that judge off your pending criminal case.  He'll have to recuse himself. Well, he should recuse himself.

Story.

Edit: In other news, this doesn't make me feel very good about the justice system.

Bold Move

I've long said the Oscars isn't that great of a show, but this is pretty bold for them.

Story.

Skateboarder vs. Deer

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I got to find out how fast the Doberman could run this weekend. Oh, my.
• And that dog is obsessed with the Family Cat. 
• In case you missed it on Saturday, Baylor scored 63 points and lost. And, yes, that's football. (And that West Virginia quarterback is fantastic.)
• Sounds odd: A four year old was allegedly shot while riding in a car on a Fort Worth freeway.
• I think if the Ryder Cup was promoted differently, it could be one of the biggest sporting events of the year. 
• I think I laid down for a nap late yesterday afternoon and didn't wake up until this morning.
• Radney Foster played a small concert in Dallas on Friday night. I think I would have seriously considered going to that. 
• Why in the world does a television network show a car chase? A local affiliate, I can see. But a network?  And I bet Fox News may stop doing so.
• The Supreme Court gets back to work today after their annual ridiculously long vacation.
• A ball boy at an NFL game really bit it yesterday.  And on a sad note, the Colts head coach has left the team after being diagnosed with cancer. 
• Forgot to mention that someone put a UT sticker on my car a few weeks back. A full scale investigation is underway. 
• I watched Money Ball this weekend. Meh.
• I tried to watch Dances With Wolves for the first time, too.  Didn't make it through it. I don't think Kevin Costner can act. 

I Don't Always Call Bad Plays . . .

. . . but when I do, I remind people of that National Championship.

(I hate that dark streak screwing up the photo,  but that was some gold on the screen.)