Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Super Bowl thoughts: (1) We haven't seen a dud like that in quite some time, (2) Bruno Marrs was pretty good -- although Mrs. LL oddly compares him to Michael Jackson, (3) The Kids in the House had never heard of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, (4) Did you know a little Bruno Marrs was in Vegas Vacation? (5) If inside the 30 and it's fourth and less than five, go for it. Remember: Do what Art Briles would do. (6) I promise we didn't put our hand over our hearts during the National Anthem when I was a kid. (7) Frank Calindo is beginning to whip me but this was pretty funny. (8) Beer and wine cost $12, (8) Terry Bradshaw missed the pre-game because of his father's death. (9) There's snow on the ground in the Meadowlands this morning. (10) How old was that lady riding the horse as the Broncos were introduced? (11) I might spend the rest of my life wearing the coat Joe Namath sported yesterday, (12) Namath was wronged during coin flip - the official is the one who screwed up. (13) I laughed out loud at the first play -- it was just so wheels off. (14) I'm pleased that Charles Haley was left out of the Hall of Fame because he, by all reports, is a bad human being. (15) Pete Carroll and Barry Switzer are the only coaches to have won a National Championship and a Super Bowl. I love Switzer. Edit: I'm officially losing it. Yep, Jimmy Johnson. (16) I'm one of the few people who believes James Harrison's 100 yard interception return in 2009 was MVP worthy. That was a 14 point play. (14) Dez Bryant was not happy with his seat at the Super Bowl. 
• I watched about 3/4 of the Silver Linings Playbook. It went from great to boring in record time.
• I had forgotten that the Wright Amendment, which prevents flights out of Love Field from flying direct to anywhere other than to adjacent states, expires this Fall. I bet Southwest jumps on it with some cheap fares to Vegas.
• I loved Philip Seymour Hoffman. (Check out his bizarre role as a gasoline sniffing addict in Love Liza if you haven't.) I would guess that substance abusers aren't doing it for fun but instead do it o numb the pain. 
• Chris Christie, I pray, may be in big trouble over the George Washington bridge shutdown since someone is about to come forward saying he was in on it. I realized this weekend that I actually drove a rent car across that bridge in the 1990s when I went Connecticut to a Jets game to see Kyle Clifton play.
• Paradise model's birthday.
• Bill O'Reilly interviewing the President was pretty entertaining. But O'Reilly said beforehand that it would be a "Alpha Male versus an Alpha Male." Hey, if you describe yourself as an "Alpha Male" then you ain't one. 
• From the Star-Telegram's Cheers and Jeers: "Jeers: To U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman for walking out on President Obama’s State of the Union message. Whether you like the president or not, the office should be respected. What Stockman did is just very bad manners." Did that happen? If so, I missed it.
• I once said I'd get out of stock market when it hit 14,500. Maybe I should listen to the voices in my head. Then again, that would be a lot to listen to. 
• I've accomplished 11 half marathons and have the medals hanging on the garage wall. I'm not sure I could do another one. That scares me a little bit.
• Friday Night Sadness: Dallas Carter is now 3A?
• I spend too much time reflecting on Baylor's football season. Years of sorrow will do that to you.
• The Family went to the game room and watched the Puppy Bowl without me. What's the saying? "Me haz sad"?
• Jay Leno's show ends this week. Thank goodness. That was Television Anthrax. 
• The banal Ben Ferguson took over for Mark Davis when Davis was fired by Cumulus (which owns WBAP.) Never listen to him. But he tried to use his "status" to upgrade on American Airlines on Friday. 

Fox 4 in Decatur

Ice Storm Fallout: It's Chaos

(Pic stolen from Facebook.)

Random Small Time College Basketball

Pick it up at about the one minute mark.

Wow

	WSJ Breaking News (@WSJbreakingnews)
2/2/14, 12:20 PM Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman found dead in Manhattan apartment. wsj.com

Double Not Fake Arctic Blast 2014 Update

(Credit: Red dot over Wise County courtesy of the Liberally Lean Graphic Arts Department.)

Saturday Randomness

I don't normally like graffiti but....... pic.twitter.com/GDtRh7aAYC
— Ian Cawsey (@iancawsey) February 1, 2014

Above The Fold

Kate Upton Taking You Into The Super Bowl

I Boycott The Cookies, Too!

Story.

But not because of politics. It's because I hate all those cookies. Yep, I practice cookie discrimination.

Courtney Stodden Plays Some Football

I'm still mad at her for dumping her old man husband and going brunette.  She's giving the impression that she might not be stable!

Turkey vs. Window: Who Ya Got?

And you would have thought the narrator had just witnessed the Hindenburg exploding.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Another weird metroplex-mother-might-have-killed-her-child case -- this time out of Frisco. It sounds like the kid might have been dead for several days before the case came to light. 
• I saw footage of the Frisco Chief of Police talking about the case last night on Fox 4. He said, "It's not normal behavior for Frisco . . . [insert awkward pause as he realizes that either sounded high tone or potentially racial] . . . or any suburban area." 
• If a criminal defense lawyer ever refers to his client as "my client" in the courtroom or during an interview with the press, he has no idea what he is doing. 
• George Zimmerman has agreed to be in a "celebrity" boxing match.  
• An immediate Power Down Moment for me: Any time a sports media member says, "And my Super Bowl pick is . . . . " I don't care who you think is going to win. (This was only surpassed when Norm Hitzges, in the early 1990s, would dedicate a whole hour of his show to callers who phoned in their picks.) 
• I only watched a portion of it, but CNN had a documentary last night on the musical "British Invasion" in the 1960s. If you were a young music fan back then, that had to be a fun time to be alive.
• Some gal named Renee Fleming will sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. Weird: You can actually bet if she wears gloves and what color they will be. What's to prevent her, through an intermediary, from betting a fortune on wearing gloves that are black and then wearing gloves that are black?
• There's just something weird about the case where Fort Worth police went to the wrong house during a burglary call and shot the 72 year old homeowner. This week the Tarrant County grand jury decided to not indict the officers "after hearing 25 hours of testimony". That fact alone tells you something is up. Grand juries hardly ever hear any testimony. They normally just listen to a brief "summary" of the case from an assistant DA -- a presentation that can last just a couple of minutes.  And the conclusion of the "medical examiner investigator" was that the 72 year old reached for his weapon after he had placed it on his car at the request of the officers? Come on. 
• There's news again of a couple of cruise ships having to return to port early (New Jersey and Texas) due to a mass sickness breaking out.  The concept of a cruise seems less and less appealing as time goes by. 
• Is there a bigger fraud than Deion Sanders? A secret recording was released yesterday where he wanted to be paid more by Prime Prep Academy for his self-proclaimed role being "HNIC". (That's Head N-Word In Charge for the uninitiated.) 
• I'm completely confused by the Amanda Knox guilty/not guilty is-she-or-is-she-not saga. But I do know it's a crime she cut her hair. 
• This morning the Musers on The Ticket were interviewing Adrian Peterson on Radio Row when Jesse Jackson just walked by and put on a headset and joined in. (Photo immediately thereafter.)

Something That Looks Fake But I Think Is Real

A plane is over Washington state right now flying in a "12" formation in honor of the 12th Man of the Seattle Seahawks. At least I think it's true.

Live flight tracking.
Back story.

The Denton "No Body" Murder Case Defendant Has Been Released

Charles Stobaugh hugging family after #appeals court overturns #murder conviction #dentoncounty #wfaa @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/JLFKEfPHnC
— Sebastian Robertson (@wfaasebastian) January 30, 2014

He sat three years in prison before the court of appeals had the gut to overturn a case -- a case which drove me nuts. Amazingly, he's only on bond and will have to wear an ankle monitor because the Denton County D.A.'s office has indicated it will appeal. Incredible.

And how much money do you think this has cost the taxpayers? Look at this first footnote in the opinion overturning the conviction:

(The "reporter's record" is what you would commonly refer to as the transcript.)

Woman Wants To Change Her First Name To "Sexy"

Huff Po – Ranea Crabtree doesn’t like her first name. So much so that she refuses to use it. In fact, if her 15-year-old daughter, Bethany, uses the dreaded name, she gets grounded, according to the Toronto Sun. For the record, Crabtree’s first name is Sheila, (“Ranea” is her middle name) but it may not be for much longer. She is petitioning a court in Licking County, Ohio, for the right to adopt a first name she thinks is more suitable: “Sexy.” ”I do wear a lot of Victoria’s Secret clothes and my husband calls me sexy all the time,” Crabtree told Fox19.com. “I really want to do Sexy because it’s kinda’ like my personality. I just love to be adventurous, have fun and do all kinds of things.” Did we mention she really hates her birth name? ”It’s just one of those names that I can’t stand. I hate the fact that I have been cursed with it,” she told the station. “My mom gave me my middle name of Ranea and my dad gave me my ugly name.” Other than dealing with what seem to be unresolved family issues, Crabtree has taken all the steps needed for the name change, including filling out a form, paying the $87 court fee and a 30-day notice in a local paper. The final step comes Feb. 11 when she will stand in front of a Licking County judge to formerly ask to change her name to “Sexy” once and for all. Legal experts tell the Columbia Dispatch the odds are Crabtree’s name change will be approved, but she’s planning an alternative strategy, just in case. “If it’s not Sexy, then I might go for Sparkle,” she told the paper.

I'm researching Ohio law to see if we can file an objection to the name change. Sometimes, you just gotta take a stand. 

Random Super Bowl Post

Deadspin pulled out an old article today about a (the most?) heart breaking Super Bowl moment in Cowboys history.  I remember it like it was yesterday -- Super Bowl XIII -- sitting on the couch in my neighbor's house with my buddies and girlfriends. Our reaction would be much like the Cowboys sideline as the ball bounced off Jackie Smith's chest. Oh, those days.

And the play will always be famous for Verne Lundquist's call of "he has to be the sickest man in America." Watch it.

Smith was on The Ticket several years back for some reason other than this play. I'm not sure why. But the Hardline brought up the historic moment. Smith wanted nothing to do with it.

(And I've always thought if Roger would have lead him, it never would have happened.)

Pete Delkus Putting Wise County On Triple Arctic Blast Warning

Patchy sleet and isolated freezing rain!??!?! Oh my!! It's possible Sunday morning. pic.twitter.com/dZqh5td339
— Pete Delkus (@wfaaweather) January 30, 2014