National Signing Day Flashback

I asked this morning who the kid was back in the day who signed his letter of intent from a hot tub.  A quick Google search revealed, I'll be dang, my entry from 2/6/08 which had this:

Thanks to Keith over at bagofnothing.com who sent me this article. . ."My view of the process has been a tad jaundiced since that day in 1989 when Dallas Carter High School's Jessie Armstead announced that he was going to Miami. At the same time, seated in a hot tub, teammate Derric Evans was all bling-blinged out, with a wine glass in one hand and a ballpoint pen in the other, signing his national letter of intent with Tennessee. "Evans, however, never quite made it to the kickoff. That summer, he and another Carter teammate, Gary Edwards, who signed with Houston, were arrested for a spree of armed robberies of video stores and fast-food joints. The judge handed Evans a 20-year sentence, seven of which he served in prison, and Edwards got 16."

That post in 2008, by the way, had a video of Oklahoma's #1 recruit. Joshua Jarboe. That didn't turn out too well either.

Emmitt Getting All Political

Signing Day

Going Purple: Decatur students join Grayson Muehlstein as he signs letter of intent with TCU. http://t.co/hdCbHRbx2i
— Richard Greene (@WCM_RGreene) February 5, 2014

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• It's hard to believe that Jerry Jones has owned the Cowboys for 25 years. The team had only been in existence for 29 years when he bought it. 
• It's National Signing Day. Anyone remember the Dallas kid who signed his letter of intent from a hot tub years ago?
• One feel good story is aTm honoring a scholarship offer to a kid who will never be able to play for the Aggies. 
• Radio Shack is reportedly about to close 500 stores. Does such a strategy ever work or is it just postponing the inevitable? And didn't they try to rename themselves simply "The Shack" a few years ago? 
• It's a rare day when I'm willing to watch a 30 second ad before an Internet video. I'll fight through 10 or 15 second ads, but not half a minute.
• Wrong way driver hits two squad cars in Irving last night. 
• So DMX is going to fight George Zimmerman? I don't know who DMX is but I'd be a little nervous. 
• The Ticket Boys referenced a listener this morning who suddenly died on pneumonia at the age of 32. One of his last tweets was, "I hate that I've been awake since 2:30am this stupid cough won't go away!”
• I got an email from an alleged lawyer yesterday "suggesting" that I take down the story of the girl who got arrested for not paying her bill saying it was borderline "libelous". I did since I'll take down anything that anyone has a serious objection based on accuracy. But that's the first time I've had such a request in years. (And good luck trying to remove a viral story from the Internet.)
• Today's Messenger referred to Rhome as Wise County's third largest city. That made me think Wise County is really small as opposed to Rhome being really big.
• I don't understand this letter to the editor about former judge Sharen Wilson hugging the victims of a DWI death.  Was she the judge assigned to the case? Did she reject the plea bargain? 
• That story on the front page about the Keller woman taking a plea deal is pretty interesting. It even has a youtube interview of her from her jail cell. Edit: Link fixed.

Above The Fold

Update

	Dallas Observer (@Dallas_Observer)
2/4/14, 1:02 PM Denton County Won't Have to Pay For Prosecutor's Lynching, KKK References blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/201…

My Skeptical Meter (Which is Deadly Accurate By The Way) Is Off The Charts

(CNN) -- A mysterious castaway claiming to have been lost at sea for 13 months is now safely back on land, but many questions remain about how he could have lived on his small boat for so long as it drifted across the Pacific Ocean.

The man calling himself Jose Salvador Alvarenga turned up in a heavily damaged boat on a remote coral atoll in the Marshall Islands, claiming that he had been living off fish and turtles he had caught and relying on rainwater, and sometimes his own urine, to drink. (More)

Tuesday Morning Pick Me Up

Can a gal be any hotter than this?

And, yes, you are legit.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Got lots of emails about this lawyer ad. (By the way, I saw an ad yesterday from Jim Adler, The Texas Hammer, which had him jumping out of a helicopter to help his client. I've got to step up my game.)
• Very random thought: I'd pay money to see Toby Keith and Charlie Daniels on Glee against their will.
• Today, Ted Cruz is"releasing a six-page report on 'The Obama Administration’s Assault on Texas,' highlighting some of the legal friction points between the state and federal governments and warning that Obama has sought to expand federal power at the expense of states, especially Texas." Sheesh. 
• Once I'm done hating on Cruz, Perry, and Abbott, I'll move on to Barry Smitherman. His latest commercial appeals to the lowest common denominator. 
• The members of Motley Cure signed a “Cessation Of Touring Agreement” to prove this will be their last tour. If only it were legally binding. 
• Remember when there was a skating rink and movie theaters at Love Field? I saw Butch Cassidy and and the Sundance Kid there when I was probably 14. 
• The Winter Olympics just doesn't do it for me like the Summer games.
• Philip Seymour Hoffman thought: Go watch or read In Cold Blood and then watch him in Capote.
• As a prosecutor and defense lawyer, I've seen only one heroin case in Wise County in 20 years. You just don't see that stuff. 
• Did I hear correctly that that the autopsy of the body of the son of accused killer Arnav Dhawan showed no signs of trauma? At this point it's not a matter of having a reasonable doubt about her guilt, but I don't think she killed him. 
• Distance for Bridgeport's new UIL district mates:  Aubrey (49 miles), Celina (64 miles), Krum (35 miles), Anna (77 miles), Bonham (109 miles!)
• Would someone please go after the fact that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodall makes $29.5 million a year and that the NFL is a "non-profit" organization. That's insane. 
• I was at a drivers license hearing yesterday, and I'll swear the first lawyer up thought she was Nancy Grace. Lighten' up girl. It's an administrative hearing, not a jury trial. (And the cop she was questioning was fantastic. Even he realized she was nuts.)
• I wonder how many people who say "America is the greatest country in the world" have ever been outside of the country.
• Clean up post: I was taken to task a couple of weeks ago for saying that Jennifer Lawrence would be a "star". Hey, I meant star as in Meryl Streep not Molly Ringwald. Think about it. 
• Josh Brent's jury being made up of "five blacks, four whites and three Hispanics — 'factored that into the equation'" of the sentence of probation per Dallas D.A. Craig Watkins. I'll give him credit for admitting that. 

And The Beat Goes On

If R's get interested in legalizing marijuana to attract young voters, evangelicals will stand in the way http://t.co/xWspoknM1z
— Bud Kennedy (@BudKennedy) February 3, 2014

Tweet from WFAA TV (@wfaachannel8)

	WFAA TV (@wfaachannel8)
2/3/14, 1:47 PM Wise County sees worst of iced-over roads, but few injuries bit.ly/1fTD8bU

Oh, Come On. The Guy Might Have A Point.

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.)