Why is the Sky That Color, Again?

For some reason I got to thinking about this, and thought I'd share it. The media likes to annoint Duke's basketball team as the greatest program on earth, eternally feared, always dominant and of course, (though J.J. Redick's poetry might lead to a reassessment), true student-athletes. As I've left the naivete of my younger years, I tend to dismiss the student-athlete part with a healthy dose of cynicism futher propelled by my feeling that long ago that claim became irrelevant in college sports (from the Ivy League to the SEC, there is always going to be a point where the student criteria gives way to the athlete - and I've heard too much about Duke and UNC players who proved the point to snark either way).

But while Duke has been the best team in the land from November through early March, and Carolina suffered much recently with a talent drop-off beginning in 1998 and not really being addressed until Roy Williams came to coach the new talent we had, this little nugget of info surprised, and delighted me:

Final Fours since 1996, post back "injury" years at Dook, and spanning Smith, Guthridge, Doherty and Williams years at Carolina, certainly the time when Duke should have dominated the Heels in all categories:

Duke - 1999, 2001, 2004
UNC - 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005

Michigan State is the only program to make it to late March/April as much as the Heels. And the Heels did it with key front court contributions from the likes of Serge Zwikker, Kris Lang and a borrowed Julius Peppers. In fact, until this year the only players from that stretch who have seen steady NBA careers are Brendan Haywood, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. Duke meanwhile staffs both the Clippers and the Bulls with former players, as well as Shane Floppier contributing to the Memphis Grizzlie

All of this isn't to say Duke sucks, they have absolutely dominated the ACC regular and tournament championships, though Carolina owned them in 97 and 98. And Duke has won thirteen of the last seventeen contests with the Heels. And hey, relationships matter, so I guess missing out on those Final Fours isn't the biggest thing in the world.

But, this was the worst Carolina has been in my lifetime. I'll take it. Someday, my now 4 year-old nephew will have to feel this sort of pain, four final fours and a national title along with some really bad teams. With my experience as a guide, I can show him (and likely his kids) the way to cope.

Read more!

Long lost writing - George Bush And Faith

checking through some old material that I had written, but never published, I came across the following. Surprised myself, to be honest, I like it a lot, but never got back to it. Luckily, George Bush makes this stuff never go out of style. Here it is,

Faith, the antithesis of proof – The case against George Bush

George Bush gets an overwhelming amount of his support from people who admire his faith (even though, it appears to not be clear what that faith really is). Large percentages of “regular church goers” support Mr. Bush. And his political brain, Karl Rove, clearly believes that reaching out to more “people of faith” is a key to winning the presidency again. Mr. Bush’s speech at the Republican National Convention in New York was aimed at those voters and more importantly was aimed at showing how much faith Mr. Bush has in America’s present course.

Soldiers in combat have to have faith as well, of various beliefs and practice. To enter into combat, and to put your life into the hands of their fellow soldiers, they must look within their own souls and hearts not simply for hope of a safe return but for acceptance of the falling of their comrades and possibly their own

However, for survival and success, soldiers must also carry an attitude and a competence embodied in the Marine saying “Adapt, Improvise and Overcome.” While we have the most capable, most well-equipped and best trained military in world history, missions do not go as planned.

And when they do, while faith may steel one’s nerves, without adapting and improvising, mere faith that they will overcome will not protect them or secure the mission. Faith is the antithesis of proof; and for success, it is necessary but not sufficient.

What has made George Bush dangerous as President, for soldiers, innocent Iraqi civilians and our younger generations, is that Mr. Bush sees faith as the only necessity for leadership. And that’s where this President has grossly failed this country. He believes Faith is all that is necessary, and to often is slow to adapt and incompetent at improvising. In the face of the many problems we have faced, Mr. Bush has shown a steely resilience, but he has not shown a willingness to adjust to objective reality.

Where George Bush seems to care, he has been dangerous, on taxes, in Iraq and on gay marriage. Where he doesn’t care, on education, medicare, the environment, and stem cell research, he uses his professed spiritual faith as a cover for the cravenness of his policies. What makes his one of the most dishonest administrations in history, is the cynical way in which he believes that his faith serves, not a spiritual need, but merely a rhetorical one. As he stood before the Republican National Convention and proposed a $1 trillion dollars in spending on programs which his party has had three years of near total control of government to enact, it was easy to see that in many ways, his campaign is aimed at overcoming only the imposition of objective reality into the debate.

Mr. Bush did not have to be this President. He had a mandate - from a deadlocked election - to govern from the center, and he had campaigned largely in the center. But time and again he has relied on his faith, to guide him to the right answers; and he has not wavered from his course, despite the clear failure of his policies.

When Mr. Bush came into office, it was clear that a tax-cut was possible, indeed, probably deserved. It would be easy to understand a conservative President passing a tax cut at a time when the budget was in surplus. However, Mr. Bush’s faith in putting money back in people’s hands overwhelmed the empirical support for cutting taxes. Even when it was clear that the tax cuts he proposed would cost trillions if permanent, he did not waver, or more appropriately, adapt. He simply made them “temporary” and declared success. Now, that our budget deficit is higher than at any time in the history of the Republic, Mr. Bush’s faith again has trumped adaptation and improvisation. He proposes that he made a mistake when he signed that temporary tax cut, and wants to make it permanent.

Bush has never shown any ability to overcome failure, merely the ability to toss away the offending problem. He made bad grades; he didn’t work harder but became an anti-intellectual. He struggled in business in general, but particularly so as oil executive; he slinked away, his family having bailed him out. He spent a decade partying and developing a chemical dependence; he then turned into an evangelical teetotaler. He ran for the Presidency and lost the popular vote; rather than reach out he has governed as if the 48 % he won in 2000 was sufficient support to be President again.

Mr. Bush has offered this country a government that is unresponsive, paralyzed by indecision in the face of new events and unwilling to improvise for fear of admitting mistakes. Infallibility and lack of earthly intervention are expected qualities in a deity, but those who pray to such must realize they may not aspire to the former and honor no god by the latter. Ronald Reagan once said of his own religiosity that he was “going forward with values that have never failed us when we lived up to them.” George Bush’s Presidency is the ultimate example of what happens when you don’t.

George Bush and his advisors failed to plan a war that forced the enemy to surrender; failed to plan for the occupation; failed to plan for the reconstruction of the country; failed to plan for the widespread and dangerous cultural divisions within Iraq; and has failed to provide for a timely and secure hand over of sovereignty to the Iraqi people. Despite all this, he expects us to trust his “plan” to create democracy in the Middle East.

There’s faith and there is insanity folks. The difference between the two is one’s exposing faith to reality and adjust, rather than repeat the same failure over and over again.

Read more!

Outlook archive fun

From my days before blogging, a tidbit of a quote from Bush:

"It can be a frustrating experience to pay attention to somebody's false opinion or somebody's characterization, which simply isn't true.”

Brother, you said it!

Read more!

Outlook archive fun

From my days before blogging, a tidbit of a quote from Bush:

"It can be a frustrating experience to pay attention to somebody's false opinion or somebody's characterization, which simply isn't true.”

Brother, you said it!

Read more!

Dead between the horizontal and vertical axes.

So, thanks to Ed cone. I learned here that I'm "officially" Gen X, despite my oldest brother's contentions that I don't deserve to be in his generation. (I always thought if it was good enough for Gregor Mendel, then it should have been good enough for him.) Though my place on the cusp is pretty evident from the identifiers.

You're a Gen Xer if ...

_ You were born between 1965 and roughly 1977. - Check, 1974. Interesting though that baby boomers got 19 years and we got 12. Is there anything those folks won't hoard for themselves?

_ You or your peers were ever called "slackers." - Dude, of course. Which Lebowski quote do you want?

_ You were coming of age when the Challenger Space shuttle exploded. - I'm not sure, in fact, what the hell does it mean to "come of age"? Was I supposed to have a hit single?

_ One of your first favorite movies was "Star Wars" or "E.T." - I get a little bit of old school credit - saw Star Wars in 1977-8. (Being three I hope you'll forgive my being imprecise.) Does this mean my brothers had to go nearly ten years to enjoy a movie? That explains a lot.

_ You wore parachute pants. - Admittedly, my older brother's parachute pants, but I wore those mothers.

_ Grunge was more than dirt to you. - If it weren't in article that quotes Rep. Patrick McHenry that would be the most cliched thing here. But, alas, they do quote the oldest thirty year-old in North Carolina.

_ George H.W. Bush or Bill Clinton was the first president you voted for or against (if you voted). - I guess they just assume those that could didn't vote in 1984. Slackers!

_ Kurt Cobain's suicide was a defining event for you or your friends. - Not sure about this "defining" me, but perhaps I came of age then. After all, it freed me from Grunge.

_ You've used floppy computer discs but consider them "old school." - If we're talking about the floppy floppy disks, then you bet. Some guy in Ed's comments refers to playing Pong in reference to their being a baby-boomer - a really immature baby boomer.

_ You cut your musical teeth on Madonna, Duran Duran and The Cure. Would I frikkin' admit to any of this if I did?

_ You like the sound of "40 is the new 30." - I like the sound of 30, period. And luckily, since I forget my age has as often as not, I hear 30 a lot.

___

You're a Gen Yer if ...

_ You're a young adult born roughly 1978 or after. - No but by association I have more than a few friends in this category.

_ Remote-control TVs, microwaves and telephones with keypads are a given to you. - "Telephones with keypads"? Oh, there talking about non-rotary phones. guess keypads were a given.

_ You vividly remember the World Trade Center attacks, but barely recall the fall of the Berlin Wall. - I'm supposed to come of age with the Challenger, but some other twelve year-old barely noticed the fall of communism? And who doesn't remember 9/11 better than what happened in a Jesus Jones song?

_ You consider '80s music to be oldies. - I consider it to be mostly crap, does that count?

_ Your Starbucks habit started before you got out of school. - Okay, lost a little Y-credibility there. Though, had I not been seeing someone in college, I might well have discovered coffee shops earlier.

_ You think it's silly to buy music on CDs. - Again, they delve in generalizations.

_ You have a cell phone but no land line. - Yup, that is something silly.

_ Your school loans and credit card debt total far more than your first year's salary. - And thanks for the reminder.

_ People have called you and your peers spoiled or "entitled." - Has any generation in American history not been labeled "entitled". We may be the first with a plausible argument that's not the case, but we've certainly been labeled it.

_ You are logged onto your computer 24 hours a day and think nothing of it. - that's just boring.

_ You chuckle when you see a "Vote for Pedro" T-shirt. - Maybe I'm just immature, but "Your mother went to college!"

Read more!