Ugly unis, saving bears and other pearls

It’s a nasty day in the Gator Nation. Last night, the Gators embarrassed themselves by allowing Louisville to have their way with them in the Sugar Bowl. If you are going to be trounced, I guess it’s best that it not come from a big rival. And at least we like Louisville coach Charlie Strong. Coach Strong spent most of his coaching career as an assistant at Florida and was very well liked and respected.

I blame it all on the Curse of the Ugly Uniforms. Teams simply do not play well in ugly uniforms, and the Gators’ unis were stinkos last night. Blue jerseys and orange pants look terrible. They have perfectly good white pants to wear.

From The Gainesville Sun

At least they didn’t wear orange over orange. They would have looked like Clemson. Well, at least Clemson won their bowl game.

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I get marketing emails from Barnes & Noble. They advertise the impending release of “bestsellers.” How can a book be a bestseller when it hasn’t been released yet?

Similarly, I was talking with a neighbor last week. She said her family had “started a new Christmas tradition.” Isn’t a “new tradition” an oxymoron? Like the frequently mentioned “instant classic.” I think you have to do something for a while before it becomes a tradition.

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Several of us parents with adult children were talking last weekend about giving our offspring Christmas presents. Several mothers, including Mrs. Poolman, were sharing their difficulties in making sure that they spent the exact same amount of money on each child. One mother keeps a careful list with her receipts and adds it up to make sure there isn’t more than a $20 difference in the multi-hundred dollar gift lists. They even got into discussing whether it matters if they get a present on sale. Should they count the sale price or the regular retail price in their computations?

I thought the whole issue was ridiculous. Gifts are supposed to be an expression of affection, respect or appreciation, not a mathematical model. If I ever heard even an inkling of a complaint from one of my children that I had not spent enough money on their Christmas gifts, it would make my shopping next year a lot easier and a lot cheaper.

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And finally, I ran across this video today and was astounded. Apparently it’s been out for several months. It’s only about a minute long, but it will make you feel good. The world needs more people like this.

 

 

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Only eight and a half more months!

I stayed up late last night to watch the Alabama-Texas game. Unfortunately, I missed the best part of the game. At half-time, it looked as if the Tide had it in their pocket and it was just a matter of running out the clock in the second half. I ended up dozing off early in the second half and completely missed the Longhorns comeback. I awoke as the game ended and saw the final score. I thought the blow out had just continued.  I didn’t realize there was any drama until I listened to the radio on the way to work. I hate it when these games are on work nights.

I was very happy to see Alabama win. That is four years in a row for SEC teams. Florida finished third in the polls with a 13-1 record and a Sugar Bowl win against previously undefeated Big East champ Cincinnati. It would have been fun to have watched the Gators play last night, but I can’t complain about that kind of season.

We have a guy here at work who is a Florida State fan. He is always trying to lump the SEC and the ACC together as “southern football.” Sorry, pal, that just doesn’t hold water, at least not for the past several years. In the last weekend of the regular season the ACC division winners (Georgia Tech and Clemson) were soundly beaten by two middle-of-the-pack SEC East teams (Georgia and South Carolina.) What else do you need to know?

The SEC did not have the best bowl record, but then again, the SEC sent 10 of its 12 teams to bowls. Does it really matter that an ACC runner up (Clemson) beat a team that finished fifth out of six teams in the SEC East (Kentucky)? Both SEC’s BCS teams won big.

As there is every year, there is a lot of grumbling out there about the so-called mid-majors and the BCS system. Some radio guys were talking about mounting a protest and voting Boise State #1. I actually have some sympathy for the Boise States of the world, but too much. If you really want to be taken seriously and walk with the big boys, then start acting like one. Upgrade your program and play a serious schedule. Either join a serious conference or upgrade your own. In Boise State’s case, joining the PAC 10 (then 11) would make perfect sense. You go undefeated against that competition and we’ll take you seriously. However, when you play one or two decent teams (especially real early in the season) and then flesh out your schedule with Sister Mary’s School for the Deaf and Blind and the Montana School for Cattle Rustlers, you won’t be taken seriously. Playing a Mountain West or WAC schedule simply does not match up against playing Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, Alabama, etc week in and week out. You MAY be the best team in the country, but we’ll never know for sure.

Let’s see, signing day is about a month away; spring practice about 3 months down the road and summer camp a few months after that. Fall kick off in 8 and a half months. Can’t wait!

Happy 2010!

I have been off of work for the past week. It has been busy, if not particularly exciting.

I got a call from my friend, Craig, while I was out walking for exercise last Tuesday. He wanted to know if I wanted to go golfing the next day. Normally that isn’t such an unusual call, but neither Craig nor I have played golf in years. I used to play a lot, although I was never any good. A round in the 90s was a great achievement. I fell out of practice when I moved to Savannah in the early 90s. None of my friends played much; it is time consuming and expensive, so I stopped playing frequently. I have probably averaged a round a year for the past ten years.

We went out and hit some balls Tuesday afternoon. Gradually something that vaguely resembled a swing started to come back. However, it was obvious I couldn’t hit anything longer than a 5-iron, even off the tee.

We played on Wednesday, with Craig’s son, Brian. Brian actually has some game and played well. Craig and I didn’t even keep score. I hit a few good shots, but there were a couple of holes on both the front and back where I just “picked up” and said the heck with it. It was still a good time. It was even worth not being able to move the next day without back stiffness.

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Mrs. Poolman and I spent much of the rest of the week working on the house. Our goal is to clean out our bedroom and paint it. Then, we want to finish out putting hardwood or laminate flooring in the bedrooms. (I put hardwood laminate in the remaining living areas of the house several years ago. That is a story all of its own.)

Since Friday, we dismantled our bed, moved our furniture out of the master bedroom and ripped up some seriously disgusting carpet. (Remember, we have both dogs and cats. The carpet was roughly 14 years old.)

This is still a work in progress. One major issue will be to try to match as closely as possible the hardwood-laminate that is in the rest of the house. We haven’t been able to track down the original brand and color.

Whatever we do, we will hire someone to do the actual installation. I did that once and it took darn near an entire summer of weekends. I have neither the tools nor the expertise (or patience, for that matter) to tackle four individual rooms with all the cutting that would be involved.

At this point the master BR is ready for painting hopefully that will get done tomorrow.

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We had a quiet New Year’s Eve. We stayed at home and cooked a great meal. We picked up some rib eye steaks and a couple of frozen lobster tails at Sam’s Club earlier in the day. I cooked both on the grill while Mrs. P tossed a Caesar Salad. I had never tried grilling the lobster tails, but they turned out GREAT! It certainly is not something we would do for quick-meal work night, but for a special occasion it was phenomenal! We watched a movie on the DVR, but Mrs. Poolman was asleep on the couch before 11 pm. I stayed up past midnight and walked out to greet my neighbors who were shooting off firecrackers. However, I was in bed by 1 am.

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There was an article in the local newspaper about a fatal traffic accident at roughly 2 am New Year’s morning just a couple of blocks from here.  Single car accident. 15-year old driver. (Legal driving age in Georgia is 16.) I feel so sorry for the kids’s family.  I am curious for follow-up information, however. What is heaven’s name is a 15 year old  high school freshman doing out driving at 2 am on New Year’s Eve night? Where were his parents and what did they think happened to the car? What a tragedy!

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From the Orlando Sentinel

The pride of the Big East conference walked into the teeth of the SEC last night. I’m happy to say that my Gators “schooled” the Cincinnati Bearcats. Better luck next year. Good bye, Tim Tebow! It’s been a great run!

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Painting tomorrow, followed by “back to work” on Monday.