The SoapBoxers

Recently the New York Times has reported that a deal has been struck between the online music application Lala and Apple. Although the specifics have not been released the deal has been speculated to be around $80 million. This purchase could mean big changes for Apple’s iTunes.

Lala is an online-based music application that allows users to “buy” streams of music for 10 cents a track or a dollar and album. Users are also able to purchase full MP3 tracks for 89 cents each. I love this service and currently use it daily. I’m anxious to see what Apple does with it and how it integrates this service into iTunes.

Apple has claimed that they are not really interested in the company behind Lala, but the people. They are buying the ideas and engineers behind the program. This means that they are interested in getting the experience Lala engineers have in streaming music distributed from a cloud. This could mean quite a few different features brought to Apple’s iTunes.

The first possibility is that Apple will directly port the Lala service to iTunes, allowing people to purchase the right to stream music for a cheap price instead of having to pay full price for other music formats. This seems unlikely to me as Lala’s business model doesn’t seem to be working currently and the other options seem to be more Apple friendly.

The next option is a subscription music service. Many of iTunes competitors already offer this already. Napster and Rhapsody allow you to have “all-you-can-eat” music for one low monthly price. They even allow you to download the music to portable mp3 players for listening on the go. Apple could leverage Lala’s streaming music service to bring a subscription streaming service to iTunes.

The final possibility I see Apple possibly considering is custom web radio. The current up and comer in the online music world is Pandora.

Pandora is probably one of my most used web applications. Pandora allows you to rate music you like and chooses new music for your online radio stations based on your ratings. I love Pandora, it does a great job, and it’s growing at a fantastic rate and I can’t imagine that Apple doesn’t want to get into this. Apple already has a recommendation engine with their music Genius, they could easily incorporate Lala’s streaming service to build their very own Genius radio to compete with Pandora.

This is the worst week for sports this time of year. No college football….does anyone else feel the same way.

So with nothing really FUN to talk about here are a few quick hits this week in the world of sports.

Roy Halladay vs Cliff Lee. The baseball pundits are already spinning their webs on this one. I like Halladay more, much much more. He has been in the brutal American League East for years pitching on bad teams and dominating the competition. He will go to the National League and be totally dominating, even more so than he has been. Cliff Lee …. two seasons does not a career make.

Jake Locker – What are you doing? You have the chance to be the number one overall pick in the NFL draft according to some of the experts. Come back for your senior year for the Huskies? It is not like your team is going to contend for the National Title or even Rose Bowl for that matter. Take the money and run kid. Even if you have a good year in 2010 you are STILL going to get drafted high by a crappy team in the NFL, and the money won’t be near as good one Goodell restructures the rookie contracts this off-season.

Tiger Woods – Just when you thought you had heard it all, now possible ties to doctors that have prescribed steroids and HGH to the likes of Marion Jones and A-Rod. Could it get any worse for Eldrick? Can’t wait to see what transpires with this story in the next couple of days.

Toby Gerhart once again proves the East and Southeast bias in the media is alive and well. We have too many folks voting for the Heisman. How you can have Colt McCoy ahead of Gerhard on ANY ballot is a crime. I am still not convinced Ingram is the best candidate but I do think the person that should have won the award got jobbed.

And now the all obvious NFL comments of the week

Will everyone on ESPN quit talking about the Dallas Cowboys? We get it already, they don’t win in December. We can watch our Plasma big screens and figure that one out by ourselves.

Here is another news flash, Randy Moss appears frustrated and played like a pouting four year old on this past Sunday. Have we heard this story before.

And while we are at it … Will the Colts sit their players? Will the Saints sit their players? Who freaking cares? They are both going to the playoffs. Just as long as I don’t have to listen to another crappy 1972 Dolphins and drinking Champagne reference over the next couple of weeks.

Here is hoping next week has better “and fresher” stories to talk about

Bah Humbug!

Red Sox sign Mike Cameron, John Lackey

The Red Sox snuck one past me yesterday by signing Mike Cameron to patrol their outfield.  I had been under the assumption that the Red Sox would sign either Jason Bay or Matt Holliday to patrol left field, and was a bit stunned to hear of the signing.  Cameron is a fine defensive player (a three time gold glove winner), but is a big step down from Bay or Holliday offensively. 

Cameron, who will turn 37 in January, is also considerably older than Holliday (who will be 30 in January) or Bay (32 in September).  Players tend to lose a step as they age, and their offensive skills tend to erode.  So it is pretty likely (almost a certainty) that the Red Sox will get less offense from Cameron than they would from Bay or Holliday.  Cameron is a better defender, although defensive range is less important in Fenway Park than in other ballparks because the left field wall is very shallow.  The ability to gauge where balls will ricochet off the 37 foot high Green Monster is more important than foot speed.

On the flip side, the two year deal, worth a total of $15.5 million, is a lot less money than Bay or Holliday will command (easily twice that much, and for five or more years.)  The Red Sox may have simply decided that it would be more cost effective to upgrade a corner infield sport (with either 3B Adrian Beltre or 1b Adrian Gonzalez).  Gonzalez has come into the spotlight a bit in recent years, but Mr. Eyebrows still doesn’t get the respect he deserves.  His raw numbers (3 straight 30+ homer season, 40 homers and a .958 OPS in 2009) are impressive.  When you stop to think that he plays in a park (Petco) that greatly depresses offense, the numbers are even more amazing.  Put him in Fenway, and he’ll win a couple of MVP awards.

The signing is bad news for Bay and Holliday, as it takes a rich suitor off the table. Bay and Holliday will certainly get some serious coin in their deals, but the Cameron deal may end up costing them a couple of million dollars per year. 

The Red Sox also shored up their rotation by signing right handed starting pitcher John Lackey.  This move makes sense on a number of levels.  Other than the cash given to Lackey ($85 million over five years), the marginal acquisition cost was merely a second round pick.  The Red Sox had signed Marco Scutaro (another type A free agent) earlier in the offseason, and were thus bound to lose their 2010 1^st round pick.  Signing Lackey merely means that their 2010 first rounder will go to Anaheim as compensation for losing Lackey, while reducing Oakland’s compensation for Scutaro to a 2^nd rounder.  Additionally, taking Lackey away from the Angels makes it a bit easier for Boston to get past the Angels, if they were to face them in the playoffs.  While Lackey isn’t as flashy as some of the other top pitchers, he’s definitely an ace-caliber guy.

Phillies Acquire Ace, Trade Away Ace

The Phillies made waves by finally ending Roy Halladay’s long twist in the wind by acquiring Doc from the Toronto Blue Jays.  The Phillies then turned around and traded their existing ace, Cliff Lee, to the Seattle Mariners.  Prospects were the counterweight in both trades.  Halladay is a year older than Lee, but has been a more consistent performer over the course of their careers.  Additionally, Halladay is righthanded (Lee was a lefty), allowing the Phillies to pair him with Cole Hamels for a righty/lefty combination at the top of their rotation.  While the Phillies were able to neutralize teams that were heavily left handed (the Rockies in the NLDS for example) because of the lefty-dominant rotation, having a balance of righty/lefty makes them a bit less susceptible to teams that lean heavily one way or the other.

I know that I was brought to this site to primarily discuss the pleasures and stresses of writing, but I am also a man. This article will focus on one of my favorite and most painful pastime, professional football, specifically the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was born in Pittsburgh and am old enough to remember the bad years before Chuck Noll, the Super ‘70s, the dreadful ‘80s, the resurgent ‘90s and the return to super over the last few years.

The collapse that the various talking heads are discussing can be attributed to several things.

Some are claiming that coach Tomlin won Super Bowl XLIII using coach Cowher’s team. In some ways this may be true, but we must remember that essentially the same team had a losing season the last year of coach Cowher’s reign. It will not truly be Tomlin’s team until year five, we are in year three.

Some are suggesting that coach Tomlin has been too easy on the team, especially the veterans. Again, this is partially true. The fans and pundits are going to have to come to the realization that some of the stars on this team are going to retire either at the end of this year or next year (they have all been playing 10 years or more). This exodus will affect the defense somewhat more than the offense as Hampton (NT), Hoke (NT), Smith (DE), Kirschke (DE), Townsend (CB), Carter (SS) and Farrior (ILB) are all approaching the end of their careers. The offense will definitely suffer when Ward (WR) decides he is done. If coach had run these guys though the toughest practices, they would not have made it this far without serious injury.

As we look at what has gone wrong, we can see holes in every facet of the game. There have been more kick returns for touchdowns and yards than any other team. Admittedly, they have faced the best returners in the league (e.g. Cribbs-CLE twice). Continuing with the special teams, the punting is back in line, just coverage has holes. Field goals are solid and kick offs also good, just coverage. My recommendation is to look for free agents that can be better on coverage. The guys we have are good, but not good enough.

Moving to defense, all looks good until the fourth quarter. This can be attributed to injury (e.g. Polamolu), but I believe that the aging core of the defense is a larger factor in the late game collapses. There is also the lack of breaks. This year has seen a drop in the number of tipped balls landing in the hands of the various linebackers, safeties and corners. There has also been a dramatic decline in forced fumbles and as a result fumble recoveries. The team has to really focus on defense on the off season. This will sound odd to most people who follow the game since the Steelers are still rated so high in defense. That rating is misleading, just look at the results after having leads in the fourth quarter.

In addition, it may be time for coach Dick LeBeau to retire. This is sacrilege to most Steelers fans and most pundits. This is not a condemnation of his talents. It is simply a recognition that he has far too many disciples in the ranks of the defensive coaches throughout the league. One of the biggest problems of continuous success is imitation and careful study.

On the offense, most of the blame will rightfully fall on the line. These guys have simply been outclassed for two years now. The staff did little to sure up the line in the off season, by draft or trade. When even the Cleveland Browns can get eight sacks, there is an issue. This is not the only problem. The lack of a running game has forced more passing, giving opponents many more opportunities to get at the quarterback. Mendenhall has recovered nicely from his injury, but does not have the outside speed to keep defenses honest, and Parker simply has not recovered his acceleration since his knee injury two years ago. Moore is not a premier back, although he does make things interesting. I am not suggesting that the backs need to be replaced, they just need to heal. For that matter, Roethlisberger needs to heal as well. The true actions are to find some key players for the line. It may be as simple as one or two players. This can be seen by the dramatic drop of talent with the departure of Alan Faneca after Super Bowl XL.

Now I am done ranting about the failings of the team. Many will accuse me of being a defeatist, but this season is done. No team with a 9 and 7 record will make the playoffs, and the Steelers have three tough games left. My final recommendations are as follows;

1. Sit Ben in favor of Dennis Dixon. I don’t believe that this will result in more wins, it will give Ben a chance to heal and Dennis a chance to get experience for the next time he is needed to step up due to injury or any other reason.
2. Only play Hines in the first half. This will keep him at the top of his game and give him rest. This will also give some of the other receivers more time on the field. Sweed needs to used or dropped. Logan needs more time beyond returns. Wallace has proven he is a starter. These are the guys practicing with Dixon anyway, so give them time, they are the future.
3. Don’t let Troy play until the Miami game. Make him sit and heal, this will be hard since he is such a passionate player. Roll in the back up linebackers from the special teams to get them into the fold. Again, Farrior is coming to the end of his career, the younger guys need the playing time.
4. Put some veterans in for return coverage. Their example can help the younger players maintain their lanes and assignments.

I confess that I have never played the game, nor have I ever coached. I do not expect coaches Tomlin, Arians, or LeBeau to take my recommendations. This is the United States of America. Everyone here has the right to their own opinion, that is the right of free speech. No one has the right to be listened to, so I have to accept what I can not change.

Texas football coach Mack Brown recently got a raise and will earn $5 million per year.  Several college football coaches make more than $3 million per year.  These coaches make considerably more than the athletic directors and university presidents who are their superiors.  Are they worth the money?

Let’s take a look.  I’ll use a local example – $3 million per year coach Kirk Ferentz of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes  – as a case study.  Iowa is a successful, but not elite, program.  They frequently contend for conference titles, but aren’t at the same level as teams like Florida and Texas who are constantly in discussions for the national title.  They have a devoted fan base, but when the team falls on hard times, they fail to sell out the stadium.

How many more tickets will a team sell if they have a successful coach (let’s say, one who makes $3 million per year) versus a coach that has lackluster results and makes $500,000?  I’ll say that this can be 10,000 or more tickets.

In our case study, the Hawkeyes topped 70,000 in average home attendance in 1991 and 1992.  The 1991 Iowa team finished 10-1-1, while the 1992 team was 5-7 (but would have pre-sold many tickets on the basis on the 1991 team’s success).  In 2000, the team drew an average of just 61,123 fans per home game, due to lackluster seasons in 1998 (3-8), 1999 (1-10), and 2000 (3-9).  Legendary coach Hayden Fry had ridden off into the sunset following the 1989 season, and new coach Kirk Ferentz took over a program in need of rebuilding.

By 2004, the success of the team had once again caused the attendance to top 70,000 – topping out at a capacity average attendance of 70,585.  This represents an increase of 9,462 fans above the 1991 low water mark.  You’ll notice that this is less than the 10,000 figure I mentioned above.  However, we also don’t know how far attendance would have dropped if the team had kept losing.  The 61,123 figure from 2000 may have become a stepping stone along to path to a sub-50,000 average attendance.  For the sake of this case study, we’ll use the 9,462 figure with the knowledge that this will most likely produce a conservative estimate.  Most teams in BCS conferences play seven homes games, so that means that a good Iowa team can sell 66,444 more tickets than a bad Iowa team.

The University of Iowa’s season ticket price in 2009 was $339 ($48.42 per game).  So, how much revenue did those 66,444 tickets generate?  $3,217,218.48 – with negligible marginal cost to the University.  There’s more cash where that came from, though.  Let’s estimate $750,000 ($11.29 per person) in concession stand revenue from brats, nachos, popcorn, soda, and other high margin items.

Successful teams can also tap into a larger revenue stream outside the stadium.  A team’s hard core fans will always buy t-shirts and coffee mugs, but a successful run means that more fair-weather fans (and every team has them) will jump on the bandwagon.  Then there is the issue of money from donors.  Successful teams attract considerably more money from donors.  Every dollar a donor puts toward a project is a dollar the university can save.

Kirk Ferentz is worth the money – no doubt about it.  The revenue increase more than offsets his $3 million salary.

Am I suggesting that a successful football coach has more importance in society than a university president – or, for that matter, a social worker?  No.  But from a pure economic standpoint, hiring a successful football coach can often be worth the money.

Did you find this article interesting?  You may also like my article that asks “Should College Athletes Be Paid?“

Tiger Woods
We haven’t talked about the Tiger Woods situation yet. Part of the reason for this is the fact that there really aren’t a lot of details yet. The picture that seems to be emerging is that there was some sort of argument about alleged affairs that Tiger may have had. There is additional speculation about whether Elin Woods smashed the car window s with a golf club in order to help him out, or smashed them prior to the accident, chasing him in a fit of rage.

On Tuesday, there was additional drama at Tiger’s house, as an ambulance transported a female to the hospital. After hours of speculation, it turned out that it was Tiger’s mother-in-law who was complaining of stomach pains. She was released on Tuesday afternoon.  This would appear to be completely unrelated to the earlier incident, but did serve to put Tiger back into the media spotlight again.

Tiger has always been very focused on the golf course – but will this be what causes him to lose focus and fail in his attempt to break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships (he currently stands at 14)? Tiger has always been a very private person. He has more money that he could probably spend in a lifetime – is it possible that he could walk away from the game in his prime? Stranger things have happened.

[Update: On Friday night, a day after I wrote this article, Tiger announced that he will take an “indefinite” leave of absence from golf.]

Sadistic People
A report of a recent crime in CNN really caught my attention. A woman thought that another woman was having an affair with her husband and was pregnant with his child. The woman forged a prescription for an abortion-inducing drug on a doctor’s stolen prescription pad, had a pharmacist fill the prescription, and then called the pregnant woman, pretending to be from the woman’s doctor’s office and telling her she needed to take this drug immediately.

The pregnant woman believed this, and took the drug. She had to be taken to the hospital, where here baby was born two months early (and is still in an intensive care unit).

That’s not the end of the story, though. After the baby was born, the other woman tried to poison the kid by attempted to sneak tainted breast milk into the hospital.

I have no idea if the woman’s suspicions of an affair were warranted. In any case, why punish an unborn child? That’s just twisted.

You can read the full story on CNN

The Salahi Saga

The attorney for Tareq and Michaele Salahi has responded to a congressional subpoena by saying that the couple does not intend to testify, but would instead invoke their 5th amendment rights.

Let’s review the 5th amendment:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

First of all, I’m not even certain the the 5th amendment applies.  Let’s read the clause regarding self-incrimination:

nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself

Of course, a congressional hearing is not a criminal case, so this would not apply.  I suppose that an argument could be made that this clause applies:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury

However, I don’t think that the Salahis’ behavior could qualify as an “infamous” crime.  More importantly, though, is that taking the 5th would completely contradict the assertion that the Salahis were invited to the state dinner.  If they truly did nothing wrong, then why would they fear self-incrimination?

I stumbled across Michaele Salahi’s Facebook page while writing this (on December 10) and was quite amused.  Not only does the page have photos from the state dinner (with a status that begins “I was honored to be invited to attend the First State Dinner hosted by President Obama & the First Lady …” but also has photos with other celebs, including Donny Osmond.  Oh, and there’s also contact information for Michaele, in case you want to book an appearance.  Hilarious.  [Note: it seems that content is being actively removed from the page – I’m not sure how much will still be there when you read this.]

There was a special energy inside the Thomas and Mack center in Las Vegas. The finals had come down to one ride. Defending champion Ty Morris needed a score of 91 in the short go to repeat as champion. Morris had a history of rising to the occasion, and the crowd was eagerly anticipating a great performance.

Morris was atop Crash Course in the bucking chute. His secured his grip on the rope, gritted his teeth, and gave the signal. The chute opened, and Crash Course exploded out of the enclosure and into the arena. Morris felt the fury of three quarters of a ton of bovine anger as the bull immediately attempted to buck him off. Morris easily retained his perch, but knew that the worst was yet to come. Crash Course had been named bucking bull of the year on two occasions and had already clinched the award for this year. The bull had a mean streak a mile wide and struck fear in the hearts of some of the riders.

After two quick steps, Crash Course leaped into the air, and Ty felt his hat go flying. He felt his body rise slightly into the air as Crash Course returned to terra firma with a jolt. Ty flopped forward before righting himself. He could feel intense pain in his back – the landing had aggravated the inflamed disc. Ty had to block out the pain and focus on the task at hand, as Crash Course executed a tight, quick spin that nearly made Ty lose his lunch. This was a hell of a bull – if he going to have a shot at scoring 91, this was the bull to ride.

The bull bellowed with frustration, angered by the fact that Ty was still aboard. He quickly spun in the other direction. Ty remembered this move from his last ride on Crash Course, and was able to shift his body in anticipation of the spin.

The angry bull once again showed off his vertical leap, and once again Ty popped slightly out of his seat but was able to stay aboard. Once again, incredible pain shot through his entire back as bull and rider returned to earth.

Crash Course quickly spun to the right. Once again, Ty readied himself for next spin in the opposite direction. True to form, Crash Course began his spin to the left. Before completing the spin, the bull quickly reversed course again and spun back to the right. Ty was caught by surprise – the spin left was a fake. He tried to compensate but felt his body sliding too far off center. Crash Course leaped into the air one final time, this time returning to the ground sans rider.

Ty Morris landed on the ground with a thud. He landed almost entirely on his back and felt an explosion of pain. This time the pain didn’t just shoot through his back, but spread to his entire body. From his position on the dirt, he saw Crash Course romp triumphantly out of the arena. Ty struggled to his feet, pointed in the direction of the arena’s exit chute as a way of recognizing the bull’s fine performance, and set about the task of finding his hat.

Traffic is getting worse. People have less patience and shorter tempers. Americans are willing to nearly kill each other in the name of bargains. Yes, the holiday season is once again upon us. In this time of religious remembrance, I’d like to talk about things I’m thankful for and things I’d like to see in my lifetime.

I’m thankful I live in a country where write my opinion with little or no fear of reprisal from those who disagree. While some would argue that freedom of speech is being slowly trampled on in the United States, we must all remember that the privilege to speak freely must be tempered by rational thought and realization of consequences.

In my lifetime I’d like to see certain “taboo” subjects able to be discussed without people looking at you with the same face they make when one smell sour milk. Sex is the big one. Americans have a strange love/hate relationship with sex that stems from being a country with exceptional freedoms but still having Puritanical roots.

I’m thankful I live in a country where I can proudly proclaim my agnosticism and have only minimal reactions. There are places in this world where not dressing the “correct” way can get you killed, so freedom of religion is a pretty big deal.

In my lifetime I’d like to see an even bigger separation of church and state. For all you right-wing Christians who just freaked out over that, imagine this: You’re driving down main street in your town and pass by town hall. There is a lovely display out front of Muhammad fasting for Ramadan, proudly bowing toward Mecca with his prayer book … wait, what? That brief bit of outrage you may or may not have felt is not unlike what many Muslims or Jews or Atheists feel when the government has any kind of religious display over another. We can’t continue to call ourselves the land of the free and the home of the brave as long as we fear religious equality and cower under 1800’s conventions.

I’m thankful for the Internet. Yes, I’m a geek. Yes, I’m probably addicted. But hey, you’re reading this online right now so you might be too. The internet is an amazing tool that allows anyone to get nearly any piece of information. It’s a wonderful diversion from life. It’s a way to communicate with people across vast distances.

In my lifetime I’d like to see a bigger government stance on what exactly net neutrality is and should be. I have no problems with communications companies making a buck off the wires they worked hard to string. I have a big problem with communications companies not clearly presenting the terms of service they will deliver while more or less being a monopoly. There are quite a few places where the company who offers a stable and reliable internet connection is the only gig in town, and with the Internet becoming almost as necessary as telephone, television, the local library, and the post office all in one, we need to prevent abuse. Any company that has stockholders to answer to will gladly screw over their own customers in a devious way if it means a few extra points on their shares.

I’m thankful for a democratic system of representation. It’s no where near perfect, but it’s better than most. The mayor of the town I live in will be sworn in tonight and he won by less than 100 votes. Knowing your vote counts is a good feeling.

In my lifetime I’d like to see more rules on political donations, lobbyists, and campaign transparency. It’s nice that we have a 2 party system when some countries still have 1 party or a dictatorship. It’s a shame the majority of both those parties are more or less owned by their corporate masters. William Gibson has written quite a few books about a dystopian future where corporations are the most powerful things on the planet and governments are more or less puppets of them, and the common man suffers. What he writes is fiction, but that concept is not. Every day lives are ended because someone cut corners because someone told them money needed to be saved. We’re almost at 2010, we should be growing more away from capital greed and more toward racial enlightenment. Do you really think Joe Lieberman is against a public health care option because of personal convictions? He’s listed as an independent, but he really should be the Etna senator.

Finally, I’m thankful I’m still employed. I have a degree in music and I’ve been lucky enough to have a job in computers that is reasonably interesting and fairly stable. My spouse has been out of work for a while and while things are tight, we’re not struggling nearly as bad as many.

In my lifetime I’d like to see this country get serious about infrastructure replacement and rebuilding. It would be expensive, yes, but it needs to be done. The I-35 bridge collapse is probably the most glaring example of infrastructure failure at the cost of lives, but it’s certainly not the only one. There are many other bridges, tunnels, roadways, etc across the country that are in even worse shape and just waiting to fail. Each one of those is also an opportunity to put people to work. Yes, it costs money to do so, but do we really need another stealth bomber or another year fighting a war on drugs that is unwinnable?

Regardless of if you agree or disagree with anything I said, may you and the people you hold dear find peace and happiness this holiday season.

12/1 – I really did a lot of editing before continuing the story.  My wife read the first two chapters and helped out a lot, especially in the female character dialog.  Finished up chapter 39 and chapter 40.  I have the main character working hard at being a good farmer.  He is working with and learning from his father in law.  I took the story to the end of spring and the end of the school semester.  The friends of the main characters have their baby as the last line of the chapter.

12/2 – worked on chapters 41 and 42.  The main character is really pushing for a child of his own.  The wife is not exactly against the idea, but needs some convincing.  Both characters have a lot of things going on in their lives.  In Chapter 41, the priest has a heart attach and they go to visit him.  In Chapter 42, there is an end of summer party that reunites many of the characters.  I wanted to get them all in the same place to compare and contrast the choices that they have made and their successes and failures.

I am getting in a lot of writing because I have to wait up each night for my daughter to come home.  She is only 17 and works retail.  Her hours are late because it is the Christmas season.  I think I will be done with the bulk of the writing tomorrow, then starts the hardest task, editing.  Just from what I have done myself and the one day my wife looked at it, editors are worth their weight in gold.

12/3 – DONE!  I finished just before midnight.  Three chapters.  Apparently I had two chapter 32s and missed chapter 35 so some of my previous entries may have missed parts of the story, or duplicated, I don’t know which.  I found out when I created a table of contents.  That is a very useful tool in Microsoft Word.  The final word count is just over 68,000 words.  It is really weird to have all of these ideas written down.  I have copied it to several computers and on two memory sticks.  I don’t want to lose it now that I am done.

The story reaches may peaks in these last few chapters.  The main characters decide to go ahead and try to get pregnant.  The main character’s wife goes off to a state school for college, it is close enough to drive to.  The priest passes away, this is not necessarily a bad event, just sad because they have lost a friend and counselor.  The main characters find out that the accident was not his fault, the other driver fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the median.  She gets pregnant and gives birth.  The final chapter is only three sentences long.  I think it wraps up the story very nicely, but the community will have to wait for the editing to be completed.  I want to leave some of it in suspense!

Writing these articles has almost been as much fun as writing the story.  It was a romance in the end.  My next effort will start next week as I travel again.  I am thinking Science Fiction this time.  Less dialog, more action and no need for sex scenes unless there is alien sex like in Star Trek.  Kosmo has invited me to continue with a weekly input.  I have agreed.  It will mostly focus on the joys and stresses of writing, although I will sometimes wax poetic on other topics.  I hope all of you have enjoyed and will continue to read my musings.  Thank you.

A lot of water cooler talk around the offices this week after the games this past weekend.  Today, Johnny Goodman looks to find the truth about many of the issues in College football.

Fact- Alabama and Texas will play in the BCS Championship game

Truth- yep I can’t come up with another argument here.  These are the two most deserving teams and I have no beef with that

Fact:  Alabama beat Florida soundly

Truth:  Florida really isn’t that good.  Who have they beaten or dominated all year.  Heck I think the SEC is terribly overrated this year.  A lot of good teams yes, a lot of GREAT teams?  C’mon…no way…This conference gets more verbal blow than anything and it is totally unfounded this year.  Play a bowl game or better yet a nonconference road game outside of the southeast sometime.  What is your conference record the last 51 times you have left the southeast?  25-26.  Overrated!!!!

Fact:  Mack Brown was named Big XII 2009 AP Coach of the year

Truth:  Did you watch the Texas vs. Nebraska game?  Then tell me which team imposed their will and their style of play and was :01 away from pulling off the upset as a 15 point underdog.  Coach of the year?  This guy can’t coach at all.  If Tom Osborne would have had the talent Texas gets every year in their program the Huskers would have had about five more national titles during his tenure.  Mack Brown is a average coach in arguably the easiest place to land fantastic recruits.  Saturday night was just another example of that.  His total and complete mis-management of the game clock at the end of the game almost prevented his kicker from having a shot at the game winning kick and the Horns from a shot in the BCS title game.  This guy is the luckiest coach ever…but he isn’t even in the top three coaches in his own conference.  Frankly I am surprised that Texas fans are not piling on about this right now.  After they get wood-shedded by Alabama, maybe they will be.

Fact: Cincinnati deserves to be playing in the BCS game against Alabama

Truth – you gave up a forty spot to Pittsburgh?  The argument stops there.  The Panthers are not exactly an offensive juggernaut.  Brian Kelly likely is gone to Notre Dame, and bad coaching by Wannestadt might make it a certainty now.  The Bearcats are good, but top 3 in the county???….nope.

Fact:  The refs put back one second on the clock in the Big XII title game

Truth:  They did get this one right although I hate to admit it being a Husker fan.  If time expired it would have made LSU coaching buffoon moves at the end of the game a few weeks ago look like no big deal.  The Truth also is that the #3 team was lucky to escape and was dominated by a team with a far superior defense who unfortunately for them has an offense that would barely be effective in your kids Pop Warner league.

Fact:  This year is a toss-up for the Heisman Trophy

Truth – Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh should win the award but won’t.  Lets run down the top candidates here.  Tim Tebow – nope –  lost last game and cried on the sideline.  There is no crying in Football Timmy! – and had average statistical year, Colt McCoy, laid an egg in final game and last second (literally) gaffe almost cost team a shot at the title game.  Jimmy Clausen – hardly.  Mark Ingram – you can’t get pulled in the next to last game for being ineffective and win THIS award.  Toby Gerhart – I could see this as I think he has been most consistent – Suh –has been dominating in every big game for the Huskers defense which is very good.  He had 4.5 sacks and 12 tackles – 8 for losses – an numerous hurries in the Big XII title game.  Can you honestly say there is a better or more dominating player in the country this year?