Immediately following Thanksgiving, you see about three or four radio stations in every major market switch over to an all-Christmas, all-the-time format. And I’m damn sick of it. But only this year have I really asked why. First, I thought it might be the standard depression of the season, as the college football regular season has ended and we’ve got a good 4 weeks before any meaningful bowl games start. But there’s more than that.
I can sum it up in one word. Encomium. Obviously, that requires a little explanation. Encomium is a CD that came out a few years ago, a tribute to Led Zeppelin. It contained covers of Led Zeppelin tunes by a number of hit bands. And some of them were pretty good, such as Stone Temple Pilots’ cover of Dancing Days. They kept much of the spirit and feel of the song, while putting a little of their own twist on it. But others weren’t so great. There are just as many hits as misses when you try to put your own spin on a great.
And that right there is what Christmas music is. Every crooner, from the greats, to the has-beens, and the never-were’s have made a Christmas album. I heard a cover of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” on the radio today by Sixpence None the Richer. For every smooth, well-produced tune with a voice like Harry Connick Jr powering the lyrics, there are multiple failures. It’s the same tune sung by the Chipmunks. It might be some nobody who has put a mediocre vocal on top of some bad 80’s synthesizer melody and beats. Or it’s a “diva”, who is turning what should be a single note into a trembling, wavering journey through six different octaves. Heck, Weird Al Yankovic can make one hell of a polka, but I really never thought “O Tannenbaum” needed an accordion solo!
There’s a lot of great music, and a lot of crappy music in the world. Over time, most of the crappy music finds the dust bin of history. You don’t hear many radio stations playing a Rollins Band cover of Zeppelin these days. But bad Christmas music is eternal. I guess when you have to fill 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on multiple radio stations, you don’t want to only play the good stuff. But the bad stuff is enough to ruin it for me. You can keep your Chipmunks and your divas, I’ll tune in to the channels playing normal music.
UPDATE: I was talking to a customer at work today, and he put me on hold. I was treated to hold music consisting of Christmas music performed by barking dogs. I CAN’T ESCAPE IT!!!
[...] Brad Warbiany weighs in against those radio stations that will be playing non-stop Christmas music, most of it bad, from now until December 25th. Bookmark to: [link] [...]
I have been hearing Christmas music since before HALLOWEEN. No kidding. My abhorrence to it stems from the fact that I seem to keep hearing the same seven songs over and over again. One of my favorite songs is John Lennon’s Happy Christmas (War is Over), which has been covered by lots of crappy people (as well as a couple that are not so crappy…) like Celine Dion, Melissa Etheridge, American Idol’s Rebecca St. James, Maroon 5, and others. Why would you want to hear anyone else singing a classic? Why do they play “eazy listening” versions of Santana songs? Do we really need Oye Como Va on jazz flute?
Yes, but GOOD christmas music is both eternal, and ecstatic, and ethereal, and exceptional among musical categories. Great christmas music is among the best music of any type.
I agree, the majority of christmas music is crap; but then the majority of ALL music is crap. I hereby invoke Sturgeons law.
The problem is, they compress all that crappy christmas music into two months a year; rather than spreading it out the whole year like other crappy music.
Brad, I happen to like the Chipmunks! I also like Donny Osmond singing, “Mary Did You Know”, The music from the Nut Cracker, the Hallaulah Chorus and many others. I agree that there is a great bit of bad Christmas music out there but If you had an Ipod, you could put only the music you liked and listen to that. Bonnie routinely makes up a CD of her favorites and puts it in her car. She also has her favorites on her Ipod……..Turn off those stations that only play Christmas music and listen to something else.
The man whom the CIA has tried to despatch with everything from a bacteria-infected hankie to an aerosol filled with LSD, is still around and should be blowing out the 80 candles on his cake on December 2, writes the Guardian newspaper.
Reviewing the film shown by British TV Channel Four Tuesday evening about the US government’s 638 failed plots to kill Fidel Castro, the Guardian UK says it comes at a timely moment.
At a time when US government officials speculate about the Cuban leader´s health situation, this film deals on the attempts on the life of Fidel Castro, either directly organized by the CIA or their many proxies, registered by retired general Fabian Escalante in his book 638 Maneras de Matar a Castro (638 Ways to Kill Castro).
I’ve got a canned response for people when they ask me about something that they think the government should be doing.
“I don’t trust them to deliver the mail, you think they can pull this [whatever they're proposing] off?”
How do you expect government to assassinate a foreign head of state, when it takes 27 bureaucrats to sign the appropriate forms before a government union employee can tie his shoes? These are the people you want to trust your retirement and healthcare to?
For your interest, they just showed an amazing doc here in UK where republican congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen brazenly admits to supporting CIA attemps to assassinate Castro
It’s making news here because the doc also featured what was practially a confession by Orlando Bosch that he planned the bombing of a cuban airliner killing 73 civilians over ten years ago.
Bosch is living a free man because George Bush Snr, granted him leave to remain in US despite objections of Senate and Congress.
What do you think?
(It is getting connected here with the assassination of the russian spy last week)
I saw programme and thought how sophisticated the Russians look with their radiation posioning of Litvienko compared to the CIA’s ‘exploding cigars’ plot!
Chess’s world governing body will introduce dope testing at the Asian Games this week, although the sport’s top official in Doha said he had no idea how drugs could enhance chess performance.
“I would not know which drug could possibly help a chess player to improve his game,” competition manager Yousuf Ahmad Ali said.
“But, yes, there will be official monitors who may demand that players undergo a drugs test after the rounds.”
I think we need Congress to investigate this. How much damage will it do to children in this country to find that their favorite chess heroes are using performance-enhancing drugs?
Just what did Bobby Fischer’s parents have him taking?
I was filling up the gas tank today, and I was thinking about the price. $2.099/gallon. Why, in this day and age, do they have to finish all their prices with 9/10ths of a cent? If I were driving more than I do now, filling up my truck’s 19 gal gas tank once a week, and they just rounded it up to the next cent, it would cost me 1.9 cents per week. Over the course of a year, that’s less than a dollar. What’s the deal? Is it really that important when advertising the price of gas?
Psychologically, yes it is. For some reason, when it comes to fractions of a cent, when the gross cost of an item us under 10 dollars, people will psychologically round down to “under 10 dollars”, and if it were $10.001 they would psychologically round up to “over ten dollars”.
They do the same thing at 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 1000, 5000, 10000, 20 and 25000, 50000 and 100000; only of course with differing orders of magnitude for the rounding.
This research started well over 100 years ago; and is currently used to great effect by Wal Mart, and gas stations.
Wal Mart has a policy; no price will ever be an even dollar amount, and they generally use .77 .88 and .97 as their decimal fraction.
That’s fine, Chris, but we’re talking about gas prices. We’re not talking about something that’s always $1.999 per gallon, you sit there and the gas station has it for $2.139 per gallon. Are you really going to feel the same psychological effect between $2.139 and $2.14? It’s not one of those easy cut-off prices, nor is it like (in the case of Wal-mart) trying to avoid even dollar amounts.
Comment by Brad Warbiany — November 28, 2006 @ 10:52 pm
Brad, the same psychology applies. Unconcsiously, people round 2.13 and 9/10ths down to $2.13.
For quantities under ten dollars, this one cent rounding actually makes a noticable difference in people buying patterns.
But this is gasoline we’re talking about, not really what I’d call a discretionary purchase. Don’t you think a station selling gas at $2.498 would sell more gas than one across the street that’s got it for $2.499? Yet gas stations always drop by a full penny. So why not just drop the 9/10th all around? It’s gotta cause accounting nightmares somewhere along the supply line.
As you guys have probably seen, I now have implemented “Categories” over there on the right sidebar. Unfortunately, since I haven’t been using these at all in the past, I have to go back through old posts and assign them to categories. Which sucks. Bad.
Only about 900 more to go! That’s about 18 months worth. Since it takes roughly an hour per month, I think I’ve got my work cut out for me.
James Walter Quick, 42, was charged with murder in the shooting of Richard Allen Johnson, 43. Johnson died from a single shot to the chest, according to a preliminary autopsy Sunday.
The two had bet $20 on the annual game, with Quick taking South Carolina, which won 31-28, and Johnson taking Clemson, Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said. They drank beer all afternoon and watched the game Saturday at Johnson’s home, and began arguing about the bet after the game.
Metts said Quick went to his car, got the rifle he normally uses for hunting and fired one shot, hitting Johnson in the chest. Deputies arrested Quick.
Wait a second… If Quick was betting on the Gamecocks, why was he so upset? They won the game… If this is how he acts when he wins a bet, I’d hate to see it when he loses!
A SPICY sausage known as the Welsh Dragon will have to be renamed after trading standards’ officers warned manufacturers that they could face prosecution because it does not contain dragon.
The sausages will now have to be labelled Welsh Dragon Pork Sausages to avoid any confusion among customers.
Jon Carthew, 45, who makes the sausages, said yesterday that he had not received any complaints about the absence of real dragon meat. He said: “I don’t think any of our customers believe that we use dragon meat in our sausages. We use the word because the dragon is synonymous with Wales.â€
Yep. The Bloody Leprechaun Irish Red Ale contains no leprechaun.
Oh, and when someone asks you to go “snipe hunting”, you’re probably not going to catch any snipe.
Well, my Boilers, a 20-point underdog, played a game down to the wire with the best offense in the nation, and got themselves beat by 7 in a 42-35 shootout. No fun for me, but it’s a lot better than it could have been, especially with a 17-0 deficit to Hawaii at the half. I really never thought Purdue could win this game until I listened to it in the 2nd half, and all of a sudden Purdue started playing like they’re capable of. At that point I thought we could win it. But, Hawaii’s offense really can’t be stopped, and they managed to come back in and win it (after an interception). Ugly stuff, but we played them to the wire, and that’s about all we can ask when you play an offensive powerhouse like Hawaii.
In other news, I finished 6-3 against the spread this weekend (66%), which brings my season total to 51-30 (63%). Notre Dame got beat worse than I thought they would, but I’ll never complain about that. Otherwise, it’s been a good weekend. If Purdue had managed to win, it would have been even better.
Well, thankfully Friday helped me get over my wrong pick from Thursday. That puts me 3-1 on the week against the spread (oddly 1-3 straight up), and I’m now 48-28 on the year.
There’s only one true game of consequence today, and that’s Notre Dame @ USC. It’s going to be a game of consequence in the Warbiany household as well, since the wife is From Southern Cal but grew up a Notre Dame fan. She actually wants to watch this game, and I think we’re going to be rooting for opposite teams.
Then, I need to figure out how to either watch or listen to the Purdue @ Hawaii game. Purdue is now a 19-point underdog, so I’m thinking I really don’t want to pay the $10 to order it and watch it online. So that might be internet radio all the way…
South Carolina has lost 5 games this year. Every one of those games was lost to a ranked (at the time) opponent. Two of those losses are to teams currently ranked in the top 10, two to teams ranked in the top 20, and the final loss (to Georgia early in the year) was a blowout to a team currently not ranked. Of their last four losses (to the teams all currently ranked in the top 20), no game was decided by more than 7 points.
Clemson looks like a tough team this year, with a high-powered offense and dominating defense. But it appears that they’ve dropped off in recent weeks, failing to score more than 20 points in each of the last three games.
South Carolina is going to keep this one close. Given the spread, and that Clemson is at home, I’ll still predict a Tiger victory, but I don’t see this being a blowout. I don’t like 5.5, because a one-touchdown margin is a loss on the bet, but I’m going to call this one for Spurrier leading the ‘Cocks to beat the spread.
Prediction: South Carolina beats the spread Predicted Final Score: Clemson 20, South Carolina 17 Final Score: South Carolina 31, Clemson 28 Prediction: RIGHT
Usually, there is a war in Florida between the Gators, ‘Canes, and ‘Noles, to see who is the dominant team. Florida won that war in mid-September, as Miami and FSU have both imploded, with Miami firing their head coach yesterday, and FSU’s nepotism-hired offensive coordinator resigning a few weeks ago. Florida, though, has been rolling offensively, with the two-headed monster of Leak and Tebow taking snaps.
This is a rivalry game, so again, stats mean little. What does mean something is what these teams are playing for. Florida State is already bowl-eligible, and this isn’t a conference game, so it really won’t affect which bowl they attend. Florida is working to impress poll voters in the hopes that they can amass a ranking high enough to get into the MNC game.
Another loss on their record, and Florida would be likely resting their starters a bit after they get a lead today. But they’re trying to make a statement, so I don’t see them taking their foot off the throttle. I think Florida is going to get an early lead, break FSU’s spirit, and then run it up.
Prediction: Florida covers Predicted Final Score: Florida 34, Florida State 17 Final Score: Florida 21, Florida State 14 Prediction: WRONG
An interesting line here… Georgia has been inconsistent all year, with their strongest showing a surprising blowout of Auburn a few weeks ago. Yet they lost to Kentucky and Vanderbilt, and just barely beat Miss St. Georgia Tech has beaten most everyone they should, with a close loss to Notre Dame, and a blowout loss to Clemson.
This game comes down to defense. Georgia Tech has enough defensive power to slow down Georgia’s offensive attack. That matchup should favor Tech. But the defense on the other side will decide this game. Can this Georgia defense force Reggie Ball into bad decisions with the football. Georgia didn’t defeat Auburn with offensive fireworks, they did it by intercepting Brandon Cox. Likewise, if Georgia doesn’t get the win in the turnover battle, they’re not going to win today.
I think we’re going to see Reggie Ball and Calvin Johnson hook up for a TD or two, and Georgia Tech’s defense make sure that they can cause more turnovers than the Georgia Tech offense will cough up. This is the year that GT has experienced offensive skill players, and Georgia is rotating through unproven QB’s. Today that’s too much for Georgia to overcome, and their win streak over GT comes to an end.
Prediction: Georgia Tech beats the spread Predicted Final Score: Georgia Tech 24, Georgia 20 Final Score: Georgia 15, Georgia Tech 12 Prediction: NO DECISION
#12 Boise State (11-0, 7-0) @ Nevada (8-3, 5-2) Vegas Says: Boise State -3
This is a pressure-cooker game for Boise State. Had they lost a game earlier this season, I’d be picking them to easily cover. But they know that the only thing standing between them and a BCS bowl berth is a win over Nevada. Nevada doesn’t have much on the line in this game as far as bowls are concerned, but the ability to claim an undefeated Boise St as a pelt will be a major victory for their team, and will win them respect.
Nevada had a rough start to the season, but has come on strong over the last 4 weeks. Boise State had a scare against SJSU, but outside of that has been solid all year. This game comes down to who wants it more, and I have to give the edge to Boise. They’ve endured a scare in that SJSU game, and I think they understand that you have to bring your A game if you want to go to the BCS. They’ll have the memory of San Jose State in their mind when they look at a tough Nevada team. I think they’ve simply got more to play for today than Nevada, and when you add that to the talent they’ve been building over several years as a WAC powerhouse, they should be able to take care of business today.
Prediction: Boise State covers Predicted Final Score: Boise State 41, Nevada 27 Final Score: Boise State 38, Nevada 7 Prediction: RIGHT
This is a big one. With Boston College losing to Miami on Thursday, the winner of this game goes to the ACC championship game to face Georgia Tech. The loser basically drops to somewhere between 3rd and 6th place in the conference, in a group of teams that will all be battling for prominent bowl selections. There’s a huge amount on the line for both teams. With a 1.5 point line for the home team, it seems that Vegas thinks they’re pretty evenly matched.
Statistically, the offenses look identical: somewhat anemic. Wake’s defense looks a bit better, but neither team’s defense looks all that bad. Wake’s two losses have come to Clemson and VATech, two very dominant defenses, to which Maryland doesn’t compare. Maryland, though, has been the king of close games, with seven games this year decided by a TD or less (they’re 6-1 in those games).
But a couple of stats stick out at me. Wake has had decent sack numbers this year. While their pass defense leaves a lot to be desired, they should be able to get to the Maryland QB. The second stat is that Maryland is giving up 48% on third-down conversions. Wake, though they don’t have a great offense, should be able to sustain drives a little better than Maryland, especially since they’ve got a more balanced offensive attack. Last week I picked VATech to beat Wake, because they have the defense to do it. Maryland doesn’t have the defense to do it.
Prediction: Wake Forest beats the spread Predicted Final Score: Wake Forest 17, Maryland 13 Final Score: Wake Forest 38, Maryland 24 Prediction: RIGHT
Purdue (8-4) @ @ #25 Hawaii (9-2) Vegas Says: Hawaii -19
This game worries me… Purdue cannot afford a big blowout before facing their bowl game. The only bowl-eligible team we’ve beat this year has been Minnesota (6-6), and if we get ourselves embarrassed in Honolulu it will be damaging to the team’s psyche heading into Orlando. If any team has the ability to do it to us, it’s Hawaii, with the #1 offense in the land. Judging from what the coaches are saying (Tiller doesn’t want to be anywhere near this game), this could be a bad day for the Boilers.
But this could also be a statement. Hawaii is a heck of a football team, but let’s face it, they’re not in a power conference. Purdue should have the size and power advantage in this game. Purdue doesn’t have a great defense, but it’s probably better than most Hawaii has faced. Purdue doesn’t have the offensive consistency that Hawaii has, but then, they’ve been playing tougher defenses than Hawaii as well.
I firmly believe that Purdue CANNOT let this game become a shootout. We simply don’t have enough consistency in our passing game to be sure we can keep up. Purdue needs to play a ball-control offense and let their superior size grind it out against Hawaii. The O/U in this game is 74 points, and if it gets anywhere near that, Purdue loses big. But I want to see Purdue keeping the ball on the ground, milking the clock, and reducing the number of times Hawaii gets to touch it. If Purdue can keep the score down in that fashion, and it’s within 10 points heading into the 4th quarter, Purdue might just be able to win this game. If they let Hawaii off to an early lead, though, and get into a game of trading scores, it’s going to be ugly. As usual, there’s no official prediction in this game, but I don’t think Purdue is going to get embarrassed today. I think we can play them to within 13 or so, and if a few breaks come our way, we can win this game.
Prediction: No Official Prediction Final Score: Hawaii 42, Purdue 35
In my opinion, both teams are a bit overrated. I think USC is at least more accurately rated, as they haven’t gotten themselves blown out at home by 26 points. I think USC is a very talented team, but they don’t stand a chance against Ohio State. I think Notre Dame is even less of a team than USC, with a defense that Ohio State would absolutely shred (again). But neither of these thoughts has much to do with what happens today.
Today we’ve got two very good coaches matching up, in possibly the second-most storied rivalry in football. You’ve got Pete Carroll and USC, who almost never lose at home, against Charlie Weis, who I also think is overrated, but is still a very, very good coach and nearly led his team to a defeat of USC last year. These teams are very well-matched, and I think this is going to be a very interesting game.
But USC is more tested. USC has been through a number of close games this season, and I think they are going to be more of a test for Notre Dame than anyone ND has faced outside of Michigan. I think USC will win this game, and they’ve got the talent to cover the spread. But I don’t think they’ll cover. There is too much emotion in this game, there is too much on the line for Weis and Notre Dame here. This is Brady Quinn’s last game against USC, and you know he’s still upset about last year’s loss. Charlie Weis, it has been said, has spent far more time preparing for the USC game in both of his years with Notre Dame than any other game. This game isn’t going to be a blowout for USC.
I’m picking Notre Dame with a score of 28. There’s a reason I’m not picking any field goals. I think Weis is going to outcoach himself today, and go for it on 4th and short at least once or twice in USC territory. I think he’ll do this and either ensure a ND touchdown on that drive, or give the ball up. Either way, I don’t know that they’ll attempt a field goal all day, despite the fact that they’ve got a good FG kicker.
Prediction: Notre Dame beats the spread Predicted Final Score: USC 31, Notre Dame 28 Final Score: USC 44, Notre Dame 24 Prediction: WRONG
First, my wife had taken a temporary job, and worked about 15 hours before taking a new job. When her paycheck came in the mail, though, it just wasn’t right. It actually had a line on the pay stub that said “15 hours x $10 = $250″. And the check was for $250. With Christmas shopping approaching, that extra $100 would have helped out, but we decided it would be better to call them and let them know the error. So we did, and ended up depositing the paycheck and dropping off the check for the $100 difference yesterday. I like doing the right thing, but it kinda sucks when it costs $100 just to make good on their error!
Then, the wife and I were driving home after doing some shopping, and we saw a black dog playing by the side of a busy road. Worried that it was going to get hit by a car, we pulled over and tried to figure out what to do with the dog. She was a purebred black lab, and was clearly a pet, as she was clean and very used to humans. But she wasn’t wearing a collar or any other identifying information. We knocked on a few doors, but couldn’t find the owners. So we coaxed the dog into the car, and ended up driving out to animal control to make sure she was well taken care of. We’ll be driving out to that area tomorrow to look for signs that people have posted about a missing dog, just in case, but hopefully the owners will be smart enough to call the pound. We hope the owners are able to find the dog, but if not, I think the wife has decided we’d make a great home for her… We still haven’t had a family meeting with Guinness and Spanky about that one though!
They say that good karma comes back to you. And my football picks were 3-0 yesterday. I’m not sure these are related events, but hey, I’m not complaining
Well, Boston College let me down yesterday, which is no way to start a weekend. Thankfully, I have two full days of college football to make up for it. Since I gave in and went shopping, I should have enough husbandly-duty-credit with the wife to watch quite a bit of these games too!
I’ll break this out into two posts… One for each day of games. This should be a particularly good week, too, as it’s Rivarly Week!
We’ve got two good football teams here. aTm is coming off two straight 1-point losses to ranked teams. Texas is coming off a puzzling loss to mid-level program Kansas State. With a win today, Texas will clinch the Big 12 South, but if they lose, and Oklahoma wins (which is likely), Oklahoma will take the division and head to the championship game. aTm, with a win, simply clinches their 4th place spot in the conference, and for bowl selection purposes will be much better off at 5-3 than 4-4 in conference. Both teams have things riding on the line here.
I think aTM is going to come out to play today. Statwise, both teams have very good offenses, and both have mid-level defenses. Where the problem may occur is in the matchups. Texas has a very strong rush defense, while aTm’s attack hinges on establishing a rushing game. Texas is a little better able to throw the ball, but they don’t want to put the game on the line in Colt McCoy’s hands. He’s shown some great poise in recent weeks, but you simply don’t want to overload a freshman QB.
This game is going to come down to who wins the battle of the line. Texas should have the edge in that matchup on both sides of the ball. They should be better able to establish a running game, and should be able to shut down aTm’s running game and pressure the QB. So a Texas win is pretty well established. But can they cover 13 points? I’m going to say no. I think aTm is going to play their hearts out today, but in the end they won’t be able to overcome the defense. Either way, I think they’ll score 17-20 points, and I see Texas with about 27-30. Plus, 13 points is a good “edge” number, so if it comes down to 13 exactly, it’s at least a no-decision.
Prediction: Texas A&M beats the spread Predicted Final Score: Texas 31, Texas A&M 20 Final Score: Texas A&M 12, Texas 7 Prediction: RIGHT
LSU’s going on the road to play a 1-loss Arkansas team (undefeated in the SEC), and they’re 2-point favorites. I guess that’s what happens when you have a top-10 rush defense, a top-10 scoring defense, and the #1 total yardage defense in the league. Not to mention that you’re on a 5-game winning streak and your team, which struggled offensively early in the season, has been lighting it up.
But they haven’t faced a rushing attack like Arkansas. Arkansas can throw several runners (including McFadden when he’s taking snaps as a QB) at you, and they’re racking up 230 rushing ypg. For LSU to win, they must force Arkansas to beat them through the air. Nobody has really been able to force Arkansas to do that all year, but I think LSU has the defense to at least force them to open the game plan a bit.
Arkansas, running the ball and controlling the clock, is going to keep the score down overall in this game. Their offense is going to try to grind the clock, limit the number of times LSU touches the ball, and keep their defense fresh. Even so, LSU is going to get some yards and points. I think the game is going to be decided in the 4th quarter, and LSU has been solid at the end of games, coming from behind to beat Tennessee. Arkansas has to be ahead by a big margin, in my opinion, to hold the game against the likes of Tennessee.
Prediction: LSU covers Predicted Final Score: LSU 24, Arkansas 20 Final Score: LSU 31, Arkansas 26 Prediction: RIGHT
Oregon (7-4, 4-4) @ Oregon State (7-4, 5-3) Vegas Says: Oregon State -3
Oregon State has been a strange team. They’ve been blown out by Boise St, Cal and UCLA. Yet they beat USC? This is a team that has certainly ridden their ups and downs all year. They’re not an exceptionally powerful team either offensively or defensively, but they’ve been doing enough to win 5 games against conference foes, including a great USC team and a decent Arizona squad. Where they appear to have trouble is against teams who can pressure the QB. Oregon State has given up nearly 30 sacks on the year, and when you get a QB to start hearing footsteps, you can throw an entire offense of kilter.
That doesn’t bode well for Oregon, though. Oregon hasn’t been able to create many sacks so far this year. If they’re going to beat you, it’s going to be with offensive fireworks. Oregon has a balanced, yardage-eating monster of an offense, gaining 5.2 ypc on the ground, and has been greater than 48% converting 3rd downs (an indication that they’ve been strong on 1st and 2nd down). This team can score points with the best of them. When they’re not turning the ball over, that is. Last week’s blowout loss to Arizona included 6 turnovers (4 INT, 2 fumbles lost).
If Oregon can keep from losing the turnover battle, or probably keep that margin down to 1, they should win this game. They simply have too much offensive firepower to not put up some serious points, and it’s not clear Oregon State has the weapons to match. I’m going to predict an Oregon win here, and hopefully they’ll manage to hang onto the ball this week.
Prediction: Oregon beats the spread Predicted Final Score: Oregon 31, Oregon State 27 Final Score: Oregon State 30, Oregon 28 Prediction: RIGHT
I don’t have the time to devote to this idea, so I’m throwing it out there. If anyone decides to give it a shot, please let me know…
I was thinking after last year’s stupid media frenzy over the “War On Christmas”, of creating a satire blog just to see how easy it would be to get people into a lather. So here’s what I came up with this morning. You start a blog, devoting maybe 50-70% of your posts to outrage-laden tirades about how the ACLU is trying to take God out of the public square, highlighting businesses who say “Happy Holidays”, highlighting every attempt to turn “Christmas Break” into “Winter Vacation” in schools, highlighting every attempt to take down public nativity scenes, etc.
That much focus will give you credibility with the idiots. But it’s what you do with the other 30-50% that is key. Throw out posts about how Christmas carols like “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” are taking away from the glory of Christmas by also highlighting New Year’s. I mean, really take it over the edge. Any time something encroaches on “Christmas”, highlight it as if it’s the end of the world. Phrases like “slippery slope” will come to good use here.
And to really hammer it home, sign every post with the pen name “Jesus Claus”.
This is one of those things that could work very well, because the people who get the joke will think it’s funny as hell, and the people who don’t get the joke won’t even know it’s a joke. You can probably get the entire conservative blogosphere in line with you, and the liberal blogosphere debating you, and a nice little subset of the population can laugh at both. So if anyone is willing to give it a try, I think you’ve got one month to see where it can lead.
The next war (it started last year) will be on Easter. They will attempt to secularize all religious holidays, especially Christian ones. I wish I were jesting. I don’t think it is a good thing to take the meaning out of shared societal traditions. We live in a fractured enough society.
One more year and I’ll say it again - What we need is a Religion-Free holiday during this Holiday Season - to be placed among the several religions’ holy days that occur at this time of year - Christmas, Honokaa ect.
This year they find it necessary to take down the ‘Christmas Trees’ at the airport, or displays on other public property, because this apparently recognizes only one ideology.
Last year it was Jerry Farwell, again, ranting about taking Christ out of Christmas - In other words saying that all us non-Christians have no right to celebrate at this time of year - or, in any case, call our celebrations Christ-Mass.
I agree with that - We need a national mid-winter, Non-Secular Holiday.
Below is my annual holiday rant - Happy Holidays
Consider this – After Rome took over Christianity it was natural that one of the most important Roman feast days would evolve into the most important Christian holiday – December 25th.
Just four day before is the Winter Solstice, Dec 21st. In the northern hemisphere the shortest day and longest night of the year. This is an occasion that has been celebrated since prehistoric times. It is a marker on the Celestial Calendar that is shared by all of us on this Earth.
Why not shake out this holiday into two days – Separate the religious from the Secular – The 25th will be the religious day of observance, Christians would celebrate it as they like, free from the diluting influences us infidels – and, of course, it would continue to be called Christmas.
December 21st could be the day of celebration for everyone. This has always been known as Yule or Yuletide – it is an ancient name for the season.
As the common day for the celebration of the season – everything traditionally Christmas but non-religious should shift to this day – Santa Claus, the tree, the gifts, the parties, that kind of thing – would now revolve around the Solstice. (After all, Santa could certainly use the longest night of the year!)
This should satisfy Christians that their sacred holiday is not being bastardized, while everyone else can enjoy the season free of suspicion that they are in someway supporting a foreign creed.
This would also expand the duration of our favorite season a little, and give more occasions to satisfy all our families and friends. The Solstice is just four days before Christmas, and it needs only habit and custom to eventually become our tradition.
We need is a National Holiday for all of us at this time of the year.
Comment by Jerry Noland — December 11, 2006 @ 2:44 am
[...] Over on my War On Christmas Blog post, I’ve gotten some interesting comments and trackbacks. One trackback came from a Help Save Christmas, a blog that I’m still unsure whether it’s satirical or not. Another was from a definitely-satirical War On Christmas blog. My suggestion to start one was not entirely original, it seems. [...]
[...] Over on my War On Christmas Blog post I wrote at the Unrepentant Individual (where I advocate a satirical War On Christmas Blog), I’ve gotten some interesting comments and trackbacks. One trackback came from a Help Save Christmas, a blog that I’m still unsure whether it’s satirical or not. Another was from a definitely-satirical War On Christmas blog. My suggestion to start one was not entirely original, it seems. [...]
[...] Brad Warbiany weighs in against those radio stations that will be playing non-stop Christmas music, most of it bad, from now until December 25th. Bookmark to: [link] [...]
Pingback by Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » What He Said — November 30, 2006 @ 11:09 pm
I have been hearing Christmas music since before HALLOWEEN. No kidding. My abhorrence to it stems from the fact that I seem to keep hearing the same seven songs over and over again. One of my favorite songs is John Lennon’s Happy Christmas (War is Over), which has been covered by lots of crappy people (as well as a couple that are not so crappy…) like Celine Dion, Melissa Etheridge, American Idol’s Rebecca St. James, Maroon 5, and others. Why would you want to hear anyone else singing a classic? Why do they play “eazy listening” versions of Santana songs? Do we really need Oye Como Va on jazz flute?
Comment by Mark — December 1, 2006 @ 12:47 am
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Comment by Mark — December 1, 2006 @ 12:51 am
Yes, but GOOD christmas music is both eternal, and ecstatic, and ethereal, and exceptional among musical categories. Great christmas music is among the best music of any type.
I agree, the majority of christmas music is crap; but then the majority of ALL music is crap. I hereby invoke Sturgeons law.
The problem is, they compress all that crappy christmas music into two months a year; rather than spreading it out the whole year like other crappy music.
Comment by Chris Byrne — December 1, 2006 @ 1:19 pm
Brad, I happen to like the Chipmunks! I also like Donny Osmond singing, “Mary Did You Know”, The music from the Nut Cracker, the Hallaulah Chorus and many others. I agree that there is a great bit of bad Christmas music out there but If you had an Ipod, you could put only the music you liked and listen to that. Bonnie routinely makes up a CD of her favorites and puts it in her car. She also has her favorites on her Ipod……..Turn off those stations that only play Christmas music and listen to something else.
Comment by Lucy Stern — December 2, 2006 @ 2:58 am