Help!

Have you seen me?

I was traded from Philadelphia for a productive major league role player- one who, unlike me, is cheap, cares about his defense and comes to play more days than not.

Help!

BlogPoll4

The lastest BlogPoll is being hosted by the kind folks at:

http://bluegraysky.blogspot.com

As this fine Notre Dame blog writes, the Blogpoll is a collection of fifty college football blogs that have banded together to do a poll and rankings throughout the season. It is my honor to represent Tulane, and be the lone C-USA rep, in the poll. This week deals with rivalries- the questions are in italics- and the link to the poll is at the bottom:


Someday....

Who are your rival(s)?

Tulane has clear rival in LSU- which obviously leads the series (62-23-7). It used to be one of the most intense in the country- but Tulane choose to de-emphasize athletics in the 1960’s- and the football program never recovered- except for an unbelievable meteoric season in 1998 (12-0, #7 AP).

It isn’t an intense rivalry- one side clearly dominates and they currently don’t play every year. Like a lot of football factories, LSU began demanding multiple home games in return for each visit to New Orleans. Frankly, Tulane wasn’t all that sad to lose a repeated bad beating year after year. There were plenty of other SEC teams willing to schedule the trip to New Orleans- and bring the same big traveling crowds with them. Auburn plays a home-and-home shortly. Mississippi just finished one. And MSU comes to New Orleans this year.

But the Tigers have seen the light- and have agreed to a ten year home-and-home starting shortly. LSU just doesn’t travel much out of league; they need the home games to pay for their bloated program. With the expanded schedule, the Tigers were looking at three/four out of conference home games against utterly unattractive patsies year after year. Tulane is going through a bit of resurgence. The Wave ain’t good- but they simply aren’t awful anymore and play an entertaining style. With a little competitiveness restored, adding Tulane to the Death Valley schedule is more attractive than, say, Louisiana-Monroe. So the Tigers took the five visits to New Orleans.

But this rivalry isn’t frankly a good one- and really won't be until Tulane can get a win. Then, I think it’ll get some luster. It has the key ingredient for success- the two schools don’t like each other one bit.


- If you could start up a new rivalry with another team, who would it be? Is there a team out there that you think would make a perfect rival for your team?

Tulane and USM have played some entertaining games with mid-major conference significance- and the Wave can beat them more than occassionally. USM is the class of our league: they win, graduate players, and have classy program that can play the big boys.

Tulane doesn’t exactly aspire to their academics- but it would love to have that program on the football field: win 8-9 consistently, draw 35,000 and play good games every year against elite teams. They are the best measuring stick for the Wave, bring a good crowd with them to New Orleans, and the Tulane community has a lot of respect for their product. When Tulane beats them, it feels like we are making progress.

- Overall, what do you think the best rivalry in college football is?

Army-Navy for sure. Wouldn’t miss it. Nothing comes close.

- Lastly, game trophies. What are the best and worst rivalry trophies out there?

Just a fun note. Tulane and LSU used to play for a “trophy” called “The Rag”. But recently a Tulane alum (me!) came into the possession of the skull of Mike IV- the figurative “grandfather” of the existing LSU mascot: a tiger. I have offered to donate it as a replacement for “The Rag”- which has been lost- and it might be the new “trophy” when the series resumes.

You can read the whole BlogPoll here:

http://bluegraysky.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_bluegraysky_
archive.html#112247662303105595

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

Uhm.... would someone tell Reuters that these women are not, in fact, Roman Catholic priests?

http://photos.reuters.com/Pictures/ViewImage.aspx?type=News¤tPicture=0&photoName=galleries/newspictures
/2005-07-26T004139Z_01_GAN05D_RTRIDSP_2_CANADA.jpg

I mean, come on.


Oh Holy Ship! The bow is softly rocking....

I do like the boat angle though- as if sailing out to international waters confirms some sort of legitimacy on this sort of nonsense? Don't laugh- as to Reuters it apparently does. And is it just me- or is Canada always involved?

Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, a professor at Harvard Divinity School, said the Catholic hierarchy as "morally bankrupt". She was the July 22 keynote speaker at the international Women's Ordination Worldwide conference, which was held in Ottawa and drew nearly 500 people from 20 countries. Wow! Five hundred!

Curiously, not one of the members was under 50 years of age. Sounds to me like these gals either just want attention or need a man.

NASCAR Volumes

Bristol Motor Speedway- America's jewel- sparkles in the night- at 160,00 strong!

Marty on nascar.com has the official media guide capacities for America's favorite venues.

• Atlanta -- 124,000
• Bristol -- 160,000
• Fontana -- 92,00
• Chicagoland -- 75,000
• Darlington -- 60,000
• Daytona -- 168,000
• Dover -- 140,000
• Homestead -- 65,000
• Indianapolis -- 250,000
• Infineon -- N/A (Past reports estimate the Sonoma crowd at around 140,000)
• Kansas -- 81,687
• Vegas -- 137,000
• Lowe's -- 171,000
• Martinsville -- 65,000
• Michigan -- 137,243
• New Hampshire -- 91,000
• Phoenix -- 76,812
• Pocono -- N/A (Marty says: I have no clue. Some cat told me they had close to 300,000 Sunday, and considering the hellish gridlock I experienced four hours after the race, I don't care if he's off by 200,000, it is an acceptable number in my estimation.)
• Richmond -- 107,097
• Talladega -- 143,000
• Texas -- 154,861
• Watkins Glen -- N/A (Let's estimate 70,000 total.)

Fink!

This blog really has only a few views- almost all of them positive: GIs, Tulane, Philadelphia and the Roman Catholic Church. But we take care to guard our own here.


Why yes, I am an ignorant spaz who hates America.

Accordingly, there is never too much to editorialize on. However, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, Catherine Baker Knoll, crashed the funeral of a Pennsylvania soldier who died in Iraq, handed out her business card, and performed some acts of grotesque campaigning. The governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell- in his typical smart and fair style- has already apologized profusely.

Knoll must resign now. Please take a moment to educate yourself and then, if you agree, to write this "person". Demand she leave public life forever.

The Honorable Catherine Baker Knoll
Lieutenant Governor
Main Capitol Office
200 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0002

Comforts of Home

The Phillies completed a 9-4 homestand, briskly sweeping the NL West-leading Padres. Yes, yes- perhaps a sweep not quite as heady now as say, a month ago? Coupled with series wins against the fading Nats and complex Marlins, this has been a good two weeks for the Phils- crawling back to within three games of the diffident Braves and collapsing Nats- who had more than a little quit in them this weekend.


Why yes, we left for the money. And now, we're up next for the Phillies powerful bats.

Those three games are the key now for the Phillies. As I wrote last week, I cannot see the Phillies winning the 90-plus games required to win this wild card. Houston probably can- their money-loving rotation of Pettitte, Clemens and Oswalt means they can churn a large portion of their rotation at a very high level- while the Phillies, for instance, are wondering frankly just what in hell Lidle and Leiber are going to give them today?

But increasingly, it appears the Braves just simply lack the horses to disappear with this division. They had every chance- but their stretch of hot play has deteriorated of late. They get the limpid Nats at home this week- so we’ll get a little measure of those wounded clubs. Of course, they are still the Braves- the class of the National League. They still have Smoltz- but Atlanta just doesn’t score, the bullpen is full of mysteries that a singular trade cannot fix and they are simply no lock to get to 90 wins either.

That leaves the field somewhat open for the Phillies and the recently rolling Mets. The other lesson of the past two weeks is the Mets, after umpteen years, have sort of gotten their act together. Both these clubs are flawed, but both can conceivably get to sixteen games over .500. A shrewd trade, unless for a real all-star starting pitcher, probably doesn’t help either team much. The Mets offense is probably more than one player away from being fixed- and the Phillies rotation definitely is. Most deadline trades don’t really improve teams much- unless again you acquiring a real top player like Beltran. It is hard for a single player or pitcher to increase a team’s win total, say four games, over just a two-month span. The point being- even if the Mets, Phils or Braves make a semi-major acquisition, it is not going to move any of those teams to a significantly better plateau at this point. So this lot ought to brawl to the wire.

Accordingly, I’m pretty sure the wild card is coming out of the NL Central- so the Phils are going to have to win the East outright. And since the Braves, Mets, Phillies and Marlins are all decent clubs, with flaws you can cover for weeks at a time, it ought to be an entertaining nine-week mess to see who gets to whip the Padres in the first round.

This week is a “hang in there week” for the Phillies. Hard to see them making up ground- three in Houston against their big three starters- followed by four in Colorado. The Rockies are horrible on the road- but decent at home- and that park does not exactly reward being better than the team you’re playing. If the Phils could get three out of seven this week, and lose only a game to Atlanta, I’d sign for it now.

Firing Michael Waltrip

Michael goes for the wild ride at Daytona!

I guess Waltrip, to be technically correct, “quit” rather than “got fired”- but there was little about his marriage to DEI that was still good. I doubt anyone on either side of this team relationship was real enthused about continuing it for another contract. But there are a lot of good things in this world that end. DEI resurrected Waltrip’s fading career. That was Dale Earnhardt’s last gift to this sport- the restoration of Michael- keeping the fun, charismatic driver in the sport at a good equipment level. Michael ought to be grateful. But that era of good-feelings is clearly over- and both Michael and that team would do better if he left. So now, Michael ought to go.


Michael loves the plates!

Look, it is no real secret. Michael Waltrip is a clear cut below the elite drivers in this sport: Kurt Busch, Johnson, Smoke, etc. He only has four career wins in about twenty years of trying- he made 463 starts before he got his first one- albeit two of those wins were in the Daytona 500.

Candidly though, Waltrip’s career has lately gone through a sort of renaissance. He is an outstanding restrictor plate driver- arguably the best going right now. He has a string of solid improvements at the other places. In the Busch series, where Waltrip has the advantage of superior equipment and resources, he wins quite a bit- against a cast of characters not much different than the Sunday show features.

The point is- this is the closest Michael Waltrip has ever been to moving from respectability to being a serious contender to get into the Chase. Improve this guy just a few hundred points more- and he is right there. DEI has already improved him- but has evidently reached a point where their know-how and cars cannot move him any higher. It happens. So if changing teams gets him to a place where he can build on his recent improvement, just a little bit more, then he is simply not that far from taking a shot or two at making a run at the surprise championship that would cap his career.

He has a great sponsor- which I am sure he is taking with him- which pretty much guarantees him a quality seat somewhere next year. Waltrip had gone as far as he could at DEI, he has reached a point in his career where he needs to expedite his future- so just why not take a shot elsewhere?

Stoop to Conquer

Myers strikes fear in the heart of the NL East!

Thankfully, this weekend the Phillies clearly took some stout steps to salvage the season. An optimist can cheerily point to the fact that in a space of two weeks, the Phils have moved back up into third, cut their deficit in the loss column from ten to five games, won five of seven against two pretty good teams in their division, and got a pretty solid pair of “rotation turns” from the starting pitching. A pessimist might mention that even a dead cat bounces.

I don’t know myself. But I know some other things. Atlanta is going to win this division easily. The Nats are increasingly looking pretty much done- now they’re losing home games to Colorado. That is not good. The wild card is going to be fought out between Florida, New York, Houston, Chicago and Philadelphia- and certainly the Phils are literally right with those clubs. I guess you have to put the Nats on that list- with a five game lead- but I don’t see Washington playing much better than .500 ball here on out. But clearly, this decent stretch has pushed the Phillies back to the “buyer at the trading deadline” side of the equation- as opposed to selling.

Of these five teams, I actually have the least amount of faith in the Phils and Cubs- as I have zero confidence in their respective front offices to manage the roster and rent talent down the stretch. Ed Wade has failed eight years in a row. If Ed were a horse, like Mr. Ed, he'd be glue.

The only reason the Phils might not screw it up is that their need is real and painfully clear: a solid starting pitcher. Not a converted reliever taking some emergency turns- the Phils already have one of those. Not a scuffling veteran- got two of them. Not a bloated contract- got some of them too. A real pitcher in the 12-13 wins-a-season category to help stablize this mess.

And I guess a bench bat might be a plus too- Chavez and Perez don't move me. But right now, the Phillies offense seems to have found its legs- largely by moving the hurt Thome out of the offense’s engine room. This had all sort of beneficial effects. First, they now are getting more than .209 and very spotty power from the clean-up spot. Second, it moved Howard’s bat off the trading block (where it did no good) and into the sixth/seventh spot of line-up- turning that part of the order into a real plus- particularly since his routine fly-balls find the seats at Citizens.

Without Howard included, I doubt the Phillies can make that big trade, so they probably cannot majorly screw up my quest for a solid rotation filler. Again, I actually would prefer they not trade for a second-level pitcher. Instead, take their chance that the apparent Padilla revival is for real. Frankly, Padilla has a good a chance to win seven from here than anyone they bring in. Add in the fact they are stuck with him already- so the experiment doesn't cost anything in terms of prospects and funds- and Padilla becomes even more attractive.

The temptation is absolutely going to be there- other than Myers, the Phillies rotation features four guys who absolutely would not shock you if they went out there and were horrible three starts in a row. But I am not sure if Jason Schmidt is the answer either- and I ain’t willing to trust Ed Wade, and then to pay prospects and eat a bad contract to find out if he is right.

Listen, the Phils have actually done a pretty good job this year of restoring the talent core to younger players: Utley, Howard, Rollins, Abreu, Burrell. All these guys are young, other than Burrell have realistic deals, and have 6-7 years at least of productive ball in them. Let’s not add to the contract woes that Thome and Leiberthal present to add a grade B arm.

The only other strategy I might suggest is Worrell has to be given every chance to have two or three semi-decent outings in a row- and then get him out the hell out of here. Seriously, that is the level of need for relief pitching in this league. If he pitches three scoreless innings in a row, there will be a line around the block for him. And his upside is candidly still "closer"- would it really shock you if he sobered up and saved thirty somewhere next year? Almost by virtue of this competition, I bet the Phillies can get a decent prospect for him. At the very least, they dump a couple million dollars. He isn't ever going to pitch a big inning here again with the Phils bullpen depth- so he needs to go.

Without a number one starter, the Phils can never be a true superior club- but I argue that is not the goal for now. The goal currently is to sneak in this tournament and to try to get lucky three series in a row. Plus, that top pitcher is either not obtainable right now or would cost them Ryan Howard- who frankly they need to play today. They cannot trade him and Gavin Floyd for Zito- who would play first, like, tonight? Perez? See, it would just defeat the purpose of trying to win now. If they decide to trade Howard to make room for Thome, then do it in the off-season.

BlogPoll3

I am one of the members of the prestigious "Blogpoll"- which you can find here along with links to participating members. There doesn't appear to an LSU representative- as I suppose they couldn't find anyone literate:

http://www.mgoblog.blogspot.com/

This week’s host is:

http://straightbangin.blogspot.com/2005/07/blog-roundtable-3.html

And the question is:

Which unheralded player on your team will be the hardest to replace? Which seemingly inconsequential player could make the biggest impact?

- The beauty of participating in this roundtable as one of very, very few representatives of mid-major I-A programs- you know, the ones who get literally 2% of the national television and bowl revenue after your greedy BCS programs lift your snout from the trough- is that everyone on the team is unheralded or inconsequential to the national picture.

That being said, the hardest unheralded player to replace would be WR Chris Bush. I am tempted to say Roydell Williams- but I guess he is semi-heralded as he did managed to get drafted in the fourth round by the Titans.




In case you missed it, Tulane has been for eight or so years now, pretty okay for a perennial doormat: an undefeated season, two bowl wins, a nice run of quarterbacks, Mewelde Moore, etc. The defense is always horrible. Fortunately, in a league dominated by cartoon-like offensive numbers, the Wave has been well fortified at the skill positions. Roydell Williams was the latest in this line. Tulane routinely scores a ton of points- which is why they aren’t horrible anymore.

Accordingly, Chris Bush, signed as an undrafted free agent, was the perfect number two guy. Roydell always drew the top corner and whatever safety help existed. To Tulane’s great advantage, Bush was a pretty good player in his own right. Add in the fact that I cannot emphasize how bad the average defensive back is in our league- and Bush was well positioned to torture opposing teams. He caught everything thrown to him and was always healthy. He could block. He could run possession routes and catch the deep ball. He caught seven touchdowns- all seemingly huge. Both of Tulane’s quarterbacks were only sophomores, thus erratic, with no real running game- and having those two NFL-caliber guys to throw to allowed Tulane to steal some decent big wins: 35-31 on the road at TCU, 45-10 over a ten-win Navy team, 59-55 over UAB. A lot of offense in football is establishing things you can do: run the ball here, throw it there. And every game, get the ball to Roydell and Chris was a thing Tulane could do.

This year, with those guys gone, and the quarterback still sort of a question mark, the defense cannot simply be terrible for them to be bowl eligible (the goal for mid-majors!). Mark this guy down: Anthony Cannon.

Cannon is just a unyielding and dependable I-A player, who would be an asset at just about any program in the country. Sometimes you can look at linebackers and get myopic. You know, this ‘backer runs real well, or has great one-on-one cover skills. But Cannon possesses the most significant linebacker skill: flat out tackle people. Anthony gets off blocks- and don’t waste your time coming at him with a fullback. Not a big hitter- but he plays big and he plays violent. He gets to you; you go down. I love his violent side.

I am not exactly serious, but there is not a I-A defense in the country that would be better served by taking a few personal foul penalties for late hits, improper hits on the qb, etc. than Tulane. I would love Tulane to bring that Cannon attitude to 2005- a real vicious attitude in the front seven. Sometimes the Wave is simply too easy to play against.

Again, Cannon brings that violence Saturday after Saturday. Look at his numbers this year. Eleven tackles at MSU and Houston. Eight stops against ECU. Sixteen(!!!) against USM. This is particularly impressive in light of the fact that no one runs a running play versus Tulane without making sure someone is assigned to block him. It is re-assuring to know Cannon will be out there every game, every play and will make the play, brutally, every single time. He was 3rd team C-USA last year- can’t wait to see him next year. He just gets it.

For you line people, Chris McGee is another player you might never see on your favorite NFL team in the future- but is a real good college player. How this guy was not all-CUSA last year was absolutely beyond me? Like here are six tackles better than him in this stupid league?

The Wave played 22 halves last year, and the offensive line got an “A” or “B” or better in sixteen of them. On the whole team, only the wideouts were more consistent. McGee is the best player on the line- a guy you can start week after week and know you’ll compete there. I am not sure he’s a good player in an SEC-style league with its premium on pure physicality. However, in C-USA where you don’t face monster fronts, McGee’s other skills- picking up the endless stunts and blitzes team employ to cover the pitiful secondaries, moving your feet to spots to block the run in the spread offense, etc.- make McGee is a superior player.

Blogging!

No more Tauri

Finally, the Ford Family of Drivers has something new to wreck: the 2006 Ford Fusion. Looks race ready.



I cannot wait to see one plow Gordon's Chevy into the wall at Bristol.

LSU alumni will miss the Taurus- an affordable automobile to drive while commuting to your job selling mobile phones.

Phillies Meander Apace

Phillies outfielder Bobby Abreu won the Homerun Derby last night. Before you laugh, and while I personally could have done without the whole draping himself in the Venezuelan flag bit, that is one more baseball championship than the rest of the Phillies will win this year. The Century 21 promotion- hitting a homerun on a “gold ball” was worth $21,000 to various charities- was all right. It did allow a series of heartening moments- the kids shagging balls in the outfield would jump at the wall attempting “to bring back in” a few long “$21K Golden Balls” destined for the seats. “Yes, I could perhaps prevent some worthy group from getting a nice payday,” those kids were no doubt thinking. “But I could also get a souvenoir ball hit by Hee-Seop Choi.”



The Phils continue their meandering ways. Taking two of three from Washington this weeked is semi-good. However, I must admit after watching the Nats this weekend, some bloom is off that two-of-three rose too. This Nats team is not exactly impressive. Now that Atlanta appears to have its stuff in one sock- just where do all their quality outfielders come from?- I imagine the Nats will be six out by Labor Day.

As I wrote last week, the Nats, to their credit, really understand their ballpark. They built a team absolutely designed to take advantage of it: pitching and defense. I can’t think of any team right now in baseball that has a better marriage between park, talent and style.

RFK has turned these career “innings-eaters” into “supposedly” good MLB pitchers. By the same token, they are absolutely not too good away from home- they just cannot score consistently. Okay, yes, the Phils aren’t bad. But they aren’t good either. And the Nats scored four runs over their last 22 or so innings, in a hitters park, against shaky pitching. To get to that rarified Cardinals’ level 95-wins, Washington probably needs to consistently get one of those last two in Philadelphia.

Phillies Make Us All Sick

I have been meaning to write a Phillies mid-term review- and accordingly I have been wracking my brains trying to think of insightful things to say. But be honest, don't the 2005 Phillies seemingly repel insight? They are the most easily understood team in Philadelphia in, like, forever.

It is just that they feel weird. You know in your gut they obviously aren't horrible- but your visceral reaction is different. Watching the club play night after night suggests that they ought to be ten games under, rather than right around .500.

The Phillies lost last night, now are on pace to win 82 games- not exactly a far cry from the 88 I anticipated. Back in March, I wrote that the Phillies featured enough quality offensive players to score, a veteran rotation featuring five pitchers who could win around ten, and a quality bullpen once an arm was added. I think that is still exactly what they have- and the utter absence of Thome’s production and a more difficult division than projected- have put them 2-3 games behind the estimated pace.

Clearly, the trend has been down- mainly as two-fifths of the rotation (Leiber and Padilla) has frankly not been competitive in about the past month. Accordingly, I still don’t think the Phillies are a serious threat to make the play-offs. The rotation is just not capable, even adding another arm, of rolling out the three or four cycles of quality starting pitching needed to make up ground. And they are simply not good enough to justify bringing a pitcher in here- as even adding a Zito probably is not enough to get them over the hump.

I doubt they can completely give up either. First, if the team does not qualify for the post-season, the GM, the manager and some of core players are gone. For the past three years, the Phillies have not been bad (86 wins twice- about .500 the other year), and really are not bad now. But: Factum est illud, fieri infectum non potest. Thus, as to not compound the problem, clearly this is the current collection’s last try. If they fail again- I cannot believe there is a great anticipation in the organization to see how it goes with this group again in 2006.

Second, the Phillies are only five games out of the wild card- and I think only “four games” behind the team that will win the division: Atlanta. Washington could complete the miracle- but I don’t think so. The Nats have very cleverly used their ball park to become the best “win 3-2” team in the league. There is no doubt they have some smart baseball people there- who simply flat-out get how to win with their mediocre roster. But really, they don’t hit all that much. Amazingly though, they have like nine pitchers with ERAs under 4.00- and that probably cannot continue. A 100-win team ultimately looks like the Cardinals- not this. If the pitching wobbles a little, the Nats absolutely have an 12-18 stretch in them. Basically, the Nats need a lot to go right: health, pitching, etc. Right now, it is. Candidly, the longer the season goes- the more and more problems the Nats face.

Third, since the presence of Thome was simply killing this club- it almost has to be better with him out of there. In the second half, I promise they'll get more than .210 and seven HRs out of the all-important four-spot. The team is already better on offense as a result. If Leiber and Padilla revert back to any kind of form, you cannot tell me the Phillies aren’t as good as, say, Atlanta.

I still think the Phillies will finish a few games over .500- maybe not 88- maybe 83. They just aren’t that bad. The late-inning bullpen is solid, they’ll hit more in the second half, and the rotation cannot possible by worse. I doubt they’ll ever fall out of it enough to be able to quit- so you’ll never get a talent-dumping caused swoon. But it looks like you’ll need something near 93 to win the division- and 90 to get the wild card- and the Phillies simply aren’t that sort of club.

Bitter

Check out:

http://www.cair-net.org/

They've got lots of up-to-the-minute stuff about alleged persecution of Muslims in America. Nothing on the London bombings.

The Lord gives strenght to the weary,
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

-Isaiah 40:29-31

Independence Day

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.

A Very Tulane Fourth of July

Happy Independence Day!



I will be off this weekend- so no original blogging. But in order to leave something to read, and to remind you that football is coming, I have re-posted my season previews for 2002 & 2003. 2004 is in its proper place in the archives.

I underestimated the 2002 team a bit- picking them to win 5 or 6 regular season games- rather than the eventual seven. They came along faster on offense than I had anticipated- and the defense was only "sort of terrible" rather than scary bad:

http://frankmcgrath.blogspot.com/2002_08_01_
frankmcgrath_archive.html

The 2003 preview is surprisingly on target- a team with questions everywhere that had some hope in that there were both potential answers and a schedule that was unchallenging and featured some games that broke right in terms of location and timing.

http://frankmcgrath.blogspot.com/2003_08_01_
frankmcgrath_archive.html