random facts, tidbits, articles and most importantly my thoughts about things that i find while aimlessly surfing the web...
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Architecture, College Football, Baseball, Hockey, March Madness, The Economy, Corporate Corruption, Incomptent Leadership, Tulane, Atlanta, Florida, etc.
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travacado's thoughts
or at least "others'" thoughts that I find interesting...
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Sunday, September 28, 2003
Seminoles can finally look ahead to 'Canes
Now their thoughts can officially shift to Miami.
It's where the focus always has been, of course. The Hurricanes may have been in the back of the minds of the Florida State players most days - at least that's what they've been saying, being ever so obedient. But the 'Canes have been there just the same.
For seven months, Greg Jones sweated through the rehab of his right knee, dripping with thoughts of the midseason hurdle that Miami would once again present.
Michael Boulware issued timely Hurricane warnings in early August to rally his defensive teammates.
With that Oct.11 showdown fast approaching, apparently even quarterback Chris Rix had trouble preventing his thoughts from going adrift in recent weeks. He has two parking tickets, one in a handicapped space, to prove it.
Rix claims that he just wasn't thinking. But c'mon, he just didn't want to risk further irritating FSU coach Bobby Bowden by admitting that he was distracted by thoughts of No.2 Miami.
Never mind that Rix could have received a presidential pardon if he had copped that plea. Even FSU president T.K. Wetherell was thinking ahead to the Hurricanes before the Seminoles played little-regarded Duke this week.
"I just want to get through Duke and get on with it," Wetherell said Thursday. "I think we are on a collision course with Miami and the winner of that game is surely going to have a leg up on the rest of the season."
Let the collision begin. No.6 FSU prepped for the showdown in two weeks with some more impressive demolition work against Duke, claiming a 56-7 victory Saturday to remain unbeaten.
Miami? They don't play again until Thursday against West Virginia.
"We are as well along as we could have hoped to be at this point of the season, to be 5-0 with an open date before Miami," Bowden said. "I don't think we could have done anything to put ourselves in a better position."
Bowden, of course, had made a point of issuing his own warnings this week, reminding his players that they couldn't - well, shouldn't - get ahead of themselves.
"Coach Bowden has been challenging our defense all week not to get complacent or relax and to fight as hard as we can," defensive end Kevin Emanuel said. "A lot of highly ranked teams have been getting beaten by unranked teams and we just didn't want to be a victim of that tonight."
Bowden, of course, has been preaching the one-game-at-a-time sermon for 51 seasons now. And, after the past two seasons, he's certainly had reason to stick to that line.
But the Big One that even he has been thinking about since this summer is Miami.
Rarely, in fact, has he spoken publicly without mentioning the Hurricanes.
He even did it after last week's 47-7 romp over Colorado when he said that every team the Seminoles play is also measuring itself against ... guess who?
Now Florida State, which hasn't beaten Miami in three years, gets its latest chance to do it.
Overlook Duke? You betcha.
Not that it will ever matter.
Saturday's game became the typical FSU-Duke football game in the final minute of the first half. That's when Craphonso Thorpe made an acrobatic grab of a 43-yard pass from Rix to give the Seminoles a 28-7 halftime lead.
Then, to finish off the Blue Devils, linebacker A.J. Nicholson returned a fumble 23 yards for another score only 95 seconds into the second half.
Another rout was on. In the previous 11 matchups between the two schools since FSU became a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Seminoles have never scored fewer than 44 points against Duke.
They should have saved some of Saturday's points for Miami. (By Randy Beard, Tallahassee Democrat)
Capece helps get Beitia back in gear
Former 'Nole helps Beitia refine technique
DURHAM, N.C. - It didn't take Bill Capece long to spot the sudden flaw in Xavier Beitia's kicking form.
The swagger was missing.
"You won't be a kicker very long if you're not confident," said Capece, who still holds a share of two Florida State kicking records and went on to enjoy NFL success with Tampa Bay. "If you go out on the field with any doubt about putting the ball through the goal post, you'll miss a 3-yarder. You have to see it, feel it and believe it." (By Randy Beard, Tallahassee Democrat) View the entire article
Gators avoid 'Cat-astrophe with rally
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Florida may not be Florida anymore, but the Gators can be thankful for one thing: Kentucky is still Kentucky.
The Kitty Cat Curse continues.
How else do you account for it? How else but some sort of divine double whammy can you explain how Kentucky continues to lose to Florida time and time and time again? Seventeen straight years now, dating back to 1986. That was the same autumn that Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" was the No. 1 song of the year.
Robert Palmer died earlier this week.
Florida's season almost died Saturday.
And it might have been buried in the same coffin as Ron Zook's coaching future.
"If we'd have lost this game, FireRonZook.com would have blown up," Florida cornerback Keiwan Ratliff said after the Gators' historic rally Saturday culminated with 24-21 victory over UK.
Instead, the Zook Bandwagon putters along, and the most second-guessed coach in college football lives to be criticized another day.
Humphrey Bogart once told Ingrid Bergman, "We'll always have Paris." Likewise, Ron Zook can tell Ed Zaunbrecher, "We'll always have Kentucky."
Play it again, Sam.
Same song, different verse. (By Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel) View the entire article
Hello, next year
With 2 wins in 1 day, the Cubs sweep to their 1st division title since 1989
At 2:55 p.m. CDT (Cubs Daylight Time) Saturday, the scoreboard operator at Wrigley Field notified the crowd that the Houston Astros had lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 5-2, thus opening the door for a certain team from the North Side to clinch the National League Central Division title.
This was like the baby threatening to arrive three weeks early. It took a while to get used to the idea of an approaching playoff berth (or birth) and the attendant champagne hose-down, simply because Cubs fans had been braced for a long, difficult journey. Cubs fans could be riding to the 7-Eleven in a Lexus and they would be braced for a long, difficult journey.
So here were your tense, huddled masses at Wrigley yearning to breathe freely. Here they were roaring on every pitch from the eighth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates until the last pitch of the second game. This was 95 years of frustration talking, so cut it a little slack if it was hoarse.
This is a franchise that has known some heartache (in the way that Charlie Brown has known some rejection), and the ease of Saturday was what was so stunning. You kept waiting for the other baseball spike to drop.
You kept waiting for the storm clouds to roll in from the west, the way they had the day before. They didn't. You kept waiting for Mark Prior to fall apart in Game 1. He didn't, despite throwing 133 pitches in 62/3 innings. You kept waiting for the bullpen to fall apart. It didn't, and the Cubs held on for a 4-2 victory.
So the second game of the doubleheader arrived defenseless in the face of all this civic hunger. By the end of the second inning, the hunger being what it was, with perhaps the hungriest Cubs fan of all, WGN Radio analyst Ron Santo, exhorting the crowd to cheer even louder, the game was all but over. It was 6-0.
And by the time it ended, after the Cubs had disposed of those accommodating Pirates 7-2, the celebration by the players and the 40,121 fans in attendance started in earnest. Fortified drinks seemed to be a central theme of the evening. (By Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune) View the entire article
Cheerleader of the Week
Brianne, Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders
TIDAL 12:53 PM
Saturday, September 27, 2003
No hangover from party
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Red Sox said they owe no one an apology for the length and exuberance of their celebration at Fenway Park after clinching the American League wild card berth Thursday.
ESPN anchor Steve Levy repeatedly poked fun at the Sox over the course of the repeated "SportsCenter'' broadcast yesterday while members of the morning team on the club's flagship radio station ripped them as well.
"I heard talk that we might have celebrated too much, and that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard,'' manager Grady Little said. "That's coming from either someone who's never been there before or they're mad that the Red Sox won and are going to be there in October.''
Reliever Todd Jones, who made it to the postseason for the first time in his 11th major league season, was surprised to hear the criticism.
"What does WEEI want?'' he said. "If we lose, they're going to rip us but if we win, we can't celebrate? What are we supposed to do, be like the Yankees and just shake hands? It was all emotion. There were something like eight of us that had never been to the postseason and with two outs in the ninth, (Kevin) Millar turned to me and said, 'What do we do?' I said, 'I don't know' and turned to (Jason) Varitek. He said, 'Just run out to the middle of the field and start hugging people.' I mean, there's no manual on how (to celebrate).''
Millar agreed.
"Look, it's not something you plan,'' he said. "Some guys might get goose bumps, some might go celebrate with the fans and some might even cry. Personally, I don't think we celebrated enough.''
The patrons at the Baseball Tavern on Boylston Street had no complaints about the way the Sox celebrated. In the midst of doing so, Millar, Todd Walker, Lou Merloni, Derek Lowe and Gabe Kapler ran through the stands, onto Yawkey Way and down the street to the pub, where they jumped behind the bar. In uniform.
"We just started serving drinks,'' Millar said. ``They had to pull me out of there because the plane was taking off.'' (By Jeff Horrigan, The Boston Herald) View entire Red Sox Notebook
TIDAL 10:53 AM
Sunday, September 21, 2003
Wave outlasts Army
Losman tosses three TDs in fourth quarter
WEST POINT, N.Y. -- There's something about fourth-quarter pressure that is bringing out the best in Tulane's offense.
Saturday, senior quarterback J.P. Losman threw three of his five touchdowns in fourth quarter, leading the Green Wave to a 50-33 victory over Army at Michie Stadium.
It was Losman's late scoring passes that jump-started an offense that produced a 16-point lead at the half but went dormant in the third quarter.
"I think our offense definitely relaxed a little bit," Losman said. "I can see in their eyes when they think we're going to win the game, and I definitely saw it today. I'm sitting there yelling at them, telling them we're in a fight."
During the third quarter, Tulane's offense gained 17 yards, went three-and-out on its first two series and had one first down. Its third-quarter score came on a 48-yard fumble return by safety Joey Dawson.
Before Dawson's touchdown, Army was gaining momentum. Dawson's score slowed up the Black Knights (0-3, 0-1 in Conference USA) and gave the Wave a 29-13 advantage.
Army's charge continued in the fourth quarter, but Losman was able to crank up the Wave's offense again. Losman's first touchdown pass of the final 15 minutes was the work of running back Mewelde Moore, who was supposed to block for Losman on the play.
With the Wave receivers covered, Losman stepped up in the pocket and made a short toss over the middle to Moore, whobroke outside to his right, then cut back to the center of the field. He slipped several tackles around Army's 25 and went in for the touchdown.
"I was kind of the dump-off, the safety valve on the play," Moore said. "At that time, we were just looking for a big play from someone." (By Fred Robinson, The (New-Orleans) Times-Picayune) View the entire article
AIR FORCE
'Noles push aside Colorado, 47-7.
Now this is a team the 1993 national champions could recognize.
Florida State found success in the no-huddle shotgun, just as it did 10 years ago with Charlie Ward at quarterback. And the Seminoles dominated on defense to push aside Colorado, 47-7.
The first meeting between the two schools provided a proper tribute to FSU's first national-championship team, which was honored before Saturday's game. It also put the nation on notice.
"They were a hell of a lot more talented than we were today," Colorado coach Gary Barnett said. "And they played harder."
Tenth-ranked FSU's defense, strong to the very end because of '93-type platooning, held Colorado (2-2) to 39 yards after halftime. Reserve defensive end Kamerion Wimbley, fired up by Colorado's pre-game jig on the Seminole logo at midfield, danced all day in the Buffaloes' backfield. His two sacks led the way as FSU (4-0, 3-0 ACC) finished with six sacks and two fumble recoveries.
Chris Rix, admittedly more comfortable in the shotgun, and clearly more effective in it, had a career day.
"We cut him loose in that today," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "They were determined to go the slow way. We think we have receivers good enough and a passer good enough they are going to have to mix it up and fool us." (By Steve Ellis, Tallahassee Democrat) View the entire article
Welcome to Death Valley
BATON ROUGE, La. -- The LSU icon weighs approximately 400 pounds and devours 15 pounds of raw meat everyday. He lives in a private habitat worth millions of dollars, and his every care and need is tended to by a fulltime trainer. Although capable of occasional bursts of amazing quickness, he mostly sleeps; when he moves, he lumbers around in a confined space as throngs of fans gather to gawk on game days.
I am talking, of course, about former LSU center Shaquille O'Neal.
The other LSU icon, Mike the Tiger, only eats 10 pounds of meat per day, and his home is worth much less.
At least, his present home is worth less. The school is trying to build Mike a new "habitat-proper" cage worth at least $2 million.
When the mascot's home will qualify for an episode on MTV's Cribs, do you really need to ask why LSU is on our list of the most special places in college football?
If the tiger's future cage isn't a 'Sign of the Apocalypse,' you should be able to see one from the historic, 92,000-seat Tiger Stadium, otherwise known as Death Valley. I know this because there is a 25-yard-long sign that reads, "Welcome to Death Valley'' mounted below the pressbox. Those are the little touches at which LSU excels. Most schools wouldn't even put up such a name. Others would just say, "Death Valley" and leave it at that. But not LSU. Here, it's "Welcome to Death Valley." That's beautiful. It's like descending into Hell and finding a sign that reads, "Satan Invites You to Enjoy Eternal Damnation." (By Jim Caple, ESPN.com's Page 2) View the entire article
A true Hollywood story
When HBO's documentary about the Red Sox launched this week, some of my readers wondered why I wasn't involved. Apparently I was missed: The media's latest effort to perpetuate a ghost story, misrepresent Red Sox fans and portray them as doom-and-gloom lunatics just wasn't the same without me.
Well, I didn't want to be involved, not after I heard about the title of the show. I tackled this subject back in September of 2001 and vowed never to mention it again in this space. It's that ridiculous. Here's how I summed things up at the time:
"Deep down, we worry that our lives will pass us by without ever seeing the Red Sox win a World Series ... which is what this whole thing is really about in the first place. That's why Red Sox fans are so insanely passionate about our team. We're haunted by the possibility of living an entire lifetime -- 80-90 years, followed by death -- without celebrating a World Series title. That's not a curse; it's an imaginary guillotine that hangs over us every season. We're just waiting for it to go away, that's all."
That's pretty simple, isn't it? Well, it's true. I have made thousands of arguments in this column -- some of them good, some of them bad, some of them insane -- and feel more strongly about the above paragraph than anything else. Blaming Babe Ruth's ghost for 85 years of failure makes for a cute story, and as WEEI's Gerry Callahan likes to joke, the premise put Dan Shaughnessy's kids through college. But it's not true. It's a myth kept alive by writers, columnists, talk show hosts and producers of slanted documentaries for HBO. The only "curse" is that the media keeps bringing it up. (By Bill Simmons, ESPN.com's Page 2) View the entire article
Cheerleader of the Week
Pamela, Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders Pamela is the MiamiDolphins.com Cheerleader of the Week and she apprears in Maxim will fellow Dolphin mega cheer-babe Heather.
TIDAL 3:28 PM
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Playmakers snap Wave's slump against SEC
For the evening, for the only time this season, Tulane was back in the Southeastern Conference, the fraternity it left after the 1965 football season.
For Chris Scelfo's Green Wave, history told you the challenge would not be easy: terminating an 0-for-24 drought that stretched back 14 years.
That's because the last time Tulane defeated an SEC opponent happened to be on an afternoon in 1989 when the Greenies went into Nashville and whipped Vanderbilt 37-13.
Would Mississippi State end the famine?
"Why not?" said J.P. Losman.
"Why not?" said Mewelde Moore.
"Why not?" said Roydell Williams.
"Why not?" said a bruised, shorthanded defense that kept digging and digging and digging, looking to catch a second, and third, wind when all seemed lost.
Finally, with 10 seconds remaining, with everything riding on the foot of a freshman, "Why not?" said Barrett Pepper, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound rookie from Bastrop, whose first college field goal was a game-winning 32-yarder that gave the Green Wave an otherworldly 31-28 victory. (By Peter Finney, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune) View the entire article
Cheerleader of the Week
Amy, St. Louis Rams Cheerleaders See Amy in Maxim!
TIDAL 12:46 PM
Saturday, September 13, 2003
Hangin' with the cheer-babes
Last night, TMQ his ownself attended the Bucs at Eagles contest on Monday Night Football, far more importantly, got to hang out with the Eagles' cheer-babes. You know what goes through your mind standing next to a near-naked mega-babe in dazzling lights, in a public arena with 67,771 other people? I have no idea, because mine went blank.
Also, I was in the Eagles' cheerleaders' locker room. But the women made me promise never, ever to tell the truth about what happened there. OK: nothing.
In a moment I'll offer a philosophical defense of men gawking at cheer-babes; and also admit that, yes, this all means that inevitably, female fans should have shirtless cheer-hunks to gawk at. First let us praise famous women by declaring that the Eagles' cheerleading squad has advanced to No. 1 in the NFL. Brianne Salzano, cover model of this year's Eagles' lingerie calendar, is just one indicator. Salzano is an industrial engineer! And men of America, she looks better in person. In fact, standing next to her made me think -- I can't remember what.
The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders started the cheer-babe fade, and deserve the thanks of a grateful nation. But the Dallas cheerleaders have slipped in both aesthetics and pizzazz in recent years; of course, everything about the Cowboys is in a cycle of decline. If Texas women were going to be bested for the No. 1 designation, you'd figure they'd be passed by a cheer squad from California or Florida, right? Well, the Miami Dolphins cheer-babes are high up in both aesthetics and dance quality, as are the San Diego and Oakland squads, so that upholds the California-Florida theory. The Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders round out the current NFL elite.
But the Eagles cheer-babes are now tops, and almost all are local Pennsylvania products, not flown in. Here's more proof: Lauren S., an eighth-grade science teacher! And she looks even better in person, especially almost naked. The Eagles' signature touch was advancing the state of the art from swimsuit calendars to lingerie. In the 2004 number, several Eagles cheer-babes pose just a couple of ounces of fabric shy of nude. (By Gregg Easterbrook, ESPN.com's Page 2) View the entire article
TIDAL 5:39 PM
Nothing like a walk in the ballpark
There's much to love about a ballpark -- even the homeliest, most desolate one.
The walls of any ballpark change us. Outside, we're the disconnected masses, we're aimless individuals, drones on the 57 freeway in Anaheim. Inside, we're a crowd, we're the red-shirted sea of Edison Field. We have shared roots and a common vision inside. We raise our voices to the heavens and crash our thunder stix as one.
A ballpark reveals our true spirits. In the workaday world, we're reserved, cautious, "civilized" automatons making widgets for the Man, trudging our way toward the deepest, darkest pits of oblivion. But look at and listen to the Hawk Harrelson acolytes stripping bare their souls on the south side of Chicago these days and you will know that in a ballpark, we become wild, carefree, and, sure, maybe a little blotto. We have wings in a ballpark. We fly free and proud. We squawk, unafraid.
In the far corners of the Metrodome and Skydome tonight, there are dozens of kids perched on the edge of their seats wearing baseball gloves. They have no chance at a ball, but still, they sit at attention like brave, vigilant knights. That's the ballpark thing: faith and devotion.
In a ballpark, you smell the familiar smell of salt peanuts, maybe you get a whiff of the bathrooms under the bleachers at Fenway; and just like that, you're breathing in old memories of games with your grandpa.
At Safeco, from sushi to salmon sandwiches, and in Baltimore, from potato knishes to Boog's Bar-B-Q, gluttony is the joyful, unrepentant order of the day. Gluttony is good. Ballparks are good.
We launched Page 2's Summer Ballpark Tour out of love for these and a hundred other ballpark pleasures. Jim, Jeff and I hit the road looking to revel in the ballpark thing and hoping to remind you, dear reader, of your inner ballpark child.
It was a great ride. We trod on hallowed ground, ate mountains of food, downed rivers of drinks, and, oh yeah, saw a few games.
It wasn't all fun and games, of course. We also took the tour because we knew some places were selling the ballpark experience short, and our love for what it could and should be meant we had to call them out.
You've seen the numbers and the critiques. In the end, though, for us the work of the tour boiled down not to a chart but to a vision of an ideal ballpark. (By Eric Neel, ESPN.com's Page 2) View the entire article
TIDAL 5:34 PM
Sunday, September 07, 2003
Cheerleader of the Week
In honor of the second season of showcasing the NFL's mega cheer-babes, what would be better than twins!
Jamie and Jennifer Cramer, Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders
TIDAL 4:45 PM
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