Hypocricy of the NCAA!

This has been one of the darkest 24 hours in the history of intercollegiate athletics. First, the University of Nebraska has seemingly decided to join the Big 10 conference (which has included 11 teams for about 9 years now). Second, the University of Colorado has joined the Pac 10 conference which pretty much means the end of the Big 12 conference. Last, the NCAA decided to come down very hard on the USC athletic program for problems with recruiting and improper benefits for ONE player 5 years ago. Now, USC deserved to be penalized for improper benefits because that is against the rules of the NCAA, but let's look a little more carefully at the "rules" and figure out how they are regularly ignored. When thinking about these "rules" let's think about the goals of intercollegiate athletics-- creating a good atmosphere for student-athletes to thrive in an educational environment. Now, the rule USC broke was that "boosters" gave Reggie Bush's parents the opportunity to live in a condo. That is wrong, but what did this really do to affect the student-athletes in an educational environment? Let's go up to Michigan where their football program has been "slapped on the wrist" for over-working their players. They were way over the allotted time for practice and encouraging players to skip classes! This happened during the spring or when football is not even in session and when players take heavier loads to make up for the fall! What about the Memphis basketball team in 2009 who COMBINED had lower than a 2.0 GPA!! This is within an environment of athletics where students regularly take classes in "athletic management" and "sports education" full of "friendly" instructors to the athletic departments. What about schools and programs who are graduating less than 10% of their athletes in football and basketball? There are no standards for graduation rates! Why? Money.
That transitions into the upcoming conference re-alignment. Historically, the intercollegiate conferences were about regional leagues to schedule games and tournaments. These conferences like the "Southwest" and "Southeast" created a sense of regional pride and highlighted a cultural landscape. Now, Nebraska wants to join the Big 10. This makes a lot of sense financially, because the Big 10 Conference owns its own television network which is a large pot of money the Cornhuskers want a part. Culturally, firing up the RV and taking the road trip from Omaha to East Lansing is just a little less sexy than it might seem. Rolling into State College, PA in November is about as close to death as I can imagine. Now, what about the spineless turds at Colorado. Well, they bolted for the Pac 10 as soon as they possibly could so that they would not be left "holding the bag" for a raided and pillaged Big 12. (Missouri is likely also joining the Big 10 and many other Big 12 schools are discussing jumping ship to the Pac 10) It makes perfect sense because the University of Colorado is the most arrogant, unrealistic, and over-rated University outside of the Ivy League and University of Virginia. Colorado has nothing culturally similar to the Pacific coast except for all those California transplants who helped crashed the front-range housing and job market. Ralphie, the real American Bison mascot of the University, will really be seen positively on the progressive campuses of Berkeley and Stanford. Playing that forward, Bevo-- the real Texas longhorn, will be really popular in Eugene and at UW.
So what does this tragic 24 hours really mean? It is a stark reminder of how broken the NCAA is and how its own hypocrisy and myopia will ultimately lead to its implosion and demise. While these administrators and bloat to university athletics have been seeking to crack down on minor recruiting infractions, they have been asleep at the wheel and let the Super Conferences create their own unbelievable revenue streams and create a professional sports atmosphere where practice trumps studying and graduation is nearly meaningless. When the new ULTRA conferences are finalized, the largest 4 or 5 conferences will no longer even need the NCAA and its silly bowls and tournaments. Why not have their own playoff system like the pros and negotiate their own television and marketing deals? NCAA, you have seemingly driven a stake through the heart of USC, but due to your misguidance and stupidity, you have simply made yourself irrelevant.

Kevin

Darla Gets Adopted!

We are happy to announce that our latest foster GSP, Darla was adopted by her new family last night. Darla and four of her friends were flown to Texas from South Dakota where they were part of a terrible puppy mill. She is the first of the South Dakota Puppy Mill dogs that came to Texas to be adopted. So, 9 months ago she was suffering in a puppy mill. The mill was raided by the Humane Society and the dogs were put in temporary shelter. There were 172 GSPs and 90 more were born over the course of the trial. 10 days ago, Darla flew in a private plane with Pilots and Paws, a group of pilots that transports dogs in need, to Dallas and drove to Waco where she spent the night. The next morning she arrived in San Marcos with 4 of her sisters. This past Friday, she got spayed and Monday, adopted... I'd say that's quite an improvement. Dooncha think? You betcha! (in Dakotan Accent)

The last picture is a picture of her with her new family!

Magellan Loves to RUN!

Check out Magellan when he knows he is going to go get to RUN!










and after....

Julie's Birthday

Hi. It's Lazie, and I had such a wonderful day today. It is Mom's birthday, and she shared her ice cream and cake with us dogs. You can see in the photo, that I am an eager participant. We also are down to having four dogs in the house. Yesterday, we were up to seven as dogs in the rescue organization were here on their way elsewhere. They had come from a puppy mill in South Dakota. One stayed with us and is now my foster sister-- her name is Darla and she is pictured here running around this morning. My birthday present to Mom was a 24 pack of popsicles! I will look forward to helping her eat them....

Your pal,

Lazarus

Kevin has done such a wonderful job with our grass. Isn't it beautiful. The dogs just love to romp on it.

Thanks for all the hard work.

-Julie

Chicago - Julie's Pictures

Kevin and I had a wonderful time in Chicago last weekend. We were able to see 2 White Sox games, and at the first one, although we had a rain delay, we had the most unusual experience I've ever had at a game! A big fight broke out in our section, and a bunch of people got removed and there were f-bombs and all kinds of things! It was also very loud. People at White Sox games in the bleachers speak loudly. :) We also went on a great bike ride, ate great food and saw the sights.

-Julie

Moses eats nuggets

Hello. Moses here. In this video, I am demonstrating the proper way to eat Chick-fil-A nuggets. Check out the excellent chewing and eye contact. Also, much love to Dad for hooking me up!

Mosi

Meeting Alex Trebek

One of the annual events in the Geography Department at Texas State University is the Grosvenor Lecture. I usually dread this event, because the speakers are often dry, pedantic, and simply boorish. Since I have been here, I have sat quietly and patiently during talks by some mountain explorer, some schlep that I cannot even remember, and last year some total crook from the nature conservancy. This year, Alex Trebek was invited because of his participation in the National Geography Bee. Now, I cannot stand the Geography Bee, but I was intrigued at the idea of Trebek coming on campus. However, his television persona is somewhat dry, pedantic, and boorish, but once I met him-- I began to realize that may be more of a factor of his reactions toward the dorky contestants on Jeopardy than anything else. Julie, myself, and two friends (Hunter and Linda) were invited to a VIP reception to meet Trebek. He was very coordial and welcoming to both faculty and students. He was impressed with our University and department. He had no formal speech, but fielded questions from the audience about the game show and the television industry. The hour went by very quickly and he shared stories and anecdotes about life in the TV industry. I asked my students the next day what they thought of the lecture. They all liked it!-- except one student who tried to anticipate my reaction by saying, "I wish he had talked more about the Geography Bee." I said that I could appreciate that sentiment, but that I did not share the feeling. Anyway, here is a photo, from the event. A real highlight of my four years here at Texas State.

Kevin

Delta Certification #2

Hey, It's Moses here. Just wanted to exclaim that me and Dad are a pet partner team again. We had to renew our certification, and it went marvelously! Mom and Lazie also passed the test. The big difference is that Dad also passed with Laz-- so Laz can go with both parents (suck up), and Magellan passed with Mom. We were all so surprised and happy that Magelli passed. He tested in a workshop type setting with a bird nest present. He did his best to not obsess about the bird, but he did okay. This means that me and Laz can still go to the home and Laz and Magelli can go together when I don't feel like being social. Me and Magelli are also going to check into the kid reading program where they read to us to build up their reading confidence and aptitude. They'll all be better than Gelli and I!

Summer is coming which is a mixed blessing. The downside is that it gets really hot here in Texas-- uncomfortably hot! The upside is that we generally see more of Dad (and Mom too) since University-related activities slow down. Well, I better get back to sniffing and playing with Magellan!

Later,

Mosi

Magellan's Bracketology

Some of you not on facebook may not know that Magellan is an expert on college sports. He has his own independent college football poll, and now is doing his own bracketology which is predicting what the Men's NCAA tournament brackets will look like. This is his second iteration so far this season, and watch Sunday evening to see how he does at prognosticating the tournament pairings. Teams in ALL CAPS are or will be the conference automatic bid.


#1 seeds: KANSAS, Kentucky, SYRACUSE, DUKE
#2 seeds: Kansas State, West Virginia, OHIO STATE, New Mexico
#3 seeds: Villanova, Butler, Michigan State, TEMPLE
#4 seeds: Purdue, Baylor, VANDERBILT, Pittsburgh
#5 seeds: Tennessee, Maryland, Wisconsin, UTEP
#6 seeds: Gonzaga, Marquette, Brigham Young, NORTHERN IOWA
#7 seeds: CALIFORNIA, Unlv, CORNELL, Texas A & M
#8 seeds: Missouri, Florida State, Georgetown, Wake Forest
#9 seeds: ST MARY'S, Richmond, Louisville, Clemson
#10 seeds: Arizona State, OLD DOMINION, Texas, San Diego St
#11 seeds: Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Xavier
#12 seeds: South Florida, SIENA, UTAH STATE, Memphis
#13 seeds: MURRAY ST, KENT ST, Mississippi, SAM HOUSTON ST
#14 seeds: MORGAN ST, Washington, WEBER ST, WOFFORD
#15 seeds: NORTH TEXAS, OAKLAND, UCSB, LEHIGH
#16 seeds: VERMONT, QUINNIPIAC, ETSU, JACKSON ST
#17 seed: WINTHROP

Last 4 in: Washington, Mississippi, Memphis, South Florida
First 4 out: Portland, Akron, Mississippi State, UAB

Beef tasting party

Hi. On Friday, we hosted a beef tasting between different products. Mom ordered some grass-fed beef from a producer in Seminole, Texas Texas Grass Beef, Dad picked up some steak at the Bon Ton meat market in Uhland, Texas, and Dad also bought steak at HEB. They had one ribeye and one top sirloin. We invited four other people and Brooke over for the party. Each person sampled from all three plates. The meat market and grassfed were clearly better than the grocery store steak. Most people preferred the meat market steak, but Mom and Dad both liked the grassfed beef. Us dogs liked it all! We got the left-overs!! It was fabulous!! Support local food if you'd like and visit the link for the Grassfed Beef .

Your pal,

Lazarus

Good Doggies! but Magellan is still a PUPPY!

Hey, Laz here. It's been a crazy time as we have included Faye into our pack. She is about 9 years old and up for adoption through the GSP Rescue of Texas. I even went with her to an adoption event in Austin! Anyway, when another dog is introduced to the household, it is crazy. Moses was trying to establish dominance over Faye, I had to establish my dominance over Magellan, and Moses and Faye don't even consider challenging me. Anyway, with all this going on, Moses and Magellan have been playing rough and being silly. Here is a picture of their hi-jinx one night. Magellan decided to get into the gift wrap box?? I just stay out of it.

Dad and Mom have a strategy to use this transition period to bolster our training and obedience. Faye and I really like it for the treats while Magelli and Mosi like the brain stimulation and enrichment.


Your pal,

Lazie

Moses' 4th Birthday Party

Hey, it's Moses here wanting to tell about my great birthday party. We had 18 people and 16 dogs here on a cold, Friday night. It was the night before a big GSP Rescue event in Austin so we had people and dogs from as far away as Longview, Texas and Little Rock, Arkansas. Because of the large dog crowd, Mom made two doggie cakes that were delish. There was so much activity that I went and even sat by myself for a little bit to take a breather. I was a bit tired because we had been to the nursing home that afternoon and I was the star. Anyway, no dog parties until August again. I better get back to being Chief of pack security.

Woo-woo-woo,

Mosi

Kevin's Winter Break

I was very busy over the break working diligently on yard projects that are in my 2 year plan for overhauling the front and back yard. When we bought this house, the previous owners did NOTHING (no maintenance) for 14 years! I am pretty much overhauling everything. Well, I took down a hackberry tree that was interfering with telephone and electric lines. It was a bit more difficult than normal because the middle had obviously been cut out by utility workers 5-10 years ago. The non-native tree was significantly diseased. I also took down two live oaks that were in competition and choking three nearby oaks. You can see that I went through one chain and a bottle of oil with my chainsaw. The brush is all hand cut and bundled for pick-up tomorrow. I also did some masonry, I built these two retaining walls. The darker one is 6"x 8" Oklahoma sandstone. Each block weighs about 100 pounds and the total weight was 4 tons. Each block hand placed. Similarly, I built a raised bed for roses by the front out of smaller limestone block. Those blocks only weighed 1/2 a ton! Anyway, it was nice to spend 3 weeks out of the office and doing projects where you can visually see progress in a day instead of the slow pace of academia. As I told Julie when we bought this house, this will be the largest and most extensive project of my landscaping career.

Kevin

Christmas and Texas Winter

So, even though I was born in Thief River Falls, MN, I think this latest cold snap has been a bit too much. It has gotten into the teens here, and I have been stylin' in my sweater a lot. I have also been seeking opportunities to snuggle as much as possible. The photo is of me, Magellan, and Mom on our new love seat. I think it is pretty awesome. Speaking of awesome, look at this doughnut that Dad brought us from this place called Round Rock Donuts. We each got a third of it. Oh man, it was good! Well, I hear pupcakes a cookin', so catch ya later.

Moses