Les, have a great day.

Go Hogs!

Fifteen years later, there still is no credible evidence that points to the guilt of these three men, and instead there seems to be evidence that actually may point to others and exonerate these three. Based on everything I’ve seen and read about this case, I believe that three innocent men have now spent fifteen years in prison primarily because they were different and too poor to afford decent lawyers.

This is a long video - about 25 minutes - but worth watching if you’re familiar with the case at all.

I am still hopeful that justice will indeed be served.

Links:

• WM3.org
• Official WM3 blog
• Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (documentary)
• Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (documentary)
• Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three (book by Mara Leveritt)

I highly recommend the newest from Brett Dennen, a favorite of mine, and also the most recent from Coldplay, which I finally downloaded a few weeks ago. The newest from Joseph Arthur has been very enjoyable as well. I was also was in need of some mindless hard rock and managed to pick up three new ones recently, including the new AC/DC, which I mentioned recently, and it’s even better than I anticipated. And while I almost never listen to country music, I’ve always been a big fan of Darius Rucker (Hootie & the Blowfish), and his recent album is pretty good.

So, here’s a sample of the stuff I’ve been listening to the most of late. It’s not all “album of the year” material, but I like it all.

That’s it. That’s the list.

I’ve been thinking the same thing, although Christmas hasn’t been on my mind.

Today, college basketball season begins. For me, today begins the most wonderful time of the year.

As a Duke fan, I’m looking forward to this season more so than the last two. I expected a lot more than the Devils delivered two years ago, and while their tournament play ended a game or two too early last year, overall it was a great year.

This year, I am expecting no less, and probably a bit more.

Last year, with almost no size to speak of inside (especially during Zoubek’s injury), Duke finished 28-6. The ACC regular season title came down to the final game between Duke and Carolina. The two teams had identical records, and the winner would claim the (mythical) regular season title. That would have been a huge accomplishment for the Duke team, esepcially considering Carolina was crowned both ACC and national champion before the season began (the latter being a goal they obviously did not reach.) Still, Duke playing on the final day of the regular season with the opportunity finish ahead of Carolina was still pretty impressive, even though they fell short.

This year, Duke returns with a more experienced and talented team. They lost one player of note - senior Demarcus Nelson. Added this year are three freshmen - forwards Olek Czyz and Miles Plumlee, who will give Duke some more size, and guard Elliot Williams. Brian Zoubek and Marty Pocius are healthy again, although I suspect Pocius still can’t play defense. Duke will have a deeper team, and the team that has been so young the last two years will be a little older and more experienced. Nolan Smith, word has it, will replace Greg Paulus as the starting point guard - a move I predicted last year. Like Jon Scheyer last year, Paulus will be asked to continue to lead while coming off the bench. I think (again, like Scheyer), he will be up to the task. And, Gerald Henderson is healthy as well, which is probably the biggest news of all. Henderson and Kyle Singler will be the stars of this team. Without the wrist injury, Henderson’s outside shooting should be much improved, making him one of the most dangerous players in the country. And I expect Singler, with a little more strength and playing in his true position this year, will really shine.

Carolina is, once again, expected to win the ACC and the national championship. I think Duke, ranked #5 preseason, will certainly give them a run for their money in the ACC, as they did last year, and I believe will also be in position to earn themselves spot in the final four come March. I won’t make any season record prediction because I haven’t studied the schedule enough to make that yet. And, as usual, I’ll wait until the ACC season nears before making an ACC prediction.

But regardless, I expect another very good season for the Blue Devils, who tip off tonight at home vs Presbyterian. Last year I expected Sweet 16 at a minimun. This year I would expect elite 8 minimum, and am very optimistic that they could finally return to the final four. There have only been two classes at Duke since Krzyzewski’s first all-star class (1983’s Dawkins-Alarie-Henderson-Bilas class) that did not play in a final four - the freshman classes of 1995 (Wojo’s class) and 2005 (last year’s seniors). I don’t want their to be a third this year.

But it all starts tonight.

And in a gym somewhere in Florida, Dick Vitale is going bananas.

The most wonderful time of the year, indeed.

Go Duke!

Monday, November 10th.

The quest begins anew.

GTHC!

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

- Barack Obama

We were eating dinner in our kitchen, and watching MSNBC’s coverage of the election results. They showed the electoral count at the moment and my 9-year-old daughter said, “Oh no! McCain is winning!”

Electoral count: McCain 8, Obama 3.

I assured her it was early in the first quarter and that Obama would score a lot of touchdowns tonight. And yes, he did. After dinner she went about her own business for a while and checked in later. She was glad to hear that, at that point, the lead had changed hands. She had informed me yesterday that Obama had won the “election” they’d had at her school, and she was even happier this morning when I informed her that Barack Obama would indeed be our next president..

It truly was a historic day. On a couple of different occasions last night I felt my eyes filling with water. Watching the Obama family walk onto the stage in Chicago was one of those times, and it was a remarkable moment. Change has indeed come to America.

I am not an African American. I have not experienced the things that black people in this country have had to live through, and I never will. It meant a lot to me last night to see the first family walk out on that stage and have them not look like me. But I cannot comprehend how African Americans in this country felt to watch that same scene unfold when, for the first time in our country’s history, the first family does look like themselves. It was moving to see closeup shots of Jesse Jackson and Oprah in the crowd, with tears streaming down their face, knowing that it means far more to them and thousands of others who have looked forward to this day for so long. I saw a number of black parents interviewed who said something to the effect of, “Now when I tell my son/daughter that they can be anything they want to, they can believe me without a doubt.” Yes, you can.

I did not vote for Barack so that we could have an African American in the White House. Voting based on what race a candidate is (or isn’t) would be foolish. I felt like he was the best choice for this country at this time. And I look forward to the next four years. But the historical significance of this moment cannot be minimized.

I wasn’t sure if I’d see this in my lifetime, but I feel blessed now that I have. The stains of racism will always be a part of this country’s history, and by no means has racism disappeared because of yesterday’s results, but this is one more important step - a huge step - in the right direction. As one pundit put it last night, it was a moment that was “over 200 years in the making.” A few generations ago a black man could be bought or sold in this country. Now, a black man will lead it.

I am one American who is proud of this moment, and I would hope that all Americans are.

Yes, we can.

I saw this over the weekend and I was just stunned. I couldn’t believe that someone would actually do this. Let me just say that this is one sad, pathetic woman. I agree with Olbermann - this isn’t about Obama. This would have been equally offensive if she was refusing to give out candy to children of McCain supporters.

Seriously, what kind of person does this? What could possibly be going on inside this woman’s mind that causes her to think this is a good idea or an appropriate way to make her views known? Is punishing children really the best way to “get out the vote” for your candidate?

Here’s the local Fox news story.

Clearly, this woman has a lot more growing up to do than any of the children she turned away.

It may be a little premature, and I may do this again in a few weeks, but after some discussion I had on this topic over the weekend, I thought I’d go ahead with another rant expressing my displeasure with the BCS.

Looking at the latest BCS rankings, it seems that yet again we could be in for another BCS disaster. Just about every year now, there are more than two teams who can make a valid case for their right to play in the BCS title game.

If it were held today, the game would feature Alabama vs Texas Tech. Since I expect both of those teams to lose before season’s end, I don’t think either will make it to the title game.

Texas Tech still has to play both Oklahoma schools, and even assuming Alabama gets by LSU, I don’t think they will beat Florida in the SEC championship game.

Speaking of Florida, they may be as good as anyone, and had it not been for falling asleep against, of all teams, Ole Miss, they would probably be #1 right now. If they win out, they very well could be one of the last two standing.

Penn State is still #3, having been leap-frogged by Texas Tech this week. The only thing good about Penn State is that they beat Ohio State a couple of weeks ago, giving the Buckeyes a second loss and eliminating the possibility that we’ll have to watch yet another BCS title game in which somebody beats the hell out of OSU.

The downside is that we may have to watch someone beat the hell out of Penn State instead. Hopefully, Iowa or someone else will come through and put a stop to that.

Texas is still in the game, here. I’m not sure how Big 12 tiebreakers go, but if Texas Tech drops a game, I’d assume Texas could still end up in the Big 12 title game. And, who knows, as we’ve seem with Oklahoma before, they might be able to miss the Big 12 title game and still reach the BCS championship.

Oklahoma would be helped by beating Texas Tech and another Texas loss. But, again, if they end up in the Big 12 title game, they may have the inside track.

USC seems to be the new Florida State. I remember in the late 80’s and early 90’s FSU seemed to always be one of the best two teams at the end of the year, but they dropped a game they shouldn’t have somewhere along the way, and ended up out of the national title picture. That could happen again to USC who still seems to be a solid team. But they’re not out of it yet, either, and if the wins and losses play out just right, they could be right back up at the top.

It seems most likely that the two teams in the BCS title game will come from these 7 teams.

In recent years, the argument has been made that the winner of the SEC deserves a shot because the conference is so tough. That no longer holds as Florida and Alabama seem to be the only consistent teams in the conference. LSU has been less than impressive thus far, and Tennessee and Auburn have completely fallen off the map. Georgia, the highest ranked team to start the season, continues to get blown out every few weeks. Overall, this is not the SEC that most of us are used to seeing.

In my opinion, the Big 12 winner would be the one to make that case this year. Whoever comes out on top - provided they have one loss - should almost definitely have one of those two slots. If one of Texas, Texas Tech or Oklahoma is not in the game, the system will be proven (once again) to be a joke.

Their opponent, in my opinion, will likely be either Penn State or Florida. I think those are the teams with the best chance of finishing the season without losing another game and therefore are most likely to get that second spot. USC could as well, but I don’t think they’ll be able to jump both of these to reach #2.

The game I’d like to see?

Texas vs Florida.

I think that would be more entertaining than any other option out there (although insert “Tech” after Texas and it might be just as good.)

It probably won’t happen. Based on recent history, we’ll probably get stuck with one of those two teams annihilating Penn State instead. Every now and then we get a great game (think USC-Texas from a few years back), but the odds are against it. In a year when the three best teams very well could be not only from the same conference, but from the same division within a conference, the BCS will most likely fail us once again.

Nevertheless, I’m still hoping for the best.

I went over to Roosevelt Thompson Library here in west Little Rock this morning for early voting and cast my vote for president (and various other offices/amendments/etc.) I intended to go earlier in the week, but being sick and away from the office on both Monday & Tuesday, I didn’t have the opportunity to get away any time later in the week. The times I was hearing were around an hour and a half all week, so I was forced to wait until today when I had nothing but time.

I arrived at the library around 9:20am, with the early voting beginning at 10:00am. Weather was nice, around 60 degrees and sunny, which was good since the line was already wrapped around the building. Shortly after getting in line, I heard an official tell the people behind me they were at the “2 hour spot.” So, I expected to be there for a while.

Fortunately, I had my iPod to entertain myself while waiting. After listening to Shinedown’s The Sound Of Madness on the way to the library (and later on the return trip home), I listened to three full albums while waiting: Temporary People by Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts, Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces by Seether, and finally Life, Death, Love and Freedom by John Mellencamp. An enjoyable 2+ hours in line.

I noticed all of the signs across the street outside of the library, lined up down the road.

• McCain/Palin signs:  3
• Obama/Biden signs:  0
• State & Local politicians’ signs:  approaching infinity

I was hoping to see someone I know and stand with them to pass the time, but no such luck. I saw only two people I know, one of which was leaving after already voting, and later someone coming in just before I voted.

Finally, at around 11:45am I arrived at my voting station and completed my ballot. Two and a half hours after arriving, I finally headed home.

Now, the waiting - which, as Tom Petty has advised, is the hardest part. Despite the polls, I am holding my breath until Tuesday night. Like Michelle Obama said, he’s the underdog until he’s sitting in the White House. I won’t be comfortable until the election is over and he is no longer referred to as Senator Obama, but President-elect Obama.

It seems like such a short time, but it’s feeling like it’s going to be a long three days…

Today, they’re back (although only at Wal-Mart) with a new album - Black Ice - and I am hoping for the best. I’m encouraged by this first single, “Rock ‘N Roll Train”, which I like, but it remains to be seen if the album as a whole. But early reviews I’ve read have been positive, so while I probably won’t get a copy just yet, I do look forward to hearing it regularly in the near future.

In the meantime, here’s the new single, “Rock ‘N Roll Train”: