Your Bag of Nothing for Thursday, October 10, 2024

 

  • I was watching the greatest movie sequel of all time as it aired on television last night, Top Gun: Maverick, and thought it would have been neat if Captain Pete Mitchell was chewing out one of his pilots and he used either the “you’re writing checks your body can’t cash” or “you’ll be flying a cargo plane full of rubber poo-poo” line, then awkwardly pause and tilt his head slightly in a way you can tell he just told himself, “I can’t believe I just said that to someone.”
  • The Hardline interviewed had a fantastic interview with Eric Dickerson yesterday. They asked him about the Trans Am that Texas A&M gave him to go to school and play football there, which he kept and drove around SMU. He said he didn’t find out how it was actually paid for until around 1984 (he was drafted in 1983). In short, his extended family, his grandparents, I believe, literally wrote a check for the car. So, his family bought him the car, but Texas A&M reimbursed his family almost immediately.
  • Writing about Eric Dickerson made me think about Craig James. As a teen and a young adult, he was the studio face of ABC college football. I used to get sick and tired of seeing him. Then, there was that issue of his son being responsible for Mike Leach’s firing at Texas Tech and his failed run for the Senate 12 years ago. After that, it seems like he fell off the face of the Earth. A quick Google search tells me James now operates his own broadcasting school, the Craig James School of Broadcasting. But I think that’s now defunct. What’s not defunct is his campaign website; surprisingly, it’s still up and running: TexansForCraigJames.com.
  • Someone else who was the face of ABC college football, at least for on-the-field reporting, was Lynn Swann. He also had a failed run for the Senate as a Republican, and you don’t hear much from him anymore. He was briefly interviewed for last Sunday’s Cowboys and Steelers game.
  • Comet likely last seen when Neanderthals walked Earth could soon dazzle in the night sky
  • This girl had front-row seats to a Justin Timberlake concert, which probably cost thousands of dollars, and she was too busy looking at her phone to see him literally singing to her.

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Your Bag of Nothing for Wednesday, October 9, 2024

  • I don’t know if I can call myself an Elvis fan, but I’m the mystique pulls me. You won’t catch me listening to much of his music, but you will find me inquiring about his history. So, it will be no surprise that last night’s Oprah special interview with his granddaughter Riley Keough was a must-see for me. And yes, I will buy the book, Lisa Marie’s autobiography, which she finished writing for her mother. I guess since Riley finished the book, it technically isn’t an autobiography. Here are the two most shocking things in the book, and it deals with Lisa Marie grieving her son who died by suicide. She kept him inside her house for two months before finally being able to bury him.
    • And I know that I’ve mentioned this plenty of times. However, Lisa Marie and Michael Jackson were married. They very much could have had a child together. Not only would that child have the blood of the King of Rock and Roll and the King of Pop, but would be the heir to both estates. Man, that would be a lot of wealth and history. That would also have included the Beatles catalog, which Jackson oddly owned. It would be something to own just one of those catalogs, but all three, that’s insane!
  • Just a reminder, there’s a difference between a mammoth and a mastodon.
    • Mastodons had flatter heads, and mammoths had a bulging bone knob on top of their skulls. The Columbian mammoth was also much larger than its distant cousin—fully-grown males weighed nearly 10 tons and stood about 13 feet tall—while male American mastodons reached heights of 10 feet and weighed in around 6 tons.
    • The molars of mastodons featured cone-shaped cusps suited for crushing twigs and other kinds of vegetation. The name mastodon literally means “breast tooth,” referring to the the “nipple”-shaped bumps along the top edges of these animals’ teeth. Mammoths, on the other hand, had ridged teeth—ideal for grazing and grinding tough grasses into small bits, like modern elephants.
  • Gateway Church members file class-action suit against North Texas church
  • A Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built the Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas. That’s Just the Start.

    • Like the Koch brothers, the Mercer family and other conservative billionaires, Dunn and Wilks want to slash regulations and taxes. Their endgame, however, is more radical: not just to limit the government but also to steer it toward Christian rule. “It’s hard to think of other megafunders in the country as big on the theocratic end of the spectrum,” says Peter Montgomery, who oversees the Right Wing Watch project at People for the American Way, a progressive advocacy group.

  • I had to click on the photo to get a better look at how he secured his house to the ground.

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Your Bag of Nothing for Tuesday, October 8, 2024

  • This is a clip from a high school dance in the early nineties. What you won’t see are kids looking at their smartphones or taking selfies, which I’m sure you’ll see from today’s youth.
  • This woman is insane – Marjorie Taylor Greene Doubles Down on Weather Comments After Backlash
    • “Yes they can control the weather,” the Georgia lawmaker and staunch Donald Trump ally wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday night. “Anyone who says they don’t, or makes fun of this, is lying to you. By the way, the people know it and hate all of you who try to cover it up.”
  • Remember me telling you about my concern about how chaotic things will be after the election if Trump loses? Look at the groundwork already laid in West Virginia to not certify the electoral votes. Here’s an article if you’re interested.
  • Watching The Manning Cast on Monday Night Football is fun, and you hear some very insightful stuff, especially when they have Bill Belichick on. With apologies to Joe and Troy, I enjoy hearing something different than the traditional broadcast team. Speaking of the retired coach, he looks like he enjoys spending time with his 24-year-old former cheerleader girlfriend. As you see, she even talked him into wearing a Taylor Swift sweater. I hope she doesn’t read the comments left on her Instagram account; people are brutal.
  • The Mannings had their father as a guest, and they talked about how the NFL had tear-away jerseys for a season. Man, that’s like finding out Mickle Mantle had a corked bat. It takes a lot of the awesomeness of that famed Earl Campbell run.

  • Archie also briefly talked about Eli’s circumcision. That was surprising and unnecessary.
  • A reader was kind enough to send me this tweet by an Iowa State football fan since I wrote about students rushing a football field. It gave me a good chuckle.
  • I don’t listen to Dan and Jake, formerly of The Ticket, as much as I’d like. But from the sound of things, Jake has been battling alcoholism. The man has been through a rough several years.
  • Texas vs. Georgia on Oct. 19 will kick off at 6:30 PM CT on ABC. At 6:00 PM that day, my 30th high school reunion is scheduled. At one point, I really wanted to attend, like I did for my 20th proudly showing off my wife and two young children. Right now, I feel too embarrassed to participate. As for the Red River Rivalry this weekend, this is the first time since 1984 that the Longhorns will enter the Red River Rivalry as the top-ranked team in the nation. That team played No. 2 OU in a 15-15 tie. The Texas quarterback was Todd Dodge.
  • I’ve read a lot of interpretations of what CeeDee Lamb said to Dak. My guess is “Sub par throw. Sub par, Dak.”

  • But I am impressed by Lamb blocking two different Steelers on this one single play.

  • Watching college or NFL football in Vegas sure seems like fun.

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Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, October 7, 2024

  • That was a good win by the Cowboys in some very unfavorable conditions.
  • A giant kid was in my confirmation class this morning. Classmates talked to him about how he would be going to Oklahoma next year to offensive tackle. Someone familiar with him asked what his ranking was because they forgot, and he said 9th. I thought that was cool—9th ranked offensive tackle in Texas. Then I looked him up. He’s actually ranked the 9th best high school football player in the nation (as of August). He’s the second-highest-ranked offensive tackle in the country. It’s funny having someone 6’6, 300 lbs calling me sir. Great kid. NIL is expected to be a little over $900,00 annually. I’m trying to imagine what it would be like as a high school freshman making high six figures. It will be neat rooting for him but against his team when I watch him in next year’s Red River Rivalry.
  • I don’t often read the daily emails I get from the Nextdoor app, but I peeked inside one recently and remembered why I typically stay away. One neighbor said, “Copperhead trap is working well. I had it sitting near a stonewall near the hot tub. 5th one this year caught like this. And this is not a catch-and-release. It’s a catch and disposal.” One man laid into him, thinking the snake wouldn’t be killed, and wrote several paragraphs about how the world is turning too touchy-feely and the bleeding heart is killing society and irrational. I think the author was clear that this snake was not going to be kept alive, and the other guy misinterpreted the intended message and is the type who is always looking for something to argue over.
  • Who was worst at their peak, Marjorie Taylor Greene or Strom Thurmon?
  • A criticism I have of Biden is that he doesn’t do enough press conferences. That’s why you hear an audible gasp when you see him enter the briefing room on Friday. I’m surprised the reporters didn’t immediately stand out of decorum. But it didn’t seem like Biden even noticed or minded.
  • Bob Sturm, “The sequence of beating Georgia and losing to Vanderbilt in seven days would be peak college footballing.”
  • It was great seeing Vanderbilt beat Alabama. I can’t decide if I liked or hated the poor sportsmanship of this one Bama player at the end. But unlike most football fans, I detest it when students storm the field and take down the goalposts. Due to that game, the end of this game was sadly overlooked.

  • Little Brother A&M had the greatest punt of the season. What does it say about a fanbase that instead of rooting for your underdog team to beat the ninth-ranked team in the nation, you are too focused on trying to throw a dig at your rival? The Longhorns live rent-free in their minds and display their insecurity.
  • Texas Longhorn QB Arch Manning called his uncle for some QB advice, and Uncle Peyton left him an eight-minute voice message.
  • The Tower at the University of Texas is undergoing a major renovation. If you told that blogging lawyer in Decature that a Charles Whitman memorial plaque is part of it, he’d no doubt donate money to the cause.
  • A man saw a stranded skunk at the bottom of an empty pool at a skateboard park. He was able to earn its trust and save it without getting sprayed.
  • The Austin City Limits Music Festival happened over the weekend. I thought this was a cool photo of it with the city in the background.
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