Eight

This interruption in my blogging hiatus is brought to you by …

• … the eight-year anniversary of this blog. I couldn’t let that go unmentioned, could I? What a long, strange journey it’s been. I can think of no better way to celebrate that than by switching the blog over to WordPress. The template isn’t as final as I’d like, but it’s a good enough time to flip the switch. I’m sure I’ll be able to steal away a few moments here and there to finish it up by the time I get back to blogging on a regular basis.

• And while I’m here, why not mention that the Kevin Kolb era has finally begun in Philadelphia. It’s great to see the kid get a chance to play while Andy Reid is still coaching. Friday’s preseason opener wasn’t earth-shattering, but as long as Brent Celek holds on to end-zone passes placed right in his hands during the regular season, the Eagles might very well have a solid transition from a veteran playoff team to a younger team while still winning a lot of games.

• “The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh” is finally available on DVD. It is clearly the best of times.

• And yet, it was also the worst of times: Ronnie James Dio passed away while I was out. Also, Torry Castellano – drummer for The Donnas – is retiring due to a shoulder injury. Sounds like she’ll be doing OK as a student at Stanford. But still … she was the funnest drummer to watch in an all-girl punk band.

• The Dell Streak was finally released. The price is a bit high even with a contract subsidy. But if you get the unlocked version, you’re still tied to AT&T. I’m passing on the early adapter stage. If it becomes available on T-Mobile or another carrier offers a nicer subsidy, I’m all ears. Doesn’t help much that the once-vaunted tie-ins to Amazon services aren’t a feature of the phones at roll-out.

• Redistricting work is already underway for the City of Houston. Doc Murray has a two-parter and Kuff blogs about the city referendum to scale back the residency requirements to 6 months for the 2011 election cycle. I think the residency issue makes sense – I’d rather see them carve up lines that make sense in terms of communities of interest and less in terms of self-interest. Letting people move is a step toward that, as I see it.

• Redistricting hearings are already underway for the lege. This is also known as the great West Texas wigout, as they’re guaranteed to lose seats. Expect a little drama over whether Harris County will have 24 or 25 State Rep districts, also. Another factor to watch for: no Delwin Jones after January. Time to catch up on my Game Theory … the process for this should be very entertaining, and probably a little painful, too.

That’s a good enough link-dumping for now. Back to work. I’ll see you all in November!

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Gone Fishin’

As stated earlier in the month, I’ll be hitting the big pause button for this little corner of the internet until Election 2010 is put to rest. I could probably go a good, solid 10+ months while dancing around the election season like it didn’t exist, but a closer reading of the archives here will probably give you a truer indication of the importance I place on it. In short, the coming months aren’t a time to write about the work to be done … it’s a time to do the work that’s to be done. At least for me.

I’ll take the opportunity to sign off by at least reminding myself of why I ever started this nasty habit of blogging. There’s no telling what happens at the end of this election run, so I’d hope that someone out there might pick up one of the better habits or lessons learned in case they pick up the blogging trade in my absence.

So, in closing down things for the hiatus, I’d like to extend a very grateful “Thank You” to those of you who read, who added to the conversation, and those who I’ve had the good fortune to get to know either in person or by trading the occasional email with over the years.

I’m sure I’ll be going through some massive blog withdrawal symptoms whenever another story I was meant to blog encroaches on the news cycle. Alas, the world will have to spin on, without me thinking that I’m somehow keeping it in motion. For the one or two cross-cultural readers out there, I will maintain a bit of blogging over at faithbasedblog.com, so the withdrawal won’t be complete.

The mission I had with this fair blog, 7 years and 4 months ago, was to elaborate on how someone with a more-or-less moderate worldview declares a natural home in the Democratic Party. More importantly, I think, is to point out that there usually are at least a few others out there who relate to whatever story we all have to tell – even those that don’t match up perfectly to mine.

At some point in the past few decades, there have been efforts to proclaim an era of perfect ideological alignment: one where the liberal left and conservative right have been perfectly delineated into the Democratic and Republican parties. There have since been those who proclaim a “Big Sort” … which is to say that we all now live next door to people who think and vote just like we do.

I know both of these to be false … not just from research, anecdote, or insight, but from firsthand experience. Sometimes the quickest means of explaining away how someone cannot advocate for the rights of an unborn life and vote Democratic most of the time is to simply raise one’s hand and announce their own presence. Likewise, a decent way to highlight that a massive geographic/demographic sorting has not taken place is to describe one’s own voting precinct … or to point out a number of similarly-changing areas that serve as counterexamples.

To the extent that there’s a “grand” design of the way I’ve blogged, that’s about it – to merely describe what I see around me and explain myself. That others care to read about that strikes me as remarkable, so I’ll once more add a very humble “Thanks!”

We’ll see where we are on Election Day, 2010. Whatever grand plans I have for returning to the blogosphere will wait until then. If there’s a need to get in touch with me, email usually does the trick … gregwythe@yahoo.com.

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Two Points, Before I Go

A word before I sign off for the next 312 days …

As awful as the reading agenda has been for me this year, it seems to have ended strong with two books I’ll recap. There have been a handful of others I’ve made it through despite distractions and other demands on time. But these two seem to offer a bit more usefulness looking forward to the 2010 elections. At least from my perspective.

The Audacity to Win – David Plouffe
This is probably obvious in terms of applying anything to politics. But my sense of the book around the midway point was actually one of disappointment. Plouffe had promised to write a book that offered lessons of the 2008 Obama campaign and how they could apply to businesses and other organizations. But after the first two chapters, the book seemed to denigrate into a reading of “Here’s what happened … and if you watched CNN relentlessly during 2007/8, you probably already knew this.” The formula Plouffe stuck with for this portion of the book was as follows:

a) we had a tough decision to make
b) we stuck to our guns and took a gamble
c) we won … scoreboard

There are a few fairly minor tales of “unforced errors” that created a blip of friction between Obama and staff. But nothing that really made this part of the book more entertaining than … say, the quadrennial Newsweek campaign book, or the more old-school Elizabeth Drew version. Needless to say, the book falls far short of the Ted White standard.

What this part of the book has going for it, however, is that it at least gives an insider view of the most covered, entertaining, and exciting Presidential campaign in decades. There’s also a nice setup of the blow-by-blow campaigning in the first two chapters. The book’s epilogue reads as if it were the first thing Plouffe wrote for the book, as it tracks with his original goal of offering some added meaning from the campaign experience.

Combined, the three chapters offer some insight into the decision-making that goes into running for any office, the setup of a functioning campaign, and an overview of how the day-to-day work of a campaign flows from the organizing principles established at the outset.

The Fourth Part of the World – Toby Lester
I haven’t even finished this one yet, but it’s already moved high on my list of favorite books. The book is, ostensibly, about the Waldseemüller Map of 1507 – the first to give identity to the American continent. But that map didn’t simply exist in isolation … it was an outgrowth of the maps that preceded it and the explorers who pushed the understanding of those maps one step further. It’s a tale told over centuries and Lester gives a very readable narrative to all of the history involved.

What’s of particular interest to me from this is a point that I’ve made to others in the process of showing various political maps. Essentially, a map displaying political results can be viewed for one of two reasons: to understand what the heck just happened, or to understand what could happen next. As a matter of personal practice, the former has rarely been of interest to me. The latter, on the other hand … very much so.

A couple of cases in point:

1. It was probably the 1988 election where I started taking out some blank maps and coloring them in. I remember having some down time at UH-D and there was one reference book that showed election results by county for a host of different elections. Whether it was understanding how William Proxmire did in Wisconsin, or how Dems in Texas were winning my home state, I definitely think that my steady flow of dimes into the copier warrant having one named in my honor.

It was out of this that I recall looking at two points of interest: what was the difference between Texas Dems that did and did not win statewide; and (nationally,) where were the opportunities that would need to fall into place for a Dem to win the White House in 1992.

For the latter, Dukakis’ loss in 1988 might have made this a bit of a challenge. But I remember noticing that a lot of Bush counties along the Mississippi River could very well swing the other direction for a candidate who appealed to those voters more than, say … Michael Dukakis. Four years later, Bill Clinton would manage that very feat.
For the former, it meant a preview of where the Dem coalition would fall apart as those areas where Phil Gramm proved popular would eventually coalesce around the GOP even more in the years ahead.

2. After deciding to pick up the habit again and putting together a statewide precinct map of the Moody-Willet Supreme Court contest, a very different view was evident. There was now, very visibly, an opportunity to put together more of an urban/suburban coalition than in the past. The rural areas we had spent decades losing was becoming less populous and their electorates were nearing the point of diminishing returns for the GOP. Urban areas were still growing and increasingly Dem-friendly. And the suburbs had approached the early point of a dramatic shift.

Going into the 2008 cycle, there were numerous precincts in the western and northwestern part of Harris County that I felt were ripe for swinging in favor of Dem candidates. Part of those were used in targeting opportunities for the Skelly campaign and I’m a little proud to note that every one flipped blue for the first time in eons. Outside of CD7, there were several precincts east of Katy I noticed that went over 40% for Bill Moody in 2006 and might be ready to flip, at minimum, for a strong Dem Hispanic candidate. Fortunately, those precincts didn’t just flip for Adrian Garcia. They apparently got enough of a swing that Dr. Murray thought enough to take note of them.

It remains to be seen whether 2010 will be a year in which candidates exploit those shifts, or even if those shifts hold. But the broader point in connecting my own pastime with Lester’s book is the realization that maps aren’t beneficial just for their accuracy of location … but also for what the possibilities that they inform us of.
Simply showing someone what happened in the past tense with shades of red and blue may very well be informative for a large number of people. But seeing a map for the opportunities of what can be added to the previous effort strikes me as far more meaningful. That’s roughly what Lester describes in the exploration and mapping of the world at a time when it was not fully known.

I’d hoped to spend some time in January sharing what little I’ve learned over the past few years about creating some of the maps I’ve posted on this blog. The recent job change seems to put a crimp in those plans. But I do hope to see a few others take up the habit and discuss those areas around the county and state (and beyond) that they know better than anyone else.

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Stryper, In Review

I’ve seen the band several times in the past, including each of their Houston visits since they’ve reunited this decade. That said, Monday night’s Stryper concert was by far the best I’ve seen the band on stage. Michael Sweet’s voice may not be as able to hit the same high notes as in the past, but he still demonstrated the staying power of his vocal chords. And the rest of the band showed that they weren’t simply content to go through the motions.

As far as returning 80s metal bands go, the show was as loud and the guitars as crunchy as you’d imagine. Even better, the mix of new songs off of the latest release mixed in very well with the classic material and there didn’t seem to be much of a lull for any of them.

Three things that made this show particularly nice, though:

1. Returning in the height of Christmas season after losing four Texas dates in November.
The show was initially scheduled for November 5th and got cancelled very close to showtime due to a flu bug going around the tour bus. Two of the shows were rescheduled, and two were cancelled. I’m not sure what the pressure is in the band’s situation to make up shows out of financial consideration, but it certainly seemed a stretch to expect shows to be scheduled for the 21st (Houston) and 22nd (Dallas).

Lead singer Michael Sweet addressed the issue early in the set, suggesting that because Texas was the very first state that Stryper really “toured,” they felt a bit of responsibility to make up some of the lost dates. Whether you chalk that up to typical band bantering to appeal to the locals or not, it at least adds something to what made the show a pleasure to see.

The original plan for the tour had been to have Michael’s son’s band (Flight Patterns) open for Stryper. This time around, that wasn’t the case. I’m not sure if Michael’s family made this final leg of the tour with him. But given the recent passing of Michael’s wife before the tour, the thought did occur to me that the band might be making a bit of a personal sacrifice in stretching it out this close to the holidays. However much of a sacrifice went into it, it certainly was appreciated.

2. Seeing the band in a nice venue.

This was my first time to see a show in the House of Blues. No disappointment in the show itself. The grunge music playing before Stryper’s set might be the only real question mark, but that’s fairly minor.

3. Jonathan Salas.

Typically, even if the opening act is good, I’ll start to speculate on how much time is left before they wrap up. This is especially true when the band is completely unknown going in. I hadn’t even made time to preview a few tunes by Salas prior to the show this time. But they could have let him play for a good while longer and I wouldn’t have had a complaint. The kid is good and I hope there’s a lot more opportunities to catch him around Houston. I’ve since ordered a couple of his CDs, but I’m not sure that the band he played with Monday night is on either. Of particular importance, whoever the drummer he had with him was phenomenal. And I say that as one who’s rarely won over by a drummer.

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State, 2009 [UPDATE: Trinity Wins!!!]

UPDATE: State champs of interest …
» 5A-D1: Euless Trinity – 41, Austin Westlake – 38 (OT)

Weird that this is the first 5A championship decided in OT. Chap fans are going to bristle over the game-winning TD catch, despite the ball only bobbling around after WR Brandon Carter had fallen to the ground in the end zone.

Regional controversy aside, this championship feels particularly sweet given the lack of big names at skill positions going into this season (well, the one we had was injured for the playoffs). As it stands, some of the outgoing seniors from this team are QB Willie Hubbard, RB Damien Hart. Tevin Williams and Terence Tusan return for another year in the backfield and Brandon Carter should get some serious NCAA scouting at WR for one more year, while we hope and pray for another quality QB to step in like Hubbard did for this season. If I remember correctly, there was only one senior on the starting O-line this season. All that to say that as fun as this season has been, next season should be another pressure-filled season with a bigger bullseye on our backs. I can only hope that Coach Lineweaver scheduled another good non-district test for the kids like he did this season.

I will say that the D1 lineup was a bit weaker overall, but by the time it gets closer to the championship, you still have to beat quality teams to get to the finish line. A lot of preseason picks had Skyline winning D1 this year and there was ample logic for doing so. But they lost their game to Cy Woods, who lost to Stony Point, who lost to Trinity. Cedar Hill should have been an easy contender for the right to face off against Katy. But there’s no disputing that Abilene is a worthy champ in D2. So there’s no point in weighing the competitive strengths of each year’s championships. This year … Trinity was the best.

Here’s hoping that the even-year jinx doesn’t affect what should be one of the best returning teams we’ve had in the past decade.

UPDATE (to the update): Two good reads after the win, with the DMN version offering the suggestion that Brandon Carter may be the leading candidate for starting QB next season. Both articles reference the strength of the returnees for next season. I’ll be very surprised if we’re not ranked in the top three in preseason … if not #1.

» 5A-D2: Katy – 17. Abilene – 28
I can’t say I’m sorry to see Katy lose, but I was sorta hoping that there’d be some trophy hardware visiting the greater Houston area. I think Abilene was undervalued by the AP voters most of the season since they don’t have a big sample of voters from a major metro to evaluate them. Looks like there might be something to that argument. They definitely sound as if they matched up incredibly strong against the team everyone else considered the better of the two.

» 4A-D1: Longview – 17, Lake Travis – 24
This one, I’m sorry to see. I’d considered Longview the best 4A team since they defeated Allen early in the season. Apparently, the greater Austin area will get some trophy hardware to show off around town.

» 4A-D2: Brenham – 21, Aledo – 35
Another school from a broader circle around Houston goes down. I’d seen Aledo’s success in my peripheral reading of DFW sports news, but hadn’t really wanted to get too deep into the 4A schools. I knew they were good, but being a Houstonian makes it easy to be a fan of anything from Brenham.

» 3A-D2: Carthage – 13, Graham – 12

This one, I’m pleased as punch to see. Carthage now has a great run of athletic success, with back-to-back football championships and a 2009 baseball championship. There’s another baseball championship in the mix to make it four championships in 4.5 years. I do hope the scouts know how to get to Carthage.

Even sweeter about this win is that it came against the little brother of Colt McCoy, playing QB for Graham. Carthage’s QB is a junior who had put up incredible numbers this season, so I’d expect them to be back at this level next season looking for a three-peat.

—————–

Another year, and I’m obviously pleased as heck to see my old school returning to the championship game. Trinity High has won state before, in 2005 and 2007. Here’s hoping that odd-numbered years are very kind to tradition. Reviews will be forthcoming on Sunday morning … previews posted for now. Kickoff for the Trinity-Westlake game is 2pm at the Alamodome. It’ll be on Fox’s SW sports network live and webcast on radio here.

Preview:
5A-D1: Euless Trinity vs Austin Westlake
» DMN: Trust in team steers Euless Trinity coach to take chances
» DMN: Small players vital to Euless Trinity’s big title hopes
» FWST: Euless Trinity front four ready for state-title crunch time
» FWST: Trinity turns to cobras when quick strike needed
» Statesman: Westlake’s quarterback history bodes well for Price
» Statesman: Will Chaps and Cavs become kings today?
» Statesman: Hager follows father’s footsteps as defensive star
» Odessa American: Allman guides Austin Westlake to Class 5A Division I title game

5A-D2: Katy vs Abilene
» Chron: Depth remains vital part of Katy’s success (Jenny Dial)
» Chron: Katy High could get more than a state crown tonight (Sam Khan, Jr.)
» Chron: Football dynasties come full circle (David Barron)
» Abilene R-N: Abilene High Eagles eye Katy Tigers for 5A state championship

4A-D1: Longview vs Lake Travis
» Longview N-J: Lobos hoping history’s made in Waco today

4A-D2: Brenham vs Aledo
» Chron: Brenham QB is as tough as they get (Sam Khan, Jr)

3A-D2: Carthage vs Graham
» Longview N-J: Carthage matching its ’08 success with different cast of skill players

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5A Scoreboard: Final Four Edition [Updated]

All the games are on Saturday night, but here’s the preview. I’ll update as soon as we know who meets who for the 5A State Finals. It will be a rare final night of active blogging after church, as I catch up on both football and politics.

D1 Schedule:
» Euless Trinity – 35; RR Stony Point – 28
» Katy Cinco Ranch – 27; Aus. Westlake – 42
D2 Schedule:
» Abilene- 29; Klein – 21
» Katy – 14; New Braunfels – 6

Analysis:
Trinity vs Westlake is essentially the updated version of Trinity vs Bell from the 80s. Working class school versus the rich kid school. Sad to say, but the D2 game seems like a stronger matchup. I can’t say I’d mind the chance of having the D1 and D2 winners face off for a more definitive 5A championship.

The Trinity/Stony Point game saw a bit of trickery. Us, with a fake punt deep in our own yard late in the game … and we still managed to give them the ball back with enough time to tie it up at the end. Fortunately for us, the D clicked. Them, with a fourth and goal in the final minutes, with short yardage needed for a tie. Fortunately for us, the D clicked again. The trick plays obviously make headlines, but this was a very good team we beat and it sounds like the D did a terrific job of bending without breaking. Of course, a sidenote to that is that QB Willie Hubbard discovered his inner air game, completing some long passes for 3 TDs via the pass. Who does he think he is? … Trevor Vittatoe?

Westlake sounds like they’ll bring their own stifling D to San Antonio for the title match. They bottled up a pretty good Cinco Ranch offense, rattling off 28 unanswered points in a 12 minute span to ice the game early. Both of those give reason for concern against a Trinity team that gave up some quick points to SP and an O-line that you have to hope measures up next week after kickoff.

On the D2 side of things, all local eyes are on Katy going for the three-peat. If they get it, it’ll be against a great team. Katy’s had some low-scoring games lately, so it’s been impressive to see them win while the nerves are thin late in a game.

News:
» DMN: Fourth-down gamble helps put Trinity in state final
» FWST: Euless Trinity advances to 5A Division I state final with 35-28 win
» AAS: Euless Trinity shelves Stony Point in state semis
» AAS: Chaps hold on to reach title game
» Chron: Slow start dooms Cougars
» Chron: Tigers leave Unicorns in a fog, return to title game
» Abilene RN: One yard enough to send Eagles to championship
» Chron: Eagles end Bearkats’ season

The Preview:
» DMN: Work ethic has propelled young Euless Trinity team to state semifinals (Brandon George)

Lineweaver took over at Trinity in 2000, and for the fifth time he has led them to the semifinals. Trinity (12-2) will play Stony Point (13-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Waco ISD Stadium.

Though this is familiar territory for Trinity, these aren’t your typical Trojans. Usually it’s hard to find a Trinity starter who isn’t a senior, but this year’s team has only about four each on offense and defense. Another oddity is that none of Trinity’s seniors has a scholarship offer.

Trinity has made its deep playoff run despite returning only three starters from a senior-laden 2008 team.

» DMN: Euless Trinity faces another powerhouse: Stony Point (Matt Wixon)
Wixon has a way of unnerving Trinity fans, despite his prediction that they’ll win. This does not help.

» FWST: Pizzeria makes perfect for the Euless Trinity offensive line (Tobias Lopez)
Not one O-lineman clocks in at over 300 pounds? Given how dominating they played last week, that’s impressive.

» DMN: Disabled Euless Trinity band member awestruck after meeting pop singer Fergie
I can’t claim to care much for the musical stylings of Fergie, but Trae Caster’s ride this season has been fun to read about.

» AAS: Mean-streak defense helps New Braunfels reach state semis (Rick Cantu)
I guess when your school nickname is the Unicorns, you better be real good on the playing field. Somehow, I doubt that the kids at Katy High will be unsparing.

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Runoff 2009

An unusual election night for yours truly. The early part of the day was focused on the first half of a football game, then work, then church, then getting home late after the votes have been counted and the commentary been added.

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s the usual mix of good and sad that comes from a hefty ballot of active campaigns. On the positive, there’s seeing Annise Parker being elected Mayor.

I started off as a leaner for Gene and have a few friends on the professional side of that fence. Unfortunately, candidates tend to be defined over the course of their campaign and Gene did a lot to define himself in a way that made it impossible for me to support him at the end. I’d like to believe the best in him, but it wasn’t a good season to run with the combined effect of being both an insider and a first time-candidate. It would seem that the out-of-fashion-ness of the latter combined with the learning curve of the latter to produce a lethal dose of electoral reality for him this time around.

As for Annise’s future as Mayor, I obviously wish her the best and hope that she serves as effectively as Mayor as she seems to have done as Controller. As one who’s leaned most often toward the reformer/outsider wing of local politics, it’s been rather refreshing to see her run in this mold without the rest of us suffering through the anguish of another candidate hitting the Greanias line. My concerns with her at the outset were modest and clouded largely by the lack of comparison to the current inhabitant of the position she sought. There are some timely updates I’d like to see in the way that the City of Houston allows citizens to interact with local government that technology enable far more than they did in 2004. Here’s hoping that Mayor Parker has enough interest in building some of those bridges.

For the office of Controller, I’m content to see Ronald Green win the job for two reasons: he’s on enough of the same page with Parker to work constructively with the Mayor; and he’s independent enough that I think he’ll speak up where he sees the most need to highlight a problem … as opposed to highlighting a politically opportune issue. His tax issue should be treated more forthrightly … not to mention quickly. This was a race between two candidates trying to determine which one would be the luckiest politician in Houston: the Muslim with a funny name who doesn’t live in Houston; or the guy who can’t raise funds to communicate meaningfully with voters and owes back taxes. Houston deserves better in this office. For now, Ronald Green has up to six years to prove his capability despite running on luck. I won’t mind if he succeeds and becomes a formidable candidate for Mayor in six years, but I’m only cautiously optimistic about that happening.

Among the At Larges, there wasn’t really a shocker of the bunch. I hope to see Stephen Costello serve as a constructive-style Republican on Council. To the extent that his path models Anne Clutterbuck, I’d say that’s pretty good. To the extent that it tracks with the past few members from District G and E … not so much. Of course, I’m most eager to see Jolanda Jones return to Council. Not that her own episodes of un-constructiveness are good things, but I can’t say I’d mind seeing her combativeness aimed at her fellow members who put their own names on the line against her. They deserve the grief that I feel confident she’s capable of giving them.

And lastly, the District races. Watching Al Hoang serve on council for the next two years should be embarrassing for the city. That Hoang is another candidate – now elected official – who doesn’t even live in District F makes for an enormous running joke. Redistricting may answer whether I have to take a personal concern in the 2011 election for Hoang’s seat. I’d love for him to be more Alief’s problem than Sharpstown’s by then.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the very discomforting pleasure of counting the “last time” I have the luxury of doing a number of things based on working in a certain part of town one day, and another the next; based on having one type of employer one day, and another the next. And along this line, this is the last real election I’ll get to cover as the pause buttom is a bit closer for this little blog. It’s been interesting, primarily for noticing how different the campaigns operate in the “New Blog Order” of 2009 compared to 2003 and 2001. Eight years is not really a huge amount of time, even in politics. But the changes in campaign methods around what used to be known as “new” media has been a significant change. All I have to look forward to now is to hopefully wratchet things up a notch or two for the coming year.

Anyways, congratulations to Mayor-elect Annise Parker. I’ll be sure to keep up on how things go … even if I don’t have my own two cents thrown into the conversation about how they go.

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5A D1 Scoreboard: Quarterfinal Round [UPDATED]

Region I
Euless Trinity (11-2) – 47; Arlington (11-2) – 17

One word: Daaaaaaaaamn!

Longer version: For all the paranoia I’ve felt over teams we’ve played up to this point, next week really is a massive test against the Region II winner. Obviously, if that means Stony Point, I’ll lose a lot of sleep between now and then. Cy Woods, I at least view us as being close to par with. Not that that matters much. Trinity’s win came despite two turnovers. If a game is played any more competitively along the front lines (as it sounds like this one was NOT), turnovers are a killer. And as we move up the food chain, it’s less likely that we’ll blow opponents out by 30 from here to the end.

Still … I gotta love that the team is really peaking at the right time of year. As the FWST notes, this is Trinity’s third trip to the Semi-Finals in five years. What they leave out is that the two we didn’t make it to, we lost to the eventual state champs (Allen, 2008; SLC, 2006). In other words, everytime we’ve gotten this far in the Lineweaver era, we’ve won it all.

Region II (Sat)
Cypress Woods – 12; Round Rock Stony Point – 55

And so the semi-finals comes down to two teams that just blew out a quarterfinal opponent. I had Skyline being the winner of this bracket on my sheet. But Stony Point is every bit as worrisome of a team to have to get past next Saturday for Trinity. We’ve faced them before in the playoffs, so there’s no real mystique on either side.

From the read on this game, it sounds like a dominating performance by Stony Point. Next weekend will be very unnerving.

Region III (Sat)
Katy Cinco Ranch – 26; Brazoswood – 18

Considering that this and the Region IV winner will sort out who plays in the state championship, I’m a little heartened to see a non-blowout in each. Each team is plenty to worry about should I have to endure a week of worrying about the probability of my alma mater winning another state championship. But hope is where you find it.

Region IV (Sat)
Austin Westlake – 37; SA Clark (13-0) – 20

I’m curious how many people had Westlake on their brackets for Region IV. Really, there was never much reason for them to be taken too lightly. They come off a good year last season and reload with a new coach from Odessa Permian. Their only real questions were incoming starters at RB & WR. And here they are going up against a San Antonio team. Talk about good fortune. There’s still a lot for me to decipher about the strength of both Westlake and Cinco Ranch, but in the case of Westlake, they’re at least in charted territory as far as the playoffs are concerned.

D2 Games of Note:
Abilene – 35; Arlington Bowie – 7
Tyler John Tyler – 7; Houston Klein – 31
Katy – 38; Clear Springs – 21
New Braunfels – 14; SA Brandeis – 7
3A-II: Carthage – 28; Lorena – 21

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Almost Goodbye

In case you’ve been wondering where any new blog posts are lately, I think it’s rather obvious that they’ve been slow in coming. Here’s why:

I’ve begun working for Bill White for Texas.

This will be a rather all-consuming job for the next eleven months and in order to make that sort of time commitment, this little blog will be winding down by Christmas to go on an 11-month hiatus.

I’ll be blogging on the high school playoffs through the conclusion. There is a Stryper concert this month & that’l need to be reviewed. I’ll probably find a bit of extra time to spend blogging at faithbasedblog.com during the hiatus. But the overwhelming chunk of my time will be spent hauling pixels to change this state. It’s a cause that I’ve wanted to be a part of for the last eight years. I’m looking forward to it.

By Christmas, I’ll be posting the last entry here for a while. I’ll speak my peace then. For now, just a heads up and a hope that you’re all as excited about this bit of news as I am …

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Loose Ends: 12/01/09

» Obama gives his big Afghanistan speech tonight, and is expected to call for ~30k more troops and a revised strategy. This is pretty much the kind of moment that Thomas PM Barnett was made for. But I’ll also be looking to see how much of Maj. Jim Gant‘s influence is in the final edit.

» Gene Locke tries to run out the clock on his endorsement by rightwing nut, Steve Hotze. Which reminds me … don’t you normally try to run out the clock when you’re ahead in the game???

» Andrew Sullivan draws an historical lesson from the recent Swiss ban on minarets.

» The Liberty Bowl has hosted the C-USA champ since 1997. So why is there suddenly a ruckus over the literal reading of their contract, which stipulates that they merely have “first choice” of C-USA bowl-eligible teams? I’m not sure who should be more paranoid over that: us Coogs, or East Carolina fans. I guess it comes down to which you believe more: the constant, historical slighting of UH in sports, academia, and pretty much everything else; or that Case Keenum sure would be a nice TV draw for the Liberty Bowl.

» Wixon & Dent preview next week’s playoff games from a Metroplex perspective.

» I’m still not sure what to make of an NFL where the New Orleans Saints are considered a powerhouse. What next? … up is down? … black is white? … cats and dogs living together?

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WhoseSQL?

» NYT: Open Source as a Model for Business Is Elusive (Ashlee Vance)
A sign of the times? Or trend-spotting, plain & simple? Emphasis mine …

In many ways, MySQL embodies the ideals of the populist software movement known as open source, in which a program’s creator releases it to the world free of charge, and legions of volunteers contribute improvements that are also freely shared.

…

But like most open-source companies, MySQL’s sales, tied to support deals, never matched the astronomical number of downloads for its product, about 60,000 a day. In January 2008, the founders decided to sell the company for $1 billion to Sun Microsystems. And this year, Sun agreed to sell itself to Oracle, which makes database software aimed at larger companies and tougher jobs, for $7.4 billion.

Now, disagreement over the value of MySQL — both as a stand-alone entity and as part of a big company — lies at the heart of a bitter public battle between Oracle and the European Union over the Sun acquisition. The fight illuminates a larger truth about open-source companies: their societal and strategic importance far exceeds their financial value as operating businesses.

You can probably draw several different trajectories for what this means for the future of open-source software. Does it become the domain of non-profit foundations? … a side project by big tech firms? … forever the domain of private coders? … or does a National Endowment of Technology evolve to ensure the sustainability of open-source projects?
I won’t suggest a favorite of the bunch, but I do find an interesting parallel to the way in which mainstream media has suffered in part because of news essentially becoming “open-sourced.” Interesting because the response in the tech field is vastly at odds with the response seen in the media industry. At least for now.

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Optimist Prime

» WaPo: In health-care reform, no deficit cure (Lori Montgomery)
» WaPo: Even if health bill passes soon, wait for reforms could be long (David Hilzenrath)

I guess the Washington Post has graduated from the “Some say/Others say” school of journalism (via Montgomery’s story) …

Optimists say the $848 billion package drafted by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) contains all the most promising ideas for transforming the health-care system and encouraging doctors and hospitals to work more efficiently. They say it would eventually reduce both private premiums and the swelling cost of government health care for the elderly and poor.

Even pessimists don’t necessarily disagree. But they see scant evidence that those ideas would quickly bear fruit, and in the short term they fear that the initiative would leave Washington struggling to pay for a new $200 billion-a-year health program even as existing programs require vast infusions of cash to care for the aging baby-boom generation.

Those concerns were magnified by the release of Reid’s bill, which the Senate will begin debating on Monday. Democrats were thrilled when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that the package was fully “paid for” — meaning lawmakers had identified spending cuts and tax increases sufficient to cover the cost of expanding coverage to 30 million additional people.

But the measure would not deliver on Democrats’ most ambitious claims, the CBO found. While the package would not worsen the nation’s record deficits, it would not significantly improve them, either now or in the future. Reid’s bill would shave less than 2 percent from deficits projected to top $9 trillion over the next decade. And it would make only “small reductions” after that, the CBO said — about 0.25 percent of GDP — to deficits projected to balloon to roughly 14 percent of the economy by 2035.

“The hope that health-care reform would take care of our budget problem has evaporated,” said Isabel Sawhill, a fiscal expert at the Brookings Institution.

But seriously, there’s a reason some of us who don’t quarrel with comprehensive solutions to improve health care availability aren’t seeing eye to eye with this bill. Sure, most of the arguments from the elected class are beyond farcical. But the reality is that the current versions of the bills are asking us to trust the federal government to do something it hasn’t ever been known to do well in the past: stick to a commitment to cut health care costs.

If the entirety of HarryCare were offered at a much reduced tab, minus the individual mandate, I’d probably have little concern for it and be cheering it on. It’s one thing to renew hope that pilot projects for cost savings can be scaled up in the future when the promise exceeds the cost. But the latest offering seem upside down, and that’s a shame for much of the good that the bills have to offer beyond my objections.

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“Do As I Say, Not As I Did” Moderation

» Wash. Post: A courageous call for civility (EJ Dionne)

Dionne’s hagiography for Jim Leach …

The most surprising and disappointing aspect of our politics is how little pushback there has been against the vile, extremist rhetoric that has characterized such a large part of the anti-Obama movement.

President Obama’s White House has largely ignored those accusing him of “fascism” and “communism,” presumably believing that restraint in defense of dignity is no vice.

Republican politicians, worried about future primary fights, have been reluctant to pick a fight with a radical right that seems to be the most energized section of their party. Their “moderation” has consisted of a non-benign neglect of the extremists and of accusing the president merely of “socialism.” And so it is that the first genuinely ringing call for moderation has come from a man who is effectively without a party and whose own demeanor and career define temperance.

Jim Leach spent 30 years as a Republican member of Congress who went his own way. If this meant standing almost alone against his caucus, he was content to do so.

But he was never bombastic about it, as befits an extravagantly understated guy. The characteristic Leach look is a comfortable sweater worn under a tweed jacket, in season and out. That’s about as fashionable as the persona of old Mr. Chips, the warmhearted and mildly Victorian headmaster who was the hero of James Hilton’s 1934 novel.

I know Dionne is older than me. And I’m already old enough to remember a very different Jim Leach. The one who professed to have a smoking gun to pin Whitewater malfeasance on the Clintons. He didn’t seem to have much to say about that in his speech, which gives Dionne the launching pad to write his column.

Now, I’m glad to know that Jim Leach is all for civility these days. Honestly. But a bit more introspection about his own role, a bit more repentance about his own willingness to be the lead blocker for the GOP’s 1995 putsch to investigate Whitewater, alleged drug smuggling at the Mena airport … those things might have meant more than a scholarly lecture. I’m just really curious to know how the man rationalizes his past actions against his latest statements.

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The Last Mile

What today feels like …

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Hope Votes

» Chron: Texas Dems hope White can fuel comeback (Joe Holley)

Of some interest …

Now, with the possibility that a popular big-city mayor is about to announce a change of plans and run for governor, Democrats are beginning to dare hope yet again. Maybe, just maybe, Houston Mayor Bill White — if he decides to make the switch — can energize the party, attract independent voters and capture a statewide office for the Democrats for the first time since 1994.

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5A D1 Scoreboard: Semifinals Round

Region I
Arlington Martin (8-4) – 19; Euless Trinity (10-2) – 37
Arlington (10-2) – 31; Coppell (11-1) – 29
Arlington is definitely on a hot run right about now. The latest doesn’t look like it came off of Matt Joekel’s arm, but rather the foot of a jinxed kicker who nailed a clutch 29-yd FG at the end. Next week’s game ought to be pretty big, even if it wasn’t the likeliest opposition I saw coming out of the non-Trinity bracket.

As for Trinity, it looks as if they’re back to where they can do what they do best, which is plow the ball upfield. The margin of victory they got this weekend sits a bit odd with me since the first half was a close game and our D just pitched a shutout in the second half. It always seems one of two things happens at this point: you run into a team you can’t shut down or overpower; or you have enough weapons on offense to go toe-to-toe with them when the D breaks. It’s this point of the season when I get awfully uneasy thinking about the matchup of the weekend ahead. Life is much, much better when you just go out and win games 73-14, running away from the get-go.

Region II
Dallas Skyline (12-0) – 21; Cypress Woods (10-2) – 28
Tyler Lee (6-5) – 23; Round Rock Stony Point (11-1) – 27
An impressive upset by Cy Woods. No two ways about it. My contention that all good Dallas-area teams fold seems to be holding up this season. Cedar Hill … out. Garland … gone. DeSoto … well, they had to go through Skyline. Skyline … done. The simple fact of the matter is that Cedar Hill and Skyline were two dominant teams that should have won a state championship. And this weekend? Both are free to go back for seconds of turkey leftovers without worrying about it affecting their play. It’s a strange phenomenon, if you ask me.

Stony Point’s win, on the other hand, is at least to be expected. Even if Tyler Lee had lived up to their pre-season billing and won some of the early games this season, they’d still probably only reach this level. Cy Woods certainly shouldn’t be viewed as a patsy given who they just beat, but I’ve liked Stony Point for this region all along. I think they’ll have a good case to make next weekend.

Region III
Katy Cinco Ranch (11-1) – 49; Beaumont West Brook (9-3) – 26
Alief Taylor (9-3) – 19; Brazoswood (9-3) – 42
I had neither of the winners making it to Quarterfinals in my brackets. Disparity in their records aside, I tend to view each somewhat equally. Cinco looked as if they were ready to make a big statement with their season-ender against Katy. They’re undeniably good, but I’ve been more impressed with the different ways that Brazoswood has won this season: pouring it on Kempner with 56 points and then beating North Shore 7-3. What’s not to love?

Region IV
Austin Westlake (10-2) – 42; Harlingen (12-0) – 13
SA Clark (12-0) – 35; Del Rio (10-2) – 0
Reverts to form. Two teams I really don’t care much for will sort it out next week. One of ‘em has to win. Not sure how much concern to have over Westlake. In following Clark a bit more closely this season, they have shown some signs of impressiveness despite my general disregard for San Antonio football.

D-II Games of Interest:
Abilene – 17; Cedar Hill – 41
Arlington Bowie – 45; Southlake Carroll – 21
John Tyler – 37; Klein Collins – 24
Katy – 37; LaPorte – 3
No Cedar Hill. No Soutlake Carroll. And somehow Arlington Bowie is still around? I know that Abilene is still pitching a perfect season so far, but in reviewing the remaining brackets, I’m penciling in the title game as Katy vs John Tyler.

3A-II: Carthage – 56; Caldwell – 41
2A-I: Arp – 15; Kirbyville – 27
1A-II: Tenaha – 22; Mart – 25
6man-II: Motley County – 62; Miami – 58
Louisiana: Capitol – 33; Menard – 27

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Golden Fleece 2.0?

» NYT: Feingold Picks Up ‘Fleece’ Mantle

Senator Russ Feingold on Monday launched a new “Spotlight on Spending” that recalled the long-running — and better-named — campaign against perceived government waste by an earlier maverick Democrat from Wisconsin, the late William Proxmire of “Golden Fleece” fame.

With all due respect to Sen. Feingold, I’m not sure anyone can really claim to carry on Proxmire’s tradition in the truest sense. Kudos to him for at least opting for a different name.
Don’t get me wrong … Feingold does have some pretty good credibility for doing what he’s doing. But there just doesn’t exist anyone in the Senate today with Proxmire’s particular critique on federal spending. They literally just do not make them like that anymore. I suspect the late Senator was aware of this when he declined giving any of his fellow Senators the mantle of the “Golden Fleece” awards back in his final year despite several of them asking for it.

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Happy Thanksgiving

more Fail Dogs

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5A D1 Bracketology: Semifinals

The list of games gets shorter, so the importance of each is magnified …

Regional I

Arlington Martin (8-4) vs. Euless Trinity (10-2)

noon Friday, Bedford’s Pennington Field
Arlington (10-2) vs. Coppell (11-1)
1 p.m. Saturday, Birdville ISD Complex

I like that Trinity High basically gets a home game this deep in the playoffs. But Martin has beaten some good teams in the regular season and I’d suspect that a rematch against Arlington (one of those teams they’ve beaten) is an enticing motivation for Friday. It’s a broken record that I run paranoid this time of year … I like our position, but I’ll be out of fingernails to gnaw through by 11:59 in the am.

Arlington is coming off a strong game by QB Matt Joekel. He’ll need to be Superman to beat Coppell, but he’s capable of it.

For now, I’ll argue that it’s been destiny for this region to be decided between Trinity & Coppell.

Regional II

Dallas Skyline (12-0) vs. Cypress Woods (10-2)

6 p.m. Saturday, Temple
Tyler Lee (6-5) vs. Round Rock Stony Point (11-1)
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Waco ISD Stadium

… and while destiny is all fine and good, there’s two very different teams that are on teh flip side of that in this region. Cy Woods is one of three remaining Houston area schools left. They’d be a strong bet for winning Region III if they were aligned there. But they’re not. Tyler Lee is probably set to meet the end of their road Saturday. But they sure do strike me as a good Cinderella team if they can just find two more rabbits to pull out of the hat.
I doubt seriously that Skyline or Stony Point is looking beyond this weekend.

Regional III

Katy Cinco Ranch (11-1) vs. Beaumont West Brook (9-3)

1 p.m. Saturday, Houston’s Rice Stadium
Alief Taylor (9-3) vs. Brazoswood (9-3)
1 p.m. Friday, Houston’s Tully Stadium

The Region formerly known as Hightower’s is now up for grabs. The records suggest that it’s now Cinco Ranch’s for the asking. But I’m not so sure. West Brook has proven some ability to beat ranked teams. Brazoswood just might be for real. Taylor is the only one I’m more or less blank on.

I’ll put my marker on Brazoswood and Cinco Ranch winning … but I’m doubtful of the caliber of the region’s strength now.

Regional IV

Austin Westlake (10-2) vs. Harlingen (12-0)

4 p.m. Friday, Alamodome
SA Clark (12-0) vs. Del Rio (10-2)
8 p.m. Friday, Alamodome

And as weak as I love to mock Region IV for being, it looks like it’s time to cast that aside as any of these four teams could pull a surprise in the Final Four. The smart picks are probably Westlake and Clark, but I’m rooting against both.

Valley teams tend to get short billing (as do El Paso teams), but Harlingen is just up against the last remaining team I love to hate. And Del Rio is a much more interesting story this year.

D-II Games of Interest:
Abilene – Cedar Hill (battle of the undefeateds)
Tyler – Klein Collins
Katy – LaPorte
3A-II: Carthage – Caldwell
2A-I: Arp – Kirbyville
1A-II: Tenaha – Mart
6man-I: Motley County – Miami (both teams scored over 100 points last weekend)

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Approaching the Problem From the Wrong Angle

» NYT: From the Hospital to Bankruptcy Court

An interesting sidenote of the health care debate …

In the campaign to broaden support for the overhaul of American health care, few arguments have packed as much rhetorical punch as the there-but-for-the-grace-of-God notion that average families, through no fault of their own, are going bankrupt because of medical debt.

President Obama, in addressing a joint session of Congress in September, called on lawmakers to protect those “who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy.” He added: “These are not primarily people on welfare. These are middle-class Americans.”

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, made a similar case on Saturday in a floor speech calling for passage of a measure to open debate on his chamber’s health care bill.

The legislation moving through Congress would attack the problem in numerous ways.

Bills in both houses would expand eligibility for Medicaid and provide health insurance subsidies for those making up to four times the federal poverty level. Insurers would be prohibited from denying coverage to those with pre-existing health conditions. Out-of-pocket medical costs would be capped annually.

I’m sure the various approaches that come out of the sausage factory will play a role in cutting down the number of health care-related bankruptcies, but each one strikes me as small ball. I mean, if you really wanted to deal with the problem head-on, you’d simply write a new chapter of bankruptcy law that allows people to designate a health care-related bankruptcy. You could write it such that it wouldn’t register on your credit score in the manner that other bankruptcies do. You would still be able to meet your obligations for the remainder of your finances and it would have no affect whatsoever.

The problem? Insurance companies wouldn’t like it and it would also bump up rates to allow for bankruptcies and defaults. But I’m not sure the rate bump would be significant since a) people are already filing *a* form of bankruptcy already, and b) there would be no theoretical increase in the likelihood of default. But good luck selling that to the insurance lobby.

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Shorter Perry: “I Liked the Old Federal Standards More”

» DMN: Perry says Texas, not U.S., should set state public education standards

Funny, it seems like such a short time ago that a Texas Governor was suggesting federal standards for education and all the rightwing sheep were in immediate compliance. And from whence, No Child Left Behind was born!

Now?

Gov. Rick Perry still wants no part of a move to establish national standards for English and math instruction in public schools.

Perry issued a letter Tuesday – just as rival Kay Bailey Hutchison was announcing education policy proposals – to state Education Commissioner Robert Scott reiterating his opposition to federal standards.

Texas education officials, with Perry’s backing, told the U.S. Department of Education in June that the state would not participate with most other states in developing the standards, spelling out what students at all grade levels should be taught in those subjects.

By doing so, Texas has severely hurt its chances of getting a piece of a $4.35 billion federal grant program for schools, known as “Race to the Top” funds. But Perry said in his letter that that’s a price worth paying.

Ironically, all of this comes as SecEd, Arne Duncan has had the following to say about how standards will be crafted in the Obama administration:

As states come together around higher common standards, I want to flip it – and be tighter about the goals – but more flexible in how you can meet them.

I trust states and districts to find the way – and I don’t trust Washington to tell you how to do it. You have the ideas, the leadership, and the ability. I’m here to support you.

I just cannot help but find it comical that the one time leading Republican electeds finally come out against elements of NCLB, it’s when the standardization process is devolved more to the local level.

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Retro-fitting the Boomburbs

» DMN: Plano leaders brainstorm on taking east side from tired to trendy

Meet the suburbs of tomorrow …

With land fit for new construction growing scarce, the city that helped define suburban sprawl is headed for an extreme makeover, starting with its older neighborhoods.

Plano’s new direction became clearer at a work session last week as its City Council, along with planners and consultants, brainstormed recipes for renewal.

City planners have grappled with the challenges of age for some time. But at the Nov. 18 meeting in downtown Plano, leaders discussed the future candidly and in broad strokes: What is next for an aging suburb nearing build-out?

“We’ve got the core elements. We’ve got the basic structure. Now we just need to put the exterior on it,” Mayor Phil Dyer said.

Retrofitting the city is likely to take years, even decades. And what works for one neighborhood – or even one block – may not work for another.

Generally, urban-style main streets, access to trains and buses, and more green spaces will supplant aging shopping malls and subdivisions.

Planners say those and other elements will fuel the Plano of tomorrow and help purge the sprawl out of suburbia.

“Plano is changing,” said Phyllis Jarrell, the city’s planning director. “The style of development is going to change as well.”

… they’ll look an awful lot like the big cities of today.

Part of the reason I’ve never seen the merits of the “bash the suburbs” mindset is that any inhabitable location undergoes a metamorphosis. Recall that, here in Houston, the Heights used to the be the suburbs. Humble and Kingwood used to be East Texas. And The Woodlands did not exist. They became what they are today based on a response to what existed around them. In these instances: a relatively welcoming subdivision encompassed by a growing city; a defensive last boundary for an encroaching city; and an escape route for those who could afford it.

Let ‘em grow and let ‘em evolve, I say. Besides, they’re increasingly home to some very friendly voters.

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The Key to a Good Offense is a Readable Defense

» BoGlobe: To get into the game, ID often required
This is a good read to get in a football frame of mind for this weekend. Good, that is, if you like some insight into the mechanics of how QBs read defenses …

Against teams like the Jets and Ravens, whose fronts may be more difficult to identify, there are sure to be spots where the QB isn’t correct. But that doesn’t necessarily spell disaster.

“They’re identifying the ‘bigs,’ ” said Jets linebacker Bart Scott. “Their five are identifying the five that they’re going to take. So if they get the Mike wrong, it’s still five on five.”

And the quarterback can get by getting rid of the ball quickly.

But if the offense is going to be wrong, it’s being wrong together that’s important. Often, that will mean that the running back has to make a defender miss earlier than he’d like, or the quarterback has to sidestep a rusher or unload the ball quicker.

“Thing about that is, if you’re right, you’re right,” Koppen said. “But if you’re wrong and you’re all on the same page, you’re better off than one guy being messed up.”

Wondering how defenders go unblocked? There it is.

Of course, during my reading of this, I couldn’t help but rewind a bit to Super Bowl XLII. On the first play by the Patriot’s offense, it was clear that the Giants D was creating some confusion for the Patriots. And as the low-scoring game got further and further along, it was a bad omen for what should have been the Patriot’s perfect season.

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Early Voting Locations in Houston City Runoff Elections

Early Voting locations for City of Houston (and any other local elections about town).
Date & Times:
Nov. 30 – Dec. 4 …. 8am – 5pm
Dec. 5 …… 7am – 7pm
Dec. 6 …… 1pm – 6pm
Dec. 7 – Dec. 8 … 7am – 7pm
Election Day, of course, is December 12th.

View 2009 Houston Runoff Early Vote Locations in a larger map

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