Football, Critters, & Ward Churchill

Oh, what a wonderful football Sunday!  The three teams that I root for won their games - the Redskins, the Jets, and the Broncos.  And I was able to see all three - it was great.  For tonight's double-header, I'll be rooting for the Baltimore Ravens and the Oakland Raiders.  RGIII did the Redskins proud; the real offense showed up for the Jets (and Tim Tebow recovered a Buffalo on-side kick); and Peyton Manning threw for his 400th touchdown while leading the Broncos over the Steelers.  I make no bones about the fact that I heartily dislike Ben Roethlisberger - if he had been anyone else, he'd be in jail for his sexual escapades - so I really wanted the Steelers to lose, but there are also 3 Gators on the first-string offense.  I finally decided that Big Ben's transgressions were too great, and, so, rooted for the Broncos only.
   Shady slept with me last night, but Cloudy rubbed up against my hand, and then spat at me.  Lovey and Nedi have been really sweet this morning, and Remy was well enough for him to walk with me this morning.  He was very unhappy being left at home over the weekend when Rosie was out walking.  And the skunks are out and about in the neighborhood - Chelsea (a dog) was sprayed last week, and Bernie got sprayed Saturday, trying to stop a dog from chasing a skunk.  And someone broke into a series of cars in the Githens Acres neighborhood late Saturday night, or very early on Sunday morning.  Mark arrived home at 9 Saturday night, and was going to leave to ride in the Buffalo Bicycle Classic race at 5 in the morning on Sunday, when he discovered that all three of his family vehicles had been broken into.
   Ward Churchill, the ex-professor at the University of Colorado (CU), was finally heard by the Colorado Supreme Court; he wanted his job back at CU, as well as back-pay.  He was dismissed 5 years ago for plagiarism, but claims it was due to an editorial he had written about the bombing of the Twin Towers on September 11.  The Colorado Supreme Court found against Ward Churchill.  He and his attorney now state they will go the the US Supreme Court...  From The Denver Post:

'In its ruling, the Colorado Supreme Court said Churchill had five opportunities to present his own witnesses, cross-examine opposing witnesses and argue his case before the board following allegations Churchill plagiarized some of his academic writings, fabricated evidence and violated the university's academic standards. "Although we are mindful that a full-fledged, years-long investigation into a professor's academic record taken in bad faith could chill the continued exercise of free speech, we conclude that the federal case law in this area is too unsettled to defeat the regents' claim of qualified immunity," the state Supreme Court judges ruled. A civil jury in 2009 found the school unlawfully fired Churchill but awarded him only $1 in damages. However, a Denver District judge set aside the verdict and said university regents, who are elected, are a "quasi-judicial" panel with immunity from the lawsuit. Lane said the civil verdict was not about the damages but whether Churchill should get his job back with back pay.'

Critters, Olympics, Football

I watched all of the Jets/Bengals game last night.  The big cats made the Jets look like flies without wings; it was sad.  I did get a kick out of watching Tim Tebow during the opening kick-off, and I was very happy with some his his decisions to scramble and/or throw the ball away.  He seems to have grown a lot over the past year.  I'll have to keep my eyes on him.
   The cats are out playing in the back yard.  They both wanted love and attention before breakfast, but once they were satisfied in that area, they gobbled and then ran out.  Both have been back to my desk multiple times for more attention.  Cloudy and Shady were pretty stand-offish yesterday - this morning, however, they both wanted love and attention; then they wanted to go out.  Last night their irrigation ditch share night came around, and as the water runs until noon, the sprinklers all over the back yard are going strong.  Cloudy and Shady were pretty ticked that I wouldn't let them out this morning.  Cloudy actually growled at me.  (But, then, she and Shady have been highly put upon during the last few weeks.  The cat formerly known as Chiton and Mango, now named Mister Kitty, has been terrorizing these two.  He jumps on them, rips out tons of fur, and then urinates on them.  It must be extremely distressing.)  Rosie and Remy are doing fine - last night they found a raccoon in the back yard and I had to get them inside so the critter could swarm back up the ivy and over the fence.  You have have thought that Rosie was a true hound, by the way she was baying.  It was funny.
   The fencing and swimming elements of the Mens Modern Pentathlon have already taken place.  The equestrian jumping part is scheduled to begin in about 25 minutes...  It will be interesting to see all of the scoring  -   and to see how the women counterparts do tomorrow.  It seems strange that the 30th Summer Olympics will be over and done with tomorrow night.  I was able to view a lot more of the different sports, and I thoroughly enjoyed it...  But, it's almost September.  It's getting to be time for FOOTBALL!!!

Individual Dressage, Olympics Wrap-Up

The rides in the Grand Prix Individual Dressage that NBC aired yesterday morning were breath-taking.  I have to admit that I was watching sitting astride a kitchen chair, and trying to guide each horse with my legs and back.  I was exhausted by the time that Charlotte Dujardin made the last ride on Valegro, and took the Gold medal for Great Britain.  Adelinde Cornelissen on Parzival garnered the Silver medal for the Netherlands, and Laura Bechtolsheimer on Mistral Hojris took the Bronze - also for Great Britain.  I also totally enjoyed the rides of three others in particular:  Anky van Grunsven was riding the great Salinero, now 18 - they finished in 6th; Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz on Fuego, performed their Spanish dances and won 10th place; I was disappointed that Steffen Peters and Ravel were 17th out of 18 horse and rider pairs, but they gave their best for our country.  It was a truly magical morning, watching these fantastic horses and riders perform Grand Prix Freestyle to such wonderful music.
  The United States, for the first time since 1956 (when I was born), did not win a single equestrian medal; nor did Canada.  The final count was spread across five countries:  Great Britain had 5; Germany 4; the Netherlands 4; Switzerland 1; and Sweden 1.  Great Britain earned 3 Golds, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze; Germany garnered 2 Golds, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze; the Netherlands earned 3 Silvers and 1 Bronze; Switzerland got 1 Gold; and Sweden earned 1 Silver.
   The final competition using horses will be the Modern Pentathlon, with the Mens competition being Saturday, and the Womens test on Sunday.  The modern pentathlon consists of five disciplines (from Greek word pente) that will be contested on a single day in the following order:
1. Fencing: Epee (35 bouts)
2. Swimming: 200m freestyle
3. Equestrian: Show jumping (15 jumps)
4. Combined event: 3000m (1.82 miles) cross-country running + laser pistol (15 targets)
It should be an interesting event!
    Last night, the Broncos steam-rolled the Bears, winning 31 to 3...  Of course, it's the pre-season.  Of course, Peyton Manning did start for the Broncos.  Of course, Jay Cutler did not start for the Bears...  In any event, it was a fun game to watch.  I have found that the NFL Channel will be showing the Jets games tonight, so I can watch Tim Tebow (whenever he's allowed on the field)...
   My kits wanted lots of love this morning, but seem to be content at the moment.  Rosie and Remy had a great afternoon, evening, and night.  I was a little freaked out to arrive at the house yesterday afternoon and find the garden crew having a "war" in the street, using crab apples and gooseberries for ammunition.  The head gardener had called Nancy and told her that the plants were absolutely parched, so I gave them 4 times the usual amount of water this morning...  And I start caring for Shady and Cloudy today, also.
   I hope you have a wonderful weekend!