I had my whole day planned for college football yesterday - I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Gamecocks beat Furman, and I also appreciated Steve Spurrier's deprecating remarks. I watched in awe as the Georgia Bulldogs ripped the Arkansas Razorbacks - I thought the Hawgs were much better. Just before the end of the Georgia game, I switched over to ESPN2 to see the Florida Gators play the Missouri Tigers for their Homecoming game. All day long I had remembered Gator Homecomings - the parade on University Avenue, which I saw in person for 33 years in a row, with all the marching bands from high schools all over the state and all the University bands; Gator Growl, the "biggest out door pep rally" in the country - and all the celebrities that guest-hosted; and Game Day itself. When I was a kid, we played other conference members and the Homecoming game was always hard-fought, and wins were celebrated as real wins. While I was in college and for several years after, we played non-competitive teams that weren't in our class and pretty much had an assured win. Once we got Steve Spurrier (back home) as the Gator head coach, we started playing SEC opponents and again our victories could be celebrated.
I was shocked and outraged that with over 700 channels on my satellite TV, the only one which was showing the Florida-Mizzou game, ESPN2, was blacked-out in Colorado. I was so ready for the game - I had all of my snacks on the coffee table, and a full 20-ounce bottle of cold Diet Coke at my elbow. And NO game to watch. I admit it. I was totally ticked off. I closed the window curtains, made certain that my kits were inside with me, locked the doors, and went to bed. I did read for a couple of hours - Archaeology magazine, since it was International Archaeology Day - but at 7 p.m., I turned off the light and I went to sleep. (My thoughts were, "So there!" to all the advertisers and the television executives who had decided I couldn't watch a game on TV that was taking place two time zones and 1,751 miles away.) Childish, I know.
I would have been cheering for both teams, actually. The Gators were my team growing up, and where I went to college. Missouri is where several friends have graduated, and my cousin Sarah is a big fan of theirs, also. And I just happen to like the Tigers - they joined the SEC recently, and this is only their second football season. But those Mizzou Tigers know how to hunt, pounce and kill their prey. When I got up this morning, the first thing I did was check the college scores. It might have been the Florida Gators Homecoming game, but the Tigers showed they know how to hunt and kill a Gator. It was an **ouch** game - the final score was 42 to 13. I think the Tigers wrapped the team up in orange and blue ribbons and gave them back to the fans, served on toast. Kinda glad I didn't watch the game, now. I probably would have been having conniption fits throughout.....
Showing posts with label SEC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SEC. Show all posts
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Weather, Football, Child Abuse
There was an interesting view on the way back from the bakery this morning - pale blue sky with orange clouds almost straight above me, but to the west a haze was hanging over the far peaks. I could see snow on the top of Green Mountain and Flagstaff; the Indian Peaks were white, but with the haze, it was hard to tell where the mountains and sky parted ways; to the northwest, Mount Audubon was invisible in the haze - or were they clouds? .... Yesterday was very windy here - winds steady between 20 and 40 mph, with gusts up to 92 mph. This morning we seem to be leveled out at 20 mph - cold and crisp, with clouds moving to the south at a good clip.
Boulder celebrated last night - the CU Buffs won a home football game, beating the U of California Golden Bears 41 to 24. I have to admit I was listening to the crowd in the stadium a block away, but I was watching the Florida Gators - South Carolina Gamecocks game on the television. I'm a Gator; but I dearly love Steve Spurrier and his team, too. The Gators have been pretty awful this year - but they have a legitimate excuse, being decimated by season-ending injuries to their starting players. The Gators had lost the last four games, and the last time they lost 5 games in a row was in 1979 (which I remember) under head coach Charley Pell, who had replaced Doug Dickey... If the Gamecocks beat the Gators, and if Missouri lost one of their two next games, then the Gamecocks would be in the SEC playoffs. If the Gators won, neither they nor the Gamecocks would be in the play-offs for the SEC Championship. I was rooting for the Gamecocks. I must say I was highly impressed by the first-time starting quarterback for Florida - Skylar Mornhinweg. He kept his cool, he became more sure of himself with each play, and he made no mistakes until he made a big one late in the fourth quarter. Overall, his first game was awesome. I also enjoyed seeing the Gamecocks kicker, Elliot Fry, a 150 pound six-foot string bean, who made 4 of 5 field goals, as well as kicking the PATs. The Gamecocks won, 19 to 14. And I'll definitely be watching the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs tonight - the best NFL offense against the best NFL defense. (Go Broncos!)
I am, finally, puzzled and outraged by what was found in North Carolina yesterday. A Sheriff's Deputy had been dispatched in Union County to check out the report of a loose pig on someone's property. The Deputy found an 11-year-old boy, handcuffed to a porch railing, with a dead chicken around his neck. The temperatures were frigid, and the boy was shivering with cold, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. The Deputy knocked on the front door, and was chased by several aggressive dogs back to his car. He called for back up. While awaiting assistance, and with the dogs still growling and barking at the cruiser, a man came onto the porch, unlocked the handcuffs and took the boy inside. When back-up officers arrived, the dogs were caught, and the Deputy went to the door. The 11-year-old was a foster child, and there were four other children inside the house. The man was a registered nurse at the local emergency room; he and his wife had fostered and then adopted the four other children. The 11-year-old was a "new" foster child. The shocking detail was that the mother-wife of the pair was the head of the Union County Social Services! Both adults are under arrest; all the children are back under the auspices of the County's Social Services, and the woman has been stripped of her job. - There is still no word as to why the boy was outside in freezing weather, hand-cuffed to a porch rail, with a dead chicken around his neck... What were these people thinking - or even doing - how did they get custody of these children? Heaven help us.
Boulder celebrated last night - the CU Buffs won a home football game, beating the U of California Golden Bears 41 to 24. I have to admit I was listening to the crowd in the stadium a block away, but I was watching the Florida Gators - South Carolina Gamecocks game on the television. I'm a Gator; but I dearly love Steve Spurrier and his team, too. The Gators have been pretty awful this year - but they have a legitimate excuse, being decimated by season-ending injuries to their starting players. The Gators had lost the last four games, and the last time they lost 5 games in a row was in 1979 (which I remember) under head coach Charley Pell, who had replaced Doug Dickey... If the Gamecocks beat the Gators, and if Missouri lost one of their two next games, then the Gamecocks would be in the SEC playoffs. If the Gators won, neither they nor the Gamecocks would be in the play-offs for the SEC Championship. I was rooting for the Gamecocks. I must say I was highly impressed by the first-time starting quarterback for Florida - Skylar Mornhinweg. He kept his cool, he became more sure of himself with each play, and he made no mistakes until he made a big one late in the fourth quarter. Overall, his first game was awesome. I also enjoyed seeing the Gamecocks kicker, Elliot Fry, a 150 pound six-foot string bean, who made 4 of 5 field goals, as well as kicking the PATs. The Gamecocks won, 19 to 14. And I'll definitely be watching the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs tonight - the best NFL offense against the best NFL defense. (Go Broncos!)
I am, finally, puzzled and outraged by what was found in North Carolina yesterday. A Sheriff's Deputy had been dispatched in Union County to check out the report of a loose pig on someone's property. The Deputy found an 11-year-old boy, handcuffed to a porch railing, with a dead chicken around his neck. The temperatures were frigid, and the boy was shivering with cold, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. The Deputy knocked on the front door, and was chased by several aggressive dogs back to his car. He called for back up. While awaiting assistance, and with the dogs still growling and barking at the cruiser, a man came onto the porch, unlocked the handcuffs and took the boy inside. When back-up officers arrived, the dogs were caught, and the Deputy went to the door. The 11-year-old was a foster child, and there were four other children inside the house. The man was a registered nurse at the local emergency room; he and his wife had fostered and then adopted the four other children. The 11-year-old was a "new" foster child. The shocking detail was that the mother-wife of the pair was the head of the Union County Social Services! Both adults are under arrest; all the children are back under the auspices of the County's Social Services, and the woman has been stripped of her job. - There is still no word as to why the boy was outside in freezing weather, hand-cuffed to a porch rail, with a dead chicken around his neck... What were these people thinking - or even doing - how did they get custody of these children? Heaven help us.
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