Bonds indictment makes for creative headlines
A grand jury has indicted Barry Bonds on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. It’s making for some very creative headlines around the country. My favorites:
“Lyin’ King”-Rocky Mountain News
Drew Litton, sports editorial cartoonist, has a cartoon showing Bonds going from “Inducted” to “Indicted.”
“A full count on Bonds”-The Denver Post
“Mighty Barry has struck out”-Woody Paige of ESPN and The Denver Post.
I’m a firm believer that everyone deserves their day in court and that holds true for Barry Bonds. But, he’s definitely spent his last day playing baseball.
This is a sad day for baseball. And shame on baseball for letting this happen. Sadly the courts are doing, what baseball should have done a long time ago. There are a lot of kids who idolize these players. And that's the saddest part of all this.
College football: parity and clarity?
Ohio State became the latest team to add a loss next to their win column. Just two teams remain undefeated as the regular season winds down, Kansas and Hawaii. Many sports pundits attribute it all to parity in college football. Yet the Jayhawks are ranked 3rd in the BCS poll behind LSU and Oregon, who both have lost one game. Hawaii is ranked 16th. It’s not about parity, it’s about politics and it will all change again. As I post this, Oregon lost to Arizona on Thursday night. But it does give the sports talk shows great fodder. And I’ll be talking about it more in next week’s blog.
Mark your calendars for this game
Army takes on Navy December 1 for one of the best college football traditions in the nation. The players on these two teams, along with the players at the bowl-bound Air Force Academy don’t have multi-million dollar contracts waiting for them when they graduate. Instead they’ll serve at least five years in service to our nation. The only “bling” they can look forward to is a shiny new set of Lieutenant’s bars on their shoulders or perhaps some aviator wings.
Then, when they return to class Monday after the game, they’ll be getting ready for finals in courses like engineering, physics and chemistry.
It’s always a fabulous game to watch, full of tradition and sportsmanship. But these players are truly something special. Enjoy the game and honor their commitment to America!
As far as bowls, Navy is heading to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego (there will be no shortage of Navy fans in that crowd) with Air Force likely playing in the Fort Worth Bowl.
Veteran’s Day Salute
Our own team here at Video Professor gets up bright and early each Veteran’s Day to place over 150 flags around our headquarters. Here’s a link to a video of our COO Bettye Harrison and the team honoring our vets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDgAnV_jbmU
What’s with Terrell and Randy?
Did you notice that the only attention Terrell Owens and Randy Moss are getting this season is for on-field accomplishment instead of off-field silliness? Maturity is a wonderful thing, however late in coming. Plus it makes a difference in the win-loss column.
Tu-lo two short
O.K., I’m a homer and I am very disappointed that Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzski lost out by two votes to the Milwaukee Brewer’s Ryan Braun for Rookie of the Year. The voters appreciated hitting more than fielding, apparently. No worries Troy. Keep playing the way you do and you’re going to end up in Cooperstown. Without the asterisk!
How about a debate Al?
Al Gore won an Oscar for his documentary (actually a video of a Microsoft Power Point® presentation) about global warming. He even won the Nobel Peace Prize. (But so did Yasser Arafat.) Curiously, he ducks every opportunity to actually debate his claim of an imminent global disaster. Gore may indeed be right. But, many distinguished scientists and even – John Coleman, the founder of The Weather Channel dispute what he says. I think hearing both sides would be very interesting.
Google®, Gas and Go
O.K. guys, one less reason for us not to ask for directions. Google is launching a program at 3,500 gas pumps around the country. While you gas up, the pump will have a screen where you can get directions using the Google Maps feature. You’ll still have to check your own oil however. Although I’m sure Google is working on that too.
How true
I got this from a friend. It’s a joke, or is it? “The reason congress tries so hard to get re-elected is that they would hate to have to make a regular living under the laws they pass.”
Memo to Wall Street
I don’t have a degree in economics from an Ivy League school, but my suggestion to the folks on Wall Street; don’t buy stuff you can’t afford and don’t lend money to people who can’t pay it back. The headline in this week’s edition of Fortune Magazine says it best. “What were they smoking?”
Brew U
Colorado State University has launched a very popular new course on brewing beer. Officially it’s called Brewing Science and Technology. Yes, science is involved including engineering, biochemistry and microbiology. The class has room for 20 students, but hundreds applied. They actually produce their own micro-brews with tasting parties. Imagine getting an e-mail from your college kid asking for money for beer class!
Tech news and notes
Intel® announced a new chip this week. It will have 820 million transistors. That’s up from 582 million. For a real comparison, Intel’s first chips released in the 1970’s had just 2,700 transistors. Look for these new and very powerful chips to show up in servers and high-end video games soon. All in something that fits on the tip of your finger. Wow.
I hear that Google is in talks with American Idol creator Simon Fuller that “…could change the way TV is watched over the Internet.” According to sources in the U.K.’s The Guardian, the partnership will do for video, what Apple’s iTunes® music store did for music.
It used to be for kids that saving up your pennies followed by a trip to the comic book store was the highlight of a Saturday afternoon. Then you could catch up on the adventures of your favorite superhero. Marvel Comics is now taking the experience online. You’ll be able to sign up for a year for $4.99 per month and have access to 2,500 titles. These will include original issues of Spiderman and other Marvel comic book heroes.
The Professor is in
My inbox is open 24/7. It’s always great to hear from you about the blog, comments about our product and suggestions to serve you better. Just e-mail me at ceo@videoprofessor.com.
-John
John W. Scherer
