I'm pissed. I'm glad I have this blog, cause it allows me to vent and hopefully connect with people that have some input on the subject matter.
Background information:
I am a law student in Miami at the "U," as the football team likes to call it. Yesterday, stupidly, I left my laptop charger in one of the classrooms. This was about 11AM. I didn't realize this until 3:30 but wasn't able to go back to see if it was in the room until 6:00 because of the class schedules. When I got there, I looked around for about 20 minutes and nothing. No charger anywhere. Not under the desk. Not at the front of the room. Nowhere.
This morning I went to the Registrar, Dean of Student's Office, and the library (3 lost and found locations). Nothing. I went back in the afternoon. Nothing. I talked to the professor who teaches the class in the same room right after my class. Nothing.
I have a question...maybe a couple.
1. WHO STEALS A POWER CORD? 2. WHAT LAW STUDENT STEALS A POWER CORD?
Now I am assuming that it was stolen and that the finder isn't trying to find me, laughing with his/her buddies about his/her good fortune. "Now I can have one at school and one at home! HA HA HA!" Yes, maybe I am paranoid and don't trust people, but I know that if I had found a cord I would have wanted to keep it, but I would have turned it into the lost and found. I am not saying I am better than those who don't/wouldn't, but it strikes me, that future lawyers could be dishonest and unhelpful.
Reading that last sentence, maybe I am foolish. Lawyers are pretty scummy. I want to just say that although I am studying law, I want to go back to the business world and law school was pretty much a mistake on my part.
What really pisses me off is that we operate under a strict honor code here. Taking a pencil from the libarary is technically a punishable offense. But forget the legal stuff, have some fucking compassion for a fellow broke-ass student. We all have laptops and understand how essential they are to our daily being. We all know that a power cord is necessary for a laptop to function (assuming the battery has run out).
Needless to say, I am probably outta $50 to replace the damn thing. Hopefully, I am wrong and the person is looking for me or turning in the cord now but I am not keeping my hopes up.
Oh, for those who are wondering how I got this post up...I was lucky enough to have a friend let me borrow her charger this morning.
One last thing...If you took my damn charger and are reading this, please drop it off in the library...cause I am going to hunt you down like a dog and then gut you like a fish.
I hate watching local news. I can't stand it. I don't care who got shot where. I don't care about who was seen on South Beach. I don't care about health tips that any idiot could figure out. The only good thing about the local news is the sports highlights and the weather.
I do like watching the national news, especially the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. He does a very good job and has a personality (his interview on the Daily Show was hilarious). Basically, I watch this program every chance I get.
Last night, the theme of the news was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I have nothing against this because MLK Jr was very important in this country's history. I am not going to say anything more because I don't know much more about him than what I learned in high school and what I have read in the news. I am no expert and I am not going to pretend that I am.
Well, anyway, one of the stories was about what was going on in New Orleans and how the city was celebrating the legacy of Dr. King. What struck me were the Mayor's comments. The point he was trying to make was valid - that the black community of New Orleans should have a chance to rebuild and it would not be fair if the lower income individuals were forced out of the city.
What bothered me though was how he made this point. In his speech at City Hall, Mayor Nagin said,
"This city will be chocolate at the end of the day...This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be."
When asked to clarify his comments, Nagin said he was saying the New Orleans should be a integrated city and his comments were not divisive. His exact quote was this jem:
"How do you make chocolate? You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink."
And then
"New Orleans was a chocolate city before Katrina. It is going to be a chocolate city after. How is that divisive? It is white and black working together, coming together and making something special."
Is it just me or was Nagin using racial slurs in a speech about bringing New Orleans back? Dark Chocolate? White milk? Chocolate city? Is this the 1960s? Don't get me wrong, I understand what he is saying. Yes, the people of New Orleans who were forced out of their neighborhoods deserve a chance at rebuilding. But to make that statement using those kinds words is just beyond me. I have a feeling that if something like this would have happened in a predominently white city and the Mayor was to say something like that, the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton would be all over him for being racist.
How is this any different? Yes, maybe Nagin was playing to a black crowd on MLK day but that still doesn't make what he said ok. He could have gotten the same point across using different language. Call me racist, say I don't get it, or whatever you want to. My only point is that he shouldn't be using slang terms for races and have it be ok. Dr. King was about having people be treated equally. Well, in that case, Mayor Nagin should be scrutinized for the words he used. He should be questioned. Most of all, he should apologize to those who may have been offended.
Lots of events happening in the football world this week. Michigan football is in the news for a variety of reasons. My thoughts:
Michigan Football:
It unfortunate that Michigan lost Matt Gutierrez to transfer, but its hard to blame him for his decision. Matt just was a victim of bad luck, unfortunate circumstances, or whatever-you-want-to-call-it. Let's be honest, kids want to display their skills in college to get to the pros and getting some experience, even at the 1-AA level is better than nothing. Barring injury to Chad Henne, its unlikely that Matt would have gotten snaps in other than mop up situations. Like Brian at www.mgoblog.blogspot.com said, Matt was gracious and handled his situation with nothing but class. Good luck to him in the future.
Also leaving Michigan is Max Martin, 4th string running back this past year. Martin was prone to fumbles and never really seemed to build confidence or gain the trust of the coaching staff. Reports are that he's heading to Alabama. With Carlos Brown coming in, Kevin Grady getting more practice, Mike Hart getting healthy, and Jerome Jackson there is a lot of talent on the roster and Martin's departure is unlikely to hurt the team next year.
Finally, next year's schedule is finalized. Contrary to popular belief, Vandy, not UMaine Black Bears is the 12th game. Personally, I would have liked a stronger opponent, but it seemed unlikely to happen. Vandy will be a fun opening game, a different taste from a MAC opponent - like having cocoa pebbles instead of fruity pebbles.
This shouldn't be a tough game with Vanderbilt losing their star player to graduation and that is what really bothers me. I know that Michigan didn't have a good year but this program seems to be ducking quality opponents because the Wolverines would have to go on the road (to be fair, UMiami contacted Michigan before the 2004 season to fill out the 'Canes' schedule and Michigan responded by saying the game would be a go...if it took place in Ann Arbor).
The only road game this team faces in the non-conference is Notre Dame and there are grumblings that Lloyd wants the Irish off the schedule. I don't know how much truth there is to this.
Now I know that it was hard to get another opponent for next year given the time crunch, but hopefully, in the future, Michigan will be playing more challenging teams than the Commodores. I remember as a freshman, the first home game, my first game as a student was against Colorado. My sophomore year, Michigan traveled to Boulder and skipped out with a close victory.
Personally, I wonder if there is a rift in the athletic department on how to handle the 12th game. Its well know that Lloyd doesn't like the idea of exploiting the kids, blah, blah, blah. On the other hand, the extra home game makes the athletic department about an extra $4M. Its an opportunity to bring in a quality opponent, even if it means a home and home situation.
It would be great to see a team like Oklahoma, LSU, or Miami come up to Ann Arbor. There is a thought going on the road in the non-conference could kill National Championship dreams, but to get that far, a team is going to have to win on the road and getting a victory over a contender on the road could only help in the long run. Although there is not tournament in college football, I still think road victories can only help a team get stronger for its conference road games. I think a victory on the road against a quality opponent is worth more than a home victory over a patsy (see Texas 2005).
Maybe Lloyd is afraid to go on the road given his lack of success in opening road games. Maybe Lloyd really believes that a weak home opponent is a good thing. Maybe Bill Martin would rather sign one year contracts with teams that will only come to Ann Arbor to get the additional coin. Yet, I don't think the decision is being driven by Martin as evidenced in John Heuser's column in the Ann Arbor News:
" Although home games - which net the school's athletic department more than $4 million each - are enticing from a financial perspective, Martin acknowledged that there is also value in going on the road during the non-conference season."
Martin was quoted as saying,"We'd like to do away games in areas where we have strong alumni bases, and where there is a big talent pool in terms of high school football players (for recruiting purposes)."
I guess we will see what happens in the future. Hopefully, it will involve playing some quality opponents.
Happy New Year everyone! I spent midnight with my girlfriend at her house in New Jersey. It was different than going out and getting drunk in a club, but just as much fun.
Other thoughts:
Thank God the Lions season is over. Hopefully, management will get a clue and restructure management. Matt Millen needs to hire a coach who will crack the whip. Who this is, I don't know.
I am excited to watch the New Year's bowls. Besides Texas v. USC, I am very interested to watch PSU take on Florida State. I think Florida State's defense is the key to this game - if they play as well as they did against VT and Miami, even without AJ Nicholson, they have a good shot of winning. I am going with FSU in this one.
Also, in the Fiesta Bowl, I am curious to see ND's offense versus Ohio State's defense. Honestly, I have no idea what is going to happen in this game. ND's offense played well most of the season, but I don't know if they have played a defense of Ohio State's caliber. Cheering for either team in this game is weird - like picking between kissing your sister and your mom. I think with over a month to prepare for this game, Charlie Weiss will have the Irish ready and they will win in a defensive struggle.
Finally, I hope Texas beats USC just so that I can harass my roommate. He's your typical bandwagon SC fan, he's the sports equivalent of Tara Reid - he'll take his shirt off for whoever is hot that season. Just the possibility of him crying after SC loses makes me as a happy as a kid on Christmas.
