Back from San Diego

Great trip for Texas football and Women's basketball. Coach G really has this team buying in to what she wants. That 81-79 win was big. Tons to get to on Wednesday's show ( 11am central, click on the player on this page or go to www.blogtalkradio.com/chadhastings ) NFL playoffs, bowl games, coaching news, etc.

But today I'll just say Happy New Year. Please be careful tonight. Don't hurt yourself or anyone else. Thanks for supporting the blog and the show these last couple months. I wish I knew exactly what was going to happen to me in 2008. My plan right now is to finish out the basketball season while seeing if the show has wings enough to fly. After that depends on a lot of things. I'll keep spreading the word. You do the same, and we'll see what happens.

A game and a stepson

I had a great time being down on the field for the Holiday Bowl. Plus I did not get trampled, which was a goal. Let's get a couple pics and a couple comments.




I love this shot. The Az St. O line is clear and the UT D line is a blur. That was the story of the game for me, The Texas D line got after Rudy Carpenter.



...and then there was the Chris Jessie play. The only way the play could have gotten weirder is if Coach Brown's wife had done the same thing. It says something about the game and the time we are in that after the game, ABC wanted to interview Chris and not a Texas player or coach. Oh well, it is entertainment. And you my never see a play that weird ever again. Congrats to Mack and the team for seven straight 10- win seasons.

In and Out

Just enough time to type a little and then head off to San Diego. Hope everyone had a great Xmas. Thanks to the Bears for beating the Pack and giving the Boys home field. For the record, the Panthers got hosed on some big calls (I thought Smith caught that ball), and Tank shouldn't be fined a cent for that hit on Moore. What a rep flag that was. Perfect tackle. Nothing more. Anyway, look for me on the sidelines at the Holiday Bowl. I'll be the guy with the parabolic mic trying no to get killed by football players.

Have a great new year, and catch the next web show on the 2nd of January.

Merry Xmas from the family

Everybody have a safe and happy holiday. Thanks for making the end of '07 a little easier to handle. Keep spreading the word and maybe we'll keep this train rollin' well into '08.

My best to your family.

C.

AZ pics

Spring training home of the Angels



This is in the Az St. Sports Hall of Fame. In the baseball display, they did have a Bonds jersey, but look at what thy say about him. A successful career? You think?



Barry is on the bottom near the floor. Even sadder is that the black and white one on the right in the middle is Reggie Jackson. But at least you can argue he only played one year. He also has a big profile plaque on the wall that Barry does not have. I wonder how much this has to say about Barry's rep while at ASU, and how much it has to do with his rep in baseball. Maybe it's both. All I know is they have a whole case devoted to Terrell Suggs.

The game is tomorrow. I'll try and get more pics up before I head home for Xmas.

Items for your Xmas list...or not

We're in Tempe getting ready for the UT Women's game tomorrow night at Arizona State. Remember to catch the game on AM 1300 the Zone in Austin. The pre game starts at 7:15, and the game tips a 7:30. You can also listen at www.texassports.com.

Ok, so we go shopping today at a mall in Tempe, and I saw 3 items for the NFL fan on your list. I thought they had everything with NFL logos on it, but I was wrong. The bronze medal goes to NFL tailgater tape. It's like police tape that you use to border off your tailgate site. Wow. Silver medal has to be the NFL measuring tape. If you have to have this, you're nuts and you should not be measuring anything. But without a doubt the dumbest thing I saw today was the NFL hammer. That's right, a hammer. It's got the logo on it, and the handle has the laces on it. Let me be clear about this. If you own the NFL hammer, or will ever consider buying it for anyone, you are a loser.

Check back later for pics from Arizona, including the treatment of Barry Bonds at the Az St. Hall of Fame. Pretty interesting.

I'll be on the radio Friday

In addition to my web show Friday(11a) where Brian Jones will join me, I will be filling in for Craig Way during the 2-4 slot on AM 1300 the Zone. I may grab one guest, but I'd like to get a ton of phone calls. I'll throw out a couple topics I've been hitting on my show, and see what the fans think. Feel free to listen(www.am1300thezone.com) or call in (512-390-5483) And if you want to email during the show, just use chastings@mindspring.com. Thanks to the Zone for the opportunity. It'll feel good to get behind that mic again.

Also a quick word on the Roger Clemens discussion today on the web show. Astros Kimm was trying to give me info. on the High School Baseball Coaches Conference coming up in January. I thought she had seen a story about a Roger press conference where he would talk about the Mitchell Report. My bad. Sorry for that confusion. No press conference scheduled yet as far as I know.

Check back here for pics and Arizona thoughts the next couple days

Trail of Lights pictures

Pettitte and others sound off

I talked mainly football on the web show today, but I did want to make some comments on the Andy Pettitte story. If you missed it - Link - Andy says he only used HGH for 2 days in 2002 to recover from an injury. He says he then felt bad about it and stopped. Is Andy liked enough that we'll just believe him? Since there's no legal issue here, it may very well end right here. When people read that Barry Bonds testified he used the cream and the clear, didn't know they were steroids, then stopped because they didn't work, I don't feel like they believe him. But do you as John Q. baseball fan believe Pettitte? Let's say you believe Roger did. How are we to believe that Andy would train with them and not use the same stuff? Plus, do you buy this idea of using for recovery and not performance enhancement? That's a tough line, and I'm not sure where to draw it. But if you can get your mind around that line, and you convince yourself Andy was never on the wrong side, maybe you do believe him.

Other denials are coming out - Brenden Donnelly says he never used - Link

Alex Cabrera says he didn't do it - Link

Yeah, I bet that one has had you up nights.

The Orioles are just covering their ass - Link

And before you could ask A-Rod, Katie Couric did - Link

The Pettitte thing is tough. You want to believe him and Roger. Just like I want to believe Barry, even though I don't like the way he comes off sometimes. The difference with Barry is that the Balco raid got folders with drug schedules that can be logically connected to him. We have no such evidence with Roger or Andy. Until we do, all we have is their word and your beliefs.

The Mitchell Report

You wanna read it all. Here you go. All 409 pages.

Here's the link - http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/mitchrpt.pdf


This is like the day when you find out the girl you always knew was cheating on you WAS cheating on you. There is so much in there that has been discussed, guessed at, or just supposed by baseball fans everywhere. The big question for Clemens and Pettitte is when and how to respond. Do you go into Big Mac hiding, or do you attack it Lance Armstrong style? Sounds like Roger is denying everything and Pettitte is waiting to see what the union will do.

NY Times article on Clemens' denial

How did I not know about this person?

This is Delta Goodrem, an Australian singer. Wow is she beautiful. Plus she beat cancer in 2003. I'll try and get more pics up of her later.

Ok, it's later and I found like 40 shots of her. Check out the one it links to, then check them all out. Link to pics

A 16 team playoff, but I need you to run it.

This didn't take me that long to figure out.

Dec 27th

(1) Ohio St.

Cotton Bowl ________

(16) Tenn.


(8) Kansas

GMAC Bowl ________

(9) West Va


(5) Georgia

Armed Forces ________

(12) Florida


(4) OU

Humanitarian ________

(13) Illinois

________________________________________________

Dec. 28th

(2)LSU

Sun Bowl ________

(15) Clemson


(7) USC

Music City ________

(10) Hawaii


(6) Mizz

Gator ________

(11) Az St.


(3)VT

Capital One ________

(14) BC

And that's your first round. You play on Thurs. and Fri to create 2 days of college and two days of NFL for a great weekend. The Quarters would be the 3rd and 4th of Jan. Don't worry tradition heads, there's plenty of bowls left over so you don't actually have to listen to your family on the 1st. Then play the Final Four ( I may cry) on the 10th and 11th. Then your title game is the Saturday before the NFL championship games on Sunday. Now that's a weekend kids.
Now to the technical part. I need a couple of nerds or maybe a few nerds to play these games out on P station, Xbox, whatever. Only 3 rules. Let the computer play it out. Use 5 minute quarters so you still have a life. And try to play it at the designated bowl site for extra effect. Then just email the result to me ( chastings@mindspring.com ) Email me and let me know if you can handle a game or 2 in the first round. I'll put the other bowls up if we get through round one.

ps- If you don't love the idea of OU having to go to Boise's home field to play, you are probably wearing a bowl jacket right now

Harley and Michael Vick

Now how could Vick hurt that face? Ok, not fair. Nobody could hurt Harley. But I think when you hear this story, you think about your dog. How could anybody do that to a dog? But there's a lot more to it than that. Did Vick deserve 23 months? When you add it all up, I think it's about right. Remember, this isn't just about dogs. If he had done this only in Virginia, there would be no federal charges. It's about illegal interstate gambling, failing a drug test, and not telling the truth when a judge tells you to. The 2 questions for me are does he change after jail, and does he get a chance to play football again? I guess the first one's not that big a deal. I just hope as a dog lover he will be able to see what he did as wrong.
Remember a couple things though before you make Vick into Satan. At the core of this thing, it's about dog breeding. There are hundreds of breeds of dogs bred to do lots of things. Things like hunt, protect, and yes sometimes fight. If you train a dog to protect your family and attack intruders, you are teaching it to fight for you without regard to its safety. This has gone on for thousands of years, and while I don't want to see it, I can understand why it might be appealing to some. Boxing, cock fighting, and dog fighting are essentially the same thing. The only difference is that with the latter two, the athlete doesn't have enough sense to stop. They will actually fight to the death. I guess in some sick way, that's the nobility Vick and others see in this sport. It's pure sport on the most basic of levels. Win=life , loss=death. And think real hard for a second. What is it about a Ronnie Lott hit or an Emmitt Smith taking the pounding with a separated shoulder that makes us put them above other performances? Is it because we believe they have crossed that line where they don't care for their safety? Is it because they have made it as if it were life or death? But to bring it full circle, always remember the true beauty of Lott and Smith that was not found in Virginia. Lott and Smith chose how far to take it. The dogs never had that option.

A lesson for all of us...and don't forget John

The lesson: don't edit/delete digital pictures from your camera right after a nap. I did that tonight and lost some good stuff. I wanted to put the pics I took in Corpus up, but no. I had the arena, the floor, and a shot of the ocean. I even had a shot of a ship that carries supplies to Iraq and returns with broken machinery to fix. I deleted sunset shots from on top of my house, and a couple of great pics of the kid. So you'll have to imagine all that. And now, so will I. How about a couple pics to make us all feel better...



This is from my honeymoon in Hawaii. It's the sunset from 14,000 ft on the Mauna Kea volcano. Seeing the sun drop into the clouds was pretty cool. The sunset pictures I deleted were not this cool.



The outside of Allen Field house. If you love college hoops, you have to see a game there. I have lots of good shots of this place. That makes me feel better.



And you can't go wrong with Cameron Indoor. What a great place. It's like a high school gym, a museum, and a church all in one. Ok so at least I gave you pictures, just not the ones I wanted.

Now for John. The 8th is not quite over. 27 years ago today, the world was trying to figure out why someone would get John Lennon's autograph, and then kill him an hour or so later. It was one of the greatest losses in music history. So pop in some Beatles or solo stuff and soak up the greatness. I'm going to go with LSD and Julia. Parents, raise your kids to love music. It is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. Like Andy says in Shawshank, they can never take it away from you. We love you John.

Off to the coast

Leaving today with the Women's team for Corpus. The tip is at 1:30 tomorrow on the Zone if you're interested or online at texassports.com
Good show today with Craig at 11:20, a call from Sal from NYC, a little ZZTop, and some stripper DJ. Thanks for listening to the show and coming to the blog. All those numbers are really helpful.

Thanks again and have a great weekend. Check back for pics on Sunday night.

C.

Another classic View moment

If you haven't seen it yet, here it is. Sherri Sheppard of "I don't know if the world is flat" fame has a history lesson for you. Somehow I think this will get mentioned in Stupid News (11:40 central) on the web show. Click on the icon at the right or go to www.blogtalkradio.com/chadhastings to check it out. And remember, if you can't listen live, you can download the show any time.

A truly great speech

As I said yesterday on the web show, Monday was my mom's last radiation treatment for breast cancer and she is doing well. My wife's mother died of breast cancer in 1988. My wife was only 16. I have always felt that my mom is taking advantage of treatments and techniques they learned from cases like my mother-in-law. So it's always close to my heart when they talk about Jimmy V on TV or play the speech. I hadn't heard it in a while. He gave it on March 4th of 1993 and died April 28th of the same year. It is as inspirational as anything you can see or hear. Today, on the show, I'll play the whole thing at about 11:20. Check it out live or download it whenever you get the chance(click on the icon to the right). But if you know someone who hasn't heard it, let 'em hear it.

Johan and a holiday reminder

Will Carroll was on the show today and says it's about 75% that Santana is headed to Boston. Minnesota would get Crisp, Lester, and a couple young guys. Click the link on the right to download the show, and be sure to tell your friends all about it. Tomorrow, I'll start breaking down Arizona St. for you Texas fans, and Thursday Gary Parrish of CBS sportsline will join me at 11:20 to talk some college hoops.

Now for your holiday reminder:

There are people that will steal your Xmas stuff. Last year we had two reindeer stolen out of our yard. It really freaked my wife out, but it just made me mad. So rather than live on the roof waiting for them to return, I decided to go another route...

That's right. I went to Ace Hardware and bought a 60' chain. Now all my yard stuff is chained together.


It may not look great in the day time, but I sleep better at night. Our neighbors down the street had one of those blow up Santas get stolen. I've also heard of the blow up things getting stabbed from a car. So be careful and think ahead. It could have happened in any city. It could have happened in your city. But it didn't. It happened in Tulip City.


Plus, for all the men out there. If you're like me, putting up decorations can have kind of a girly feel to it. Trust me, it adds a little masculinity when your decorations include 60 feet of chain. Happy Holidays everybody.

Happy Monday. Don't you love the BCS?

Plenty of bitching about the BCS on today's web show. Click on the link to the right and download the show anytime. Will Carroll joins me tomorrow at 11:20 to talk winter meetings and football.

Ok, so here's the BCS

1 Ohio State
2 LSU
3 Virginia Tech
4 Oklahoma
5 Georgia
6 Missouri
7 USC
8 Kansas
9 West Virginia
10 Hawaii
11 Arizona State
12 Florida
13 Illinois
14 Boston College
15 Clemson
16 Tennessee

Now you know I want the 16 team playoff. But let's keep it simple. Let's talk 4 and 8 team playoffs...

The 4 team:

1 Ohio State
2 LSU
3 Virginia Tech
4 Oklahoma

Ohio St. plays OU, and LSU and VT meet on a neutral field. The winners play and we have a real national champ. All 4 won their conference, and #'s 5 and 6 did not. Now what's wrong with that? I hear a lot of talk about the Plus 1 happening after the bowls are played. But how do you decide who plays? If VT and OU win their bowl, who would play the winner of LSU-Ohio St.? You'd have to have a bracket set up.

How about the 8 team, no wait, what about 6?

1 Ohio State
2 LSU
3 Virginia Tech
4 Oklahoma
5 Georgia
6 Missouri

Ohio St. and LSU get byes, which wouldn't be as along as they get now (50 and 37 days is just stupid). VT plays Mizz, Oklahoma plays GA. 3 extra games for teams without the bye. 2 extra for those with the bye. Why is this so hard?

Now 8:

1 Ohio State
2 LSU
3 Virginia Tech
4 Oklahoma
5 Georgia
6 Missouri
7 USC
8 Kansas

Same as the 6, except LSU has to play USC (nah, we wouldn't watch that) and Ohio St. plays Kansas. Maybe one day. How cool would OU and Georgia be?