Funny for Both Sides of the Aisle

Hey, Yes MSG lives near an airport, so I should be a pilot.  I highly recommend these three videos for your viewing pleasure, regardless of your political leanings.

1) Palin and Couric

 

2) Palin Training Video

 

3) Palin and Couric (SNL) — although hard to tell based on it relation to the above

Click to view

TMQ Cut and Paste — Cheerleading and the Financial Crisis

Since TMQ is a long article, I thought I would cut and paste the highlights.

Self Explanatory

 

Cheerleader of the Week: Devan of the Philadelphia Eagles, a dean’s list student at Temple University. According to her team bio, Devan is pursuing a degree in “dance and advertising” — a lot of advertising involves dancing around facts! Also according to her team bio, Devan has taken German for six years and would like to visit Germany. If she hurries, she can just barely make Oktoberfest.

And on the Financial Crisis

 

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Last week, TMQ asked why no one was paying attention to the fact that the national debt ceiling was quietly raised by $800 billion during the summer. Well, toss that column: The White House just asked the national debt ceiling be raised another $700 billion, for the proposed financial-sector bailout. If that happens, in 2008 alone, $1.5 trillion will have been added to the national debt: every penny borrowed from your children and their children. Stated in today’s dollars, in 1979 the entire national debt was $1.5 trillion. George W. Bush and Congress have in a single year added an amount equal to the entire national debt one generation ago. And the year’s not over!

It took the United States 209 years, from the founding of the republic till 1998, to compile the first $5 trillion in national debt. In the decade since, $6 trillion in debt has been added. This means the United States has borrowed more money in the past decade than in all our previous history combined. Almost all the borrowing has been under the direction of George W. Bush — at this point Bush makes Kenneth Lay seem like a paragon of fiscal caution. Democrats deserve ample blame, too. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leaders of the Senate and House, have never met a bailout they didn’t like: Harry and Nancy just can’t wait to spend your children’s money. Six trillion dollars borrowed in a single decade and $1.5 trillion borrowed in 2008 alone. Charles Ponzi would be embarrassed.

 

 

If you borrowed, borrowed, borrowed, you could afford to live high for a while — then there would be a reckoning. Hmmm … that sounds a little like what many Americans did with gimmick mortgages in 2005 and 2006. They were only imitating their political leadership! Why is it both parties in Washington think the United States can borrow, borrow, borrow without a reckoning ever coming? Bush, Reid and Pelosi seem poised to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars of borrowed public money to political insiders on Wall Street and in banking, whose bonuses will now be tax-subsidized. The capitalist maxim is, “She who reaps the gains also bears the losses.” Now Washington wants those who reaped the gains to shift the losses to those who lived humbly. The young will pay and pay for these cynical ploys to insure the luxury of the powerful old. Why aren’t the young outraged?

TMQ’s pal Isabel Sawhill, among the leading public-policy economists of our day, says Washington does indeed need to intervene in the financial system — the harm to the average person of letting credit markets freeze would be greater, she thinks, than the harm caused by more public debt. Fair enough. But it doesn’t inspire confidence that on Sept. 12, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the financial system had been fixed and “under no circumstances” would there be further bailouts; on Friday, Paulson said the system was collapsing and another $700 billion was needed. Suddenly Paulson is insisting the country has no choice other than immediately to hand over $700 billion to Wall Street fat cats, with barely any debate or even explanation of the plan. Why should anyone believe this guy, when just one week previously he said no further bailouts would occur? It seems clear Paulson had no idea what he was talking about then, while if the problem is really as bad as Paulson says now, his past delay in facing the problem has made the cost far higher. With such a poor track record, why is the treasury secretary suddenly viewed as a superbrilliant genius whose marching orders must be followed?

 

 

It is not public intervention that is objectionable. University of Chicago Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker, among the top conservative economists, just said, “I have reluctantly concluded that substantial intervention was justified.” Rather it is size of the bailout, and the hurry-up-give-the-money-don’t-stop-to-think aspect, that are troubling. Much of the $700 billion will flow to investment-community friends of Paulson, Bush and other administration figures. Average Americans who behaved irresponsibly by signing gimmick mortgages may get some taxpayer aid from the Paulson proposal, and maybe they should get none. But in the end, average Americans will still be liable for most of what they owe — that is, will still be held responsible for their actions. Wealthy, politically connected insiders who run banks and companies such as American International Group will be exempt for responsibility for their actions, and will stuff taxpayer-subsidized millions into their pockets.

 

 

On Sunday, Paulson called the self-serving actions of top Wall Street figures “inexcusable” — yet the plan is not only to excuse them, but to shower them with free money. Paulson said Wall Street pay levels were “excessive,” but should be discussed later, after the bailout is done. Now is the moment of maximum leverage! Once they are holding the public’s money and laughing about how easily they got it, financial executives will have no incentive to compromise on pay. Here’s an idea: Any company that participates in the bailout agrees to limit its top-tier executives to the federal minimum wage. That is, after all, the amount Washington says is enough to live on. Meanwhile, of the two jokers who drove Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the ground, one was paid $19.8 million in 2007, the other $14 million; each will get nearly $5 million in taxpayer-funded “retirement” bennies.

Yet there’s scant outrage. Maybe this is because in an era of fiscal irresponsibility by both parties, everybody wants a bailout. Wall Street, bankers, homeowners who lied on their mortgage applications, Detroit automakers, farmers — gimme, gimme, gimme! Rather than asking whether the $700 billion giveaway is too large or being structured in a way that benefits the rich, numerous members of Congress are instead demanding more bailouts be appended: for seniors (see below), cities, states, more “stimulus” checks, you name it. Give money to whoever will fund my re-election! The money is being forcibly extracted from the pockets of our children and their children. Every dollar borrowed today by the irresponsible old of Washington will subtract two dollars from future economic growth, leaving our children and their children a legacy of stagnation.

 

 

The 1980 Chrysler bailout, which was nationally debated for months before happening, cost $3.2 billion, in present-value dollars, and was financed by revenue rather than by borrowing. Here is the borrowing that’s happened in 2008 alone, with precious little public debate:

 

 

• $29 billion to bail out Bear Stearns.

 

 

• $40 billion in the first mortgage-holder bailout.

 

 

• $80 billion for an additional year of Iraq war operations. (Another $150-$200 billion in war costs such as future veterans’ disability benefits were incurred but not funded.)

 

 

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

We should give away $700 billion? I need to think about that. OK, I thought; give it away.

• Up to $85 billion to bail out AIG.

 

 

• $153 billion to households for “economic stimulus.”

 

 

• $200 billion, and possibly more, to bail out Fannie and Freddie.

 

 

• $290 billion in farm subsidies, despite agricultural prices and grains profits being at record highs.

 

 

• $700 billion general bailout of securities backed by bad debt. (The International Monetary Fund estimates this figure will rise to at least $1 trillion.)

 

 

That comes to $1.6 trillion, explaining the debt-ceiling rise, and does not include roughly $300 billion in essentially interest-free cash issued to banks by the Federal Reserve on an emergency basis, which may or may not be repaid, but which in any case make all existing money somewhat less valuable. Why is the debt aspect of the splurge barely being remarked on by the mainstream media and by politicians? Why are the young not furious? And about that $700 billion about to the shoveled to the Wall Street elite — in 2007, George W. Bush vetoed an increase of $7 billion per year in health care spending for the poor, saying the country couldn’t afford it.

USC Goes Down

The Pac10 has become the Pac 0

USC 21

Oregon State 27

Go figure

Oh, and so much for my prediction.

Now the BCS is Oklahoma and the SEC Champion (or BYU

(BTW, did you notice how the press love it when the Oregon State Football Team wins as they get write headlines with the word “BEAVER” in it.  So puerile.  Yes MSG would never stoop to the level of writing things like:

- Beaver Trap

- Trojans ineffective against fired up Beaver – aborts USC title hopes

- Trojans cannot penetrate Beaver defense

You get the idea.)

-

The Financial Crisis

(read to the bottom for a special bonus)

My readership has been crazy, waiting for me to ’suspend’ my sporting insight in order to give some financial advice.  After all, like that kid in the FedEx add: I have an MBA.  Of course, so does W — the MBA President.

Look, I went to a business school — Wharton — that is considered competitive with the one our illustrious President attended — Harvard Business School (HBS).  However, I don’t actually think that Wharton is equivalent to HBS on the metrics that are most pertinent: Number of CEOs; Network.  HBS is above Wharton, and for that matter Stanford, too, and by a wide margin.

However, in this case it has a legacy problem.  W went there, but it appears that he was too busy with his other vices (this is before he found Jesus), as he gives no confidence when discussing economic issues.  In fact, it appears he is reading the menu at Wendy’s.

Now this should not be surprising.  If I recall, prior to being Gov of Texas, he ran three companies into the ground, except that Daddy’s (George HW) friends ‘bought’ the companies.  Who knew though, that his schooling would allow him to run the world’s largest and most successful economy into the ground.  [I know, I know, the President's effect on the economy is limited.  However, in this case, the laissez faire attitude and lack of oversight can be tracked to the administration's opinion on most things economic.  Read this to understand how we lacked leadership.]

Now I am not much more confident in Congress.  These are the a$$-kissing lawyers that get elected and pass laws without any experience or understanding of economics.  Personally, I would prefer that the Sikh, who owns a few of my local 7-11s, would run the bailout, as he certainly understands what it takes to run a business, profit-loss, and risk-reward, better than the 536 tools in Washington DC (House + Senate + Prez for those of you not familiar with our bicameral system).

And it is fun to watch McCain say that ‘in this time of crisis’ he will suspend his campaign.  C’mon, this is posturing.  His tail is visibly between his legs as he postures to avoid the debate in MIssissippi on Friday.  Plus, I have heard that the co-eds in Oxford are unbelievable, so how dare he deprive the nation of the opportunity to determine this for itself.

So despite my perceived credentials, I tend to simplify this entire mess, but am willing to be corrected by my more financially sagacious readers.  Let’s see, anatomy of a crisis, which I mainly see as an issue of OPM (Other People’s Money) and No Repercussions.

1) Mortgage Lender lends money to those least available to pay — Mr. Jones, with your $40K salary, I don’t see why a $450K mortgage should be a problem.  Sign here.

2) Mortgage Lender then packages these mortgages and sells them to others — like Merrill Lynch.  Thereby removing mortgage company from the risk, but still collecting the commision.  Nice!

3) Securatized mortgage purchasers should understand the risk, but the earnings they generate are too great to ignore.  Ahh, housing prices will never go down, just like internet stocks.

4) Amazingly, and this is what perplexes me, these firms over-exposed themselves to the extent that they actually risked going out of business, which some did.

When one is on a business trip, one often orders the Kobe Beef Steak.  OPM.  When you travel with your family, Sizzler!  Not to different the above.  The only difference is that I cannot call the Government when the sizzler bill is too high.  Which brings to mind the following:

This bailout is rather ridiculous.  Say this was the Big 3 Automakers, who happen to be asking for $25B.  Is it the taxpayer fault that the Big 3 have been unable to change in the 30 years since the Japanese first started making inroads with better, prettier, more fuel efficient autos? (And to think that they (Big 3) are already protesting the new fuel standards set to go into effect in 2020.  2020!!!!!!!!!  In the immortal words of Ted Knight in Caddyshack — You will have nothing and like it!

Should the government bail out Microsoft since it is getting its a$$ handed to it in online advertising by Google?

Yes, the difference is that the risk to the entire economy is too great to ignore.  OK, but in that case, the bailout should give the funds to mortgagees who could not pay their bills so they can keep their homes, even if they are idiots for signing mortgages they cannot afford.  But Stockholders?  Bondholders?  Thanks for playing, you get nothing.  That is the risk we all take when investing.

And the execs?  They should be fired with no parachute and they should have to give back their previous earnings, just like I would prefer for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Now some say you cannot limit their pay as you cannot attract good talent at low pay. What?  These are the guys who got greedy and ran the firms into the ground — go take a lead aspirin.  Again, my Sikh friend above can be in charge.

If we have learned anything from this crisis as well as Enron, not to mention 9-11, it is this:

1) If it is too commplicated it probably will not end well.  These financial mechanisms are overly complex to the extent that they cannot even be understood by their owners.  Remember, for all the financial theory, Discounted Cash Flow should still reign supreme.  And lending at 5% while you borrow at 3% is still a more solid business model than Default Credit Swaps.

2) Don’t go pass legislation too fast.  I find it amusing (in a sort or YOU ARE SO PATHETIC sort of way) that our congress cannot do anything in years, but then can pass incredibly complex legislation in a weekend.  Of course, the last time they got bullied into this, they opened the door for eavesdropping and water boarding.  My point is that they need to really ensure this legislation will be effective, give relief to those who deserve it (or at least, least don’t not deserve it!), the homeowners, and not bail out Master of the Universe who may be out the second yacht.

OK, the bonus, since I will certainly take flak for such a long economic diatribe — read Tuesday Morning Quarterback.  Great take on football, and as he is a Brookings Institute Fellow, great insight into other topics, including the current economic crisis, but also including Movies, Space Travel, and Cheerleaders.  A true renaissance man. What Yes MSG aspires to.

Podcast Recap for CFB and NFL (That is right: Podcast!)

That is right, a podcast.  Short, sweet, and you can listen at your convenience or download to your iPod — it is an MP3.

Click here.

MNF Preview

OK

My weekend Football teams have had mixed success –

• Cal tied BYE 0-0
• Adopted Bills beat the Raidahs! but needed to score 3 times in the fourth, including a last second FG
• Adopted Pack looked average against the Cowpokes — yech!

So hopefully the J-E-T-S will lose tonight as I don’t want the Diva to start to look better than Rodgers.  Speaking of The Diva, here is an amazing offer for you numismatists who want to arbitrage unusual coins.

The Brett Favre coin.  Seriously.

Yes MSG says that those interested in purchasing the above may also be interested in the following.

Note: Yes MSG receives no compensation, monetary or otherwise, for the purchases of the above.

Weekend Football recap coming later this week.

NFL Week 3 Preview

Here is your slate of games:

KC v Atlanta: Tyler Thigpen?  I guess you can watch to see the greatest Thigpen since Bobby.  Other than that, or unless you love Matt Ryan, skip it.

Tampa v Chicago: Griese current team v Griese former team — get the paddles ready.

Miami v NE: Cassel will go 2-0.  Pennington is OK, but the Dolphins were 1-15 for a reason.

Houston v Tennessee: No Vince?  No problem — Tennessee to 3-0.

Detroit v San Francisco: JT O’Sullivan’s current team v JT O’Sullivan’s former team.  I will be flipping between this and the Griese bowl.  Phew!

NO v Denver: Pretty big deal as NO does not want to be 1-2.  Denver gets it though.

Jacksonville v Indy: Jacksonville drops to 0-3 and starts planning for next year.

Oak v Buff: The Buffalo Lynch’s, my 2008 AFC team, moves to 3-0.  Oakland’s investment of $170M (Walker, Hall, and the DL I cannot even remember continue the lowest ROI since Lehman Bros.)

Carolina v Minnesota: Frerotte; injured AD (Peterson), Carolina with Steve Smith.  Panthers 3-0 and Vikes season over.

Cincy v NYG: I hope Chris Henry gets in. Marvin Lewis watch starts.

Arizona v Washington: Amazingly, this is pretty compelling.  If AZ wins on the road, Kurt Warner is for real and Leinart may as well get the Hot Tub ready.

St. Louis v Seattle: Seattle loses this one and somewhere a pox has been put on all sporting teams in this city.

Pittsburgh v Philly: Love this matchup.  Eagles really need the win.

Dallas v Green Bay: Go Rodgers.  I figure that Dallas wins as they are probably the overall better team, but if Rodgers wins this and Brett loses his (see below), GB coach and GM are on the road to vindication.  Of course, if they lose, all GB fans will talk about how Brett would have won, even though his career record against Dallas stinks.

NYJ v Chargers: Chargers have to win; hope they don’t go all Norv and mail it in.  If they, as I predict, beat the Jets, then we can stop with all the Favre talk.  My ears were starting to bleed.

Check in on Monday, if I bother to do a recap.

Palin-tology

Yes, I stole that title from Newsweek.  Now I know that this is a sports blog, usually, and have even received complaints from like 8% of my readership for interjecting politics, but while I really cannot afford to lose a reader, I do categorize postings for a reason.  So if you like Football and don’t like politics, feel free to choose the Football category.  But with this election going on, there is too much to comment on, and if I don’t do it here, I will wake up in the middle of night making myself laugh.

On to the show!

First of all, I have been accused of being too liberal.  Look, I admit to being socially liberal, but my main position is that political positions should be balanced.  If Ms. Palin is Pro-life, I respect that, but then she should not be pro-abstinence and supportive of other policies shown to be useless against teen pregnancy, for instance.  So if you are pro-life, and pro-sex education, and pro adoption, then I am OK with it.  Understood?

Oh, and one of the more interesting takes I heard was this.  Imagine that Obama gets on stage with his wife and kids, and that one of his kids is 17 and pregnant, and that the father is there, and that he had a My Space page stating that he was a, hmmmm, ‘Playah!”  Would this have been considered a fine representation of Family Values and Choosing Life?  Or would we have been subjected to the opinion about the lack of family structure, disintegration of the nuclear family, promiscuous children, and racism?  Ask yourself?

Regardless, with the current economic and international situations, it seems especially silly to be fighting a dumb culture war.

Anyway, let’s get back to the funny hypocritical stuff.  First off, campaign advisor Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of HP, states that neither Sarah Palin nor John McCain, and for that matter Obama and Biden, could run a corporation like HP.  Well, she should know as she could not run it either.  Maybe Mark Hurd should be POTUS. 

Nice work Carly, you arrogant twit.  You were obviously lucky to ride the AT&T / Lucent wave up, get out in time, then promptly tank when on your own.  Hey, I have worked at lots of corporations, even those with ‘dominant market positions,’ so like Carly, I know execs who got where they are via luck, but, in the words of Jim Hightower, while they ‘were born on third base, they think they hit a triple.’

Following on, did you see the opening of SNL last Saturday where Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did the Palin-Clinton imitations.  I will embed the video, but the best line was Hillary saying: “I believe that international relations begins with diplomacy,” to which Palin replies, “I can see Russia from my house.”

Click this link to enjoy!

On to other ‘funny’ opinions. Here are a couple of Karl Rove who initially disdains the potential pick of Governor Kaine of Virginia as VP since he was only the mayor of the nation’s 130th largest city, and his value as governor would only be to get the 13 electoral votes that VA has.

Conversely, Sarah Palin, mayor of a town that would count as a 5A California High School, and Governor for 20 months of a state with 3 electoral votes is eminently qualified — how he left out that she could see Russia from her house I will never know.

College and Pro Football Recap Extravaganza

Ah, where to start?  I was away for a few days and a bit isolated from the world’s goings on.  I wake up Monday morning and Lehman Bros and Merrill Lynch are in bankruptcy and the possession of BofA, respectively.  But seeing that my money is in my mattress, let’s get to the weekend’s action:

College Football

The BCS Title Game will be USC v Oklahoma.  With all due respect to my fellow blogger — Nagwell — who reminds me that ‘on any given Saturday’ — and while that is true, the fact is that SC and OU have the smoothest slates going forward means this is the most likely matchup.

First of all, I cannot stand USC, but I do respect them.  They play real BCS teams; no 1-AA or non-BCS patsies.  And then they smoke them — combined 87-10 in their two against UVA and Ohio State.  And considering the state of the Pac 10 (Pac One), with 4 weekend losses to Mountain West Teams, another loss by Cal versus a middling ACC team (hey, the Terps lost to a deceptively strong Middle Tennessee — that makes me feel better – NOT!), and a squeaker over a middling Big 10 team, well, the only enemy USC has is itself.

Of course, the predictable Ohio State no show will at least prevent them from being in the BCS title game.  And don’t tell me that Beanie is worth 32 points.  Now if Tressel sits Boeckman and plays Pryor exclusively the rest of the year, 2009 may be a different story.  If he continues to play Boeckman in the hopes of another Big 10 title, well that is short-sighted.  My take is go Badgers.

[Oh, on a religious note, and I know I should maintain the separation of Church and Sport as our Forefathers wanted, but Kurt Warner, Deion Sanders and Notre Dame football prevent me from doing so, did anyone note the writing on the eye black that "The" Ohio State University Linebacker James Laurenaitis had on?  Under the right eye - Jesus; under the left -- Christ.  Hey, he is welcome to get strength wherever he wants, but it looks like the Son of God likes the sins of Troy a bit more, doesn't it.  Of course, it is also possible he (Jesus) was busy with the work of W or Sarah Palin and neglected to heal Beanie's foot in time.  However, considering what a college Cad Leinart was, yet successful, perhaps JC is just a bigger fan of Traveler than Brutus.

Or to take a different view: The first time i remember the writing was when Reggie Bush was calling out his hometown of San Diego with a '619' on the eyeblack.  Reggie got a national title, a Heisman, was the second pick in the draft -- despite being a poor man's Brian Westbrook -- received a free house and cash from boosters (FOR ANY LAWYERS READING - ALLEGEDLY) and now dates the discreet and discerning Kim Kardashian.  All bow to the power of the 619; Yes MSG will start using "619 Willing" and WW619D in his blog.]

Returning to the losses v Mountain West, how did #15 ASU lose to UNLV?  Is Randall Cunningham back at QB?  Kenny Mayne?  If ASU was looking ahead to Georgia this week, it does not bode well.

And what to say about UCLA — they play an epic game and upset Tennessee, then get lit up 59-0 against a BYU team that came one horrible call away from overtime against the Washington Huskies.

Yes, these Washington Huskies that lost 55 to something versus Oklahoma.

Of course, I don’t consider Oklahoma the favorite to oppose USC based on its UW victory; it is because the Big 12 is not that strong, and the only challenger, Missouri, is not really a challenger in my book.  Until they win a big one versus OU, I will be skeptical. Although, a big victory over Texas would help convince me.

Other notes of note:

The SEC will start to eat its young, with this weekend LSU-Auburn being one of the first matchups.  Of course, hard to bet on an Auburn team that managed to beat Mississippi State 3-2 this past weekend.  No, not in baseball.

And Florida will give Tennessee its annual beatdown.

That is all of note at present, so let’s get to the Pros

Pro Football

My Niners have stunk for ages now.  The Seahawks window has slammed shut (and they have lost an amazing 6 (SIX) receivers to injury already for one month to the entire season).  So Yes MSG needs a team.  I got it, I share an Alma Mater with Aaron Rodgers, who suffered at the hands of Brett Diva Fav-ruh, so let’s adopt the Pack.

What makes it nicer is their 2-0 record, Rodgers 118 QB rating, while the Jets are 1-1, Favre’s rating is (an admittedly good) 104, but they are 1-1 and cannot get over the Patriots, even with Cassel quarterbacking.  The Pack gets the Cowboys this weekend, and I cannot stand Dallas, although their ability to rehabilitate malcontents — TO, Tank, Pacman — is better than the prison system.  If the Pack wins, there will be no room on Rodgers Bandwagon.

Whereas, the J-E-T-S fall to 1-2 by losing in San Diego (if not, Norv Turner is fired).

I need an AFC team too, so in the interest of Golden Bear pure homerism, I take the Marshawn Lynch led Buffalo BIlls.  Unless, like his brother Merrill, he now plays for Bank of America. Oh, and yes, I know that Trent Edwards, ex Stanfurd, is the QB, but still they are my guys.

Hey, who would have thunk that the best USC QB in the league would be Cassel, over Carson Palmer, whose team more resembles Jack and Chief in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and Matt (will carrying a clipboard ruin my chances with the ladies) Leinart.  Watch for Cassel to pull at least a Scott Mitchell — parlay some good starts into a huge FA contract.

Lastly, I have finally found a way to discipline my 2.5 year old.  if he acts up, I threaten to make him watch the Raiders. (OK, this was actually an idea from my buddy Vag Tech.

Not much more to go on yet, other than someone should tell MeSean Jackson that it helps to cross the end zone line before spiking the ball.  Amazing he went to Cal.  Egads!

CFB FBS Week 3 Preview

OK, ready to get on to the third week preview where we are starting to have some games that might matter.  But before I go, I want to post some INFLAMMATORY comments from my, as he readily admits, biased Big 12 Correpondent — Geno — as the Sooners are coming to Seattle to face the Huskies.

While I usually play the role of dispassionate, unbiased, Big 12 correspondent here, this week, I am pure Oklahoma homer…
The Sooners are coming to Seattle this week to play the hapless Huskies.  I feel it is my duty to provide bulletin board material to the Huskies, since the disciplined Sooners will probably be too smart to do so.
So here goes.
First of all, most Husky fans have such a myopic view of the college football world that they barely know that the Sooners are a team that’s umm… kinda good.  Living on limited and far in the past successes, they think that UW is a top tier program.  It’s not.  OU is.  OU has won more games in the modern college era (since 1945) than any other school.  They own 7 national titles in that time, some crazy number of conference championships, 4 Heisman winners, the longest ever winning streak of 47 in a row, and the list goes on.  Seattle seems to vaguely remember that they are the team with the covered wagon that went on the field, drew a flag, and gave the 1985 Orange Bowl to the Huskies, and the team that gave Brian Bosworth to the Seahawks.  Wake up Seattle.  OU is coming to teach you a thing or two about football.
OU is what a dominant college football program looks like.  No offense, but the Huskies have never been that.  Take this opportunity Seattle to come out and see true greatness.  The Sooners are coming.

And his follow on:

Maybe it’s a chicken and egg thing.  Until you start winning again, you won’t get money from your donors. But note to UW….top tier college football programs don’t need to go begging to taxpayers for $300 million for stadium upgrades.  That is what alumni and boosters are for.

Take a look around at the facilities of major programs.  OU has added 15-20000 seats (they fill an 85,000 seat stadium every game in a city a tenth the size of Seattle) with luxury boxes, a giant video scoreboard, state of the art indoor practice facilities, locker rooms and weight rooms.  You name it.  They have it.  And at no expense to Oklahoma taxpayers. 

Look down the road at your arch rival Oregon.  Mr. Nike has basically built a luxury spa for the athletes at Oregon.  They have the best of everything.  Again, at no expense to the taxpayers of Oregon.

Even lowly Oklahoma State has T.Boone Pickens building them the best of everything.

Husky fans…step up to the plate with some bucks.  And if your little cheerleader in Olympia, Christine Gregoire actually pushes through state funding for stadium renovations, that’s just one more reason to toss her out in November.

OK, on to the most important game; a matchup of undefeated ranked teams that will have an impact on the BCS title game:  #13 Kansas v #19 University of South Florida.

So if the University of South Florida is in Tampa, why is it South Florida?  Does anyone get a geography degree from there?

In less important action, #5 Ohio State travels to the Coliseum in LA to have its a$$ handed to it by #1 USC.  I know that a lot of people said Ohio State was looking ahead, that Beanie did not play, and that USC beat a poor Virginia team.  But Virginia is a BCS conference team and was playing at home; Ohio plays in Conference Whatever and took Ohio State to the limit AT THE HORSESHOE.  Consider us all out of Ohio State misery as of 8pm Saturday night PDT.

Which means that #10 Wisconsin’s visit to #21 Fresno State takes on added importance.  If Fresno wins, then the Big 10 will have no respectable representative for the Rose Bowl.

Of interest could also be the UCLA Neuheisels visit to Provo and BYU.  Will the Slick Rick magic continue or was that amazing game against Tennessee just opening night luck?

Tune in next week!