Behold: Super-Phone

Well, I did it. I finally got rid of my craptastic Cingular 8125 Windows Mobile phone, and got myself a slick, new Apple iPhone 3G. The 16 gb baby. White. Hereafter to be referred to as "Super-Phone".

As time goes by, I'll provide commentary on its various bells and whistles. At this time, however, all I have to say is: My God, this thing is COOL!

Ike: Storm surge is the problem

Ike is poised to make landfall around Galveston, pushing an incredible amount of water before it. Ike's lack of strength (it's Cat 2 now and not likely to get much stronger) is more than made up for by the sheer size of the storm.

Waves are crashing on top of Galveston's 17-foot sea wall now, and the storm won't make landfall for another 12 hours or so. The island is likely to be completely under water for an extended amount of time.

Here in DFW, it looks like the forecast track has bent back to the left, putting the center of the storm pretty much right on top of us mid-day on Saturday. We can look forward to lots of wind and rain and, with any luck, that's all.

Best coverage is on the National Hurricane Center site, and Dr. Jeff Masters has a good mid-day update on his blog.

Hang on to your tootsies, fellow Texans!

An impossible day to forget

That morning, I had arrived at the office a bit early and was pouring thru one of several project schedules, prepping for one of my marathon project status calls. I was way behind, in large part because I had spent the previous week in New York, working with my Citibank colleagues.

I was in an early morning, over-workded daze when in walked two co-workers.

One says, "Did you hear two planes have hit the Twin Towers?"

Like an idiot, I waited for the punchline.

I spent much of the morning in denial, much of the afternoon in frustration as the Internet, or our proxy, was slowed to a crawl and the office TV gave nothing but static. My only source of info was good old KRLD, where the anchors were clearly trying to pass along only confirmed facts, and there weren't many of those.

None of us will forget that day.

Here is a collection of the nation's, and the world's, front pages on the morning of the 12th.

Not the way you want to make the paper

Flatulence humor gone badly awry.

Daily YouTube: The Accountant

Hmm, Arnold seems to have slimmed down a bit. I don't recall seeing this in theaters, either.

Good News/Bad News

Good News

We got a 848 API -- the highest out of all the charter schools in Nevada County!

Bad news

We are down 30 kids from last year.

Major budget ramifications.

I bring forth doom.

Such is the life of a charter school Executive Director.

Know anyone who is hiring?

Ike: Oh dear

This weekend looks to be a damp one for the DFW Metroplex of Love. Well, we can use the rain.

Down south, however, this one has the full attention of state and local govts. You do NOT want to be on I-35 later this week, esp on the north-bound side, as tens of thousands of evacuees head for the drier and higher environs of, well, Dallas and Ft Worth.

According to the NOAA discussion, Ike should hit the south Texas coast near Corpus Christi early Saturday morning. After that, the models start to diverge, but the official forecast cone (below) has it turning north and moving slightly west of DFW early on Sunday.

Turn of the sprinklers, and don't bother washing the cars, folks.

Cowboys - Browns post mortem

It's over enough (1:15 left in the 4th) to jot down some thoughts:

- The only complaint to be found with the offense is penalties. There were a few big, costly ones. Holding, false starts, offensive pass interference (which seemed a bit of a reach to me); a few of these really could have hurt if it were closer.

- Romo looked great, but I have to say I didn't see the elusive gunslinger we saw last year. That's probably a good thing, but he didn't do much to get away from the little pressure Cleveland was able to muster.

- O line looks pretty good. They need to cut down on the penalties, but they manhandled Cleveland's defense for most of the game.

- Receivers and backs looked great. Hard to find anything to single out for complaints. Felix Jones is one fast dude.

- Defense looked solid, with the exception of some breakdowns in the secondary. You have to think that gets a lot better when Newman is back.

- Hats off to the coaches. This team was READY.

- Of course, a lot of this may have to do with Cleveland's state of suck. We'll know more next week after Philadelphia, although it's tough to say what Philadelphia really has. Yeah, they killed St. Louis, but the FFL Mini-Eagles probably could do that.

Great way to start the season. One down, eighteen more to go, right?

Romo makes his first big mistake of the day

That was an ugly interception. Willie McGinest just destroyed Felix Jones on his way towards Romo, which seemed to lead to the badly underthrown ball.

I think it's too far gone for it to matter much, but the defense is going to have to clamp down. The secondary is going to get tested now, big time. I think there's enough of a cushion, but the secondary is not the unit to be placing your faith in, at least not yet.

Another smart play by Marion Barber

Great great late first half catch on third and long by Marion Barber. Even better was his circle back and dive for the first down.

That guy makes more heads up plays. What a player!

Cowboy D: Umm...

Two words: Uh and oh.

That was some drive by the Browns. I'm not too sure about this revamped secondary. This may be a lot more entertaining than Cowboy fans like...

Cowboys first impression: Zowie!

That first drive was as easy as you will ever see. Nice mix of run and pass, everyone's hanging on to the ball (even TO Owens using his entire midsection to hang on to that crossing route), excellent line play, Romo looks like he can check his email back there in the pocket.

Feeling good, five minutes in...

Daily YouTube: The dancing traffic cop

This guy probably causes more wrecks than he prevents...

Funny line about Sarah Palin

She's not bad looking. She looks like one of those women in the Van Halen videos who takes off her glasses, shakes out her hair, and then all of a sudden, she's in high heels and a bikini. All of a sudden, I am FOR drilling in Alaska. --Jimmy Kimmel

Daily YouTube(ish): Barack Obama: He Completes Us

The Daily Show (genius) pokes a bit of fun at Barack:

The much-talked-about return of Football Friday

After far too long a hiatus, we bring back the most popular CIT staple of all time, Football Friday. Please refer all media inquiries to my agent, who's number and email are tragically unlisted - may be time for a new agent...

Regardless, onward!

Colleges

Cincinnati (+21.5) @ OU
Early season college games are, for the most part, a beating. This one is no exception. This is the sort of team Switzer used to hang half a hundred on by halftime. Cincinnati is supposed to be all that in the Big East. Excuse me, but I didn't realize the Big East actually played football. Give me OU by a lot more than the spread.

Miami (+21.5) @ Florida
I had to double check this one. Are you SURE it isn't Miami (OH)? It isn't. It's the formerly-great Hurricanes. Jimmy must be rolling in his grave. Wait... Whatever, the mighty have indeed fallen. It's early Sept and I am already tired of Tim Tebow. I would love to see Miami give them a soo-prise, but there's just no way. Give me the Gators, grudgingly.

Texas Tech @ Nevada (+10.5)
Nevada can run a bit. If the Raiders can keep the ball away from 'em, this could get ugly, but the Raiders don't play a lot of defense. I still think Mike Leach's pirate thing is pretty gay, thus I will go with the points, and am willing to go so far as to predict an upset.

Texas St (+9) @ SMU
I think Texas State was the team in Necessary Roughness, one of the worst examples of a sports movie ever made. June Jones may wind up bringing college ball back to the DFW Metroplex of Love, but there is no way the Mustangs should be 9 point favorites over a 3A high school team. I will take the points, even if Texas St trots out Kathy Ireland as their kicker.

A&M @ NM St (+2.5)
If I may state the obvious, the Mike Sherman Era is not off to a big start. Last week's shocking (SHOCKING!) loss to Arkansas State, coupled with being a measly 2.5 point favorite over a state school from a football backwater like New Mexico is NOT what the Ags signed up for. I can easily see A&M losing this game. If so, FireSherman.com will be up and flying come Monday.

Northwestern (+10) @ Baylor
WHAT? What on Earth are they thinking in Vegas? Has anyone who sets a line actually SEEN the Bears in the past 10 years? How in the name of Baby Jesus is Baylor favored by 10 over ANYONE? Give me those points.

Texas @ UTEP (+26.5)
If the 'Horns are going to do anything this year, they need to beat the snot out of the Miners. I think they do, covering by halftime and playing the pom-pom girls by the end of the 4th.

Boston University vs. the immortal soul of Carolyn Bessette
Yes, she went to BU. And yes, it's too dark for words.

Pros

Let's start with the caveat that no one knows anything this time of year. We're all just guessing. OK, rear-end covered, on with the picks:

Jacksonville @ Tennessee (+3)
Is Vince a pro QB? I'm ready to say no, but then I was ready to say no about 10 minutes after the Rose Bowl lo those many years ago (OK, I said "don't bet against him", but I meant it in a negative way). If he's gonna be anything other than the greatest college player in the history of ever, now is the time to prove it. Give me the Jags.

St Louis (+7.5) @ Philadelphia
We keep hearing how Philly is back this year. Maybe so, but we won't be in any better position to say yea or nay after this one. St. Louis is terrible. This one may look like UT-UTEP by the end.

Minnesota (+2.5) @ Green Bay
I'm interested. I don't think either of these teams is going to do much of anything this year, but there are plot lines galore here. It would be better in late Nov, with a cold wind blowing thru Lambeau, but I'll take it in Week 1. I kinda like the Vikings, even though they have NOTHING after Adrian.

Denver @ Oakland (+3)
Remember when this was a big game? When does Al Davis finally release the Raiders from their misery? Denver wins easily. Apologies to my father-in-law, but the Raiders are awful.

NY Jets @ Miami (+3)
The loser has to take Parcells for the rest of this stage of his career. Keep payin' the mortgage in South Florida, you Pear-Shaped Football Genius, you.

KC @ New England (no line)
Please. Even Vegas sees no point in playing this one.

Cowboys @ Cleveland (+5.5)
I want to believe. I really do. I will believe until it is beaten out of me. Cowboys big. Please...

Comedic Value Game of the Week:
As is often the case, we have two top contenders for this coveted title:
Arizona @ SF, and
Detroit @ Atlanta
Both of 'em really make you want to run out and buy the NFL Sunday Ticket, don't they?

Go (insert your team here)!

Daily YouTube: New sport for extreme morons

In case other extreme sports don't hold enough of a thrill for you, here's bull-jumping...

Ike: Uh-oh

Hurricane Ike has spun up to Cat 3 already. The five day cone looks a bit troubling, as well.

Now's the time to bookmark the National Hurricane Center.

All weather, all the time: Maybe Ike next week?

TD 9 has formed and is picking up steam way out in the Atlantic. The boys at NOAA say this one has all the hallmarks of a traditional hurricane, and it's five-day track is aimed right at the central Caribbean.

To be named "Ike", if it gets that far (it should), the storm will start hitting the US media next weekend, after the Hanna hysteria runs out.

The season is getting more interesting by the day. It ain't over until Oct, maybe Nov. Stay tuned...

















UPDATE - Mon 2100 - Yep, it's Ike. Looks like there's another low off the West African coast which may turn into something right behind it. It's been quiet the last couple of years, but here it comes now...

Hannah: Problems for the East Coast

All eyes, especially down these parts, are on Gustav, but there's another one out there. TS Hannah is currently chugging thru the eastern Carribean, and looks to be tracking towards Dixie.

Don't make any plans to fly into Atlanta on Friday just yet...