Things Set Down

UConn’s whipping boy is a Florida familiar

shipworth — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:42:05 +0000

It’s satisfying, (I guess is an appropriate word), that UConn made history tonight against Florida State. UConn’s current women’s basketball team now possesses the longest win streak (89) in the history of collegiate basketball (breaking a record of 88 wins held by some UCLA team). Good thing Florida State got to be on the end of that dagger.

Urban Meyer resigned earlier today

shipworth — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:35:35 +0000

I loved Coach Meyer, but was neither shocked nor extremely disappointed when he stepped down as head coach earlier today. He came back from his retirement last year (due to health concerns) but one has to wonder did he really come back in the same capacity? Assuming he toned it down a bit this year, that has to be partly to blame for the Gators’ sub-par play. If he was not as involved as he is accustomed to, something had to give. One can’t blame everything on Steve Addazio (terrible though he may be).

All I wonder about now is, who’s next? Do we go for a pro style coach like Jon Gruden? Do we look to a former assistant coach like Charlie Strong or, more probably, Dan Mullen? Do we go back to someone we considered before hiring Meyer like Bobby Petrino? I have faith in the spending muscle of the University of Florida Athletic Department and think any decision will work. This is one of, if not the, best college football coaching job in the country and there shouldn’t be any shortage of qualified candidates.

Would I like to update to the “new” facebook profile?

shipworth — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:28:15 +0000

Apparently I’ve been on facebook so long, even my “old profile” still seems relatively new.

Manchester United v Liverpool

shipworth — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 07:06:47 +0000

Dimitar Berbatov put on a show:

<a href=”http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/video?vid=cc17e87d-fe88-4dbf-acd9-56d7fcadddc5″ target=”_new” title=”">PL Highlights: Man Utd/Liverpool</a>

Impressive comedy by Johnny Carson

shipworth — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:07:28 +0000

Are you worried the end might be near?
When you go for a walk, do thirty seven cars with their lights on drive slowly behind you?
Did you just catch a tailor in your closet cutting the back off your best suit?
Has your wife been bringing dirt into your house to see which soil goes best with your hair?

Aus revoirs, Rainey, aus revoirs

shipworth — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:04:38 +0000

Chris Rainey allegedly threatened to kill an on-again-off-again girlfriend via text message. Following his being charged with stalking (apparently a third-degree felony) Urban Meyer gave him a stern look and had an intern kick his ass to the curb.

He definitely won’t play until the charges are dropped, and is definitely suspended for the Tennessee game. Carlos Dunlap got charged with DUI before the SEC Championship Game, but he was back for our bowl game after his situation was resolved.

Hopefully the same process of redemption will happen with Rainey, but I am tired of Brantley dumping it to him in the flats for negative yardage. Let the boy throw the ball! Will we ever see Brantley open up like he did in the 3rd and 4th quarters last year? Are we just keeping his schemes a secret? Is our offensive coordinator really just that bad?

VALIS

shipworth — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:07:55 +0000

I recently finished reading VALIS by Philip K. Dick. There are several levels of action in this book and I’m still working to straighten it all out. Perhaps there is no straightening it all out. Things are complicated by the schizophrenic nature of the narrator, alternately Dick himself and the third-person Horselover Fat. The narrator admits early in the novel that he and Fat are the same person, but it is still difficult to keep that in mind during certain periods of dialogue.

The novel questions the nature of madness as well as the nature of reality. Is what we experience the true nature of the universe? Who created the universe (if it was, in fact, created) and with what intentions? Can we, and how can we, escape the limitations of what we perceive as reality? In the book, the answer to this question lies with VALIS, the Vast Active Living Intelligence System, but the name could be anything.

These are unanswerable–with any certainty–questions, in my opinion, but VALIS as art and as a composition was very pleasant to experience. I also really liked Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by the same author; perhaps I’ll read more of Dick’s work.

Walcott out

shipworth — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:53:51 +0000

Nevermind on that last post about Arsenal’s lack of injuries. Turns out Theo’s ankle (which Capello said would cost him a week) will keep him out for six weeks. Wonderful!

Labor Day hangover sports round up

shipworth — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:56:25 +0000

An ESPN article claims Reggie Bush is likely to lose his 2005 Heisman Trophy due to various indiscretions while playing for USC. In related USC history, O.J. Simpson–who is widely believed to have murdered his wife and Ronald Goldman despite being found not guilty in his murder trial–was allowed to keep his 1968 Heisman Trophy until forced to sell it as a result of a civil suit won by Goldman’s father.

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The Florida Gators played their first game of the season on Saturday. Mike Pouncey was center stage–quite literally, playing center–as he put on a clinic in snap snafus and the offense struggled mightily throughout. The only thing buoying us above an early first loss was our defensive competence and the dismal quality of our opponent, Miami (Ohio).

Florida slipped four spots in the polls this week to #8. Not the end of the world, and it may be a good thing for a team trying to move on without possibly the greatest college football player ever, but it won’t help confidence locally. Big improvements had better be apparent by next weekend, or an un-ranked, but likely dangerous, USF team could deliver another jolt to Urban Meyer’s famously fickle heart.

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In Arsenal news, there is no news other than the ongoing international break. It seems as if it were the first time, however, that a player has not returned totally crocked after playing with his national team.

Faux re-interest?

shipworth — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:22:18 +0000

I haven’t written here in nearly a year, but need a new (old) creative outlet. What will come?