On August 5, I posted about the strange, cryptic, well-nigh Dadaist phrases that someone sees fit to periodically inscribe on the various buildings in downtown Flint, Michigan. Many of which are vacant, and also many of which have Potemkin village-style fake facades which I presume was someone's bright idea of how to make downtown look less abandoned and desolate.

There was not much new in the way of this particular graffiti today, and it tends to be quite ephemeral as building owners paint over it.

I did find the phrase "Old Era Nowst" near a glass door emblazoned with the signature of a (possibly defunct) business known as New Era Management and Consultation. Presumably the first two words of the graffito are a reference to the business name, what the word "Nowst" is supposed to mean is anyone's guess.

"Architects Warnings?" still appears on a building on Saginaw Street just one block north of the University of Michigan campus.

Also, on the other side of the street and a block down is "Colour charts for?" complete with British spelling of the first word albeit berift of any obvious meaning.

I also noticed on the Flint Journal's old main building the imprint of lettering which once read "Founded 1883." Not sure why this lettering was removed...has the history of the paper been revised to include a different founding date, or is the Flint Journal simply wanting to efface all traces of history whatsoever?

Strange goings on in old Vehicle City!

In today's news...

The poverty rate in the United States went up for the fourth consecutive year. The rich get richer and the poor get more and more screwed in the late capitalist Soviet States of Amerika under the one party Republicrat (also known as Demublican) regime.

Democrats in congress promise to question Supreme Court nominee John Roberts very very vigorously! We will see what we will see, but based on past tendencies I would not expect much from the faction of the One Corporate Party that goes by the name "Democrats." With each passing year and election cycle, this sad charade gets more and more tedious and ridiculous. The Big Two parties might as well be One Corporate Party, as in reality they merely function as two factions of the same party representing the same group of Very Wealthy and Powerful People.

I have been doing quite a bit of reading in postmodernist literary theory lately, and find this stuff fascinating if sometimes a bit hard to make sense of. A couple of years ago the university that I am on the faculty of had Duke University professor Fredric Jameson as a visiting professor and that's basically how I got interested in all this.

One of the things that I seem to more or less get about postmodernity is that there is a loss of the referent, or the part of a sign that the signifier or symbol stands for. Or maybe it is that the signifier and referent do not have the stable connection they were once thought to have...or something like that.

I see things now in the world around me that get me thinking in these terms...just a block or so from where I work is a building currently used by the Flint Journal newspaper as part of their operation. I walked past this building many times, aware of the faint outlines/fastener holes at the top facade of the building, where letters once spelled out words. But I could never quite tell what the words were! Then one day I was leafing through some old "Life" magazines we have at the library from 1970 and there it was...an ad for a long defunct (or absorbed by a larger competitor) bank known in 1970 as "Detroit and Northern Savings." There was an address that looked like it might be the aforementioned building and indeed it is. And more recently I noticed ghostly remnants of lettering on the side of the building as well. In this case the referent is the bank itself which no longer exists, although the signifier lingers on in the form of the impressions left on the building from the effaced signature of the long gone bank.

Or consider the "World's Biggest Tire" alongside Highway 94 just outside Detroit. There used to be an actual tire factory (referent) there, now only the 80 foot tire totem (signifier) remains. The name of the company in question (Uniroyal) is also quite typically postmodern, replacing as it did a more modernist name (U.S. Royal) that actually made direct reference to the United States. In a further twist, I believe that the actual Uniroyal company no longer even makes tires, having sold the rights to the Uniroyal brand tires to Michelin. All very consistent with the nature of Late Corporate Capitalism as I understand it.

Unless my understanding is not quite right which is of course entirely possible, especially if it is true that in Postmodernity we no longer have recourse to Master Narratives.

Some early calls on this weekend's college football...

Minnesota vs. Tulsa: Take Minnesota and give the 14 and a half points. This one will not be close.

Cincinnati vs. Eastern Michigan-EMU is pathetic. Cincy will win by at least the current line of 10 points.

Indiana vs. Central Michigan-Woo hoo! My undergraduate alma mater (Central Michigan) has gotten a Big Ten team (albeit a very bad one) to come to Mt. Pleasant! Take CMU and the 8 1/2 points! I see the Mighty Chippewas winning this one outright.

Michigan vs. Northern Illinois-NIU may give Michigan a bit of a challenge early, but the Wolverines will easily cover the 18 1/2 point spread.

Michigan State vs. Kent State-see above, replacing "NIU" with "Kent State" and adding "State" to "Michigan."

Virginia vs. Western Michigan-is WMU really as bad, or Virginia really as good, as a 32 point spread would indicate? I am thinking not, so take Western and the points.

Illinois vs Rutgers-Who cares vs. Who cares. The spread is just two points which makes sense considering that both of these teams basically suck.

Ohio State vs. Miami of Ohio-The Bucks are favored by only 14 1/2, and it may well be that close.

Southern Cal vs. Hawaii-while I would dearly love to see the Rainbows knock off the Hollywood Pretty Boys of U$C, it probably won't happen. Hawaii will be fortunate to cover the 34 point line, with home field it might happen.

Wisconsin vs Bowling Green-this could well be an upset, as Wisco is usually somewhat overrated and BGSU is usually a pretty solid MAC team.

Iowa vs. Ball State-the Hawkeyes should have no trouble winning, whether they cover the spread (38 1/2 points!!!) is another matter.

Texas vs. Louisiana-Lafayette-see above, except add another point to the spread.

Pittsburgh vs. Notre Lame, oops I mean Dame-Pitt favored by 3 1/2, take the Panthers and give the points.

Penn State vs. South Florida-this could be a blowout for Penn State, or if their offense sucks as bad as it did last year then South Fla may be able to cover the 23 point spread.

Northwestern vs. Ohio-Northwestern should win, but may not cover the 14 1/2 point spread...I'd take Ohio and the points.

One of my favorite political websites is http://swans.com/. They have some very interesting and insightful progressive or left of center commentary on the issues of the day.

Currently on their front page is an article by Michael Doliner of Ithaca College titled "'Terrorism' and 'Security'" with both terms in quotation marks. I think this in itself says a lot about how both words tend to be politicized and twisted to serve the often selfish needs of whoever happens to be using them. One person's "terrorism" is another person's "noble fight for freedom." And what some call "security" may well seem to others like "fascist negations of freedom and privacy."

Doliner's last paragraph makes many important points that we would do well to heed:

"The twitch from "terrorism" to "security" is a reflex, natural but brainless, like those in dead bodies. "Security" is a mad response to "terrorism" and so damaging to everything we value that we should reject it out of hand in spite of its reflexive appeal. It is also incredibly expensive in a time of rapidly diminishing resources. Those who advocate more security as opposed to real attempts at peace are either complete idiots (a remote possibility), swept away by the pernicious emotion of "patriotism" (a likely possibility), or have a purpose other than national security (my vote). "Security" does provide an excuse for repression and gives windfall profits to the corporations who provide the gadgets and personnel. It also serves to rationalize unjust wars. Since "security," paradoxically, wastes the substance of the country, destroys the freedom of the citizens, poisons the culture, instigates war, and supplies profits to connected private interests, isn't it possible that those who advocate increased "security" intend these ends rather than the safety that "security" obviously never can supply? Our only hope is to recognize that "terrorism," when it is not actually a false flag operation, is "blowback," a response to our own foreign policy. "Those to whom evil is done do evil in return." Those who are treated unjustly become worse, and respond with injustice, in some cases, terrorism. The use of force to subjugate other countries will corrupt us, encourage "terrorism" and, in the end, fail. We have reached a point where people would rather die than live like slaves. All we can do is end our empire. Treat every terrorist act as criminal, and prosecute the perpetrators. "Security" can protect an airline or a ball field, but not a country. As of now we need an army to protect ourselves against armies of other nations, but not foreign bases to control foreign populations. We need a police force to repress crime, but not a secret police force for "security." Any rational response to terrorism that is actually meant to stop it cannot be in the form of "security." "Security" will destroy the country in order to save it. This should be obvious to anyone who wants to look. "

To which I can only say "exactly!" We MUST work for REAL peace and justice for all, or we will never really be secure. And until this happens, the hard core military/police attempts at "security" will only make us less free. We must start transforming our society, including voting for real progressives like those running under the Green Party banner. A prerequisite to this may have to be forcing changes in the political system to make it more open and fair, such as Instant Runoff Voting, Proportional Representation, and meaningful reform of campaign financing.

The playoff picture is at last set in the WNBA with the playing of the final regular season games. On Friday August 26, the Washington Mystics lost to the Connecticut Sun, eliminating Washington from the playoffs and rendering Saturday's game between Washington and the Detroit Shock irrelevant as far as playoff contention. In other words the Shock were in regardless of whether they won or lost to the Mystics. Four of Detroit's starters saw no action in this game (Cheryl Ford, Swin Cash, Deanna Nolan, and Ruth Riley) and the other current starter (Katie Smith) only played sparingly. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Shock's reserves were not quite able to get the job done and so Detroit heads to the postseason with a losing record of 16-18. Of course, if not for their chronic inconsistency, they could and should have had a much better record and seeding for the playoffs.

As it is, Detroit will face East regular season champ Connecticut in the opening round. The Shock, for all their struggles in 2005, did well against the Sun with three wins in four games. I will go with the regular season trend and my heart here and pick the Shock to win in three.

In the other East opening round series I'll go with Indiana over New York, also in three games.

In the West, the old guard Los Angeles Sparks are in the unfamiliar role of underdog against the West regular season champion Sacramento Monarchs. I think this one will also go the full three games with Sacto coming out on top.

The 2004 champion Seattle Storm face off against a solid and perennially tough Houston Comets team. The teams split their four regular season games and I see this one being just as close...the slight underdog Comets will win in three.

I will make predictions for the next round when the first round is over.

Despite less-than-impressive offensive production, the Detroit Shock managed to beat Indiana to move a half game ahead of Washington for the final Eastern conference WNBA playoff spot. Detroit's defense was the story here, as they held Indiana to a mere 40 points which is the fewest the Shock have ever held an opponent to in a single game.

Washington plays Connecticut tonight, and a win by the Sun would put Detroit a full game ahead of Washington with the Shock and Mystics playing in the regular season finale on Saturday.

Detroit's recurring problems surfaced yet again in last night's game, mostly too many wasted opportunities on offense. The Shock trailed by a point at the half despite a great defensive effort, and if not for the "D" this would have been another close game that Detroit may or may not have ended up winning. Generally the team just does not look in synch on offense, with too many players standing around or generally out of position. Then when they do manage to set up a play well, all too often they end up missing the shot! And free throws continue to be a problem, especially for the otherwise very talented Cheryl Ford. Her rebounding skills are very valuable to the Shock and have often been a key factor in the games they have won...on the other hand her inability to make free throws (and to a certain extent field goals as well) have also cost the team games.

As has been the case for the last two seasons, it is hard to get a handle on this team. They could end up doing anything from winning the WNBA championship to failing to even make the playoffs, or anything in between. If nothing else, I guess you could say they keep things interesting for us fans...although I am sure they would rather not be doing that.

The Tigers continue to flirt with breaking even but can't quite get there. Two losses in a row to Oakland have them three games under .500 and 8.5 games back in the American League wild card race. It's not quite over yet, but looking less and less likely by the day.

Just two days ago, I expressed my hope that a solution to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict might, just might, be in the cards due to Israel's pulling out of parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Sadly, it appears that the Morons on Both Sides are at it again, as some Israeli soldiers (read, morons) killed five Palestinians and now Palestinian militants ( also read, morons) are threatening revenge. With each side accusing the other of opening fire first...how typical, how ridiculous.

This is way beyond tiresome and tedious, and I just cannot understand the mentality of the extremist idiots on both sides of this conflict. At some point, you would think that they would tire of killing and dying for no good reason. Yet, the Stupidity continues at least for the nonce.

We will see what we will see...

What have we got in the news today...

Pentagon Orders 1,500 more Troops to Iraq...It's beginning to look a lot like Vietnam, oh yeah. How long, oh Goddess how long will this current Quagmire drag on? Meanwhile the Coward In Chief (who could not be bothered to defend Texas from the Viet Cong) "proudly crows 'we'll never bend'" to quote from Phil Ochs' "Song of a Soldier." The craven moron Dubya stands there with the big word "Heroes" on the now routine backdrop that seems to accompany every appearance by a government official. Always with such comforting propaganda blips, designed to keep Big Brother's subjects pacified, befuddled, and in line.

What a sad spectacle is Politics In America, which seems to become more and more Soviet every day.

Oops, they did it again!

The Bad News Detroit Shock, having only to beat the pathetic Charlotte Sting to possibly clinch the fourth playoff spot in the East, lost to Charlotte for the second time this season. Horrible field goal shooting, too many missed free throws, clueless coaching from Bill "the WNBA's answer to Wayne Fontes" Lame-beer...this game had all the hallmarks of what has ailed this team the past two seasons.

Washington beat New York, so we are back to a tie for fourth place. Detroit plays Indiana next, and I think Washington plays Connecticut. Who the hell knows anymore with the Shock?

Stick a fork in Bill Lame-beer...he's DONE! If the Shock do not croak this bozo after this season, they must have the Stupidest Front Office People Ever. Some changes in the player roster may also need to be made, but it is way beyond a doubt that the coaching Regime Must Be Changed, ASAP.

I have a ticket to Thursday's game against Indiana, and am currently debating whether to go to the game and use it, or burn it and spare myself the agony of watching a very talented team go through the motions for a coach who has long ago been exposed as a fraud.

The president of Turkmenistan has banned lip-synching!

No, I am not making this up...I only wish I was. This bozo (Saparmurat Niyazov being said bozo's name) has already banned opera, ballet, long hair, and gold teeth!

And what exactly is all this supposed to accomplish? Who knows what goes on in the minds of Bozos and Morons?

Just when I think no government could possibly be more fascist, stupid, and corrupt than the one we have here in the USA (and the one we have here in the USA is plenty of all of those things), I hear about something like this.

It makes me long for the solution proposed by Roger Waters on the Pink Floyd album "The Final Cut," of a "Fletcher Memorial Home for Incurable Tyrants and Kings" where the various heads and tails of state can be confined for the good of the rest of us.

Israel has completed its withdrawal from land in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, despite resistance from Jewish extremists. We will see what we will see, but hopefully this will help to build at least some good will between the Jewish Israelis and the Palestinians. The problem is that there may still be too many people on both sides who are unwilling to compromise, and Israel's strong ties to the world's only superpower tend to give it an unfair advantage.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has gone on far too long and has cost far too many lives. While the Jewish desire for a safe haven is understandable, they went about trying to get one at the expense of another people, namely the Palestinians. What has resulted is that no one is safe in that part of the world. Of course, we in the United States can hardly be too critical of Israel since the Jewish Israelis merely followed a similar pattern as did the Europeans who came to this land and pushed aside the People Now Known as Native Americans.

I find it harder and harder to take sides in this mess, and mostly just want both groups of people to see beyond their own needs and learn to live together. There should not even be the need for two separate countries, because both groups should be able to share the same country. Perhaps this will happen some day, although I wonder if it will happen while any of us are still around to witness it.

The Shock beat Washington on Sunday night, to pull one game ahead of the Mystics for the fourth playoff spot in the WNBA East. Each team has three games left, with Detroit's next being tomorrow night at Charlotte. More to come tomorrow night or Wednesday, as I get back here to post again.

The Tigers are back to within two games of .500 and are seven and a half games back in the wild card race...so maybe I spoke too soon when I said that it may be over for them. We will see what we will see.

Packers lost their second preseason game to Buffalo, but Brett Favre looked sharp in limited playing time. The Detroit Lions also lost, in particularly Lion-esque fashion. Up 13-7 in the waning minutes, Detroit allowed a touchdown to former U of Michigan star Braylon Edwards that put Cleveland ahead by one. The Lions got the ball back and with one second left tried the old "U of California-Berkeley maneuver" of lateraling the ball umpteen times and hoping someone breaks free. The ball eventually ended up in the hands of a Lions lineman who could not find the handle, a Cleveland player snatched the ball out of the air, and just like that one more touchdown was on the board for the Browns. A potential 13-7 Detroit win became a 21-13 Detroit loss in the last minutes.

After briefly reaching the break-even mark, the Detroit Shock have lost two in a row to fall to 14-16 as the end of the regular season approaches. They remain tied for fourth place with Washington and currently hold the tiebreaker with them. Detroit plays Washington twice, Charlotte and Indiana once each in their last four regular season games. They need to win both against Washington and at least one of the other two games to finish ahead of Washington and make the playoffs. Second place is no longer possible, all Detroit can do is tie Indiana and Indiana holds the tiebreaker. Third place would require a strong finish by Detroit combined with a New York collapse.

As always, we will see what we will see with the Shock. It is more and more obvious that coach Bill Laimbeer was a One Year Wonder and he either needs to resign or be fired at the end of this season regardless of what happens.

The Detroit Tigers are once again creeping towards .500, currently they are four games under that level. They are 9.5 games back in the American League wild card race and could still make it, but a lot would have to happen. A more reasonable goal is to at least get up to and a bit over .500 and build for next season.

I just picked up a vintage copy of a 1968 special edition of the Green Bay Packer Yearbook titled "The Lombardi Era." With a new football season about to begin, I thought I'd review the accomplishments of the Packers led by Coach Vince Lombardi:

Regular season record of 89 wins, 29 losses and four ties for a winning percentage of .754.

Nine playoff wins and only ONE loss! and that was in Coach Lombardi's first playoff game, just two seasons after he took over a Packer team that had been the worst in the NFL.

Five NFL championships in nine seasons, including the first two NFL championships to be called Super Bowls.

Never a divisional finish lower than second.

Lombardi's Packers combined a tough, unyielding defense with an offense that ran a few basic plays to absolute perfection. Opposing defenses knew what was coming but most often could not stop it because of the great precision teamwork that was the result of hours of practice. The power sweep, with pulling guards Fuzzy Thurston and Jerry Kramer leading running backs Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung (and later, Elijah Pitts, Donny Anderson, and Jim Grabowski) was perhaps their best known play. Bart Starr was the leader of the offense and was particularly good at the play action pass. Then there was the key play of the 1967 NFL playoff game, where Starr simply took the snap from center Ken Bowman and bulled across the goal line behind Bowman and Kramer.

The Packer defense was similar to the offense in that the basic fundmentals were stressed, such as being in the right place and making the tackle (something that many of today's defenses, including my favorites in Green Bay and Ann Arbor, need to focus on more!). Players like Ray Nitschke, Willie Davis, and Herb Adderley typified the Green and Gold Curtain that held opponents in check.

Yes, we may never see the likes of Coach Lombardi or his teams again, although Brett Favre and the Packers of his era have done their best to bring back that spirit. I know that the old coach must have a smile on his face, up there in football heaven, when he sees number 4 going all out on every play, no matter what the situation. And I know that Brett would have fit in just fine on Lombardi's teams...if only they had not already had such a great quarterback as Bart Starr!

"One is a humble, unassuming team player who excelled for four years at Michigan and is on the verge of earning another Super Bowl ring.

The other is a pampered, overrated "golden boy" who betrayed the University of Michigan and has already failed at one pro sport and is in the process of failing at another.

Tom Brady is a perfect example of what a Michigan Wolverine is supposed to be, and I am more than happy to see him succeed in the NFL.

Drew Henson is a spoiled punk, and I laugh every time he stumbles. I will never consider him to be a true Michigan person, and I lost any respect I may have had for him when he left Michigan at the last moment to chase after the money that Steinbrenner waved in his greedy face."

I wrote this last year in my old blog, and see no reason to change anything. Tom Brady is still a classy, humble team player and Drew Henson is still a greedy punk. I decided to post this again after seeing Drewie's name in a Dallas Cowboy preseason boxscore. His numbers were, as usual, pretty mediocre and I do not see him doing anything worthwhile.

Which brings me to another whole family of quarterbacks who are getting on my nerves more and more lately...the Mannings. Peyton is basically another Dan Marino. He puts up gaudy individual numbers but has little or no appreciation of the team concept and therefore always comes up short when it matters most. Younger brother Eli looks to be another Drew Hensonesque spoiled punk who thinks he is owed a Hall of Fame career. No, son, you have to earn that! Then there is daddy Archie, who never did much as a pro despite all the potential in the world, and now lives vicariously through his sons.

None of them (Henson, Marino, any of the Manning clan) will ever come close to the greatness of a Brett Favre, Tom Brady, or Bart Starr, no matter what the numbers might say. For one thing, Favre, Brady, and Starr all led their teams to at least one NFL championship, something none of the QB's whose names appear in the parenthesis can say.

It was back to a game under .500 for the Detroit Shock last night as they collapsed on offense in the second half and lost at Phoenix. Thanks to Washington losing to New York, the Shock remain in a tie with Washington for fourth place and in the hypothetical "if the season ended today" scenario Detroit would make the playoffs.

That being said, this was another difficult game in what has been a difficult last two seasons for Motown's professional women hoopsters. The Shock shot an ice cold 28 percent from the field and missed eight free throws. The foul shots alone would have made the difference between victory and defeat.

There are now five games left for the Shock, and they could still finish as high as second in the Eastern conference. Whether they do depends in large part on whether they can at last address the problems that have been holding them back since the "worst to first" championship season of 2003.

Whatever happens the rest of 2005, it remains my firm opinion that coach Bill Laimbeer should be relieved of his duties. He did a fine job of motivating the team to a quick turnaround in 2002 and 2003, but since then the Shock have floundered and he seems to have no answers or capacity to get the ship righted. Some tweaking of the roster may also be necessary, particularly in the cases of (for the most part) underachieving center Ruth Riley, and point guard Elaine Powell, whose behavior is reminding me more and more of such troubled athletes as Ron Artest of the men's NBA and pro football's Randy Moss. Powell, Artest, and Moss are all very talented athletes, but at some point it is just not worth dealing with their baggage.

The Shock are back to the break even level at 14 wins and as many losses, and are tied with Washington for the fourth and last playoff bid in the WNBA East. Detroit got there in part due to a narrow one point road win against San Antonio, the last place team in the West. As usual, nothing seems to come easy for this team.

Ruth Riley at last showed what she is truly capable of, scoring 20 points including the game winning hoop. This time it was the rest of the team that struggled on offense, as Deanna Nolan was the only other double figure scorer and she just barely got there with ten points. The Shock could be well-nigh unstoppable if they could just get everyone (or at least enough players) playing well at the same time. As it is, it seems that at least the scoring is all too often left to one or two players in any given game.

Six games left, with the next two out west against Phoenix and Los Angeles. Then Detroit is at home against Washington, at Charlotte, at home against Indiana, and at Washington to end the regular season. All these games are perfectly winnable especially if there is a total team effort that is consistent. It appears that the Shock are getting their act together at just the right time, and they just need to keep the momentum going while continuing to work on improving.

Some random thoughts on a Friday in August...

Ford Motor Co. is laying off more workers and Northwest Airlines is facing a strike...just more incidents in the Terminal Crisis of Late Corporate Capitalism. The Ford workers are being escorted from their buildings...typical cowardly, heartless corporate behavior but then again what else would we expect from the Greediest and the Worst, otherwise known as the Corporate Ruling Class of Amerika? The people who run these corporations are nothing but Common Crooks and Chiselers who should be tried for Crimes Against the Public.

The Detroit Shock managed to survive overtime against Minnesota last night to pull within a game of both New York and Washington. Their playoff hopes are very much alive but troubling trends such as missed shots and turnovers continue. Stay tuned for the Further Adventures of the Wonderful Women of Motown.

As for Detroit's other currently playing pro team, the Tigers are 3-7 in their last ten games and have fallen to 12 games behind in the race for the American League Wildcard. It is looking less and less likely that there will be playoff baseball at Comerica Park this season.

My NFL favorites, the Green Bay Packers, eked out a 10-7 exhibition win over San Diego yesterday. It is never easy to tell much from a preseason game, but Brett Favre did look very good which is a definite positive sign. On the other hand, Ahman Green still seems to be a Very Good Running Back with a Very Bad Fumbling Problem. We will see what we will see...

and some idiot on a Packer message board nominates Bill Schroeder for the Packer Hall of Fame! You have got to be kidding...he was basically a Useless Bum who was made to look good by having a Hall of Fame quarterback throwing passes to him.

Finally, speaking of idiots...a flashback to years ago when I was gathering petition signatures to get the Green Party on the ballot in Michigan. Some jackass refuses to sign because he is a Republican...then I notice he is wearing a jacket with some UAW local logo! Incredible! Do these morons even realize how stupid they are? Of course the union leadership tends to be no better, mostly supporting sold-out Democrats who are usually not much better than Republicans.

After looking at the recently posted Michigan women's basketball roster, here is my best guess at a starting lineup for 2005-06:
PG: sophomore Krista Clement
G: sophomore Jessica Starling
F: junior Kelly Helvey
PF: sophomore Ta'Shia Walker
C: freshman Stephany Skrba

Jessica Minnfield (a freshman) may end up starting at the point right away, but I am thinking we'll go with the more experienced Clement at first and then go with Minnfield when she has gotten some experience. Starling impressed me at times last season and I think we want her in the starting lineup somewhere. Freshman Melinda Queen is also a possibility here and also perhaps Helvey. I have Helvey at the smaller forward spot but as I say above she could also start in the backcourt. She is our most experienced player and has gotten ample PT in the past so I can't see her not being a starter...the question is at what position? Walker did a fine job under last season's difficult (to say the least!) circumstances and I think she has earned a starting position. She could also play center but is a bit short for that position...which brings me to Stephany Skrba. Given her height and great potential, it is going to be very hard to keep her out of the starting lineup. An alternative would be to start Walker at center and sophomore Katie Dierdorf at power forward or vice versa. By the way...how is Katie doing health wise??? Will she be ready to play at the start of this season? A pair of freshmen, Carly Benson and Ashley Jones should also challenge for PT at center and power forward. We could get away with not starting any frosh this year, but it will be hard not to start Skrba, and Minnfield also will likely be hard to keep on the bench at tip off time.

This is still a relatively young team (no seniors...thanks to the six would-have-been-seniors who decided to be quitters instead of fighters!, one junior, five sophomores and five frosh) but there will be a larger group of experienced veterans on this years team (six) than there was on last year's team (three). Two of last year's frosh have decided not to return. There were two walk-ons last year (Lindsay Sklar and Jessica Wynne) but I have not heard if they plan on trying out again this year. The team could use them to add to their total numbers.

Some idiot on a Purdue WBB message board (which I cannot seem to post to) recently made an ignorant remark about how much more of a "free pass" should Coach Burnett get at Michigan since she has not done any better with "the team that got (former coach) Guevara fired." Well, thanks to the aforementioned quitting players (not just this seasons would-have-been seniors but also half of last year's as well) Coach B really has not exactly had "the team that got Guevara fired" to work with. She has done her best under VERY difficult circumstances, which I guess the spoiled fans of a frontrunner like Purdue would never understand. Coach Burnett will quiet such critics soon enough, and I am eagerly looking forward to paying back Purdue (and Penn State, and Ohio State, and Michigan State, etc) and their arrogant fans.

OK, time to rant a bit on the shameful state of music being played at most sporting events. There are just a few songs I hear at most games that I can really stand, "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones being the only one that comes readily to mind. Most of the other stuff I hear just seems to be pretty lame, to the point where I do not really even know or care to know what it is I am having to listen to.

"Y.M.C.A." by the Village People tends to get played a lot. "L.A.M.E." would be a better title for this song. Maybe it was just a wee tiny bit cool back in 1978 but it has not aged well and is basically a perfect example of All That Was Wrong With Disco.

Here are some songs I'd like to hear at the next Detroit Shock game I go to, and at the Michigan women's basketball games this season:

"The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion," "Truckin'," "Bertha," "Shakedown Street," and "Promised Land" all by the Grateful Dead. Or Chuck Berry's original of "Promised Land." Or either the Dead or Berry doing "Johnny B. Goode."

"Midnight Rider" and "Ramblin' Man" by the Allman Brothers Band.

"Run Like An Antelope" by Phish.

"Purple Haze," "Are You Experienced," and "Bold As Love" by Jimi Hendrix.

"Like A Rolling Stone" and "Subterrenian Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan.

I'll think of some more later...but these are a good start.

The Shock moved to within a game of the final Eastern conference playoff spot with a 71-64 win over last place Charlotte. Detroit led by as much as 22 in the second half and should have won by more, if not for a slow start on offense and a sloppy finish in which Coach Laimbeer may have been too quick to take out the starters. A win is a win, but once again so many of the things that have gone wrong for the Shock all season went wrong here. Nine missed free throws, a few too many turnovers, too many missed field goals, and in general too much offensive inconsistency.

Recently acquired veteran Katie Smith had her first really big game with Detroit, scoring 21 points including a perfect 4 of 4 three point shots. Deanna Nolan had another solid outing with 17 points. Cheryl Ford and Ruth Riley both struggled on offense, a persistent problem this season that has me feeling like the proverbial broken record. At least Ford was solid on the boards as usual with nine.

Connecticut won last night, so Detroit is now officially unable to finish first in the East. On the other hand, anything from second through fourth is possible if only they can "Bring It" as they used to say in their promotional materials. This is a talented team with a lot of potential, they just need to play with more consistency and get better results out of certain players (whose names I have already mentioned more than enough).

The inconsistent, frustrating Detroit Shock took one more step backward then one step forward over the weekend, losing to Charlotte and beating New York. Charlotte is by far the worst team in the WNBA this season, so it is way beyond bizarre that Detroit should lose to them. Then again, at this point I am just about beyond being surprised by the Shock.

The Shock are now three games under .500 at 11-14. They are one and a half game behind New York for the fourth and last playoff spot in the East. With nine games left they need to win six of them to finish the regular season at the break even mark.

Strangely, they could still claim the regular season title in the east if they win all nine of their remaining games and first place Connecticut loses all eight of theirs. Technically they would be tied for first with Connecticut but would win the tiebreaker because they won three of the four regular season games against, you guessed it, the team in first place. If only they had done as well against the other teams in the league, it would be the Shock running in front of the pack right now instead of playing catch up.

More High Dadaism in Beautiful Downtown Flint...

I mentioned this in my old blog at Diaryland, and finally got around to looking for this again today. Basically, we have someone (I think it is just one person, because the handwriting always looks about the same) in downtown Flint, Michigan who has taken it upon him/herself to inscribe various cryptic phrases on the various buildings in and around Saginaw Street.

Some of the ones I saw today:
"SYWYKS are also constantly changing things!" (I have no idea what SYWYKS means or stands for...I am assuming it is some kind of initialism but for what is anyone's guess)
"Socialable (is that a real word?) Architects Do What Daily?"
"Policers Tools!"
"Missing on all Ryder signs?" (does this have something to do with the truck rental company...who knows???)
"Architects warnings?"

This same person (I think, based on the handwriting) also attached a manila envelope to a building with the following Bizarre Gibberish:

"The moneyz architects versus it God!"
"Data 911s Policed!"
"Water suppliers problems?"

This person seems to have a particular fixation on architects and police...again, what if anything it all means is difficult to comprehend. This seems to be a true example of Postmodernist High Dada of some kind, in these days of Late Capitalism in America.

More to come later...

Since I live in the Flint, Michigan area, I recently had to endure all the local media hype over Vijay Singh and his win at the Buick Open. Golf is generally not one of my favorite spectator sports, but I have at least paid some attention to it lately if only to hope that Singh falls flat on his face and never wins another tournament in his sorry life.

As a fervent supporter of women's sports, Singh earned a spot on my Jackass list a few years back when he showed a total lack of respect for the great golfer Annika Sorenstam and (in my opinion) a total lack of respect for women athletes in general.

Methinks that Vijay is afraid to play against a top woman golfer because, well, he might get his behind whipped by her. What a coward, what a sexist jerk, and (in spite of how many tournaments he may win) what a loser!

The Detroit Shock, trying to make it three wins in a row, fell just short against the Houston Comets Tuesday night. They remain in fifth place in the Eastern conference and are one and a half games behind New York for the fourth and final playoff spot. Detroit needs to win lots of games and cannot afford to lose many for the rest of the regular season.

Deanna Nolan had another fine game with 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. She missed a potential game winning shot at the end, but if her teammates had played as well as she had it would not have had to come to that. Deanna really deserves serious consideration for WNBA MVP, especially considering how much of the scoring load she has had to carry.

Ruth Riley, after having one good game, was back to not doing much against Houston, and Cheryl Ford also did not get as many rebounds as she usually does.

Swin Cash only played six minutes, and Coach Laimbeer indicated that she may have been "a little sore." I hope that it is not any worse than that, for both Swin's sake and the team's.

Well, we will see what happens in the next few games for Detroit's women pro hoopsters. They have the talent to turn things around, they just need to get more consistent results.

Happy Jerry Garcia's Birthday!

Today is Jerry's 63rd birthday. I say "is" and not "would have been" because although he is not here in the literal sense, his spirit is and will always be very much alive in the minds and hearts of Hippies, Beatniks, Anarchists, Greens, and like minded free thinkers everywhere.

Next week Tuesday (August 9) will be ten years since he left his mortal body behind. The music has never stopped and it never will, not even when his original bandmates have all joined him in the Great Woodstock in the Sky. Somewhere the music of the Grateful Dead will continue to be played and the counterculture the band and its music are part of will continue to thrive.

And eventually the love we create will spread real peace and justice thoroughout the world.

With two wins over the weekend, the Detroit Shock took a big step towards keeping their playoff hopes alive for 2005. They are now only a game behind Washington for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The top four teams in each conference make the postseason, so the Shock at least has to move up that one spot to keep playing past August 27 which is the day of their last regular season game.

Flint, Michigan native and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor grad Stacey Thomas has been traded by the Shock to Minnesota along with Chandi Jones, for Katie Smith and a pick in next season's draft. I am partial to Stacey because of her Flint and U of M connections, and Chandi had her moments with the Shock. They both will be missed. On the other hand, Smith looked good in her Detroit debut yesterday with six points on a pair of three point shots and three assists.

Ruth Riley, who I have been critical of this season, picked up her game with 10 points and 8 rebounds including a very critical one at the end of the game. Good job, Ruth, and keep it up!

More comments on the Shock later today.