Some random thoughts on a Tuesday Afternoon...feel free to cue up the Moody Blues song by that title if you wish...

Michigan women's basketball rallied from a seven point halftime deficit to defeat Miami of Ohio in the 2005-06 home regular season opener. Michigan's record is now 2-2, with two solid wins and two relatively close losses to ranked teams. Things are looking better and better for Cheryl Burnett's team, and I see them getting better and better as the season progresses. Junior Kelly Helvey (the only junior on the team, there are no seniors) is providing solid veteran leadership and showing evidence of improved skills. She is a very hard working player who always makes a contribution of one kind or another. The five sophomores are also looking good as are this season's five frosh. Ta'Shia Walker, Stephany Skrba, Jessica Minnfield, and Katie Dierdorf are among the players who have stepped up at various times over the first four games. What really impresses me is that everyone, all eleven players, has gotten playing time and made contributions. This bodes very well for the team in my opinion, as a good total team effort is typically better than having just one or two star players carrying most of the weight. Michigan's defense held Miami of Ohio to a mere 13 points in the second half...which brings me to my next item...

Yesterday's Michigan Daily sports page tells the sad tale of Michigan football and their "play not to lose, and then lose anyway" defense. If only Jim "the Moron" Herrmann's defense could do as well as Cheryl Burnett's. Five times this season, the Michigan football "D" allowed the opposition to score late in the fourth quarter by playing a soft zone "prevent" defense. The only thing it prevents is a win by the team that employs this dubious strategy. Three of these games were losses for Michigan (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State). Against Penn State, Michigan had to rely on a miracle last second touchdown to win. Against Iowa, Michigan was fortunate to hold the Hawks to a late field goal and win in overtime. Michigan also plays too conservative on offense late in the game, essentially handcuffing both the offense and defense instead of letting at least one (if not both) play aggressively, or in other words "play to win" instead of "playing not to lose."

The Packers lost again, on Monday night at home to the Vikings. This game bore an eerie resemblance to the Michigan games mentioned above. The Packers led 14-7, but were unable to do much on offense in the second half and wore down on defense. In the Packers' case it seems to be less a problem of coaching and more a problem of too many starters being injured on offense and a defense that is better than last year but still not good enough. Special teams are also somewhat less than what the name might imply, especially the kick and punt return units. Brett Favre had a good game with two touchdowns but (as has been the case basically all season) got little or no help from the receivers (lots of dropped passes and bad route running), the running game (a pathetic paucity of 21 rushing yards...no I am not joking, I only wish I was). Packer defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins (from CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY!!!) had another good game and in my opinion is making a case for the Pro Bowl. Unfortunately, other than a few players who are doing well (Favre, Jenkins, maybe a few others) the total team effort is not there and so therefore neither are the wins.

On the front page of yesterday's Michigan Daily, there is a christian/fascist moron holding a "God Hates Fags" sign. No, you idiot, God does not hate "fags." God(dess) thinks you are an idiot for standing there with that sign. Said idiot is part of an extreme right wing "christian" cult called Westboro Baptist Church, led by a Hitler wannabe named Fred Phelps. This cult is so far off the scale that even the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons of the world are embarrassed by them.

From Baghdad, the U.S. may have killed suspected al-Qaida leader al-Zarqawi. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues its own war of terror on the people of Iraq, while also supporting the Israeli government in its oppression of the Palestinians. Which of course virtually insures that more people will be upset with the United States and want to attack us. When will we ever learn, or, when will we elect more enlightened leaders?

Speaking of Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is quitting the (right of center, somewhat like the U.S. Republicans) Likud Party and starting a new party which he claims will be truly dedicated to peace. We will see what we will see.

Finally, we have the Pot Calling The Kettle Black as the United States accuses Iran of trying to build a nuclear weapon. This from the country (the United States) that has more nuclear weapons than anyone else and is the only country to have ever used them. This is the sort of typical double standard, "do as I say, not as I do" that Uncle Sam has engaged in for years.

That's all for now...Good Night And Good Luck.