My Annual Texas/OU Post

It is right about this time every year that I write about the Texas/Oklahoma football game. Sometimes I write on the morning of the contest as I watch College Gameday. Usually, I chronicle, in some way, the orange-colored food and drink which I have ingested or will ingest as the day wears on. You know all that now. And I'm proud of you.

This year, I'll be watching the game in a different setting. The Texas Exes (alumni club) of Memphis and our OU Alumni counterparts will be watching together! We will turn a BBQ restaurant in Memphis into our own smaller, remote version of the Cotton Bowl. All that's missing will be Big Tex, Fletcher's Corny Dogs, and the ferris wheel. Oh, and the players, coaches, bands, cheerleaders, field, officials, and 60,000 of our closest friends.

To gather and enjoy the game together, fans of both teams will have to be nicer than our feelings toward the other team warrant. So I have to get some of my anti-OU venom out now and I shall do so by sharing the following photo, shared today on Facebook by a friend. Enjoy, and please send me a copy if you choose to create your own variation on the "It's _____ am/pm and OU still sucks" joke. They never get old!

Live From Oslo

Holy crap, have I missed you. Posting a quick status update on Facebook so often makes it feel unneccessary to log in here and get back on the Ride, but there's really nothing like a good blog post to get you going, is there?

It was announced today that President Obama will receive the Nobel Peace Prize this year and reviews of the selection are mixed. I support The President and I'm proud of the recognition, but I think it's probably a little early. He is in a position to do great things for the world's peace-making efforts, but hasn't had much chance to make an impact yet. The fact that he's being given the award now and the reaction the announcement is receiving say a few things to me:

1) Things were not good. Just the hope of a different kind of leadership for the world's most powerful country is worthy of the Nobel Prize. It is a nice reminder of the extent to which our nation is seen as a beacon of hope for those who dream of peace.

2) It occurs to me that they should maybe have given the prize to American voters who elected Obama. If his presence in the Oval Office moves peace forward so significantly, then those who put him there should get the prize. Hmmm. I might feel slighted.

3) People are really not able to put party politics aside. Republicans are mad that he won.* Actually angry. Can we not all agree that it's a good thing for the American president to be seen a leader in the world's efforts toward peace? I understand that it may seem like the guy you didn't want to win is now being celebrated before he accomplishes anything, but if you want to be partisan about it, then take some credit for just how bad your guy must have been before him!

4) If President Obama is a weak choice for such a momentous honor, assume it's because it has been a slow year in peace-making, get off your ass, and get to work. At best, you'll win it next year, at worst, you'll move us all a little closer to the peaceful world of which we all dream.**

* Probably not all Republicans. But a few of my friends were quick to jump on it and I've seen a lot of other chatter on line. Don't mean to generalize too greatly.
** "we all" being non-psychotic people who aren't terrorists