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Cracker Commentary
 Tuesday, March 11, 2003Retirement Cracker Commentary is officially retiring. I'll be joining some friends at lines in the sand. See you there. Saturday, February 01, 2003Shuttle Down? Looks like we've lost another space shuttle. The last communication was about 8AM, and we've heard no sonic booms here. It's overdue at the Cape now. Update: The Orlando Sentinel is covering here. Update: CNN has video showing the shuttle breaking up. Friday, January 31, 2003It's "Grandpa" now The baby construction project is complete, and you can call me Grandpa. She's Kiera Lin Murray, 6lb 9oz, 18in, born 3:16 PM PST at Fremont, CA. Pictures at 11. Thursday, January 30, 2003Fantasy Sports Junkies... Football season is over, baseball hasn't started, and your NBA team is built around Shaq and Grant Hill. What are you going to do? You could try this. Tuesday, January 28, 2003The Big Football Game Today, Max Boot looked at Tampa Bay's victory in over the weekend and wondered how so many pundits could have gotten it wrong. His conclusion:
He echoes this Steve Chapman article from a couple of weeks ago. They're both right, but I don't understand why it's so. Right here in Orlando, our very own Magic keep proving that even when you score lots of points, you don't win if you let the other guys score more. But whenever attendance sags, owners start fiddling with the rules to make the game more exciting (translation: to make it easier to score more points.) We have three point lines, designated hitters and tie-breakers. Someone suggested the way for soccer to succeed in this country is to award six or seven points for each goal, and maybe three for a free kick. I told him Americans are too smart to fall for such a scheme. Defense isn't boring. The Bucs played some pretty exciting defense, repeatedly sacking the quarterback, intercepting passes and returning two of them for touchdowns. The Oakland defenders even provided a bit of a thrill, scoring on a blocked punt. Other sports have defensive plays that generate adrenaline. In basketball, steals and blocks always raise the crowd's decibel level, while in baseball, the triple play ranks right up there with a grand slam. Without defense, many sports would become nothing but a race to the highest score. Just imagine NBA players simply lining up to take shots, trying to make the most baskets in so many chances. Give me two well matched opponents who actually have to struggle for success. In 1972, I was stationed in San Diego when the Mets came to town. The Padres had Dave Roberts, who, with an ERA approaching the negative, was the hottest pitcher in the league and he was facing Tom Seaver. I had to be there. Seaver was the better pitcher that night, but Roberts had some guys behind him who were determined not to let him lose. The Padres won 1-0 in the thirteenth inning when a NY fielder overthrew third base, the only error of the game. Thirty years later, I'm still waiting to see a contest with anything approaching the intensity and drama of that game. Friday, January 24, 2003Diplomatic War Preparations Oceanguy is right when he says we need to get ready for war to make the diplomacy work. Saddam and his ilk will only only listen to the diplomats if we convince them twe intend to fight. The only way to do that is to intend to. Fake sincerety won't work. Central Florida Mall Gassed
We had a biochemical "attack" at the mall last night. Wife and I were heading to dinner when we saw the entrances to the Altamonte Mall parking lot were all blocked by police and barricades were going up. The lot itself had only a dozen or so cars in it and and a newscopter hovered overhead. I guessed bomb scare or sniper/hostoge type of thing.
When we got in the restaurant, we asked what was happening. The hostess said, "gas leak." Sort of like a bomb scare, I guess, but there was more to it. The sewers weren't ventilating properly (probably due to the cold), the mall was filling with methane gas and 911 calls had been going out all afternoon for various ailments. Sentinel story here. Estimated financial impact from emptying the mall at 5 PM: $500,000. Thursday, January 16, 2003Generic Street Sign near Oakland, CA
Space Shuttle Columbia on the way
This was the view twenty minutes ago from my office parking lot in Orlando. It's about what you would see from Universal Sudios, across the street.
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