 |
 Latest |
 Greatest |
 Lobby |
 Journals |
 Search |
 Options |
 Help |
 Login |
 Advertise on more than 70 progressive blogs! |
fishwax's Journal
At long last, it’s that time of year again
 Of course, there are always a lot of blowouts this time of year, with highly-ranked, major conference teams buying sparring partners from small directional schools. I wonder which will be the biggest blowout: top-ranked Georgia plays Georgia Southern, Ohio State plays Youngstown State, Oklahoma plays Tennessee-Chatanooga, Texas plays Florida Atlantic, and so on. Appalachian State, who kicked off last season with the huge upset of Michigan in Ann Arbor, starts the season against defending champ LSU. There are some good games, too, including two games between ranked teams: Alabama at Clemson and Missouri vs. Illinois in St. Louis. If I only had an outdoor grill, life would be perfect, but it's still a great day to cook up a feast, down a few malty beverages, and kick back with some college football--So what game will you be watching? The first games of the season kick off on Thursday, with a couple more games on Friday, and then a full slate on Saturday.
So what team are you pulling for, and how do you think they'll do this year?  Often referred to as Custer's Last Stand, June 25th and 26th, 1876, marks perhaps the most famous battle and the Native Americans' most resounding victory in the wars of the west. (Here is a link to the wikipedia page, for those interested in some background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the... .)
I wanted to share some interesting (I think, anyway) information about recent developments at the historic site of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Today also marks the 20th anniversary of a demonstration in which Native Americans marched up Last Stand Hill and, in the ground among the markers to the fallen of the 7th calvary, placed a metal plaque in honor of the Indians who fought on that soil to defend their way of life. Here's a picture of Russell Means laying the plaque down:  Back then, the national monument was known as Custer Battlefield National Monument. But shortly after the 1988 demonstration, legislation was passed to change the monuments name to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, as well as to enable a permanent monument to the warriors who fought there. Today also marks the 5th anniversary of the monument's completion and dedication. (Though the monument was approved during papa bush's administration, there was no funding.) Here are a couple of pictures of the monument:   There have always been markers to fallen soldiers (it was a national cemetery before it was a national monument), but the last ten years have also seen the appearance of a handful of warrior markers, which mark the spots where Indians fell in battle. The warrior markers have been a long time coming--the first suggestion of such markers came way back in 1925, when the daughter of one such warrior requested that one be placed in honor of her father. She never received a response. In the days after the battle the tribes came to tend to their dead. They removed the bodies from the battlefield, but marked the spots where they fell with cairns--little piles of rock placed into the soft, sacred soil. The names and locations of these cairns were passed down from generation to generation in the families of the dead. Here is a picture of what the cairns looked like (this happens to be the cairn for Lame White Man, the warrior whose daughter first requested the government mark graves for warriors):  .Over the years, private parties put up wooden markers to indicate some of the cairns, but it was years before the park service began placing them. The first was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1999. There are now a few more stone markers, honoring Sioux as well as Cheyenne warriors, on both the Custer and the Reno-Benteen Battlefield. The markers include the warrior's name (both in their native language and in English), their tribe, and the date of their death. The inscriptions vary, but generally state that the warrior died "while defending his homeland and the (Cheyenne/Sioux) way of life. The red granite of the markers is quite striking against the stark, yellow grass of the prairie and the blue of Montana's "big sky." Here are some pictures of the markers:     A few more pictures of the national monument, including Last Stand Hill and the U.S. Army Memorial, built in 1881.   Here's a site with some interesting history of the site and the various monuments, if you're interested in reading more: http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/warrio... I haven't been to the monument in years--since before the warrior markers and the monument--but I found its history and the pictures interesting, and I hope that you might as well. Anyone else ever been to the site? In East/Central Illinois. I'm now posting from my pantry, and listening to my TV through wireless headphones
 It's still a great speech  OP poses the question of Clint Eastwood being racist, and offers a link to a story in which mentions Spike Lee. Bring on the outrage, as defensive posters jump to Eastwood's defense and attack Spike Lee as though he had claimed that Eastwood was a racist: Spike is irrelevant, is a racist himself, is a hack, needs to find something "useful" to complain about, etc. Spike ought to make a movie about the segregated army! Oh, he is? Well then he's just as bad for making a "movie with all black people."
 Of course, Spike Lee didn't invent this criticism out of thin air--African American veterans (and others) raised the issue when the movies first came out. I can't imagine why Black veterans who risked their lives at Iwo Jima would want to point out that they were actually there in real life, unlike the widely-acclaimed films--must be because they're "oversensitive" Anyway, Godard said that the best way to perform film criticism is to make another film--sounds like that's what Spike Lee is doing. I find it hard to see what's wrong with that. I just saw CNN Newsroom tease that story on the way to commercial.
 Funny thing is, it's the second time I've seen that promo today. The first time (this morning, while I was hoping to see a report on the earthquake) I actually watched the report. It was every bit as wretched as the title would suggest. Dick Cheney telling stupid jokes about environmental disasters and hunting mishaps, while brain dead sycophants in the audience laugh like it was Tony Soprano telling the joke. This time, perhaps I should just switch over to "World's Most Amazing Videos" on SPIKETV instead. It's every bit as newsworthy. Ohio State and Michigan play today, and apparently that's something of a rivalry (
 ). There’s quite a bit less hype than for last year’s game, and it isn’t as important in the national picture as it looked before Illini upset the Buckeyes last week, but the Big 10 title and a trip to the Rose Bowl are still on the line. There are a few other games between top 25 teams as well … #9 Georgia has to beat #23 Kentucky to keep their conference title hopes alive; #6 West Virginia must win on the road at #22 Cincinnati to keep themselves in both the Big East lead and the national title picture; Boston College (#17) hosts Clemson (#15), with the winner clinching the ACC Atlantic Division title. A couple of other one-loss teams have potential trap games on the road—My Oklahoma Sooners play Texas Tech in Lubbock, and Missouri has to go to Kansas State, the week before their big rivalry game against Kansas. Two other one-loss teams have slightly easier games this week (LSU plays at Mississippi and Kansas hosts Iowa State), but the way this season has gone you never know. So what game are you looking forward to? Seems simple enough to me
 So there are two games between top 25 teams to start the day off, but one of them—Wisconsin at Ohio State—is on the Big 10 Network (
 ) so I won’t be able to watch it. Stupid Big 10 Network. I’m in a Big 10 university town, and I still don’t get the network on my cable. The other early game between top 25 teams is Wake Forest and Virginia—not the sexiest matchup in the world, but for whatever reason I always like watching the Demon Deacons play. As it happens, though, the morning game I’m most interested in is Kansas hosting Nebraska: the Fighting Manginos vs. the Flighting Callahans. Can the Jayhawks go 9-0 for the first time since 1908? (Probably so, given how down Nebraska is, but I suppose anything is possible.) The early afternoon schedule is a little on the light side, but there are a few decent games before things really get going again with the late afternoon and evening games. The two highest profile evening games are LSU playing at Alabama at 5 eastern (I know we have a lot of Crimson Tide fans on DU) and a battle of top five teams in Arizona State at Oregon—should be a sweet game. Other top teams in action at night include Mizzou traveling to Colorado, Boston College facing Florida State, and my Oklahoma Sooners hosting the Texas A&M Aggies. Aggie head coach Dennis Franchione has never won in Norman, and I know that many Aggie fans are hoping this will be his last chance  So what games are you looking forward to today? The week’s first upset is already in: South Florida (#2 in the BCS) lost to Rutgers on Thursday night. Of the remaining top 5 teams, LSU probably has the biggest test, hosting #17 Auburn. Ohio State could have an interesting game against Michigan State. Boston College has a bye this week, and my Oklahoma Sooners play Iowa State, so they should get through to next week handily.
There are good games out of the top 5 as well: Kentucky plays host to Florida, and if they can knock off the Gators the week after beating LSU, Kentucky could vault themselves into national title contention. Texas Tech at Missouri is the only other game featuring two teams in the top 25. Both have impressive quarterbacks, though Missouri’s had a tough week last week against Oklahoma. Another potentially interesting game in the Big 12: Undefeated Kansas goes to Boulder to play Colorado. A win there and they could be in the top 10 and favored to win the Big 12 north. Alabama hosts Tennessee in the SEC. Tennessee is ranked once again after starting the season 1-2. But Alabama is always tough at home ... For my part, I’ll be watching the OU-ISU game early today, and then I’ll be going to the Michigan-Illinois game later this evening. Should be fun What games will you be watching? |
Profile Information fishwax
 DU Donor12505 posts Member since 2001 Latest Threads
The ten most recent threads posted on
the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums. Bumper Sticker For Sale: GAY MARRIAGE doesn't scare me By Omaha Steve 8 Trillion so far this depression - what did you get? By Warren Stupidity Squeezed Starbucks workers call on management to share the burden (on black Friday Mall America) By Omaha Steve John Kerry: Keep the Momentum Going By ProSense Today in labor history Dec 2, 4 US religious women were murdered by soldiers in El Salvador By Omaha Steve  Visitor Tools
Use the tools below to keep track of updates to this Journal.
Discussion Forums
Big Forums
More Forums
Today's Featured Forums
|
