My Errant Mind

It’s halftime. You lost Sam Bradford, so what?

Quit acting stupid and run the ball. You have some of the most talented backs in college football.

Stop trying to pass when your backup quarterback sucks.

Blitz Texas Tech every down. Stop backing off on the pressure on third and fourth downs. When you blitz, you’re shutting Tech down.

It’s so damn simple. I’ll be glad to come coach at OU if they need someone with some balls. If OU loses this game, it is no one’s fault but the coach’s. Stop throwing. Run.

Run. Run. Run.

For those fellow Sooners fans looking for something post-Tostitos bowl crunching at the hands of West Virginia (who?)…here’s a link to a current piece: Sooners, It’s Time To Let Bob Stoops Go

There is a great new service available to musicians that offers a way to permeate the digital marketplace with their music. It is called TuneCore.

What makes TuneCore so fantastic is the centralization of the distribution of digital music, making it much easier for musicians to market their songs and albums. Best of all, you get centralized payment collection and distribution to go with that.

What that means is that you can upload an album in once location and have it sold on iTunes, Rhapsody, GroupieTunes, Napster, MusicNet, eMusic, Sony Connect, and Amazon MP3. Payments from each service are consolidated through TuneCore.

It is not a free service, charges a tiny fee for hosting your album. You chose which services you want to sell your music on ($0.99 per song, per service), so you can sell through just one or through several. Check out the TuneCore FAQ for complete details.

The only negatives I perceive with the service are: (1) they do not offer Ogg Vorbis formats for your music and (2) a vendor might sell your music for a higher price and keeps the additional money rather than passing it on to the artist(s).

However, for those musicians who can be satisfied with the standard fee paid for their downloads, it is a fantastic opportunity to get your music spread through the digital marketplace and reach more potential fans.

You can sell music videos through the service as well. That, combined with the distribution and payment centralization may make this service an indie music standard in the near future. Check it out and see what you think. I would love to hear from any musicians who have tried the service.

Now, if you’ll excuse me…I think I’ll go record some music.

It is funny to hear that Hillary Clinton is calling Mitt Romney over flip-flopping on issues. Does she think we have forgotten that she changes her mind on issues more than would be expected if someone had Alzheimer’s and was bi-polar to boot?

The truth is, they both flip on issues—often. Clinton and Romney flip more than quarters at football games on any given weekend.

Neither has any integrity on issues (Clinton has college students coached and asking her pre-chosen questions in order to look like she knows what she is talking about), which suggests they don’t know what their own basic values are. You certainly would not expect either to stand for your values when they cannot and will not stand for their own.

Neither is fit to lead when you get right down to it. I would not trust either candidate to lead office workers out of an office building during a power outage—much less lead a nation.

Joe won the fight! And what a fight it was! This silences all the pundits and naysayers. He is the best boxer in his weight class, and has tied the record for the number title defenses in his weight class.

With a 44-0 record, there is no one left to beat at super-middleweight. Now that Joe has the WBC and WBA titles as well as the WBO title he’s had for 10 years, he is considering moving up to light-heavyweight. That would be awesome, to say the least.

I knew he could do it, and he proved everything to the world. I take nothing away from Danish fighter Mikkel Kessler, who was also an undefeated champion—he put up an incredible fight. But Joe is simply on a whole other level.

This fight will be one for the ages. These guys threw down, and threw everything. Words cannot do it justice. It was so good, I’m adding the tag ‘war’ to this post.

And, Joe showed the world why Boxing Monthly editor Glyn Leach wouldn’t know a great fighter if one knocked him out. Had to rub it in. Leach has a chip on his shoulder it seems, where Calzaghe is concerned. (If you need, I’m sure Joe can knock it off for you, Mr. Leach.)

Congratulations Joe Calzaghe. You are a warrior true. The undisputed best. You and your father are an inspiration and a touch of class the sport needs.

Whatever you do from here on out, you control your destiny as few ever will.

Give ‘em hell, Joe.

I happened across a post on The Gathering Storm blog which pointed me to an excellent article on NewsMax. The article makes some good points about funding requests by the Bush administration for retrofitting B-2 Stealths to carry 30,000 lb. bunker buster bombs.

Perhaps Department of Defense is planning to spend $88 million to outfit Stealth bombers to fly missions over Afghanistan or Iraq? Uhm, no. I agree with all analysis that points to Iran, though I can also imagine two other legitimate targets.

One would be a nuclear Pakistan falling into the hands of Islamists, which is a plausible possibility.

Speaking of bombers…with Russian bombers starting up their old Cold War era strategic flights, the Danish , Norwegian and British and American air forces are all on their toes. I wonder how long it will be before there is an incident?

I received this from the 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment Association (Airmobile - Air Assault) a couple nights ago but am just now getting around to recent emails. While I do not recall knowing him personally, he was a fellow Currahee who served in Korea north of the Imjin River. I left there late in ‘95…I’m not sure if he was in the battalion yet or not, but it was his first assignment.

I thought I would repost this for those of my fellow Currahee warriors and any others who may have known him.

Rest in peace, Jeff Calero.

RELEASE NUMBER: 071030-04
DATE POSTED: OCTOBER 30, 2007

PRESS RELEASE: Special Forces Soldier killed in Afghanistan
U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Oct. 30, 2007) — An Army Special Forces Soldier was killed Oct. 29 as a result of an improvised explosive device strike while conducting a combat patrol in the southern Afghan city of Kajaki.

MAJ Jeffrey R. Calero, 34, was fatally wounded when he encountered an IED in the course of conducting a dismounted route clearance of a “choke point” during a combat reconnaissance patrol and resupply convoy. He was a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha detachment commander assigned to, ODA-2132, Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) out of Springfield, Mass.

Calero, a native of Puerto Rico, earned his commission as an infantry officer after graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. in 1995. He served six years on active duty before joining the U.S. Army National Guard. His first assignment was with the 2nd Infantry Division in the Republic of Korea as a rifle platoon leader and executive officer for 1st Bn., 506th Infantry Regiment. He also served as a rifle platoon leader and headquarters and headquarters company executive officer at 4th Ranger Training Battalion, Fort Benning, Georgia. Calero left active duty in the 2001 and joined Co. C, 1st Bn., 20th SFG (A).

Calero is survived by his father and mother, Raymond and Roselle Calero both of Queens, N.Y.; brother, Dennis Calero; sister, Irene and sister, Joyce Crespo and three nieces, Amelia, Lauren and Claire.

Life is fragile. It is something I’m keenly aware of, and my thoughts for the past few nights have been on my brother, who had a close brush with death this last weekend.

He was in an accident involving multiple cars and two tractor trailers, of which he was driving one. His rig caught fire and he was trapped inside, unable to get out either door as flames were pulled into the cab. He managed to escape just moments before it was consumed in flames by smashing the windshield with his fists and pulling himself clear, yet he suffered second and third degree burns to his hands, arms, and head.

A photo of the truck showed nothing left of the cab. I had called to check on him, but left a message on his voice mail when it picked up. I realized afterwards that it had gone up in the fire along with everything else.

Several people ended up needing medical care, and I hope they are well. State police are suggesting he may have contributed in part to it, but apparently there were some witnesses who suggest another motorists may caused it or contributed to it.

I’m awaiting news of how his visit with a burn specialist goes, as I have conflicting reports of what the situation is. I spoke with him on the phone and he dismissed the injuries as nothing, but I know how he is. He could have a butcher knife stuck in his thigh and he would laugh about it before he would give anyone cause to worry, especially his daughter. My sister spoke with his girlfriend and I’m not sure if the word I received (passed through other family members) was exaggerated or not, but there is concern.

Apparently the burn specialist he saw said he never should have been released from the hospital due to the severity of his injuries, and there is a risk that he could lose his hands.

I have been sick to my stomach since hearing that last night, and am dreading calling this evening.