Seminoles Badger Wisconsin

(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images North America)

A great day of fun was had at The Champs Bowl as Florida State overwhelmed Wisconsin 42-13.

The offense did well but it was the defense behind junior DE Everette Brown and the stout kicking expedition put on by Lou Groza Award winner Graham Gano, the 2008 Champs Bowl MVP, that spearheaded the victory. Hopefully, this can springboard FSU in an effort to return to the nations elite in 2009.

Although this catch by Hakeem Nicks of North Carolina is of historic brilliance, Seminole wideout Greg Carr has an eye catching grab of his own.



It was a great day for the Seminoles. Certainly, all us 'Noles appreciate the senior class and especially the leadership and sportsmanship of Drew Weatherford. Go Noles!

2008 Champs Bowl

As painful as it is that The Florida State Seminoles have fallen to levels of mid tier bowl games, what a wonderful turn of events to have the 'Noles right here in the back yard here in beautiful downtown Orlando for some grid iron frolic as Florida State takes on Wisconsin in the 2008 Champs Bowl at The Florida Citrus Bowl. I'll be in line for several cold ones during all the festivities. Go 'Noles!!!!

The Radio City Rockettes

Christmas in New York is wonderful. Folks come in from all over the world to experience it. To appropriately kick off the trip, you must take in a show of The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall starring the world famous Radio City Rockettes.


The Rockettes kick the season off by performing in front of Macy's in Herald Square during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Enjoy the performance from this years parade and Merry Christmas!

No Doubt

Over the years, I have seen about a dozen Broadway plays. Far and away, the one that had our group buzzing the most was the performance of Doubt at The Walter Kerr Theater. The cast was phenomenal, with Cherry Jones capturing a Tony Award and Brian F. O'Byrne shining in a stellar performance. A totally compelling drama. Just tremendous!

Charlie Rose discusses the play with playwright John Patrick Shanley and the entire cast. Have a listen.


The play has been developed for the big screen and is out this December, starring Meryl Streep. If the movie is half as good as the play, it would be well worth your time. Here is the trailer:

BS on the BCS

Apparently, we have a financial crisis of the ages gripping our country, but in the midst of voting themselves a pay raise for the horrendous job they have cumulatively done, our congress may soon debate the merits of dismantling the Bowl Championship Series, or BCS.

Perhaps this was spearheaded by the messiah, Barack Obama, proclaiming he would like to see a college football playoff. I like it just the way it is, where although it may well be settled on the field, the national championship is mythical, where a team could argue their position as champs. The Texas Longhorns may well be in that position this year should Oklahoma defeat Florida.

This is great as it keeps people discussing the game from all different allegiances and perspectives.

Perhaps congress could contain their incompetence to governance and leave the color anbd pageantry of college football alone.

Neil Cavuto gets to the bottom of it. Take a listen.

Buy American

By now, you have probably seen this very entertaining "advertisement" about the Big 3 bailout. Certainly, rewarding bad management and non profitable companies is not prudent, and I have outlined the problems the automakers face in a previous post. The top of the add proclaims that Americans will not "buy our shitty cars" is not true as GM outsells all carmakers, but the perception of the Big 3 making shitty cars is a reality in the minds of most Americans. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Now that the Bush Administration has given the Big 3 a life line with lost interest loans, it is time for Americans who are considering a purchase of a new vehicle to closely examine products from Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. I have done some homework for you, and will list a a dozen plus one that have my recommendations.

In terms of trucks, each of the Big 3 automakers grade strongly in this regard. The Dodge RAM trucks, the Ford F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado are all outstanding products. Pictured above is the Cheverolet Silverado.


Looking for a sporty classic? Well, you can find it in the Ford Mustang. Ford was visionary in becoming the first automaker to "retro" the look of some of their models, and the Mustang is a huge hit and an outstanding option for a two door fun experience. You cannot go wrong here.










Buick is rebounding strongly, particularly overseas. Here in the US the Buick Enclave is representative of a top notch crossover vehicle fit for fun and/or family. A sporty alternative to the sedan is the Pontiac Solstice. A fast and fun to drive two seater is a head turner on the highway and superior to any foreign competitor in its price range.









Your Chevrolet dealership has a top rated family sedan in the award winning Chevorlet Malibu while car entusiasts can grab the Chevrolet Corvette, which continues to add to the legacy of the two door speedster.









Are you kidding me? Talk about a couple of blasts from the past. Chrysler Corporations Dodge division jumped out a few years back with the redevelopment of the Dodge Charger and now has brought back the Dodge Challenger. Both retro looks are very cool. The Charger is a big seller.

I pilot around in a Chevy Trailblazer which I really like but the real SUV leader is the Chevrolet Tahoe, pictured at left. The media attempts to tell you that you do not want these types of vehicles because they are not "green friendly". You do want these vehicles and they have a hybrid Tahoe that is fantastic.

I test drove the GM Cadillac CTS and fell in love with it. This luxury vehicle is wonderful and rivals any luxury sedan out there. The performance is breathtaking as well. I dare you to test drive it.

And finally, the sleek 4 door sedan that is the best bang for your your buck going, The Pontiac G8 GXP, which is a high performance Grand Prix which will lay waste to any competitor in its class. Don't take my word for it, hear it straight from Motor Trend.



I disclose that I am an owner of products from General Motors Chevrolet and Pontiac divisions. Keep the shiny side up and stand on it!

BAHL's 2008 All America Team

OFFENSE
Micahel Crabtree of Texas Tech had a tremendous season, grabbing the game winning score against undefeated Texas in prime time on ABC. He is a unamimous All America player, and is only a sophomore. He is likely headed to the NFL.

WR: Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
WR: Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State
WR: Jarrett Dillard, Rice
TE: Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma
OL: Andre Smith, Alabama
OL: Duke Robinson, Oklahoma
OL: Antoine Caldwell, Alabama
OL: Alex Mack, California
OL: Michael Oher, Ole Miss
QB: Colt McCoy, Texas
RB: Shonn Green, Iowa
RB: Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State
RB: Javon Ringer, Michigan State

DEFENSE

Mark Herzlich of Boston College was making big plays all over the place this season, lifting Boston College to the ACC title game. It seemed he single handily took over games for the Eagles with several game changing plays in conference battles.

DE: Brian Arakpo, Texas
DT: Peria Jerry, Ole Miss
DT: Terrence Cody, Alabama
DT: Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma
DE: Jerry Hughes, Texas Christian
OLB: Everette Brown, Florida State
ILB: James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
ILB: Rey Malalugua, Southern Cal
ILB: Brandon Spikes, Florida
OLB: Mark Herzlich, Boston College
DB: Eric Berry, Tennessee
DB: Malcom Jenkins, Ohio State
DB: Victor Harris, Virgina Tech
DB: Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest
DB: D. J. Moore, Vanderbilt

K: Graham Gano, Florida State
P: Kevin Huber, Cincinnati
KR: Brandon James, Florida
NC: Robert Griffith, Baylor

The Heisman

Sam Bradford, quarterback of the top ranked Oklahoma Sooners, won the Heisman Memorial Trophy Saturday night in Manhattan. The three finalists were all very deserving as they all had brilliant seasons and possess top notch leadership skills.

My ballot, if I had one, would have been as follows:

1. Colt McCoy, Texas
2. Tim Tebow, Florida
3. Sam Bradford,Oklahoma

I landed on McCoy primarily distancing himself based on his completion percentage, which was mind boggling. And before my Gator fans cry foul, I would have voted Tebow in '07 simply on his astounding numbers.

All three of these young competitors are superior representatives for their respective universities, college football and life in general. We could learn a lot from these outstanding young men, each of whom has remaining eligibility. This is not good for those who compete against Florida, and that just happens to be my boys. Congratulations Sam! Boomer Sooner!

Gore Creates Another Snowstorm

Along with Vice Presidential elect Joe Biden, President elect Barack Obama met with former Vice President Al Gore to discuss global warming, or climate change.

"All three of us are in agreement that the time for delay is over. The time for denial is over." said Obama, “We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now, that this is a matter of urgency and national security, and it has to be dealt with in a serious way. That is what I intend my administration to do.”

I continue to be told the debate is over, but that may be a hard sell to the grounds crew at Tiger Stadium. You did read that right, this photo is of Louisiana State University's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, taken on Thursday, December 11, 2008. And yes, that is snow.

Investors Business Daily editorialized in s strong piece titled Economic Chill where they again prove the debate is far from over, although the media proclaims such. In the editorial, IBD cites a study from Florida State University.

A series of articles and evidence have been presented on Capm's Blog. I took a couple of meteorology classes at FSU which makes me hardly dangerous in the global climate change (warming) debate. I do know we had two record lows temps in Orlando over the last two weeks and I saw the snow in Houston and New Orleans (see Getty Images photo on left of Canal Street in The Big Easy.

Therefore, I can conclude global climate change is likely, may or may not be contributed to by man, that we should not even dream of spending countless billions to combat something we know so little about (particularly the CAFE standards recently placed on the auto industry, who as you may have heard about, is practically bankrupt) and that you should never pollute. And you got that info for free!

NASCAR's Hendrick on Big 3 Bailout

Championship NASCAR car owner Rick Hendrick joins the gang at The Bull's and Bear's for some frank talk on the Big 3 bailout before Congress. This is obviously a major issue, but NASCAR is in real trouble if the Big 3 go out of business.



Hendrick owns the GM Chevrolets driven by Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin. Like everywhere else, layoffs have hit the garage area hard, as reported by Jayski.

The Unofficial NASCAR related Layoff Count since end of season:(exceptions noted)

Dale Earnhardt Inc -- 120
Ganassi -- 76 (71 + 5 more on Tues)
Petty Enterprises -- 65
Bill Davis Racing -- 60
Richard Petty Driving Experience -- approx 45
Roush Fenway Racing -- 35
Furniture Row -- 25 [approx]
Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies -- 25 [approx]
Wood Brothers -- 22
Hendrick Motorsports -- 19
Stewart-Haas -- 16
Richard Childress Racing -- 15
Red Bull Racing -- approx 15
JTG Daugherty Racing -- 12
Michael Waltrip Racing -- 12
Ernie Elliott Inc [Ganassi engines] -- 9
Joe Gibbs Engines -- approx 5

Worse yet, the famed Petty Enterprises 43 Dodge may be forced to cease operations. Petty has fielded the car since 1969, and that would be quite a shame. Keep the beer cold at the BAHLDORF!

The Orlando Slantinel Obama Bias

I think, in part due to a mindset that I require it to keep a pulse on local events, I remain a daily subscriber to The Orlando Sentinel. Like most other papers, it has it's issues, and most of my issues with it are when a player finds trouble at my alma mater FSU, it finds the front page while issues with Gator players are buried in the sports page on D-6.

The parent company that owns The Orlando Sentinel, along several other dailies including The Chicago Tribune, filed for bankruptcy protection on December 8. Newspapers are dying, but is something else at play? Could a deliberate bias be causing the questioning of the legitimacy of the reporting?

I have never really spotted such activity in The Orlando Sentinel until today, and it is as glaring as a nightime space shuttle launch.

On Tuesday, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D:IL) was arrested for an alarming and extensive list of federal charges of corruption. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald quipped Blagojevich's "conduct would make Abraham Lincoln turn over in his grave". You might think this bombshell, particularly considering the shameful political history of Chicago and since our President-elect, Barack Obama, is from Chicago, would be front page material. If so, you are not in concert with the Sentinel, as a column picked up from the Chicago Tribune fell on A-6.

By itself, that might be a debate for editorial scholars. However, since a story from the Associated Press hammering the GOP for "playing up" possible links to Obama found itself on A-3, we can find little doubt in the bias of this paper.

From what I know, I suspect Obama had nothing to do with the activities of the Governor, and I hope this is the case, partly because I think it would presently be quite harmful to the country if he did given the nasty bear market gripping the country, not to mention the terrorists licking their chops.

However, it is no doubt legitimate to inquire deeper into this historic development. Chicago has a dubious history of corruption in politics, including jail time for several former governors. Although the country spoke loudly on election day, Obama was and continues to be quite elusive in detailing the relationships he has or had with a cast of characters your mother would slap you upside the head if you hung around with, including terrorist William Ayers and indicted real estate developer Tony Rezko, whose name is littered throughout the criminal complaint.

This story is far from over, and I suspect Blagojevich may just sing like a songbird. What cockroaches come crawling out will be the best thing going since All My Children.

The media never pressed the issue of the associations of Obama during the campaign, leaving it to the likes of bloggers, conservative radio talk show hosts and right winged pundits. I hammered it home to all 7 of my readers (1, 2) repeatedly. Now, it appears the media is doing damage control attacking those who now question these alliances. These actions would make Edward R. Murrow turn over in his grave. In Chicago, as the Gravedancer's company files for bankruptcy, there is much grave turning going on.

Watching The Wheels

Beatle John Lennon was murdered by a complete moron outside his upper west side Dakota apartment building in New York City 28 years ago today. On the 25th anniversary of Lennon's death in 2005, I joined tens of thousands of fans in a tribute held in Strawberry Field in Central Park.

The news of Lennon's death, which obviously occurred before the current 24 hour news cycle, was brought to the attention of most Americans by Howard Cosell on an ABC Broadcast of Monday Night Football between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins. A very sad day for us all.

Top 25

College Football

Top 25

1. Oklahoma 12-1, 2
2. Florida 12-1, 4
3. Texas 11-1, 3
4. Alabama 12-1, 1
5. Southern Cal 11-1, 5
6. Utah 12-0, 6
7. Texas Tech 11-1, 7
8. Penn State 11-1, 8
9. Boise State 12-0, 9
10. Ohio State 10-2, 11
11. Oklahoma State 9-3, 11
12. Texas Christian 10-2, 13
13. Cincinnati 11-2, 14
14. Georgia Tech 9-3, 15
15. Georgia 9-3, 16
16. Brigham Young 10-2, 18
17. Virginia Tech 8-4, 20
18. Mississippi 8-4, 21
19. Missouri 9-4, 19
20. Oregon 9-3, 22
21. Pittsburgh 9-3, 23
22. Nebraska 8-4, 24
23. Florida State 8-4, 25
24. Boston College 9-4, 17
25. Ball State 12-1, 12

VOTES: Michigan State, California,Northwestern, Iowa, West Virginia, Clemson, South Carolina, Oregon State, Kansas, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Louisiana State and North Carolina State.

Alabama hung tough and delivered some early second half blows taking the lead, but behind Tim Tebow (photo from Al.com), the Gators proved much too strong and took out the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. At times, Bama seemed to be winning the battle in the trenches, but Florida was able to make the big plays when they needed to, and now they get to face OU for the national Title.

Oklahoma scored 60 for the fifth consecutive game, an NCAA record, in completely dismantling Missouri in the Big XII title game at Arrowhead in Kansas City. OU has suffered some injuries on defense, but if you are scoring 60, who cares. Sooner tailback Demarco Murray got injured, so we will see how that plays out, but it should be a great game.

Virginia Tech played Beamer Ball and took it to Boston College in the ACC game in front of light crowd in Tampa. If only FSU could have made it.....West Virginia survived a snow game at home to dump South Florida, who has had a very disappointing season....USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will take over at Washington, who got blasted by Cal 48-7 and needs a lot of help....Mike Stoops got a big win as Arizona strong armed Arizona State, who really underachieved.

The Coaching Carousel

Last fall, in the aftermath of Rich Rodriguez's rather puzzling bolt from West Virginia to Michigan, Florida State fans had a weekend of uneasiness as offensive coordinator and "coach in waiting" Jimbo Fisher was strongly considered for the job at Morgantown, which is close to where his mother resides.

Now, with an opening at Auburn (it is like a soap opera out on the plains), where Fisher spent time as an assistant under Terry Bowden, rumors persist that FSU is in yet another battle to keep Fisher, even though agreements were made after last year to prohibit this type of flirting.

Who knows what is going on behind the scenes? If Jimbo is a Nole, than great. If not, he should be on his way. What I do know is I have grown tired of these developments.

At any rate, it looks as though Florida State is heading to the Champs (Tangerine) Bowl here in beautiful downtown Orlando. Back in 1958, FSU was scheduled to take on Buffalo in the Tangerine Bowl, but the The Orlando High School Athletic Association, leaseholder of the stadium, would only allow Buffalo to participate if it left the two African American players on the team home. The Elks Lodge, sponsors of the game, protested this ruling to no avail. Buffalo's coach let the team vote, and they unanimously rejected the bid, for they were a team and would not be the team if they did not have all their players. ESPN recently did an outstanding lengthy story on this.

Buffalo had since endured decades of losing and had never been to another bowl game, until 2008. Former Nebraska all star quarterback and later assistant coach Turner Gill was hired two years ago. Since joining the MAC conference in 1999, the Bulls were 9-56 in conference play prior to last season where the Bulls, even with a 5-7 record, shared the divisional title.

The outstanding coaching job Gill has done has not gone unnoticed. On Friday night, Buffalo defeated previously undefeated Ball State, who has two first round NFL draft picks on their offense in quarterback Nate Davis and tight end Darrius Hill, to capture the MAC Championship. Buffalo will finally be bowling, led by an African American coach, who as gifted as an athlete he was, is even a better person. What goes around comes around.

Should Jimbo Fisher take the money and run to Auburn, it would be a serious blow to Florida State as the 'Noles would have to start from scratch searching for a replacement for the legendary Bobby Bowden and the recruiting implications could be staggering. Hopefully Fisher stays put, but if he does leave, I know how to do some quick damage control, and that would be to hire Turner Gill as the new coach in waiting. Someone is fixin to, and for darn good reason.

The Christmas Sweater

Sick, twisted freaks that we are, the family and I caught up with Glenn Beck on his tour of The Christmas Sweater in Orlando this evening. Beck will be performing the stage show of The Christmas Sweater Friday night in The Villages, a community development just north of Orlando.

Beck is a quite a storyteller, interjecting raw emotion with a sharp wit, and the story of The Christmas Sweater is one of redemption the whole family can enjoy. If you cannot make the stage show this weekend, plan to hit the show as it is played on over 1000 theaters nationwide on December 17, 2008. It will be time well spent!!