Messenger Above The Fold

Liberally Lean Magic For The Rangers

We may never see this again: Game Seven. In honor of,  I'll do something completely different: I'll make no predictions. I will place no bets. I will not fire off any hot sports opinions.

But I will offer up the one man who can make Ranger fans happy. It's up to you little fella.

"Don't worry. I got this."

Man, That Game Was Epic

And historic:


And mistake filled:

And full of misjudgments:

And oops.

Halloween Takes You Into The Weekend

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

Girls I Am Not Hanging Out With In Vegas

• Yep, I'm in Vegas. I normally wouldn't do this at this time of year but a group from Wise County decided to come out here at the same time. 
• Uh, I haven't seen anyone in the group yet.
• Mrs. LL and I got tickets for a show that started at 9:00 last night. With the two hour time difference, that would easily allow for me to watch/keep an eye on the Rangers game. (How could the game still be going on at 11:00 p.m. Central time?) Oh, my.
• At 8:52 p.m., it is the bottom of the 9th, two outs, and two strikes. I'm watching from the vantage point as posted below (There actually is a big screen in that pic.) Then boom. Base hit. The casino figuratively exploded. And with that, we went into the show with extra innings pending because Vegas show tickets ain't cheap. Kill me. (I know, turn in my Man Card.)
• It was only later, in the middle of the night while watching ESPN, that I got to see what happened in the 10th and the 11th. Mark that one down as historically painful.
• I did not bet on the game. I simply couldn't do it. I thought the Cardinals would win, and I was actually in the Sports Book looking at the board showing you needed to bet $120 to win $100 on the Cardinals. Again, I couldn't do it. Not because I'm cheap (I am), but there was something inherently wrong about betting against the Rangers with one win to go to claim the World Series.
• As I was looking at the betting lines board, a drunk Texas-ex came up and started firing off all sorts of Hot Sports Opinions about every game his eyes come across --- including, 'I think the Rangers are gonna light 'em tonight -- I'd take the 'over'". (I promise he first got my attention when I heard him loudly ask a stranger , "What do the pluses and minuses up there mean?")   <--- Sports Gambling Humor
• Did I pay $80 as an extra baggage fee on American Airlines? Something has to be wrong. I had to have misunderstood him.
• I ate in a high tone burger place that had a menu that made me fire off a few Vincent Vega lines from Pulp Fiction. (Pic.)
• Flying is a beating. Flying when the plane is 100% full is an absolute beating. 
• I thought someone on the plane wasn't going to make it. 
• I saw one lady get into it big time with a TSA supervisor because "It was not necessary for him to look or talk to me that way." I bet her life is a thousand times harder than it should be.
• I'm told Halloween in this city is a A Scene. We'll find out.
• Vegas is the one place that will make you think you are the poorest person in the world. Everywhere you go in a casino you will see an ungodly amount of money being thrown around like it's candy. (i.e. a simple roulette wheel where the minimum bet is $10. Really? Don't people line up around the block in this country for a Denny's promotion for a free Grand Slam Breakfast?)
• "Is it the old man in me talking, or does everyone dress more and more like slobs with each passing year?" --- Me to the Mrs. as I gazed upon a sea of way too many T-shirts and tennis shoes in a casino.
• We are staying at the Mirage (getting a little worn, I must say) and there are very, very few signs of the two showmen who used to rule this place until one of the kitties bit one their faces off. 
• When we first got here, a knock on the door game quickly. A guy in a maintenance uniform was standing there who said there had been a call that the makeup mirror in the room was malfunctioning. "Mind if I take a look?" he said. After he left, I fired off a mock sense of panic with, "Do you know what just happened!!?? Have you not seen Ocean's 11?"
• It was funnier to me than Mrs. LL.
• I paid a taxi fare with a fancy credit card machine in the cab and it hit me with a $3 service charge.
• Again, I'm too cheap to be in this town. My dad always refused to gamble because "They built all those casinos with someone's money." I'm right there with him. 
• My favorite default line to Mrs. LL whenever we run into a crowd while out of town is, "There's a lot of people in this world." Man, are there.
• [Completely unrelated: There is absolute chaos breaking out in the Harris County justice system as a grand jury has broken free from the DA's office --- a power most grand juries don't realize they have.]
• [Completely unrelated #2: Terrell Owens may have had a third prescription drug overdoes.]
• With the two hour difference, do you realize what the clock says here as I type thhhisss lassttttt . . . . .
• Edit: Forgot to mention that the special entertainment in the hotel is George Lopez. Really. I've never been so tempted to pay for a ticket simply to be a heckler. 

My view going into bottom of 9th

W?

Halloween Flashback: Paris

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Finally an answer on the resignation of the former Decatur principal from Arlington ISD.
• That Super Committee that is in charge of budget cuts (or automatic cuts take effect) proposed yesterday replacing the dollar bill with coins to aid in the process of saving money. Now, they just have to worry about the other 99.9999% of the cuts.
• An Alabama high school apparently hasn't received the memo that you can't have school sponsored prayers at high school football games. And Fox News thinks this is big news and sneaks "Jesus" into the headline for ultimate impact.
• Rick Perry struggles on the campaign trail? Has anyone ever seen when a local TV station tries to interview him as he goes to or from an event? I've seen KXAS footage and Fox 4 footage before, and you would think  it was like an assassination attempt based upon the way his handlers scurried him away.
• And now he says he is against the confederate flag on Texas license place. What's he trying to do? Alienate his base?
• One of my neighbors has a confederate flag hanging in his garage. I'm sure he's trying to send a "state's right" message.
• Watching Jeopardy yesterday, I couldn't remember the other name for "adverse witness."  It was "hostile".  And in twenty-five years of practice, I've never heard the word "hostile witness" formally uttered in court. 
• Of all the money that is donated due to the pink Breast Cancer Awareness month, I wonder what safeguards are in place to get it into the proper hands. Across the country, that is a ton of cash going  through a lot of other hands first. 
• From the description, that wreck on 1810 yesterday was grizzly. 
• Should I legally bet on the Cardinals tonight and post a pic of the ticket before the game? 
• I can't tell you the number of times I yelled "Focus!!" during the softball season. 

I'm Pretty Sure World Series Game Six Has Been Postponed

You Know That Little Airstrip (Hicks) Off The Saginaw Highway Into Northside?

A plane didn't fair too well by it this morning.

Edit: All of the reports were that emergency personnel were dispatched to Peden Road (which is by the airfield) this morning. Later in the day, the following was posted on the Medical Examiner's site:

However, I think the two are completely unrelated. That address goes to the Peden Road area a couple of miles away down by Eagle Mountain Lake. Still, that's an odd coincidence.

I Want You To Know . . .

. . . I'll never track you down, call you at work, record it, and then post it.

I'm not that interested. And I have a sense of humor.

Wow. (Language warning in the post.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Tony La Russa's daughter kind of called Ron Washington a crackhead. (But did not reference "gettin' holt of the wrong stuff"). 
• His other daughter is a Hey, Now.
• A cold front is moving through St. Louis today with a 60% chance of rain for tonight. With tomorrow looking like nice weather, it wouldn't bother me if they moved Game Six to Thursday.
• Almost killed the Family Cat who decided to spend the night on a windowsill yelling at something outside. She got to take an all expense paid midnight vacation to the garage.
• The Feds are after a Texas DA but they might find it tough going. The practice of a defendant agreeing to sign over seized cash in a drug case in exchange for a better plea bargain gives rise to a potential conflicts of interest, but I don't think its illegal.
• Take this example. A defendant is arrested with 10 grams of dope and has $10,000 cash on him. The DA offers 2 years in prison as a plea bargain.  Would it be unethical to offer an alternative of 10 years probation instead of pen time if the defendant agreed to forfeit that money to the State? (The arresting agency normally gets 70% and the prosecutor's office gets 30%. It can't do to the prosecutor's salary, however.)
• The first time I was confronted with the issue as DA in the 1990s was when a deal was proposed by a defense lawyer who had been an infamous Dallas prosecutor during the Henry Wade administration. I ask him if he was actually proposing a better plea bargain in exchange for signing a judgment forfeiting his client's seized cash. His reply, without hesitation, "That's exactly what I'm proposing."
• According to the Update, sounds like we've got a death on 1810 due to a one car wreck this morning. 
• I'm a middle aged guy and I've been battling a pimple all week. 
• President Obama was on Leno last night and told a story about eating chicken wings in the presidential limo.  I sometimes wonder if he is simply baiting the Bubbas of the world. 
• West Virginia is joining the Big 12  -- as in the "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia". (The only documentary to show a grandmother snorting cocaine while in a hospital room.)
• There's a lot of student debt out there. And the government has shocking ways of getting paid back when compared to private lenders.
• The official Amy Winehouse autopsy reveals she died of alcohol and not drugs. And she comes in at a shocking .416 alcohol level. I had always heard cracking .40 would kill you. 
• But the most interesting part is the official cause of death is listed as "Misadventure."   In general, I suppose that's not a bad way to go.
• Lindsay Lohan is getting neekid for Playboy.  Her better days pictured here and here. 
• People in Denton didn't want to pay to see the untalented half of Hall & Oates. 

I Knew "Occupy Oakland" Had The Potential For Problems

But does it have to look like 1960s Kent State?

Story.

Messenger Above The Fold

Justin Beiber and His Girlfriend Adopt A Dog Named "Baylor"

Let's shut down the Internet.  Our work is done.

(Source. Really? You gonna click on that source?)

Sporting Goods Store Getting Cocky

Empire Vandalized

Story.

Derek Holland Comedy Routine From Last Night

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Derek Holland doing impressions during a World Series game proves to me he is a knucklehead. There's a time and place. That was neither. 
• C.J. Wilson wasn't good and wasn't bad. But he was in charge of perhaps the most important pitch in Ranger's history when he had the bases loaded and a full count late in the game. He got out of it. 
• I won't be there tomorrow, but on Thursday I should be in a location that will allow legal sports betting. Considering the Liberally Lean Sports Predicting Curse, would it make you nervous if I bet on the Rangers in Game Seven and then posted a picture of the betting slip?
• Let's get La Russa's reaction if I were to consider placing a bet on the Cardinals
• 
• Mrs. LL and I were going somewhere casual this weekend and I put on a button up shirt, khaki shorts, and tennis shoes. Then I got to hear, "Who am I going out with? Larry David?"
• The Ticket has been merciless in replaying Fox 4's pre and post game coverage of the World Series. But it is blooper gold.  
• Modern Family gal twitpics herself in a bikini (which has been floating around since last Friday.) Hey, now. 
• The property in Arlington once home to Fantasy Ranch is being foreclosed upon. 
• WBAP's Hal Jay this morning on the "occupy" movement: "Just go get a job. Get a job." I don't mind the opinion. I mind him expressing an opinion when there is absolutely no chance that he has spent one second trying understand the movement. 
• I've got a feeling some baseball organizations are tired of doing the "God Bless America" performance during the seventh inning stretch but there's no way they are going to be the first ones not to do it. 
• I went to a wedding this year of a gal who had only seen me twice at Halloween parties. She told me she didn't recognize me without mascara on. 
• For those who thought my "Rick Perry Is A Birther?" post was a non-issue, you might want to turn on the news. It is everywhere. 
• Did you catch that a Mineral Wells teacher has resigned after being placed on leave for handing out a "Are Roman Catholics Christian" pamphlet?  That would be a better story if she were suspended for handing out, "Are Muslims Going To Heaven?" pamphlets. 
• For you old-timers who never thought you'd see the Rangers come within one game of winning the World Series, take a look at the old scoreboard in the long gone Arlington Stadium.
• What does this mean from the Update regarding road improvements on FM 51 in Decatur?:  "And the center turn lane will be restricted in front of Cici’s and Wendy’s, allowing only right turns onto 51 while adding a third lane northbound lane of 51 through the 287 service road interchange."

A Motorcycle And A Calf

Freedom of Assembly Leads To Arrests In Downtown Dallas Today

If you protest in front of a bank in Texas, you've crossed the line. (Man, how many cops did it take to arrest that skinny guy at the beginning?)

Story.

Case Closed. Next Case.

Well, it looks like we've got us some bona fide alien proof. I knew it. And I bet that's exactly what the Aurora spaceship man will look like once we dig him up which, by the way, is our civic obligation.

"Todd In Decatur, Texas"

. . . just called into the Rush Limbaugh Show. Sadly, he really didn't say anything crazy, and it seems like was just allowed on to talk about how great Rick Perry is and what a fraud Mitt Romney is.   Rush spends as much time harpooning Romney as he does President Obama.

Maybe a "Must See"

I finally got to see the ESPN documentary on Steve Bartman over the weekend, Catching Hell. It was absolutely fantastic.   From the interviews of those who were around him to the security card who actually took him to her apartment to hide him out that night, it's an examination of human nature. A human nature that can be very, very ugly.

Creepy Couple From Friday Get Kicked Out Of Pumpkin Patch Over The Weekend

Oh, my.

Decatur Pastor Cutting Baylor Funding

Ok, that's a complete misstatement. But someone has to be to blame!!

(Baylor's operating budget is $428 million but a million bucks is a million bucks.)

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Hey, how about that fog out there?
• The murder/suicide in Sashse on Friday was chilling. A woman lost custody of her child in court that  morning and then went home and killed the seven year old child and herself --- all while the cops and the dad waited outside. 
• One part of that story that needs to be explored is that a jury terminated her parental rights that morning. That's far more than just losing primary custody. 
• Tired Head prose alert: New York Daily News blurb about St. Louis manager Tony La Russa asking Mavs coach Rick Carlisle for advice on how to beat Rangers: "I asked him about what we do to get an edge in this series and he said, 'Hand the ball to Dirk,' " La Russa said. "I said, 'I can't do that.' He said, 'This is Dallas; I can't be telling the Cardinals how to beat the Rangers.'"
• Third Grader In The House question: "If the umpire made a mistake and called the player safe, would he still be safe if he went to the umpire and said, 'No, you're wrong. I was out.'" You know, I'm not sure. 
• Mrs. LL and I walked to a restaurant on Friday evening. That was cool. 
• There was an acoustic singer at that place a couple of weeks ago who was really good. Nice songs. Nice lyrics. Small crowd. Then, out of nowhere, he sang the lyrics "I want to eat the flesh off your face down to the bone". It was just like The Dan Band had possessed him. (We both looked straight ahead and then slowly turned to each other after about 10 seconds with that "Did I just hear that?" look.)
• Cowboy fans might want to tap the brakes before they put DeMarco Murray in the Ring Of Honor. (He broke a Cowboy record with 253 yards yesterday.) 
• Gadhafi's body is now on display in a walk-in freezer at a mall. Feel free to take cell phone pics. (Video.) Sheesh.
• Paranormal Activity 3 crushed the box office this weekend with $54 million. I'm telling you, that "Bloody Mary" commercial was genius. 
• Biggest flop ever?: The Big Year (starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson). After earning a shockingly low $3 million on its opening last week, I couldn't even find it on the chart this weekend. 
• It's probably unrelated but in the upcoming Steve Jobs biography he said, without elaboration, that singer John Mayer was "out of control" and in danger of "blowing it big time." I suppose Jobs was referring to Mayer's lifestyle instead of his medical care, but Mayer had surgery on his throat over the weekend to remove a growth from his vocal cord.
• Delicious: Tonight pitcher C.J. Wilson has a chance to stop talking about what a killer life he has and just pitch. He also has the chance to become a punch line if he gets lit up.  Place your bets.
• A school administrator called the cops on Michael Irvin and had him thrown out of son's football game over the weekend. (Irvin's quotes are almost indecipherable.)
• Shout out to Tech for its upset of OU over the weekend. (I stayed up to watch it.) 

Sunday Ranger Game Observation

Well done, sir. Now shave that 'stache off and get to bed. You had a big day. 

Rick Perry Is A Birther?

Parade magazine interview.

Edit: For those who thought this was "no big deal" -- Drudge posted it on Monday.