I Don't Always Call Bad Plays . . .

. . . but when I do, I remind people of that National Championship.

(I hate that dark streak screwing up the photo,  but that was some gold on the screen.)

Messenger Above The Fold

Oregon Cheerleaders Taking You Into The Weekend

This Afternoon. Oh, my.

"Get off it!"

If you air those car chases long enough, you knew this was going to happen. Link. (Graphic warning.)

The Most Ironic Picture You'll See All Day

Source.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I made fun of Eddie Money playing at the Runaway Bay Country Club a few years back, but he is funny in that new Geico commercial. Just the look on his face when he does the last "wooo ooooo oooo". 
• One of my lawyer buddies got held in contempt for being late to federal court and was fined $50. He showed me the printed receipt after paying by debit card and it said "Fine/Contempt" at the top. 
• The Rangers have been in critical games over the last two weeks and they've been money every time. But I stick with my prediction of not winning a playoff series.
• The Tarrant County  teacher convicted a couple of months ago of Improper Relationship with several students (who were not minors) will be the subject of 20/20 tonight on ABC. My DVR is fired up.
• The Springtown teacher arrested for meth possession yesterday demonstrates the idiocy of our drug laws. Cops claim she has used the stuff for ten years while the school says she has taught there at "least 10 years and has received awards from the PTA and fellow teachers." She was turned in by a snitch trying to save her own skin. Had that not occurred, she would continue to be a successful teacher and none of us would have a problem with her.
• The Israel Prime Minister might be a bit of a Drama Queen -- he bangs the war drums far more loudly than the Israeli people care to. But the Obama haters will never accept that.
• We are "dog sitting" the big Doberman again. Not sure what I think about this. 
• And Mrs. LL told me that she'll be a chaperon at a school function tomorrow. "It lasts from 6:00 a.m. to midnight," she fired off in an email. Uh. Come again? I guess the big dog and I can tear up the town. 
• Jim Knox interviewed a Ranger fan after the game yesterday and immediately got pelted with an F Bomb from a gal who also wished her mom a happy birthday.
• Got a report of some road rage with guns south of Decatur on 287 yesterday evening.
• There needs to be much more detail to this, but one Fort Worth police officer is under investigation for behaving very badly.
• The Tarrant County DA's office is having a bake sale today but appears to be engaging in socialistic pricing. 
• Mrs. LL is going to be in a crowd scene of an upcoming Dallas episode. Filming today.
• There are a lot of sports talk people who are really bent out of shape about the announcement of a Victoria's Secret store opening at Cowboys Stadium. That doesn't bother me a bit.
• It may be true, but the story in the Update about the man shot after allegedly surprising burglars sounds a little suspicious.

Sweetest Picture You'll See Al Day

Lunch Time Red Meat For The Red State Masses

Not Verified

"Breaking news..man shot on cr 4421..suspects, black male shooter with mexican male..white male came home from work and caught these 2 in his home, the black male shot the white home owner, cops and medics on scene."

ATT Cell Service In Decatur

Is seriously jacked up today.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Odd moment last night: The Kids In The House had to explain a Modern Family joke to us. (It involved "Yo Gabba Gabba". I had never heard of it.)
• Mrs. LL played three notes of a song on a guitar and asked me to guess it. I was correct: Oasis's Wonderwall.  I was so busy slapping myself on the back that it didn't dawn on me until much later that it was her, not me, that I should have been proud of. After all, she played the notes.
• I'm surprised the NFL refs compromised at all in reaching their agreement last night. Heck, it seems like they could have upped their demands to a point higher than their original first offer. They were in an absolute position of power. 
• Considering the paranoia that football has over injuries right now, it seems amazing that there was ever an ESPN bit called "Jacked Up!" (It doesn't exist anymore, does it?)
• Motorcycle death in Denton yesterday.
• Something I say way too much before I make a point, "There's no question that [insert point]"
• Wordkyle wanted me to let you know of a good cop in the Lubbock area. 
• One Fox 4 story that absolutely shocked me yesterday was this guy describing how he was the victim of a home invasion robbery by three guys.  The report then described, with video footage, how those guys were seen using the victim's credit card in a nearby convenience store immediately thereafter. But   the store's video footage also had a shocker: The victim's teenage daughter was voluntarily with the robbers. She had set the robbery up.
• Seven dead in wreck in Oklahoma panhandle yesterday.
• Alvord's Homecoming parade will have "A Trip Through Time" theme with floats representing "Stone Age, Medieval/Greek, Wild West, 50s, Hippies, and 80s."  Isn't that theme just a tad bit broad?
• The Fourth Grader In The House told us shortly before bedtime that she had smelled a skunk outside. About thirty seconds later, Mrs. LL was overcome with smell inside the house and fled out of the room. The Freshman-In-The-House and I, however, smelled absolutely nothing.  We haven't talked about it yet, but I think Mrs. LL suffered a bizarre episode of a psychosomatic manifestation. "You don't smell that!? You don't smell that!?" 
• The Rangers lead is down to two games. But even if I remember that next year, I won't be able to convince myself that a Ranger's game in the dog days of summer actually is important. 

The Strangest Photo You'll See All Day

Stingray Photobomb

Prosecutors Behaving Badly

Give me that headline with a post-arrest video of a prosecutor and how can I not post it?

Story.

Sports

Ticket is hearing that the NFL and the locked out REAL Refs have reached an agreement.....breaking sports news first gauranteed
— 1310 The Ticket(@dfwticket) September 26, 2012

I Knew It! Romney Voter Fraud!

Obama supporters might be menacing looking Black Panthers at the ballot box or ACORN workers who don't mind advising businesses of underage hookers, but this is the worst voter fraud I've ever seen.

Look at that chick! She is a sinister mastermind! I would have never have guessed that she was working for a county clerk in Colorado had not this super secret tape outed her!

(Honestly, you could see her little brain working. "Who do I work for? Let me think. Hmm. I guess I am getting paid right now, and I guess I'm getting paid by the county clerk's office. Yeah. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I'll admit it." And I almost wanted to come to her defense when she looked like she was about to drop some tears there at the end. Almost.)

Is This Something New?

Messenger Ad

The Decatur Civic Center hosts lots of events, but a concert?  I think musical acts might have appeared at fundraisers in the past, but this looks like a regular ol' concert.

Edit: Whoa, whoa!  I tried to look up when he was the "CMA Artist of the Year", and I don't see him on the Wikipedia page.   In fact, the CMA's have "Entertainer of the Year", not "Artist of the Year". Also in fact, his official bio page says nothing about winning such an award. Some of you country music fans let me know if we have an advertising issue here.

Messenger Above The Fold

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• That green tile which is in the background whenever someone addresses the General Assembly of the United Nations looks like it hasn't been changed since the 1970s.
• That death of the baby by the dog in Burleson is so horrific that I wouldn't even watch the new story of it last night. 
• Some 137 meter "tower" in Bridgeport needs to be repainted and the FCC has slapped the owner with a $10,000 fine so it will get done. 
• Radio Shack has fired its CEO. It seems like that happens every couple of years. Them along with JC Penney and Hewlitt Packard.
• First it was the lawyer's profane email stream that I linked to earlier this week and now an aide to Hillary Clinton goes off on a reporter via email as well. People behaving badly. 
• I've been seeing Wise County Sheriff's deputies monitor traffic on 287. Two deputy cars were within a half mile of each other two days ago hiding in sneaky places. That's pretty rare.
• Facebook fact: Everyone thinks their children are more "amazing" than anyone else's children. 
• I'm kind of surprised that Weatherford College's Wise County campus has an actual Bridgeport address. Then again, I'm not sure I've ever seen a Wise County Zip Code map. 
• You guys said it couldn't happen, but if the Rangers lose the next two to Oakland then things get dicey. (You do not want to be a wildcard team with that goofy one game playoff.) 
• I always try to have a positive attitude, but I also believe in being honest with myself. 
• I would hate to submit Lil Wayne to a deposition but some lawyer had to when the rapper sued Quincy Jones. 
• That was a crazy wreck referenced in today's Update. I wonder how many times brakes actually "fail" these days?
• Andy Williams has died this morning. I can't say that I'm a big fan, but Moon River ain't bad. And he pretty much discovered The Osmonds -- which probably were bad but weren't back in the day.

The Strangest Picture You'll See All Day

Wilt Chamberlain, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Andre the Giant

Get ready to see a lot of Arnold. He just wrote a tell-all book on himself (really) and he's about to be promoting it everywhere. 

Big Government Part 2: It's Your Money

Story.

Side Note: Anyone can call me anything they want for $375,000.

Courtney Stodden Looks Different

Big Government And The Fourth Amendment

Story.

Get ready! They comin' for your blood!

It has been constitutional law for years that police can always search without a warrant if they have probable cause and "exigent circumstances."  So if the police had probable cause to arrest you for DWI and your blood alcohol level is being subjected to your metabolism by the minute, why do they need to get a warrant for your blood in order to save the blood/alcohol reading?

The Supreme Court will decide if that is the law next Spring.

(For what it's worth, even if the Supreme Court sides with the vampires, the Texas Legislature would probably have to rewrite some Texas statutes to fit within the parameters of the Supreme Court ruling. The DAs have been talking about this for years.)

The Texas DPS labs already analyze over 1,600 blood vials a year, and they are taking measures to try and keep up.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• The Springtown "spanking case" is borderline nuts as the school board changed the policy last night to allow men to paddle female students. Prediction: That gets changed within the week once they hear the outcry. 
• And we've seen some Springtown mommas ham it up for the news cameras, but where are the daddies?
• I had no idea that corporeal punishment was still dished out in school. But its even more incredible because these kids are teenagers.
• That was one exasperated dad on Fox 4 last night who was sitting in front of 31 months of tollway bills for his son. None of them were past due, they just all arrived at the same time.
• Another sexual assault on the SMU campus but this time it's between two males. 
• The end of the Green Bay / Seattle game last night may be the nail in the coffin for the replacement referees based upon the final play. (If you haven't seen it, track it down.) And Clay Matthews was so angry that he purportedly posted Roger Goodell's phone number (if that is a private one, he's in big trouble.)
• The Musers this morning said that the call wasn't "obviously wrong." They took a beating on that one. 
• But I knew it was a big deal when Mrs. LL's first words to me this morning was, "What happened in that game last night?" 
• Someone nicknamed the catch this morning as, "The Inaccurate Reception." 
• Want to see a wreck where a guy goes through a windshield and lands on his feet? Sure you do. 
• Speaking of wrecks, something happened on 287 south of Rhome this morning causing an 18 wheeler to end up in the opposite bar ditch and prompting the dispatch of a couple of ambulances. It's right there at CR 4838 where everyone makes mad dashes across 287.
• 
• Mrs. LL and both got new car registration stickers. This morning, I discovered mine is on hers and hers is missing. She has a project now. 
• One of my taillights burned out. When you can replace it without having to get out a single tool, that's smart engineering. 

TCU Showgirls Always Have Those Boots?

Radio News

Story.

They Look A Little Nicer . . .

. . . than those at the Fort Worth Zoo who just stare at you like they want to kill you.

Edit: And I get this in my inbox shortly after I posted this. Coincidence?

Draft Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Former Facts of Life star Blair (and metroplex resident) is taking part in Survivor. But it was disheartening to hear that she and her husband have divorced after 24 years. 
• The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case concerning what you can recover if someone negligently kills your pet: The fair market value (which has always been the law) or the fair market value + the value of the loss of companionship (which the Fort Worth court of appeals ruled a few months back).
• Football point: I continue to believe there is no "neutral zone". You either line up offsides or you do not.
• Man, it was a bad week for Romney when he had to release his  income tax return to try and deflect from his 47% distraction.
• I never saw this story of a Texas lawyer who got fired because of a series of profane emails. It made the "Best Of' edition of the Dallas Observer.
• Whatever happened to Greg Kinnear?
• There's a show on PBS called The Daytripper which features a guy going to different Texas towns. This week he returned to Bastrop after the devasting fire last year.  Man, it made me sick. 
• More Americans now die of suicide than car crashes. And they believe suicides are probably under-reported.
• I mentioned a Tulane football player, Devon Walker, a couple of weeks ago who was the subject of an erroneous report that he received a tracheotomy on the field.  I heard over the weekend that he is still not breathing on his own.  There is a deep concern growing inside me about sacrificing young people for football.
• Greatest headline ever.
• Fox 4's Lauren Pryzbel is engaged. 
• The most gay Aggie football picture in the history of ever that doesn't involve Yell Leaders. Oh, my. (Thanks, emailer.)
• Not many details about a crime that left a lady in a ditch on the Wise-Tarrant-Denton county border
• Ann Coulter, who was on This Week, looks like she does meth. And I'm serious.

This Is The Guy . . .

. . . who fell out of a pickup last night near Alvord. (Facebook.)