Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Re: Black Widow trial in Fort Worth: She looks to be in trouble in this case. The only way she wins it, and it's a huge Hail Mary, is to take the stand and say she believed her husband killed himself, was distraught beyond belief immediately after the fact, and began making up any story possible to protect his reputation. (But I'm not sure even Drew Pearson would buy it.)
• But what an odd fact about the case from the Star-Telegram today: "Michele Williams’ husband earned $850,000 in the 10 months before his death, but the couple had only $1,000 in the bank." Although "in the bank" is kind of simplistic phrase.
• Anyone else think Cowboy Spare Mo Claiborne's statement is telling:  “My apology went to nobody but those guys, those guys that’s in this locker room with me and it don’t go outside the locker room . . . ." Isn't he saying that he is not apologizing to the coaches or the owner. 
• I've seen two cars in Decatur this week that had a non-factory antenna directly in the middle of the roof. They were tall (6' or more) and didn't move in the wind at all. What are those for?
• The "top prosecutor" under Dallas DA Craig Watkins has resigned saying, in essence, that he is unethical. That's huge. But Watkins Republican opponent Susan Hawk (who's kinda hot) doesn't seem to know how to run a campaign. 
• Any assistant DA who doesn't think his boss is ethical should quit. Any DA who thinks an assistant DA is unethical should fire them. 
• What ever happened to Atlantic hurricanes? 
• A bugged-eyed Jerry Jones depicted on Southpark last night. 
• Tony Stewart won't be charged for running over and killing that other driver on a dirt track from a couple of months back. That's probably the correct decision, but I was disturbed that the DA announced that the dead kid "was under the influence of marijuana".  Hey, there's a HUGE difference between having marijuana in your blood stream and being under the influence of it. And, oddly, "He was not specific about how much marijuana Ward had in his system and said no toxicology report was presented to the grand jury." And, finally, what does the fact he had marijuana in his blood stream have to do with anything? Either Tony Stewart intentionally or knowingly or recklessly or negligently killed a guy standing on a track or it was an unavoidable accident. 
• Someone asked me to explain the grand jury system on this here blog a couple of weeks ago. I will. And I know exactly where the problem is. 
• Are we getting close to the day that quality movies are over? I mean the top ten are still making a fortune, but the top ten are crap. If you like drama, I think cable TV has cornered the market with a better product.  (And did you know that this week is the 20th anniversary of the release of Shawshank Redemption? Would it even be made these days?)
• Minnesota Twins pitcher Phil Hughes' contract provided that he would get a half million dollar bonus if he pitched 210 innings this year. Yesterday, after completing the eighth inning, he had a total of 209 2/3rd innings. Then there was a rain delay. And then he wasn't sent out for the ninth inning. The manager now says he will not pitch out of the bullpen this weekend and is done for the year. Sorriness?
• I feel sorry for the Update writer whenever he has to lead off with "Trail Ride -" 
• ESPN's Bill Simmons was suspended after calling Roger Goodell a liar on his podcast. The Washington Post has the perfect headline about it today: "Bill Simmons suspension highlights uneasy, $15-billion relationship between the NFL and ESPN." ESPN is a walking Conflict of Interest. (Sidenote: I'm a podcast fan in general, and I tried to listen to Simmons but his voice is like a spider crawling around in my brain. And can he write an article on Grantland.com that is less than 10,000 words?) 
• If you have the time, look into the story of the recent death of former NFL kicker Rob Bironas. That is crazy.