Murphy's Law

Jamie Pollard has what my grandpa called big onions. I'm not even sure how Pollard walks around. The House Speaker asks for 175 tickets to the Iowa-Iowa State football game and Pollard tells Pat Murphy he'll need 175 season tickets. Onions! Murphy turned to the U of I and got what he wanted.

I recently sent Pollard an e-mail. I asked ISU's Athletic Director if he'd sell a Cy-Hawk single game ticket to any of the following people:

Tiger Woods
President Bush
The Pope

So far, no response. I'll keep you posted...

I want to thank all the nice people who sent thoughtful notes about Heather Burnside taking over the co-host role on SoundOFF. It blew me away how many of you care about the show, and worried about who would sit in that chair. While I know, and you know, no person is going to be met with 100% acceptance, I think Heather's a great fit. She's bright, quick, and irreverent---not to mention thick-skinned; a prerequisite for SoundOFF. The show continues to evolve, just as it always has. Look for more tweaks this week...

By the way, Marty Tirrell's rant about suing Heather was hilarious. Heather affectionately said on SoundOFF that Marty was "nuts". The next day on KXNO'S Marty & Miller, Marty said repeatedly he was going after her for libel and defamation of character. I couldn't believe how many people bought it. Heather says she had 17 voice mails when she got home. Marty and Heather like each other. The whole gag reminded me of two other times Marty & Miller had people going. One involved Bob Costas, the other Zach Johnson; so Heather's in good company...

It's softball season. If you're interested in taking on the channel 13 team, and you have a paramedic nearby, please contact our softball guru, B.Ross. He can be reached at brian.ross@whotv.com (now you know his whole name). In two weeks, we'll be defending our titles at Zearing Days, one for softball and one for partying. I wasn't much help with either championship last year. I tore a hamstring, had to stop playing, and used the cold beer cans to ice my thigh. What a pathetic story that is...

Props to the Iowa Speedway for going right to work on that traffic nightmare of June 24th. The gravel is down, and I'm looking forward to taking the family out to watch Mark Martin and company Friday night...

The hot dog eating contest is out of control. I'm happy an American won on the 4th of July, but did we really need to see a legend like Kobayashi trying to swallow his own puke?! That's what he was doing. Throwing up in his mouth. The same thing I did when I heard Ann Coulter's latest diatribe...

Speaking of the book selling hate speak Ms. Coulter's been spewing... It made me sad that my recent criticism of her made so many people certain I must have a political agenda. It's come to that America? You speak out against hurtful hate and you're labeled? Interestingly, when I blasted Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for some their recent nonsense, none of the people who ripped me and defended Coulter seemed to have any problem with the knocks on the reverends. I know because I have all the e-mails. When did we get so divided? I hate it...

Enough of the that. There was a water polo tournament in Des Moines this past weekend. The sport takes incredible endurance and skill. You hardly ever see coverage, so we responded to their news release and sent Chris Hassel to do a story. One problem: no interviews! A sport desperate for attention turns away publicity. Try to make sense of that. Oh well, we showed highlights anyway...

I love college football. We have room for Grand View. Welcome to America's favorite sport Vikings fans...

My annual check of flags flying the colors at Clear Lake on Independence Day showed marked improvement for Iowa State, but still no top two ranking. Here is my unscientific findings on the flag top 3:
1 United States
2 Iowa Hawkeyes
3 ISU Cyclones
4 Notre Dame

Seriously, what the heck was Tony LaRussa thinking? I can't believe it, but I was really into the All-Star game. It was like I was a kid again, back when the game mattered because the starters played more, there was no interleague play, and TV hadn't watered down the wow factor of seeing the stars in living color. So after Alfonso Soriano pulls the NL within 1 in the bottom of the 9th, the AL keeps walking batters, but Pujols just sits there PEEVED. LaRussa says he was saving him. Saving him for WHAT! You can't play extra innings unless you tie the game first...

Ichiro is the real deal. I'd pay to watch him play any day. In fact, I did, down in Kansas City a couple years ago and he hit a grand slam. The guy may slap singles, but he can go deep when he wants to, or keep it in the park and run around the bases like he did Tuesday night...

I loved Transformers. Can't believe it, but I really did. Shia Lebeouf is a star, and headed for superstardom. The young man carries the movie. He's funny, endearing, and heroic. No wonder Spielberg thinks he's the next Tom Hanks. Transformers made me laugh many times, which I didn't expect. The robots are really cool too. I give it a B+. The only thing keeping me from grading it higher is the endless product placements and an ending that goes on a little too long. Pleasant surprise, and even more shocking, Jenny liked it too...

I'm taking the kids to High School Musical at the Des Moines Playhouse this weekend. Apparently this is their generation's Grease. By e-mail, I asked Lee Ann Bakros with the Playhouse if that was the case. Lee Ann's answer:

High School Musical has a definite Grease vibe -- kids from different cliques falling for each other -- but the message is it's okay to be a jock who also likes to sing and a brainiac who also likes to act. (As opposed to Grease, where I think the message is you need to dress like a tramp to get your man.)

Well played, Lee Ann. Though I must say, guys my age will never forget when Olivia Newton John showed up in the leather. Yowza...