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This week's cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine is sure to be a controversial one... It states the possibility of A.J. McCarron being the best quarterback to ever play the game...
The University of Alabama quarterback has led the nations number one ranked team to 'another' unbeaten season so far and the team stands on the brink of a third consecutive national championship. Only four games remain between the Crimson Tide and that 3rd national title... This week Bama will host the University of Chattanooga at Tuscaloosa and then close out the regular season against state rival Auburn... Then the South Eastern Conference Championship Game... After that expect the Tide to play for the National Title..... again!
A J McCarron being considered 'the best ever' may be a bit misleading. He has been surrounded by NFL-quality talent like Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson at running back and Julio Jones at wide receiver... 2013 has seen McCarron with more average teammates and that has put the spotlight on him. Opposing defenses have found that when they cover the wideouts and runners, it is McCarron that is able to scramble for important yardage. In the pre-season, the conference coaches named him the third-best quarterback in the SEC...behind Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M and Aaron Murray of the University of Georgia. McCarron, despite his championship resume, has never been invited to New York in consideration for the Heisman Trophy, indicative of college football's player of the year.
McCarron performed flawlessly when the Tide played Manziel's Aggies back on September 14th, as Alabama won 49-42 in a scoring marathon with Touchdown Johnny. It seemed as if the last team with the ball would win that one. Exactly one year ago against A&M television sportscaster Bret Musburger drolled over AJ's girlfriend, Katherine Webb. The photo below shows AJ headed for his Mom and Katherine after another Bama victory. Webb is a former Miss Alabama and a graduate of cross-state rival Auburn.
It is too bad the relationship with his girlfriend has overshadowed the on-field performance of AJ McCarron. If you want to count his redshirt freshman year, he could be part of four (4) national titles at the University of Alabama... Not bad for a quarterback considered the third best in the conference.
Right off the bat let me apologize for any mistakes in this posting... I know very little about sportscars, but I do admire them.
My wife and I had just had breakfast at a local restaurant, and upon exiting the building....this is what we saw.
I know it is a MG T-model sportscar...but that is it. Through the 1930's and into the mid 1950's MG manufactured numerous models of the 'T' car. There was a TA..TB..TC..TD..and a TF. Just a quick check with Wikipedia and I would venture this one to be a TD model, meaning it is a late 1940's automobile. It has a 1250cc engine with an overhead valve train, but the non-synchronized transmission means you had to double-clutch it while shifting gears. The TC and the TD were very similar but the TD was made for importing to the United States with left-hand steering, chrome bumpers, and front and rear lights to render it acceptable to the American colonies.
The TC model was by far the most popular of all the early MG models as they produced over ten thousand of them. You had to be a hardy individual to possess one of these as they were extremely drafty and cold in the winter. I had a friend in high school that had one and I remember freezing our butts off as it did not have a heater in it. This particular car has been modified with a bench seat as I remember very rudimentary bucket seats in my friends car.
No electrical motor on this one... If you want the top up, you have to manually build the structure and then stretch the top over it before snapping it into place. I know it sounds pretty archaic but I had a '61 Chevrolet Corvette and it had a folding soft top on it. I simply had to fold it into place and lock it up or down.
The MG is credited with starting the sportscar craze in America and soon other car makers would be vying for the almighty dollar. The Italian cars were a lot more streamlined than the British cars and that forced MG to make some changes.
In 1955 MG introduced the 'A' model...or more commonly known, the MGA. It was a lot more aerodynamic than the T-series cars and was more dependable in its mechanics....BUT it did not have the old sportscar image of the T-models. Another great car fades into the past.
I know it has been a while since I have written on this blog page, but I have been busy painting my house.. I finished a couple of days ago but my hands are still sore from the daily work, and I took a few days to let them return to normal.
I did spend the morning in the garage cleaning up the motorcycle. It is a 2009 Honda Shadow 750 Spirit that I brought home when someone traded it in at Texoma Harley-Davidson. It runs like a thoroughbred and I can't make up my mind whether to keep it or sell it.
As you can see, it shines up like a new penny. I have had the bike for about three months and this is the first time I have taken the time to clean it up. I used some McGuire's Wax and Cleaner and it returned the sparkle to most of the chrome items. I have a motorcycle jack and it allows me to raise the wheels off the floor for easy cleaning. I wouldn't call myself old school, but I have always preferred spokes over solid wheels. Your fingernails and cuticles take a beating, but I like the way they flash in the sunlight when the bike is moving.
I've seen this model Shadow Spirit in black, white, and red, but I was attracted to this particular bike because of the charcoal metallic paint. These photos don't really do justice to the color, but I think it is unique. If you just take a glance at it you will probably think it is black, but it takes a closer look to see the metallic sparkle in the paint.
The bikes runs great and shifts a lot easier than the HD Sportster I had until last summer. The Shadow has a lot more lower end torque than the Sportster and I never get out of fourth gear in the city limits. When I pass a brick wall or high curb, I love the sound bouncing back to me from those Cobra pipes..
The bike has less than twelve thousand miles on it and I would not be afraid to take a long trip on it at a moments notice. I went to a bike website and found half a dozen Shadow Spirits in price from $5300 up to $5900...and they were bare. This one has over a thousand dollars in add-on extras in the quick-detach windshield,..the engine bar... the saddlebags...and the Cobra exhaust. I probably would let it go for an even five thousand, but as I said,... I really love the way it rides. I don't ride as much as I use to...but the Shadow is always in the garage waiting for me whenever I do feel the urge.
Each year we hold a Halloween Party at Texoma Harley-Davidson and this past Saturday was the day.. Customers were invited to dress up and share in the fun. Pizza and snacks were offered to make it a pleasant trip to the dealership....but unfortunately someone forgot to tell the weatherman about the festivities...It rained most of the morning and was off and on throughout the afternoon..
Over the years Momma and I have gotten in a rut over the costumes we have worn... She has been a witch so many times she almost has a membership card in the witches union, and I have been some kind of pirate dating back to the days of Jean Lafitte. This year Momma was dressed as a lady of the evening,...or possibly a gypsy... She kept saying, "I'll leave it up to you," when people would ask.
.... and when you have a lady of the evening, you usually will have someone she calls boss... or pimp. As you can see, this turned out to be me. The wig was hot as hell, but it sure got a lot of attention (maybe it was the suit). We found this suit in a gag gift bag and everything was included..the suit, the hat, and the rhine-stone dollar accessory. I picked up the wig at a different party store.
AnneMarie was suppose to be a Navajo Indian, but I thought she looked like Cher...and I wasn't the only one. The two are standing by some boots that were on sale.. Over one hundred and twenty dollar boots, marked down to $59.95. Needless to say, they were a big mover and lots of customers took advantage of the bargain.
This is a group photo of all the girls in the motor-clothes department with Momma and I.. It was a fun day and everyone enjoyed the costumes...but it would have been even better if the rain had waited until nighttime.
The 2014 models are arriving daily and they look great...but Texoma Harley-Davidson has a vast selection of prior-owned bikes to chose from also.. Come see us !!
When most people are asked about the hometown of Dwight David Eisenhower, they will reply he was from Kansas.. True to a degree, but not entirely. Ike was born in Denison, Texas and his family moved to Kansas in a job transfer for his dad. Even Ike himself did not know exactly where he was born until he entered the Army and needed a copy of his birth certificate.
Ike was born October 14, 1890 and died March 28, 1969... He went to West Point (U S Military Academy) and played on the football team for the cadets..
That's Ike second from the left.. Omar Bradley was on the same team..
Ike served as a lieutenant in World War I...and decided to stay in the Army when the war concluded. When the second World War came, Ike was on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific Theater of the war. MacArthur wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Army, calling Ike the best officer he had ever seen. He was immediately transferred to Europe and helped plan the invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch).
When it came time to invade Northern France to open a second front, Ike was put in charge and promoted to Supreme Commander of the Allies. He jumped over 53 more senior officers to take the position. Petty jealousy between the allies was Ike's biggest fear, and he worked tirelessly to make sure everyone got the best assignments possible.
When the war ended, Germany was cut up into four sectors with each of the Allied Countries receiving a sector of responsibility.. Above is Bernard Montgomery, representing the British, Ike standing in for the U.S.,..Marshall Georgy Zhukov of the Soviet Union, and Charles deGall of France.
In 1952 the Republicans talked Ike into running for President and he won in a landslide over Democrat Adlai Stevenson. Ike served two terms as President, from 1953 until 1961.
Denison, Texas is proud of its most famous son...and last year a monument was erected at exit 67 on U.S. Highway 75 for all to see.
The monument is surround by red bricks...and on each brick is the name of a military veteran.. Some of the names go back as far as the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Some are as recent as Iraq and Afghanistan, but they are all there with the former President...
My wife and I recently went to see the movie 'Gravity' starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney... I don't think I will give away anything by telling you...they are the ONLY two people in the entire movie.. You do see some of the other crew members from a distance,..and hear Ed Harris' voice as the cap-con voice from Houston.. but only the two main characters are front and center on the screen....
The plot of the movie is something like this:.. A repair crew is sent up to fix a problem on the Hubble telescope and while they are in the midst of repair work they get word from Houston about a different satellite that has been struck by a meteorite and possibly will be entering their orbit.. They continue with the repair work until the voice from Houston tells them to terminate the work immediately and return to their rover vehicle... Too late!.. The debris from the other satellite and more meteors begin striking all around them. Can you say extreme devastation? Clooney plays the part of Matt Kowalski.. a cowboy type individual with a very casual demeanor. He is as calm as a surgeon with all this pandemonium going on around him.. actually cracking jokes.
He is the experienced astronaut while Bullock plays the part of Dr Ryan Stone, an engineer brought along to fix the problem on the Hubble. Clooney gives off some good advice and keeps telling her to remain calm.
There is one part of the movie where I was reminded of 'Castaway' with Tom Hanks. Remember the part where he is washed up on the island after the plane crash..and for forty-five minutes Hanks had the scene all to himself as he talked to himself and tried to figure out how to get off the island and back to civilization... Well, that is what happens in 'Gravity'... Bullock has the screen all to herself for thirty to forty minutes as she collects herself and transfers to an abandoned Chinese satellite that has been in orbit for months.. BUT with Bullock the scenery is a lot more pleasing to the eye than with Tom Hanks..
The scenery passing behind them as they work on the problem is out of this world (pun) and is really impressive. I was even able to pick out continents passing in the background.. and even Texas too. I saw an interview on TV with a former astronaut and he too was impressed with the movie, saying it was as realistic as the real thing.
I will not spoil the end of the movie for you,...but suffice to say, I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it. Evidently, others seem to agree with me as the movie was the top money winner after its first weekend out.... Ironically, the movie it beat out for the top spot was the latest effort of Tom Hanks, 'Captain Phillips.'
I was working out in the garage when I heard an unusual sound outside...and it was getting louder by the second. I looked up just in time to see a B-17 bomber banking right over my house. Naturally, I didn't have my camera with me, but I quickly grabbed it and fired up the Shadow for a ride out to Grayson Airport.
There she sat...in all of her glory. America's largest bomber during the early years of World War II. The Boeing Corporation turned out B-17s by the thousands from the late 1930s until the B-29 came into production in 1943. Each B-17 carried a crew of ten men,.. a pilot and co-pilot,..a navigator and radio operator.. also a flight engineer/crew chief..and the rest were all machine-gun operators. America lost hundreds of these planes and men in their campaign to bomb Nazi Germany into submission.
This particular B-17 is home-based out of Mesa, Arizona and operated by the Commemorative Air Force. They fly the planes to various functions and air shows around the country to allow today's enthusiasts the chance to see the airplanes that won the war and gain some knowledge about America's Greatest Generation.
That pin-up art of Betty Grable was the most popular among GI's in World War II and I even spotted her on some locker doors during my Army training days in 1964. A beautiful woman never goes out of style.
To fully realize just how large a B-17 is you have to walk around it and admire it from all angles. America not only supplied her own military with this plane, but also sent them to British, Australian, and Canadian forces as well. Bristling with twelve 50-caliber Browning machine guns, the B-17 still could carry over twenty-thousand pounds of bombs. She deserved her nickname of 'Flying Fortress.'
Also paying a visit to Grayson Airport was this B-25 Mitchell Bomber... This is the type plane that Colonel James Doolittle used in his raid on Tokyo in April of 1942. In that raid, sixteen B-25s took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and bombed Tokyo, Nagoya, and several other cities to let Japan know America was ready to fight back after the Pearl Harbor attack.
This particular B-25 is named 'Maid in the Shade' and is also adorned with nose art. Good Looking!!...and the plane ain't bad either. The Mitchell bomber was used in just about all campaigns of World War II and it proved to be a very versatile plane. Not only a bomber, the B-25 was also used in ground support and also reconnaissance missions.
The most obvious distinction of the B-25 is it's twin rudder configuration. It made for an easier operation and the Germans were constantly trying to duplicate this plane without much success. Note how the tail-gunner sits in the canopy and has an aiming device but the twin 50-caliber machine guns are fired remotely at whatever the aiming device has in its sights.
The B-25 was always my favorite bomber of World War II and it proved to be a work-horse for the Allies. I am reminded of the test pilot character played by Mel Gibson in the movie 'Forever Young.' While training another pilot, he said, "If you can fly a B-25, you can do anything."
