No-frills practice

1st again?

Good Morning A-House.

Does Midori7 need a golf lesson? 🙂

Top 10?

Top Ten, Baby! Morning all!

Article about Cincinnati’s coach turning down the job offers he’s been getting and deciding to stay at Cincinnati. Facility upgrades are written into his contract.

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly reiterated his stance with the Bearcats Tuesday, saying he’s not leaving the team and is intent on pursuing his other goals with the university’s football program.

Kelly directed the Bearcats to the Big East title this season and heads to Hawaii Saturday with their sights clear on the Orange Bowl.

Upgrading the university’s football facilities is included in Kelly’s contract terms, which were renegotiated last year.

The two parties are also working to upgrade Nippert Stadium, the 35,000-seat facility which is the smallest in the Big East Conference.

Among those teams coveting Kelly’s services were Tennessee and Washington. The Vols have since filled up the hole by landing former Oakland Raiders tactician Lane Kiffin.

Fresno State has two big unknowns right now–whether or not they will go to a Bowl game and whether or not they will lose their coach.

Uncertainty remains on two of Fresno State football’s largest issues: whether coach Pat Hill will stay and where the Bulldogs will go in the postseason.

Hill, it would seem, is closer to being offered the job at the University of Washington, as Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly announced Tuesday that he would be staying in Ohio. Kelly, who has gone 21-5 in two-plus seasons with the Bearcats, had been rumored to be an option for the Washington head coaching position as well as the now-filled Tennessee slot

Hill interviewed for the Washington job last weekend and said Sunday that it was “a great conversation.”

Hill has ties to the Washington program through good friend and former colleague Nick Saban. The Alabama coach worked with Hill as assistants with the Cleveland Browns from 1992 to 1994 under Bill Belichick. Saban was hired by Washington president Mark Emmert when the two were at Louisiana State in 1999. Washington athletic director Scott Woodward also was at LSU when Saban was hired.

Fresno State has finals the week of the New Mexico Bowl! It is nice that the Hawaii Bowl is so close to Christmas, after school is over.

Another problem lurking down the road: Fresno State has final exams the week of the New Mexico Bowl, which will force players to miss at least one full day of finals.

Interesting tidbit that if Syracuse hadn’t fired their former coach that they might have gotten Colt to play for them!

Robinson said past SU coach Paul Pasqualoni was on the verge of getting a commitment from Brennan. But once Pasqualoni was fired, Brennan began to consider other options. Robinson said he researched Brennan for about a month after his hiring before the pass-happy signal-caller chose Hawaii. Brennan went on to smash several NCAA records and finish third in the Heisman Trophy race in 2007.

Fired Syracuse coach Greg Robinson’s biggest regret is taking too long to do due diligence on Colt instead of offering him a scholarship. Colt was his first recruit and a good QB would have changed his whole coaching future.

When Paul Pasqualoni left, he said he wouldn’t change a thing? Is there anything that you would change about this place?
“I can’t tell you that I wouldn’t change anything. Gosh, from the first month I was here, I’d change the decision on (quarterback) Colt Brennan. How’s that? Hey, I was told to go do the homework on him. I did. I did my due diligence way past anyone would’ve ever thought. I’m not here to make a big deal about it, but as you take me back to right when I started here, I knew we needed a quarterback! I checked that kid out and you know what, he came in third in the Heisman Trophy balloting. He decided to stay his senior year at Hawaii because he felt like those people reached out to him. I would try to retool that. I think if our people knew me better like they do know, they would’ve said go ahead, work with him. But that’s easy to say. That would be a good way to start because that was the first guy I started recruiting.”

So did Mageo de-commit?

According to Scout:By Steve Williams
Football Recruiting Analyst
Date: Dec 3, 2008

NC State has landed a major target as Roswell (NM) New Mexico Military Institute defensive tackle Nathan Mageo has committed to the Wolfpack. Rated a three-star prospect by Scout.com, Mageo had been committed to Hawaii before visiting NC State this past weekend.

Last article and I’ll get to work…this is about Fantasy Football and Bess.

Davone Bess, WR, Dolphins: This is the true Goings pick. The nobody. The long-shot sleeper. He has been targeted more in recent weeks and has had two straight 8-point fantasy outings. With so many balls going his way, you have to think he’ll start to find the end zone.

Mageo was listed as a ‘soft verbal’ on a recruiting site earlier this week, looks like he’s had a change of heart.

It sure sounds like Mageo is gone. “Soft verbals” with the recruit taking visits to other schools often turn out this way for early commits…and UH has a number of good recruits that fall into this category. I’m sure that the coaches won’t rest until the FAX machine has the signatures on NLI day.

http://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/2008/9/9/GEN_0909084854.aspx?id=58

I hope that people are able to get the message so this works.

Top 40?

Aloha Kakahiaka!
HiHo!

Thanks, Stretch. I guess us guys in JJ are WHITE!

GO WARRIORS!!!

Stretch – went to Wallyworld and bought my WHITE t-shirt this morning. Hope I don’t have to cover it up with a poncho or jacket.

duffer:
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 am
Good Morning A-House.
Does Midori7 need a golf lesson?

You can give me a golf lesson, I sure can use it. But no standing behind me showing me how to set up…..

stretch,

i’m not worried about his irons for duffer, i think i’d be more concerned about his extra long driver…..is that USGA approved or something to use for added length? i don’t know…..

Good morning all….have to Esme again today…busy, busy

Stretch – I was thinking the same thing about Cincinatti/Hawaii resting players. However, I think Cinci will have enough time between Saturday and their BCS bowl to heal players. What is it? Like 3 weeks or something…..

Bulla:
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:19 am
stretch,
i’m not worried about his irons for duffer, i think i’d be more concerned about his extra long driver…..is that USGA approved or something to use for added length? i don’t know…..

Not sure about something for added length but get some stuff to make the shaft extra stiff

Morning, Tsaiko-Nation and Tsai-Meister.

Stretch,

I really don’t think Cinci will rest any players against us, unless they get a big lead, they can not afford to lose to Hawaii, that would be embarrassing to their conference.

We will be getting their best shot for sure, so if the Warriors win this thing, it will be fully legit and no excuses.

I am really really worried about the defense for cinci. Our O-line will have a hard time blocking because the D-Line for the cats look really quick/fast…georgia-esque for the lack of a better comparison. On he offensive side, …don’t they run some version of the spread attack? Our safeties will be tested and I pray that Mouton will still be used there.

This is one game that I wish that Mack will shelve the Grandfather approach and if given the chance RUTS the Least East chump…er…, I mean Champ!..heh.

FloridaTed, I agree with you about Cincy not gonna be taking it easy on us. While the game may have little significance with regards to bowl berths and placements, they have much more to lose if they lose the game, more like the reputation of their conference, and maybe themselves.

UH, on the other hand, seems to have nothing to lose on this game.

The national media will think it’ll be par for the course if we lose to them. If we win, we’ll get kudos, but they’ll probably try to spin it as the game having no significance so Cincy didn’t show up.

mageo to nc state sucks!

Committed RW,

I sometimes wonder if a smaller stadium isn’t a better deal for some locations. Limited seating could command premium prices with lower maintenance costs. This means sell-out crowds will less advertising and higher-priced tickets. The concession stands may not like it, but too bad. Less people doesn’t always translate to less $.

What are the positives and negatives in RUTS on opponents?

Positives:

Helps to build confidence for the offensive players.

Gets the 1st stringers out of the game earlier to deter injuries.

Gets the back-ups more game reps.

Better offensive number per NCAA rankings; leads to more inquires from HS players/JC players that would consider playing in the Warrior offense.

Negatives:

Coaching is like a fraternity, so if you RUTS a fellow “Brother”, you might be black-balled.

I cannot think of any other negative aspect……

Committed Road Warrior,

Nice to have the option of moving your game to a bigger .. better stadium, eh? Especially if pre-game sales or interest in the game warrant more seats.

I wonder what would happen if Hawai closed down a few sections and limited the number of seats available. Would they sell out faster? Would PayPerView sales go up? I think the Bars and Restaurants that show the games would love the added revenues. More might subscribe making the subsequent season bid that much more lucrative for UH. The economy might get a boost during the Football season. Parking would be more manageable.
Premium seating would make more sense then. Season ticket holders would feel like they are part of the elite when they are sold out and no one can get any.

i have a pencil on my desk, a stapler too.

The student section the past two games have been pretty weak. I hope that it was due to the weather and NOT lack of interest in the football team. We’ll see if there is good weather this Cincinatti game.

our people of hawaii are funny kine sometimes……

if we build a stadium no less than 50k capacity they will grumble it is too small and yet, 80% of the time it will hold only 35k.

if we build a stadium about 35-40k the same will grumble that it is too small and as soon as it sells out two times they will say, “i told you”.

how come like that?

noticed that 11 verbal commits will play in the hs all star classics and another 6-8 that we are still pursuing will also play in the games.

hopefully, some walk-ons can be got along with another recruit or two. there is one running back who is listed as a wr that i am sure the coaches would love to have. (drools on the keyboard)

There’s a cattle call? Awww, I wasn’t invited

The Warriors were angered by comments made about the team by the host of a morning music radio show. They were in the locker room when the comments were made.

😈 GOOD! 😈

GOOD indeed – but what was said on the radio????

Gotta ask.. all the way here in L.A…

Do we know what radio station it was?

Yeah, what was said, and who said it?

Maybe he went to the cattle call

good afternoon tsaikos. sat is being designated as green and white night and sounds like an excellent idea, but to make sure it works, derrick i, uh publicity, should contact all the media about publicizing what to wear in each section. another thought is for those in the white section to bring an additional white t shirt and same for the green section. why??? if get one empty seat next to you, put the t shirt on the seat, so it looks like someone is there and the colored seat does not show up on tv. some smart, eh??????????

50,000 seat stadium is fine…its the parking situation that sucks. they shoud take the lot across the street from the stadium and build a massive parking structure. that way the people who just wanna park can go there, then the stalls in the stadium are still open for tailgating and whatnot.

for those of you that might care final tally

Shadow ate 6 hot dogs and was still going strong

Craig ate 27 hot dogs and had trouble keeping it down

Craig had to eat 48 to tie the dog, so he loses

LV family retains bragging rights for another year!

btw I wanna know what was said on the radio too.

anybody know if the parking lot is opening at regular times this week? i know kick-off has been moved later by 30 minutes, but wasn’t sure if parking lot opening times had been shifted or left the same.

Stadium
I was disappointed in the location and parking situation from the beginning (i lived in H.Kai)
but dutifully impressed with it’s size and the fact that there were no rats under the stands.
And the fact that it’ll only rust part way, I still cannot believe that we have that technology!
Wow! I say. Wow……

Whitey

Brilliant idea!!! I’ll bring two extra shirts just in case.

Thanks BG!

Flowmaster
You might know

Borla or Magnaflow ?
most bang for the buck?

There are coaches who pressure the kids to give their “commitment” before they leave campus on their recruiting visit. Miano mentioned how some players give verbals to multiple teams since they are too nice to say “No”. I wouldn’t cut someone out just because they gave a verbal to another team. When it comes time for LOI day, and they choose to sing elsewhere, then we can say “bye”. Until then, let’s try to keep them here especially if they can help the team. If they are “once the fence”, then they will definately go another place if they feel they are not welcome here.

mih,

As you said, in the end they (the State) have to look at both of those aspects w/r/t the stadium ($$$ and need).

The stadium, from what I see, has a huge footprint for only being a 50,000 seat facility, but most of that space was probably from when it was being converted from football to diamond (baseball) configuration and vice versa.

Needless to say, the stadium’s days are numbered, but knowing the State, the football team will probably still be stuck playing in that facility for at least another decade…..then the bidding processes for the construction of a new stadium and all the havoc that would wreak from that.

vegas…I would go with Magnaflow…exhausts if not going with Flowmaster. I have Flowmaster on my truck….

oops,
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/12/03/mailbag/1.html

parking problem?

every game so far this year there has been parking stalls not used within the stadium compound. so there is no problem, just lacking cars and so called fans.

bg

all qb’s are about the same height when laying on their backs of the field turf.

Im wondering what the radio comments were too…

What station?

What DJ?

Not that many music stations so let the guessing and speculation begin.

The Stadium is in the process of being repaired as well as renovated. Keeping current with the work is of the reasons I take the time to go to the Stadium Authority meetings.

Each month, the head of the Department of Accounting and General Services or his designee gives a report and update. DAGS is the state agency which oversees Aloha Stadium.

Unfortunately, the Stadium Authority does not post their Minutes on the web. If there’s any interest here, I’ll post the DAGS report once I get a copy which usually is two months behind the current date. I’m still waiting on the September & October, 2008, Minutes.

Essentially, here’s the situation: The current Stadium will remain in use for at least another 25 years.

In the meantime, there are a variety of plans being tossed around, but the whole area will be a major – and that means huge – regional park & ride facility for the transit system. Additional parking will be built – going up and not out – along with a wide range of commercial, retail & some types of light industrial businesses such as car repair and recycling companies to be placed on site as well.

Although some people – including Neil Abercrombie – are promoting a new stadium in West O`ahu, that will not happen any time soon – if at all. The majority of O`ahu’s population will continue to live from Hawai`i Kai to Mililani and in areas accessed by the three trans-Ko`olau highways which means that putting a new stadium in the middle rather than at the end makes more sense.

XxFaithxX: Thanks for the article.

Capitol -ist/WassupDoc: Thanks for the info. I assume some of the funding has been (or will be) appropriated for renovations as such.

I recall a study that was released a few years ago (2005?) detailing the condition of the stadium and the various repairs and renovations that would be needed to bring it up to code. I think it was one of the driving forces (as well as cost) behind locking the stadium in the football configuration.

The cost in repairs and such will add up, but if those changes can keep the stadium functional for another 25 years or so, it may be cheaper than building a new stadium either on the current site or on the west side. But then again, how much do you spend in repairs and renovations before the prospect of building a new facility catches wind?

las vegas, will be in your town fri night. will call to set up some kind of vegas cc. be at my usual place downtown.

bg, you get the spirit. yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh.

whitey – when are you ever in the State of Hawaii?? Vegas, Alaska, Vegas, South Dakota(??), Vegas??

Of course this only works if the additional $10 in parking goes to NaKoa or the Athletic Department.

At Fresno I paid $20 to park in an empty lot near the frat houses. It was being run by some student ministry…maybe that brought us the good luck for the win.

Maybe you should try that approach next time Stretch.

Or you could feed the opposing team some of the disgusting things that were on your plate at lunch yesterday. No pics today?

‘scuse me WHITEY san

maybe is was BillyV?? nah, I hope he’s not that stupid either…

can’t be billy v…..he wouldn’t want to lose the gig he got now.

The CIP money for renovations & repairshas been & will continue to be allocated/spent in stages. Even in this weakened economy, capital projects will get legislative & administrative support because they generate jobs, tax revenues, and help stabilize a shaky econnomy.

The park & ride revenues are the big eye-opener, however. Even my jaw dropped during the presentation last spring. The most conservative figure I’ve heard is about $10 million a year in parking revenues alone which does NOT include the rents for the businesses which will be part of the Transit-Oriented Development.

With respect to current or future parking revenues, none of the money goes to the University of Hawai`i because UH does not own or oversee Aloha Stadium. Until and unless UH owns it, it will not receive Dime One of the futureTOD rentals, current swap meet rents, concessions, or parking fees. Why do you think I was pushing so hard on this last session?

ST what was the comment and who said it???

lv – muffler? Better to get headers installed with an x-pipe to balance to exhaust. If you want sound then go with the Flows. Other than that you should go with mufflers that have a straight through design to relieve back pressure and maybe 3″ pipes. However, you don’t want to get rid of all the back pressure as you will lose low end oooomph but most likely gain mid and top range power. Also to feed your Charger you should consider a CAI.

BTW, Zoomers makes a good exhaust for your specific ride.

Stretch,

What time is the football banquet this Sunday?

gregg hammer

takoboy…..and what did GH say???

Stephen just put a surprise guest on the phone for the Sports Animals to talk to.

just paraphrasing what ST said on da animals…something to the effect of they ain’t that good and he’s off da bandwagon.

what’s more important ST just said that Libre might have a chance at another year.

K. Mouton,
Kazz should get back to you with the details.

chawan – you showing up at the t-gate?

Does anybody really pay attention to what this Gregg Hammer says? I’ve heard OF him, but I’m not familiar with him. I’m just curious. The best reply or retort to that statement would be to clobber the Bearcats on Saturday night!! BTW–it would be great news if Libre had another year!

Rob25 – call up Gregg and ask him.

homey – I can’t stand him! I’d rather listen to Portnoy and that is saying something. 😯

Greg Hammer and his crew on Hot 93.9 always diss on people. They’re about as negative as you can get. They always make fun of people. The thing is that they’re all a sad sack of losers, I guess it makes them feel good to tease others. Maybe the team should show up at their studio and have tackling practice.

Stretch ~ The seats for Hawaii Bowl are in the South End Zone Blue, Section “C” Rows 43, 44, 45…10 seats per row.

Out of the sun, and or the rain.

Surrounding sections will be warned by stadium officials that loud noises may be heard coming from Section ‘C.’ All cheering AND the use of flash cards may be used and or tested during the performance of this football contest.

K. Mouton – You can also check out the “Tsai-ko Events Calendar” section of SteveM’s website http://home.roadrunner.com/~smurashi/tsai-kos/
There is a list started of what people are bringing and how many people will attend.

SteveM – There will be 4 – 6 people in our group. My brother in law doesn’t like to tailgate, so he and his family are meeting us at the game. My boys, however, don’t have a choice 😆

Just a brief observation at practice this morning. The Defense looked very sharp at practice. The fellas looked very efficient at their positions as Coach Mack personally lead them thru their assignments at one point. Adam and Solly are such an imposing presence on the ‘D.’

The offense looked ‘crisp’ and ‘clear’ as they ran precise routes and allowed Alexander a chance to hit them in stride. Their catches were made very snappy and sure. There were some very athletic grabs made, as GA was running and gunning the ball to the receivers with plenty of mustard on top!

Garret’s mom can cook amost anything, but her pies are the best. She will prepare pan lau lau for this week end . I need to share my problem with you folks and may need help to resolve it. My problem is that I won a U.H. football jersey at the Oregan state game on Sept 13. About a month later later they called to pick up the Jersey. When I looked at it, It was a boy small and I said that my order was a man small. Now they tell me that I have to wait another month to get the prize . This was to be a gift for Garret….Any suggestions for the super U.H. Fan who is taken so cheaply. momo

Ulbrich on 1420 now.

Keith,

I replied to your e-mail. Should you have any questions regarding directions you can just respond again.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Thanks homey!

I know all about him because one of my co-workers has a friend who used to date him.

I have to agree that their show has a lot of negative vibe to it.

Gotta go…have a band performance and soccer game this evening.

Ching Field work was in progress during fb practice. Looks like they have the turf installed from the Diamond Head end zone – to about the 30 yard line in. Lots of prep work being done on the rest of the field.

di/Kekoa: Thanks for the info about the “covered ” seats that were acquired for the Hawaii Bowl. Good job!! Mahalo. See you all Saturday!

momo – good luck. it is one of the most poorly managed operations in the modern retail world. can’t really blame the staff because they are mostly part-time students. your better off going to niketown and seeing if they have it over their.

naturally I may be biased, my allegiance is toward HPU! heh heh

Koakane

You still have the name/number for the Rainbowtique manager? Maybe you can give Momo a helping hand.

Break time over…BBL

BG – I agree!

I’m so glad I’ll be there to see it!

On the way home today, my sister asked if I was going to spend any time with “the family”… I told her, I’m home for football, baby! We’ll see what we can do in between the game, the banquet, other get togethers and Ian getting his tattoo. 🙂

We not only have to play against the Bearcats, but against the zebras too.

Sometimes, bad reputations are hard to shake off. I just hope we play hard and play smart. We shouldn’t let anyone get to our heads. Otherwise, every little incident will be magnified against us.

Time to calm down and face the traffic on my way home. I’ll lurk later tonight.

Joyous Hump Day!!!

Sorry it is a lot late.

wafan,

It’s gonna be a rough holiday season… 😐

Oops, clarification, “it” = “his ticket”. You probably figured that out by now……..

onarock,

Long time no read.

That’s an awesome qualifier 🙂

d1,

Yeah, long time no post. Been relegated to lurking now and then ‘cuz of my workload. Checking back to see if ST posted something about a contest yet. Guess the bruddah eeeezz beeeeezy.

Read you laters, d1……gotta get back to work now.

d1 . . .

I am having a much more difficult time — and I work full-time.

I can imagine and certainly can empathize with those who have or will soon lose their jobs.

Newest unemployment numbers show the USA has lost 1.5 million jobs this year. Another year of job losses. Dang.

Right now, as bad as education is, I am happy I still have a job.

Hey!

Rep. Ambercrombie is being mentioned on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC!!!

It is about the BCS and it being monopolistic.

Wow. Is this the start of another shake up?

the radio station was FM 93.9 idk who the hosts were, but I happened to be listening at the time.

I think the DJ’s said something that the Warriors AT LEAST made into their own bowl game (in a negative tone I’m assuming, I didn’t really hear the actual comment), something of that matter. and there was a caller that called in saying that they shouldn’t be talking smack about the team because they’re from Hawaii and we should support Hawaii’s team no matter what and blah blah. And the DJ’s asked if she voted for Obama and she said no, and he was like “but he’s from Hawaii! You said to support Hawaii!” It was a pretty lengthy argument over the air.

Looks like Utah’s defensive coordinator will be the next head coach at Utah State.

A source close to the negotiations expects Utah defensive coordinator Gary Andersen to be named head coach of the Utah State Aggies as early as this afternoon. An announcement, however, will most likely be made on Thursday morning.

Andersen spent more than six hours in Logan on Tuesday, where he met with USU athletic director Scott Barnes and the team’s leadership committee.

The source said the meetings were “very productive” and that USU is committing “significantly more resources to make the Aggies competitive.” More money will be allocated to paying assistant coaches and to bulk up the recruiting budget.

ok, that was a little much and a little crazy.
sorry.

It was Rory Wild and his comments were in effect that Hawaii made their own bowl…..big deal.

Zatoichi,

Looking good! :mrcool:

Rory Wild huh?

You guys ever seen that b*****d in person. He looks like he could be the offspring of a rhino and an alligator snapping turtle and then the elephant man came along and s**t on it.

Rory Wild I believe is a season ticket holder….

He sits in a section adjacent to mine…

Would it be cool to disclose the section..the row???

That I-94 morning show has been lacking…now all of a sudden Rory Wild and the Wake Up Crew get all this attention….

If somebody asks…ill out his seat location…

post 215 it’s the shock jock effect, be nasty and a lot of people turn in to the station to find out for themselves whats happening….

# d1島:

Stephen shoulda said second place was “Tellme”

I was thinking, he should have said: “No Ask”

Then they would ask “Why?”

And Stephen could have said.. “Exactly! Boy you guys are fast! “

The Russians clearly showed how they prefer FBI agents to journalists. The Russians paid $1.4 million in diamonds and cash to FBI agent Robert Hanssen to betray the US. The Russians offered American journalist Joshua Kucera between $300 and $400 (plus, they bought him a fajita meal) to write propaganda for Russia. The FBI knew all about his meeting and asked him for all the details of his meeting with the Russian agent.

The US Army is building an Island in Second Life.

Robotic device and functional MRI actually can help stroke victims regain the use of their body. This sounds like an improved rehab technique and a great use of robotics!

Free play links pau.

Stephen:

Who got retired or RIFed at the HA besides Anne Harpham?

Haven’t a clue as to where various radio stations are on the dial except the HPR stations and ESPN1420. All of our cars up until the latest which was given to us a year ago – a 1988 Toyota which the average homeless person would decline to live in because of the rust and the holes – have been radio-less.

The last boombox I owned died in the rain about 15 years ago and was never replaced. Even then, I only listened to classic rock stations which seemed to have gone off the air to be replaced by Oldies stations playing covers.

However, after the earthquake a couple of years ago, we bought a little pocket-sized AM/FM radio which we take the various games. It’s especially needed at Aloha Stadium given our junk seats. Figured that if we were paying a premium we should be able to see the game – wrong.

Again, I have to ask: Why don’t people around here like Jeff Portnoy’s show? I don’t do early morning radio under any circumstance so even if I’m on the road, I concentrate on drinking coffee and staying awake so I’ve never listened to it – or the Bobby Curran show either. Therefore, I don’t know if you’re referring to content or his voice or what. I’ve known Jeff for almost as long as I’ve known DrDoc and find Jeff bright and funny in person – and very knowledgeable about basketball.

When we belonged to the booster club back in the days when we had money to spare, the meetings and the programs he ran & put on were always a lot of fun.

Re: #228 – S&E Grads…. IMHO
Only 50% are ready to successfully conduct independent research.
The rest need additional training (post-doc), and many will never be successful PI’s.
Probably only 30% are able to teach as professors. Most have to work hard at developing the “communication skills” needed to be successful. Overall, I would rate only ~20% of all professors I’ve had contact with as quality educators. Another 30% would be “adequate”, and the remaining half need to retire or find other professions. 😯

Garret: I saw that link on your links blog, and I had to say, NO SURPRISE! ❗

Thankfully, I’ve had many good professors in the math department at UH. A couple were so-so, and a handful are awful. Not to mention some of the professors from the other departments … yikes! 😯

Prayers and thoughts to Curveball and Kristen.

Jason and brew808,

I do not disagree with anything that either or you said about that article on the readiness of PhDs for work. One thing that I wish every school would do is require all PhD students to take a class on teaching, which would include them giving a lecture where they would have to prepare the material and answer questions. That simple exercise would give crucial skills to the people who will train the college students in our country, and would let many others know that they shouldn’t be professors!

Garret,

Much of the problems with profs as teachers stems from the universities not requiring any training in teaching methods in order to teach. I know grad students are not required to take any courses in the subject. The tenure, publish or perish system, also has a lot to do with it. When I worked at UH, my boss was an MD who had never really practiced. She was not a very good teacher or researcher and yet was able to get promoted and tenured. I have a feeling part of her getting promoted was due to me doing her research for her!!! We probably should not have put her name on half the papers we wrote. Of course, you know all this already from experience. 🙁

Kekoa – please give Curveball and his wife my best wishes for a speedy recovery.

jm2375,

My PhD advisor was one of the worst teachers I ever met…and that is saying a lot! He cared so much about teaching that he actually paid the University of Texas 2/3 of his salary so that he wouldn’t have to teach *any* classes during his last 3 years as a professor there. He was tenured despite having horrible teacher evaluations…I know since I organized his tenure application!

Some schools actually do care about teaching. For example, Santa Clara University actually had requirements for student evaluation scores that were used to determine tenure. If student evaluations were too low, the professor’s tenure application was rejected!

Prayers, hugs and nitey nite!!!

As reported earlier today, Shadow beat Craig in the worlds first Canine/Semi-Human hot dog eating contest.

medical reports

Shadow ate most of his dinner and is resting easily

Craig, in spite of eating close to thirty hot dogs went to Cici’s Pizza and ate much more than the norm.

Neither contestant reports any problems, Shadow is clear eyed and has a wet nose, Craig’s eyes are bloodshot but that is normal for him.

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There’s some more information here if anyone’s interested