Obamaville Thursday, February 19 - The Deep Freeze

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Weather...

Here I sit, 65 miles from downtown Washington, D.C., waiting for the coldest temperature on this date in 40 years, maybe since records started in the 1800's, or maybe since the last Ice Age.  Ever since the weather stations went digital, the weather reports have made a shambles of the truth.

I do not know what a meteorologist has for breakfast, but lately the bizarre forecasts might indicate something comparable to LSD.  If they say we will get two feet of snow, we might get five inches.  When they say it will be around 20 degrees tonight, and then they revise it to a wind chill of 25 below, we know it is not just cream in their coffee.

Did I mention that the forecast for just 48 hours later is over 50 degrees?  The good news is no one really puts much faith in the weather reports, I mean it is still a government agency so accuracy and efficiency are distant dreams.

Politics...

Nothing has changed.  Obama trashes the Republicans and the Republicans trash the President and the Democrats watch and strategically trash both the President and Republicans.

On the presidential scene, the apparent front runners are a Bush for the Republicans and a Clinton for the Democrats.  My how things have changed since 1988 and 1992.

It has been 28 years since a Bush was first elected president, in 1988.  During the 28 years, from 1988 until the next election in 2016, a Bush will be president 12 years, a Clinton for 8 years, and everyone else in America the remaining 8 years.

Pot Smoking Ivy League Presidents - Harvard & Yale

What do you think about the dominance of the Ivy League?  A graduate of Yale will be president for 20 of the 28 years, and a graduate of Harvard for 16 of the 28 years.  I think the Ivy League invented the term "Fuzzy Math" which might explain why Yale's 20 years and Harvard's 16 years add up to 36 years, not to 28 years.

Do not worry there is an answer for all deviations and this time a legitimate one.  One president graduated from both Yale and Harvard.  In fact, he is the only president in history with that intellectual distinction, his name, George W. Bush, as in junior.

Is it not ironic that one candidate for president in 2016 with a legitimate chance to win is also the first person in 28 years to NOT graduate from Harvard or Yale.  It is not Hillary Clinton (Yale), or Mitt Romney (Harvard), or Ted Cruz (Harvard).

Yet another twist in logic and reason, one of the top picks to break the Ivy League stranglehold on the presidency is Jeb Bush, whose father and brother are Yale and Harvard alumni.

Other legitimate candidates like Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, and Martin O'Malley are among others who are not Harvard or Yale graduates.

Health, Energy & Education...

Every month brings new super viruses, mutating bacteria, other drug resistant diseases, and fewer and fewer cures to an unsuspecting public.  UCLA Medical Center is the latest breakout of a dramatic new virus, which has already killed 2 and exposed about 180 people in the first reports.

America celebrated becoming energy independent with the third major derailment and explosion of train cars filled with crude oil.  Not even napalm bombing in Vietnam could match the spectacular explosions from the West Virginia fireworks this week.

The North Dakota crude oil apparently burns better than other production here in the west.  With thousands of oil tankers using train tracks through about every major city in America, look for Keystone Pipeline approval as a "safe" alternative to urban trains.

Terrorism...

ISIS terrorists seem to be popping up in country after country with their unique theology and evil ways.  With Obama still in a scolding mood, so far Jordan and Egypt are the only nations taking a lead in armed resistance and dedication to destroying the terrorists.

Our paper tiger approach to foreign affairs has also been a great aid to Vladimir Putin, who used American indecision to carve a land mass to connect Crimea to the Russian border, as predicted a long time ago by the Coltons Point Times.

Economy...

Stock Markets are pushing against their highest levels in history in the midst of a mediocre, at best, recovery that has left most Americans with less cash, less equity, less choices, and a lousy selection of cheap made consumer products.

In my opinion, the markets have nowhere to go but down and they will take all the 401K money with them since most 401K funds have stock based investments.  Market players should have the ability to sit on investments for 5-10 years before needing the funds, in order to come out ahead.  As for the rest of us, forget it.

Sports...

The Super Bowl was rocked by scandal, the deflate gate conspiracy, while the Patriots took home the money.

College football crowned the first playoff king, as Ohio State beat number one Alabama in the semi-finals, and number two Oregon in the finals.

In college basketball, the mighty University of Kentucky have five games left in the season in their historic effort to become the first undefeated national champion since Indiana in 1976.  It promises to be a magnificent March Madness if we survive the Arctic deep freeze.

More later...

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The Battle of Bluegrass Thoroughbreds

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Pitino Louisville versus Calipari Kentucky

March Madness and the Midwest Hayseeds - Where are the power conferences now?

East coast sports writers are left stunned after the NCAA round of eight left only Midwestern teams in the final four for national champions.  What happened to the eastern power conferences that dominated the selection process, conferences like the Big East and ACC?

Ashley Judd with UK Wildcat

Kentucky remains the prohibitive favorite and is the only number 1 team left in the tournament.  For the first time in about 50 years two teams from the same state will meet in the final four, Kentucky and Louisville, while the other two contenders are Ohio State next door to Kentucky and Kansas farther west.

We picked Kentucky as the winner and so far no one has come close to them.  Louisville, under the magic of former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, has pulled off a series of major upsets to get to the final four.  Kentucky played Louisville earlier this year and UK won at home by just 7 points.   No one has come that close to UK in the tourney though they have played all away games.

Louisville Cardinal

Some sports analysts say the championship match will take second place to the semi-final battle between Kentucky basketball giants.  UK is the most successful team in NCAA basketball history while Pitino has made Louisville into the biggest basketball money generator for the school in the nation.

As John Clay of McClatchy Newspapers wrote:

ATLANTA — Not even Bourbon Street will know what hit it.

Welcome to what promises to be the wildest, craziest, most hyped, most exciting, most nerve-wracking and sleepless six days leading up to the biggest, most-anticipated sporting event in the history of our little commonwealth.

For a state that lives for basketball, this is a dream and a nightmare all at the same time.

This is Kentucky vs. Louisville in the Final Four for the first time.

This is the top-dog Cats, the NCAA Tournament’s overall No. 1 seed, winners of the South Regional by beating Baylor 82-70 on Sunday, versus the underdog Cards, No. 4 seed and surprise 72-68 West Regional winner over Florida on Saturday, squaring off in the Big Easy for a berth in the national championship game.

This is something that comes along once in, well, never.

It’s UK versus U of L, the state’s two biggest rivals on the sport’s biggest stage.

It’s John Caliapri and Rick Pitino, former coaching friends, now, well, current coaching competitors.

It’s one passionately insane fan base against another passionately insane fan base, that happens to reside within the same borders.

“It’s basketball,” said Calipari on Sunday as if this were a mere sporting event.

No, it’s Kentucky and Louisville basketball.

Oh, UK and U of L have played in the NCAA Tournament before, in the 1959 Mideast Regional semifinals (Louisville won), in the 1983 Mideast Regional finals (Louisville won) and in the 1984 Mideast second round (Kentucky won).

They’ve never met in the Final Four, however, though they came close twice.

In 1986, Louisville beat Auburn to win the West Regional, but Kentucky lost to LSU in the finals of the Mideast Regional.

In 1975, the two actually came within a whisker of playing for the national championship when Kentucky beat Syracuse in the national semifinal in San Diego, then Louisville lost a heartbreaker to UCLA in the second game that day.

Now, finally, everything has fallen into place.

However, don't overlook the other teams, Ohio State and Kansas, who rank among the basketball elite though they will not get the media attention of the Kentucky duo.  I lean toward Kansas reaching the finals against Kentucky with Kentucky winning but any of the four teams is capable of knocking off the others.

It should be a rousing finish to a rather lackluster NCAA season and if you have ties to Kentucky, the semi-final could just be a classic.  This is truly the Battle of Bluegrass Thoroughbreds.

By the way, UK is also still in the running in the NCAA Women's national tournament.  We just can't get enough of the Wildcats.

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College Football - Another #1 Bites the Dust as Boise State (WHO?) Climbs Charts

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For the second week in a row a number 1 team lost, Ohio State, along with two more of the top ten, Nebraska and South Carolina. It is starting to look like all the marquee teams are going to beat each other during the season so either the national championship will be decided between teams with at least 1 or 2 losses, or it will be Boise State versus TCU for the national championship.

Only unbeaten Oregon and Oklahoma stand between Boise State and being number 1 at the moment but threatening in the wings are unbeaten major conference teams like Michigan State, Missouri and Oklahoma State while Utah is also unbeaten.

Looks like bigtime football to me.

While Boise State still faces Nevada (19) TCU must face Utah so at least one more unbeaten will fall. Michigan State, Missouri and Oklahoma State all must face other Big Ten or Big 12 powerhouses so it is highly unlikely they will survive the season unbeaten.

It just might be the year the surprise small team from a small conference slips through the cracks and steals the national championship while the big boys are busy beating up each other. If so Boise State is the most likely champion.

Who and where is Boise State you might ask? It is in Boise, Idaho, capitol of the state with a metro area of 590,000 and about 20,000 students attend Boise State. It is a regional university founded as a junior college in 1932 and upgraded to four year in 1965 with a football program for the top jocks who don't go to the elite football programs but want to show they belong with the big boys.

So, the Boise State Broncos have only lost one game this season and the past two seasons combined, the best record in Division 1 football. When the BCS poll comes out today, which measures teams by strength of schedule, don't be surprised in Boise State isn't #1 for the first time in school history. They will not stay #1 because their schedule is weaker than bigger schools so they need to stay unbeaten and hope the Oklahoma, Alabama and Ohio State teams lose a couple of games.

If there was ever a year a small school might play for the title this could be it. I mean stranger things than that have happened this past year. Stay tuned. Since all my top teams have already lost one game, I am making Boise State #1 until someone knocks them off.

Go Broncos!!!
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Nebraska Closes in on Number 1 Ohio State

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As I said in my report Friday on the last Nebraska game I expect the NCAA national championship to be fought out between Nebraska and Ohio State and over the weekend a number of steps were taken toward that goal. It all began with South Carolina knocking off number 1 Alabama while Nebraska pounded previously unbeaten Kansas State.

As a result Nebraska moved up in the national polls to 4 in the coaches poll and 5 in AP. It is only a matter of time before they jump to number 2 and await a final confrontation with Ohio State. Ironically next year Nebraska jumps to the Big Ten, the same conference as Ohio State, and they will be playing each other during the season.

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