tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55168272007-11-15T16:21:44.254-05:00The Stark Fist of SarcasmLee J. CockrellBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-52078168014967141162007-01-27T13:15:00.000-05:002007-01-27T13:51:20.241-05:00If you have not heard of the Duke lacrosse rape case, let me urge you to find out more about it. It would be a waste of my time to explain the case as it has been done thoroughly at other blogs. Start by reading Robert KC Johnson's case narrative, and continue with basically any and every other post he has made there. Also see John in North Carolina's blog for more people who have responded inLee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-78308174015776337452007-01-27T12:40:00.000-05:002007-01-27T13:10:21.714-05:00If you were watching the Duke-Clemson game on Thursday night, you might think Duke got away with one they didn't deserve. You'd be right, but you'd be wrong if you thought it was the first time that had happened.
Against Clemson, the timekeeper did not start the clock when an errant inbounds pass was picked up, meaning that the 4.4 seconds when the shot went through was way too much time. ThereLee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1839845557969892252006-11-13T11:12:00.000-05:002006-11-13T11:17:23.653-05:00I've been a daily reader of James Lileks for years. While he's very entertaining, and I'm a big fan despite the fact that he thinks Hugh Hewitt is the bees knees, most days you can replace his bleat with a Shorter James Lileks:
"It has been a long Monday yet again. Took the dog to school, walked the kid. Hopefully you forgot when I said yesterday that something Very Interesting happened, and Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1159889859314987332006-10-03T10:51:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:24.917-05:00Just how bad is Duke?
Virginia, which to put it mildly has looked terrible this season, dominated Duke in every phase of the game, winning 37-0. After three quarters, Duke had 39 yards, the longest drive nine yards. Midway through the first quarter, Duke coach Ted Roof made his quarterback and center practice snaps! After a bye week they don't have snaps down?!? They never got past the Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1159475147686749092006-09-28T16:25:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:24.298-05:00Are ACC basketball awards biased? Specifically, are they biased against Virginia? I've taken a look back at a few situations where Virginia fans complain of unfair treatment.
Should Norman Nolan have been first team all-ACC as a senior in 1998?
Nolan was the best offensive threat on a lousy team. Did he get passed over because Virginia doesn't have much basketball prestige? I checked his Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1157217990368072722006-09-02T13:25:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:23.968-05:00I've posted a preview of Virginia Football 2006.Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1155668118012991232006-08-15T14:51:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:23.819-05:00Question: If a man had shot his sleeping wife in the back and killed her, taken his children and fled, admitted it to multiple law enforcement officers, and lost $17,000 to Nigerian scammers, would he still be able to make bail?
Of course, that's a joke, because not in a million years would he be offered bail.
Prediction: For her next trick, Mary Winkler will throw herself on the mercy of theLee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1150667889652402372006-06-18T15:49:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:23.680-05:00Dr. Helen just posted some information on Borderline Personality Disorder. I've dealt with borderlines in my life, and they wreak nothing but pain and suffering on those around them. A friend of mine was married to one, every other week she went from princess to monster and back again. I won't delve into my personal experiences, I'll just say that while they were horrible, I was fortunate Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1146172297046204312006-04-27T17:11:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:23.492-05:00Virginia Football Commitment ReviewsI spent some time collecting the names of football players who committed to Virginia each of the past 15 years, and grading them on their careers. The asterisks (*) are indicative of the player's ranking coming out of high school. The pluses (+) indicate how well that player's career went. I gave one plus mark for each year of starting, and an additional plus if that player was all ACC caliber. ILee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1131331464166690762005-11-06T21:43:00.000-05:002006-11-13T10:26:23.112-05:00You absolutely must see this flash animation about ebaumsworld.com.Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1129665654075530602005-10-18T15:49:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:22.925-05:00Yeah, I know who I am. I'll admit Virginia deserves to be in the top 25 now.
Earlier this season, the Hoos' offense was scaring no one, and our defense had given up over 1,000 yards and 70 points against Maryland and Boston College. We'd beaten bad teams like Western Michigan, Syracuse, and Duke, looking embarassingly average.
Virginia had a much more talented and experienced defense last Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1127793604345351242005-10-04T14:59:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:22.471-05:00Monday night I saw a special free screening of Serenity, the movie followup to the TV series Firefly. The series is a bit complex to give a full rundown, but I'll try to give a three sentence summary.
It's 500 years in the future and mankind has moved to a new frontier in a new solar system, with an 1880s style Western flavor. Mal, a former soldier on the losing side of a civil war, captains Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1128182355995885532005-10-01T09:52:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:22.768-05:00Last minute UVa - Maryland thoughts:
Neither team has impressed so far, and both have similar (tough) schedules the rest of the way. UVa is 3-0, but Maryland has had a tougher schedule. I think Virginia has slightly more talent, but the team has not gelled yet. It is critical that we build on last week's win against Duke and put together quality effort as a team. The team can't show up and Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1127833780910478602005-09-27T11:09:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:22.631-05:00Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1127767954939787832005-09-26T13:45:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:22.324-05:00I've been watching Firefly on SciFi (in addition to Battlestar Galactica, of course). Firefly didn't last a season on Fox, but because of the high quality of the show and the rabid loyalty of its fans, a movie (Serenity) following up the series is to be released late this week.
Unfortunately a full analysis of the show is beyond the scope of this post (and would take a mountain of paper). The Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1127756631308283212005-09-26T00:59:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:22.174-05:00The ACC Basketblog ranks the Hoos at number 13: "Virginia ('til their late season swoon, of course)".
Oh come on. It's quite clear from the quote that they want to push us up only to enjoy tearing us down.
UVa was a MUCH better team last year than this year. And now that D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Ahmad Brooks (who hasn't played yet this year) are injured, we're missing our best player on bothLee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1126731895521664042005-09-14T17:04:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:22.044-05:00ESCAPEI managed to leave my old crappy job with my integrity intact and without losing a limb. Fortunately the new job is much better, higher paying, nicer people, fewer sociopaths, etc. My relief is palpable.
See more progress on: get a better jobLee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1118938931158795492005-06-16T11:56:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:21.919-05:00Glenn Reynolds is asking for science fiction recommendations again. I don't think he mentioned one of the best authors of fiction of all time, John Varley. His style is reminiscient of Niven, Haldeman, and Heinlein. The John Varley Reader is the tightest collection of great science fiction short stories you'll ever see. (Some stories are reprints from older collections, some are new.)
His Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1116638765060600162005-05-20T21:05:00.000-04:002007-06-30T08:20:37.772-04:00How do you get blog hits?
I'm not much of a self promoter, never really liked doing so. But as a near invisible side show to the blogosphere, the only way I've been able to attract visitors is to put links in comments on other sites. I don't like harassing people with email (oh please link me!), either. Lately my hit stats have looked like this:
which is pretty pathetic. About a month agoLee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1111190396143077502005-04-27T18:59:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:18.780-05:00Here are some short reviews of albums I've picked up recently.
All Else Failed -- This Never Happened relates a deeper, more subtle and personal evil, one of broken trust and betrayal. The music is hard to classify. The lyrics are as ugly and personally oppressive as I've ever seen. "To whom it may concern" makes Henry Rollins look well adjusted. Sort of new Philadelphia hardcore with a Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1114533946430985402005-04-26T12:44:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:21.296-05:00I live just outside the Fairfax, VA city limits, and two sides of my lot border a small park. The upside of this (is there a down side? maybe the twelve tons of leaves that fall on my yard every year) is that a lot of animals stroll through or even make a home right in my backyard. I've seen ducks, deer, frogs, snakes, a hawk, many small birds, chipmunks, squirrels, woodpeckers, a groundhog Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1114055745341154182005-04-20T23:39:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:20.926-05:00Whoa.
I finally got around to tivoing the March 9th edition of Headbanger's Ball. Usually there's enough repeat videos that I've seen before, and enough songs turn me off in the first 30 seconds that I zip through the show pretty quickly. The very last video of the night started out with a simple riff and an unattractive clown. There's not much that turns me off quicker these days than guitarLee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1113592931649379322005-04-15T15:16:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:20.807-05:00Pretty incredible story about the guy who first caught Saddam Hussein in his hideout.Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1113493723540896232005-04-14T11:46:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:20.653-05:00Dave Leitao is in Charlottesville. I'd say it's about 98% likely he'll be hired as the new Virginia men's basketball coach.Lee J. Cockrelltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516827.post-1112650815288409572005-04-13T12:30:00.000-04:002006-11-13T10:26:19.883-05:00I don't watch much TV (outside of Virginia sports of course). But one show that I'm regularly tivoing is Battlestar Galactica. It's damn good, possibly the best science fiction show ever. Some called the first five minutes of the two part season one finale "the best five minutes of television ever". The second part of the finale ended with a tremendous out of nowhere cliffhanger.
(I saw a Lee J. Cockrell