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3/24/2019 - 3-24-19 Mr. Bojangles
I attended the Jerry Jeff Walker Birthday Bash in Austin Saturday night and witnessed a very different show from what I expected.
While I had read recently that Walker was battling cancer for a second time, I had forgotten that it was throat cancer. As you might imagine the voice was gravelly and weak. But that didn't stop him from treating the sold out crowd to some classics-Mr. Bojangles, Up Against the Wall, and Rusty Wier's "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance?"
But the evening belonged to Walker's songwriting buddies-Bruce Robinson, Joe Ely, Shawn Colvin, Jack Ingram, Michael Murphey, Kelly Willis and former San Francisco Giant star Tim Flannery, the evening's biggest surprise. The night was nostalgic, poignant, sad, funny and a reminder that 50 years goes by really quickly, something Walker repeatedly noted. Perhaps Jerry Jeff will return to celebrate his 78th birthday again next spring. If not, this was a fitting conclusion to a brilliant career.

3/13/2019 - That Is The Song They Sing So Well
Sometime in the near future we’ll have a happy picture of Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward fitting a new basketball coach with a maroon jacket and a shiny new contract. We’ll be told that the value of the contract demonstrates how serious the university is about basketball. What we won’t be told is the athletic director really has no interest in basketball. We won’t be told he had no contact with the former coach, Billy Kennedy during a challenging season that saw Kennedy’s two best players go down with injury and a post man leave five games into the season. We won’t be told if any money is actually being allocated to hire a marketing and promotions person to prevent Texas A&M from being the absolute worst basketball environment in a league that is and always will be a football league. We may or may not hear the AD thank Kennedy for his eight years of service at an institution that supposedly values doing things the right way. We may be told how Aggie fans deserve the best. Yea, about that. Aggie fans have to share some of the blame. They talk a good game about how special and different this place is. But when push comes to shove, they were ready to push and shove a man out the door that was the perfect representative of the school- someone who always did things the right way in a league of cheaters, someone who fully embraced the code of conduct and was content to finish his career here. So here’s to Buzz Williams, or whoever Woodward decides to hire. Good luck, you’ll need it. By the way, I reached out today to get a comment from Woodward. I was given the option to visit with a university spokesperson, but I declined.

11/21/2018 - 11-21-18 Farewell 29
A man my age is not supposed to have sports heroes anymore.
I have lived long enough and been burned enough over the years to know better. I'm also not supposed to cheer openly for any particular player or team. It comes with my line of work. But I have a confession to make. I have broken both of those rules the last 8 seasons watching Adrian Beltre play. Notice I said play and not work. That was the beauty of Beltre. While no one would ever question the work ethic or the fire that burned inside, we were allowed to see the boy in Beltre. He played with an unbridled passion and he played his position as well or better than anyone ever has. You couldn't help but smile when he went to his knee while slashing at a pitch or stared down any team member who dared to touch his head. The past two seasons #29 was really the only reason to watch the Rangers. I'm not sure how I will spend summer nights now. I'll probably watch anyway. But it won't be nearly as fun.

3/19/2018 - 3-19-18 Kennedy Quiets The Haters
As I wrote last month, there are still a few Aggie "fans" disappointed at this run to the Sweet 16. These are the "fans" who wanted Billy Kennedy fired. Now, they are silent. Kennedy quieted the haters with an all time performance yesterday in Charlotte in a 21 point beat down of Roy Williams and the Tar Heels. He becomes the winningest tournament coach in A&M hoops history. Granted, it's not much of a history but two sweet 16 appearances in 3 years qualifies him for the title. Kennedy's steady hand and quiet leadership has earned him praise from his own players, the national media and opposing coaches. I'm sure that's not enough for the dump Billy contingent. But for now the haters have to hate in silence.

2/12/2018 - 2-12-18 Aggie Hoop "Fans" Have Bad Week
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for unhappy A&M followers. The late, great Shelby Metcalf said it, "The only happy Aggie is an unhappy Aggie." So when the basketball team began SEC play 0-5 after being ranked as high as 5th in the nation, all the subway and social media crowd delighted in calling for Billy Kennedy's head on a platter. This is the group that delights in calling for all A&M coaches to be fired if they don't win enough.
I've never been quite sure what "enough" means. It just means when the "fans" aren't happy. So after clawing back to .500 by beating 8th ranked Auburn and #24 Kentucky, there are a lot of unhappy "fans." Imagine their disdain hearing John Calipari rave about Kennedy's character and coaching ability after a beatdown by the Ags Saturday night. It's enough to make a real "fan" puke.