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The Hybrid: Denard Sends Me To Heaven
College football is an emotional sport.
By Bobby Loesch Sep 15, 2011, 10:52am CDT
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Warning: Today's intro is going to be long, hyperbolic, self-indulgent, and probably involve teams and sports you don't care about. If you skip down to the meat and potatoes of the column (starts with "The Hybrid"), you'll save tons o' time, and it wouldn't offend me too much.
Last Saturday began normal enough.
I had plans with some friends to head up to Dekalb, Illinois, for Day Two of Middlewest Fest, a glorious music festival near NIU where you can get a wristband for pretty cheap and bounce between indoor and outdoor venues all day. Before we went to Middlewest Fest, my friends met up at my apartment, and we took in some sports. One Iowa triple-OT loss to Iowa State later, I was already on tilt. I don't want to go into the game, because I don't believe it's worth my time, but two things: 1) Iowa was up, like, 3-0 or 7-0 or something at the beginning of the game, and I remember thinking "this might be my favorite Iowa team of all time"...less than three hours later, it's quite possible I now care about the team only 14-22% as much as before, 2) Coaching decisions I vehemently disagreed with, summed up by the good SB Nation Iowa Blog, Black Heart Gold Pants (long, really smart, but don't read if you don't care about Iowa football):
FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU: Yeah, this was a frustrating loss. That's putting it kindly. As soon as [Iowa's kicker] Michael Meyer lined up for that field goal in the third overtime, every single Iowa fan knew how this game was going to end, and it wasn't going to be Iowa winning with those 41 points. Iowa hadn't actually stopped [Iowa State QB] Steele Jantz in long enough that conceding a 4th and 1 was tantamount to rolling over and accepting defeat, and sure enough, that's what Iowa State sealed five snaps later.
How bad was the decision to kick the field goal on 4th and 1? Consider this: Marcus Coker had rushed the ball 35 times on Saturday. He gained positive yardage on 32 of those rushes. Meanwhile, Iowa hadn't forced a punt since the opening minutes of the second quarter, and ISU had gained at least 25 yards on its last five drives/OT possessions, which had resulted in four touchdowns and one missed field goal after a 71-yard drive. Steele Jantz was in Full Heisman Mode at that point, and Iowa wasn't seriously keeping him out of the end zone without a major Cyclone error, a rarity in the game. But no, Ferentz went for the field goal...
...which is still more than you can say for his regulation endgame strategy, which entailed being given one shot at winning the game without the other team having a mandate to touch the ball with any meaningful time left. Iowa had the ball at its own 20 with 1:12 on the clock and two timeouts, something Ferentz didn't deem worthy of attempting to get points out of. He might have recognized that type of situation from Illinois 2008, when Iowa tied the score with under three minutes to play, only to see Juice effing Williams drive the Illini 51 yards from its own 20 for a game-winning field goal with 24 seconds left. He also might have recognized it from Ohio State 2009, when Iowa had the ball at its own 32 with 52 seconds left and one timeout in a tie game with the 11th-ranked team in the nation. Ferentz sat on the ball there too... and promptly lost in overtime.
I guess what I'm trying to say is if Kirk Ferentz taught a class in game theory, his A students would drive 20 miles an hour at all times, live in padded rooms, and be simpering virgins.
Bingo. Lately (and maybe always, but it seems more lately), there have been writers just killing it. And not only writing well, but writing thoughts I have in ways I could never write (more talented, more articulate, cooler ways of saying stuff, less parenthesis [way less]). While losing to Iowa State doesn't really bother me -- as I like Iowa State, think Iowa fans really need to be less smug about the rivalry, and it's really funny -- it's mostly just a bummer that the season is now officially over, and it didn't have to end that way -- Ferentz just needed some cojones. If Iowa now wins out (1% chance), the only thing that happens is they go to the meaningless Rose Bowl to lose to a Pac-12 team (cue all Big Ten fans busting out lotion). Horrible. We play for titles. I don't even know who I'm speaking on behalf of.
With 33% of my teams' college football seasons officially over just one week in, my attention shifted to the Roger Federer-Novak Djokovic U.S. Open semi-finals match. After going up two sets to none, it looked like Federer was going to cruise to victory, but, of course, that didn't happen. Fed dropped the next two sets, so, at that point, we decided to go up to Dekalb. When we got into town, a band I wanted to see (AM Taxi) was about to start playing. Instead of taking in their set, we went to this Irish pub to watch the rest of the Fed match, as we'd heard he had a lead in the fifth and final set. After some stellar tennis gave Federer *two* match points against Djok, it was not to be. The Serb came roaring back and stomped out Fed in the remaining games. Again, we'll cue a writer much better than me for some context (emphasis moine):
I want to be precise about this, because it's not the case that Federer's loss was purely arbitrary -- had he not double-faulted on break point at 5-3 in the fifth, or committed 59 unforced errors, he could have won regardless of that one match point. But because all the athletic-skill stuff was so evenly matched, because the mistakes and heroic deeds all worked out to a stalemate, that one lucky shot -- and even Djokovic agreed that it was lucky, although it's possible that he was being modest -- was able to change everything. If Djokovic wins against Nadal in the final [ed- you betta BELIEVE he did], it won't be an exaggeration to say that it changed tennis history.
Think about it: Djokovic goes from being a very good player whose season was tarnished by his inability to beat Federer (in the French Open semis and here) to holding three Grand Slam titles at once while being well on his way to completing maybe the best season in tennis history. Federer goes from being a player who can still beat the best to a definitively past-his-prime ex-champion who's dropped two straight semifinals late-round matches in majors after winning the first two sets. Nadal goes from having yet another crack at his rivalry with Federer to losing to Djokovic for a legacy-unsettling sixth straight time in a final. All because of that one shot.
So it's not hard to understand why Federer seemed dazed. The game can be pretty unjust...
So Federer's legacy -- which should be bulletproof -- now has a crack or two, and Djok rises. Fed's my favorite player (and probably a Top 10 favorite athlete) ever, so I was just really sad. The thing I kept thinking about the 3OT and Fed was "it's one thing to lose, everybody has teams that lose, it happens a lot, but to lose like that?" So terrible. So time to drank.
I finally pulled myself out of the booth and took in some music for a few hours. After all, Michigan-ND started at 7 p.m., and I figured I'd go on lockdown for that game. Which I did. After we watched a PA pop punk band called The Wonder Years, we went back to the Irish pub for some dinner. The game started, and boy, did it suck. Michigan dragged in the first half as the Notre Dame defense and the Michigan coaching staff competed to see who could stifle Denard Robinson more. Meanwhile, on the defensive side of the ball, Michigan surrendered many a yard to the Notre Dame O, specifically all-world Everything wide receiver Michael Floyd. Things didn't look great, but as bad as I felt, I deep down had not given up.
Around the second quarter, the guys I came with -- who, and this is probably important, really are not sports fans -- decided to go check out some more bands. Why wouldn't they? We were at a music festival. I opted to do the opposite and continued to watch the game by myself. One of the three said he might come back in an hour. He never did, and they never did.
Watching sports you care about when you're by yourself is kind of weird. If you're at home, you can multi-task, leave the room, go in and out, and it ultimately doesn't really matter as much. At a bar? Alone? Everything gets heightened. Important plays feel *double* important because you have no one to vent to (on the bad ones) or say "holy SHIT" to (on the good ones). Commercials are excruciating. And half-time feels like a long movie. If you have a good phone, you can kinda screw around on that, but if the game is mega-important (in your head), even the phone stuff doesn't do much good.
As the second half progressed, Michigan got a little feistier, but Notre Dame remained in relative control. And I started to get depressed. The 3OT, the Fed, and the booze were weighing on me. I began thinking about Denard and how in my mind he represents all that is good and how much I love the spread offense and how unfair it was to see RichRod go and how much I hate Michigan tradition and loathe the fact they'll never recruit another player like Denard. This mental flowchart eventually got to me, and I literally had tears in my eyes. Here is this dude who basically *is* Michigan football. It's not to say they don't have talented players, but if you really, unfairly boil it down, Denard Robinson *is* the team. Everybody knows him, everybody loves him, and, again, Michigan will never have another QB like him as long as the pro-style, Hoke regime is in place. It then occurred to me: I don't like Denard because he's fast and lithium and invincible, I like Denard because he has those qualities mixed with truly human ones: his legs will never match his arm, his size will never match his speed, and, as last year taught us, his physical health is never a guarantee. It really got to me. People lose their jobs, and starve, and die in wars, and this is the stupid thing I choose to care immensely about. Even though I could recognize the irony in my head, it still didn't hit me at the time. My heart was too invested. So pathetic.
I began bargaining. Thinking about the bet Dubs and I have on the game. I remember thinking "I would still even *do* all of the losers stuff if it meant Michigan actually won the game." Yes, I think with asterisks. At one point, Denard scored a touchdown by picking up the ball fumbled by the Michigan RB on the 1-yard line and running it in himself. Denard, being religious, drops down to one knee after every rushing touchdown he scores. It's brief, subtle, and dignified. I literally could envision him doing it when he's playing football by himself. When he did it on that night, I felt something powerful physically go through my body. I don't know if it was high levels of serotonin, an actual lightning bolt, or something divine, but I've never felt a feeling quite like that in my entire life. Head to toe.
Eventually, the action on the field became too provoking to stimulate independent thoughts. The game sucked me in, through and through. And the last five minutes of that fourth quarter? Just a pendulum of death. I'd been sitting at this table, drinking alone, and, at some point, without prompt, the waiter comes up and just gives me my check. I'm thinking "Uh? I'm not leaving until this game's over. FUFUFUFUFU."
I ignore the bill, but then, randomly, the feed on just the TV I'm watching stops working. Starts cutting in and out between the feed of the game and a blue screen. Horrible. It's like the football gods are like "You're at a music fest, your team has been losing for the last 55 minutes of game time, go watch music and stop watching this game!"
I pay the check, move two tables over, and sit on the floor up against a wall, staring straight up to now watch the game on the bar's big screen. That's when shit got even realer. In the game's crunch time, things that felt like game sealers became almost inconsequential with each swing.
- M Swing: Notre Dame, up three points, fumbles the ball in its own red zone. That would have been the chance to bury Michigan.
(Me: Dope.)
- ND Swing: Denard drives Michigan to mid-field but throws what feels like a game-ending interception downfield in ND territory.
(Me: The game is over?)
- M Swing: Michigan's defense forces an ND three-and-out, and follows it up with what feels like a game-ending touchdown with a little less than two minutes left.
(Me: Depleted. This is beautiful.)
- ND Swing: Notre Dame storms right back, scoring what feels like a game-ending, Michigan murdering touchdown through the air with thirty damn seconds in the game.
(Me: It's important to note, as heartbreaking as this play was -- and BOY, it was -- given what had just happened, it was completely impossible to fully give up hope. I mean, we'd just seen the craziest shit ever -- why wouldn't it get even crazier? This isn't to say I was in this Cubs fan, cheesy belief mode of "It's gonna happen! Yay!" It was more like a numbness to the pain I should have felt. Kind of like a mental patient with something vacant behind their eyes, I kept staring at the screen, just waiting for the next kickoff. Even though all math and logic said to give up in that moment.)
- The final swing: with, like, two grains of sand left in the hourglass, Michigan gets a miracle play from Denard to Jeremy Gallon (where was the coverage?!) and makes it into ND territory. With eight seconds on the clock, Denard throws a jump ball/fade-ish route to Roy Roundtree, who brings down his only catch of the day to give Michigan the lead via touchdown with two seconds left. There's supposedly a pentalty -- WHAT. -- but it ends up being on the defense.
(Me: Jumping up and down, screaming, high-fiving a stranger who didn't look like he cared about the teams but maybe had money on the game, but in some ways, the vacant-ness is still there. After all, there were two seconds left on the clock.)
Michigan then kicks off to ND, who muffs or fumbles the kick, and then, finally-finally-finally, the game ends. It's then these tears that had been in my eyes for like an hour turn into real, actual crying. Not choking up. Like, bawling newborn crying. I'm just sitting on this bar floor, overcome, head in my hands. And I can't stop. It goes on for a bit. At some point, I re-realize how stupid and crazy it must (and probably does) look, and I start to kind of laugh. It's at that point, the tears turn into this weird laughing/crying/smiling hybrid (hybrid).
I finally get up, compose myself, and walk to meet my sports-hating friends to catch the last band of the night, Tokyo Police Club. As soon as I see them, for some reason (booze?), I just start bawling and laughing again. In front of dudes. And our friend Shannon, who I hadn't seen in a year. They're looking at me like a total freak show, and, you know, deservedly so. I gave a poor explained what had happened, then I kind of just chilled out and took in music for an hour in this weird, subdued comedown.
After the show, I went home and re-watched the entire fourth quarter/post-game on my DVR. Much more dignity behind closed doors. After the game, Denard did this...
...for he is my leader.
What's so weird is, as "all-or-nothing-championship-or-bust" as I am of a college football fan, I know Michigan won't win the national title this year and I *know* that the game is pretty meaningless (even just on a sports level) in the big scheme of things, but it *still* was able to suck me in with it's in-the-moment stakes and significance.
If I had to justify my actions...you know when someone's like "it seemed like a good idea/made sense at the time"? This wasn't even that. Meanwhile, random Notre Dame fan on the Internet (via ND Nation, emphasis mine):
I cried like an asshole...
......for `15 minutes in the bathroom. and i[''m still drunk. I wanted to be as positive as I could the entire game until the pass. I crumpled up after that and cried and cried like I lost a good friend or some shit after that pass. Tonight I let the small bluegill and two other panfish that were in my aquirium into the creek down the street. I figured I can't have anymore pussies in my man cave. I will catch some fish that will be a fucking asshole ( like a bass) where every time I feed it it will dominate, and then shit out the remains. call me wierd but I got nothing left. I don't know what else to do. I look forward to the fall but the gets harder and harder each year.
I use this not to make fun, but so I can feel better about my own reaction. If me and that dude don't sum up college damn football, I don't know who does. Because, to me, that's the real college football: crying alone on the floor of a bar or bathroom, hating yourself, killing fish, and reserving shreds of hope that you hope can build up and become something more stable before the next season of misery starts.
Quick, Selective Hits On The AP Top 25
1) Oklahoma: I know I was mad you were No. 1 last week, but I really don't care anymore.
2) Alabama: ROLL DAMN TIDE.
3) LSU
4) Boise State
5) Florida State
6) Stanford
7) Wisconsin
8) Oklahoma State: I've complained a lot about this team this year, but I think I'm going to flip the script and just roll with them. Who cares if they flame out? They might do stuff for a while.
9) Texas A&M
10) South Carolina
11) Nebraska
12) Oregon
13) Virginia Tech
14) Arkansas
15) Michigan State: Why yes, The Situation was on the Michigan State sideline last weekend. ESPN's Big Ten Twitter feed sez: "Spartans defense racked up 3 TFLs for Mr. GTL." That joke is a huge, huge reach, and I still liked it.
Michigan State is cool.
Except these. They're not that bad, but the fans are way too excited about them.
16) Florida: I think what makes this Jason Whitlock takedown of Tim Tebow so good is not its general brilliance, but it's effortlessness. In a column about Cam Newton, J-Whitty dismisses Tebow so seamlessly, that if it was a hip-hop diss song, it would have only needed about one bar's worth of time:
(Cam) Newton would be best served developing outside the spotlight, below the radar. Each week doesn't need to be a referendum on his NFL future, a heated debate between his critics and supporters.
Again, he's not Tim Tebow, a tight end with an awkward and slow throwing motion, a religious symbol with a flock of followers from his college days.
Boom, roasted/pwn'd.
17) Ohio State: You should have lost to Toledo, and I hate you.
18) West Virginia: Not cool, West Virginia AD Oliver Luck:
I would like to request that if you see someone wearing one of these [West Fuckin Virginia] t-shirts that you politely ask him or her to change or to cover it up. Even wearing it inside-out would be an improvement. As you know, we have a big home football game against LSU coming up next Saturday and we would like to present a more favorable image to the millions of football fans from around the country who will be watching the game. Be polite, be courteous, be friendly--but do speak up.
Do not threaten this legacy, Mr. Luck!
19) Baylor
20) South Florida
21) Auburn: Like Okie State, I've been irked quite a bit by them this year, but after the goal line stand to beat Mississippi State? Hilarious. Auburn? Livin' on a prayer? You're cool. Welcome. You wanna keep sticking it to the haters, then do your thing.
22) Arizona State
23) TCU: Both
23) Texas: ranked 23? Feel like I've never seen this before.
25) Mississippi State: Auburn'd.
Dropped from rankings: Missouri (they were ranked?), Penn State (yup)
Any Sweet Games This Weekend?
LSU (3) at Mississippi State (25): Oh sweet, Thursday night lights? Maybe LSU on the ropes? Hey, maybe.
Seriously though, that No. 25 ranking seals it. How do we feel about LSU (3) at Mississippi State? You still like it? Oh, go to hell, I was trying to prove a point. This game should have something.
Boise State (4) at Toledo: Way to screw up a historic upset, Toledo. History also would have ignored facts like "Ohio State has no players" and "Even if Toledo somehow won, deep down, everyone would have known it was bullshit". It would have *forgotten* those things! And you still blew it.
Iowa State at UConn: Iowa State will be featured here until they lose a game.
Woooooo boy, does the early slate blow. There isn't a single game which features a ranked team playing another ranked team.
West Virginia (18) at Maryland: Eh.
Auburn (21) at Clemson: Meh, but it's probably the pick.
Eastern Michigan at Michigan: No.
Penn State at Temple: At Temple?
Pittsburgh at Iowa: When I think of this game, I think of a big smear of whatever Pittsburgh gold combined with Iowa gold looks like. SEC teams get cool articles like "Will LSU's running back break the sound barrier?" or "Florida QB approaches 14,000 yards". Teams like my alma mater get articles like "Will Iowa have enough conditioning to play with Pitt in the fourth quarter?"
Gotta be kidding me.
Southeast Missouri State at Purdue: Unreal out of conference sched. for Purdue -- Middle Tennessee State (almost lost), at Rice (lost), this game, and then, finally, respectable Notre Dame. The only thing lamer than this schedule is Michigan's complete unwillingness to play outside of the Big House for out of conference games. Ah, the almighty dollar.
Kansas at Georgia Tech: This should have been a good game; what the hell happened to G-Tech?
Coastal Carolina at Georgia: The Bulldogs are gettin' back on track!
Saturday Afternoon/Night (The real games)
Wisconsin (7) at Northern Illinois: I'm putting this game on here not because it's good, but because it's seriously better than every other game so far. Plus, you know, fantasy.
Washington at Nebraska (11): The post-Jake Locker invasion! I'm putting Nebraska on upset alert. Question: do I have the authority to put people on 'upset alert'?
Michigan State (15) at Notre Dame: Interesting with either outcome. I work with a Michigan State fan, and him and this Illinois fan I also work with are convinced Notre Dame is going to come out like rabid dogs with their backs against the wall. Nevermind how difficult it would be to keep a rabid dog still, do they have a point? My gut instinct was "no," but the more I think about the game, the more that doubt starts to trickle in. If you're going to make a case for ND, I'd throw in the home field advantage card. It's extremely easy to say "fifteen vs. unranked? psh," but if you think about it, Notre Dame was viewed as a Top 25 team going into this season (probably overvalued...crap, I'm deconstructing my own argument as I make it). Hmm. I'm going to cop out on making a pick, become Peter King, and say I think this game will be competitive.
Woo, wasted words.
Tennessee at Florida (16): MEH. Though Clay Travis insists the Vols have the best starting QB in the SEC. If that is actually the case, this game gets an upgrade to "peh?"
Texas (23) at UCLA: This really should be a cooler game. Replace UCLA with 2006 USC, and we just might have something here...
Northwestern at Army: Haha.
Washington State at San Diego State: 2-0 SUCKERS. Lasted longer than Iowa.
Also, I'd assumed 2-0 San Diego State was being led by starting QB and Michigan transfer Tate Forcier. Then I remembered transfers -- who aren't Russell Wilson -- actually have to sit out a year. Meaning Tate's actually been riding the pine pony this whole season. Oh well.
Also also, Forcier has a section in his Wikipedia page about his Pop Warner team. Seriously:
Forcier began working with athletic training guru Marv Marinovich as a third-grader. In 2001, Forcier quarterbacked the Carlsbad Charging Lancers to the four-team National Pop Warner Football Championship at the Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida in the Junior PeeWee division.
Most college athletes don't even *have* Wikipedia pages, and Forcier has this crap? People wonder why he does the things he does.
Arizona State (22) at Illinois: We need more Big Ten teams in this section (but they usually just play bad games). Though, now I have the excuse to link this.
Ohio State (17) at Miami (FL): What do I know about anything? I'm going to defer this section to Hybrid reader, Miami alum, and my friend, Paige:
Are you planning on writing a ASGTW? blurb for the Miami vs. tOSU game. If so, good. If not, consider this: It's a sleeping-rivalry stemming from Miami being ROBBED of the National Championship on a LATE pass interference call. Miami looking to right history last year, only to lose on an even sloppier performance than tOSU's sloppy performance. This year, while Miami is still looking to avenge the National Championship that was STOLEN from them, both teams have something to prove because both teams were slighted by the NCAA and the team that comes out on top can feel just THAT MUCH BETTER about themselves. Like, "Haha loser, NCAA fucked you harder." (And yet, even more so: It's fans delusionally making a way bigger deal about a game between two teams that were both better teams a year ago when they met, yet are still hyping this game up to be the 2003 Fiesta Bowl...or at least as big as last year's game. It's meeting of two teams who were stupid enough to get caught by the NCAA over tattoos and (as for the suspended Canes) less than $2,000 in gifts. It's basically bullshit on a way smaller stage than Miami and tOSU would want to admit.)
Whoever came up with the name Ineliga-bowl deserves a solid $20. I love when funny names can be that easy.
Oklahoma (1) at Florida State (5): WHERE IS MY GAME OF THE WEEK MACHINE?!
/finds, programs it
Game of the WeekGame of the WeekGame of the WeekGame of the Week
This game represents everything I like about college football. I don't even care of the quality of play is good*, because we have a meaningful, early-season game featuring two of college football's elite. Someone lose and sucks forever, someone wins and gets super elevated. Dare we say the winner will produce the national title favorite? DARE WE?!
* - I do care, slightly
Stanford (6) at Arizona: Really just can't bring myself to care about Stanford.
College Football Bandwagon
Every year, once my actual favorite teams (Michigan, Iowa, Washington State) have been eliminated from the national title picture (by, you know, losing just one game), my buddy Ryan and I create what we call the "College Football Bandwagon" which mostly consists of a list of all the undefeated BCS conference teams minus Notre Dame (and sometimes others). The goal of the CFB is to fake feel good about yourself when your "team" makes the national title game. Plus it provides invested, fake rooting interests.
College Football Bandwagon 2011? Nope.
I'm a man down with Iowa's bogus exit, but I've still got Michigan and Washington State. Ryan -- being an exclusively Iowa fan -- on the other hand?
1. Roll Tide
2. FSU and Big Jimbo
3. Future Niners QB Andrew Luck and his team
4. "I'm a man, I'm 40" because they kicked the shit out of that whiny asshole stoops
5. Ole Ball Coach
6. Mike Healy's second favorite team (see checkbook)
I could list more but for now these will do.
After he e-mailed the list, I asked him if we could talk about the Iowa 3OT loss. He said: "Not sure I want to talk about it, but if we don't talk about it before Saturday, we probably never will."
Oh, and for background on No. 6, our mutual friend Mike (Iowa alum) ordered regular checks from his bank, but, for some reason, the bank sent him back Arkansas Razorbacks checks. This synced up with the Ryan Mallett season last year, so he's decided to make the 'Backs his second favorite team until he's written his last check (or, by my better guess, forgets about it).
College Fantasy Football Update
What Denard Robinson is to my soul, heart, and well-being, Russell Wilson is to my shallow and unimportant fantasy team.
Week 2: Behind another stellar performance from R-Dubs (R-Dubs!), as well as huge leaps forwards from Michigan WRs Roy Roundtree (game-winning catch!) and Junior Hemingway (jump balls 4 life), I was able to nearly triple my buddy Chris' score. Iowa's players victimized him with low and crappy point totals. Lose the state, lose the fantasy matchup, I say. Whenever I think I might not actually like the Iowa State Cyclones, I remember that people call them the 'Clones, and I immediately get sucked back in. I love Iowa State.
This week: Russell and the boys take on a team that features some crappy (probably) Purdue QB, some Michigan State back who might be good, and, oh yes, the Michigan defense. Dude's 2-0, but I really should not lose this game.
Big Ten Rant
On the ten-year anniversary of September 11th, via Twitter, I asked @BoiledSports for a Q&A so we could squash our beef, but @BoiledSports has not responded. Tracking...
What They Said -- A Take On Others' CFB Takes
- Doc Saturday (who really should have his jersey retired in this section) wrote a really amazing piece on college football expansion/super conference/etc. I liked it so much, I e-mailed him afterwards and said something lame like "You killed it, son!"
/didn't actually say "son"
- Brian Kelly's ANGRY FACE gets the "U MAD BRO?" treatment in Ann Arbor at College GameDay
- That's not to say we can't all be redeemed. Kelly took a potshot at Ohio State's schedule during the week. Bitterness is goodness, Brian.
- Brady Hoke says the first cool thing he's probably ever said by comparing Denard to my favorite college football player of all-time. Maybe they'll switch places one day. In fact, I'm pretty sure of it.
Random Picture I Came Across While Googling Stuff For This Post
Wrapping It Up...
Last week, I ended this by saying: "Mostly just thinking about Penn State-'Bama."
Not only did I not watch a single second of that game, I don't believe I saw a second of a highlight of that game. Man, Penn State sucks.
Bobby Loesch is the associate editor of the Chicago sports blog Tremendous Upside Potential and a daily contributor to SB Nation Chicago. Follow him on Twitter @bobbystompy.


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text:
American Tire Distributors, Inc. (New)
Credit Opinion: American Tire Distributors, Inc. (New): Post-bankruptcy emergence assessment (following assignment of new ratings, including Caa1 CFR)
Rating Action: Moody's assigns Caa1 CFR to American Tire (New); outlook stable
Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of American Tire Distributors, Inc. (New)
NOTE: On August 9, 2019, the press release was corrected as follows: The third sentence of the Key Rating Considerations was changed to "Moody's estimates that leverage will remain elevated over the first year post-bankruptcy emergence, with earnings likely to decline fairly precipitously as both the Goodyear- and Bridgestone-related business from last year roll off." Revised release follows.
New York, August 08, 2019 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of American Tire Distributors, Inc. (New) and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.
American Tire American Tire Distributors, Inc.'s Caa1 Corporate Family Rating ("CFR") broadly reflects the company's high financial risk, ongoing disintermediation risk and increasing competition that is pressuring profitability margins and cash flows, and full reliance on existing asset-based lending facility for liquidity. The rating is supported by the long-term stability of replacement tire demand, as well as American Tire's large size and good market position, including its national footprint in North America. Moody's estimates that leverage will remain elevated over the first year post-bankruptcy emergence, with earnings likely to decline fairly precipitously as both the Goodyear- and Bridgestone-related business from last year roll off.
The principal methodology used for this review was Distribution & Supply Chain Services Industry published in June 2018. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
Inna Bodeck
Asst Vice President - Analyst

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Sept. 2018 - Congratulations to the Students of the Month: Morgan Wilmes for Junior High and Breanna Day for High School!
Nov. 2018 - Congratulations to the Students of the Month: Clay Hanson for Junior High and Thomas Herr for High School!
Dec. 2018 - Congratulations to the Students of the Month: Scott Blanchard for Junior High and Kloe Jenkins for High School!
Jan. 2019 - Congratulations to the Students of the Month: Kaitlyn O'Riley for Junior High and Halle Clement for High School!
Ian 2nd Place and going to State!
Feb. 2019 - Congratulations to Sarah Morgan for placing 3rd in Job Demo at SkillsUSA Competition!
Feb. 2019 - Congratulations to the Students of the Month: Rileigh Brown for Junior High and Rebecca Johnson for High School!
March 2019 - Congratulations to the Scholar Bowl Team last night 3-0, they finished the season with 9-5 record. Good Job Ladies.
March 2019 - Congratulations to the Students of the Month: Alex Noble for Junior High and Shaina Culp for High School!
April 2019 - Congratulations to Tillie Stanton for being being selected to the 1st Team All-Conference Scholar Bowl Team!
April 2019 - Congratulations to Tille Stanton for placing 3rd at All-District Scholar Bowl!


text:
The Salt Lake Tribune
Fleetwood Mac is back, strong as ever
You would think a band with so much history -- three decades of breakups, makeups, triumphs and tragedies -- would be too familiar to still inspire each other.
Not so with Fleetwood Mac, the 1998 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees who evolved from a British blues band into the consummate California rock band, producing one of the best-selling records of all time with 1977's "Rumours."
Joining forces to record together for the first time since 1987, Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood holed up in California in the summer of 2001 -- minus longtime keyboardist Christine McVie -- to follow up the group's successful 1997 comeback tour with an album of new material. While the boys worked through a slew of Buckingham songs and a CD of demos Nicks wrote on her own in Phoenix, she hit the road in support of her solo "Trouble in Shangri-la" album.
Nicks' tour was in New York City on 9-11 and she was stuck for three days until catching a bus to Atlantic City. But she stayed on the road because friends like Don Henley and Tom Petty told her, "people need music right now, and if they're willing to leave the house and get in their car and come see you, don't you dare come home." When she finished that emotional tour in December of 2001, she called her bandmates and asked for 30 days to write some new songs reflecting the experiences she had across America post-9-11. When the month was up, she got on a plane, met her fellow Fleetwood Macs in California and presented the results.
"I was a little terrified," Nicks said in an interview about giving those raw tracks to the band. "I walked in the house, gave Lindsay the cassette, and we played 'Destiny Rules' first, 'Silver Girl' second, 'Illumé' third, then 'Say You Will,' and of course, I burst into tears when we were playing the demo. And Lindsay, his eyes welled up with tears and he put his hand on my knee and said, 'How do you do that?' And I knew that I was OK. I knew I was in the ballgame at that point."
Nicks was more than "in the ballgame." "Say You Will" became the title of Fleetwood Mac's new album, a strong 18-song collection split evenly between Buckingham and Nicks compositions. "Say You Will" has all the trademarks that made Fleetwood Mac explode into one of rock's biggest acts: a rock-solid rhythm section with McVie and Fleetwood, Buckingham's tasty guitar work and the dueling vocals of Buckingham and Nicks. Christine McVie's voice is missed, but the album stands up with the band's stronger work from the 1970s and '80s.
Considering Buckingham left the Fleetwood Mac fold after 1987's "Tango in the Night," "Say You Will" is remarkably cohesive, and once the four remaining members decided to work on new music together again, the songs came quickly. Buckingham had about 15 songs already written, and Nicks brought 17 songs, some written as far back as 1976. New songs came as they worked, notably Nicks' post-9-11 tunes, and the band was close to releasing a double-album. Buckingham was pushing for it, but the others fought and eventually prevailed.
"We finally, as a group, decided that with the music market as it is, and the fact that we would, as Fleetwood Mac, be put up against Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake and on and on, that maybe the double-album wasn't such a good idea," Nicks said.
"It's still a lot of music. It's a lot of commitment to sit down and listen to this record. What I felt was that hopefully . . . there would be a universal message for everybody somewhere in this record."
Nicks' post-9-11 songs are among the best on the album, with the most subtle of nods to the tragic events of that day captured in her lyrics, except for "Illumé," the most-direct of the songs.
"As a writer, it was really important to me to say something about what I'd been through in the past year," Nicks said. "Because [Buckingham, McVie and Fleetwood] hadn't been through it. They were safe and sound in the house in Bel Air, and I was all over the country, walking out onstage with audiences bursting into tears. I needed, as a writer, to talk about it, even though it's really subtle in those four songs."
Describing the band's current tour, the 55-year-old Nicks sounds virtually giddy. She said it's the kind of show to make someone feel young again, and it certainly seems to be working for her. So far, the band has played about 35 shows, after rehearsing for three months, and things are clicking.
"You guys in Salt Lake are going to get this at the very best time, because we are so rehearsed now, and we know the show so well, that when we walk onstage, we are free to just perform," Nicks said. "I'm not worried about forgetting the words. I'm not worried about walking backwards into John's amp. I'm not worried about anything. When I walk onstage, I'm actually free to sing and dance and just have a great time."
The Salt Lake show Saturday has an added benefit for Nicks, who lived in Holladay when she was in junior high. She still has friends here, not to mention fond memories of the "only place I ever lived that has snow."
"When my dad came home and said, 'Pack up, we're moving to Los Angeles,' I was horrified," Nicks said. "So I'm always happy to come back to Salt Lake."%%Fleetwood Mac plays Salt Lake City's Delta Center on Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $29.50 to $125, and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets. %%Mac attack
* Fleetwood Mac plays Salt Lake City's Delta Center on Saturday at 8 p.m.
* Tickets range from $29.50 to $125, and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets.


Welcome to Running in Triangles.
Moms are busy people and we're all trying to keep up with the balancing acts of our lives. We try to juggle motherhood with a marriage and work, whether it's in the house or outside of it. We can't just take care of ourselves, we have others who depend on us. But one thing we need to remember is that we are just as important as everything else in our lives that demand our attention. Taking care of ourselves is essential to maintaining our mental health.
Here at Running in Triangles, you can find resources and information to help you do just that.
World Maternal Mental Health Day is May 1 2019!
Running in Triangles is an official global partner of the World Maternal Mental Health Day Campaign. Click here to sign the petition to have Maternal Mental Health Day officially recognized as the first Wednesday in May.
The Running in Triangles Team Is Expanding!
I am pleased to welcome Jess Sankar to the Running in Triangles team!
Jess will be taking on the role of Social Media Marketing and Content Creation. As we work on re-branding our Instagram page to focus on self care for moms, Jess will be sharing all kinds of tips, products and inspiration. As a busy mom of two gorgeous daughters, ages 5 and 2, Jess understands the importance of self-care for maintaining our mental health. So make sure to follow us on Instagram to see all of our new and exciting changes!


text:
Cape Gazette
Lewes, Delaware
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April 28, 2017 Cape Gazette
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Newspaper Archive of Cape Gazette produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
RESULTS Join us! THEMAXChallenge.com THE MAX Challenge of Lewes is taking enrollment for our very first 10-week challenge! Join right now so that you can lose weight, become healthier, and develop confidence alongside other people who understand and share the same goals. 302-703-1188 17437 Ocean One Plaza, Suite 2 Lewes, DE 19958 #THEMAXCHALLENGE Now is the time to start the Challenge. 74 FRIDAY, APRIL 28 - MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017	CAPE LIFE Cape Gazette ROTARY HOSTS YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE SUBMITTED PHOTO THE LEWES-REHOBOTH Rotary Club sponsored eight students from Sussex Tech High School to participate in the annual Rotary Youth Leadership Awards conference at the Carousel Hotel in Ocean City, Md., Feb. 17-21. The students were joined by more than 110 others from all over Rotary's Dis- trict 7630, which covers the eastern shores of Delaware and Maryland. The all-expenses-paid long weekend offered students inspirational steadiers and the opportunity to make lifelong friends through fellowship activities including discussions of ethical and social issues, communication and conflict resolution skills, business ethics, and how to plan and manage a project. The goal of conference organizers is for the students to return to their schools and communities motivated to take on other leadership roles and find additional ways to serve. Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who come together to make positive, lasting change in communities at home and abroad. The Lewes-Rehoboth Ro- tary Club is one of more than 35,000 worldwide. Eight Sussex Tech students attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Confer- ence. Shown are in back (l-r) Sydney Pulcinella, Madeline Scheider and Kath- ryn Gay. In front are Nikita Downs, Madeysn Puango, Jessica Robinson, and Tia Persolio. Kids Count in Delaware 2017 Fact Book released A new Kids Count in Delaware report provides current, compre- hensive data on children as they relate to some of the most press- ing issues facing the state: health, education, crime, the economy. This report is the singular ac- count of every child under 18 in the state of Delaware. It examines issues, it highlights trends and it ultimately serves as a critical tool for informed, empirically based policy decisions. "Data allow us to monitor what's hap- pening with our kids," said Janice Barlow, director of Kids Count in Delaware. This year's Fact Book high- lights Adverse Childhood Experiences, commonly referred to as ACEs. Research demon- strates that the negative impact of child trauma doesn't end in childhood, but often has effects into adulthood which can im- pact society in negative ways. The good news is that protective factors such as safe, stable and nurturing relationships can help to mitigate long-term impacts of ACEs. Worrisome data include Dela- ware's rate of children living in poverty. While down slightly to 18.5 percent for 2014-16 (from 20.1 percent last year), it remains higher than reported five years ago (16.9 percent). Economic hardship is one of the most com- mon ACEs reported in Delaware. Disparities in outcomes across a variety of measures (including infant mortality and low birth weight, as well as academic pro- ficiency and graduation rate) are further cause for concern. This year's Fact Book data show that Delaware's children are the most racially and ethnically di- verse generation ever - a shift that mirrors the national trend. "We know that race and ethnic- ity are connected to measurable differences in how children are understood and treated, their life experiences, and consequently their well-being and outcomes," said Barlow. The annual Fact Book high- lights several indicators where trends are getting better. Del- aware children continue to progress in the area of health. The rate of teen births has con- tinued a long-term decreasing trend. Also, graduation rates rose in multiple segments of the stu- dent population, including race, gender, income, and disability status. Children's experiences to- day shape the adults they will grow into tomorrow, impacting collective long-term success. Therefore, it is critical to measure and to understand the condi- tions in which children live so everyone can invest time, effort, and resources in ways that will ensure the best return on invest- ment for Delaware. For information or to view the 2017FactBook,gotodekidscount. org. Additional information is available at datacenter.kidscount. org.


They refilled the Gatorade machine again... less than two weeks later! I don't think they restocked everything (about half of the Fruit Punch Gatorade is still missing), but the Aquafina Alive water beverage that sold out last week is back in, alongside an equal amount of Propel fitness water (I didn't check to see how they qualify "water" on that one... I should). Could it be that they're finally test-marketing the vending machine as... a vending machine? Shock and horror! I don't know if I feel safe coming to my workplace anymore... the sudden change in habits is one of the signs of terrorist behavior, isn't it? Or am I thinking of the Imperius Curse?
Today's Bridge: Keith returned once again, and he was my partner. He didn't get to play any hands, unfortunately, but we didn't have much to work with. I ended with a 4D go-it-alone sacrifice (S K-x-x H Q-x D A-K-10-x-x-x C Q-x ish) for off two, which was the high point of the rubber.


Buying up big property while drinking a beer with the other hand in an intense game of monopoly, or thinking of a 4-letter word in scrabble that will score you high bonus points while shooting back shots – if this sounds like something you and your friends would like to be doing, check out our list of the best bars with board games in Vienna.
On any cold winter's night of the week, this place is packed with passionate card sharks, board game bandits (that's a word we just made up for people that like board games) and the sound of dice hitting the table. The dark wood, dimly lit atmosphere, with hundreds of board games piled around the place (see the complete list of board games Café Benno stocks, here) this is one of the most well-known haunts for those that like a long and drawn out game of Monopoly or chess with their drink. The food being served up here is also worth pausing a passionate round of poker for. This place gets busy, and the games lead people to occupying tables for hours on end, so we suggest you reserve.
Plus: There are also Bingo and Pub quiz nights held every week at Café Benno. Check the website for details.
If you're a student in Vienna and you don't know about this place, then you're studying too much. This student favourite has a decent selection of board games with big, spacious tables to play them on. Don't expect any obscure, limited edition warlord board games here, but all the favourites are there. The dark wood bench booths and bar of a Gasthaus add a cosy warmth to the 2-storey place with an echo and huge tunnel-shaped windows. There's also food to accompany your board game battles, including a selection ranging from sweet and savoury Palatschinken (pancake with filling), empanadas (2.80€), filled pita bread sandwiches (4.80–5.90€), and main dishes ranging in price (7–12€) and cuisine (Middle Eastern, French, Viennese kitchen classics).
They also have… live music on certain days of the week in winter.
This cafe is a bit of jewel in the second district and an old-timer in terms of Vienna's game cafes/bars. Just behind the Augarten, hidden within it's plain cream/orange facade, lives a Viennese institution, and a real character. Walking in is like a time warp back to Vienna in the 1950's. Game boards tower high around the cafe, while in an extra room across the street there are a bunch of billiard tables, a table tennis table and foolsball tables. There's a snack kiosk at the bar, wood paneling up the walls and the furniture would now be considered retro, but has been here since it was considered new. The owner is lovely, and while he might look like your typical Viennese coffeehouse owner, he is soft spoken and spry. There's something innocent in the atmosphere that belongs to simpler times.
We recommend… you book a billiard table (located across the street) in advance.
Tucked away in Laudongasse we find the curiously named Brot & Spiele. From the moment we step inside it feels like it's going to be a fun night. Apart from the Brot, there's plenty of beer und wine, in case you're worried. The walls are decorated by random plaques and some wall paintings of familiar cartoon characters. It's one of those places where you instantly feel comfortable.
They claim to have around a hundred games, ranging from the classics to quirky card games. If you're having trouble finding a game or need some help, there's a menu with all the games listed. They're categorised by the number of players, genre, the type of game, and whether you need a lot of space.
The staff are extremely attentive and we were never wanting for food & drink. But beware, they're also pretty strict when they see you 'cheating' at a game of Jenga. One hand only, this isn't kindergarten, guys! Oops!
Like any good board game bar, this place feels like your living room. This is the younger offshoot from the Brot & Speil crowd, and boasts the same credentials in terms of board game selection. There's around 130 games on offer, a Foosball table and several special games nights, including a Nintendo night, a new game tester night, along with Bingo and a pub quiz (For details, check out the Facebook page). The atmosphere is playful with games and cards stuck all over the wall, the kitchen is Tex-Mex and suitable to fill a alcohol soaked stomach, while the drinks are your standard selection.There's also a darts board for those brave enough to throw sharp objects while drinking.


Creator: Postell, DuPre, active 1870.
This collection contains a poem "The Fool's Dream". Signed Harold. Bears notation - DuPre Postell, Aug. 31, 1878.
[item identification], DuPre Postell poem, MS 627, Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.


text:
A Disappointing Deal
THE deal announced at Stormont on Tuesday has performed its primary aim of keeping the political institutions in place, but even as we continue to peruse the lengthy document, it's clear that it's deeply unsatisfactory.
The mathematics involved in the economics of 'mitigating' welfare reform measures which the British government have effectively been invited to implement are dizzyingly complicated – and their complexity is evident in the way that the figures are being used by political parties in just about any way they choose in order to fit their various political narratives. But even as we await the outworking of the coming welfare reforms and what they will actually mean for those in need, it's clear that Sinn Féin have resiled considerably from their 'red line' position of protecting the vulnerable – now and into the future – and their concomitant promise that no-one in need will lose out. It's abundantly clear that people in need will lose out – it is only a question of by how much. An abstruse figure of £345m has been posited for welfare mitigation purposes, but of course that figure is utterly meaningless unless we know the precise extent of the cuts to welfare that it is designed to offset. Knowing the Tories as we do, the hatchet is likely to be wielded here rather than the scalpel, meaning that the £345m is going to be spread very thinly indeed and the marginalised and the needy – the people that Sinn Féin loudly promised to defend – will be hit hard. And so therefore the party's absolutist position on welfare reform can be viewed as a very significant error, and an embarrassing one to boot.
If the British government has prevailed on the welfare reform saga, it has similarly had its way on the vexed legacy issue, which has been 'parked' yet again in the face of an implacable determination on the part of London that any agreement on how we deal with the past must be secondary to an iron-clad proviso that 'national security' will always trump the truth. Moving the British from this position is a challenge of mammoth proportions and it comes as no surprise that Sinn Féin – and the SDLP – failed there too. But once again victims, and in this instance victims of state violence in particular, are shunted to the side as other priorities take precedence. How many more aged and ageing relatives will have gone to their graves without having achieved truth and justice by the time this issue is next raised in any serious and meaningful way is a question that we can't answer. In their dogged battle against the truth, the British are using the attrition of the passing years as a cynical weapon against families and repeatedly setting the issue to the side suits them down to the ground.
Meanwhile, all that can be said about the section on paramilitarism – the very issue which precipitated the talks in the first place – is that it would be a joke if it weren't so serious. The paper-thin proposals are an endorsement of our repeated contention – one shared by many others – that this 'crisis' was in effect nothing more than a unionist sham fight and that the deaths of Kevin McGuigan and Jock Davison in reality meant little or nothing to those parties engaged in a struggle for unionist electoral supremacy.
The one issue during the talks that clearly proved least problematic was the need to give business a break. Striking a new and lower corporation tax was the right thing to do, but the poor and the marginalised will smile wryly at the fact that in Stormont 2015, giving money to business is infinitely easier than giving support to those who most need it.


Thomas (T.A.) Barron of Boulder is a best-selling author of over thirty books, many focused on the importance and power of nature, including the Merlin Saga. Mr. Barron, a Rhodes Scholar and graduate of Princeton, also completed a joint J.D.-M.B.A.. After a successful business career in New York City, he returned to his native Colorado to fulfill his true passion as a writer. Tom is a Trustee of Princeton University and has served on the national Board of Directors of the Wilderness Society, recently receiving their highest honor, the Robert Marshall award. He has also served on the Colorado Nature Conservancy Board of Directors.


text:
Heitzman Sions
2019 Breeders
2017 Breeding Program
2017 Cocks
2017 Hens
2017 Stock Birds
Racing Pigeons
2017 Key Breeding Pairs
The Heitzman Story
Pigeon Gallery
2016 Pigeon Stories
Pigeon Stories
Edward W. Hawkins
Writing & Reviews
Chesteen
LOST (Commies)
Lindy's parents were almost fifty years old when he was born. His mother, Maybel, had a wooden leg, the results of polio. That leg had soured her on life. But when Lindy was born she changed. In him she found a certain refuge. Her life became tolerable. In him, she demanded all.
Lindy's father was a tiny man with thick glasses. He worked in a railroad office close to their home. In his spare time he was the local scoutmaster, stressing duty and honor. ln his son went all his love, all his wisdom.
After high school, Lindy was accepted into West Point. West Point in 1951; the era of the Cold War. West Point, period; an incredible achievement from a tiny town in eastern Kentucky.
For Lindy's parents and the little town of Ravenna, Kentucky, it was a time of elation. It was pleasing to know that an especially kind person be justly rewarded. While at West Point, Lindy's father died. When Lindy graduated, he switched branches of the service. He had to support his mother and the Air Force paid more. From a flight training school in Georgia, Lindy went into S.A.C. In the next few years he became a captain of one of the most destructive bombers in the world. He also fell in love and married Audry, a girl from Iowa. As Lindy became more and more addicted to flying, to power, and to spending days of never landing, his wife and mother competed for his ground time, his love. Audry thought that if she had a child, then Lindy's flying addiction would fade. She had twins, two fine sons.
Still, it wasn't enough. Shortly after, she took her own life.
The two babies were given to Audry's mother. She blamed Lindy for Audry's death. Lindy surrendered from the skies. The Air Force didn't want a person in control of a bomber under such psychological duress; A duress soon evolved into depression. You love literature, they reminded him. If you want to teach English at the academy, we'll hire you. First you need a Ph.D. We'll pay for any place you want to go. The pension he got, he gave to his sons and mother. Material possessions meant nothing to him.
Through it all, Lindy's mother had tried to believe that he was temporarily sick. But when she looked in the mirror she knew that things were not going to change. That everything good and glorious was gone never to return.
At home, Lindy stayed mostly in his dim lit bedroom, sitting in an old rocker next to his bed. Beneath the cracked plaster in his ceiling were relics of his past. His father's B.S.A. Silver Beaver award, his tight-tucked, grey, wool West Point blanket, framed letters from his classmates', generals and the men who'd walked on themoon. An old brown radio always played jazz and blues. Beneath his bed, and stacked everywhere on the floor, were novels. He could easily quote from any of them, especially Hemingway. Several years ago, on a day before Christmas, I stood by my loft, looking at Lindy's empty home. I knew that he was in the V.A. hospital and that his mother had been placed in a rest home.
That evening, I found myself near Lindy, fetching him back home. The V.A. Hospital was a tall, stark, brick building full of forgotten, lost and tortured souls. Lindy's private cubicle was not much larger than his half bed; almost a closet. "I like it." he said, "It reminds me of the Point." Lindy could not escape his memory of glory and then what had happened to Audry and his sons.
When he was a boy, he'd been elated to receive letters back from the soldiers in the war. Now, the great war was in him. Once, he'd jumped up on a table and led the cadets in a cheer against Navy. Once he and Audrey had bowed under so many crossed swords as rice filled the air.
Lindy had lost a lot of weight since I'd last seen him. He seemed more nervous and grey, constantly burning a cigarette. Outside, the night owned a biting cold. And up in the sky, a full moon had two halos surrounding it. "Looks like two in a holding pattern," he said. Then he looked at me and pulled out a drink. "We'll never get out of the twentieth century," he assured. He couldn't have been more serious, or pleased. Pausing, we noted a poor pigeon, all ruffled up and roosting alone just outside his window.
"Sometimes a racer gets lost and winds up like that," I remarked.
Lindy stared a long time at the bird, just as he'd been doing day from his room.
I could only wonder what he was thinking.
Lindy Yeager, my mentor and close friend up until his suicide. This photo is of Lindy while he was in The Strategic Air Command; he was reputed to be one of the best of the best pilots.
Lindy Yeager, my mentor and close friend up until his suicide. This photo is of Lindy while he was at West Point
by No Sweat
(c) copyright protected
2011 Racing Pigeon Notes
As Innocent As A Dove
Bird Brains And Hemp Seed
Charles Heitzman
Fly Me To The Moon...
Heaven Roosted There
Love Denied: A True Story For Gene Yoes
Once There Was A Way
Peg Leg
Return To Nothing
Sion History
Sions
The Father Of Freud
When She


text:
Joakim Noah returns to Knicks after illness, may get limited playing time
By Peter Botte
Joakim Noah has averaged 4.3 points and 8.9 rebounds over 23.4 minutes per game this season. (Mary Altaffer/AP)
Knicks big man Joakim Noah returned to the starting lineup on Friday night after missing the previous two games this week - both victories - with an undisclosed illness.
"Jo, his minutes probably will be limited a little bit," Jeff Hornacek said at the Garden before the first of back-to-back games against the Charlotte Hornets. "Coming off the sickness, he's a guy that relies on his energy, and we need that for us. So we'll see how it goes. I might start him and give him some minutes and see how it goes and then we'll make our adjustments."
Hornacek indicated that he hopes that Noah, who participated in the Knicks' shootaround on Friday morning after sitting out Sunday's win over Atlanta and Tuesday's victory over Portland, will also be to play on Saturday night in Charlotte.
"I think whenever anyone comes off a sickness, you kind of expect they're going to be a little bit sluggish that first game," Hornacek added. "So I guess his minutes can be limited a little bit tonight, depends how he's looking, but then tomorrow night, once you get one game under your belt, you're usually OK."
Signed in the offseason to a four-year deal worth $72 million, Noah has averaged 4.3 points and 8.9 rebounds over 23.4 minutes per game in his first season playing for his hometown Knicks.
With Noah sidelined against Portland, Kristaps Porzingis switched to center for parts of the game and notched his second 30-point outing of the season. He shot 13-for-23 from the floor, including three three-pointers, for 31 points in more than 39 minutes of action.
"I like what KP is doing," Hornacek said. "He's not trying to force a lot of things. He's playing within the game. When he's rolling, then it's a time when he may take one that - what do they call them, heat checks, or ill-advised shots, but a lot of times he's making those.
"So he's really grown in his game. He's finding out where he can get his opportunities and consequently if you're not forcing things up there then you're going to end up shooting a pretty good percentage and right now his percentages are good."
Kristaps Porzingis switched to center in Joakim Noah's absence and notched his second 30-point outing of the season. (Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Charlotte guard Kemba Walker also has put up career-best numbers to start the season; the Bronx and UConn product came into the Garden averaging 24.8 points and 5.4 assists per game in 14 appearances.
"Kemba's having a great year," Hornacek said. "He's really shooting the ball well, getting his guys involved, a guy that (Knicks point guards) Derrick (Rose) and Brandon (Jennings) are going to really have to deal with and make him take tough shots. They're going to have fight over screens. If they trail, Kemba has an unbelievable in-out dribble that really freezes the bigs.
"So the guards are always going to be key. There are so many great point guards in this league, a lot of times that's where the battle comes down to."
The Knicks entered the night with five straight home victories, but they have dropped five of six games this season on the road before also facing Walker and the Hornets on Saturday at Spectrum Center.
"No different than any other games, we'll play tonight's game, get on the plane, you rewatch the game and you see what happened in tonight's game that maybe you can take advantage of tomorrow," Hornacek said. "It's always tough playing a team back to back like that, but you go out and it should be a good battle by the second night, because each team just got done playing.
"It's like practice. One team may win one day, then the next team the next day, so I don't know if I particularly like them, having to turn right around. If you win both, they're great. If you lose both, no, they're not. So who knows? You just have to play them."
Latest Knicks
Stealing plays is common, legal and accepted in basketball


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A New Marine Superintendent at the Helm
This spring, Quentin Lewis, a long time captain for the BIOS-operated research vessel Atlantic Explorer, joined the staff as the Institute's marine superintendent. Lewis, who is 54 and hails from North Carolina, replaced Ron Harelstad in the position. Lewis is a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marines Academy, spent over a decade as the marine superintendent for Duke University, and ran a small business delivering vessels on the East and Gulf coasts. Lewis' wife, Lisa, is a regional business manager for a group of radio stations in North Carolina. They have an 11-year-old daughter, Samantha. Here Lewis details his involvement with BIOS, his family's maritime history, and the projects he's involved with as he begins full time employment with the Institute.
How he came to work at BIOS:
In 2007 there was a need for a second captain, so Lee Black, the marine superintendent at BIOS asked about my interest in contracting work for the Atlantic Explorer, which I began that April. For the past 8 years, I have been working about 150 to 170 days a year for BIOS, rotating with another captain about every other month. That continued until I took my current position this spring.
His business making on water vessel deliveries:
My job was to move boats around for clients. The owners of tugs, ferries and yachts would contact me to arrange for a crew when they wanted their boats moved from point A to B. It was a small business inspired by a friend who worked for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Ferry Division; he knew of several different shipyards that needed boats moved. Eventually my work for BIOS became my primary contract so I started hiring crews to complete my other contract deliveries.
A family maritime history:
I grew up in a small coastal town with a rich maritime history outside Beaufort, North Carolina. Several people in my family have been going to sea for years; one grandfather was in the Coast Guard, and my other grandfather was a Merchant Marine captain on a tanker. When I went to high school I had planned to go to the Coast Guard Academy, but my advisor suggested that I apply to the Naval Academy, as well as the Merchant Marine Academy. I decided to go into the commercial side of things with the Merchant Marines.
Why the BIOS marine superintendent job appealed to him:
I felt if ever there was a job I would be qualified to do, this is it. I'd been marine superintendent at Duke University for 13 years so I knew what the job entailed. I had been the senior-most captain on the Atlantic Explorer for more than eight years, so I knew what that side of the operation involved. And I figured with those two things in my background, plus my education with the Academy, it would be a unique opportunity to bring my experience here.
Projects on his plate at BIOS:
Early next year we have a significant period of maintenance planned for the Atlantic Explorer. Although the ship is approaching the age of 35, the vessel still has many good years of service to BIOS and the oceanographic community ahead. We expect the Atlantic Explorer to be at the shipyard for 10 weeks, from mid-January through late March 2017, and we are already busy all of the preparations needed to make this shipyard stay a success.
What he enjoys about his work at BIOS:
Since we are a single-ship operation, our marine operations department staff has to wear multiple hats. We have an incredible team in the office and on the ship. I like that I don't have to build a great department; it is already here. I can just get myself into it and help lead by good example. I really like that the job is never the same two days in a row. I enjoy supporting the scientists and seeing people leave BIOS with their experience here a very positive one and with their research goals met.


(Credit: Jes Aznar / Stringer) As part of the establishment of Philippine economy and its ally powers. Rodrigo Duterte pledges to protect the BPO industry and sector in the country.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will protect the country's business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, a Cabinet official said Thursday, as he urged stakeholders to "forget the political noise."
The BPO industry, which employs 1.2 million, has sought clarification from the President on his tough rhetoric against its main client, the United States.
"I assure you that the BPO sector will be protected not only by me, but by the President," Secretary Rodolfo Salalima of the Department of Information and Communication Technology said.
"Contracts that have been enforced and still existing shall be respected and will continue until their full implementation," he added.
Salalima told a BPO summit that his agency would ensure policies are in place to sustain the industry's growth.
"It is clear that the creation of the DICT will make the country a prime spot for the BPO industry and we assure you that the same objective and mandate of our department will remain and be pursued," he said.
During the summit, the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) presented its roadmap for the next six years.
Industry revenues had the potential to reach $38.9 billion in 2022 from $22.9 billion this year, said IBPAP vice chairman Lito Tayag.
The Philippine outsourcing industry aims to increase its share of the global market to 15.5 percent in 2022 from the current 12.6 percent, he said.
Tayag said the industry would continue to be a key job generator, accounting for one in every seven jobs created in the next seven years.
It also aims to expand outside the capital, where it aims to grow employment by 11 percent and plans to hire more workers with post-graduate qualifications, he said.
The group plans to increase its non-voice offerings to 42 percent from 34 percent. The industry had been preparing to weather the impact of the automation of voice-based services.
The industry would rather focus on the President's economic agenda and on their foreign business counterparts, Philippine Call Center and Outsourcing Alliance founding President joji Bian Ilagan told ANC's "Market Edge with Cathy Yang."
"As a sector we would like to focus on that so that our outsourcing partners would realize, it makes good business sense doing outsourcing in the Philippines," she said.
Duterte announced last week the country's "separation" from the US, while on a four-day state visit to China, capping weeks of verbal attacks on Washington for criticizing his bloody war on drugs.
He has also threatened to curse at US President Barack Obama, forcing the cancellation of their planned meeting in Laos in September, and ordered a stop to joint sea patrols between Filipino and American troops.


At the end of 2017, Richard Berry & Sons of Cutler, California earned a unique distinction when they took possession of a new fixed-frame Challenger 1046.
In total, the Berrys run eight Challenger tractors. Bob Berry, Vincent's father, says they bought their first about 20 years ago, moving from heavy steel-tracked equipment to today's rubber-tracked and wheeled equipment. Due to their power and reliability, each tractor fills a specific role in the operation. The MT400 and MT500 Series are used in the citrus and row-crop endeavors, while the MT600 Series is their choice for lighter land development.
With the power of an articulated-frame tractor and the efficiency of a fixed-frame machine, the Challenger 1046 has brought new versatility to the family's business. This is especially important as the population continues to grow in California's Central Valley, making the transport of heavy equipment more difficult.


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Canadian singer Bryan Adams has released 18 studio releases, six compilation albums, two soundtrack albums, six live albums, and 74 singles. After the success of his debut single, "Let Me Take You Dancing" (1979), Adams signed a recording contract with A&M Records. Bryan Adams (1980), his debut album, peaked at number 69 on the Canadian RPM Albums Chart. Adams followed this with You Want It You Got It (1981), which peaked at number 118 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold in Canada. Cuts Like a Knife, his third release, became his first successful work outside Canada. The album charted within the top 10 in Canada and the United States and was certified three-times platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Reckless (1984), his fourth studio album, selling over 12 million copies worldwide and featured the hit singles "Run to You", "Heaven" and "Summer of '69". In 1987, he released Into the Fire, which reached platinum status in the United States and triple-platinum in Canada.

Adams entered the 1990s with the release of Waking Up the Neighbours (1991), which contained "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", the theme song for the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It went on to sell more than 15 million copies worldwide, making it Adams's most successful song, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. The album was sold in approximately 16 million copies, including being certified diamond in Canada. He also released his first greatest hits compilation, So Far So Good, in 1993. This album topped the charts in nine countries and was certified six-times platinum and seven-times platinum by the RIAA and CRIA respectively. His seventh studio album, 18 til I Die, was released in 1996. It sold five million copies worldwide and was certified platinum in the United States. MTV Unplugged, an acoustic live album released in 1997, reached the top 10 in four countries while selling two million copies in Europe. Adams' eighth studio album, On a Day Like Today (1998), was certified double-platinum by the CRIA and platinum by the IFPI Platinum Europe Awards. His second compilation album, The Best of Me (1999), sold two million copies in Europe and went three-times platinum in Canada.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) was certified gold by the RIAA and included the hit single "Here I Am". Room Service (2004), his ninth studio album, peaked at number 134 on the Billboard 200 and sold only 44,000 copies in the United States. However, it topped the album charts in Germany and Switzerland. Adams' third greatest hits compilation, Anthology, was released in 2005. 11 (2008), Adams' tenth studio album, peaked at number 80 on the Billboard 200 and became his third number-one album in Canada. Although it did not receive any certifications in Canada or the United Kingdom, the album sold over half-a-million units worldwide. In 2015, the thirteenth studio album Get Up was released; it reached the first position of the ranking in Switzerland, the second position in the UK and the third position in Germany. In September 2017, Adams announced via social media the release of a new compilation called Ultimate featuring 19 of his greatest hits and two new songs, "Please Stay" and "Ultimate Love". Shine a Light is the Canadian singer-songwriter's 14th studio album, which was released on March 1, 2019,. The album debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart.; second place in the United Kingdom,  Switzerland, Austria and New Zealand; the third position in Germany. According to the RIAA, Adams' album and singles sales have been certified at over 22 million copies while globally, he has sold between 75 and 100 million records.

Albums

Studio albums

Special self-released digital studio albums

Live albums

Special self-released digital live albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

1970s–1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Notes
 A  "Let Me Take You Dancing" peaked at 18 on the RPM Dance/Urban Chart, but peaked only at 90 on their singles chart.
 B  According to co-writer Jim Vallance, "Christmas Time" did not chart on the RPM chart, but instead on a chart known as The Record.
 C  "On a Day Like Today" peaked at 14 on the Billboard Canadian Singles Chart in 1998.
 D  "Don't Give Up" charted in Canada only on the RPM Dance/Urban chart at 9.

2020s

Guest appearances

Songwriting credits

See also
 Bryan Adams videography
 List of diamond-certified albums in Canada

References
General

 Bryan Adams discography

Specific

External links

Discographies of Canadian artists
Discography
Rock music discographies
Pop music discographies

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Het Tswana (Tswana: Setswana) is een Bantoetaal, die wordt gesproken in Botswana door meer dan een miljoen en in het aangrenzende deel van Zuid-Afrika door meer dan drie miljoen Batswana. Kleinere aantal sprekers bevinden zich in Zimbabwe en in Namibië. Het is een van de elf officiële talen van Zuid-Afrika en een van de twee officiële talen van Botswana.

Het is naast het Afrikaans en het Engels een van de talen van de Zuid-Afrikaanse Noordwest Universiteit (Yunibesiti ya Bokone-Bophirima). Vroeger werd de taal Beetsjoeaans genoemd. Een spellingvariant van de zelfbenaming Setswana is Sechuana.

Binnen de Bantoetalen maakt het Tswana samen met het Noord-Sotho, het Zuid-Sotho en het Lozi deel uit van de Sotho-Tswanatalen.

Externe link
 Ethnologue over het Tswana

Natuurlijke taal
Taal in Zuid-Afrika
Taal in Botswana
Taal in Namibië
Bantoe-taalfamilie


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The staff at our luxury banquet hall will do everything possible to ensure your celebration is better than expected. When you choose Amaseena Restaurant & Lounge as your event venue, you can expect a quality chef that can provide your guests with delicious food options, a bartender that will go above and beyond to help guests have a good time, and a staff that care about your individual needs.
Planning your event our Amaseena Restaurant & Lounge is a great way to ensure your celebration is perfect. Our Old Granada luxury banquet hall is the perfect venue for your event of under 200 people. You can expect a beautiful space, a friendly staff, and the best experience possible. We can help create the perfect look and feel for your event and celebration. Our professional and skilled chefs can create a meal that you need and our staff will go above and beyond to make sure you have everything you need.
Amaseena Restaurant & Lounge is a small, luxury-event venue that is located in the heart of Old Granada. We can host baby showers, bridal showers, birthday parties, quinceañeras, engagement parties, weddings, corporate events, product-launch parties, and more! Our event venue can hold up to 200 people and is perfect for your smaller events. We have an in-house chef, bartenders, and a staff that can help your event go smoothly.
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University of California, Riverside ARTSblock
The University of California, Riverside ARTSblock (UCRArtsBlock) is a new arts and cultural center created by the university comprised of three of the university's art museums: the California Museum of Photography, the Sweeney Art Gallery, and the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts. They are housed in three adjoining buildings on the same block and as such are easily accessible. The center's mission is to be a cultural, education, and community center. Its programs and exhibits explore contemporary art, media arts, and the history and practice of photography. The center also holds performances, workshops, and offers artist residencies. As part of an educational institution, students are actively involved in the center in various capacities including internships and art exhibitions.
The California Museum of Photography
The Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts. The Sweeney Art Gallery is housed in this building.
The building the California Museum of Photography was once the Kress' store and said building was adaptively used throughout the years until housing the museum of Photography.
The Culver Center is located in a building originally designed for a department store.
http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/Page/about Dr. Alan Curl. Resident Historian of Riverside, CA.
http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/
Riverside, CA 0
Tue-Sat: 12pm-5pm
Art and Art Museums
Created by Ben M on May 27th 2015, 3:01:12 pm.
Last updated by Mike Emett on September 26th 2015, 11:11:22 pm.


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We invite our Irvine Volkswagen and Huntington Beach Volkswagen customers to schedule your routine maintenance and/or repairs with our highly trained and certified staff, including Orange County's largest number of four Master Technicians. We also offer a no-charge recall check to make sure your VW is safe for your family. Take advantage of special offers on service, parts, and accessories with our regularly updated service coupons. When you're ready for a test drive, contact us and view our hours and map. For your New and Pre-Owned Volkswagen dealer needs in Santa Ana, Irvine, Orange, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Brea, visit VW South Coast.


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Korotzer | 'GAP: Crossing Borders U.S.A'
'GAP: Crossing Borders U.S.A'
by Katie Korotzer
In a powerful show opening September 5 at the Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery/JPG@The Bank in Lafayette, CA, artist and curator Carl Heyward presents the work of over 30 international artists affiliated with the Global Art Project who have something to say on the idea of crossing borders.
The Global Art Project is a worldwide network of artists committed to freedom of expression, the principles of equality and shared experiences despite boundaries. Since its beginning in 2011, GAP has looked at hard issues of race, injustice and our relationship to created borders. Heyward, one of 5 original founders of GAP, feels that now in the time of the Covid Pandemic, the show which has been planned for over a year, is even more relevant.
According to gallery owner Jennifer Perlmutter, the work in this show, 'GAP: Crossing Borders U.S.A.' sets itself apart from Bay Area figurative with mixed media collage and conceptual work that includes textile, video, abstract, photography and installation. Perlmutter states that 'GAP and Carl Heyward represent the most diverse group of artists in the Bay Area', and in it's goal to be a platform for local arts organizations and artists, believes that more space ought to be given to underrepresented groups.
The artists in the show are from 17 countries including several from the Bay Area and other places in the United States. Heyward worked with his Dutch counterpart, curator and artist Ron Weijers, to bring this show to the U.S. after the show debuted in August 2019 in a 14th Century Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium.
In its U.S. opening, Heyward, an American artist based in Benicia, CA, has curated the work for 'GAP Crossing Borders' with the intention of reflecting on the role of migration as interpreted by art.
With a potent combination of mindful awareness, appetite for connection and seemingly near limitless energy, Heyward is master of what he calls the "Incandescent NOW", as illustrated by his non-stop rotation of curating and organizing shows for GAP and at Gallerie Renee Marie in Benicia, CA, in addition to teaching workshops and in his own studio practice. Heyward constantly encourages collaboration between artists in order to increase creative discovery and to share ideas with the public.
Both 'GAP: Crossing Borders U.S.A.' and another recent show curated by Heyward, 'Obilterants and Other Brush Strokes' at Gallerie Renee Marie (through October 31, 2020), have been on the calendar for at least a year; both shows were conceived with themes centered around the political times. But the Covid Pandemic and its evolving fallout have cast a strangely prescient, and rueful mood over both exhibitions, and Heyward has made appropriate curatorial decisions in response. Both shows deal with barriers: with their limitations, the ways around them and the power plays associated with them. These concepts are fully explored in the work of 'GAP: Crossing Borders'.
The main question posed by 'GAP: Crossing Borders U.S.A.' is "what barriers are you willing to cross?". In their work, the artists' responses range from how barriers shape and control us, to the idea of the 'other' and to adaptation. The work in the show is advanced and metaphorical; yet accessible to the viewer in its emotional range. A real strength of the show, and a reflection of Heyward's curatorial talent, is that within the poignant subject matter, there is room for lightness and humor. For example, the multi-media work of Ghanian artist Patrick Tagoe-Turkson which incorporates the use of floating flip-flop debris found on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, into lively cobalt blue and white weavings, and the ambiguous beauty of the installations by U.S. artist Francis Beaty, 'Lift Off' and 'On the Mend' composed with Tyvek and temporary fencing material, respectively.
Yet the arc of 'Crossing Borders' leans towards a warning by artists for those who would ignore the implications of political and social barriers. The work of Syporca Whandal of Hungary, 'Arrogance of the System', Ana Gabino of Mexico, 'Loto 2018' and Nadi Adatepe of Norway, 'Jesus as Refugee' particularly strike the viewer in this way.
In what has been the key to curating both 'Obliterants' and 'GAP: Crossing Borders U.S.A.', Heyward's approach has been to let the work speak for itself. As he sees it, the key concern for the times has been how visual content can resonate with the general sense of distortion and decay in terms of decisions about what is important. As Heyward puts it, 'what plans might we make? what voices need censoring, what needs to be truly heard? We do not know'. Heyward's curatorial solution is to find the rhythm of sequences and relationships between works by paying attention to both the visual content and the actual visual appearance and placement of the works. In this way, the viewer is free to explore groupings, making observations and associations of their own, without the burden of editing out a received voice or directive.
Heyward, who is Black, is first and foremost an artist, and his work is represented in both shows. His two mixed media pieces in 'Obliterants', both entitled 'Tribal War', (10″ x10″ mixed media on paper) make elegant note of white supremacist atrocities committed against Native Americans during the founding of the United States. In line with Heyward's observation that our world is lacking in 'serenity, acceptance, mourning, patience and admittedly, love'; Heyward feels that we are at a loss as to how to summon these qualities in the face of a racist, misogynistic, fear-based culture. Compassion, a key characteristic of the emotional resonance of Heyward's artwork, may be the answer; yet Heyward describes himself as living by a philosophy of fundamental freedom that does not rely upon law, lies or the lives and permissions of others. Essentially, the important thing is to do what one can in a lifetime to enact change without becoming a victim.
And broadly speaking, this approach of Heyward's has provided the central motivation for the creation of GAP and is expressed visually through the artwork done by the men and women of GAP.
Both 'GAP: Crossing Borders U.S.A.' at Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery/JPG@The Bank in Lafayette, CA and 'Obliterants And Other Brush Strokes' in Benicia, CA can be seen in person by appointment for a socially distanced visit or by 3-D Virtual Tours. Heyward will be hosting weekly Instagram interviews with GAP members about the current political climate in a show called 'Take a Breath'
Whether virtually or in person, viewers should not miss the opportunity to experience these collections of insightful work by local and international artists.
In Teoria


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The American Academy Raises New Round of Venture Capital Financing
Post by: Meyer in Education Press Releases Press Releases
Jeff Beck, The American Academy
Jeff.Beck@NoDropouts.com
www.NoDropouts.com
Dropout Recovery innovators raise $6 Million to expand reach to at-risk children via its NoDropoutsTM offering
The American Academy (TAA), which partners with school districts across the nation to recruit, enroll and educate children who cannot or will not attend school, has secured $6 million in Series C financing to bolster its commitment to getting more at-risk youth to graduation day. In conjunction with the Series C investment, Mark Grovic, co-founder and General Partner at New Markets Venture Partners, joined the Company's Board of Directors.
The financing was led by New Markets Venture Partners and Anthony Meyer, a TAA co-founder. Existing investors Austin Ventures and Signal Peak Ventures (formerly vSpring Capital) also participated in the round. GSV Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisor to TAA in the transaction.
"We are very pleased to welcome Mark to our board and New Markets to our family of investors. Mark knows our market, our company and our mission very well," said TAA co-founder and President Gregg Rosann. "This capital investment will allow us to continue with our rapid expansion and the continued evolution of the NoDropouts program, tailored specifically to serving at-risk youth."
At New Markets, Grovic said, "We're very impressed by the way this company has grown as well as its future potential to reach thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of kids. TAA delivers a consistently high quality solution to communities across the country, and we're honored to be part of the team fueling their expansion."
TAA has added more than three dozen school district partners over the past year and will serve nearly 3,000 students in 2012 with its innovative NoDropouts program. Through a unique combination of online learning, netbook computers with 4G internet access, and multi-tiered social, emotional and educational support, TAA gives school districts a powerful program to serve the vast population of dropout youth in the United States.
"As a nation, we're doing a better job preventing children from dropping out of school in the first place. While that effort is critical, every year more than one million children still drop out of school. Dropout recovery is a very essential part of every community's fight against this epidemic," said TAA co-founder Anthony Meyer. Meyer praised the vision of TAA's fellow investors in supporting a company that was among the first in the nation to take a research-based approach to recovering dropouts.
Established in 2007 and based in Salt Lake City, The American Academy partners with school districts across the nation – regardless of size – to locate and educate high school dropouts. Through its groundbreaking NoDropoutsTM program, TAA successfully applies online learning with local community support and advocacy to help at-risk youth continue their education and lead productive lives. In addition to its work with at-risk students, the company also manages a private, accredited, online high school focused on credit recovery for students of all ages in nearly every state and eight countries. Visit NoDropouts.com for more information.
About New Markets Venture Partners
New Markets Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in and actively assists innovative information technology, business services and education companies. The New Markets Team has decades of experience investing in and building high growth companies, maintains proprietary relationships with centers of innovation, and has particular domain expertise around technology and education. It prides itself on working to add value before, during and after the investment process. Visit newmarketsvp.com for more information.
About Austin Ventures
Austin Ventures ("AV") has worked with talented entrepreneurs to build valuable companies for over 25 years. With $3.9 billion under management, AV is the most active venture capital and growth equity firm in Texas and one of the most established in the nation. With an investment focus on business services and supply chain, financial services, new media, Internet, and information services, AV invests at all stages of company development, from $100,000 in "planned experiments" in early-stage ideas to $100+ million investments in expansion rounds and recapitalizations. AV's strategy is to partner with talented executives and entrepreneurs through its CEO-in-Residence and Entrepreneur-in-Residence programs. Visit austinventures.com for more information.
About Signal Peak Ventures
Signal Peak Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm with more than $450 million of committed capital under management. The company targets information technology and life sciences companies headquartered in the Rocky Mountain region and looks for companies with the potential to transform their markets and create lasting value. Signal Peak's primary areas of focus include enterprise software, networking and communications, security software, Internet, mobile computing, drug delivery, diagnostics and medical devices — and the firm has deep experience in all of these markets, having founded or served as senior officers and board members in more than 100 companies. Visit signalpeakvc.com for more information.
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