Geoausch

The Dallas Morning News ran an interesting story in their “East Dallas blog” regarding a cyclist running over a runner involved in a race a White Rock Lake. If you have ever been to White Rock Lake on a Saturday, you know that it is full of Lance Armstrong wannabes, so the story doesn’t surprise me at all.

What did surprise me was the response to the blog post. It generated a spirited debate regarding who should have the right of way at White Rock Lake–runners or bikers?

To me, it illustrates the audacity of cyclists. I’m sure there are many “good” cyclists in the D/FW Metroplex, but the “bad” cyclists are far more visible, especially in my neighborhood.

The cyclists I see riding through my neighborhood appear to be caught up in their own world, totally oblivious to their surrondings. If I get behind one of them in my car, they make no attempt to get over. What’s worse, they turn without signaling. Everyone learns the proper hand signals to use for turning when they first learn to ride a bike and you are reminded of them when you get your driver’s license, so I see no reason why these cyclists do not signal except for bravado and arrogance. Further, these cyclists seem to feel that the rules of the road do not belong to them. I don’t think I have ever seen one cyclist stop at a stop sign.

Yes, cyclists annoy me. These “bad” cyclists ruin the name of all cyclists. Perhaps the “good” cyclists out there should take upon themselves to hold the “bad” cyclists accountable for their actions or, in the alternative, our communities should look into placing stricter restrictions on cycling.

First, I’d like to apologize to my loyal readers. I’m using August as a vacation of sorts, to regroup and reset my blog. I’ll have some very exciting news to share regarding a new blog I’m launching within the next few weeks, so stayed tune.

Until then, football season is upon us and we need to talk some football. A couple of quick questions I thought about over my lunch break:

1.) I’m a life long Dallas Cowboys fan. I was 11 years old when Jerry Jones bought this team and fired my childhood hero, Tom Landry. During the past 20 years, I’ve experienced the highest highs and lowest lows with my team. Through it all, I’ve remembered not to give Jerry too much credit for the glory days and not to throw too much blame his way for the lean years.

I realize that Jerry’s personality rubs some people the wrong way, but I also realize that many of those same personality traits are traits necessary to building a winner. Jerry wants to win and will spare no cost in the attempt to reach his ultimate goal.

Why then do so many Cowboys fans despise Jerry so much? Do they not realize that the Cowboys owner wants to win more than any other owner in the NFL?

Does he make some bone headed decisions? Yes, but we all make mistakes.

2.) There is a small, but vocal, contingency of Rangers fans out there who complain about the amount of attention being placed on the Rangers wild card chase compared to Cowboys preseason action. They seem to be offended that more people want to watch a Cowboys preseason game than a Rangers regular season game.  At this point, ”baseball hubris” kicks in.

“Baseball hubris” is a trait possessed by some hardcore baseball fans who feel that baseball is the only true sports and all others should be ignored. They’ll berate the other leagues and belittle the fans of sports.  

I love baseball, but I don’t get “baseball hubris”. I think football, basketball and golf all have something to offer as well.  In the professional ranks, my love for the Cowboys has never caused me to hate the Rangers or Mavericks. In fact, I find that my love for these teams compliment one another.

Why is it that some Rangers fans HATE the Cowboys (and the NFL) so much?

Stephanie and I returned from our Florida vacation yesterday.  After a rough two hour flight, we stepped off the plane and walked out into the welcoming heat of Dallas, Texas.  I missed a few things: Rangers baseball, Mexican food, and the comfort of our own bed, but the vacation provided much needed relief in our lives.

This was my first vacation in over five years, so it was a major adjustment. It began like any other hectic day, waking up at 4:30 AM on Thursday morning to catch a 6:45 AM flight out of Love Field.  I learned that not only would we have to switch planes in Tampa, but also we had to make a stop in New Orleans before even making it to Tampa.  Stress set it in. However, by the time we landed in Tampa, got a Nathan’s hot dog, I began to remember what vacation is all about. We finally arrived in Jacksonville later that afternoon and I learned a lot over the next few days.

Beach side is not always the best side For approximately $300, we got three nights at an ultra hip  boutique hotel (and 3 day car rental).  Situated in a brand new mixed-use development, the hotel featured a post-modern design and furnishings, was centrally located to the major thoroughfares and attractions and all of the usual amenities. Everything in the hotel, from the laundry bags to the key cards, from the “Do Not Disturb” sign to the lounge menus were written in haiku and our room featured a serene view of a scenic lake.

Our other friends, lured by the prospects of beach front lodging, opted for rooms at a more expensive            establishment. Their rooms lacked the character and charm that our rooms had and none of them had actual views of the ocean from their room. Sure, they had easy access to the beach, but they were well removed from the venues of our other festivities. None of their hotel’s literature was written in haiku.

In my opinion, we spent less and got more out of our hotel.

Not until you get away for a while, do you realize just how fast-paced Dallas can be! Dallas has a reputation for being a laid back city. However, after visiting Jacksonville, I wonder if this reputation is really accurate.

For one, Jacksonville is much easier to get around.  We saw virtually no traffic while in Jacksonville and the roads are “user friendly”. Noticeably absent are the congested freeways, mix-masters and annoying toll roads that make driving in Dallas such a hassle. U.S. Highway 1 is a major road in the Jacksonville area. It runs the complete length of Florida and connects Jacksonville with the tourist haven of St. Augustine.  In Dallas, a highway like this would consist of six lanes, entrance and exit ramps, with strip malls and gas stations dotting the side of the road. Although U.S. 1 is four lanes and divided by a media, the 20 mile stretch in between Jacksonville and St. Augustine looks more Louisiana State Highway 1 in between the Texas border and Shreveport with its pine trees and bayous.

In Dallas, everyone wants to be a star; it’s the land of the $30,000 millionaire. People live well above their means to have designer lifestyles complete with the right face, clothes, cars and home. I didn’t really seen any of that in Jacksonville. People were happy with that they had and didn’t try to be someone they were not. It was very refreshing.

Jacksonville residents love their tattoos A lot of people have tattoos, which can be concealed rather easily for day-to-day activities. However, residents in Jacksonville aren’t content with a single tat on their bicep, small of their back, or ankle. Jacksonville residents, both male and female, love the look of the full sleeve and the 3/4 sleeve tat. Apparently, it is acceptable in the Jacksonville business community, because you see them on people of all walks of life.

How the hell did Jacksonville host a Super Bowl? Their airport is about the size of Love Field. As I mentioned earlier, there are few major highways that run through Jacksonville. From what I could tell, most of the lodging is beach based and located well away from Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.  From my understanding, cruise ships were brought in to serve as extra “hotel rooms” for Super Bowl visitors.

The NFL usually chooses cities with a night life to host Super Bowls. Things start to shut down in Jacksonville around 10 PM EST. Seriously, the bar in our hotel had last call at 10:00 PM on the dot. Most restaurants start shutting down around 9 PM or 10 PM as well. How they were ever able to service the teams, fans and media, I will never know.  I’m still amazed that Jacksonville has a NFL team, let alone ever hosted a Super Bowl.

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Now playing: Ernest Tubb – Waltz across Texas (Album)
via FoxyTunes

Greetings from Jacksonville, Florida.  This is my first vacation in almost 6 years and I am enjoying myself thoroughly. We had a weird flight schedule that took us through New Orleans, Tampa and finally on in to Jacksonville. Along the way, I had the opportunity to pick up several local newspapers and scope our their training camp coverage for their local pro teams.

In Tampa, I picked up a copy of both the St. Petersburg Time and The Tampa Tribune. One thing that caught my eye was a blurb for Buccaneer fans wanting to attend practices.  It mentioned that the Buc’s practice facility could accomodate up to 4,000 fans.  Seriously? The Cowboys travel out of town and pull in three times as many fans at their training camp work outs.

Tonight, I watched the Jacksonville news, expecting to find some great coverage of Jaguars’ camp. Instead, the Jacksonville news seemed to be more fascinated with the University of Florida’s first practice.  Texans love college football, but unless you live in Austin, College Station or Lubbock, the Cowboys will always get more coverage than Texas’ big 3 college programs.

I began to wonder if the Cowboys were the only NFL team to draw such excitement with their training camp program, but then I remembered the crowds I have seen at Redskins’ camp, at Giants’ camp and at Eagles’ camp. I began to wonder if my football world exists inside and NFC East bubble, a land where college football is fine, but the NFL reigns supreme.

The AFC and NFC South divisions seemed to be composed of regions where college football takes priority over the professional game. It’s so weird! It reminded me of a recent conversation I heard on a Dallas sports talk radio program. SEC fans have a great product in their football programs. No one can dispute the quality of athletes and coaches within the conference. However, fans of SEC programs often treat these programs as equals, both in importance and talent, than their NFL counterparts. In a sense, they act as if college football is all they have. The Gators get the special segments, beat reporters, etc. While the Jaguars and Buccaneers get whatever is left over.While I’m sure Florida will have no problem selling out all of their home games, the Jaguars struggle selling out just one of their home games.

We do things a bit different in Texas. Yes, Colt McCoy is a household name. Depending on where you are raised, you grow up wanting to play for Tech, UT or A&M.  Going to a game at Kyle Field (especially in 1990′s), can be just as energizing as going to a game at “The Swamp.” There are more D-1, or FBS, level schools in the state of Texas than in any other state.  Texans earn more D-1 football scholarships than athletes from any other state. We get college football and we love it.

However, we realize the quality of the NFL game, both on a technical and athletic level, is greater than that of the collegiate game.  Do Floridians not understand that? Why is so little interest in Jaguar and Buccaneer football?

In preparation of an upcoming trip to Jacksonville, I visited the website for their local newspaper, The Florida Times-Union, to get a feel for the city. I feel that you can learn a lot about a city from reading its newspapers, especially the sports section.  With only one professional sports franchise, I expected much of the jock talk to center on the Jacksonville Jaguars training camp, but wasn’t too surprised to find that the top story involved Univeristy of Florida’s decision to make Urban Meyer the highest paid coach in the NCAA.

As I scrolled down through the sports section, I came across a few Jaguars related stories, but nothing like the coverage the Dallas media gives our beloved Cowboys.  The title of one column really caught my eye, “Jaguars can’t avoid 2009 blackouts,” by Gene Frenette. It had been a good 20 years since I had heard the term “blackout” used in conjunction with a NFL game. Though my Cowboys have not been immune from “blackouts” in their history, it’s been a couple of decades since they were a reality in “Big D.” I never considered that in some markets, especially in today’s economic climate, “blackouts” are still a reality and in some case, like Detroit and apparently Jacksonville, they are the norm.

Needless to say, I was shocked to read Mr. Frenette’s column. Based on his work, it appears that not just one or two games, but all Jacksonville home games are in danger of being “blacked out” for the 2009 season. While it might be humane act of kindness for the NFL to prevent Detroit Lions’ fans from witnessing their team play, the Jaguars field a fairly competitive team in one of the most exciting conferences in the NFL. To think that their team cannot sell tickets baffles me, almost as much as Jacksonville being awarded a NFL franchise baffled me in 1993.

I wonder if this says more about Jacksonville being a small market team (they’ve consistently polled near the bottom in popularity surveys conducted about the NFL) or the current state of our economy? Will other NFL franchises struggle to sell out games and face “blackout” restrictions as well? Is the NFL “blackout” policay fair?

I’m interested to hear what you guys have to say about these or any other “blackout” related issues.