text:
Mike Lantry, 1972
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Unverified Voracity Orders One Stoneburner
We do need a tight end. If Ohio State's offering Jake Stoneburner a grad-year transfer to Michigan…
…I'm down.
Hello old 48. Michigan will un-retire Gerald Ford's #48 and make him a legend jersey type thing guy. Unfortunately, these days centers are not allowed to wear #48, so it'll be some defensive guy. They'll hand it out this fall:
"We're honoring Desmond Howard now every year with one of our players (senior receiver Roy Roundtree) who really deserves it," Hoke told the station. "We're going to do the same with Gerald Ford's jersey here this year."
If I can make a request (I cannot) could this not be Jordan Kovacs? Or, like, anyone who has established themselves as a guy with a particular number? Kovacs is 32. Roundtree is 12, except he'll be 21 this fall, and that will negatively affect how he's remembered because he won't be consistently one thing. This may be a crazy argument. It is my argument, though, so I say I'd rather have Kovacs keep 32 and have everybody who wears it after him remind me that once we had a really good walk-on safety.
The legends patch thing is good for honoring past legends but switching numbers up makes it hard to create new ones. I hope they start using them as recruiting incentives instead of flipping seniors to new numbers every year. Also the patch should be subtler.
Somewhere, Kevin Sampson sobs quietly onto his Scrooge McDuck pile of flip phones. The NCAA's increasingly anachronistic texting ban is no more…
"R U interested in our school? Our facilities are gr8!"
A text message reading along those lines might appear on cellphone screens of basketball recruits starting Friday, after a new NCAA rule takes effect allowing college coaches to send unlimited text messages to players who have completed their sophomore year of high school.
Coaches also will be able to make unlimited calls to those recruits under the new legislation.
…if you are a men's basketball recruit. Also, coaches can call players whenever they want… if you are a men's basketball recruit. Basketball's trying to chop out pages of annoying rules minutiae so they can focus on the comically oversized bags with dollar signs on them that many players tote from class to class.
Whitmer's coach is quoted in the above article worrying about an avalanche of phone calls his kids will have to field, so let me reissue a suggestion: the NCAA should allow recruits to have a nonbinding commitment to a school that prevents them from taking officials and coaches other than the one they've committed to from contacting them. Even without that, that's a good decision I hope they generalize to more sports.
File under "yes, please." Smart Football details a reverse-type play that Gus Mahlzahn is a fan of that I wouldn't mind seeing added to Michigan's playbook:
Seems like a great way to mix up the speed option look Michigan ran a lot of last year without forcing Denard to make a pitch decision. Malzahn and Dana Holgorsen are running it a lot… it could be a decent idea. A diagram:
It even works without tight ends, which we don't have.
Moving the goalposts. Pat Forde has a silly column using the Stony Brook college world series story as an argument for a bighuge playoff. A four team playoff wouldn't have any "Cinderellas" in it despite including Boise State and TCU when they were at their apex because…
But a four-team deal certainly presents no opportunity to the Stony Brooks of college football. The champions of the Sun Belt, Mid-American Conference, Conference USA and Western Athletic Conference (should it survive) never will make that cut. The Mountain West and even the Big East would be long shots.
Football, greedy and decentralized, doesn't care.
Meanwhile, the rest of college sports give the little guys a chance to do it on the field. It gives life to the overachiever stories that are a large part of what makes sports compelling.
…those teams are now in BCS conferences if you consider the new-look Big East a BCS conference, which you probably shouldn't. A four team playoff does occasionally let in the champions of those leagues, should those champions actually seem like a worthy contender. If it's a "long shot," Forde notes earlier in his own column that the last time a Stony Brook-type interloper made the CWS it was 1986, when the regionals were literally regional. Hypothetical Four Team Playoff has a better record of including outlying provinces than the college world series. Just because TCU isn't a have-not anymore doesn't mean they weren't when they rose to prominence, and the minnow drought in the CWS is an argument in favor of a more streamlined field.
I will say this: if you are going to do the thing where everyone gets a chance no matter how likely it is they get their heads beaten in, Forde's system is a good one. It's a twelve-team field with 11 champions—more likely 10 since the WAC is dead—and one or two autobids. Byes, homefield, etc. The only objections you could level would be Think Of The Children arguments about missed class and too much football that evidently don't apply at any other level of the sport.
Dennis Dodd made this same argument. In short: since Boise State and TCU are now in power conferences, no one outside a power conference can be relevant. Mmmm self-defeating argument.
Etc.: North Carolina troubles are even more troubling now that a totally fake class has been exposed. Could this be the straw that finally causes the NCAA to annihilate someone? Probably not.
Nike is still trying to make gray not gray. Chris Wormely interviewed, says he's 6'5", 270, and be a five tech unless he outgrows it and ends up at the three. I don't think there's anything new in this ESPN article about Michigan trying to line up a Pac-12 opponent in somewhere in the 2014-2016 range. Penn State's leadership is… not leadership. Jerry Sandusky's lawyer is… not good at lawyering.
Let's Argue With The Devil
Not really the devil, as I have met(!) Jason of 11 Warrior and had a cordial experience. Also he runs Drupal.
So Eleven Warriors took me up on my "someone argue OSU's sanctions shouldn't be as a bad as USC's" challenge, and even did so with a table. Let's take a look:
18 specific instances of violations by Reggie Bush or his family, including a house for his parents, a car (with new rims and a stereo), airfare, hotel stays, limo services, meals, car repairs, clothing, furniture and and appliances.
12 similar instances of violations out of basketball player OJ Mayo. Running backs coach Todd McNair was found to have known or should have known of Bush's activity and was also cited for lying during the investigation. Further violations by the women's tennis program and a failure of the athletic department's infrastructure when it came to oversight and policing. Together, these findings led to a charge of Lack of Institutional Control. |
An email trail that proved the head coach had knowledge of players forfeiting their eligibility, but did nothing to notify his superiors or compliance/enforcement staff.
UPDATED: Further, Tressel signed a statement attesting to the fact that he was unaware of any violations in the fall of 2010. Additional athletes may have been involved in memorabilia-for-tattoos. Potential improper benefits in the form of car deals for football players. Terrelle Pryor allegedly received benefits in the form of free golf at a country club and is also alleged to have received $20,000-$40,000 in exchange for autographed memorabilia. |
SELF-REPORTED | No | Yes |
AGENT INVOLVEMENT | Yes | No |
FATE OF HEAD COACH | Bolted early for the NFL. | Forced the resignation of a beloved coach with otherwise excellent reputation amongst peers. |
LEVEL OF COOPERATION | None | Ohio State has reported all findings to the NCAA on their own and has stayed in contact with the organization to assist with the investigation. |
TAUNTING | Hired habitual scofflaw Lane Kiffin to replace Pete Carroll. AD Mike Garrett claimed the NCAA report was "nothing but a lot of envy". | None, unless you wanted to count the fumbled presser on March 8th. Which you shouldn't. |
Let's play the Feud!
USC's lack of institutional control charge was the major factor here and while Ohio State has not yet been hit with that allegation the Pac-10 has a primer on what does and does not qualify for a LOIC charge featuring a lot of components that should make OSU fans nervous.
Specifically called out is a head coach's responsibility:
A head coach fails to create and maintain an atmosphere for compliance within the program — the coach supervises or fails to monitor the activities of assistant coaches regarding compliance.
A head coach has special obligation to establish a spirit of compliance among the entire team, including assistant coaches, other staff and student-athletes. The head coach must generally observe the activities of assistant coaches and staff to determine if they are acting in compliance with NCAA rules. Too often, when assistant coaches are involved in a web of serious violations, head coaches profess ignorance, saying that they were too busy to know what was occurring and that they trusted their assistants. Such a
failure by head coaches to control their teams, alone or with the assistance of a staff member with compliance responsibilities, is a lack of institutional control.This is not to imply that every violation by an assistant coach involves a lack of institutional control. If the head coach sets a proper tone of compliance and monitors the activities of all assistant coaches in the sport, the head coach cannot be charged with the secretive activities of an assistant bent on violating NCAA rules.
In this case Tressel can't even attempt to pass the buck since he is directly responsible.
Meanwhile, there have been multiple incidents that suggest institutional control is weak at best: the Plain-Dealer reports OSU was warned about Talbott in 2007 but still allowed players to leave tickets for him and remain on the sidelines as a photographer; a 2006 audit of OSU's car tracking found it inadequate, then found a third of the athletes were driving vehicles unknown to the department. They discovered this by checking cars at practice and examining university parking pass and ticket records. Ohio State stated it looked at Terrelle Pryor's three loaner tickets and decided a test drive to Pennsylvania did not constitute an extra benefit. As late as May Doug Archie, the director of compliance at OSU, responded to a question about why nine players had been issued citations in cars with dealer plates with "you'll have to ask the dealers"; even after the USC case established the need for "high profile compliance" of high profile players, Archie disavows any special attention to Pryor and other football players.
The Pac-10 document lays out a selection of "acts that are likely to demonstrate to a lack of institutional control," of which the head coach bit above is one. Ohio State appears to hit many of the others:
A person with compliance responsibilities fails to establish a proper system for compliance or fails to monitor the operations of a compliance system appropriately.
The explanatory text below notes that "the mere compilation and distribution of
rules and regulations, along with written compliance procedures, is not sufficient if no one regularly checks on the actual operations of the system."
A person with compliance responsibilities does not take steps to alter the system of compliance when there are indications the system is not working.
OSU's extremely high rate of secondary violations does not help them: "if there are a number of violations, even if they all are minor, indicating that the compliance system is not operating effectively, the person(s) responsible cannot ignore the situation, but must take steps to correct the compliance system." They constitute a warning that should have been, but was not heeded. They were an indication increased vigilance was needed.
A director of athletics or any other individual with compliance responsibilities fails to investigate or direct an investigation of a possible significant violation of NCAA rules or fails to report a violation properly.
Even if Tressel does not count here—and I'm pretty sure he doesn't since the next bullet is the one about head coaches—a pattern of evidence OSU players were getting deals on cars was either uninvestigated or rubber-stamped by the department; similarly, Ohio State's 11-day investigation into the tattoo business was insultingly brief and turned up no extra players whatsoever, something that has been brought into question by multiple media reports. Those media reports may involve dubious dudes name Ellis but they also involve former players like Robert Rose, who admitted his own NCAA violations, and Ray Small.
In light of the other issues it seems clear the goal of OSU's tatgate investigation was to offer the appearance of compliance instead of the actual thing. An actually diligent compliance department would have turned up more issues than those specifically told them by the Feds.
In conclusion, the guy whose job it is to ask the dealers responded to a media inquiry about the dealers by saying "you'll have to ask the dealers." When—and it is when*—the NCAA determines an unusual, easily detectable pattern of behavior was permitted to happen for years after Maurice Clarett's burglary report should have put the athletic department on alert, the LOIC charge will be inevitable.
Not very bonus for OSU fans: they are up for repeat violator status because of Boban Savovic, and unlike in previous cases where schools were technically up for extra penalties under that statute, here the nature of the violations is extremely similar.
*[This is the part at which Jason objects to most, I think:
MGoBlog, unsurprisingly, is more certain of that happening than you might be
I am inclined to believe there is not a reasonable explanation for the loaner cars, it's true. If you look at the situation at OSU—a dealership littered with memorabilia that sold some 50 Buckeyes cars and has seen nine different players ticketed in cars featuring dealer plates, including one Terrelle Pryor getting three separate tickets when any normal human would have been blacklisted after the first—and think the NCAA can possibly find no extra benefits, well… we are on different planets and talking to each other is pointless.]
Saying OSU self-reported its violations when they did nothing about the tattoos until they were notified by federal investigators is stretching things a bit. They literally took no action until someone else had done all the work for them. OSU's internal compliance measures failed to pick up any hint of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, it was OSU's legal department that originally caught the Cicero emails—not compliance.
So while OSU may have reported its violations to the NCAA, they only did so after a federal investigation and the legal department's intervention; in the aftermath they gave themselves a hilariously weak punishment.
Fate Of Head Coach
The only difference between the fates of Pete Carroll and Jim Tressel was Carroll's foresight in his constant flirtations with the NFL. The NCAA will not give Ohio State credit for doing something they were going to have to do anyway once they put a show-cause on him.
Level Of Cooperation
USC did the same song and dance with the NCAA. Todd Dickey:
Since the allegations surfaced, USC has been working closely with the NCAA and the Pac-10 in an attempt to get to the truth.
Working in conjunction with the NCAA and the Pac-10 — we have already interviewed approximately 50 people and spent many hundreds of hours investigating these allegations. We have no idea how long this investigation will continue — and no one is more anxious to bring this process to a conclusion than we are — but we remain committed to getting to the truth.
USC has participated in every interview — except those few from which we were excluded. Our exclusion from these interviews mainly stemmed from demands from those making allegations against our student-athletes, insisting that no one from USC be present.
We have cooperated and worked together with the NCAA and Pac-10 every step of the way during this process and we intend to continue to do so.
Once you are in the hole, you can stop digging. Ohio State has stopped digging, but they are still in the hole. Way down in the hole. Not cooperating is asking to get SMU'ed; what Ohio State is doing now is the same thing USC did, the same thing any school does once in the crosshairs. It is not likely to see penalties reduced.
If we're counting Mike Garrett's ham-handed press conference, the "fumbled" presser on March 8th counts as well, as does Ohio State's excessively weak response to a serious every-coach-gets-fired 10.1 finding: a two game suspension.
Tressel later "resigned," something Gordon Gee insists was Tressel's own doing and not the university stepping forward to terminate the coach's contract. If he's smart—he's not—he will change that tune immediately, adopting a hang-dog Day of Great Shame rhetoric, and regretfully assert while Tressel was an excellent coach and leader of men he violated the principles the university lives by and had to be terminated.
And Then We Burn, But Not Together
Yeah, you guys are screwed.
Unverified Voracity All About Obviously
A standard piece of rivalry whatnot made sublime by the copyright notice in the bottom left corner. The image of Lamarr Woodley hunched over his pirated copy of photoshop using the smudge tool on Tressel's neck is priceless. Don't tell me he just republished it. I don't want to know your lies and terrible mind.
The price of famous. Boy am I glad Burgeoning Wolverine Star was ready to scoff mightily at the latest bit of "but he's really a good guy, seriously" stuff from OSU fans. This one's from Ramzy and details Tressel being really, really nice at a local children's hospital.
Again, that's great and all but the price of being a rich celebrity these days is to do your share of charity work. You can't throw a brick at a former Michigan player or coach without seriously endangering an already-pretty-endangered ten year old in a hospital gown. BWS points out all the large-people-are-nice stuff everywhere:
Rich Rodriguez spent significant time at the U of M Children's hospital, as did a number players from the team. Brock Mealer can nearly walk now because of Rodriguez's generosity. The now-annual Spring Game has become a massive fundraiser for Mott's Children's Hospital.
The NBA has The NBA Cares program. Professional football and hockey players find themselves doing charity work frequently. With stature, money, and influence comes significant responsibilities, one of which is to give back to the community. And given their position as role models--despite what Charles Barkley will have you believe--that means going to hospitals, soup kitchens, and helping the less fortunate. Jim Tressel, in this regard, is not remarkable. He's not unprecedented or special. He's someone doing what he's supposed to do with the influence and money he's earned.
Tressel's not a monster, but he's not any different in this than most rich public figures. Except insofar as other rich public figures don't flaunt the rules of their organizations quite so brazenly.
BWS has evidently Had Enough, as he spent a long time shooting holes in Ramzy's bit. If you're up for some fiskin', recommended.
"He took care of his kids." What do you want, a cookie? Watch this, replacing "black people" with "Buckeyes" and "lawyaz" with "cooler poopers":
Shut up about the damn kids. If the kids learned how to be a man from Tressel, they learned all too well.
Not everywhere. Recruitocosm has an article from a former Texas walk-on describing their practices. Key bit:
If you have a car, the compliance office will have the make, model, and plate number. You have to show how you are making payments or who is making payments. They let you know that if you drive something other than the car you tell them about, it better belong to a family member and if you park it on campus you have to bring it to the attention of the compliance office. God forbid that the UT Parking Nazis give you a parking ticket and it go unpaid before sunset. Got an unpaid ticket? MadDog had a way to remind you to park in your correct spot and that's AFTER the ticket was paid. If you live off campus, you have to provide your lease at the beginning of each semester and show where the money to pay the rent is coming from.
Every time ANOTHER SEC school gets busted giving cars or cash (or having an agent do it) to a player, they parade the usual suspects (Holtz, Meyer, Saban) onto ESPN where they cry crocodile tears about how HARD it is to keep track of 85 guys and what they do in their off time?
You have 85 players to go with 8 position coaches, 10 S&C coaches, 5 full time academic support personnel, 5 full time athletic trainers, 15 student assistant trainers, 5 guys on the film staff, 10 equipment managers, a recruiting coordinator, and 5 guys in your compliance office devoted to football. You can do the math on player-to-support personnel ratios, but it's pretty obvious that if the people in a NCAA football program are paying one lick of attention and actually give a rip about playing by the rules, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have a car (worth driving) that people in the program don't know about. This "open secret" at Ohio State with cars ranging from free to ultimate sweetheart deals is unforgiveable.
There is a level of ignorance coaches can plausibly claim; Pryor's ever-rotating swanky used car is not one of them, neither is Ohio State's 11-day investigation into the tattoo business that did not turn up sketchy dudes named Ellis.
Thank you Pryor clapclapclap, part IV. Meanwhile, Pryor's license is suspended because he has no proof of insurance. Who wants to bet Pryor's never had any insurance—which is expensive for 20-year-olds driving fancy cars—because he's been driving around Auto Direct vehicles since his arrival? I do. This guy does.
Dohrmann also expanded on Pryor's mad equipment loot on a radio blitz yesterday:
He believes that Pryor traded, "more than 20 items, including game-worn shoulder pads, multiple helmets, Nike cleats, jerseys, game pants and more" for tattoos or cash. This, Dohrmann argues, should prove OSU was aware (or should have been aware) of what was going on. How could they not notice how much equipment was going missing?
If true that is another step towards a lack of institutional control charge. Pryor's cars and one SI reporter managing to expand the tattoo business to 28 players when OSU's internal investigation-type substance concluded the six players mentioned in the federal report were the only bad apples take the Buckeyes' issues from a Tressel problem to an OSU problem. Take it from John Cooper:
"Compliance is not doing their job when this kind of stuff happens and they act like they don't know about it. When I was coaching over there, compliance was around everywhere. It's almost like they were trying to find us violating a rule."
That is kind of compliance's purpose.
Is Cooper trying to help there or just so incensed this crap got laid in Tressel's lap when the institution has a responsibility to take care of this stuff before the head coach has an opportunity to "make a mistake*"?
*[This is an Ohio-based idiom that means "continue your decades-long pattern of malfeasance." /themoreyouknow.]
Hat. What does Les Miles think of oversigning?
"I said that there has to be an alligator handler in every class. In fact Troy has got the swamp people. We've got to make sure that we keep a quality contingent of free-spirited men around."
There's some sort of explanation for that, but your life will be a little bit better if you have absolutely no context for that statement.
Truth. Daniel Tosh on Michigan State:
At least those girls got communications PhDs for the video.
Etc.: local woman says she has photos of "shenanigans" going on last December—after the NCAA had suspended various Buckeyes.
One of my favorite hockey bloggers went to England to check out Blackpool's failed attempt to avoid relegation and comes back with a picture of the way English fans see their clubs that contrasts mightily with resigned Americans and their pro leagues. It's a good start if you ever want to explain why college is more important than the pros to you.
Matt Hayes has an interestingly Machiavellian proposal for the BCS: let the Mountain West get an autobid the next two years in near-accordance with their standards (the MWC barely misses on one of the three BCS autobid criteria), then take it away once Utah, BYU, and TCU evaporate.
BWS on the Ray Small trashing. Stop snitching, etc.
Gregg Easterbrook's Cannons of Sanctimony
In which I defend Notre Dame. Seriously!
Gregg Easterbrook first came in for a lashing around these parts when he claimed Rich Rodriguez had been in contact with Michigan before West Virginia's game against Pitt without a shred of evidence and used this in a tiresome broadside at the idea that a college coach would take a better job. When this was totally disproven by actual court records, Easterbrook—who loves to complain about New York Times errors being on page one and corrections on page 37—did not deign to notice, instead launching tiresome broadside after tiresome broadside at "weasel" coaches.
It's December again and a major program has just hired a coach, so it's time for yet another tiresome broadside:
Charlie Weis and Bobby Bowden had to go -- Notre Dame and Florida State weren't winning every game! Get rid of the bums! All we heard from sports commentators, and from alums and boosters, was get rid of the bums, we gotta win, win, win. Sorry to interject, but why? Why does Notre Dame or Florida State or any university need to win every game? Is it now official that big colleges care more about sports than education?
You'd think a guy like Easterbrook, who is paid to be a political pundit, would have at least a tenuous grasp on economics: Florida State and Notre Dame would like to win because if they do not win they get less money for their athletic departments. If they continue to stick with coaches who are not performing, fan enthusiasm will crater and they'll be faced with the dissolution of a tradition treasured by thousands. Why am I explaining this to you? You understand this because it is obvious. Nevermind. I'll stop treating you like you are a simpleton.
Easterbrook, on the other hand, seems determined to display his ignorance at every opportunity. In previous columns he's claimed Michigan Stadium's renovations are being paid for by "public funds," which if true is only true in an extremely technical sense since the athletic department is and remains self-sufficient*, and that Michigan "surprised" Notre Dame by running the no-huddle style of offense Rich Rodriguez has been deploying for almost a decade at big important newsworthy schools.
In this column his impression of Notre Dame's recruiting under Weis is totally wrong:
Notre Dame was among the few prominent holdouts, insisting its football players be students too. This generated a recruiting disadvantage -- and a recruiting disadvantage caused by high standards, not Weis suddenly forgetting how to coach, is the reason for the recent records of Notre Dame football. Notre Dame alums and boosters should have been proud that high standards keep the school from going 12-0!
According to Rivals, ND's recruiting classes under Weis: 8, 8, 2, 21. (The 2005 class was technically signed by Weis but was almost entirely the (lame) creation of Tyrone Willingham.) Every class at Notre Dame except redshirt seniors and freshmen was part of a top ten recruiting class.
Easterbrook also suggests that the past two decades have seen a "race to the bottom," providing no evidence other than Florida State's recent cheating scandal. He places Nebraska in a list of "academics-first colleges where football players are more likely to attend class"…
Lawrence Phillips
…which is a hilarious juxtaposition of concepts. He dubs Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick's desire to not go 6-6 a "bizarre notion." In his attempt to make a case that big time division I-A football can be won by nerds he cites playoffs at lower levels all the way down to Division III and Director's Cup standings heavily biased towards nonrevenue sports. When he returns to the "weasel" coaching meme—which appears to be any coach who takes a job anywhere else and thus includes some 80% of I-A coaches—he cites Brian Kelly "misleading" his players when Kelly, more than any other coach in recent history, was publicly open to a move. He freakin' tweeted about it.
Reality is just something that gets in the way of Easterbrook's arguments.
The worst thing is that buried in yet another Easterbrook-patented tiresome broadside is a concern I share for the players who play college football and end up coming out the other end with little except some memories and a concussion or two. He's not wrong that the way the NCAA is constructed is increasingly silly. Money gets poured in and ends up going to coaches because it can't go to players and has to go somewhere. The result is yet more ridiculous salaries at top schools. The first million-dollar coordinator isn't far off.
But Easterbrook eschews anything resembling a useful suggestion in favor of calling people weasels when they're just acting rationally given the situation. Here's my suggestion to help divert some of the torrent of cash to the players that has more than a snowball's chance in hell of being approved: allow programs to offer players in revenue sports two free additional years of scholarship after their eligibility expires as long as they enroll within five years. At that point it should be clear if you have a serious professional future and those who want to buckle down and make it in the real world will have an opportunity to get a degree that will help them do that.
*(You might note that part of that link is a complaint about the tax-deductibility of athletic department contributions, but that's not the only part that decries "public" funding; the issue is explicitly framed as "and on top of the public funding of the stadium renovations, here's this problem with donations."
As long as I'm in a footnote, let me mention how breathtakingly stupid that argument is: Easterbrook and his emailer are whining about Michigan spending money that will convince extremely rich people to give them more money.)
Unverified Voracity Curses Cleveland State
Actually. I may be excessively paranoid about Michigan's chances to make the tournament. Joe Sheehan of Basketball Prospects may be a whinging prat about the Big Ten, but I like his ordering of the bubble:
Texas A&M
Oklahoma State
Ohio State
Boston College
New Mexico
San Diego State
Temple …(and so on and so forth)
Leaving aside the idea that it's preposterous to put Auburn, which has done nothing in the nonconference except lose to Mercer and plays in an almost literally unbelievably bad SEC, ahead of Minnesota and its neutral court win over Louisville: Michigan in front of all those teams bodes well. That is lock-even-with-Iowa-loss right there.
But we have to return to the whinging. This is an incredibly stupid argument:
The middle of this conference is larded with mediocrity, not parity, with records inflated by the 1-17 team at the bottom (of the muddled middle, only Michigan was denied two free wins over the marginally Division I team)
…when combined with this argument:
I can't put excessive weight on the head-to-head matchup because of the lack of a return game. Hey, Big 11, here's an idea: instead of everyone playing two Horizon/MAC teams, play a full round-robin.
Every conference has a bottom feeder or three and the Big Ten's records aren't "inflated" any more than the Pac-10 records are by teams in Oregon or Big East records are by St Johns and Depaul and so forth and so on. Also, how can you bitch about the Big Ten's lack of a full round robin every power conference save the Pac-10 lacks one? The SEC and Big 12 don't even play 18 games! If you want to argue against the conference, fine, but please bring at least one non-idiotic reason. So suffice it to say I'm not putting a huge amount of stock into that ordering.
Anyway, the Joe Cribbs Car Wash doesn't even bother listing Michigan as a team with a bid to lose, mostly:
File under "duh": Cornell, ETSU, UNI, Radford, Morehead St., Siena, VCU, UT-Chattanooga, UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida St., Boston College, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma St., Michigan St., Illinois, Purdue, Ohio St., Wisconsin, Michigan, Washington, UCLA, Cal, Arizona St., UConn, Pitt, Louisville, 'Nova, Marquette, Syracuse, West Virginia, LSU, Tennessee, Xavier, Dayton, Memphis, Gonzaga, Butler, Utah, BYU.
That's 46 teams. A couple of these teams could conceivably miss (the Ohio St./Wisconsin loser, Michigan, maaaaaaaybe Dayton) but regardless I don't see any way Auburn "passes" any of them.
So that's good. Also, Western Kentucky did secure the Sun Belt autobid and remove their remote at-large hopes from relevance. Bad: Cleveland State took out Butler last night and secured themselves what appears to be a 13 seed. The bubble has shrunk by one team; from the sounds of it right now that's St Mary's spot. The spot of St Mary's. Attempting to turn a possessive into a possessive argh.
On the (slightly relieving) side of things, both Cincinnati and Georgetown saw their tourney aspirations die with thudding losses against Big East doormats. Notre Dame scraped by Rutgers, keeping their remote hopes alive.
Tonight's games of relevance, with your new favorite team bolded:
- DePaul vs Providence, noon. DePaul sucks and went 0-18 in the league this year, but they took out Cinci yesterday and would put a stake through the heart of any Providence at-large hopes if they could pull another upset.
- Baylor vs Nebraska, 12:30 PM. Epke Udoh will enjoy a view from the bench of a 5-11 Big 12 team; M would like Nebraska's faint at-large hopes to flatline.
- West Virginia vs Notre Dame, 7 PM ESPN. The Nonconference Teams Who Hate Michigan Bowl tips at 7; Notre Dame's tourney hopes would go from flatline to vaguely-possible-with-one-more if they pull the upset.
- Iowa State vs Oklahoma State, 7 PM. Eh… Oklahoma State is likely in but if they blow it here they could be in trouble.
Most of your mojo thoughts should be dedicated to a Notre Dame loss. I guess Providence imploding versus DePaul would be the most helpful, but your weird juju rituals are more likely* to swing the result of the ND game.
Tomorrow all this becomes almost totally irrelevant or very, very relevant indeed; if it stays relevant 1) want a blankie and possibly a gun and 2) there are a ton of relevant games.
*(and by this I mean, of course, "not more likely," or at least I did until Sri Lanka happened. Now I believe in everything. Aaargh! What's that! I don't know, but I'm terrified of it!)
Presserizing. Michigan's about to start spring practice and there have been a few injuries and roster adjustments:
Rodriguez confirmed the injuries reported recently — Jonas Mouton (shoulder) and Michael Shaw (sports hernia) — will miss the spring. Offensive lineman Ricky Barnum will play through a wrist problem. … Rodriguez said tight end Steve Watson is switching to defensive end.
No offense to Watson, but that sounds like the death knell for his future as a potential contributor. He's a longshot to ever see meaningful playing time, a la Quintin Patilla, fullback.
Also, uh:
Rodriguez said he's thinking about trying to break the national attendance record for a spring game. Alabama reportedly had about 92,000 two years ago.
That would require… I don't know what. An actual game, for one. And good weather. And pretty much a 180 degree flip from the way the Spring Game was promoted and marketed under Carr, and by "promoted and marketed" I mean "detested and ignored."
Other news from the press conference concerned medical redshirts: Junior Hemingway has his, which we knew, and they applied for redshirts for Kenny Demens and Adam Patterson but haven't heard back yet. Those things are mostly a formality, AFAIK; that would make Demens a freshman and Patterson a junior. There have been rumors Patterson will move inside given the lack of depth at DT, but there's a similar lack of depth at DE. Also:
Vince Helmuth could move from DT to DE if he gets in shape — playing DT gave him "the free reign to eat," and he "went overboard."
Also, there is a "noticeable difference" in the size and strength of the guys on the OL according to Barwis. Eeee. Liveblogging at the Daily for more details.


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Next Saturday, 10,000 lit paper lanterns will float up into the dark night sky. "A staggeringly beautiful site," says Titiya Chooto, general manager of the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai in Thailand.
It's Loy Krathong, Thailand's traditional moon festival, which takes place on the eve of the full moon in the 12th month of the traditional Thai calendar. This year, that day is Nov. 20, the day before the actual full moon.
Scene Asia is The Wall Street Journal's guide to food, wine, fashion, design, sports, entertainment, and the arts in Asia. It delivers a behind-the-scenes look at the region's dynamic culture, including Q&As with filmmakers, artists and chefs, news on arts and entertainment, and a spotlight on the most striking homes from Goa to the Gold Coast. Write to us at firstname.lastname@example.com
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Hooray for Valentine's Day! Deema is calling all Guppies of all ages to put together a play!
for Bubble Guppies weekdays @ 11:00 AM EST on NICK
The Bubble Guppies are putting together a play and they need your help. Deema will be the narrator and Gil will be the hero. Are you ready to be a great director and make this play look and sound swim-sational? Great! The Queen is throwing a Valentine's Day party at the Royal Palace of Hearts. Gil, the hero, is on his way, but he needs a gift and a costume. Kids can use their mouse to help Gil pick a gift for the Queen, choose a villain, and sticky icky objects on your way. Remember the true meaning of Valentine's Day is about friendship.
Parent Tip: Click play again to have your child direct another fin-tastic performance!
What will the Guppies be for Halloween? Guppy fans decide!
Kids can help these brave firefighter knights save the kingdom!
Your kids can become super stylists in this "hair-raising" adventure!
Dive in and help collect treats for Bubble Puppy!
Ahoy, matey! Join Molly & Gil on their hunt for buried treasure
Kids cruise through the zoo and help find a friend for Monty the rhino
Your kids can play school with the Guppies
Kids collect and count ingredients to make a potion and save Bubble Puppy!
Kids can win a prize by helping the Guppies' playful pup burst bubbles!
Swiper needs your child's help to get off Santa's Naughty List!
Dora needs your child's help to rescue King Unicornio!
Kids learn manners and colors while trying to make Dora's friend dance
Come on in and explore all the rooms in Dora's house!
Kids can help these brave firefighter knights save the kingdom!
Roll with Dora and Boots on their adventure to open Skate Park!
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Peter and his pals need help collecting fruits & veggies before it gets dark!
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Dan hops on a dino's back & races down a track to see which dino is the fastest
Kids can uncover countless surprises in this multi-world adventure game!
The Backyardigans need help keeping King Pablo's pet egg safe while he's away
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Kids collect and count ingredients to make a potion and save Bubble Puppy!
Dora and Boots need help getting back home in time for Dora's big party!
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Steer an ice coaster and help decorate a snow dragon--super!
The mission: A risky river crossing! Al rescate!


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Urban Forestry Overview
What We Do
Find an Urban Forester Near You
Western Lake Erie Basin EAB Community & Woodland Assistance Program
Tree City USA Celebrated Streets
Urban Forestry Resources
Emerald Ash Borer
Canopy Preservation Ordinances
Tree Commission Academy
Employment, Intern and Networking
Urban Forestry Advisory Committee
Ohio Street Tree Evaluation Project OSU's Urban Wood Utilization Project
Meeting Announcements
Urban Forestry Program Mission - Provide community officials and allied agencies with the organizational and technical ability to effectively manage the trees along streets, within parks, and on public grounds.
Contact: 614-265-6694
Division of Forestry 2045 Morse Road Building H-1 Columbus, OH 43229-6693
Let's face it. Most human activities -from breathing to burning fossil fuels- cause air pollution. And, while we may not want Big Brother watching over us, it's a good thing Mother Nature is. It's as if she knew we'd need saving from ourselves and created trees to produce oxygen and reduce the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide created by everyday living.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says a single acre of trees puts out four tons of oxygen -enough to meet the annual oxygen needs of 18 people. This same acre of trees can absorb the carbon dioxide produced by driving a car 26,000 miles. This intake of carbon dioxide and output of oxygen happens during photosynthesis...fortunately for us.
Not only do trees give us the oxygen we need to breathe, they also fight air pollution by directly reducing nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, major components of photochemical smog, ozone pollution and acid rain. On a more tangible front, trees act as a giant filter on the world. Their leaves, stems and twigs trap and filter out particulate matter, such as dust, ash, pollen and smoke, from the air.
Trees also help keep our water clean. As paving increases in neighborhoods and business districts, rain from storms flows more quickly across paved areas than it does across treed areas. The faster this storm runoff moves, the more it erodes and washes sediment and chemicals into drainage channels. The runoff carries with it oil and grime from parking lots, soil from construction sites, fertilizers from lawns, and chemicals from industrial discharges.
This storm runoff -with its soil sediment and pollutants- flows into drainage pipes and ditches and then into creeks, rivers and lakes. Increased sediment clouds streams and destroys fish habitat. Chemicals make water undrinkable. So how can we promote clean water?
Trees. Tree leaves help interrupt and slow rainfall, allowing the water to soak into the soil. This reduces runoff and decreases the need for additional erosion control. Tree roots also hold soil in place, further slowing erosion.
Another job to leave to the professionals is pruning tree limbs near electrical and utility wires. Contact utility companies or city maintenance workers to handle this dangerous task.
City workers should also remove other tree branches on city property that overhang homes, garages, parking areas, sidewalks, or obstruct vision at traffic intersections. If you notice a lack of regular pruning in your neighborhood, lobby city officials to get a tree care program in place.
Back on the home front, prune away any branches that obscure your home's entry to deter potential intruders. If any of your trees appear to be developing two trunks, prune away all but one centrally located trunk. A tree with two or more trunks is not as strong and may be torn apart during ice or windstorms.
One of the most common pruning mistakes is to cut off the top of a tree. "Topping" starves the tree by drastically reducing its food-making ability and leaves stubs that make the tree more susceptible to insects, disease, and decay. It also destroys the plant's natural shape and promotes the development of weak branch structure. When topped, a tree sends out multiple shoots that grow rapidly. These shoots are weakly attached and are prone to breaking, creating a hazardous condition. Proper pruning removes excessive growth without the problems caused by topping.
Many of us prune our trees to create shapes that we think are more aesthetically pleasing. Pruning should enhance and maintain the natural shape of the plant. Over pruning or trimming into tight geometric forms usually has adverse affects on trees. If the tree is naturally oval-shaped, don't make it cone-shaped. If it is a naturally spreading type, don't attempt to force it to grow upright.
Above all, remember that mature, urban trees are valuable assets to our property and proper pruning will help keep them healthy year round. For more detailed pruning specifications or information about hiring qualified arborists, contact your State Urban Forester or local municipal forester.


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Quick Facts
- NAME: Marc Bolan
- OCCUPATION: Singer
- BIRTH DATE: September 30, 1947
- DEATH DATE: September 16, 1977
- PLACE OF BIRTH: London, England
- PLACE OF DEATH: London, England
- Originally: Mark Feld
Best Known For
Marc Bolan is best known as the founder of the British psychedelic rock band T.Rex.
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Play NowMarc Bolan. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:32, Mar 12, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/marc-bolan-248662.
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Marc Bolan. The Biography Channel website. 2014. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/marc-bolan-248662. Accessed Mar 12, 2014.
Singer, musician. Marc Bolan was born Mark Feld on September 30, 1947 in East London. As a child, he discovered the rock and roll of artists such as Chuck Berry and became a Mod. When he was 9, he received a guitar and immediately began playing and performing. At 14, he was kicked out of school. He worked for a time as a model and, when he was 17, decided to give music a real go.
Bolan started by playing the music of Bob Dylan and Donovan. He renamed himself Toby Tyler and played wherever he could. 1967 found him changing his name back to Marc Bolan and joining the protopunk band John's Children. This band was somewhat successful at live shows, but never sold very many records. When John's Children disbanded, Bolan and John's Children drummer Steve Peregrin Took formed Tyrannosaurs Rex, a psychedelic folk-rock acoustic band, which played Bolan's songs. Tyrannosaurs Rex met with some success, releasing three albums and four singles. Their highlight was playing at the first Hyde Park free concert in 1968. Eventually, Bolan dismissed Took and replaced him with Mickey Finn.
Bolan married June Child, shortened the band's name to T. Rex, and recorded "Ride a White Swan," which rose to Number 2 on the British charts. The success of this single changed Bolan's life; giving him the freedom to experiment with the glam rock style that would become his trademark. He started wearing top hats and feather boas on stage, along with glitter on his cheeks. Bolan's friend, David Bowie, also caught the glam rock fever; along with singers such as Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, and Grand Funk Railroad.
After "Ride a White Swan," Bolan expanded T. Rex to a quartet by adding bassist Steve Currie and drummer Bill Legend. This new configuration hit the charts with "Hot Love" and "Get It On," which was renamed "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" for its U.S. release. This would prove to be T. Tex's only U.S. hit.
By 1975, Bolan's marriage was disintegrating and T. Rex was disbanding. Bolan entered into a relationship with Gloria Jones, a back-up singer. His health began to fail as he became addicted to cocaine, but he continued to work, producing at least one chart hit every year, in the United Kingdom, until his death in 1977. Bolan and Gloria Jones welcomed son Rolan Bolan in September of 1975.
Marc Bolan died in London on September 16, 1977, just before his 30th birthday. He and Gloria were returning from dinner at a nearby restaurant when their car, with Gloria at the wheel, struck a tree. Bolan was killed instantly, while Gloria sustained some injuries. The site of the crash is now the Bolan Rock Shrine memorial. At the 25th anniversary of his death, in 2002, a bronze bust of the rock star was placed at the site.
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Automobile Accident Victims
James Dean, Princess Diana, Isadora Duncan and Paul Walker are among the notable people who lost their lives in automobile accidents or from injuries from car crashes.
Automobile Accident Victims 21 people in this group
London Punk- Cultural Icons: 1970s
Following the "Swinging London" era of the 1960s, a new group of cultural icons arose. The 1970s saw the emergence of the punk rock movement, built upon the wave of psychedelic and folk rock music introduced in the '60s. In the post-hippie era of the early '70s, rock 'n' roll had a new glam image, pioneered by outrageously dressed rockers like David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Soon other acts followed, most notably young performers like Siouxsie Sioux and groups like T.Rex and The Clash. The music of the '70s inspired fashion as well, in particular designer Vivienne Westwood, whose punk designs for the Sex Pistols helped define the decade's London style. Biography.com looks at the various icons who defined London in the '70s.
London Punk- Cultural Icons: 1970s 16 people in this group
Musical Monikers
When musicians land big fame, there typically comes a moment of reinvention in which the "rock star" identity is born. This new persona often requires a new name, a way to differentiate between the private and public versions of themselves. Musical monikers take different forms, from the simple, last-name changes aimed at boosting celebrity appeal—like Steven Tyler—to the glamorized version of a childhood nickname—like Jay-Z. Musicians' nicknames and aliases tend to take on an identity all their own over time, often becoming as full of personality as the artists they represent.
Musical Monikers 109 people in this group


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In order to achieve a social and economic equality, we need to change the core of humanity.
Premised under Darwin, life and more specifically humanity is based on propagation. Racism i contend, at the core, is self-preservation and the propagation of a unique species. Dilution of a gene pool allows the eventual eradication of a trait or group; as such in order to achieve equality we need to change the reason for being.
For thousands of years, human lived long enough to propagate then died. This allowed for the continuation of the gene pool .Though certain traits were eliminated, the overall structure was maintained (black skinned tone, white skin tone, language structure) continued to thrive .
However human curiosity allowed to obsess and then experiment on what's was beyond the horizon. However our base code still maintains an innate routine that calls for self preservation. This interns manifests itself as sub-groups (tribes, race, language etc.).
To achieve the third wave of human evolution, we need to define a new reason of being. The basis of why we exist needs to shift from propagation of the species to enlightenment. Am not sure how to change this base code, but a wise man said to know and define a problem is the first step to having a solution.
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Feb 13 2013: .
To achieve the social and economic equality, "we need to change the core of humanity".
Tow ways:
(1) Evolve into a new species that detects the INVALID happiness, which makes the inequality.
(2) Let people know what invalid happiness is and quit it.
(For INVALID (ineffective) happiness, see the 1st article, points 1-3, 14, at https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D&id=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D%21283&sc=documents)
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The Trade Statistics Branch (TSB) of the United Nations Statistics Division is responsible for International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) and Statistics of International Trade in Services (SITS). Additional activities include Tourism Statistics, Distributive Trade Statistics (DTS) and the Compilation of Basic Economic Statistics.
For each of these statistical areas TSB develops or is involved in the development of the international methodology and cooperates with countries and international organizations to strengthen statistical capacity. For merchandise trade (IMTS) and trade in services (SITS) TSB collects and disseminates detailed data. For merchandise trade additional outputs such as a yearbook are available. Further details are given via the links on the left-hand menu. Latest news on IMTS, SITS and additional activities are provided on the right.
International Seminar on Travel and International Tourism Consumption Jakarta, Indonesia
Regional Workshop on Travel and International Tourism Consumption Roseau, Dominica
Regional Seminar on International Trade Statistics Bogota, Colombia
Regional workshop on international merchandise trade statistics: Implementation of IMTS 2010 and a new vision for trade statistics San José, Costa Rica
UNSD-SACU workshop on the implementation of the new recommendations for international merchandise trade statistics (IMTS 2010) in the Member States of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Johannesburg, South Africa
Regional Seminar on International Trade Statistics Amman, Jordan
DATABASE data is accessible here


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Gilded: The St. Croix Chronicles (The St. Croix Chronicles) (Paperback)
$11.02 - Save $0.58 5% off - RRP $11.60 Free delivery worldwide (to United States and
all these other countries) Usually dispatched within 48 hours | |Short Description for Gilded The second installment in Cooper's stunning steampunk series featuring fearless heroine Cherry St. Croix, in which she is faced with two men after her heartNand one killer out for her blood. Original.
Full description- Publisher: AVON BOOKS
- Published: 07 January 2013
- Format: Paperback 384 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Fantasy
- Sales rank: 329,474
Other books
Full description for Gilded
In the gleaming heights of Victorian London, a world of deception awaits an unconventional Society lady whose taste for adventure makes her a most formidable adversary . . .Though Society demands that I make a good marriage, I, Cherry St. Croix, have neither the time nor the interest. I am on the trail of a murder with no victim, a mystery with no motive, and the key to an alchemical formula that could be my family's legacy.Yet the world is not so kind as to let me pursue simple murder and uncomplicated bounties. Above the foggy drift, an earl insists on my attention, while my friends watch my increasingly desperate attempts to remain my own woman. From the silken demands of the Midnight Menagerie--to whose dangerously seductive ringmaster I owe a debt--to the rigorous pressures of the peerage, all are conspiring to place before me a choice that will forever change my life.


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OPEN DAILY 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Jellies capture the imagination as they pulse inside specially designed displays next to striking studio glass. Experience the beauty of this unique new gallery.
A Chattanooga Riverboat Cruise on the River Gorge Explorer is part thrill ride and part nature tour.
Home » News » News Releases
Above image: Dr. Anna George, director of the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI), teaches students from Valley Point Middle School about freshwater biodiversity at a recent Conasauga logperch release. This new award will help support educational activities during "Conservation Leadership in Action Week" in Chattanooga.
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What we hear can affect how we work
Interview by
Jan 2, 2012
Sound plays a large role in our overall health. And whether your an office drone or factory worker, different types of music can help or hurt your performance.
Super Bowl XLVI goes mobile
Dec 21, 2011
Multi-viewing sports fans charge your gadgets. NBC, Verizon and the NFL are joining forces to live-stream the big game.
The secret life of discounts
Dec 16, 2011
It's sale mania out there. A look behind the method to all the discount madness this holiday season.
Mid-day Extra: Are cheaters more creative?
Interview by
Nov 30, 2011
A new study suggests that creative-minded people might also be more likely to cheat -- and find a good reason for it after the fact.
'Increased discipline' needed to fix Europe
Interview with
Nov 28, 2011
Ideas are being bounced around today about ways to solve the European debt crisis once and for all.
Mid-day Extra: Burning the midnight oil
Interview by
Nov 24, 2011
Faced with lack of space and demand from students with hectic schedules, some community colleges across the U.S. are offering classes in the wee hours of the morning.
Mid-day Extra: What high ratings mean for baseball
Nov 24, 2011
What do high ratings for baseball games really mean to the industry as a whole?
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The hosts were very warm and friendly. Etienne was extremely accommodating and helped us to find an alternative B and B when I accidentally booked the incorrect dates for our stay. Etienne lent us a GPS for use during our stay, and that was a lifesaver - we couldn't have seen half of what we saw without the GPS. The... More
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- In our beautiful region of Provence, located at the foot of the Luberon hills in an exceptional setting, the Domaine du Lantana will captivate you with its peaceful, tree-filled grounds. Each room, with its patina-ed furniture, with air condionner, has its own independent access and offers you warmth and authenticity. The well-prepared and copious breakfasts. ... more less


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- Catering Services: Waitstaff, Appetizers / Hors D'Oeuvres Station, Appetizers / Hors D'Oeuvres Passed, Bartending, Clean-Up, Family Style
- Cuisine Style: American, BBQ, Italian, Mexican
- Languages Spoken: English
more about
Those who exhibit good taste share one meaningful trait: the unique way they demonstrate it – with style and distinction.
In the world of fine catering, this means developing a personalized vision, then finding the techniques, methods and ingredients, along with a talented staff, that will enable you to turn that vision into reality.
In the realm of service, it's a matter of bringing practicality and originality together to create something fresh and delightful. When you combine the two, the result will yield the purest of flavors and the most memorable of experiences- the essence of good taste.
Carriage Trade Catering has been pleasing palates and creating stellar impressions since 1974. No matter what the occasion may be, a classic is always in style.


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My Stylist Bloggers
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What are some different ways I can wear a baseball cap in the fall?
With black leather caps becoming as ubiquitous on style blogs as 3.1 Phillip Lim's Paschli, and J.Crew's bejeweled cap selling out …
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Testmasters SAT Prep Courses
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Why Choose a Testmasters SAT Preparation Course?
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Milan definitely has the wow factor. Even the most jaded diner will be jolted out of lethargy with its dramatic white-and-crimson color scheme downstairs and the silver-and-white contemporary treatment on the second level. Whether you love or hate the glitz, you'll remember it, all 12,000 square feet.
We happen to like the glam quotient, which raises the restaurant stakes in Little Italy—and downtown Baltimore. There's nothing else quite like it. Low, inviting couches are strategically placed around the lounge, a sleek red bar promises pleasures, funk music throbs, and mod tables and chairs look sci-fi and intriguing. The pieces meld together for a sophisticated, head-turning setting, created by local designer Meghan Hoffmann. There's more, too—covered, outdoor seating, the upstairs dining area (via, appropriately, a red-carpeted stairway), and VIP rooms.
Milan's motto, "Where Food Meets Fashion," might sound a little highfalutin, but the dressed-for-success crowd seemed to take it seriously the nights we were there. It doesn't come as a surprise that there is a dress code—à la the restaurant Pazo. Essentially, the rules are no T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, caps, or tennis shoes.
All this coolness comes with a price tag—in euros, no less, which some have criticized as being too precious or haute for Crabtown. We'd like to think that the restaurant is just having fun with the menu. And besides, there are U.S. currency translations. So what's the big deal?
The Italian-influenced menu is ambitiously divided into several sections, including small plates, flatbreads and bruschettas, antipasti, pasta and risotto, and meat and seafood entrees. There's also an Italian sushi menu (yes, you read that right) and a fancy-drinks roster with martinis named Valentino, Armani, and Prada.
Since our visits, we've been told that the sushi offerings are going to change. But we really hope the restaurant keeps the antipasti rotolo, a wrap with sopressatta, prosciutto, and mozzarella that is sliced into six bite-size rolls and decoratively queued up on a long white plate with sprinkled mâche and drizzled balsamic squiggles. It was as lovely as it was delicious.
The upside of so many menu choices is that diners can decide whether they want to go casual or formal. On one night, we took the informal route with shrimp flatbread and salmon bruschetta. No matter what you order, executive chef Stephen Carey, a Johnson & Wales culinary grad, creates a flavor palette that relies on seasonal and local products, creative pairings, and liberal doses of fresh herbs.
The salmon bruschetta, for instance, was aromatic with fronds of dill over the smoked fish, capers, and crème fraîche. And the crisp flatbread was exquisite with plump shrimp, oozy fontina, and cilantro leaves. We also sampled several small plates.
The lobster mac and cheese in a big, angled bowl was creamy with a smoked Gouda béchamel. The silky cheese sauce with an undertone of white truffle essence generously coated the chiocciole pasta (large elbows shaped liked snails). The grilled lamb "lollipops" were a bit chewy but still packed plenty of flavor, especially with the lemon rosemary aioli. The vertically stacked crispy polenta cakes—"Who gets the tower?" a kitchen runner asked—were impressive, layered with sausage rounds in a red-pepper ricotta pesto and basil oil.
Salads get equal attention, too, and have their own twists. The warm spinach salad isn't your typical plate of greens: Here, the spinach is molded into a small timbale shape, served with shrimp, and moistened with citrus vinaigrette. It was supposed to include a quail egg, but the kitchen was out of game-bird eggs that evening. Our server suggested a deviled-egg substitution, which worked just fine.
We've heard that the restaurant will be adding more steak choices because of demand. We can understand why. Our eight-ounce filet mignon (with a hint of charring) was a perfect dish. The steak was served medium rare as ordered and was bursting with beefiness. It was subtly brushed with a walnut Gorgonzola butter and sat atop spring-thin asparagus with a scattering of roasted fingerling potatoes. For hearty appetites, a 20-ounce, bone-in rib-eye is also available—for $42.
The risotto with caramelized sea scallops was a lush, decadent combo with wild mushrooms and corn, adding body to the delicate rice. Our smoked-paprika-dusted Chilean sea bass was thick and tender with an exhilarating peppery watercress cream to wake up the fish.
Tiramisu is so passé but still shows up on dessert menus all over town. And this time, we're glad it did. Served in a clear dish, this version was refreshing and light-as-a-feather with homemade ladyfingers, sweet mascarpone, espresso, coffee liqueur, dark rum, and cocoa. The Grand Marnier-scented vanilla-custard crème brûlée with candied orange peel was another soothing, airy finish.
And for chocoholics, the double-layer chocolate hazelnut torte is moist and dense. There's also espresso and cappuccino—make it a single or a double!
The servers are eager to please and mostly attentive, though they aren't as polished as the upscale environs call for. On one visit, our waitress was all over us until midway through the meal. Then, we lost her to another table—and it wasn't even crowded. Another time, the server rattled on for so long about the menu, we found it hard to concentrate. For these prices, you expect more diligence.
But we're sure you'll find much to like about the city's newest, hippest restaurant, whether you're just stopping by for drinks and snacks or looking for a serious dining destination. Chef Carey is certainly doing his job in the kitchen and won't let you down.


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Giants' Chris Snee sits again
Snee sits again
Three-time All-Pro RG Chris Snee (ankle) missed his second consecutive practice and his availability for Sunday's game against the Bengals remains in doubt.
Tom Coughlin suggested Thursday that a decision could be made on Snee as soon as today, although he left open the possibility he would be given until Saturday's walkthrough before the team boards the plane for Cincinnati to show improvement.
Sean Locklear said he is under the impression that the only way he returns this week to the starting offensive line would be if David Diehl moves to right guard to replace Snee.
Diehl has been taking first-team reps at guard, Locklear said. Reserve James Brewer has been working there as well, and if he plays, Diehl would remain the starter at RT.
"He's such an integral part of what we do," offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said of Snee. "Obviously, you lose a good football player, but you also lose a very intelligent football player, a guy who's been an anchor for the group. His strength mentally and emotionally, he's one of those guys that you depend on when things aren't going well. He's just so stable and so determined, so mentally tough that everybody kind of looks to him as an example. That's a big loss when you lose a guy of that quality."
Nicks on track
Hakeem Nicks said he'll play against the Bengals, despite missing practice Wednesday with a swollen left knee.
Nicks returned to the practice field as a limited participant Thursday, running routes and catching passes while wearing a compression sleeve/wrap on his left leg.
"[Wednesday] was just taking a day off," Nicks said. "It was still a little swollen, a little puffy from the game like it always is after the game. This time it was just a little bit more puffy, so they wanted to sit me down for a day.


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Homeoprophylaxis for Free and Healthy Children
Brought to you by Free And Healthy Children International: Homeoprophylaxis; Research, Education and Access
Seeking a Vaccine Alternative? Looking to detoxify your child from vaccines?
The Minneapolis homeopathic office of Kate Birch, RS Hom (NA) has joined with a team of homeopaths throughout the nation to offer comprehensive, responsible, and experienced guidance on alternatives to vaccines.
Kate Birch, RS Hom (NA) and Cilla Whatcott, offer education about homeopathic alternatives to vaccines to parents and families. They have been working in the field of holistic health care, with an emphasis on homeopathy, for the last decade. Kate has authored a practical, well-researched reference book for families and homeopaths on the subject of disease prevention with homeopathy and is currently compiling evidence of the efficacy of homeoprophylaxis. Together, Kate and Cilla have authored the new book The Solution, Homeoprophylaxis: The Vaccine Alternative, a book that explores natural childhood development and the interaction of disease agents for immune system development.
On this site learn more about:
- Homeoprophylaxis program
- Supervision for homeopaths seeking to guide their own patients through the homeoprophylaxis process
- Research into the efficacy of homeopathic disease prevention
- Homeopathy classes
- Vaccine injury and detoxification
- Homeopathy for travel disease prevention
- Homeopathy for Chickenpox
- Homeopathy for Influenza
- Homeopathy for Measles
- Homeopathy for Whooping cough
*The content of this website is not to be misconstrued as medical advice nor does it replace the consult of a physician or practitioner. Reader assumes the responsibility of investigating for themselves disease prevention methodologies that concur with their beliefs and understanding.