Movies

21. Good Night and Good Luck: Generally I thought this movie was well-made. The most interesting part to me is the contrast between now and then. Then the politician would call out the reporters. Now, the reporters will call out the other reporters for the politicians. Entire networks will call out the reporters. In that sense the movie is a sad reminder of the ability of politics to co-opt the media. The story it tells is powerful and important. However, I think that the characters are underdeveloped. It's less than 90 minutes long and the cast is fairly large. I didn't feel that I was given much of a reason to care about most of the characters that I was clearly supposed to care about. It was beautifully shot though. As an aside, on my two trips to the United Kingdom I have been amazed at the occassional quality of newsstories as compared to in the states. I watched an hour long broadcast about bottled water that was fascinating. I saw an hour long story about eldercare and the state. It was so enjoyable to feel like the people presenting the news were trying to present it in a way that a reasonable person could take what they saw and make an informed decision about an issue. That said, I hate NPR and PBS because I think that they do a horrible job of presenting information in that way.

Cut him

If I don't let them know by Saturday what are they gonna do? Cut me?
-Brett Favre after being questioned about the Saturday deadline the Packers have put on him to announce his retirement or come back.

I don't know if this is an actual quote. I found it on the internet, but it fits in with my previous post so I stick with it. I'd cut him. I'd also be active in the free agent quarterback market. Sign Kerry Collins or somebody along those lines just to scare Favre a little.

Update: This quote is real and comes from an SI article in which he says he'll only come back if they put together a winner for his last season.

Amazing

If you have half an hour, put on the headphones and watch this video.

Goodness

That last post may be my best yet. That is all.

Ash - Cosmic Debris (album 2)

I went to class today. It was pretty uneventful. I'm now pretty far along in my back pain marathon. I really feel like I'm accomplishing something here. Also, I've learned that fake tylenol makes me feel a bit off. Maybe real tylenol does as well.

This may get me run out of Wisconsin, and let's face it, that's not a problem for me, but I think Brett Favre is my least favorite player in the NFL. That's right, below TO and all the other loudmouths. Favre publicly interfered with his teammates contract business last year. That involvement has made Javon Walker very unpopular in this state despite him being one of the finest citizens on the team. The thing that bugs me is that Favre called Walker out on a threat to hold out in order to get a contract that pays him fair market value. Favre preached about honoring your contract and taking care of the team, but he's the same asshole who holds the franchise hostage each year while he decides if he wants to grace the Packers with his presence. Well fuck him. He's a has-been who can't be effective unless a coach is riding his ass to play within the offense. Watch a Packers game and listen to the announcers talk about how tough and competitive he is while he's throwing his 3 or 4 interceptions. If he were younger, they'd be criticizing him for his reckless play. He's like a slightly more mobile Drew Bledsoe, albeit with more emotion. I'm tired of hearing about him. He should retire and get into the hall-of-fame on the first ballot as one of the 2 or 3 most overrated players of the modern era. I should say that I agree with Matt Yglesias that most overrated things are typically really good but somewhat exagerated. I think the Beatles are incredibly overrated, but that's only because I think the Velvet Underground and the Kinks are very nearly as good. I feel weird calling the best rock band of all time overrated, but there it is. Elvis is overrated in a different way. He was never any better than his contemporaries. He just marketed himself incredibly well. He may actually be underrated as a pr man.

I wore a short-sleeve shirt today. I ended up putting a sweatshirt on over it. It never did warm up like they said it would.

Bob Wills - Greatest Hits

I had to take pain killers again today, but this time I couldn't make it to the bus. That's over 48 consecutive hours of back pain. I hate it. I'm using every trick that I can think of to get rid of it, but it just won't go away.

I'll probably be seeing a Clark brother next week. The newer, sportier model. KJC will be in town for a printmaking conference, so hopefully I'll get to see him while he's around. Brilliant scheduling by the way. Where would anyone rather be than Madison, WI, in early April?

Apparently there's some stud running back from Racine who may be interested in heading to Austin for his collegiate experience. They say he's likely the best player to ever come from Wisconsin. He had 2,000 yards rushing and was named unanimous player of the year despite missing two and a half games to injury. I read that he's 6'2, 220 lbs, and he runs a sub 4.4 40 yard dash. He'll probably end up in Madison or Ann Arbor.

I have a draft of my big group project due on Monday. We have to send copies to 4 peer editors. I hope it goes well. I hope. I posted our main spreadsheet to the group webspace in hopes that the rest of the updates will be made by early Thursday. None of my group members have opened it yet. It's only been 6 hours since I posted it though.

I have an assignment due on Thursday. The catch is that I don't want to do it. Take that, professor.

I got a phone call from the ACLU today. They want my money. It turns out that the NSA was doing some wire-tapping. I had no idea! The solicitor was a very slow-talking man with a Canadian phone number. The ACLU is outsourcing our aggravating volunteer opportunities.

I can't stress this enough, go to Tex Tubb's Taco Palace. It's a magical place with nymphs and cherubs. They may have been cherubic nymphs. I can never tell.

Denver is nearly equadistant from Madison, LA, and Austin. It's closest to Austin and furthest from LA. If we ever need a meet-up that is only about a 15 or so hour drive, then that's the place to go.

NBA

Remember when this Pistons team was supposed to be headed for a record breaking season and some argued for making the Pistons starting five the Eastern Conference all-star starting five? They still have the best record in the NBA at 55-14. The next best in the East is Miami at 47-23. In the West, both the Spurs and Mavs are 54-16. The Suns are 47-22. It seems to me that 54-16 in the West is much more impressive than 55-14 in the East. The real benefit for the Pistons is that if they meet the Spurs or Mavs in the finals, then the West's rep will have been forced to play a series against the other. The Pistons are good, but there's no way that they are on a different level than the Spurs or Mavs.

Ronnie Milsap - Greatest Hits Vol.2

Yesterday I listened to Della Reese, but I didn't get around to posting it. It was a busy day.

I had to take pain killers this morning in order to make it to the bus. Sitting at my desk at work hurt. My back is still hurting. Mrs. Mr. Brendon is going to kick my ass later for not using the strange corn-based hotpad that we have. My dad gets the same kind of pain and these hotpads work well for him. I've just been busy and stuck at the computer since I've been home. Surfing internet porn takes dedication. Okay, I'm updating Excel spreadsheets so that I can perform some analysis. I need to fix some of the data in order to have faith in my analysis. That is clearly like surfing internet porn. I'd say the two are equivalent.

Congratulations to the Wisconsin Women's Hockey team on winning the National Championship. The men have a shot to give the University of Wisconsin a hockey sweep. I personally think that hockey is incredibly boring, but it takes a great deal of work and talent to win the championship. Kudos to you, Badgers.

I turned in a piece of trash memo the other day.

More african-americans than caucasians have been arrested for possessing lless than 1 gram of cocaine with intent to distribute in the past two years. I think that's the only crime that breaks down that way. Milwaukee County loves drug crime.

Movies

20. Inside Man: This movie was very good. Spike Lee does a great job directing his actors. Clive Owen plays a good villain with heart. I've never liked Clive Owen before, but he is fantastic in this movie. Denzel is perfect in his role. The only real weakness is Jodie Foster. Her best acting job is still Freaky Friday. I don't think Jodie is a very good actor and she brings down this movie when she appears. Other than that it's a really good film. See it.

the Kinks - the Kink Kontroversy

Know what sucks? Not getting invited sucks.

Kevin, you needed to have worked harder on that paper. It may have been good enough to get to overtime, but not good enough to finish it off. We lost to LSU. I hope you're happy.

Cooking Light has some really good recipes. We made the chicken with lime sauce and cumin roasted potatoes tonight. It was an excellent dinner. We have an easy recipe for tres leches that we're going to make tomorrow.

I found Bass in draught cans today. Woodman's is a magical place.

A waitress tried to explain grits to us today. Mrs. Mr. Brendon gave her what for.

Ella Fitzgerald - At the Opera House

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I think it's inappropriate for a basketball player to lie down on the court and cry after a loss. I prefer the West Virginia approach. There were a lot of "what the fuck?" faces on that bench. The Duke kids were crying with time left in the game. That Gonzaga kid was crying with time left and a chance for the win. The LSU kids looked like they stopped thinking about the game once those Duke kids started crying.

Ella Fitzgerald - Like Someone in Love

It's almost impossible to go wrong with an Ella Fitzgerald album. I'll probably listen to another tomorrow. We have several.

My group project is moving. I'm not sure in what direction, but it's moving. My professor offered to give my resume to anyone he might meet at a school funding meeting that he is going to tomorrow. That's good stuff.

My 48 hour project is to write a policy memo about increasing fuel efficiency standards on light trucks. My initial take is that raising CAFE standards is probably the second best option if the goal is to decrease fuel consumption. The first-best option is to raise the gas tax. That's regressive and politically unpopular, so CAFE standards may be the only reasonable approach.

My feet hurt. Maybe it's my new shoes.

According to an internet test, my dialect is decidedly southern. I have a very slight drawl that morphed into a full-on accent while we were in Arkansas last week. It was funny. Meredith tells me that I have more of an accent than I realize. I guess that's possible, but I don't think of myself as really having more than a very faint drawl.

Hook 'em.

Helmet - Aftertaste

This might be the defining disappointing album of my music listening life so far. I think Prince and Lou Reed both put out some shit when they were trying to get out of their contracts and this is no different.

I'm not bowling tonight. I am too worn out right now. Meredith has a rehearsal anyway.

I have a meeting later today with one of my group mates. I'm not looking forward to it. It's not because of my group mate, it's because I don't like meetings.

Why are the federal sentencing guidelines for crack so fucked up? Why does possession of 1 gram of crack get the same punishment as 100 grams of powder cocaine? They're fucking identical. The high from crack is more intense, but short, while the high from the powder when snorted is less intense and slightly longer in duration. There's no real evidence that crack is more addictive than the powder. Also, where did the "crack baby" myth come from? Crack has a much smaller impact on a developing fetus than does alchohol. The traits associated with a "crack baby" are shockingly similar to the traits which we associate with impoverished, malnurished mothers.

Our Beer

Our Shoes

Mogwai - Come On Die Young

I think I'm at a point in life at which I can no longer drink soda without feeling ill. I blame this on my intolerance of sugar. I like some colas and I don't feel any desire to switch to diet. The problem is that the midwest has not yet learned of this exotic beverage called iced tea. Or if they have, they have no idea how to make it. I suppose there isn't any shame in drinking water, but sometime more flavor is needed from the beverage.

I haven't been to class in eleven days. Tomorrow makes twelve days without having a professor attempt to educate me. Some would say thirteen since my last class was 871, but I will give that professor the benefit of the doubt. I don't think I'll be able to handle a full day on Wednesday. God I'm ready for this to be over. I just want to move and put this whole episode behind me.

I just got an email in which my name was misspelled. I really hate that. My name is very easy to spell. One "e" and no "a"s. Simple.

Peek-a-Boo Book of Spells

Support Austin musicians and buy this album.

I watched more streaming NCAA basketball action today. Texas looked really good. My bracket has taken a bit of a beating with Kansas and UNC, but I'm still doing okay. I've only missed one game in the Atlanta bracket. I didn't think NW St. would beat Iowa. I don't know anybody who did.

I didn't leave my home today. I didn't even put on real people clothes. I'm a sorry excuse for a man. I actually think that I had the day that every man would dream of, minus the work part.

If anybody knows of any good policy-type jobs anywhere, let me know. I've applied in Austin and D.C.. I didn't get the job in D.C.. I'll apply in Little Rock and Atlanta. I like Tampa, so I'd be willing to move there. Some of, or at least one of, the best people are in Southern California so I'd have to consider that. I like the cost of living in the south, but the California cost of living scares me.

Why do the waitresses at the Flying Saucer where such small skirts?

Remember Me

I tell blogger to remember me, but it never seems to. I always have to re-enter my login information.

I'm updating a PowerPoint presentation for my boss, but I have no idea where he got these numbers from or what they mean, so it's not that easy. Good thing I have until tomorrow to get it to him. I also have to work on my DOR stuff.

the Beatles - Revolver

I listened to some Johnny Mathis and Billie Holliday over the break. I went and saw Ted Leo and Les Aus in Little Rock. Les Aus is a great, noisy Spanish duo. I recommend checking them out.

I thought the Arkansas guy got fouled at the end of the game, but they blew two chances to win or tie the game in the final 30 seconds, so I can't be too upset about it. I'm mad about Kansas though. I picked them to go to the Final Four.

Mrs. Mr. Brendon is very cute right now.

I really enjoyed my visit to Arkansas, particularly Little Rock. It was nice to be around civil people. There were all these friendly people who said sir and ma'am. The food was good. In fact, the restaurant in Madison idea was put to its death by a combination of enjoying being in the south and being forced to watch the Texas game streaming on my computer. I can't handle living in Big Ten sports country anymore. Not too mention living around all of these Yankees. Oh, there was wonderful tea in Arkansas. They don't screw up iced tea there. The Sun Room makes okay iced tea, and I haven't tried tea at Tex Tubb's, but the tea is crap everywhere else up here.

Movies

18. XXX - State of the Union: Things blew up. Ice Cube had some faux clever, but actually really crass, lines. Anaconda is a much better movie of this genre. It was nice to see things blow up though.

19. the Libertine: Hiring a bad actress to portray a good actress seems to be a mistake. This movie has moments where it is entertaining, but for the most part it's just odd.

I got a new pair of shoes and I'm better than you

Actually, I got two new pairs of shoes. I got plain black vans slip-ons and black and grey checked vans slip-ons.

Oh well

I may not be able to listen to records this week. It really sucks, but it just means that I have to double my efforts when I get back to Madison.

Fayetteville is nice. There was a storm last night that scared me to death. There was hail, thunder and lightning. There were tornados too. On the positive side, my nephew has decided that he likes me. He's almost two. They forget meeting you when they're that small. My niece is a handful, but she's sweet.

Apparently you can keep a tattoo a secret in my family for eleven years. Just ask my sister.

Last night was dinner with my sister and the kids. Tonight it's dinner with Jeremy and the kids. Fun stuff.

Hi, I'm in...

Rolla, MO. Just saw some girl walking to her car with a half consumed beer in her hand. Spring Break in central Missouri! Sounds about right to me. The Days Inn in Rolla has a very nice appearance. The rooms do anyway. They look like care was taken to ensure that they are presented well. I respect that. I also respect the free breakfast although the Waffle House next door looks pretty good too. Driving until 2.00 in the AM makes me really tired. I think that's pretty natural. I'm going to bed now.

Radio Birdman - the Essential Radio Birdman pt.2

This is a great record. I highly recommend picking it up.

I'm like a really good sitcom wife from the 1950's. I woke up, made breakfast, made coffee, cooked chicken so that Meredith could pack a warm lunch, and then I took her to work. I came home, washed dishes, and did laundry. So ladies, I almost assure you that my wife would win any "my man is the sweetest" contests. I actually have no idea if that's true. I do stupid shit like ask her to get me a beer when we're sitting on the couch together and have my legs draped over her. But half the time I'm totally super sweet.

I'm going to Arkansas in a few hours. Truth be told, I'm going just past St. Louis in a few hours and then tomorrow I'll go to Arkansas.

I have to finish packing and paying bills, so goodbye for now. I'll try to keep posting the daily record while I'm gone, but I'm not sure how that will work when I'm in Little Rock. Maybe the Ted Leo show will count as the record.

Radio Birdman - the Essential Radio Birdman pt.1

Record two of the double-lp will be tomorrow.

I somehow ended up with extra work in 871. How does that sort of thing happen.

Social policy is the mushy, obnoxious side of the policy world.

I'm going to Arkansas tomorrow afternoon. It should be fun.

I really don't have much to say today. Sorry.

The restaurant idea is building momentum in my head. The LBB needs to call back and fix that.

Whitney Houston - Whitney

Remember when Whitney Houston was hot? This album is from that time.

871 makes me tired, but 869 makes me cry.

It's a tough life being a graduate student with a stipend, a free education, and a weeklong vacation coming up.

I absolutely love my cast-iron skillet. Everyone should get one. Because they are so heavy, you can cook food like you are grilling. It's really a handy tool in the kitchen. I'm not getting rid of my other pots and pans any time soon, but my cast iron is a good tool.

I'm going to Arkansas for a few days. It should be nice. We'll get to see Ian and Ted Leo. The drive will be fun, other than that Illinois part.

I'm gonna feel the heat with somebody.

I got my National Championship Football yesterday. I tried to teach Meredith how to throw a football. The living room isn't the best place for that.

I have big plans to eat barbecue and Mexican food next week. There's a really good new barbecue place in Fayetteville that has RC in the fountain. I can't remember the name of the place, but it's better than Penguin Ed's. It's out on Weddington Road if I have any Northwest Arkansas readers.

Men's basketball is regular season Big XII champions. Men's and women's indoor track are Big XII conference champs. Football is national champions. Baseball is defending national champions. Softball is number 2 in the country, highest ranking in school history. Men's swimming and diving is always good. Texas is really good at athletic competition.

Johnny Cash - With His Hot and Blue Guitar

Trying to plan a last minute vacation is lame. I wouldn't mind visiting our niece and nephew, but I don't think that's going to happen. Maybe Meredith will make the reservations somewhere. That would be nice.

I bowled 112, 111, 105. That's pretty consistent. We won two and tied the third. The tie is notable because our handicap gave us a 200 pin lead. The guy on the other team could win it with a strike on his third portion of the tenth frame, but he got a nine to tie.

I don't care about school right now. Does that make me a bad person.

the Kinks - Face to Face

I saw the most amazing woman today. I'm considering leaving Meredith for her. She was wandering around downtown with her cell phone wedged between her cheek and shoulder. She had to speak loudly so as to be heard with great distance between her mouth and the phone. She also had to be heard over her cheetos. You see, she was holding the bag of cheetos with one hand and then digging through it with her other hand. In the cheeto grabbing hand was a lit cigarette. It was almost hypnotic the way she would chew, talk, and smoke, all at the same time. She did it with grace. Well, she didn't it with grace except when she dropped her cigarette into a puddle on the sidewalk. That couldn't slow her down though. She just picked that cigarette up and resumed right where she had left off. The last I saw her, she was wandering aimlessly down the street in the middle of the lane. She dared those cars to hit her, but she knew they wouldn't. I'll miss you cheetos-phone girl.

Movies

17. The Great Escape - It's Steve McQueen week at Team Riggs' Wisconsin Headquarters. I know that I should have seen this movie in it's entirety at some point in my life, but I hadn't. I want to see a Paul Newman/ Steve McQueen movie just because I think that they were the same person only one of them was handsome and the other rode motorcycles. But yeah, the Great Escape is a good movie and people should watch it. It's essentially a true story. I think the lesson that Nazis are fuckers comes through pretty well.

An aside: Some people seem to think that the Acacemy Awards are as important as sporting events. Those people are wrong. I think people in this country are caught in this epic struggle between those who significantly undervalue the importance of sport and those that overvalue the importance in sport.

Destroyer - Notorious Lightning and Other Works

It's been snowing all day. They said that we'd get 1-3 inches, but that changed sometime during the middle of the day and now we're supposed to get close to 5 inches.

It was a good day at the record store yesterday. We bought new stuff from Broadcast, Destroyer, Eef Barzelay, and Wolf Parade. All four albums are good stuff.

Meredith is making cookies and later, I'll be making pork tenderloin and macaroni & cheese.

I own this story, so I'm going to throw it out there: On the night of my college graduation in May of 2001, my Jeep Cherokee was stolen. I lived in a sketchy apartment complex that was basically the end of the college student neighborhoods on Austin's east side and the beginning of some relatively poor neighborhoods. There had been a few things stolen or damaged in our time there. Some bikes were stolen and my tires were slashed. The complex manager tried to evict us for not paying rent two weeks early. The landlord didn't fix broken things. We had a small fire as a result of the not fixing things. Anyway, my car, with my cap and gown, was stolen. In East Austin, someone was driving around in a white Jeep Cherokee with Arkansas plates and a giant Weezer sticker. There was an Arkansas flag plate on the front of the car. In short, it had some fairly distinct markings, but motor vehicle theft is not a priority anywhere. Fast forward to a month later, someone from the Austin Fire Department calls me and asks if I had reported a Jeep stolen. I say yes and he tells me that they've found my car. Exactly one month later, my car was found in the middle of the golf course across the street from my apartment. It was in flames. Kevin and I went to the wrecker lot to look at it and it was a sad sight. It was a heart braking moment. Now, I share a Honda Civic with my wife. It's a nice car. I'll always miss you, Jose Blanco, king of kings.

the Outfield - Bangin

This is yesterday's record. It is the second record that I purchased. If you want to listen to the Police, but for some reason you can only find the Outfield, it'll be okay. They sound the same.

Crowded House - s/t

This is the first record that I bought for myself. It's 20 years old now. It stands up. I think Neil Finn has had a pretty good solo career since Crowded House became no more. I highly recommend this album.

I'm drinking Bass and staring at the section of my paper that I'm not working on. It is, of course, the only section on which I am supposed to be working.

I was almost hit by cars on three separate occassions within a span of about 5 minutes. I had the right-of-way each time. The first was a idiot in an old SUV who turned left at a point in time when he had no business turning left. He started his full-speed turn as I was entering the intersection as was the SUV next to me. Later, I was turning left into a parking lot to pick up Meredith and this car started backing out of the first spot by the entry while I was in mid-turn. They didn't stop despite me clearly being there before they actually started backing up. The pedestrians prevented me from getting out of the way. Later still, I was turning right onto University and this girl in an SUV was turning left onto University. I clearly have the right-of-way and I start first, but she uses her cars size and turns into the lane furthest from her, or the one that I am in the process of turning into, thus forcing me almost into the sidewalk. What is it with drivers here. I've heard from others that Madison has a reputation for particularly bad drivers, but this is insane. Austin has a similar reputation, but I've never had three near misses in such a short span there. I did get hit twice there though.

I love this Crowded House.

This is my favorite time of the school year. It's the time when I am quite ready to be done and quite unwilling to continue being in school. It was about one year ago when I decided that I didn't want to be in policy school. Now I'm trying to sell my wife on opening a restaurant. It all makes great sense. School sucks.

Spoon - Soft Effects (special edition #126 of 500)

This is as cheating as cheating gets. It's an ep, but it's on vinyl as a full length. It repeats on either side.

I amaze myself with how tired I manage to stay. It's incredible.

Meredith was told today that she isn't working during spring break which is in just over a week. Her boss has known this for a while, but nobody thought to tell Meredith. Plane tickets are really expensive now. We can save some money by driving to Chicago and then flying from there, but I don't know if we'll do that. My preference is to drive someplace a reasonable distance from here. Fayetteville may be too far, but I'd like to see the kids. I know that Meredith really wants to see her family too. I'm not sure how we'll get anywhere. It may just be a short trip to Chicago. I like Chicago, but that's not much of a vacation.

I hope everyone had a nice Texas Independence Day. The basketball team blew it last night, but the men and women both kicked ass in the Big XII indoor trackmeet. The Texas punter placed in the 60 meter sprint. That's great.

I wish there were new episodes of the Daily Show on this week. I don't care about the Academy Awards, so this isn't a good trade-off for me.

This is Beautiful

Watch the video. It reminds me of everything good about being a kid.

She doesn't like my plan

If I am unable to get a job that I want in Austin, I am leaning towards trying to open a barbecue restaurant in Madison. I have at least one local business owner who has pledged financial support to any endeavor that we should choose to undertake. The apparent success of Tex Tubb's Taco Palace leads me to believe that people here will be drawn to high quality, Texas-style restaurants. The downside, we would have to live here. Meredith has made it clear that she doesn't like my plan and that she wants me to find a job, any job, in Austin.

Ella Fitgerald with Count Basie - A Classy Pair

I am again completely worn out. Meredith just asked if we could go to bed now. It's early, but it sounds like a good idea.

The workshop project is moving along sort of strangely.

I have to go to 871 tomorrow. That's never an easy thing to do when I'm tired. It's not easy to do when I'm bright eyed and bushy tailed.

I'm curious why the conventional wisdom that UT football players are not good pros developed. D.D. Lewis and Marcus Tubbs started on defense for the NFC champion Seattle Seahawks. Casey Hampton started on defense for the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Nathan Vasher, Cory Redding, Chris Simms, Derrick Dockery, Ricky Williams, Roy Williams, Derrick Johnson, Quentin Jammer, and Shaun Rogers are all starting in the NFL. Priest Holmes was setting all sorts of records until he started having injury troubles. Three of those guys started in the Pro Bowl this year. Those guys all play pretty well and they stay out of trouble. Okay, Ricky Williams likes his pot, a lot. He apparently likes some illegal supplement too. Cedric Benson will be good whenever he gets the chance to play. All I know is that the IHOP loving Michael Huff is going to be a good NFL player. Rodrique Wright will be a good NFL player. David Thomas will be good. I think Vince Young will be good, but I think he's made a huge mistake by leaving early. Quarterbacks don't do well when they leave early. Among those who have left college early for the NFL, Michael Vick is the only one with a remotely decent professional career. He's constantly questioned. Running Backs can leave early and be fine, but not quarterbacks. I also like that some NFL types think that the lack of players leaving school early shows that the University of Texas program is soft. Oh well.