Muhammad hates knees?

Civil war? What Civil war?

From the AP:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi tennis coach and two of his players were shot to death this week in Baghdad because they were wearing shorts, authorities said Saturday, reporting the latest in a series of recent attacks attributed to Islamic extremists.

Ah, the birth of a forced democracy is well....

And so it goes.

The best and the brightest

This is the best we can do?

That's depressing.

And so it goes.

Out there somewhere

Anyone know if the UI tennis team is still alive in the NCAA tournament?

If they are, we know where they are at: On the road.

Thanks to the UI and BOT's institutional racism. You can say it any way you want, but hostile and abusive is hostile and abusive. And that won't go away, either. Even if we close our eyes really really tight.

We should expect more?

And so it goes.

I care? Cough Cough Cough

Talk on other blogs is that come August 1, all the smokers will abandon Champaign and Urbana bars and head out to the Senator's Inn and the bowling alley bar in Savoy.

My response: so what? Buh-bye.

If any large-scale boycott happens, and I'm most doubtful, it MAY last 2-3 days. Probably less. Smokers do not go to bars simply to smoke. Despite what you'll read in the conservative free-trade-or-die blogosphere. They go to drink. They go to watch sports on TV. They go to play pool. Play darts. Eat. Throw peanuts on the floor, cuss, grunt and fart. And most important, they go to socialize with their friends. If your friends, your pool league, your darts league and all your other Cardinal fan friends are sitting around the Esquire (the thankfully smoke-free and suddenly pleasant Esquire) are you gonna sit with a bunch of disgruntled smokers in the cramped little Senators Inn bar and SMOKE all by yourselves? With clenched fists, a furrowed brow, a lighted cigarette clamped tight in your lips and a victorious frown on your face? You've beaten The Man! I doubt it, but if so, enjoy yourselves. That just means more room for me and my nonsmoker friends in more suddenly pleasant bars in Champaign and Urbana. Don't let the swinging bar door hit you in the ass. I really doubt you will be missed. Any revenue loss will be temporary.

Just be careful after an evening of heavy smoking and heavy drinking when you decide to drive back home. The cops will be waiting; you can bet on that. And there's no bus service in Savoy, remember? DUI anyone?

Mean time, just how many students are gonna leave Campustown bars because they can't smoke? If it's 1 percent I'd be surprised.

Mean time, it'll be my guess that about 5 percent of the smokers in other C-U bars may stay away -- temporarily. But it's a pretty good bet that that'll be offset by an increase in folks like me who had long since given up on nightlife because we tired of scratchy throats, itchy, bloodshot eyes and smelly clothes.

Fair trade.

Enjoy Savoy, folks.

I won't miss you. Neither will most bars. Not if they honestly admit it.

And so it goes.

Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles!

A whole lot of new bars and restaurants will open up in Champaign-Urbana (well at least Champaign, for now) come August 1.

There are a lot of businesses, particularly in downtown Champaign that I have never been in and that I will begin patronizing after August 1. And I bet I'm not the only one. Nonsmokers like me spend money, too. There are more of us. Really. And we're not busy wasting money buying tobacco, so we have more money for food and drinks.

For a real big belly laugh, check out the whining over at IlliniPundit. It's precious. Especially the comments. You'd think the Champaign Council had just negated all of the 10 Commandments and the entire Bill of Rights in one vote. The apocalypse has arrived!

Sounds like smokers have rights. And business owners have rights. But breathers don't.

It's time for smokers to be locked out of a few bars and restaurants (at least while they're smoking). We nonsmokers have been locked out for years.

Fair is fair, right?

Guess not.

And so it goes.

Figures

OK, let's see: Urbana can go nuke-free.

But not smoke free?

I suppose it makes sense -- to someone. Hey, it's Urbana.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: This blog reached a momentous milestone Monday: Old Guy Blog is now officially 1 year and 1 day old.

And they (and I) said it wouldn't last. Then again, as long as there are wingnut conservatives ...

And so it goes.

If not now, when?

For the UI Bored of Trustees, the future finally is now.

Providing they have enough cojones to face it. If I was a betting man ....

Check out this link from USA Today.
And from Thursday's News-Gazette online sports blurbs.

CHAMPAIGN -- Brad Dancer knows how important Chief Illiniwek is to Illinois fans.
The coach also knows his Illinois men's tennis team, ranked eighth in the country and seeded seventh in the NCAA tournament, won't host first- and second-round matches like other national contenders.

When NG sports says 'Illinois fans' mostly what it means is Loren Tate. The same Loren Tate who has bragged that the Cheef won't be retired in his lifetime. (Although there's some arguement whether that's already come and gone.)

But what the story really means is that the UI tennis team is being punished because the BOT and other dinosaurs insist on hanging on to a long-since-disgraced halftime minstrel show which benefits a few old alumni while punishing the students and athletes the UI is supposed to be serving and helping.

It's my guess that the BOT finally is going to face the music. Only question is when. And again, its my guess that they'll do it after the semester is over, after the students are gone and after the alumni are otherwise engaged with lawnmowing and patio cocktail parties.

Whenever it comes, it's gotta come soon. The eighth-ranked UI tennis teem has been placed at a very decided competitive disadvantage because of the inaction of the BOT and the stubbornness of the tradition-blinded alumni.

OK, BOT, the tennis ball is in your court. When the tennis team makes an early withdrawal from the tournament because it has had to play all its matches on the road (while the other contenders are safely nestled on their home courts), who are you gonna blame?

BOT: Whatcha gonna do...?

And so it goes.