Thoughts on Losing Tom Herman to Texas

It is understandable that a lot of my fellow Coogs are angry about the departure of Tom Herman to Texas.  These events are never handled well by anyone involved, but I am not sure if there is a "correct" way to change jobs under so much public scrutiny.  I don't know about you, but I have never been expected to approach my current employer or make an announcement to all of my coworkers that I am interviewing with another company. Most of us who interview while employed generally make mysterious "doctor's appointments" or do whatever clandestine activity needed to keep such a secret until that moment we have a desirable job offer in hand, then comes the announcement.  And yet, people are angry that a football coach behaves the exact same way the rest of us does.  Why?  Because we all really like him?  Because we all really like football?  This doesn't make a lot of sense.  The bottom line is, Tom Herman, just like the rest of us, must make the best decision for himself and for his family.  This man was offered one of the most prestigious jobs in his occupation.  Of course, he's going to take it.  There would be something wrong with him if he didn't.

That's not to say, like most of the rest of us Coogs, I wish he would've remained at Houston.  I think we're all looking for the next Coach Yeoman.  I don't think the business of College Football allows such a thing anymore.  We could've had a lifer in Tony Levine, but nobody was willing to give him the opportunity it would've taken him to develop as "that" kind of Coach.  Money + winning games seems to be all that matters in this business of big College Football.  It's irrelevant that it was mostly Levine's players who did the winning that propelled Herman's career, and Levine inherited a giant mess to clean from his predecessor.  Levine didn't win enough, so he was gone.  Herman won just enough, so now he's gone.  Recruiting winning coaches means we've become the stepping stone to some of the greatest jobs in the country.  Yeah yeah sucks to be a Coog.

I'm going to half-steal an analogy from my fellow alums at CardiacCoogs about UH employing Tom Herman being like having a hot girlfriend who everyone keeps telling you is way out of your league.  I'm going to say for the sake of my argument, that Colleges, like vehicles, are female, which would place UH in a situation more akin to being a very awesome lady of honest means who is dating a really hot, and bright guy just starting out in his career.  Then that guy, with this nice lady's undying support, creates something worthy of national acclaim. And thus, he attracts a lot of attention from some very hot and extremely wealthy women, and it all goes straight to his head.  Then, one day, the hottest, richest, and sluttiest woman of them all throws herself at him, and he just cannot resist.  It doesn't matter that she's going to constantly bag on him in public.  It doesn't matter that she'll humiliate him in a couple of years for all to see if he fails to meet every demand of her dysfunctional family.  It doesn't even matter that once she dumps him, he may end up ruined as a result.  He cannot resist, and he leaves.  That's what has happened to UH.

OK, fine...now here's where I'm getting more aggravated with some of my fellow Coogs than I am with the Coach who left us.  Tom Herman has dumped us for a Kardashian of College Football, and yeah, we're bitter, but we're classy. It doesn't matter that Herman and Kardashian have now stripped most of the furniture from our house (8 coaches as of this writing), and made a big splashy show for his personal TV network.  We pick ourselves up and move quietly on with our lives. We're Coogs, we've always done more with less, and that's what we do...except many of us haven't.  Suddenly some of us have become annoyingly petty, live tweeting press conferences, and publicly whining about Judas or whatever.  Let's just calm down right now.  This behavior is basically the equivalent of stalking the Ex and his new girlfriend on their first date and giving interviews to TMZ making fun of her slutty dress, her fake boobs, and his too short pants. It's small, petty, and needs to stop. Let him go, he's not coming back. As far as he's concerned, we need to be "new phone, who dis?" Because, in two years, when he's not undefeated, and Orangebloods, Red McCombs, and the entitled bratliness that is UT football treats him as poorly as they did Charlie Strong, we can smirk, utter a quiet "who didn't see that coming?" and just be better. 

Completely and Utterly Wrong about Trump

Yep...there you go, I was.  And once I was, I decided to stop writing and see how this would all play out.  Unlike a lot of the "experts", I was bright enough to recognize that I didn't have a clue about how this was all going to go, so I backed the hell out.  Everyone was wrong.  Both T and I voted Johnson, because neither of us wanted to be a part of this mass destruction.  Regardless, Trump is now the President-Elect, so we'll see how it goes.

Although I have to admit, the collective meltdown of the left has been especially satisfying...I almost feel like I won.

Reflections of an Election (Republican Primary Addition)

I early voted early a couple of days ago.  I’m in Texas, so our official primary is the 1st of March.  My current Congress Critter is Sheila Jackson Lee, which is its own post for another day.  My closest early voting location is Acres Homes, which is the type of area whose occupants believe SheJack works for THEM.  A Republican in surrounding precincts might see 4% on a very very good election day.   In most cases, Donks get 98-99% of the vote.  There is a great deal of fraud; 16 voters registered to vacant lots who all vote with identical signatures, that sort of thing.  Anyway, it was the middle of the day, but there was still a fairly moderate crowd.  I was one of 2 white chicks in the polling location, and get this.  Not one person was voting in the Democrat primary.  To me that was so strange, and I don't know what to make of it.  I’m still trying to work that one out.  Maybe the commie vs. felon just isn't an interesting race to them?  I hope they’re not all lining up Trumpeting.

No secret, my first choice candidate was Rand Paul.  Senator Paul dropped out, and halting the Trump train (this basically covers what I think of Trump and his supporters) is a big priority for me, so I voted for Ted Cruz.  I think he's the best of what's left.  I respect Senator Cruz because he has done what he said he would do as a Senator in Texas.  Yes, that includes trying to shut down the government, which most Texans think is a good idea.  All the things everyone says about Cruz, "he has no friends, nobody likes him, he’s an ideologue, he doesn’t get along", etc. are endorsements to me, not negatives.  I really don't want anyone who cozies up to the slime of DC.  And, even including Rand Paul, it is my opinion that Ted Cruz is definitely the smartest guy out there.  I very much enjoy watching him take lefties apart at the seams.  Ted Cruz knows how to reject and deconstruct a faulty premise like no one I’ve ever seen, and he’s about as close to a constitutionist as we’re going to get this election cycle, in the absence of Rand Paul.

That stated, if the canned ham now known to me as Marco Rubio Marco Rubio gets the nomination, I'll vote for him in the general, but I still don't know if I can make myself vote Trump.  To stop Hillary…ugh...maybe, but really?  Why do we always end up this way?  Ever notice how the Clintons can always find a chaos candidate to split Republicans every time one of them runs?  And Republicans are so stupid they always seem to fall right for it.  I’ve voted Libertarian in the last 2 elections, but I don’t think the climate is such that it’s productive to do it again.  Yeah, I'm torn.  Convince me, I guess.

I’ve seen a lot of commentary from Rubio Rubio supporters claiming Cruz should drop out so the conservative vote can consolidate against Trump.  I think the Rubio Rubios are delusional.  Cruz has actually won one of these things and has been awarded more delegates than Rubio Rubio, so in what sane universe does the #2 guy drop out and cede to the #3 guy in the race?  So far, Cruz has a 1,2,3,3, and Rubio Rubio has a 3,3,2,2, so who is the top guy here?  Rubio Rubio has been so pumped up for losing elections, I'd say at this point he's an honorary millennial.  No thanks, Rubio Rubio, if someone drops, it should be you.  You've got plenty of life left to rehearse some new sound bites to repeat.

Why Trump won’t win the Republican Nomination

A lot of people keep saying “Trump won’t get the Republican nomination” and a lot of Trump supporters respond by pointing to the various national polls, which as of this post range somewhere between 27-41% nationally.  Trump supporters seem to be everywhere, and loud about it, so I hope to clarify the dichotomy.

Who are the subjects of the polls?  Likely voters?  In some cases, it’s registered voters, which produces the least reliable election data ever.  I heard a couple of folks on talk radio discuss independent voters.  Great, but these people don’t vote in Republican primaries.  Republican primary voters vote in Republican primaries, they only vote for actual Republicans, and only a very select few do so dependably.  Oh yes, I know YOU’RE going to vote THIS time because you’re so riled up for the Donald and so forth, but you won’t.  You especially won’t if it’s raining, or if your primary polling place isn’t where you normally vote for the general election, or if you have to work and can’t make it. 

How do I know this?  Because I know who votes in Republican primaries.  Don’t believe me?  Let’s look at some numbers.

I live in Harris County Texas, which is considered by many experts to be the home of the largest, most powerful county Republican party in the nation.  The turnout numbers for the past 3 Presidential years in Harris County, Texas look like this.

2010
There were 1,901,722 registered voters in Harris County.
Of that 1.9 million people, 161,250 people voted for President in the Republican Primary.
That makes voter turnout approximately 8.5%

2008
There were 1,809,742 registered voters in Harris County.
Of that 1.8 million people, 169,448 people voted for President in the Republican Primary.
That makes voter turnout approximately 9.4%

2004
There were 3,618,814 registered voters in Harris County.
Of that 3.6 million people, 78,898 people voted for President in the Republican Primary.
That makes voter turnout approximately 2.2%

As an aside, the vast decrease in registered voters between 2004 and 2008 was a part of mass purging by the voter registrar of dead people, people who moved, and those otherwise ineligible to vote in Harris County.

I pull the past 3 Presidential primary years, because Presidential primary years are higher turn out years than non-Presidential primary years.  Now, in the world of all primary voters, there are those unicorns who, in the business of people who look at this stuff professionally, are referred to as “3Rs”.  A “3R” is simply a person who has voted in the last 3 Republican primaries.  These are the most highly targeted voters by Republican candidates because they’re considered to be the staunch loyalists who will absolutely show up and vote.  I call them unicorns because look at that low number, that 2.2%.  That’s a fairly good estimate of who your 3Rs are.  “So, OK,” you’re going to say, “but look at those 1.8M people in 2004 who weren’t even eligible to vote.”  Fine, let’s take that 2008 registered voter number, which is going to give you the highest percentage, and the 2004 turnout and estimate that 4.4% of the voting population is a 3R.

OK, now who is this 4% really?  Generally, they’re people who may be active in the Party, they research and/or know some of the candidates, most vote all the way down the ballot (yes even for those Judge positions), and/or all of them follow politics and issues year round, not just a few weeks before the elections when the commercials start running.  A lot of them receive Christmas cards from candidates’ and/or office holders’ offices.  They’re not necessarily big donors, but they’re doing something, even if it’s reading or listening to the news every day, and most are just doing it quietly.  A 3R probably won’t correct the bad facts you got from that whatever talking point, because you’re not worth the energy.  But, most importantly, they’re showing up every election, rain or shine, and you aren’t.

3Rs generally do their homework.  Most know that Donald Trump ran for office at the behest of Bill Clinton, and he's not really a Republican.  They know that he donated money to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats, because he’s friends with them and that whole New York Yankee liberal set.  They know that his vast wealth results from the highly regulated and dysfunctional New York crony real estate market.  3Rs know Trump’s a big believer in Kelo because he’s used it like a club.  3Rs know what Kelo is.  3Rs know that Donald Trump bankrupted a casino, which is basically its own cash printing factory.  They know he’s been pushed out of most of the businesses he’s ever run by his shareholders on the condition that the businesses maintain his name so as not damage his reputation and to prevent him from suing.  The man is litigious as hell.  3Rs know Trump is a brand; Trump is Nike, Coca-Cola, or Snickers.  3Rs don’t vote Snickers.  And you can look up the rest of those facts your own lazy, non voting self.

3Rs are still watching Rubio, Cruz, Paul, and even Bush, although many recognize “Bush fatigue”.  Many find Carson and Fiorina interesting, but most know how the process works against even the strongest and most talented.  Many 3R are leaning toward a candidate, but are as of yet undecided. 

I know a lot of 3Rs, and even though I don’t always vote Republican in the general election, I am a 3R.  Hell, I think I’m about a 13R at this point.  Back in the old days when I was a Precinct Chair there was one dude in my precinct who had voted in more Republican primaries than I had.  The guy was in his 80’s and had only voted in one more primary than I had.  

I vote in Republican primaries, even as a now independent, because primaries are where the elections are really decided in a lot of cases.  96% of you won’t vote in them; I will.

TL: DR? The polls aren’t accurate.  The loudest talkers aren’t the frequent voters; look at Ron Paul’s past election results.  That guy is the President of the Internet.  Everyone thought the Mayor of 9/11 (a.k.a. Rudy Giuliani) was going to win the nomination in 2008.  How'd that go?

If someone wanted to conduct an accurate poll, the questions would look something like this:

Of the last 4 Republican primaries, in how many have you voted?
If the election were held tomorrow, for whom would you vote?

Then unbeknownst to the respondents, any answer lower than 2 to the first question would disqualify them from being counted in the second question.  You want to know who is the most likely to win the Republican nomination?  Who will capture the 4%?  Well, there you go.

Links

The ACLU is against no-fly lists and terror watch lists, until Donks want to use them to ban guns, then hey great, OK fine, we love 'em.  More lefty hyprocrisy.

Why does your dog stare at you while he poops? These are all legit explanations.

Links

Muslim terrorists shoot up a Christmas party in San Bernardino.  Obama doesn't let the bodies get cold before he starts lecturing us about giving up our guns, except, people don't shoot up places where people shoot back.

Sandy Berger, former Clinton NSA advisor is dead at 70. Famous for stealing top secret documents from the national archives, stuffing them in his undies, and stashing them at a construction site, he's just another casualty in the Clinton trail of destruction.

Iraqi Christians believe President Obama is actively supporting the Islamic State.  So do must Americans...

Houston is both the paisley and the zombie capital of America according to Spoonflower.  See what types of fabrics your town buys here.

Another lefty hypocrite pledges his stock to charity to make the "world a better place", actively engages in tax avoidance.
The super wealthy generally don't generate their income from wages, so they don't pay income taxes like the rest of us.   I have nothing against wealthy people and admire them for their industriousness; however, stop preaching to the rest of us about what you don't do.

The National Video Game Museum will be opening in Frisco, TX. Do with that whatever you want.

Links

The hypocrisy of statists.  Doing everything they can to destroy the American economy, and we're paying for it.  If they're so afraid of causing some bad weather, couldn't they have locked themselves indoors and held their meeting via Skype?

People are naming their kids after Instagram filters.  Looks like little Khaleesi will be going to school with Lux, Juno, and Amaro.  Why do people want to punish their children?