W's Missed and Not Missed

We missed the W's at DePaul and Syracuse, but got a 78-68 gem at Notre Dame last night. B-ray and Piph delivered the goods for RU. The team should get a temporary lift from this performance, that is, until they run smack into scary-good UConn next week.

We won't miss the W who vacated the premises on 1.20.09. Perhaps, Ahmadinejad said it best. Among other statements, the BBC reported that he wished former US President George W Bush on his way: "God willing, he has gone to hell."

Still basking in Obama inaugural afterglow...

A Tale of Two Halves

Still trying to recover from the second half collapse at the RAC.

Rutgers 51 Tennessee 55

The Week That Was

Rutgers pulled out a W against Temple, but the first half was terrible. Watching Rutgers football against Louisville this past week made up for it. It was gratifying to see Teel nail those TDs in the RU 63-14 rout. I was happy to be watching from the comfort of home despite the ever-frustrating Comcast technical glitches on the digital ESPN channel. It's why I sometimes prefer being a Luddite, even though I'm perfectly comfortable with technology.

So, a great blue heron camouflaged in the reeds in the D&R canal was a nice sighting as well as the unexpected Coop swooping into the bird feeder space again. They say Northern Gannets should be arriving here now.

It was good to get inspired by Phil's digital photography workshop at NJAS and to see all the fabulous shots he has made. I hope someday to get the Canon going again and get some good shots to work with. Stay tuned at Flickr.

Teaming

The Rutgers Women's Basketball team was roughed up out west this past weekend. It was cool to get the webcast from Stanford, but the RUWBB performance was painful to watch. I always find the multidimensional aspect of successful team performance fascinating. You can have outstanding talent, good plans, good chemistry, a leader, and all the right mojo, but not be able to execute. Sometimes the environment (jet lag, whistlin' refs) can stir in toxicity and ruin the broth. Sometimes there are other factors. It simply isn't a rational, formulaic process. In any case, the Fab Five Frosh were brought down to earth over the weekend and need to retool in the CVS mold. In the meantime, they are certainly capable of thrillin' us at the RAC.

We Rise

Mark November 4, 2008 as the beginning. We rise up. What better thrill than living the change we can believe in unfolding in front of our eyes with Obama carrying the day into a night of victory? What better excitement than, on that same night, to bear witness to the first win by the 2008-2009 Rutgers Women's basketball team in a pre-season exhibition game, 101-48? C. Vivian Stringer is Standing Tall with a great young group of athletic talents. All of us here are shedding tears of pride and hope, so poignantly expressed by Maya Angelou, who recited portions of her poem, Still I Rise, while being interviewed by Harry Smith on CBS's The Early Show this a.m. Here's the video.