Midnight Yell

I have to admit, my profession allows me entree to some pretty cool shit. Early this morning was one of those moments. Just after midnight, I was standing down on Kyle Field by the Yell Leaders as they rallied an estimated 18,000 Texas A&M fans through their songs and cheers.

The position of Yell Leader is actually campaigned for and voted on by the student body. There are 3 seniors and 2 juniors charged with maintaing the spirit of the Aggie Nation.

Even Coach Sumlin made an appearance. The crowds at Midnight Yell have been upwards of 30,000 in the past. I was told that the combination of it being Thanksgiving break and the weather (it was cold out there - especially for Texans) kept the crowd figure at a "modest" total.

It really is the most passionate and partisan fan base in the country. To find it's rival, you'd have to go to the English Premier League. It is truly unlike every other place in the world.

There's nothing bigger in the community than the 6-7 football weekends a year the Aggies play host to. Just this morning I saw two old ladies in a hotel elevator. They were decked out in their maroon sweaters and carrying two huge buckets of ice. I asked what all that was for and a woman in her mid-70s looked at me like I had eight heads, "To ice down the beer."

Turkeys!

I actually arranged my holiday weekend travel to see this fiasco from my hotel room. The Jets Thanksgiving night performance, like their 2012 season, has been a waste of my time.

But not only were the Jets beyond awful, the NFL's ridiculous cross-promotion of Lenny Kravitz and his new song "Like A Jet" flopped miserably, tying a marketing campaign to a team with no life and a quarterback with no energy.

But the day's biggest turkey was me. After a making a wonderful Thanksgiving breakfast for the kids: scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, cinnamon toast, and introducing Kit-Kat Pancakes, I got on a plane to Houston.

Only after a 3-hour flight and a 2-hour car ride to College Station did I realize that I left my travel pouch with all my chargers, USBs and ear buds, on my desk in my office. Good thing Best Buy opened at Midnight! I was to lame to go at that hour and brave the Black Friday beatdown for a couple of electronics cords, but it was still bustling when I got there at 7:45 AM

I've been coming to College Station for many years now, and it has grown from the hole-in-the-wall it used to be. Now you can find every mid-level hotel, high-end restaurant chain, and every strip mall department store you can think of - all on one strip of state highway.

Things grow and change, much like the Texas-Texas A&M Thanksgiving rivalry, which is no more.

Aggies fans were still no doubt delighted to see the Longhorns lose on Thanksgiving night to TCU, but it only clears the way for the home finale, the 12th Man, and Johnny Football. The weekend is looking up.

Paper Backtime: When A Dad Loves A Daughter

I finally finished Mitch Winehouse's heart-aching Amy, My Daughter. We all know that Amy Winehouse was a basket case, an addict, and a brilliant artist. Many people's first instincts might think her unraveling was the product of poor parenting. What was evident from this book is how hard it is to keep an unstable locomotive on track.

You might know Mitch Winehouse's backstory by now: Jewish London cab driver and sometime gig musician. He inspired his daughter and fostered her musical genius, he managed her money, and endlessly attempted to keep her mentally and physically healthy.

But what's a father to do? Amy Winehouse was a superstar beyond a family's wildest dreams who inspired millions. She was also a very troubled adult who couldn't simply be kept under house arrest.

He sent her to rehab (despite the song lyrics "If my Daddy thinks I'm fine"). He hired round-the-clock security to watch her. He kicked Amy's junky ex-husband's arse. He showed up at nearly every relapse, seizure, and meltdown (really more than you can count in the book) to help her come out the other side.

At the end, it's your daughter. You always hope for the best, you always see your little girl, you put in all your love and trust into the one person who could never let you down.

Winehouse really explains this throughout the book. He wanted to be a perfect Dad and a positive influence. Did he try to control too much? Not enough? It's hard for someone to know when it's your daughter. Most of his perspective is detailed in his reactions to situations and events, but occasionally he hits it right on the nose.

"If I was stopped by someone in the street and they asked how Amy was doing, I knew they wouldn't understand if I told them what was going on. I'd learned that it's nearly impossible to explain how this could keep happening. I'd imagined that, as they offered sympathy, they'd be wondering, How can her family let this carry on? Or, Why didn't they lock her up until she was clean? But unless an addict wants to quit, they'll find a way to get drugs, and as soon as they leave the rehab facility they'll pick up where they left off.

Long before Amy was an addict, no one could tell her what to do. Once she became an addict, that stubbornness just got worse. There were times when she wanted to be clean, but the times when she didn't outnumbered them."

And Winehouse goes through the blame game. He doesn't hide his hatred for Blake Fielder-Civil, Amy's ex-husband who got her hooked on drugs in the first place. But after he was out of the picture, and drugs were kicked, alcohol addiction pervaded everything. And he knew there that only Amy was responsible for her deepening dependency.

The story obviously has a tragic ending, but it is ultimately about a father's unending well of love and support for a daughter who rose so high and sunk too low.

This Thanksgiving, give your daughter a big hug. But know you're going to have to let go.

Planting Seeds For The Future

There isn't a lot of room for looking back in the world of martial arts education. I can't imagine one of my instructors getting sentimental while they're ordering burpees, calling for full-gear sparring gear, or administering self-defense takedowns.

But after 10 years at Eisenhower Square, Master Richard's ATA Black Belt Academy held its last class in that location tonight. They're moving about a quarter-mile down Waters and will re-open right after the holiday, but there's got to be a bit of nostalgia - I know there was for me and I've only been training there since 2009.

It was really just good fortune that brought me on the last night. I'm home for 24 hours after Kansas City Monday and Tuesday, and I leave for College Station on Thursday, so my body needed to get a class in. I realized the gravity of the night once I got there, with much of the equipment cleared out. So I asked to shut off the lights and lock the door at the end of class.

While the training process isn't emotional or sentimental, it is progressive. There are transitions and promotions and ceremonies and congratulations, but the work is never done.

I certainly plan on breaking in the new place on Monday (should the airlines do their job and the kids not get sick), and I look forward to earning what's waiting for me when we turn the page.

Backtime Dateline: Kansas City

Here's a nice look from my 29th floor hotel room in downtown Kansas City. It's actually warmer here than it was in Orlando this past weekend. There's a November surprise.

When I was flying into KC on Saturday night with all the exciting primetime football going on, my mind wandered back to 2007, when Kansas and Missouri met at Arrowhead as the #2 and #3 teams in the nation.

But a lot's gone down since then. Kansas has fired two coaches and fallen flat on its face. And Missouri left the "Border War" to join the SEC.

The Jayhawks have not suffered the same fate on the basketball court - not even close. They won the 2008 national championship, and were runners-up in 2012. This year's incarnation promises to be just as dominant.

I have probably seen Kansas in person (OK in a truck right outside) upwards of 30 times since Bill Self took over 9 years ago. And they never looked as flawless and as dominant as they did in a 78-41 laugher over Washington State in the CBE Semifinals.

Freshman Ben McLemore is a potential Player-of-the-Year candidate and Senior Jeff Withey may be the most dominant big man in the nation.

Tonight KU will take on Saint Louis in the tournament championship here in KC, maybe a new border rival?

The Billikens are without coach Rick Majerus, whose health problems are critical at this point.

But he put together the foundation of a team that will give Kansas a run tonight, especially on the defensive end. Watch out for stopper and all-name team MVP Jordair Jett to be all over McLemore, but will it be enough?

Outside The Box: The Royce White Situation

The saga of Royce White is gaining a lot of media momentum. A special athlete and unique basketball talent, a fine student and artist, who also suffers from anxiety disorders.

It is creating a serious tension between the man and the professional. It isn't a unique story, but White's straight talk on the issue is breaking new ground. His unwillingness (inability) to fly with the team, as well as other episodes have made his attachment to his employer, the Houston Rockets, very shaky.

It's not like the Rockets didn't know about White's problems, which were well documented in college. But his situation at Iowa State was ideal. His coach was Fred Hoiberg, who by all accounts is a prince of a guy. And if you've ever been to Ames Iowa, you know it's an insular college town where individual situations can be managed quietly - as opposed to being a star football player at LSU or hoops rock star at Kentucky.

Iowa State also lives on the Big 12's I-35 corridor, which connects most schools in the conference. Life is a highway, not a charter jet. And White thrived in his one year with the Cyclones. At 6'8" 270, and a sophomore, he led his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.

White handled like Magic, rebounded like Moses, and made the All-Big 12 team. Then he declared for the NBA Draft, and the Rockets took him 16th overall.

Since then, it appears that the Rockets have bent over backwards to create the ideal environment to accommodate White's limitations. But White has been on his own schedule, often not attending team practices and sessions with the team's therapist.

The results have been the recent racking up of fines and an eventual demotion to the D-League, a fate that would have befallen any "normal" player. Royce White says he is not normal, and has since been using his Twitter feed to elevate the issue.

He has become an outspoken advocate for the mentally ill, but he is also a member of an NBA team. Those two things, it appears more and more each day, are becoming mutually exclusive.

The great Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a much more eloquent and direct column about this than I ever could (as he is paid to do), about how this fight may cost White his career.

"Houston redid White's contract so it could pay for White's RV and car services on trips, because of his fear of flying. The Rockets have let him come and go this season without fining him. They owe him that patience and understanding, but they don't owe him playing time. That's earned in the NBA..."

"If it was easier for White to manage his anxiety disorder when he was the star at Iowa State, well, that isn't the Rockets problem. There's no leveraging an anxiety disorder to get out of a D-League demotion and onto the NBA floor."

While White's situation is complicated, he isn't nearly the first pro athlete to have this condition. If he can bring more awareness to the struggles of day-to-day life of mental illness in the professional world, God bless him. But he is now treading down a dangerous path towards martyrdom, and is at risk of being a cautionary tale.

White meets today with Rockets GM Daryl Morey on the issue. Hopefully they'll come up with a solution that benefits all parties, though the common ground seems to be shrinking around them.

But what White needs to realize the most is that this is a speed bump in a hopefully very long career, and he would be wise to take whatever time he needs to figure that out. Then he can return, dedicated to basketball, and use that forum to deliver his message.

Yes, The Buckeyes Can Win The National Championship

The history of college football is littered with alphabet soup national champions. Now that the BCS hands off the big glass Coaches Trophy after the last game of the season, that seems to be the championship of record.

But the BCS formula doesn't take into account, in any factor, the most acknowledged measure of college football superiority for decades: the Associated Press Poll. In 2003, USC was ranked #1 in the AP Poll, but the computers picked LSU and Oklahoma to play for the BCS Championship. Separate champions were crowned, just like old times. Shortly after that, the AP seceded from the BCS.

Since 2003, the Associated Press and Bowl Championship Series have awarded separate championships for each of the last eight seasons, although they've agreed on the outcome. This year could be different.

First, there's the curious case of Ohio State. Sanctions levied against the previous regime have left the Buckeyes ineligible for the Big Ten Championship, postseason play, and the BCS. Despite the uphill battle, Urban Meyer's first season at Ohio State cut through all the bullshit, and are 11-0 before hosting Michigan next week in their finale.

Urban Meyer has come in and done what he always does, turns programs around and then wins - a lot. His combined record at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State is now 115-23. He will have the Buckeyes in the title hunt for many years (should he decide to stick around).

But this year isn't written off yet. Last night after #6 Ohio State's thrilling overtime win at Wisconsin, the AP's #1 & #2 went down, which would likely move the Buckeyes up to #4. So here's how the dominoes fall:

> Ohio State beats Michigan to finish 12-0.

> Notre Dame somehow loses to USC.

> The winner of the Alabama/Georgia SEC Championship game loses in the BCS Championship game.

That set of circumstances would leave Ohio State as the only unbeaten team, with no one-loss SEC team remaining. The Buckeyes would have a great chance to finish #1 in the AP Poll. And they would be national champions.