Rhubarb Report 051

The fall season is upon us here in Austin. There are fewer hours of sunlight now, so my runs seem to take me into darkness more regularly. Cooler temperatures are slowly, and thankfully, making an appearance. This is always a great time of year in Austin.

This year, the fall season finds us in the midst of, yes, another presidential campaign. If you can’t find rhubarb in all of these events and activities, then lo and behold, there will always be some to be found in the run up to a November election. With that in mind, I bring you a lively Episode 051.

1. With only 25 days until the election, we are deep into the presidential debate season. Two debates down and we are now at half time in debate season. Having watched the entirety of both debates, and based on my humble observations, the score is Romney/Ryan 1, Obama/Biden 1.

The first half has been full of plenty of sound bites – if there weren’t enough of those already. I don’t think that there has been any major issue that hasn’t been discussed yet, from social and domestic issues to foreign policy. Debate 1 gave us a lackluster Obama against a make-or-break Romney. Debate 2 gave us a jovial Biden against a rather smug Ryan. I am sure that even without Sarah Palin in the mix (strangely absent from the media glare of late), “Saturday Night Live” will still find plenty of material.

All I ask is for both parties to please, please, please give us some specifics. “Just because” is not an acceptable answer. As citizens, we all need to make the effort to look at the issues and, most importantly, get out and vote. Lest I remind everyone, with rights come responsibilities.

2. By this point in the college football season, I have usually written a Longhorns Update. At this point in the season this year, I am still trying to figure out just who exactly they are. The Horns are in the midst of a tough 4 game stretch right now. They eked out a win at Oklahoma State. Sadly they could not do so at home against West Virginia in what amounted to a wild, strangely thrilling (by DKR Memorial Stadium standards) game in breezy fall conditions. Geno Smith is, in my estimation, the best player in college football right now. Tomorrow is the “you pick it” game of the season as always: the Texas – Oklahoma slugfest. One week later, Baylor comes to town to attempt to put up 40 or 50 or so points as they always do these days.

The Longhorn Nation have to be pleased with the efforts of David Ash. The offense is pulling together nicely, though still a lot of plays reminiscent of Greg Davis’ 1 yard bubble screens. However, the defense is suspect at best. I still can’t figure how they were projected as a Top 5 defense in the nation pre-season.

3. Finally, a Big 12 note: it was good to see so many West Virginia fans in town last weekend. Reality check: a road trip from Morgantown to Austin sounds a lot better than some of the road trips they would have had in the Big East. No wonder there were a large number of fans here! I had the opportunity to speak with a number of Mountaineer faithful and I really do think that their addition to the Big 12 will provide a very exciting future for the league. Welcome, WVU!

Photo credits: Wikipedia