N Judah

The Pac-10 would love to have ND, but ND wouldn't get anything out of it. Already they have two decent rivalries with USC and Stanford, which even other schools in the Pac-10 cannot claim. Univ. Utah is only about 20% mormon, and is much more of an academic-focused school than, say, BYU. Utah is a better team and is more likely to stay a better team, as they do not have the religious/cultural constraints that BYU faces when trying to get players to play for them. And even though BYU has had some up years lately, Utah still beats them.

Place doesn't seem that great...

Wow U.S. got dominated pretty badly. Two goals from the "flailing around on the ground" offensive strategy is a good haul but doesn't leave much hope for the U.S. assuming it can even make it out of the group stage.

Whew that's a relief. Alright I'm totally on board with this new stadium thing. $120 million is still a bit expensive for a stadium that will only hold 40,000 people, expandable to 50,000 (I was thinking this earlier, but didn't want to say it) -- but it could just end up being really, really nice (like a smaller-capacity version of the OSU "palace"). If they want to preserve the old art deco stylings maybe they could pull a Soldier Field and put chunks of it behind glass. But if the idea is to just get the architect to throw in some random art deco flourishes on the new building I say forget it.

Wow, to spend $100 million on a renovation and then another $120 million 15 years later for a brand new stadium...that's idiotic.

Well this is interesting. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5293329 Utah to Pac-10? Now maybe UH can join the Mountain West. Or the WAC to replace Boise State. Or join the Big Whatever. Or stay in C-USA. I say they do whatever makes them the most money.

It just looks boring. Especially in the world cup the players are so good, they make it look easy. The difference in tactical quality between world cup teams and, say, the Dynamo should be pretty obvious even to people who don't know anything about sports. Here's the main reason for such a difference: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html

I thought this article was hilarious. http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/archives/2010/06/big_12s_problem.html Yes, Rice should be more like UT...nevermind that their current stadium holds more than their total number of living alumni (or something like that). This guy zipped right past "spin" and went right into the realm of pure delusion.

Well, it's true -- I do think that almost all of the people who move to Houston aren't in it for the long haul. I said exactly as much. Anyway, citykid09, I also support the idea of long term investment. I think Houston should have a subway system that is a true feat of engineering. There is a lot of federal money floating around nowadays and this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity. That is what I think.

Yawn. Learn to read. If I think the carpetbaggers are hustlers, does that strike a little too close to home? Don't take it so personally.

Hey the 'home of easy credit' is the place to be. I never said it wasn't!

You want me to prove that I think that? Is this some kind of new troll delusion? Hrm...I'm afraid I'm not sure what it is that you're not understanding.

$1.5B in stimulus money went to a high-speed rail link from Orlando to Tampa. It's not far fetched. I think the problem is that almost all of the people who move to Houston are not in it for the long haul, which is fine, but they have also somehow convinced themselves that to protect their boom-and-bust short term interests they must be dogmatically against any long term improvement/investments.

LoL...and don't get me wrong, either, believe me, if the bicyclist is wearing a necktie and/or nametag and carrying a fake bible suddenly I'm in the "run 'em over" camp, too

Market timing? So is mac and cheese cool now or something?

I don't know if you realize just how deeply offensive that first picture is to the typical Houston driver I think just seeing it made some veins pop out in a several posters' necks...

Well I wasn't just speaking generally -- I think this thread is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Sorry if I didn't clarify that.

From the article in the original post: What does this mean? How fast is "very, very rapidly" ?

So who or what is in this powerful lobby?

Agreed, and I think the problem is that almost all bicyclists are also drivers, but a very small number of drivers are also bicyclists. So the bicyclists are looking for workable solutions that benefit all, while the drivers' typical response to anything that threatens their entitlement complex is to more or less sit back and say something along the lines of "Well, no matter what happens, we've set it up so that we can just run you over and not face any consequences whatsoever, so you'd better be careful if you know what's good for you." Demarcating bike lanes and designated areas might help the drivers but it won't help the cyclists -- crossings etc. certainly didn't work for LRT, and the typical response is to blame the design of the LRT rather than the stupidity of the drivers.

Who or what makes up the powerful East End lobby that managed to convince the mayor to secure the East End line before the U-Line ?

I disagree completely that it sucks more than the one it replaced. I think most of this stuff (the bailouts, and the situation that required the bailouts) is the legacy of GWB. "There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning." -- Warren Buffett

http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2010/03/large-public-homebuilders-benefit-from.html

Looks like it might be the same route. It could be something about that route.

But you have to admit their Flagship Cities are usually pretty cool, definitely at least as nice as anything we've got to show here. In that sense Texas is like Wal-Mart -- it may not be as nice, but it's cheaper and we do it in volume!