Monday Morning Sports Talk -- Unranked Texas Beats #9 Notre Dame -- September 4, 2016

It took two overtime periods but ... and Texas wins!

Behind freshman quarterback Shane Buechele. Truly incredible. Last year Shane was playing high school football in Arlington.

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Hanjin Bankruptcy 

Huge economic threat to Los Angeles / Long Beach ports.

Politicians gathered at the Port of Long Beach on Sunday to call for the flow of cargo to Southern California to resume, days after the bankruptcy of one of the world’s largest shipping lines disrupted the global supply chain. 

Officials said the collapse of South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co., which declared bankruptcy Wednesday, threatened local union workers’ jobs and merchants’ access to goods at a crucial time, just before the holiday season.

Because Hanjin, the world’s seventh-largest shipping line, cannot pay ports and terminals to unload, ships filled with merchandise have sat idle for days. As of Sunday, officials said one massive container ship was still drifting 50 miles south of the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports; another ship was anchored at the Port of Long Beach, inside the breakwater; a third was anchored outside the harbor.

I remember the unions shutting down the ports for increased pay saying that their six-figure salaries were not adequate. Just saying.

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Folks Still Don't Understand ObamaCare, Health Insurance, Or Insurance, In General

The fact that this "story line" is still being reported tells me that folks don't understand the TrainWreck, ObamaCare, health insurance, or insurance, in general.

Paul Vondra is just the sort of person the architects of Obamacare had in mind.

The 59-year-old Bellevue resident is a temporary worker contracted through a New Jersey agency to work as a mail clerk for a major local bank. He doesn’t own a car, so he bikes each day to his job in the Strip District.

His agency has offered him a choice of two Affordable Care Act-approved marketplace plans. But Mr. Vondra, who makes less than $25,000 annually and has no dependents, said the cheapest plan carries a monthly premium of $165, or $800 a year, and a yearly deductible of $2,500.

Also, the plan’s co-insurance — the amount he would be responsible for after he has met his deductible — is $4,500, while out-of-pocket hospital costs are capped at $10,000.

“It might as well be $10 million,” he said.

My heart goes out to the Paul Vondras of the world, but the Paul Vondras will still vote for Hillary who will promise them she will fix ObamaCare. 

US Used 3x More Energy In 2015 Than In 1949 -- EIA -- September 4, 2016

Updates

September 4, 2016: the "energy use" story below has generated a lot of discussion. A reader reminds me of this link that I posted earlier:

http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ier_lcoe_2015.pdf

Some years ago I noted that our utility company down here in Texas prided itself in "going green," which meant using wind energy. Our utility bills are fairly high here in Texas -- considering how inexpensive it could be -- I knew it was due to wind energy but never took the time to really look into it.

A reader answered the question for me. On pages 29 - 31 of the linked pdf above:

• combined cycle gas: $73.61/MWh 
• ccg combined with wind: $86.77/MWh 
• the delta: $13/mwh. In other words, per MWh, we are paying $13 more to feel good using wind energy

Original Post

US Energy Use

3x In 2015 Compared to 1949

US population, 1949: 150 million
US population, 2015: 320 million

So, US population doubles during this time period, and energy use triples. That's counter-intuitive for any number of reasons.

The first question: households?

• 2015: 125 million households
• 1960: 50 million households (that's as far back as I could find reliable data for # of households)

Increased energy consumption:

• larger houses: more appliances, more air conditioning
• more drivers per household
• increased standard of living: more money; feel better about using a/c; appliances, etc

One comment: when I was growing up -- my mother hung her laundry outside to dry (during clement weather only, of course); that was fairly standard. Has anyone seen any laundry hanging out to dry any more in "modern America"? 

The EIA posts:

Energy consumption in the United States was three times greater in 2015 than it was in 1949. In all but 19 of the years between 1949 and 2015, energy consumption increased over the previous year.

The next time you take a walk -- yes, I know that's a stretch, taking a walk -- but if that happens, the next time you take a walk, imagine if all the cars you see in parking lots and on the roads were electric vehicles. No internal combustion vehicles (except for trucks) and all EVs. No hybrids. All EVs. 

Imagine the landscape.

• no corner gasoline service stations; none. 
• gazillions of charging stations; half the parking spaces with charging stations; electric cables everywhere; every parking lot and every parking space a mini-service station
• apartment complexes: every unit comes with two charging stations
• absolutely quiet roadways; no "muscle cars" 
• used cars pretty much become a dead industry; no one will buy autos with batteries that are 7+ years old
• 0 to 60 mph from frontage roads up the ramp to the interstate highway 
• an occasional car going up in spontaneous combustion; entirely random events
• every home you see with a garage has a charging station with two or three outlets
• chariots in garages; chariots on fire --> houses on fire
• the transmission wires and poles will triple or quadruple; utility lines won't be buried
• "telephone" poles much thicker; stronger
• instead of two or three transformers on every utility pole, five or six transformers and much bigger in size
• out of sight, huge coal-fire utility plants; there is no way there is enough natural gas to power all the cars in the US; global CO2 emissions will increase, all other things being equal
• new huge, high-voltage transmission lines will dominate the landscape 
• huge, new landfills to handle all the used batteries; I don't think folks really realize what it would mean to be 100% EV; 
• if grid unable to cope: increased brownouts, blackouts; folks will invest in home battery units; EVs charged at work can be used to "run" household appliances

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ExxonMobil and LNG

ExxonMobil playing the long game.

When it comes to natural gas, Exxon Mobil believes in playing the long game.

As competitors continue to flood the world market with a liquefied form of the fuel, depressing prices, Exxon is heeding the advice of forecasters scanning a quarter-century beyond the current glut. Their view: LNG demand will rise 1.6 percent a year through 2040, more than double the rate for crude oil.

With much of that growth set to come from the Asia-Pacific region, the world’s biggest energy producer is working to bookend the area with resources, pursuing promising but as-yet untapped natural gas fields in Papua New Guinea and Mozambique that won’t produce for years. It’s a strategy that stands in stark contrast to  Royal Dutch Shell’s takeover of BG Group, an established producer that promises to quickly swell Shell’s LNG exports, even as prices remain low.

“Exxon has a different strategy in that it’s not looking to grow its gas business right now but is looking at what will happen in LNG 10 or 15 years from now,” said Brian Hennessey, who manages $1.3 billion at Alpine Woods Capital Investors. “The market’s going to get tight starting in 2020.”

The influx of LNG from gigantic projects first conceived a decade ago has swamped markets with excess supply, dropping the average worldwide price by 37 percent last year to $9.77 per million British thermal units, according to the International Gas Union.

In Japan, the world’s biggest LNG market, the price of cargoes from Qatar tumbled 70 percent in two years to $4.93 per million Btu. Spot LNG in Singapore fell 1.3% on Thursday to $5.187 per million British thermal units, according to Singapore Exchange.

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Two Articles You May Not Want To Miss
The Cloud
Space Launches

The Economist: the cloud.


The Eoncomist: SpaceX and launching satellites into space. No link; apparently not on the net yet, which is hard to believe. The bottom line: inexpensive rockets may not be the be-all and end-all. If not, SpaceX may become an albatross around MuskMelon's neck.  When the payload is a $200 million satellite that took years to build and then years waiting in line to be launched, the long pole in the teepee is not the cost of the launch. The Zuckerbergs of the world will worry less about the cost of the launch and more about reliability and dependability. The article was written before the latest disaster on the Spacex pad.

Telstar, The Tornados

Update, September 4, 2016: The New York Times weighs in on SpaceX disaster: 

The explosion of a SpaceX rocket last Thursday will have an impact across the space industry, far beyond the losses on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, FL.

An Israeli satellite operator’s deal to sell itself to a Chinese company is imperiled.

Planned launches of communications satellites that support international mobile phone service and digital television are delayed and put in doubt. NASA’s cargo deliveries to the International Space Station will probably be disrupted.

All of them are customers of the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, whose rocket exploded in Florida. The private space launch company, led by the entrepreneur Elon Musk, has a generally solid safety record.

But last week’s setback and a failed launch last year, when its rocket carrying a NASA cargo fell apart in flight, are raising questions about SpaceX, a company that has risen rapidly by offering lower costs and promising accelerated launch schedules.

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The Obama Legacy Already Being Written -- 

And He's Not Even Out Of Office Yet

From Pagesix:

Sean “Diddy” Combs said Sunday that black voters won’t get fooled again — insisting that Hillary Clinton has to prove herself before she gets the African-American vote since “[blacks] got a little bit shortchanged” by President Obama. “My number one thing, though, to be honest, is black people,” the rapper turned mogul told the Rev. Al Sharpton on his MSNBC show Sunday. “I feel like we put President Obama in the White House.

When I look back, I just wanted more done for my people because that’s the name of the game. “This is politics. You put somebody in office you get in return the things that you care about for your communities. I think we got a little bit shortchanged. That’s not knocking the president. …He’s done an excellent job, you know, but I think it’s time to turn up the heat because the black vote is going to decide who is the next president of the United States.”

They won't be fooled again, but they will still vote for Hillary, or more likely, not at all. 

#BlackLivesMatter.

NASA's Flip-Flop On Global Warming -- Over At Real Science -- About As Good As It Gets -- Nothing About The Bakken -- September 4, 2016

Updates

September 5, 2016: in the original post I mentioned the movie "Hell or High Water." I really enjoyed it. Apparently it had a good "wide-release" opening but maybe not as big as some were hoping. I thought it was similar to what the Coen Brothers do. I guess I would call it "Coen Bros Lite." I could write a lot about it, but for now, I will let The Holllywood Reporter tell the back story:

The modern-day Western, starring Chris Pine and Ben Foster opposite Jeff Bridges, has grossed $8.6 million in its first three weekends, one of the best showings of 2016 to date for an indie film and the No. 2-grossing summer specialty feature behind Love & Friendship, a Jane Austen-themed tale which earned $14 million following its release in mid-May. [On wide-release, "Hell or High Water"grossed a little $15 million the first weekend.]

Generally speaking, a specialty film begins its life in art house theaters in New York and Los Angeles before expanding into similar cinemas in other top markets, such as Chicago and San Francisco. But CBS Films, which is releasing Hell of High Water via its distribution deal with Lionsgate, decided to pursue a dual strategy. In addition to the usual cinemas on the two coasts, CBS Films also brought the movie to theaters in Texas and Southwest because of the movie's storyline. In effect, it bowed in both red and blue states. 

Strong word of mouth is no doubt helped by stellar notices. Hell or High Water, which had its world premiere in May at the Cannes Film Festival, boasts a 99 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the best reviewed films of the year so far.

Cannes review here.

My thoughts:

• not as bloody or violent as the Coen brothers would have done
• music track not as good as the Coen brothers; score by Nick Cave, interestingly enough, and Warren Ellis
• perpetuates (and probably pretty accurately) how New Yorkers, Chicagoans picture west Texas
• possibly a bit overdone with the billboard signs reminding us how bad the economy is; we see that with the landscape even without signage
• very slow; more about the "human problem" through dialogue than action
• long periods of slow dialogue (like west Texas) interspersed with great action scenes; one of the few action movies with no CGI (as far as I could tell); old-time Hollywood western stunts
• the scene of cowpokes moving a herd of cattle out of harm's way (plains wildfire) had no reason to be in the film but again, was to depict west Texas individual ruggedness
• unlike some of the Coen brothers movies, this movie left me more drained; it will haunt me longer than Coen brothers movies: Coen brothers movies entertain; this movie haunts
• the ending may be one of the most satisfying endings in any movie I've ever seen
• one wonders if the Jeff Bridges character had a son of his own (if he did, one wonders how his son died, assuming he died)
• Jeff Bridges is excellent, but not enough to garner an Oscar; possibly a nomination if the rest of the competition is weak

Chris Pine has a long resume, but I don't recall if I've seen any of the movies he has been in. Of the movies he's been in, "Hell or High Water" certainly seems to have raised the bar for him, but I could be wrong. 

His wiki entry:

Pine graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002, with a bachelor's degree in English. He was an exchange student at the University of Leeds in England for one year. After graduating, Pine studied at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. 

Wow, how that brings back memories. My graduate degree was from USC, Los Angeles; I spent close to a full year (cumulative, multiple short military assignments) near Leeds, England; and, May and I were fortunate to see a number of live theater productions by the ACT in San Francisco when we were stationed at Travis AFB, Fairfield, CA.

Pine's heritage is very, very interesting:

Pine was born in Los Angeles. His father, Robert Pine (born 1941), is an actor who co-starred on CHiPs as Sergeant Joseph Getraer, and his mother, Gwynne Gilford (born 1946), is a former actress who is now a practicing psychotherapist.

His maternal grandmother, Anne Gwynne (née Marguerite Gwynne Trice), was a Hollywood actress, and his maternal grandfather, Max M. Gilford (born Max Goldfarb), was an attorney who was elected president of the Hollywood Bar Association.

Pine's maternal grandfather was from a Russian Jewish family, while Pine's other ancestry is English, Welsh, German, and French.

On top of all that, his countenance and his character in "Hell or High Water" remind me of our younger daughter's son-in-law.

Comancheria, Hell or High Water, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Original Post

 

 I don't care to go to the movies. I have a small library of DVD movies and television series that I watch and re-watch. My wife loves to go to the movies so I'm trying to turn over a new leaf, as they say, and go to the movies more frequently. I have not told her, but my goal is to go to a morning or matinee showing at least once every weekend. I may succeed twice a month, but that's an improvement (at least in my wife's eyes).

A week or so ago, together we saw Meryl Streep in her latest movie. Yesterday, we went to separate movies. I saw "Hell or High Water" -- highly recommended; and my wife saw "Between the Lights." Afterwards, we compared notes, and we agreed: great decision to see different movies at same time. Afterwards we enjoyed lunch, Barnes & Noble.

I say all that because I see a great movie review over at Variety today. I caught it because the link is high on the Drudge Report today. There were four movie trailers (or "previews" as we used to call them) that caught my attention yesterday; I would consider going to all four. I don't remember the exact names, but as reminders a) a movie about Private Doss, or something like that; b) the accountant; c) the Joneses; and, d) the Girl on the Train.

The movie about "Private Doss" is the one that most caught my attention and is reviewed at Variety here.

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Never A Straight Answer 

Actually: It's Worse

Perhaps one of the best posts ever exposing NASA's flip-flop on global temperatures over at Real Science.

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Fernet Branca Memories

Recipes

Today while scrolling through Facebook, I noted an ad from some distillery showcasing their Fernet liqueurs. I noted that a family member -- who will remained unnamed -- had actually "liked" the post.

It brought back huge memories. While assigned with an F-15 fighter squadron decades ago, out of Bitburg Air Base, Germany, I spent a lot of time on temporary duty in the middle of the Mediterranean off the coast of Italy. Friday and Saturday nights, whether I wanted to or not, I found myself among a group of hard-drinking NATO fighter pilots -- mostly Brits and Americans, but also Italians and Germans.

Of the many beverages new to me, the one that I remember the most because it was, without question, the most god-awful thing I had ever tasted. It was so bad that it took years for me to forget the name of the crude-oil-like liqueur. The "Cocktail Dudes" say that Fernet Branca has no redeeming factors, and they compare Fernet to "motor oil." To my surprise, an ad for Fernet shows up on the my Facebook page. Until now, I had forgotten the name.

More specifically, it was Fernet Branca that I remember. I do not know if there is much difference, but I will make it my quest this week to find out.

A quick google brought me here: "Fernet: The Best Liquor You're (Still) Not Yet Drinking," The Atlantic (when it still wrote good articles), December 30, 2011.

In Argentina, fernet is the liquor for all occasions. Grandparents swear by the herbal libation; the young heading out into the night mix fernet with cola and then order it en masse at bars and clubs; and no one would dare organize a barbecue, which are called asados in Argentina and are very regular affairs with friends or families, without fernet. It even earned a theme song in the '90s: "Fernet con cola," about the bona fide national beverage by Argentine rock band Vilma Palma e Vampiros.

Argentina downs more fernet than any other country, though the bitter originated in Italy, a country where more than half of Argentines claim ancestry, way back in the mid-1800s.

As universally popular as fernet is in Argentina, it is still relatively unknown in the United States. It pops up here and there; Bill Cosby mentioned the liquor in a bit he performed and it has appeared in The Sopranos scenes. In recent years in the U.S. people have been talking about and tasting the liquor more, especially out west in San Francisco, and the beverage's popularity, or at least awareness for it, has grown steadily. Fernet enjoys a storied past in San Francisco, too. During Prohibition, San Franciscans could legally imbibe fernet. It was permitted on the grounds that it was "medicinal."

Fernet Coke (minty and sweet):

• 1 1/2 ounces Fernet Branca
• 3/4 ounce cola syrup (not Coke-Cola)
• 1/2 lime juice
• stir with ice

Fernet Sour:

• 1/2 ounce Fernet Branca
• 3/4 ounce orgeat syrup (almond, sugar)
• 3/4 ounce rye whiskey
• 3/4 ounce lemon juice
• shake hard with ice for 20 - 30 seconds

For those folks who want to learn Spanish, I recommend something other than the Rosetta Stone language courses:


Fernet 1882 vs Fernet-Branca I could watch this all day. Maybe not all day. 

Newfield's Jorgenson Federal Wells In Lost Bridge

Updates

July 10, 2018: production numbers updated below.

Original Post

Previously posted but I need to look at this one a bit more closely. This well will be reported Monday:

• 32581, 1,836, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-13H, Lost Bridge, t6/16; cum 289K 8/18;

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
7-2016	29678	5258
6-2016	24134	6

Note: 24,000 bbls in the first six days of production. It must have been an exciting week for the roughnecks and the geologists on site.

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I track the Lost Bridge oil field here; because it has been fairly active this year, I actually updated the field on August 12, 2016.

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Newfield's Jorgenson Federal wells:

32581, 1,836, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-13H, Lost Bridge, producing, 53K in first 36 days; t6/16; cum 289K 8/18;

32092, 1,503, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-12H, Lost Bridge, t6/16; cum188K 8/18;
31635, EXP -->3,449, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-10H, Lost Bridge, t5/17; cum 279K 8/18;
31138, 2,944, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-4HLW, Lost Bridge, t5/17; cum 333K 8/18;
31137, 2,579, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-1H, Lost Bridge, t5/17; cum 271K 8/18;
31136, 1,391, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-11H, Lost Bridge, t6/17; cum 162K 8/18;
31138, 2,944, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-4HLW, Lost Bridge, t5/17; cum 333K 8/18;
31137, 2,579, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-1H, Lost Bridge, t5/17; cum 271K 8/18;
31136, 1,391, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-2H, Lost Bridge, t6/17; cum 162K 8/18;
29858, dry, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-11H, Lost Bridge,
29857, 895, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-12HR, Lost Bridge, 50 stages, 5.6 million lbs, t6/16; cum 284K 8/18; only 17 days in 6/16;
29856, 1,000, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-3H, Lost Bridge, 50 stages, 5.6 million lbs, t6/16; cum 306K 8/18; only 19 days in 6/16; 
19120, PNC -->conf, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 2-4H, Lost Bridge,
19912, PNC, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 2-10H, Lost Bridge,
19911, PNC, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 2-15H, Lost Bridge,
17045, 786, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 1-10H, Lost Bridge, t8/08; cum 212K 8/18;

Other Jorgenson Federal wells outside Lost Bridge:

24191, 946, Oasis/SM Energy, Jorgenson Federal 14X-19H, Bear Den, t7/13; cum 295K 8/18;
24190, 1,028, Oasis/SM Energy, Jorgenson Federal 14-19H, Bear Den, t7/13; cum 359K 8/18;


18615, 480, CLR, Jorgenson Federal 44-9H, Haystack Butte, 28 stages; 2 million lbs, t7/10; cum 501K 8/18;
16683, 224, CLR, Jorgenson Federal 14-5H, Haystack Butte, t12/07; cum 64K 8/18; struggling; producing very few days/month; very little each month;

Newfield To Report A Huge Well Monday; Another Earthquake Story, This Time In Texas: USC Footballers Lose 52 - 6 To Alabama's Crimson Tide Just Down The Road Last Night; NDIC Website Does Not Link Daily Activity Report Index For September -- Sunday, September 4, 2016

NDIC website still not completely functional. It appears to be back to normal except someone forgot to link the September, 2016, daily activity report index to the site.There appeared to be an error on the Friday (September 2, 2016) report, and perhaps the decision was made to simply "un-link" the September reports until this next week when they can get everything fixed.

The Oasis Andermadson wells are tracked here.
The Newfield Jorgenson Federal wells in Lost Bridge are tracked here.

Wells coming off the confidential list to be reported Tuesday:

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

• 30812, 1,462, Oasis, Andersmadson 5201 14-25 11B, Camp, t3/16; cum 127K 8/16;

Monday, September 5, 2016
None. 

Sunday, September 4, 2016

• 27349, 2,328, BR, Stafford 14-34TFH, Blue Buttes, t5/16; cum 59K 8/16;

Saturday, September 3, 2016 

• 32581, 1,836, Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-13H, Lost Bridge, t6/16; cum 78K 8/16;

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30812, see above, Oasis, Andersmadson 5201 14-25 11B, Camp:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
7-2016	17024	19144
6-2016	26947	21618
5-2016	20258	12817
4-2016	28225	28542
3-2016	26224	18802

32581, see above , Newfield, Jorgenson Federal 148-96-10-15-13H, Lost Bridge:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
7-2016	29678	5258
6-2016	24134	6

27349, see above, BR, Stafford 14-34TFH, Blue Buttes:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
7-2016	17619	14002
6-2016	8240	7830
5-2016	7618	0

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The Apple Page

The new iPhone 7 will be announced September 7.

Updates

September 4, 2016: a contributor over at Macrumors provides a "final" summary of expected changes to the new iPhone 7. Most of the chatter seems to be about the 3.5 mm headphone jack and the memory.

The Original Post

iPhone rumors:

• Color: new fifth color to join line-up; "Gloss Black" -- to resemble 2013 Mac Pro
• Capacity: 256GB -- new top capacity
• Jacks: the traditional headphone jack will be removed; one all-in-one Lightning port for charging, listening, and connectivity
• Box: will include a pair of Lightning-equipped wired EarPods
• Camera: dual lens
• iCloud: fact -- Apple has added a new iCloud storage tier -- 2TB for $19.99/month 
• Syncing: macOS Sierra -- all files stored on the desktop or in the Documents folder of a Mac are automatically uploaded to iCloud to make them available across a wide range of devices.  

Mac rumors:

• Refresh: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air
• Thinner: MacBook Pro
• Display: standalone 5K display
• Graphics: new graphics chips from AMD 
• Touchscreen: OLED-based touchscreen strip along the top of the flatter keyboard

iPad:

• Size: a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro; to join current 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2 and a "low-cost" 9.7 inch iPad model

Watch rumors:

• Battery: 36% larger battery in 42mm model; from 246 mAH to 334 mAh lithium-ion battery 

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The Football Page

Another Earthquake Story

Alabama 52. USC 6. AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX. Yeah, that's like a 6.0 earthquake in south Los Angeles. 52-6 in modern day college football between two ranked teams. 

Before the loss, USC was ranked #17 in one poll, and #20 in another poll. (Alabama was ranked #1 in both.) USC is projected to drop out of the top 25 going into the second week of NCAA football.

From Yahoo!Sports:

This 52-6 curb stomping was the worst Trojans loss in 50 years, since a 51-0 defeat against national champion Notre Dame in 1966. Maybe this opponent will go on to win the championship, too. But at least at that point in time, USC fans could have full faith in their coach, John McKay, the best in school history.

No such assurance can be felt regarding the current coach, Clay Helton [hand picked by Pat Haden].

Helton’s record dropped to 0-3 since being elevated to the full-time job by the Herbert Hoover of athletic directors, Pat Haden. They were so smitten at the University of Self Congratulation by beating rival UCLA last November that Haden rushed to make interim coach Helton the guy two days later. Since then Helton has followed that up with a 19-point loss to Stanford in the Pac-12 championship game; a two-point loss as a three-point favorite to Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl; and this utter emasculation.

USC coaches have been fired on the airport tarmac in the wee hours of the morning for less.

Lane Kiffin is now Alabama's offensive coordinator:

Haden famously fired Lane Kiffin after an ugly loss to Arizona State in September 2013, and he resurfaced the next season as Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator. Kiffin has done quality work at Alabama with a rotating cast of new starting quarterbacks, while Haden replaced him with Steve Sarkisian and then had to fire him after 30 games for alcohol issues.

That led to Helton, who thus far has done a fine job of piloting the Exxon Valdez toward the rocks in Prince William Sound.

I wonder if this will be a subject on his television show, or does Pat Haden still have that show? I haven't seen it in years. Haden has retired as USC's athletic director (interesting, huh); replaced by Lynn Swann.

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The Cooking Page

Those Crisco vegetable oil "sticks" that look identical in size and shape to butter sticks. It should be noted that one of those Crisco vegetable oil "sticks" is equal to two similarly sized butter sticks.

And with that little bit of knowledge, we move on to our second batch of oatmeal cookies.

Recipe I'm trying today. [The oatmeal cookies turned out to be the best I've ever made. Maybe the best even May has ever made.] [For chocolate chip oatmeal cookies I'll try the recipe at this link but add a tsp of cinnamon.]

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Soccer

Bragging

Bragging.

Our middle granddaughter is in a soccer tournament this week: over 1,000 teams from eight (8) different clubs. Olivia is the youngest on her team; she is one of two "playing up" -- one year younger than the rest of the team. Her team is a third division team; they held their own, holding a first division team to a 1 - 0 win yesterday (even the refs were amazed that the third division team did so well against a first division team, even though they lost). The girls were happy with the outcome. 

They have just won their most recent game, 3 - 0, and that puts them into the quarterfinal. Again, this is among 1,000 teams at three division levels and all divisions in the mix.

They are the underdogs going into this game (their opponent must be a first or second division team) but they are thrilled to have gotten this far.