Hillside Makes and Collects Over 300 Blankets and Coats

Roswell participated in a Kids Keeping Kids Warm Drive campaign during November, collecting over 300 blankets and coats for local charities.

The drive was part of a school-wide character study on gratitude and generosity that is part of the Chick-fil-A Core Essentials program.

"It was amazing to see the generosity of the students, staff and parents at Hillside," said John Anderson, Hillside Elementary School interim principal. "This project was the perfect opportunity to teach our students about showing gratitude for what they have and generosity in giving to others."

Every class in the school made their own fleece knot blankets, which were donated to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to use as gifts to lift the spirits of patients in their care. In addition, students were asked to donate new or gently used blankets and coats. These donations were given to the Drake House, a short-term housing center for women and children and to North Fulton Community Charities.

GPS items top wish lists of outdoor enthusiasts

As Christmas nears, store shelves are packed with everything from space-aged electronics to low-cost accessories for the outdoor lover and age-group athlete in your life.

No matter what the pastime, remember these three letters for a really special gift: GPS. They stand for Global Positioning Satellite receivers, which triangulate signals from satellites overhead to pinpoint locations on earth within a matter of feet.

An inexpensive receiver aids hikers, hunters, geocachers and others in finding their way in places without signposts. For example, Bass Pro offers the Garmin eTrex 10 Handheld GPS Unit preloaded with a base map and with enhanced geocaching features for $119.

For fishing, GPS can be paired with computer maps to project the image of a boat's relative position to places that might have fishing. Anglers also can store their favorite spots in a unit's memory so they can return time after time. GPS enhances on-the-water safety. Boaters can mark the location of a boat ramp and return after dark or if rain or fog harms visibility. Units range from $150 to several hundred dollars, depending on features.

For cyclists, Scott Davis at Bloomington Cycle & Fitness suggested the Garmin 800, which measures speed and distance. The unit has a base map. No more getting lost on unfamiliar routes. Push a button to find the closest restaurants and other services. The Garmin 800 is also compatible with power meters that advanced cyclists use for training. Cost is $450.

Andre Conton at Vitesse Cycle/Often Running in Normal pointed to the Garmin Forerunner GPS 110 for runners. The Forerunner uses GPS to track distance, pace and overall time, and it's compatible with the Garmin heart-rate monitor, which is sold separately. Cost is $200.

If you have a triathlete on your list, they'd appreciate Garmin's newest GPS-equipped 910XT. The unit that straps to the wrist can measure swim distance, stroke count, lap time and swim efficiency. On land, Forerunner 910XT offers many of the features of Garmin's advanced cycling computers and sport watches to accurately measure time, distance, speed, pace and more. Data can be uploaded into a computer for analysis and to map the route for future reference. Battery life is 20 hours, long enough for an IronMan race. Cost is $450 with a heart rate monitor.

Some other gift ideas:

Heavy snow last winter made cross-country skiing gear a popular sale at WildCountry, according to Dick Smith, who owns the business on Linden Street in Normal and other locations at Eastland Mall in Bloomington and Champaign. Packages including skis, poles, boots and more sell for about $320, which includes a two-hour introductory class to the sport.

Swimmers can enjoy music while swimming endless laps with a SwiMP3 1 GB waterproof MP3 player by Finis. Price is $134.95. Check out www.finisinc.com.

Fishermen can always use another fishing rod. Make the next one special with a custom rod by Paul Center of Normal. Prices vary. Phone [phone].

For hunters or birdwatchers, the Songbird Clear is a high-quality hearing enhancement device for people who want to enjoy the sounds of the world around them. Price is $119.99, available at select CVS and Walgreens locations or through www.songbirdclear.com.

When winter forces cyclists indoors, a trainer lets them keep right on spinning. A CycleOps fluid trainer costs about $350 at local bike shops.

Some people ride their bikes outdoors all winter long. For safety on dark mornings and evenings, Davis suggests the NiteRider Technical Light System with three light levels. Get two to five hours of light. Cost is $120. A powerful dual beam model is $299. Less expensive lights also are available. The Ion Flare Series for front and back sells for $65; Blackburn's Voyager front and Mars rear click lights sell for about $25 at Vitesse.

Runners who like a workout after dark can be safer with the Amphipod Full-Viz Series light for just $15 at Often Running.

Sparked by the book "Born to Run," many runners are adopting a less-is-more attitude when it comes to shoes. Vibrams' FiveFingers are as close as you get to wearing nothing on your feet. Cost is $90 at WildCountry.

Nothing says "Christmas" quite like pepper spray to protect cyclists and runners. Cost is $14.

Warm clothes and gear are always appreciated, no matter the sport. WildCountry has a big selection of both for all kinds of outdoor activities, including the Columbia base layer with reflective material close to the skin to hold in the heat. Cost is $60. Bloomington Cycle and Vitesse Often Running carry garments and accessories for people who ride bikes and run, including windproof jackets and thermal gloves and protective shoe covers.

Temperatures will dip into 30s this week

For some, Florida's cold temperatures are no reason to bundle up.

Saajan Panikar, a 21-year-old wildlife ecology and conservation senior, walked around campus Tuesday in jeans and a polo T-shirt.

The 64-degree temperature outside didn't bother him much.

"I'm from Chicago," Panikar said. "This isn't that cold."

Temperatures will dip into the 30s and not exceed the mid-60s this week, said Marie Trabert, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Jacksonville. Wednesday night will be the coldest with a low of 33 degrees, and there may be frost on cars and along the grass Thursday morning, she said.

The temperatures are about 10 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year.

Panikar said he thinks people who complain about the temperatures or bundle up in heavy winter clothing are "ridiculous."

"Until you've had to wear a parka and still feel cold, don't talk to me," he said.

Staci Didner, an 18-year-old public relations sophomore and New York native, wore a light jacket and jeans Tuesday. The weather in Florida gets "perfectly cold," she said.

"I'm so happy we get the cold without the snow," Didner said.

But for native Floridians, cold weather means scarves, bubble jackets and trench coats.

Stacey Coonts, a 21-year-old anthropology junior from Tampa, prefers layering shirts with sweaters and wearing her handmade crocheted gloves when it's cold outside.

"I absolutely hate the cold," Coonts said. "I've always hated the cold. It's a Floridian thing, I guess."

Coats for Kids celebrates 25 years

wenty-five years ago, Jack Brown was at a dry cleaning conference when he heard a great idea.

A Milwaukee company called Spic and Span was cleaning and giving away free coats to children whose families couldn't afford to buy them one. Brown, who owned a chain of dry cleaners, brought the idea to Austin.

A quarter-century later, Austin's Coats for Kids project has distributed more than 600,000 coats to children across Central Texas.

"I feel like this is part of Austin," said Amber Brabham with the Junior League of Austin, which runs the annual event. "It's like 'Keep Austin Weird.' It's part of who we are."

Coats for Kids began in 1986 . After returning from his dry cleaning conference, Brown, now 83 , pitched his idea to three community partners: Goodwill Industries, KASE 101 and KVUE . All signed on.

Community members donated the coats. Jack Brown Cleaners dry cleaned them. KASE 101 and KVUE handled promotion. And Goodwill helped store and distribute the coats.

That first year, 2,500 to 3,000 coats were distributed, Brown said. And the project grew from there.

In 1997 , Goodwill Industries dropped out of the effort, saying the project didn't fit its mission of job training and placement. So the Junior League took over.

From now until Dec. 7 , people may drop off coats at donation boxes at any Jack Brown Cleaners. Those coats will be turned over to the Junior League, which stores, sorts, hangs and distributes the coats at the Palmer Events Center.

The Junior League works with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, school districts and several social service agencies to identify children eligible for coats.

Last year, more than 2,600 Coats for Kids volunteers distributed about 35,000 new and gently used coats to low-income families. Coats that are left over are donated to local organizations such as SafePlace, which has a shelter for battered women.

Distribution day is always a good day, Brown said.

"I've seen the kids come wrapped in towels and sheets and about everything else," he said. "They just don't have a coat, and they leave with one. It's been a great experience."

The 20 Biggest Hipsters in Sports

Hipster and professional athlete. There's nothing about these two lifestyles that go together.

A hipster is really just a nerd who discovered good music and finally got laid. They're known for skinny jeans, ridiculous haircuts and shunning popular culture in favor of more unique pursuits. (Assuming you think pounding Pabst Blue Ribbon after a long day of shopping for vintage flannel shirts is a unique endeavor.)

A hipster is really the exact opposite of the jocks you knew in high school, and aren't professional athletes—just bigger, richer jocks?

You would think that these two very different styles would naturally repel each other, and usually they do…except for when they don't. There is a growing number of athletes bucking the traditional jock thing in favor of a less traditional style.

Here are the top 20 hipsters in sports.

The Lever of Love: Why Families of Disabled Children Need a Legal Defense Fund

While a system of holding people in hostage is as old as the oldest war, a fresher note is introduced when a tyrannic state is at war with its own subjects and may hold any citizen in hostage with no law to restrain it. An even more recent improvement is the subtle use of what I shall term “the lever of love” (applied so successfully by the Soviets) of tying a rebel to his wretched country by his own twisted heart strings. ~Vladimir Nabokov, Bend Sinister

In Bend Sinister, Nabokov's protagonist, Professor Krug, refuses to deliver a speech approving the new dictatorship, which of course promotes the greater good. Like in Heller's Catch-22, all they want is for him to say he likes them—and to be used like a donkey thereafter. Krug won't comply, though his colleagues have already fallen in line. The regime's henchmen set about playing a diabolical game of chess to isolate and demoralize Krug and bring him to heel; but the regime plays badly. They're idiots. According to Nabokov, who survived a few dictatorships, the purveyors of tyranny always are, but that's really beside the point if they still manage to destroy everything you ever loved as they lurch towards self-annihilation. First Krug's wife dies mysteriously in a medical disaster, though Krug is too grief stricken to understand the message. Coercion is useless if the subject doesn't suspect they're being coerced. They imprison Krug's friends one by one, but still he won't be moved. Finally they figure out his compliance could have been forced from the start by taking his eight year old son. The kidnapping is bungled, the child is accidentally killed and Krug goes mad.

From the moment our twins were diagnosed four and a half years ago, it's as if we've been strapped to a set of train tracks with the train bearing down on us at a snail's pace, not knowing how to get out of the way. Other times it feels like a board game from hell with no firm rules or reason—you're just always in a panic that you've made a wrong move, said the wrong thing. Check.

One risk we knew came along with the diagnosis was institutional abuse. As soon as your child is labeled and you try to seek any form of help, you're subjected to all kinds of officious do-gooders who would otherwise never have had access to your family. There are good souls in the helping professions, but it soon becomes clear the unfortunate types have more power than they should. My husband also survived a few dictatorships before we met: in unjust states, they mess with your kids. It's part of the game and why some are drawn to it. When they have your children in the balance, integrity and standing up for principle can become liabilities, which has a delicious equalizing effect for worms.

“Awareness” isn't a coat of armor. You might understand risks and even nip a few in the bud if you're clued in, but you may not be able to stop certain things from happening in the first place, not in the current system. Everyone tells themselves bad things won't happen to their child; but except for those who can afford to homeschool—and even these families live under a certain gun— when a family sends a child to school anywhere in the US, particularly a child with any kind of disability, they are depositing their child on foreign soil, a place with abridged constitutional rights and a third world system of justice. I don't think it's even the third world anymore—it's the fourth world: Disability land.

The marks my daughter came home from school with in the middle of September weren't much—a small imprint on the inside of one arm, a bruise on her forearm and what looked like a rug burn near her elbow. But according to the school, the marks don't exist, and that's what turned them into gaping wounds. The school's version of events:

Additionally, Mrs. G reported that [child] has marks on both arms, which she attributed to [child's] having been “scooped up off the ground” by lifting her under the armpits. With verbal permission to Dr. X from Mrs. G, school nurse completed a brief examination. Mrs. Y brought [child] to the school nurse's office at the end of the day on X/XX/11. With Mrs. Y present, the school nurse viewed [child's] upper torso, upper back, entire upper extremities and axilla. The school nurse office visit report noted no areas of discoloration, swelling, or redness. [Child's] skin was noted to be quite translucent around the areas of the veins. A copy of the report has been placed in [child's] medical file and a copy is attached to this report.

During the meeting, Mr. and Mrs. G questioned how [child] would have arrived at such a specific description (“scooped up off the ground”), so Ms. Y asked if [child] has witnessed anything of this sort in school. The only thing that can be identified is a movement (very much like the action demonstrated by Mr. G) that occurs several times a day with one of [child's] classmates who needs assistance to transfer from one position to another due to physical disability. [Child] sees this on a daily basis.

I'm always amazed at how school apologists make excuses for school conduct when the schools are so skilled at doing it for themselves. For the record, though we will celebrate the day she lies as a great milestone in recovery, our daughter doesn't lie. She has eidetic memory and if an account clashes with her mental videotapes, she can't let it go. She's never fabricated or imagined an event in her life, won't even frame her brother for stealing a cookie. She once had exaggerated fear of cars, but never actually hallucinated that a car jumped the curb and the fears turned back into reasonable caution when her fever broke.

No one at the school was qualified to diagnose her with delusional mental illness on top of high functioning autism. Unless the child in a wheelchair in our daughter's classroom is routinely dragged around the room and forcibly made to walk by being shoved, the only “model” for what our daughter reported was something that happened to her. The photograph above was taken about three hours before the unconsented strip search at the school, which found our daughter miraculously unblemished. We never gave permission—and never would—for her clothes to be removed. The school put it in writing that we reported marks on her arms. There was no reason to strip her. It was retaliation—part of the game. As for the marks? Optical illusions.

Aside from the ironic heart-shaped bruise, being forced to write an apology to the person who reportedly mistreated her was a nice touch. It's like kiddy rendition—abuse, forced confession, cover up, foreign soil. She took a toy. That never happens in autism. Bring out the SWAT team.

She was very reluctant to talk about the events, so her dad knelt on the ground and asked her to show him what had happened on the playground. “Do it to me,” he said, acting like it was a casual thing. Immediately she went behind him, hooked her arms under his, then tried to haul him up and backwards a few paces, then with her arms still hooked under his, she tried to maneuver him forwards, as if to force him to march. She did it with a sort of brisk brutality, changing the expression on her face to an authoritarian adult's. He asked her to repeat the gestures. With the same sureness, same expression, she repeated the same series of maneuvers. He asked, “Who did this?” and she repeatedly said the name of her brother's teacher. We asked her if the teacher yelled at her. She said no. We asked her if she was trying to leave the school grounds before all of this happened. She said, no, she was just “running around.” Running away from the teacher in other words. Noncompliance.

We had an elaborate “no restraint” letter filed with this school since our children started, saying under no circumstances were our children to be restrained in any manner for noncompliance or punishment. We learned from the school's self-serving report that only one of our daughter's four staff members were on the playground when the incident took place. Not that it mattered, since apparently another staff member—our son's teacher as it happened—was instructed by an aide from our daughter's class on how to “handle” our daughter. From this, we can only assume that what happened was policy. We had to wonder how often this had happened to our less verbal son or how many times the kids might have seen their twin sibling mistreated.

There was no report from the school that my daughter had been a danger to herself or anyone else. There was no mention that she'd attempted to leave the playground, only that she bolted from a bench. They later tried to spin it that she “could have been running towards an unfenced area” (forty yards away), but the claim is worthless and they were already caught in lies. Common sense and state law dictate that a child must be restrained if they pose an imminent threat to self or others. But common sense is on the side of never restraining our daughter: she's not a wanderer and she's never once been seriously aggressive. And even if a child wanders or is aggressive, there are so many less destructive things which can be done before a situation escalates. There was also no mention that the day was 92 degrees and that it's in my daughter's IEP that she not be taken outside on days like that if the heat makes her irritable. Despite every effort to address it, she still has a documented mitochondrial insufficiency and can't tolerate extreme temperatures. In her IEP is a health crisis directive documenting her GI disorder and that she vomits when afraid, putting her at serious risk of aspiration asphyxia in a struggle.

This is why Individual Education Plans were developed in the first place: children with disabilities were being harmed without them. But what good are they if not enforced?

I got on the phone with a friend, an advocate who specializes in school abuse cases. She recognized the maneuver my daughter described as a textbook “transport restraint”. Some of the techniques have diabolical names, like the “Sunday Stroll”. Our daughter later reenacted the incident in the presence of five more adults outside the school, including a professional therapist, all of whom saw the bruises.

We removed both twins from the private special school and attempted to enroll them in the district, which we thought would be happy not to have to pay the $120,000 yearly tuition for our twins' placement. Instead the local school blocked our children's enrollment. They're probably terrified at the other school's depiction of our family. We called for meetings; we cited IDEA, to no avail. The kids developed worsening GI symptoms from the stress and we called for a thirty day medical leave. The school had plenty of time to make arrangements for admission, but it seems they want the kids elsewhere, probably involving a two hour bus ride with untrained bus aides to a segregated institution with more silent witnesses who can't report what happens in the course of a day. Enough—we want the children integrated, a five minute drive away, around verbal kids who can snitch, maybe even a few (those that are left) who don't have diagnoses that can be doubled back to discredit testimony, and that's it. We hired an attorney.

My husband is designing a modern house for clients which will probably end up in a magazine. He worked for so many years to develop a project like this—not that he's enjoyed a second of it while worrying about his kids. When that project is done, we'll always think of it as “Casa Retainer”, because that's where the money will have gone. Not to treatment, not even for a college fund. See, that's where we plan for the twins to be in 12 years—college, not living off taxpayers. If it's up to us and they continue on the recovery path they began four years ago, and if we can keep them from suffering posttraumatic stress from school abuse, there's no reason this can't happen. Not unless outside forces make a reason.

We're lucky we can even think like this. It feels funny to say that. We weren't lucky our children were cognitively injured to begin with, that they were once pegged low functioning, that insurance doesn't cover the treatments which would actually help them, or that we haven't slept in two months. But we're lucky we could afford to treat our children out of pocket when they began regressing; lucky we can even pay a retainer—even if it means the adults in the house will eat the same cheap food for a year and we may not make it to the family Christmas gathering for a second year in a row. We're “lucky” the school didn't double back charges, blame us for the bruises, make spurious reports to child services and take our children away. Considering that things like that happen all the time, luck is relative here in the fourth world.

University Ridge Customer Appreciation Sale is Wednesday-Saturday

The end-of-the-year Customer Appreciation Sale at The Golf Shop @ University Ridge is Nov. 16-19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Everything in the golf shop will be discounted.

Men's fashion polos from Adidas, Greg Norman, and Ashworth, will be 40% off. Outerwear from Greg Norman, Adidas, Page & Tuttle, Antigua, and Footjoy will be significantly discounted as well. All hats in the golf shop will be 50% off. As always, our Taylor Made rental sets will be on sale at unbeatable prices. Stock up on gloves, shoes, balls, and other golfing accessories for the 2012 season.

Also, you can have your picture taken with the Paul Bunyan Axe! The Axe, which is awarded to the winner of the Minnesota vs. Wisconsin football game, will be on display in the Golf Shop for all four days of the sale. The doors will open daily at 9 a.m. and close at 4 p.m. during the sale. This sale has become a must for all Badger/Golf fans, so don't miss out on your chance to save big this week at The Golf Shop @ University Ridge.

The Kiosk @ West Towne Mall is Open!
The University Ridge Kiosk @ West Towne Mall officially opened last week. Find competitive prices, quality new apparel, and great gift ideas throughout the holiday season. As always the Kiosk will be offering the "Buy $150" special. Buy $150 in merchandise (kiosk only) and you will receive a free round of golf for the 2012 season (up to a $89 value)! The location of the Kiosk this year is right outside The Buckle and next to the Dakota Watch Company. We would love to see you during the holiday season at West Towne Mall.

Book your 2012 Golf Outing Now!
It's never too early to start planning a golf trip, corporate golf outing, charity fund raiser, or special event. 2012 will mark the 21st year that University Ridge has been the golf outing leader in Dane County. Click here to find out why you should choose University Ridge for your golf outing in 2012. To enquire about dates, times, and prices contact Andy Bacon at [e-mail] or [phone].

Four ways to Buy Gift Cards at University Ridge
1. Stop out at the Kiosk at West Towne Mall (located outside the Buckle) Click here for mall hours.
2. Call the golf shop at [phone] and we'll send the gift card wherever you want.
3. Click here to order a gift card online.
4. Come out to the golf shop which is open year round. Shop hours until 2012 are Tuesday-Saturday 9am-4pm (The golf shop will not be open on Christmas Eve)

Every Man a King? U.K.’s Better Off With Its Queens: A.A. Gill

U.S. President Barack Obama said at the Group of 20 meeting in Cannes, France, earlier this month that he was told that he had just been given a “crash course” on the complexities of European politics. Well, that’s us, the folk who brought you Byzantine.

We do have the habit of talking about one thing while doing another, like your mother peeling potatoes at the sink while telling you to hurry up and provide her with some grandchildren. And, often, the thing we’re doing is not what it appears, and the thing we’re talking about is not what we’re thinking. But it’s OK -- we’ve been at this a long time.

So while the stagger and stumble of markets revealed ever-more-worrying cracks in the foundation of this old continent, it might have seemed an extravagance for U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to announce that he was going to change the ancient laws of primogeniture and succession to the British throne.

Up until now, the crown has passed from king to prince whenever possible. Only if there’s really no alternative, including infants and imbeciles, would they give it to a princess. This is plainly indefensible, and quite possibly illegal.

A Group Decision

But it isn’t just the British who are affected by this proposed change; 15 other countries have the same monarch as head of state, including Canada, Australia, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Each has had to agree to change the rules, and at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia last month they unanimously did. This means that Prince William and Kate’s first child, of whatever sex, will go to the head of the line. (Though it won’t be retrospective, so Princess Anne won’t be usurping Prince Charles. She can continue breeding murderous bull terriers and being fabulously irritable.)

What was interesting about this twist in the golden thread that runs through the gay tapestry of heraldic life was not those who supported it, but those who opposed it. There were quite a lot of them, not all wearing their jackets back to front and being fed with plastic spoons.

They really couldn’t claim that monarchy was a man’s job, because the very few women whom genetics have allowed in included Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria and the present queen -- three of the most successful heads of state ever. Then there was Queen Anne -- who reigned over John Locke, Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope and a golden age of French-thrashing -- and Queen Mary, who ruled as “William and Mary” because Parliament thought she needed a bloke. Nor should we forget Matilda, a medieval empress who briefly ruled during a civil war known as the Anarchy.

Altogether, the caliber of our queens so outclasses the collective performance of our massed kings that there is a good case for only women being able to inherit.

The basis for opposition to gender-blind inheritance boiled down to: “We’ve always done it that way. To change the waft and web of history will be to tamper with the ineffable course and the delicate equilibrium of the nation.” As if the past itself would notice and, more than that, care. It might disinherit the present. There is a phrase for this, and we hear it a lot: “You have to keep faith with the past”; a sort of soothsaying, proactive, spiritual nostalgia.

A European Imperative

“This is the way we’ve always done it” is a particularly European imperative. It would mean little in the East. I suspect it might be an argument for change in America. But here, the past, that continuum of hand-to-hand passing of tradition and culture, the skill and panache of being European, is greatly valued. Keeping faith with the past is as important as planning for the future. Indeed, it could be considered the only guarantee of a future that we would recognize.

And this all might go some way to explaining Obama’s eye- rolling incomprehension at the parlous state of European politics. Every argument isn’t just between those for and those against, but also all the ghosts who have ever had this argument. We live in crowded rooms.

Male primogeniture isn’t simply what it appears. But then you suspected that. The Royal Family is the top of a hierarchy of landed gentry who have taken their lead from above, and always passed their houses, lands and wealth on to the eldest son, effectively disinheriting their other children. You aren’t allowed to do this in France or the other nations that took on the Napoleonic Code. But the English remain ruthless about keeping family wealth entire, and a change at the top might cause elder daughters and younger sons to question the monstrous, unloving inequality that their fathers produce with the sanction of “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

Queen Elizabeth II, old and conservative as she may be, agreed to the change with a feminist alacrity. Her family have kept their heads in the crown and their bottoms on the throne by constantly shape-shifting and accommodating to the times. The monarchy may look like the brand leader for “keeping faith with the past,” but in truth, it wields change to its purposes.

Talleyrand said that that the Bourbons had learned nothing and forgotten nothing. The Royal Family of the U.K., Canada, Australia and Saint Kitts and Nevis learns fast and remembers selectively. While its members rely on others’ sense of heritage and history, they themselves will disinherit the past without a backward glance or regret.

College Football BlogPoll (Week Seven): Tide and Tigers and Sooners, Oh, My!

The nod goes to the Tide in the great Alabama/LSU debate, for the simple reason that the Red Elephants’ best wins (over No. 9 Arkansas and No. 18 Penn State) respectively trump those of the Bayou Bengals (over No. 13 Oregon and No. 25 West Virginia). As C&F rightly notes, though, this controversy will sort itself out on November 5.

The Country Gentlemen edged out the Sooners for the No. 3 spot, despite Clemson’s less impressive win over Florida State, because the Fort Hill Felines boast wins over No. 19 Virginia Tech and feisty Auburn, both by convincing margins. Oklahoma remains the top team in its home state, however, because the Cowboys (who had the less dominant victory over Texas) only narrowly escaped against the Aggies and watered down their resume with a win over horrid Arizona. The Sooners’ worst win (over 2-4 Kansas) came against a team Oklahoma State also beat.

There is, obviously, a significant drop-off after the top five, because Kansas State manages to sneak in, believe it or not, on the basis of schedule strength: Bill Snyder’s Wildcats, who built their reputation in the 1990s by lining up every tomato can, patsy, weak sister, and Division I-AA nobody they could find, beat two 4-2 teams (Baylor and Texas Tech) and two moderately solid 3-3 teams (Miami and Missouri). Yeah, three of those four wins were by a touchdown or less, but two of them were outside of Manhattan, as well.

I ranked Boise State ahead of Wisconsin by applying to the Badgers the same standards ordinarily employed against the Broncos. Yes, Wisconsin has the better quality win (over No. 11 Nebraska, as opposed to BSU’s opening win over 5-2 Georgia), but look at their respective slates as a whole:

Boise State got to 6-0 by beating six Division I-A opponents. Wisconsin got to 6-0 by beating five Division I-A opponents and Division I-AA South Dakota.
The Broncos’ worst win came on the road over Fresno State. The Bulldogs are 3-4, and they are the only team Boise State has faced that currently has a losing record. The Badgers’ worst win came at home against . . . well, take your pick: UNLV (1-5), Oregon State (1-5), Indiana (1-6), or the aforementioned South Dakota.
Boise State’s Division I-A victims are a combined 21-18. Wisconsin’s Division I-A victims are a combined 12-20.

The bottom line is that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Anyone who derides Boise State’s record on the basis of the Broncos’ soft slate must heap the same scorn upon Wisconsin.

The Razorbacks’ wins over Auburn and Texas A&M earned them a spot in the top ten as the country’s best once-beaten team, with the Spartans lagging slightly behind. Arkansas and Michigan State have played similar slates---Division I-AA Missouri State equates with Division I-AA Youngstown State; 0-6 New Mexico equates with 0-6 Florida Atlantic; two-win Troy equates with two-win Central Michigan; even a four-point neutral-site win over four-win Texas A&M roughly equates with a three-point road win over four-win Ohio State---but, even though Sparty’s win over the Wolverines counts for more than the Hogs’ win over the Plainsmen, a loss at Alabama hurts less than a loss at Notre Dame.

The Cornhuskers trail MSU because a win over No. 12 Michigan carries more weight than a win over No. 24 Washington, while the Maize and Blue got about as much benefit of the doubt as may be wrung from a quartet of wins over four dubious four-win teams (Western Michigan, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan, and San Diego State), chiefly because the next-best alternative was Oregon, which earned points for beating the Sun Devils but could not overcome altogether a slate otherwise comprised of .500 Cal and Nevada, one-win Arizona, and Division I-AA Missouri State.

Steven Tyler Strikes A Pose For Andrew Charles

Anyone swinging by Macy’s Herald Square tonight is likely to see Steven Tyler, the charismatic front man of Aerosmith, posing in the windows.

Tyler, who’s the face of a new rocker-chic sportswear line Andrew Charles, will appear with daughters Chelsea and Mia in the windows to promote the women’s and men’s collection, which is exclusive to Macy’s. Later, some 300 customers who made a $100 Andrew Charles purchase on Thursday and received a backstage pass, will have the chance to meet Tyler and have their photograph taken with him.

Tyler, 63, was interviewed by phone earlier this week en route from California, where he’s a judge on “American Idol.” This is his second season on the Fox-TV show, evaluating aspiring singers alongside Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson. But Tyler hasn’t jettisoned his own musical career. He’s about to embark on a 19-date Latin American and Japanese concert tour with Aerosmith, which kicks off Oct. 22 in Lima, Peru.

Known for his wildly colorful on-stage attire — which over the years has run the gamut from leopard print lace-ups and hip huggers to bold printed silk shirts, layered jewelry, leather jackets and long scarves — Tyler is excited about collaborating with Andy Hilfiger on the Andrew Charles sportswear collection. The line, which is available in 100 Impulse departments at Macy’s, is being developed by Music Entertainment Sports Holdings, a division of LF USA in partnership with Star Branding.

Here’s what the high-spirited Tyler had to say.

WWD: What have you been up to?
Steven Tyler: I’m in a car heading over to an aircraft carrier. I’m in San Diego. We’re doing “Idol” down here. We started six weeks ago. We’re doing all the auditions, and we’re at the point where we’re saying, “You’re going to Hollywood!”

WWD: How do you like doing “American Idol?”
S.T.: I do. I didn’t like it in the beginning. I always thought about people who made it [in this business], you read about them after and wanted to see what clubs they played, were they from Europe or China, but kids today, everyone’s so connected by the Web. There are hardly any clubs today. The idea of the show was to find some talent, and then let people at home vote on it. And then in that way, the trial would end. I thought it was cheap shot show thing. It really turned out to be a lot more interesting than my myopic point of view.

WWD: What do you think of the talent on the show?
S.T.: I miss clubs. It was my era. But it’s a new era. They do come out of the woodwork. There are those who are homegrown. Out of 10,000, there’s 100 who are really good. I know that it starts with who we let through.…They’re all put through the ringer. And the ones who aren’t that good are going to fall by the wayside. It’s a very excruciating and extracting [year] for these kids. From now until next May, it’ll be seven months to get their s--t together and learn to sing the songs. I really enjoyed watching Lauren Alaina show up in a truck with three brothers in jeans and a T-shirt and how she washed up in the end to be second runner-up with Scotty McCreery, who won. Interestingly enough, he was the least changed.

WWD: Have you always enjoyed fashion?
S.T.: I love it. Somewhere in 1967, when I was in high school, I remember getting made fun of because I wore cowboy boots. I sewed buttons on each side of the cowboy boot, which I attached to my pants, so they wouldn’t ride up. The haircuts and the style of clothes that I loved were Mod English, Carnaby Street, Anita Pallenberg.…I loved it so much, and got made fun of by kids in my school and kids in my band. I would have my clothes made in 1971, I bought bolts of stuff, and they made jackets and pants. Those styles I would wear, and Joe [Perry, Aerosmith guitar player] would come over and say, “That looks great. Do they make that for men?” It was so over-the-top.

A lot of the stuff we’re doing with Andrew [Charles] is ideas out of my closet, since I never threw anything away, and stuff that I wore on “Idol” last year. It’s just my favorite s--t to wear…zippered-up bell-bottoms, where inside the zipper I put a red handkerchief inside blue jeans. When you open the zippers, you see the handkerchiefs.

WWD: Do you choose your own clothes for your concerts and TV appearances?
S.T.: My girlfriend, Erin [Brady], has been doing my styling this year. She knows everything that I love so we find stuff out of my closet, and we put pieces together that are so back in. Everything from my closet is from 30 years ago, so it’s like a treasure trove. It’s full of so much great stuff. Every time I go through it, it’s like, “No, wait, what’s this?”

WWD: Do you enjoy shopping?
S.T.: Oh yeah. We did 33 tours since 1970. I designed most of the stage clothes. When you’re out shopping in Paraguay, you’re going to come home with some ostrich boots and a black-and-white checkered hat and some bolos they caught the ostrich with.

WWD: How did you establish your trademark scarves, and when did you start wrapping a scarf around your microphone? I understand you’re coming out with a collection of scarves called Rock Scarf, inspired by Steven Tyler for Andrew Charles.
S.T.: It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do, and now I am so known for that. It started with the shirts I wore on stage. They got so dirty and ripped up, I just hung them on my mic stand, and one thing led to another. I loved in 1968, 1969 and 1970 Sundari Imports…all the Indian tapestries. It gives me a chance to show off again.

タグ：backstage