Had I picked with my head instead of my heart, I would have been 13-1 last week.  Instead I finished with 10 winners and four losers.  I did pick Western to beat Vandy in Nashville.  It was a defensive struggle to the tune of 14 to 12.

So who looked good last week?  Alabama looked great.  Ohio State looked awesome in the second half.  Notre Dame looked tough also and that is tough on me to admit..

As far as the picks go, this week I vow to do better!

Penn State will beat Buffalo…the loss to Temple last week will ignite the Penn State team.  Buffalo is in for a long day.

Louisville will beat Houston…Badly.

Michigan will beat Oregon State…the return of Harbaugh to the Big House will be too much for the Beavers from Corvallis.

Southern Miss will beat Austin Peay…you could say Southern is going to beat the Peay out of them.

Ole Miss will beat Fresno State…the Rebels have even more to prove after beat Pea RIdge to death last week.  Can they do it against a team from California?

Georgia will beat Vanderbilt…the fams of old silver britches will be wondering if they have found the ghost of Hershel Walker after so many long runs against the Vandy D.

Notre Dame will beat Virginia…I am sure the Golden Domers will draw a crowd to Charlottesville, at least for a half.

Alabama beats Middle Tenn…Why do I bother?  The Tide will get theirs next week…that is why!

Tennessee will beat Oklahoma…The SEC, including Big Orange, has ten teams in the top twenty-five this week.  First time that has ever happened for any conference.  Phil.Fulmer a.k.a The Great Pumpkin will even smile at this one.

East Carolina will beat Florida…this is my upset of the week.  Coach Ruffin (yes, I know that is his first name) is due a big one.

South Carolina will beat Kentucky…Two years in a row against the Old Ball Coach?  I’ll eat my laptop first.

FIU beats Indiana…the Hoosiers have gone on twenty years now of looking like they have T-squares and protractors in the defensive huddle.  It is worse now than it has ever been.  The greatest expectation out of Bloomington is the hope that no one gets seriously hurt.  They are bad…that’s terrible bad…not Thorogood bad.  The protractors and the calculators won’t stop the speed FIU will bring to Indiana.  The Hoosiers get beat and Wilson watch will begin.  The problem there…who will be next?

Michigan State beats Oregon…Mariotta is g-a-w-n gone.  Sparty is consistent.  Look for a tricky play from the home green huddle in the 2nd quarter.

LSU will beat Miss. State...more cowbell won’t help State as LSU opens the season after having last week’s game cancelled due to weather in the Red Stick.

UCLA will beat UNLV...Mora is shelling the corn.

Marshall will beat Ohio…Go Herd!

Justin Hayward will tear up St. Louis…the show is sold out!

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

My dear wife, Carrie, and I were fortunate to be in Huntington, WV over the long Labor Day weekend.  We took in a Marshall Thundering Herd football game.  The Joan C. Edwards Stadium a.k.a  “The Joan” was packed.  Only the third sellout in school history.  That sounds a bit hard to fathom, given the history of the football program.  Anyway, the official attendance was 38,791 or something like that.  Five years ago, Carrie and I were there when they hosted the West Virginia Mountaineers.  Talk about crazy.  In a stadium that holds 38,000 and some change, the nearly 42,000 that packed the place that night was a claustrophobic nightmare.

The good thing is The Herd won the game this weekend.  The best thing is they beat the Purdue Boilermakers.  It was the first time a Big Ten team had ever come calling to Huntington.  I doubt one makes it back.  In the past, Marshall had played five road games against Big Ten teams and lost them all.  One of those was a visit to West Lafayette in 2012 to play PU.  Carrie and I were there that day.  The Herd lost 51 to 41.  Sunday the Herd won 41 to 31.

We had a marvelous time.

Changing the subject…I gave a tip to a waiter in a Barboursville, WV eatery and it was an unreasonable tip.  What I should have done with the receipt after I settled up was write on it.

Tip #1…this is the money I am leaving you.  I hope you are a Marshall student.  You will need another job some day.

Tip # 2…learn your cheeses.  When I ask if you can put a piece of cheddar on my hamburger, don’t look at me like you think all cheese comes from a wrapper.

Tip# 3…when a lady says a baked potato with sour cream on the side, do not…I mean do not…I mean don’t ever bring her a heaping mound of fries less than two hours before kickoff cos it is too late by then to bring on a foil wrapped spud.

Tip # 4…make sure the shirt you are wearing doesn’t have a fabric soften sheet hanging out above your elbow.  I appreciate your desire for comfort and I am glad you wash your clothes.

Bottom line…I felt sorry for the young man.  I told him thank you.  I smiled at him.  I left him a monetary tip that I am quite certain he enjoyed and thought he earned with his hard work.  After all, we know the boy doesn’t have a memory.

That same night my dear Carrie and I were watching “We Are Marshall” (after watching the real Marshall) in our hotel room.  There was a knock on the door.  The pizza guy was there delivering the goods…and I mean goods.  He looked at me and was very apologetic that it took so long for him to get there.  I looked at him and said, “You made it didn’t you!”  He smiled.  I handed him some cash.  He looked at the amount and offered my change in a hurry. I told him to keep it and have a good night.  What I didn’t tell him was that he picked up my confidence in the twenty-something crowd just a little bit.  I gave him his tip because he was gracious and courteous and just plain nice and I didn’t have to feel sorry for him.

Look, I am blessed that I can pass on a good tip.  Carrie and I don’t eat out that much.  For us it is just as important that someone carried it out of the kitchen and to the table and offers to fill my tea glass without me having to open the ice box and get it out myself.  That is worth something.  That and I just don’t mind helping someone out with a little extra coin.

I know this is not stuff one should talk about, and know that I am not bragging, I’m just explaining.

It was two Octobers ago.  Carrie, our son Jarrett, and I were enjoying fall break in North Carolina.  I called the pizza place for an order.  I paid with a credit card and included my tip up front.  When the young lady brought my pie, she looked beat.  I dug a little deeper and handed her some cash, took the pizza, and headed up the stairs of the house we were renting.  I was upstairs for a few minutes and heard a knock on  that same downstairs door.  “Sir”, she said, “You already paid for your tip and your pizza.”  I looked at her and told she was right.  She started to hand me back the cash.  I looked at her and told her that was the second half of her tip.  She nearly cried.  She started telling me about how she needed the money…and…I just told her thank you and to have a nice evening.  She told me she was going to do.  I’m just glad I was able to be there.

Speaking the tipping rights.

Danny Johnson

This past week I was mashing around the blue million useless channels on my DIRECTV service and came across a movie that makes me a bit wistful at the very least.

The movie Back to the Future was set between 1955 and 1985.  Michael J. Fox was the lead actor and his character was called Marty McFly.  He went back in time thanks to a car of a machine made by the scatterbrained professor named Emmett Brown.  When Marty made it back to 1985 after his flirtation with the past, Doc Brown took the time machine and told Marty he was heading for the future himself.  Marty asks Doc how far into the future he is going?  Doc tells him 30 years.  Marty asks Doc to look him up in the future and that he’ll be 47 years old.  I was 17 in 1985.  I am 47 in 2015.

I have my doubts that even the creativity of Hollywood could have come up with some of the social and political story lines that are playing out in 2015. I think it was in the episode that was called “Disorder in the Court” that Curly Howard of The Three Stooges was about to take the stand in a courtroom.  To the judge he said: “Truth is stranger than fiction…Judgy-Wudgy.”

That Curly was always ahead of the game.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Editorial Note:  Thanks to all that let me know they enjoyed the photo of me and my Dad at the NH-Corydon high school football game last week.  As the photo suggests, we had a grand time.

College Football 2015

Wow.  I have so looked forward to this weekend.  The first full weekend of NCAA College Football.  I would be remiss if I did not give a nice nod to Montana and North Dakota State for giving is a great taste of what is to come.  The upset the Montana Grizzlies put on the Bison of NDSU was a classic.

This week’s picks:

South Carolina will beat North Carolina...  Steve Spurrier will lead a much improved Gamecock group.  I was too kind to them last year.  I thought they were on the way to a championship.  In reality, they stunk it up.  A victory over next door neighbor UNC will help get things started.

Western Kentucky will beat Vandy….Coach Brohm will continue to do a fine job in leading WKU.  They will challenge Marshall for prominence in the C-USA East.  The Herd will win out.

Michigan will beat Utah…Jim Harbaugh goes out to Utah with his alma mater Michigan and gets beat?  No way.  The smart money is on Utah.  Money has no memory.  A Michigan Man is back in town and the whole of college football will take notice.

TCU will beat Minnesota…I will give Minnesota credit for scheduling a toughie like TCU to open the season in Minneapolis.  The way of the world is to open up with a few strong games…some we will pick later.ll

Duke will beat Tulane…It won’t be a cakewalk.  Tulane has its own field now and does not have to play to a cavernous Superdome that is 20 percent full.  The job Coach Cut has done at Duke gives even a Hoosier football some hope.

Ole Miss will beat Tennessee-Martin like a drum.  Not much to say here.  Looking forward to the new quarterback situation.  Bo Wallace had too much scrutiny and it was not good for him or Ole Miss.  What can I say?  Hotty Toddy!

Nebraska will beat BYU…The game is in Lincoln.  That is why I am picking Nebraska.  They have a new coach in town and he will have the Huskers ready for Brigham’s boys.

Louisville will beat Auburn…I think Auburn is better.  In his first stint at U of L, Bobby Petrino was 41-9.  He won some big games.  He scored some upsets.  I am not saying I am a fan.  But I do know this…the game is not at Auburn.  The Cardinal players will think playing in Atlanta is a bigger deal than the boys from Auburn.  They will play like it and Auburn will lose a fumble or throw an interception to make a difference.

Indiana will beat Southern Illinois….The Hoosiers try to get to 6 wins by hosting the Salukis from Carbondale.  The poor Hoosiers start things off on a bad note just by scheduling a Pea Ridge like team to open the season.  I remember when the Hoosiers played Rice, Missouri, and Toledo before conference play.  Those were better times.   In 1981 the USC Trojans came calling to Bloomington, if you can believe that.  In 1977, LSU played the Hoosiers on IU soil.  That was another life ago.

Mississippi State beats Southern Miss….I will give State credit.  They are going to M.M. Roberts Stadium, a.k.a “The Rock” to play the home-standing Golden Eagles.  It is good for the Mississippi economy and the right thing to do now and again.  Though I hope State loses every game and they get put on probation, I give them credit for going down to Hattiesburg for the game.  The folks in Oxford would never stand for that.

Texas beats Notre Dame…Charlie Strong did not have a picnic of it his first year at Louisville.  It is his program now.  Notre Dame is getting their obligatory Irish-love by media that has never set foot in South Bend…or the last time they were there was when Lou Holtz was coaching.  Rudy doesn’t live in South Bend anymore.

Alabama beats Swissconsin….Let it be known I hope Bucky the Badger loses a foot in a trap.  I always will.  Though I am not in love with the Crimson Tide, I do think they will be strong.  In fact, I expect them to be the 2nd strongest team in the SEC West.  They will have too much speed for the Badgers.

UCLA beats Virginia…The Bruins are my pick to win the PAC 12.  They better beat UVA!

Marshall will beat Purdue….My dear wife, Carrie, and I will be in Huntington cheering on The Herd.

It sure is fun to be doing this again.

Speaking the College Football Predicting Rights…

Danny Johnson

Larry Johnson, my Dad, still loves football.  This fundamental truth was on display in full voice on Friday night as we were hanging on the fence close to turn three of the running track and football field at Corydon Central High School.  When Dad was pleased with a play’s outcome,  you could hear his satisfaction.  When Dad not pleased with a play’s outcome, you could hear his disapproval.  When he wanted to impart his version of what the players needed to do on the play they just breaked from the huddle to perform, you could hear his advice.  All of it was from the heart and he meant every syllable. Our team, North Harrison, won 43 to 39.  It was great game.

I showed you a picture of him on a wall of my new office in a previous post.

This was actually a gift to him upon his retirement.  A lovely lady by the name of Jane gave this to him.  Her nephew is the one in the picture to the left with my Dad.  It now hangs above my computer screen in my office at the same high school where my Dad was coaching while these photos were taken.

As we were standing there watching the game Friday night, I was thinking about all the ball games my Dad had taken me to over the years.  There is no way even I remember all of them…and I don’t forget much.   As I was there with Dad Friday night, I thought about two games in particular.

Look…for better or worse, I think about decades and what was happening twenty years ago and thirty years ago and even ten years ago.  Well, 40 years ago on August 23, 1975, my Dad took me to see the Cincinnati Bengals play the Green Bay Packers in an “exhibition game”…that was the nominal term for the “pre-season”  back then.  This was forty years ago and the NFL regular season was 14 games instead of 16.  They played six pre-season games instead of the four they play now.

This night was to be the first time I got to see my football hero at the time, Ken Anderson, play in person.  He did not disappoint.  He completed 15 of 21 passes for three touchdowns before yielding to back-up John Reaves.  The autographs I procured from these two as a youngster:  

The Bengals won 27 to 10.  The Green Bay Packers had a new coach that year.  His name was Bart Starr.  Though I did not get to see him play in person, I still remember him jogging out of the tunnel onto the field.  His stride was just like the footage I had seen when he had a green #15 jersey on.  That was a thrill.

The Packers had a quarterback that was starting to see the twilight of a very long football playing career.  His name was John Hadl.  What set John Hadl apart from all others playing the position in those days was that he wore the number 21.  All other quarterbacks wore 10-19 for the most part.  The single number jersey was not prevalent in the NFL back then.  The Cincinnati Bengals did not allow a single numbered jersey until Boomer Esiason came to the Queen City from the University of Maryland by way of Long Island in the mid-80s.  I wish he would have stayed in New York.

Later that same 1975 football season, on September 27th, Dad took me to Bloomington to watch the Indiana Hoosiers play the visiting Utah Utes. This game fascinated me also.  I had heard of the state of Utah.  I had seen it on maps.  Seeing those white jersey and red numbers and helmets with a U circled gave my 7 year-old mind tangible proof that a place called Utah really did exist.

The game was a highlight in a season filled with lowlights.  The Hoosiers finished 2-8-1 that year.  The 31-7 victory would be the last of the season.  A season that saw a long October and a longer November.

In the years since, Dad and I have seen bowl games and pro games and many many high school games.  We went to Notre Dame to see a game a couple years ago.  He had the time of his life.  I had fun too.  I thought I was going to freeze to death.

There is but one destination to see a game left.  I hope one day Dad and I can walk into the Rose Bowl side by side to see a UCLA game.  That is the last place I dream about.  Maybe I should leave it at that.

In the meantime, we’ll go to another game on Friday night and…enjoy…and continue to…

Speak the Rights.  (You can count on him yelling the rights at the game…)

Danny Johnson

Have been extra busy here of late.  So many things going on and I have not taken the proper time to offer any explanation of such.

Today Carrie, my dear wife, and I were taking care of a medical appointments.

One of those was at Floyd Memorial Hospital.

One was at Wicks Pizza.

In earnest, I am very thirsty as I type these words.  This thanks to the mounds of cheese and proper toppings…veggies…that decorated our pie.  I wish I would have taken a picture of this pizza.  There are a few slices left in the fridge.  They might not be there long.

I look forward to the weekend when I can put on a proper post.

Tomorrow night I will be rooting on the North Harrison Cougars as they take on the county rival Corydon Panthers in high school football.

This time last year I did not think that last sentence would be possible.

I am glad things turned out otherwise.  I didn’t know as much as I thought I did.

Speak the rights.

Danny Johnson

Question.

That is the title of a Moody Blues song that was taken off the 1970 Moody Blues album called “A Question of Balance”.

The song Question was a bit a protest song, I suppose.  I know it has been referenced before as such by the guy that wrote the song.  His name is Justin Hayward.

I have a a bit of a protesting question myself.  It will come at the end of this post.

Know that I would rather be looking out the window trying to find nothingness than sitting here writing this post.  I was motivated by sadness to pick up the speak the rights sign post and write these words.  I had other plans.

My intention was, given that I attended a high school football game last night and am still intrigued enough by the game that it inspired me to bag up my three football and grab my football cleats and my kicking shoe.  My intent was to swing my leg a bit and try to feel good about the fact that I can still kick a ball that passes over the cross bar of the goal post from forty yards, even though I am sad believing I have little hope of hitting one from fifty yards like I routinely did thirty years ago.

After my foray into acting like a kid again, I was going to write a post that was to let everyone know, hence a less than clever title that I am : Still Kicking.

It didn’t turn out that way.  I just sighed heavily as I wrote typed that last sentence.

Moments before I dropped Carrie, my dear wife, off at her building to work, we were listening to a news report on the radio.

We heard that three American civilian contractors were among the dead in a suicide car bombing in Afghanistan.

Carrie and I just looked at each other trying not to believe what we had just heard.  You see, our son, Jarrett, spent time working as one of these civilian contractors after he got out of the military.  He was no longer a soldier.  Given his expertise with helicopters, the fact that he had experienced one deployment to Iraq and two to Afghanistan, and the fact that he is more than competent in being depended upon and trusted, another arm, call it one  arm of a cousin of Uncle Sam,  convinced him to go back and work in Afghanistan as a “civilian contractor”.

Do you remember that lady Tom Cruise had the hots for in Top Gun?  She was a civilian contractor, I would say.  She had  expertise about aviation equipment she could pass along to the soldiers.  Jarrett had that same ability.  He, a civilian, showed the Army guys how to better take care of, and work their Blackhawk helicopters.  He knows them well.

When Jarrett finished his arranged stint as a civilian contractor, he decided he had seen enough of the Middle East.  He did not go back.  Thankfully, we did not have to watch him go back.

During his years of deployment, Carrie and I winced every time we heard the home phone ring.  We would take a breath before we looked at the caller-I.D. feature on our phone.  One time when we were talking to Jarrett while he was over there, we could hear the shelling KA-BOOMs in the background.  I have never been so rattled in all my life.

Jarrett came back to us.  As a soldier… he came back to us.  As a civilian contractor…he came back to us.

Today he tried to call his mother and I think she let the phone ring and ring.  She could not talk to him.  He called me and I talked to him.  What did we talk about?  We talked about his work schedule…we talked about his puppy dog…we talked about his order for what I am putting on the grill tonight….we talked about having a meal together.  He told me he loved me and I told him I love him.  I can do that today.

When our phone conversation was over I was thankful I had this conversation.  I was also just as sad for three sets of parents whose children were trying to help by using the expertise and know how.  Dangerous work?  Yes.  Financially rewarding?  Yes.  Necessary?   You better believe it.

I thought about how I will probably have to look hard to find the names of these three civilian contractors and where their families live.  They will quickly be a news blip afterthought.  That does not make them any less important.

I am left with a couple tough questions.  As I look at how much attention a former Olympic male athlete has gotten for telling the world he wants to be a girl, when I see television ratings soar for shows that depict families that can’t get along to save their lives, when I see political candidates that feed this reality television mentality, when I see professional athletes make millions of bucks for being mediocre players, when I see politicians whom have no idea what education is really about and try to act like they do, when I see…well…you can probably fill in the blank yourself.

Do soldiers ever ask the question?

Am I fighting for this?

I would.  But I would also know there is always hope for a better day.

Speaking the somber rights.

Danny Johnson

Hello Group!

It was on a Sunday 52 weeks ago.  I was sitting in this very chair on the back porch putting together the 2014 College Football Preview edition of speaktherights.com.  There are six such chairs like the one I am sitting in and I did a smart thing early in the summer when I rotated the cushions.  I will be here for a while today sharing with you my views of the upcoming College Football Season.  And of course, I will post my predictions for each week of the college football season and update my progress and my setbacks.  I encourage you to pick some games for yourself.

Know this…my football picks are about winners and losers…and not about point spreads.  I do not and have not and will not bet money on a college football game.  I love the game too much to let that happen.  I have never bet on a professional basketball game either.  No one has ever asked.

My allegiances in the teams I root for have not changed.  I still root on the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Ole Miss Rebels.   I still dream about one day seeing a game at The Rose Bowl where UCLA plays their home games.  The Indiana Hoosiers still have a place in my heart…but I can only find it about two days out of the week and that is usually Tuesday and Wednesday.  The words Indiana and football are like putting together the words Mississippi and soccer or steak and caramel syrup.  You get the point.  It has been this way for a very long time.  I tend to call it the “natural order of things”.  If only these words could fire the Hoosiers up.  I don’t think I have any readers in Bloomington.  Too many basketball fans there.

Lets take a look at the conferences of some FBS members.

THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

The Duke Blue Devils are reason to give Indiana Hoosier football fans some hope.  The Dukies have won 19 games in the last two years.  Success can be had where basketball is the major attraction.  Indiana does not have Coach David Cutcliffe or the Manning brothers camping out during the summer.

The Louisville Cardinals, another one of my alma maters I can’t bring myself to warm up to, fared well in their first foray into the Atlantic Coast Conference last year.  Bobby Petrino can coach.  He is also trying to make nice with folks in town and that is a plus too.  He smiles sometimes when he shouldn’t.  It looks a little painful for him.

THE ACC ATLANTIC DIVISION

1.  Florida State:  Too many strong horses in the stable for the Seminole to ride on.

2.  Clemson:  Yabba Dabo Do Ball is fun for the Clemson players.  Youtube is coach’s friend.

3.  NC State:  Many of you know my love for the state.  Upsets will be Pack’s friends.

4.  Boston College:  Coach Addazio brings light to land of low expectations.

5.  Louisville:  I know you think this is Papa John Cardinal Pool Hall Hate…it is not.  QB?

6.  Syracuse:  Improved last year.  Tough spot in a tough conference division.  Too cold.

7.  Wake Forest:  Bless their hearts.

THE ACC COASTAL DIVISON

1.  Virginia Tech:  I still believe in Beamer Ball.

2.  Georgia Tech:  The grind it out O by Coach Johnson worked for 11 wins last year.

3.  Duke:  Am I the only one who believes this team can win 9 games again?

4.  Miami:  If the players are together, they could win this division.

5.  North Carolina:  I left them off my predictions last year.  Why is that?

6.  Pittsburgh:  New coach….again.  I wish him luck.

7  Virginia:  Thomas Jefferson would have gone for two every time.

THE BIG TEN

I took some flak last year from some of my Hoosier Football friends…they didn’t reveal their real names.  They took umbrage with my calling Bloomington the safest place in America on a Fall Saturday.

Last week I told my brother-in-law, Hi-ho Steverino, that one of these days we should plan a BigTenapalooza and go to each of the schools to see a game in one season.  He responded first with the enthusiasm that a young man should and agreed that it would be a noble pursuit.  Then he politely reminded me that Rutgers and Maryland are also in the Big Ten…rendering a visit to all of them impossible during a 12 week season.  I tried.

On to the picks…

The BIG TEN EAST DIVISION

1.  OHIO STATE:  Brutus is still at the Big Ten helm.  Stop him and you too can win it all.

2.  PENN STATE:  Coach F took the names off backs of jerseys.  Another tradition will follow.

3.  MICHIGAN STATE:  Sparty is a toughy.  They will lose a couple nail-biters.

4.  MICHIGAN:  Coach Harbaugh is a Michigan Man!  They still have some work.

5.  INDIANA:  Because Rutgers and Maryland also play in this division.

6.  RUTGERS:  Only 3 projected returning starters on offense.

7.  MARYLAND:  Are they really in the Big Ten?  Is that a typo?

The BIG TEN WEST DIVISION

1.  MINNESOTA:  My upset pick.  They will hold on to the ball when they need to.

2.  WISCONSIN:  I hope Bucky steps in a Badger trap.

3.  IOWA:  I gave them the love last year.  Picking them 3 may still be the love.

4.  NEBRASKA:  Could be 1 or 2.  We’ll see how the new coach thing works out.

5.  NORTHWESTERN:  HUGE disappointment last year.  They’ll struggle.

6.  ILLINOIS:  I may be stepping in it here.  Many returning on both sides of ball.

7.  PURDUE:  Pete needs to trade that hat he wears for a bag to put over his head.

I better not give Purdue too much grief.  I may be eating my words after week #1.  Carrie, my dear wife, and I are going to be in Huntington on September 6th to watch the Boilermakers at Marshall.  I don’t think the Herd has ever hosted a Big Ten team…at least not in a long while.

I gave IOWA way too much love last year.  I still like them.

The league that still rules college football is the SEC.  Look at attendance.  Look at records.  Look at the game day pageantry.  There is a word that still matters in the SEC in this world of reality tv, twitterers, face bookers, blogger, instagramers, and other assorted possums.  The word: TRADITION.  In a world that is tilting on its axis a bit more than it did before, in the SEC it is still your way of life against mine.  It’s BAMA vs. AUBURN…OLE MISS vs. STATE…UGA vs. FLA…and this is not going to change anytime soon.

THE SEC RULES COLLEGE FOOTBALL and we all know it.

THE SEC EAST DIVISION

1. GEORGIA:  They might win them all.  O-Line back..,DBs back.  UGA is one happy dog.

2.  FLORIDA:  Could they of wanted a coach to go this badly?  New guy is set.

3.  MISSOURI:  The Tigers will still be strong…but not the rep in Atlanta in December.

4.  TENNESSEE:  Not a believer yet.  Many have them much higher ranked.  We’ll see.

5.  SOUTH CAROLINA:  Talk about let down.  I crowned Coach Spurrier king last year.

6A.  KENTUCKY:  I want to put them higher.  I have lived long enough to know better.

6B.  VANDERBILT:  Tough to win college ball in a town that loves guitars and hockey sticks.

THE SEC WEST DIVISION

I still call this is toughest division in football…college or pro.

1.  OLE MISS:  There.  I said it.  The Peach Bowl debacle leads to the turnaround.  Homer?

2.  ALABAMA:  Sorry, brother Tim.  At least you’ll be ahead of Auburn.

3.  LSU:  Tiger Mike is ready to improve over last year’s 4 loss season.  Les eats grass.

4.  ARKANSAS:  Yes…the Pigs.  They will be ahead of Auburn.  Offense is loaded and ready.

5.  AUBURN:  The War Eagle is in bad shape…he didn’t get fed during summer school.

6.  MISS.STATE:  Old adage…if you can’t say anything nice…………………………………………………

7.  TEXAS A&M:  Should be playing the Longhorns every year.  Is this college football?

I hold true to my assertion of Texas A&M.  They don’t have a single game against another Texas school on their schedule.  Exhibit “A-through Y” as to what dollars have done to hurt college football.  Exhibit Z?  That’s easy…Rutgers in the Big Ten instead of Missouri.

During last year’s speaktherights.com College Football Preview, I picked some Conference Championship Game winners.  We’ll get to those later in the year.

I do want to include my winners of other conferences.

PAC 12: UCLA…Oregon still good.  Bruins will bring shock waves to left coast.

C-USA:  MARSHALL, of course.  Cato gone?  He will be missed but not needed to carry on.

AAC:  CINCINNATI…The Kiel QB will be in Heisman hunt.  His numbers will be gaudy.

BIG 12:  TEXAS…Coach Strong has turned the tide.

MAC:  UMASS…call me crazy…go right ahead.

MOUNTAIN WEST:  BOSIE STATE..who else?

SUN BELT:  ARKANSAS STATE…they go through coaches and keep winning.

Have a great college football season and check back for the speaktherights.com College Football Picks that will be posted mid-week during the 2015 College Football Season.

Speaking the pigskin rights.

Danny Johnson

In his 2012 cd release “Analog Man”, Joe Walsh sings about being an “analog man in a digital world”.  I can relate, Joe.

Here I go touting another disc of music.  You’d think K-Tel had me on the pay role.

On to other matters.

If I hear another personage ask me if I can believe what is happening on the national political scene with Donald Trump leading the polls in the Republican camp, I think I will get in the floor and do a Curly move.  That is Curly from The Three Stooges.  You know when he’s laying on the floor kind of sideways and spins around.  That is what I want to do when folks ask me about the wind bag that is Donald Trump.  Yes. Yes. And Yes.  I can believe this Trump phenomena with ease.

Look folks.  There is a old saying.  There are many old sayings.  And I am afraid we are losing touch with honest, earnest, sincere communication to an alarming degree by losing touch of some old sayings.  Okay, I’m off the subject a bit..but I am not…this will come back around to Trump in a few minutes.

Many of you know I exercise on some equipment in our basement and I watch television as I do it.  Sunday I was putting in my elliptical paces watching the NFL Network.  It was Sunday.  The NFL season is almost upon us and I know most of the NFL Network’s on-air talent are taking time off before the onslaught that is the NFL Network…I tire of it all easily…runs full steam.  So why was I watching?  I had heard earlier in the day that legendary player and broadcaster Frank Gifford had died.  I was hoping to see or hear something on the NFL Network that was worthy of viewership.  I should have started watching my Hill Street Blues box set again.

Frank Gifford was an icon.  He sounded like a diplomat that knew all there was to know about his subject matter.  Respectful.  Fun.  Genuine.  Serious.  When Vince Lombardi died I know that if Frank Gifford had been on the air that day….and maybe he was…he would not have said going into commercial: “When we return we’ll check the temperature around the league as we remember Coach Vince Lombardi.”  That was the poor guy on the NFL said about Frank Gifford, the real King of Monday Night Football.

Check the temperature?  Son, we just lost an icon…and you want to check the temperature around the league?

My dear wife, Carrie, often gets frustrated with me for taking up for sports broadcasters that say some rather obvious, simplistic, and maybe even really dumb stuff.  I have a pat answer for her.  I have been behind the mic calling games on the radio more often than I remember.  I feel I can understand, somewhat.  I always tell her: “Yes, I know he could have done better…but he’s gotta say something.”

Don’t DON’T DO NOT…talk about the temperature of the league when you lose a Frank Gifford.  That is, in the vernacular of my old radio partner, Gus Stephenson, STUPID TAX.  I know I probably have shoes older than the youngster commentating in that lonely NFL Network studio.  I don’t care.  The school of journalism he came from probably took his poster off the hallway display when they heard that.  I hope they did.  As for the NFL Network, they need to do a better job of taking care of their own.

I mentioned this on twitter.  No one could say: “There’s time out on the field, we’ll be back…” like Frank Gifford could.  You wanted him back.  You needed him back.  We need him now!

Back to Trump.

Old Saying:  You reap what you sow.  Biblical saying.  Look it up.

Donald Trump is the train wreck many people want to watch.  He is our actor/politician on television.  He is a reality television star on a very large stage.  Folks who watch the Kardashians and their train wreck on television want to see that on the political stage.  That is why he is so popular.  That is also very scary.  There is a great deal of train wreck TV out there.  Be careful.

Add the reality television candidate to a field of politicians whom have and will have low “approval ratings” until a catastrophe hits the country and folks start looking for leaders again when these folks realize they are the ones who don’t know their butts from a hole in the ground…that would be reality setting in.

There was a feeling of trepidation from some that thought the actor Ronald Reagan would not be able to hold his own.  I don’t think Reagan would look at Trump and say “Well, here we go again…”  No.  I think he would say “Get this clown off the stage.”

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Hello Group!

I almost couldn’t find the “add post button”.  It has been a week since I offered up a post on speaktherights.com.  With my new job, I have been very busy.  I have not been so busy that I could not find some great music…like so much great music is discovered…by chance and me paying a modicum of attention.

You all know I love music.  Recently I found a great collection of music on CD  to listen to by this great duo:

They are Curtis Brengle and Julie Ragins:  The Duo.  Look them up.  Find their music.

Don’t they look like they are having a good time?  Believe me, if you have heard what these two have done with the piano keys and a voice that matches the beauty of the art of Curtis Brengle’s playing, you would know that they are not here to have a bad time.

Music has been good to all of us.

Music has been great to me.

I conveyed some time ago the story of the night I was in the studio recording and my friend, the late Tim Krekel, started talking about a phone conversation he had the night before with Billy Swan.  I looked at Tim befuddled.  Then I proceeded to tell him that Billy Swan’s “I Can Help” was the first song that got my attention in 1974 when I was six.  Tim went on to tell me he routinely played the song’s guitar solo.  He toured with Swan as the song was climbing the charts and Swan was opening for Willie Nelson during a European Tour.  Tim Krekel also played lead guitar for Jimmy Buffett for two stints that lasted some six years.  Krekel’s playing slide on “Cheeseburger in Paradise”.  He also played lead for me.  Talk about a humbling experience.

I have met some great folks in the studio.  Some still here.  Some gone.  Some I hope to work with again.  It is a wonder how sounds can bring folks, whom would normally have a hard time connecting, so strongly together.  As I said, music has been good to us.

Before a few weeks ago I did not know the name Curtis Brengle.  After listening to this CD he made with Julie Ragins, I will never forget him.  More importantly, I will never forget the music he has made.  I wish I would have been in the studio to hear him play.

I knew of Julie Ragins.  I have seen her many times playing and singing with…wait for it…The Moody Blues.  Yes…that band.  If you have read speaktherights.com before, you too have heard of them.

I think it was on a twitter post that I saw this CD..THE DUO…was out there for the finding.  I am so glad I found it.

Julie Ragins has been supporting The Moody Blues on stage for a number of years now.  The Moodies are better for it.  She is very talented.  Her voice is smooth.  Her voice is pure.  Her voice is honest.  Her voice is real.

I am delighted that I will have the chance to listen to Julie perform once again when Carrie, my dear wife,  and I go to see a Justin Hayward (Moody Blues lead singer) solo show in September.  I think she will be there…

Many of you know I work in education.  In the fall of 1996, Justin Hayward released a solo album.  I played it for a class I was teaching at the time.  A 13 year-old girl took it upon herself to draft a letter to “Mr. Hayward” to tell him the class had listened to his new stuff. Unbeknownst to me, the whole class, save one, signed it before it was presented to me.  The young lady said she did not know where to send it to Mr. Hayward.  I sent it to Cobham, Surrey on their behalf.  Nearly five months later I got a hand written thank you note from Justin Hayward.  Many years later, I found out his parents were teachers.

Thank you Justin.  And thank you Justin for bringing along Julie Ragins so I have a chance to listen to THE DUO and their fantastic recording.

A voice and a piano.

I was losing hope that I would find something new to move my musical soul.  I found it in Curtis Brengle and Julie Ragins.  They bring us a piano and a voice to enjoy.  Pure and straightforward.  No overdubbing.  Who needs bombastic effect when you have a voice like Julie’s to fill the room with light and shade.

Thought I don’t skip a single track as I am listening, I take the time to listen to “love me still” over and over again.  I take the time to listen to the traditional “danny boy” like it is the first time I have heard it.  Their take on “walkin’ after midnight” is fresh and quite creative.  Their arrangement of “someone like you”, the lead track,  will hook you in a hurry.

I need to stop there.  You need to find out for yourself.

I liken my discovery of “THE DUO” to my discovery to The Moody Blues.  That was the day I was in a large department store in 1983…I was 15…and found a cassette of “Days of Future Passed”.  I looked at it and saw the words “Nights in White Satin”.  So…this is the group that sings that song, I thought.  And then three years later I was a senior in high school listening to “Your Wildest Dreams” and going to the first of many Moodies concerts.

Well…thirty years later I am back at my old school.  This time I am a school counselor.  With no new Moodies album on the horizon, I am thankful I found Curtis Brengle and Julie Ragins.  THE DUO indeed.  Oh, the best thing for them…they are husband and wife and they can make this music for the rest of us.  Find them at: www.theduosong.com.  You won’t be sorry.  You’ll thank me.

Speaking THE DUO rights…

Danny Johnson