Articles for December 7th, 2011
Coach June Jones’ Departure From SMU, Ctd., Ctd.
Now reports are saying that the Arizona State boosters got “cold feet” about Jones when the news broke. So, umm, nevermind?
Rick Perry Slightly Misstates America’s Problems in New Campaign Ad
This new ad from the Perry campaign is about faith, sort of. There’s the governor, walking through what appears to be an unseasonably green meadow. “I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian,” he starts. Nothing new here. But then it gets exciting. “But you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”
That’s right, the “something wrong in this country” is not the multiple wars, the serious economic woes, the increasingly dangerous lapses in education, or the ridiculous system by which politicians are financed. Again, the problem isn’t kids forced to live on the street, or people dying from preventable diseases, or even the worst drought anyone alive can remember. No, the “something wrong” is gay people in the military not lying about who they’re attracted to and kids not getting enough Christmas in school.
Luckily, at the end of the ad, Perry promises to “end Obama’s war on religion.” Problems solved.
Coach June Jones’ Departure From SMU, Ctd.
Several weeks ago, I spent some time with June Jones after one of SMU’s morning practices. I was beginning work on a profile of the coach, timed to run with the beginning of next season. Unless I get a job with the Tempe city magazine, I won’t be writing that profile now. I will say, during the time I spoke with Jones, he didn’t seem like a man looking for another job. In fact, the impression that I got, from what he said, was that he probably wouldn’t be at SMU as long as he was at Hawaii, but when he left it would likely be for retirement, not another gig. Apparently, something changed.
Not long ago, I got in touch with SMU sources who shed some light on the possible reasoning behind Jones’ departure. According to them, the main sticking point Jones had with SMU was lack of support, specifically attendance at games. There was, apparently, quite a discrepancy between what SMU would announce and the actual figure. One of the sources said that attendance at the season-ending Rice game was reported as somewhere around 13 or 14,000. “I was at that game,” he said. “There couldn’t have been more than 4,000.” It was frustrating to Jones, and there was no effort or inclination to get around one of the stadium’s main stumbling blocks (only around 6,000 parking spaces) by encouraging fans to take DART. Yes, Jones got a bit more money from ASU, but the source says that wasn’t the driving factor.
Also, Jones wanted to wait until after the Mustangs’ January 7 bowl game against the Pittsburgh Panthers before he made the announcement — as he did when he left Hawaii for SMU — “but ASU wouldn’t have it.”
Merritt Martin Leaves Observer for Eater
Comes news that Merritt Martin is the new editor for the Dallas version of Eater. Martin, who ran the Mixmaster for the Observer and did a lot of their calendar work, fills the spot vacated by Andrea Grimes, also a former Observer person. We wish Martin great success in her new endeavor (by which, of course, I mean we wish her failure, because while a healthy conversation about local food only makes the city a better place to live, we run a thing called SideDish that we’re a bit partial to).
Coach June Jones’ Departure a Blow to SMU?
Southern Methodist University was all excited today about officially announcing that its sports teams will be joining the Big East conference. But then the news began to break that head football coach June Jones has decided to leave the Hilltop in favor of Arizona State University.
Jones had been at SMU for four seasons and is credited with helping the football team to become somewhat respectable. Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPN Dallas says “Jones’ decision to leave for Arizona State makes SMU a laughingstock. Again.”
Meanwhile, Bleacher Report speculates that SMU entering the Big East may have spurred Jones to move west, because of “quality of life” considerations:
The Big East is going to be a mess and will require a lot of traveling. SMU is in Texas and will be taking several trips to the East Coast to play football games in November and December.
I’m sure when Jones heard the words freezing and snow, he remembered his coaching days in Hawaii and found the first flight out. In fact, every place Jones has coached in for the most part has great weather, including San Diego when he was a quarterbacks coach for the Chargers.
And the Arizona Republic warns that the ASU gig isn’t exactly a football coach’s “dream job”:
ASU fans expect the unrealistic. Old-timers resist new logos and pine for the good old days under Frank Kush, forgetful that it was a different time and a different country back then. The younger generation is impatient and half-vested. A school official sagely says ASU leads the nation in fans who scream their dissatisfaction from the couch.
Gene Weingarten’s Controversial Mayborn Talk Makes the Pages of The Washingtonian
Remember the stink made over two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Gene Weingarten’s talk at the Mayborn Conference back in July, when he told the crowd about smoking pot with a story source and kind of pretending to be a doctor? I discussed it with Weingarten here and here. Well, that journalistic debate serves as the closing anecdote in a new, lengthy profile of Weingarten appearing in The Washingtonian, the city magazine of our nation’s capital. The conference itself, says writer Tom Bartlett, is “one of those events where journalists gather to commiserate, encourage, and envy.” Here’s Bartlett’s take on what Weingarten was trying to achieve with his lecture:
“Why risk besmirching your own reputation? My theory is that this is consistent with his tendency toward self-flagellation. He reveals his faults in his columns. He writes stories about people whose mistakes and quirks mirror his own. So it makes sense that when he gives a speech in front of admiring journalists, he admits to bending the rules. It seems like a meaningful trend to me, perhaps even a profound insight. I test this theory out on Weingarten. He doesn’t buy it. He was, he says, just trying to entertain the audience.”
Had I known that Weingarten had a reporter following him around for a story that weekend, I would have pushed harder when I invited him to The Lodge. Just imagine what kind of anecdotes the profile could have had then.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Dec. 7
I saw my first Santa hat doubling as cold weather gear this morning. I can’t believe those synthetic monstrosities are warmer than a nice knit beanie.
As much as I might wish the Christmas train would slow down (I’m very behind on shopping), Yuletide activities are proceeding full steam ahead. Louisiana-based band Givers headline the KXT holiday show at the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff this evening with support from Fort Worth’s The Orbans. You can still get tickets online, or at the door. Otherwise, last minute fans of My Morning Jacket will be pleased to learn there’s also tickets left for their concert tonight out in Grand Prairie. I’m hardly the band’s biggest cheerleader, but their cover of Buddy Holly’s “True Love Ways” is really wonderful.
And now, a mid-week treat for serious opera lovers. As you might know, a few of the larger national and international performing arts companies have started recording select productions in high-definition and screening them in movie theaters for those of us who don’t reside in New York or London. Whether this is actually a lucrative endeavor remains to be seen, I think. Regardless, you can catch the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha tonight at the AMC NorthPark. The three-act opera is sung in Sanskrit, with subtitles, and is loosely based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi with mentions of historical figures like Leo Tolstoy, Rabindranath Tagore, and Martin Luther King, Jr. If you’re interested, settle in. It’s a one-time showing, and has a running time of almost four hours.
For more to do tonight, go here.
Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings: The Buzz About Dallas From the Hilton Anatole
Above is the logo of Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, which are taking place at the Hilton Anatole through tomorrow. Don’t you like how the logo has captured Dallas’ sense of place so well? They even included our iconic mountains and landmark windmill.
The meetings began Monday. General managers, managers, agents, players, broadcasters, and hordes of baseball writers have descended on our city, hoping to make deals or break news about making deals in preparation for the 2012 season. It looks like the Cardinals and the Marlins are the teams Albert Pujols is deciding between. And free agent Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson has seemingly been linked to every club in the game. He joked about that in this tweet:
@str8edgeracer C.J. Wilson: In unrelated news, I haven’t been offered contracts from FC Barcelona, the Mavs or the Lakers. #wintermeetings
Went poking around the Twitter feeds of various baseball writers to see what they’ve had to say about Dallas itself. Not surprisingly, they like to eat: (more…)
Rhett Miller on Fatherhood
An alert FrontBurnervian points us to this essay by Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller about what it’s like to be a rockstar and a father. Stop what you’re doing and take four minutes to read it. Good stuff. Sample:
Every freaking day they wake up demanding to be fed again. And then, more likely than not, refusing to eat the meal you’ve prepared. Every day. There is no cycle, much less a break from the cycle. There is only the grind. I feel like I’m tour managing an endless tour with a band comprised of subliterate narcissists.
Alec Baldwin Kicked Off American Airlines Flight for Playing Words With Friends
Our good friends at Words With Friends are getting some good publicity this morning. Seems Alec Baldwin was so engrossed in a game that he kept playing on an American Airlines flight even after folks were told to put away their electronic devices. Baldwin got booted off the flight at LAX and tweeted: “Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt.” You know who isn’t getting good publicity?
Leading Off (12/7/11)
Man Records Himself Building Hidden Camera. Christopher Furber decided to set up a hidden camera in the changing room at the Oak Point Recreation Center in Plano. But instead of being stealth while he installed it, he recorded himself (accidentally?) while he built the camera and installed it. It was discovered when a 4-year-old boy accidentally knocked it over. The camera was in the process of recording the boy’s 10-year-old sister changing. Disturbing.
Racially Charged Letters Sent to Latino Families. Someone’s mailing letters to Latino families in the area. The letters contain threats to the families. One instructed the family to “leave the country now.” Police are asking for anyone with tips to step forward. Again, this is just disturbing.
Little Boy Needs Bone Marrow Donor. Though Zach Guillot’s leukemia was in remission for a year and a half, the cancer returned right before Thanksgiving. He now needs a bone marrow donor. You can help by going to Parish Episcopal’s drive on December 11. Watch this story about Zach and his fight with cancer, and try not to tear up when his classmates talk about their buddy.
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