Congrats to the Kansas Jayhawks, who just won the NCAA basketball championship, beating the Memphis Tigers in OT. Kansas came back from a 8-point deficit by hitting shots and sending Memphis to the free throw line. All season, that was the Achilles' heel for the Tigers. When they were beating the crap out of C-USA and the likes of Michigan State and Texas in the tournament, it didn't matter much. But, Kansas kept sending them to the line, and Memphis kept missing. This obviously kept KU in position to win or force OT. Mario Chalmers hit a great 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to force that OT.
So here's the moral of the story: Dunks and 3s will get you on Sportscenter, but boring things like defense and free throws win championships. You gotta hit your throws. If Memphis makes 2 that they missed, they win in regulation, and I'm congratulating them (for what that's worth). Meanwhile, KU made 14 of 15 from the line.
Either way, congrats to the Jayhawks. Having spent some time in Kansas City, I know the fans are pretty rabid, so cheers to them. Hopefully the fans in KC don't tear up places like Tanner's, Coach's; or closer to campus in Lawrence, any place on K-10, especially the Rock Chalk Car Wash. I enjoy referencing (and by referencing, I mean making fun of) that place.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
East metro growth
Saw a couple of interesting articles (here and here) about future growth in Washington County. It is expected that there will be 366,000 people over there by 2030, compared with a current population of around 201,000. One article features current landowners and the pressure to sell to developers. It also mentions the internal battles in some of these towns poised for growth. The other article talks about what will happen to the stretch of I-94 between the 694-494 interchange and the Wisconsin border.
As someone who has been on that stretch of road many times going to or coming from Wisconsin, the evolution has been fascinating. Woodbury has steadily marched north to I-94, while the north side, Lake Elmo, has largely remained rural. The juxtaposition of all the big box retailers, lifestyle centers, and the like south of 94 vs. Dolan's Marine and not much else north is somewhat strange. Well, the Met Council changed all that. Now, Lake Elmo will have to bear some of the burden of expected growth in that direction, and that continues to cause a lot of consternation over there.
This brings me to the other article, about how to solve the future transportation problems that will inevitably come with all this growth. As it stands currently, traffic moves along rather well on I-94 east of the 494-694 interchange. It has six lanes, and meets the needs of the area for the most part. But, as growth continues to happen (not to mention the leapfrogging of people over the river to St. Croix County), it seems inevitable that I-94 will need to be widened, regardless of plans for other modes of transportation. Apparently WisDOT believes there will be a need to widen the bridge over the St. Croix River at some point soon to accommodate traffic to and from Wisconsin, thus expediting the need for widening in Minnesota. This wasn't mentioned enough in the article, but it is likely that planning for this will have to include projections for growth in St. Croix County. It has already exceeded its 2010 population projection of 80,779 (Wisconsin Dept of Administration) and stands at 81,331 (2007 estimate, Census Bureau). Without much knowledge of how these are calculated, I would expect that St. Croix County will have at least 115,000 residents by 2030, with another 80,000 in Pierce and Polk Counties. The majority of these people will likely work in Minnesota, in continuance of current commuting patterns.
I guess I don't have much more of an opinion on things at this moment, but I will continue to be interested in watching how things work out over there. My only concern is making sure that corridor allows me to high-tail it out of Minnesota when necessary.
As someone who has been on that stretch of road many times going to or coming from Wisconsin, the evolution has been fascinating. Woodbury has steadily marched north to I-94, while the north side, Lake Elmo, has largely remained rural. The juxtaposition of all the big box retailers, lifestyle centers, and the like south of 94 vs. Dolan's Marine and not much else north is somewhat strange. Well, the Met Council changed all that. Now, Lake Elmo will have to bear some of the burden of expected growth in that direction, and that continues to cause a lot of consternation over there.
This brings me to the other article, about how to solve the future transportation problems that will inevitably come with all this growth. As it stands currently, traffic moves along rather well on I-94 east of the 494-694 interchange. It has six lanes, and meets the needs of the area for the most part. But, as growth continues to happen (not to mention the leapfrogging of people over the river to St. Croix County), it seems inevitable that I-94 will need to be widened, regardless of plans for other modes of transportation. Apparently WisDOT believes there will be a need to widen the bridge over the St. Croix River at some point soon to accommodate traffic to and from Wisconsin, thus expediting the need for widening in Minnesota. This wasn't mentioned enough in the article, but it is likely that planning for this will have to include projections for growth in St. Croix County. It has already exceeded its 2010 population projection of 80,779 (Wisconsin Dept of Administration) and stands at 81,331 (2007 estimate, Census Bureau). Without much knowledge of how these are calculated, I would expect that St. Croix County will have at least 115,000 residents by 2030, with another 80,000 in Pierce and Polk Counties. The majority of these people will likely work in Minnesota, in continuance of current commuting patterns.
I guess I don't have much more of an opinion on things at this moment, but I will continue to be interested in watching how things work out over there. My only concern is making sure that corridor allows me to high-tail it out of Minnesota when necessary.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
RIP, my NCAA bracket
Well, my bracket fought valiantly, putting 3 of 4 teams in the Final Four (I missed on Memphis, took Pitt instead). But, between the beating it took in Tampa, and now this, I am officially done. Stupid UCLA not using their experience to their advantage. Oh well, maybe next year.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
$8 cover charge for The City
I can't quite put my finger on why this bothers me, but it does. I don't mean the fact that someone in the New York Assembly is not gung-ho about the idea of charging all vehicles $8 for the privilege of driving in parts of Manhattan, but the idea itself. Of course, it's partially for the environment, so in many eyes that makes this GOOD. But, I just see all sorts of unintended consequences for a lot of people who live and/or work on that island. They don't ship groceries to stores on the A train. There is something else that bugs me about it, but I can't quite put it into words.
Oh, I just figured out part of the reason it bugs me. This bothers me because if this is successfully implemented in New York, you just know that some idiot alderman in Minneapolis, like perhaps this one, will try to do it here. And she'll do it with my best interests in mind, I am sure. After all, she is my rep in City Hall. And, she cares about my needs.
Disclosure: I am not anti-public transit. In fact, I use it often. Also, I don't really care for people in this town like Jason Lewis who have sort of a "let them eat cake" view of people who use public transit. But, a proposal like the one in New York just seems punitive. OK, that's one other thing that bugs me about it. It seeks to punish people who drive themselves around.
Oh, I just figured out part of the reason it bugs me. This bothers me because if this is successfully implemented in New York, you just know that some idiot alderman in Minneapolis, like perhaps this one, will try to do it here. And she'll do it with my best interests in mind, I am sure. After all, she is my rep in City Hall. And, she cares about my needs.
Disclosure: I am not anti-public transit. In fact, I use it often. Also, I don't really care for people in this town like Jason Lewis who have sort of a "let them eat cake" view of people who use public transit. But, a proposal like the one in New York just seems punitive. OK, that's one other thing that bugs me about it. It seeks to punish people who drive themselves around.
Nausea, here I come
This is a microcosm of why I sometimes really really hate Minnesota. "Look at us, we're so much better than you. We have a smoking ban, and you don't." Just another example of a superiority complex this state has, which is pretty much without merit. By the way, beating your neighbors to creating a full-on nanny state is nothing to be proud of, Minnesota.
If I had the dough, and if the Bible-thumping do-gooders wouldn't get all angry, I would put up a billboard on the east side of the St. Croix River with a big middle finger aimed at Minnesota. Perhaps putting a Super Bowl ring or three on it would make it better.
If I had the dough, and if the Bible-thumping do-gooders wouldn't get all angry, I would put up a billboard on the east side of the St. Croix River with a big middle finger aimed at Minnesota. Perhaps putting a Super Bowl ring or three on it would make it better.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Crean to Indiana...doesn't look like April Fools either
There are several reports, including this one, this one, and this one, that say Marquette coach Tom Crean is set to take the Indiana coaching job. I have to say I was surprised at this. I don't think Indiana is the elite job it used to be, and Crean pretty much had it made at MU. You can't be certain that this is a big step up. However, Indiana is a legacy program, so I guess I can see why Crean would take it, if in fact he is. And, there is a lot to be said for taking on new challenges...and Indiana is certainly going to be a challenge.
The question here is, what's next for Marquette? This coaching search will be very interesting. Marquette is a pretty good job for someone coming up or trying to come back. So far, I haven't seen any names, but this is not a surprise just yet. On the JSOnline link, a lot of people seem to think bringing Bob Knight or Rick Majerus into the fold would be a good idea. Others think Tony Bennett might want to come back to the state of Wisconsin and coach at MU. Frankly, I don't see any of these scenarios happening. But, I wonder if Marquette won't try to get a name coach, to essentially do what Indiana did. I also wonder if they can pull it off. I guess we'll see.
I forgot to mention the other aspect of this for Marquette...does this mean that Dominic James and Jerel McNeal are pretty much gone? I wonder if this will make MU try to get a coach more quickly.
The question here is, what's next for Marquette? This coaching search will be very interesting. Marquette is a pretty good job for someone coming up or trying to come back. So far, I haven't seen any names, but this is not a surprise just yet. On the JSOnline link, a lot of people seem to think bringing Bob Knight or Rick Majerus into the fold would be a good idea. Others think Tony Bennett might want to come back to the state of Wisconsin and coach at MU. Frankly, I don't see any of these scenarios happening. But, I wonder if Marquette won't try to get a name coach, to essentially do what Indiana did. I also wonder if they can pull it off. I guess we'll see.
I forgot to mention the other aspect of this for Marquette...does this mean that Dominic James and Jerel McNeal are pretty much gone? I wonder if this will make MU try to get a coach more quickly.
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