On this day in 2018 I published the first post on this blog. It’s not much of a post, but I was in shock after discovering that Guck Foogle had deleted my previous blog–and its 600+ posts–because I had the “nerve” to appeal their decision to remove ads. The few dollars I later received as part of a settlement in a class action lawsuit against the Evil Empire was no consolation.
Still, I am grateful to have found this platform. I thank all of you who read this blog, which now consists of 1,300+ posts and over 650,000 words. I guess I’ll keep blogging as long as WordPress enables access to the Classic Editor.
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Not that anyone associated with the program will read this, but congratulations to the University of Georgia football team for winning the national championship. While I am not an Alabama “hater”–unlike many/most college football fans–I was hoping Georgia would win. Alabama was defending champion and had won three of the first seven titles under the new CFP system. Georgia had not won a championship since 1980, albeit not a championship earned in a real playoff system.
This is hardly going out on a limb, but I think Alabama head coach Nick Saban is the greatest coach in college football history. His teams have won seven national championships (six at Alabama, one at LSU), the most of any coach ever. In case you don’t know, or even if you do, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was on Saban’s staff at LSU, with the Miami Dolphins and for many years at Alabama. Last night’s win was the first time in five tries that Georgia defeated Alabama with Smart and Saban on different sidelines.
The current playoff system would not have been possible if some important people had not put aside their own interests and acted in the greater interests of the sport. Unfortunately, the epidemic of acute selfishness that afflicts the US has claimed college football as another victim. The conference commissioners cannot agree on a format to expand the playoffs or even whether or not they should expand. The major obstacle is selfishness, which is so acute that college football is leaving literally billions of dollars on the table in the form of greater television revenue that would accrue to them with an expanded playoff system.
Apparently, the Pac-12 conference, which has not fared well on the national stage in recent years, is the only conference that would support each of the proposed new formats. The current system may “have” to stay in place for the duration of its current agreement, four more years. After that, unanimity would not be needed to change the playoff system and accompanying TV arrangements.
I would be fine with an 8-team system–champion of each of the Power 5 conferences plus three at-large berths–or a 12-team system in almost any configuration. It’s disheartening to see that almost none of the people in charge can see the forest for the trees, even when the forest is paved with gold.
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So, what car shall I feature to commemorate four years of this blog? Well, it will be the beautiful, but unreliable car I owned when Disaffected Musings began:
That is the 2009 BMW Z4 I purchased in May, 2016 photographed on the driveway of our previous home in the mid-Atlantic. I still think the second generation is the best looking of the three Z4 iterations and I also favor hardtop convertibles over softtop.
I know I have written this before, but maybe the child of Jewish Holocaust survivors shouldn’t own a German car. The Z4 was the least reliable car I have ever owned. I was the second owner and the car had 42,000 miles (42,148, to be exact) when I bought it, not an excessive amount.
In the 29 months I owned it, my repair/maintenance bill was in five figures. Not trying to ruin my karma, but in the nearly 34 months I’ve owned my Corvette Z06 the only necessary expenses I’ve incurred have been oil changes, four new tires and a new battery, about $2,000 in total.
Our good friend Eileen (Happy Birthday, Eileen!), who comments on the blog occasionally, owned a BMW while we were neighbors in Texas. Over time, she grew to dislike that car. (By the way, she currently owns a Tesla and she loves it.)
No make is sacred and all makes manufacture cars that are less than perfect. My advice if you’re looking to buy a car, other than good luck because you’re going to need it due to inventory shortages, is to keep an open mind and not lock in on any make or model. Although we neither want nor need an SUV here in Arizona, our Kia Sportage was an example of a good vehicle that we found because we were willing to consider many options.
Here’s to the beginning of Year Five!
#FourYears…
#GeorgiaFootball
#My2009BMWZ4
#somanycarsjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
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