LIONS SCREWED AGAIN: Army orders Lions draft pick Campbell to withdraw
Caleb Campbell will not get a chance to play for the Detroit Lions because of a change in military policy.
Campbell was a seventh-round draft pick for the Lions in April. At the time, Army policy would have allowed the West Point graduate to serve as a recruiter if he made the team.
But a subsequent Department of Defense policy has superseded the 2005 Army policy.
Not that this is really a serious blow to the Lions. Campbell wasn't projected to have a major impact on the team. But it's just another example of things going from bad to worse for the struggling team.
15 KILOMETERS OF FUN: 2008 Meijer Festival of Races 15K at the Cherry Festival in Traverse City this past weekend:
I ran the race and it was hot and humid. Near the race's midpoint, on McKinley Street, is a massive hill that doesn't seem to end. Once you get to the top, it's even steeper going down the backside. They call that stretch "Mt. McKinley", and for good reason.
VERY COOL: Download Free PBS Programs from Kent District Library. The price is right.
YUM: Grading West Michigan's hot dog joints
I noticed the Pronto Pup of Grand Haven:
313 S. Harbor, Grand Haven (grandhavenprontopup.com)
Eaten: The Pronto Pup (only thing on the menu), a dog on a stick dipped in batter, cooked in 100 percent vegetable oil and served "naked," or slathered with ketchup or mustard
Verdict: A lot like a corn dog, but oh, so much better. The use of a wheat-based, rather than corn-based, batter adds an intangible sweetness to the dog. Another classic West Michigan item -- available seasonally and the third weekend in January -- that's nearly perfect in its simplicity.
Grade: A
The small Minnesota town where I grew up had a summer festival called the Pow Wow, and one of the top treats was the "Pow Wow Pup," which many people referred to as a "pronto pup." I've always thought that I liked the Pow Wow Pups more than I like standard corn dogs (which I do like very much) and wondered if it was a different sort of batter. This description of a "pronto pup" makes me think it was. Wikipedia says that the pronto pup had its origin at the Minnesota State Fair.
| Reviewing West Michigan's best hot dogs |
DON'T GET BORED: Absolute Michigan's July Event Calendar.
No shortage of fun in Michigan this July!
RAMPAGE WIN AGAIN:Rampage upset Chicago in AFL playoffs
The Grand Rapids Rampage are one win away from playing in their second ArenaBowl.
The Rampage, the sixth seed in the AFL's American Conference, upset the top seeded Chicago Rush 58-41 Sunday at Allstate Arena.
I was at the ArenaBowl when the Rampage won its first championship. They've been a pretty mediocre team this season, but they've peaked at the right time.
Next up is San Jose.
MEDIA GETS "ASSAULT RIFLE" WRONG AGAIN: Teen with assault rifle shot by Battle Creek police
Technically speaking, even the civilian semi-automatic versions of the AK-47 and M16 aren't "assault rifles." The whole "assault weapon" term was cooked up in response to this inconvenient fact. The weapon this Battle Creek 15-year-old carried was identified as a "9mm assault rifle." There is no such thing as a 9mm assault rifle, even in the military. My guess is that it was a Hi-Point carbine.
See GunPundit for more info.
WARNING: No body contact advisory issued for areas along Grand River
Health Departments officials are asking people to avoid body contact with the Grand River from the Wealthy Street Bridge, through Ottawa County, all the way to Lake Michigan after sewage overflow spilled into the river.
Approximately 70 million gallons of sewage made it into the river in several locations, including the Market Avenue retention basin.
They will be testing the water on Monday, July 7th.
GOT THE LEAD OUT: 5,000 pounds of lead bricks stolen from the University of Michigan
They are painted blue, weigh about 25 pounds each and are collectively worth about $2,000. The bricks are used as barriers to contain radiation for scientific experiments, Neumann said.
Police believe the thieves may have stole the bricks to sell as scrap metal.
Hopefully, the bricks weren't currently being used to contain radiation.
FREE TICKETS: Rothbury Ticket Giveaway from GM Next & Absolute Michigan
For the entire month of July, Absolute Michigan will be focusing of Michigan festivals celebrating music, art, food and the other things that make Michigan fun.
To kick it off, we're having a spur of the moment Rothbury Ticket Giveaway courtesy of the folks at GM Next Plug In!
See Absolute Michigan at the link above for details.
WILDCARD WIN: Rampage proving they can compete with big boys
Grand Rapids 48, Arizona Rattlers 41:
The Rampage won a grinder game, played at Arizona's pace, with the reduced number of possessions and limited scoring typical of a playoff game. For anyone who thought the Rampage had to score in the 60s to 90s to win a game, their playoff opener offered a tangible response.
They got an interception on the Rattlers' first possession and spent the entire game milking it.
A defensive stand late in the game against Arizona's quarterback Jeff Smoker (formerly of MSU) iced the victory.
ALWAYS SAD TO SEE: Family-owned business calls it quits after 67 years
Alvan Motor Freight, a family owned business, is ceasing operations after nearly 70 years and filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
President and CEO James Van Zoeren says a number things including the economic difficulties in the Midwest, the strike at American Axle, overcapacity in the trucking industry and fuel prices lead to the company's demise.
Alvan was a good, reliable company.
Image from the amazing Hank's Truck Pictures.
TIGERS REACH, PASS .500
What a weekend!
Saturday evening:
Jones blows save, Cabrera's hit wins it as Tigers reach .500
This afternoon:
Tigers sweep Colorado to improve to a game over .500
IT WOULD BE A START: 1,000 new jobs for West Michigan?
A solar panel manufacturer offering 1,000 new jobs may want to locate a plant in Kentwood or Coopersville, and state lawmakers on Friday scrambled to make an $18.75 million pool of money available to entice that project and others to Michigan.
Two projects openly being discussed in Capitol hallways in conjunction with the economic incentive bill were an unidentified solar company scouting sites in Kentwood and Coopersville, and a Volkswagen AG plant the state hopes to lure to south central Michigan, lawmakers and lobbyists said.
The thing I like about the solar panel plant is that it's a high-demand product that is going to be growing in importance in the coming decades. New automotive-related jobs are certainly nice, as it allows Michigan to grow on what it already has. But diversifying is always good, particularly when it's something like alternative energy.
I JUST SIGNED UP FOR MLB.COM'S PREMIUM INTERNET TV SERVICE. It took me about two minutes to decide to cancel.
Even though I checked the ZIP codes of home and work and both showed 'okay,' it tells me I'm blacked out for all home Tigers games. What someone is calling the "official MLB blackout map' indicates that all of Michigan is blacked out for Tigers home games. I'm not sure that it's an accurate map or that MLB.TV uses the same map, but if that's the case MLB.TV's ZIP Code checker needs to be fixed.
I also tried entering an Arizona zip code into my account to see if that would make a difference. Predictably, it doesn't.
I called customer service and waited on hold for a while, then was told I'd be called back "probably within half an hour." We'll see. I've already sent an email directing them to cancel my service.
I tried to check out another game just to see what the quality was, but I'm getting error pages for all games now. Whether or not this has to do with my pending cancellation (or my zip code trickery) I don't know.
According to the map I linked to, the entire state of Iowa is blacked out for home games for the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the Kansas City Royals, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Minnesota Twins, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Blacked out for six teams despite not having a single one in the entire state.
Honestly, this isn't 1981 any more. Major League Baseball is going to have to rework the way blackouts work if they want to enter the world of 21st century media.
I'm sure they'll get right on that.
WOOD-TV: Could lower speeds spur gas efficiency?
With gas prices climbing, one Michigan lawmaker says its time to roll back the speed limit.
A Democrat from the east side of the state has introduced a resolution in the state house urging the federal government to enact a 55 mile per hour speed limit nationwide.
The government did just that in the 70's during the oil crisis setting a 55 mile per hour speed limit to conserve gas.
That went up to 65 miles per hour in the 80's, and was lifted altogether in the 90's allowing states to set their own limits.
So far there has been no vote on the resolution.
And they have a poll on the subject. Here's a screenshot:
The problem with this poll, and the 55 MPH speed limit resolution in particular, is that the slight mileage improvement that would result from a lowered speed limit will do nothing to change the price of gas. Not in a noticeable way. Sure, you may save a few bucks personally, and all of that savings will add up. But it's not going to do much to increase the supply of oil/gasoline.
The number I usually seem to hear about the mileage benefits of a 55 MPH speed limit is "up to 15%." So let's say, for the sake of argument, that it really is 15% instead of the 5-10% that "up to 15%" probably really means.
If you've got a vehicle that gets 30 MPG and you drive 12,000 miles a year, you will burn about 400 gallons of gas getting wherever it is that you go. Up your mileage by 15% and you'll be getting 34.5 MPG, saving yourself about 52 gallons of gas. At $4.00 a gallon, that's 208 dollars, or about $4 per week.
You aren't going to be buying many extra groceries each week for $4, and gas prices aren't going to shift much (if at all) because of a tiny decrease in demand.
Meanwhile, gas tax revenues will fall, as will the profit of gas stations and oil companies. This decreased revenue will actually give governments and gasoline suppliers an incentive to RAISE prices to make up for lost income.
Recall that when a county-wide initiative to conserve water in the Atlanta, GA area succeeded in lowering water usage by 30%, the country hiked water rates to make up for the lost revenue. If water usage goes back up, do you think the country will lower rates accordingly?
Here's a hidden cost to drivers: Driving 12,000 miles at 55 MPH takes about 218 hours. But if you drive 70 MPH, it only takes 171 hours. In other words, to save $4 each week, you'll need to spend 54 extra minutes driving each week. $4 for 54 minutes comes out to somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.40 per hour. Would you work for $4.40 per hour? Would you give up 54 minutes of family time or free time or sleep each week for $4?
The actual savings (and time cost) experienced by most drivers will be far less, as most people drive a large percentage of their miles on roads other than highways. So maybe you'll save $1.75 per week. Is that worth lowering the national speed limit?
Personally, I spent the past three tanks of gas driving 65 MPH on the highway instead of my normal 70. I'm shifting back up to 70 for the next three tanks and will see if I notice any difference in my mileage.
I encourage people to do some math before deciding to go forward with this. If someone feels strongly about driving 55, I have a suggestion for them: Drive 55. No one's stopping you.
Can I drive 55? Sure. Do I want to? I don't know for sure, but I doubt it.
Do I want to have to? Not a chance.
CARNIVAL OF HOMESCHOOLING #130: Homesick Campers' Edition: This week's installment at Dewey's Treehouse. The homeschooling blogosphere is fairly impressive.
LANDMARK DECISION: Keep & Bear Arms: An Individual Right
Predictably, some are trying to claim a new right has been defined. It hasn't.
SLIP-N-SLIDE:
Detroit Tigers pitcher Todd Jones entertained the fans by donning a Magglio Ordonez hat and wig and pretended to hit, round the bases, and then slide into HP, Ala Ordonez, on the tarp covering the field during their rain delay against the St. Louis Cardinals at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI on Wednesday June 25, 2008. JULIAN H. GONZALEZ / Detroit Free Press
The game later resumed and the Tigers won 8-7, pulling to within three games of .500.
