The word has come down from the ever and over powerful NCAA on the fate of Penn State football in light of the Sandusky scandal. For the future, Sandusky was an assistant coach who assaulted and abused little boys over several years through a foundation he supported and part of the foundation perks involved Penn State athletic facility access. Among other places, some of the abuse occurred in the athletic complex. The problems escalated when it came out that the head coach, the legendary Joe Paterno, some of his staff and some in the administration knew about the abuse and did nothing. People lost their jobs, Joe Pa's reputation was destroyed and as of today, he lost his "winningest head coach" title. The University lost 14 seasons of wins, future bowl games, scholarships and everything else involving the reputation and pride of Penn State football. And the NCAA fined them $60 million dollars, with another $13 million piled on by the Big 10.
I agree with every sanction except the money. The NCAA says it is the money will "fund programs that serve the victims of sexual abuse". Yeah, right. Who will be monitoring the NCAA? And more important, where is the money coming from? The football program? Maybe. The late Joe Paterno? The jailed forever Jerry Sandusky? A few people lost sight that the University is there for education, not football. And granted, most Universities need that lesson. But I truly think taking the money from a public university is going to do more harm than good. Take the money from the football program, put it in a general scholarship fund. Fund good things...research, scholarships for students that cannot normally attend college unless they play football, certainly education about child abuse so this does not happen again. But paying the NCAA? Nope. Not their business. They have overstepped their bounds. And this is only the beginning of the bleeding...I'm sure lawyers are lining up, licking their lips as the civil suits start. It's going to take years before this heals. The pain is going to last for a very long time and a whole lot of people are going to be affected who have nothing to do with the almighty NCAA.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
2012 Tour of Texas
Whew!! I've been gone from home almost a week and will be heading home on Friday and in true McCombs fashion, I'm just about ready to be home.
My first stop was Donna's in Weatherford where we ate until there was little left to eat, drove the golf cart, tripped to Ft Worth to go to Sam Moon's and discovered a couple of nifty new things, pita bread and a space age coke dispenser that I thought was way cool but am sure the more sophisticated around me thought I was just a hick for being impressed.
I spend a couple of days in the bustling on steroids Dallas area for my Uncle T's birthday on Saturday. It was a surprise but he was not too surprised to see me but then others kept coming in...his brother, my Uncle D and his wife S, then sons T and R and then cousins I don't think I'd seen in 50 years from North Carolina. I think he was overwhelmed. We had a catered dinner by a professional chef that was really good and a great German Chocolate Cake that was to die for. Again, too much food but I really think a good time was had by all. Here is where I should be inserting pictures but I had forgotten my camera at the hotel and my cell phone was on fumes. Aunt B took a bunch so I'm hoping to snag a couple later.
Then, Monday morning I was on to New Braunfels to my cousin Glynneth's house for a few days. It was not too bad of a trip. My car GPS who I named Bonnie, took me down I35, not my first choice of highways because it's kind of busy but I made it through Waco where I got a look at Baylor (a beautiful campus) and then through Austin where I held my breath the entire way. Bonnie got me where I needed to go.
Our first evening we went to Gruene, TX, a small town that has been over commercialized but is still pretty laid back. They have some major river access so it was a little crowded. We ate at a restaurant called the Gristmill. Great onion rings and chicken. We then stopped at Gruene Hall, a dance hall built in 1878. There was a band there lead by Justin Minor and he has a great voice. In the olden days (70's) George Strait's band was the house band. And we looked around a little too and tried on some silly eyewear:
On Tuesday, we went to outlet malls where we shopped til we dropped and my credit card was smoking!! I found some Christmas presents and school clothes and shoes which I needed so all and all a good day. Dinner was at Bonzai Japanese Steakhouse where we had the most entertaining chef I've had at one of these places.
Wednesday found us back in San Marcos doing a smidge more shopping. Lunch was at Johnny Rocket's where the staff danced for us.
The color makes me nauseous But in my defense, it was steak. I am happy to report that the appetizer was horrible (how exactly do you screw up a potato wedge wrapped in bacon?) and the waiter was rude and argumentative and I can un-recommend it on it's merits.
My first stop was Donna's in Weatherford where we ate until there was little left to eat, drove the golf cart, tripped to Ft Worth to go to Sam Moon's and discovered a couple of nifty new things, pita bread and a space age coke dispenser that I thought was way cool but am sure the more sophisticated around me thought I was just a hick for being impressed.
I spend a couple of days in the bustling on steroids Dallas area for my Uncle T's birthday on Saturday. It was a surprise but he was not too surprised to see me but then others kept coming in...his brother, my Uncle D and his wife S, then sons T and R and then cousins I don't think I'd seen in 50 years from North Carolina. I think he was overwhelmed. We had a catered dinner by a professional chef that was really good and a great German Chocolate Cake that was to die for. Again, too much food but I really think a good time was had by all. Here is where I should be inserting pictures but I had forgotten my camera at the hotel and my cell phone was on fumes. Aunt B took a bunch so I'm hoping to snag a couple later.
Then, Monday morning I was on to New Braunfels to my cousin Glynneth's house for a few days. It was not too bad of a trip. My car GPS who I named Bonnie, took me down I35, not my first choice of highways because it's kind of busy but I made it through Waco where I got a look at Baylor (a beautiful campus) and then through Austin where I held my breath the entire way. Bonnie got me where I needed to go.
Our first evening we went to Gruene, TX, a small town that has been over commercialized but is still pretty laid back. They have some major river access so it was a little crowded. We ate at a restaurant called the Gristmill. Great onion rings and chicken. We then stopped at Gruene Hall, a dance hall built in 1878. There was a band there lead by Justin Minor and he has a great voice. In the olden days (70's) George Strait's band was the house band. And we looked around a little too and tried on some silly eyewear:
 |
| Gruene Hall |
 |
| Dang, they're me!! |
 |
| I think Justin Minor is going to be a star |
 |
| We will, we will eat fried rice!! |
 |
| R-E-S-P-E-C-T |
Dinner was at Clear Springs Restaurant where the catfish was good and although they claim the best onion rings, I thought Gristmill's were better.
Our final meal out was, I'm ashamed to say, here:
On Thursday we did a town tour and a small amount of shopping. And we got new toes:
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| Toes |
 |
| Longhorn Steakhouse |
I came through Fredericksburg on the way home and it's a nice little town full of interesting shops. I also brought home side of the road tomatoes and peaches so life is good there.
It was all in all a great vacation, full of family, food and fun. And I am glad to be home. It was an extra long trip home and I think I have made my last solo road trip for awhile. Gonna save for the skies I think.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Meatloaf Muffins
Meatloaf Muffins
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 egg + a splash of milk
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tsp of grill seasoning mix. I had McCormick BBQ seasoning
1 cup bbq sauce + some to spoon on top before baking
1 T Worstershire sauce
Preheat your oven to 450. Spray your medium pan with non stick spray. Put everything in the bowl and mix well. Use your ice cream scoop to put the mixture into the muffin tin. Cook 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.
Thanks to Rachael Ray!! Her recipe calls for putting the veggies in a food processor and wants you to add 1/2 c of tomato salsa. I had no salsa and a food processor would be too complicated. And she was whisking eggs & milk and mixing sauces and taking her full tv 30 minutes. I just dumped everything together and think it probably did not taste much different. The recipe was easy & the taste was really good. I froze half of them...hope they are as good later!!
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