Monday, March 09, 2026

Texas Woman's Basketball Wins the SEC Tournament




It's been a rip-roaring season, and we still have a whole Bracket to get through in the NCAA tournament - but this is huge.  The Longhorns beat Ol' Miss and Dawn Staley's mighty South Carolina to take the trophy.  

It's funny - I have different circles of people I talk to about different sports.  Jamie is there for all but soccer, Jill I text during WNBA games.  I have a group chat for UT football. But JAL is who I text during women's college basketball games.  And other times, my mom - who does not miss a minute of UT Women's Basketball.  And my cousin Sue will chime in sometimes.  

We had a birthday lunch for The Karebear today, and I think we were both looking at our watches to make sure we were out of there for a 2:00ish tip off.  

Jamie decided it was too stressful at halftime and went and sat on the porch with Emmylou.  

Anyway, just wanted to drop a note here and celebrate a huge win!  Texas didn't just win, they won decisively.  An astounding effort by everyone.  Longhorns played with so much heart, as they say, it was astounding to watch.  

Thursday, March 05, 2026

Unrivaled (3-on-3 Basketall) Season Ends - Mist Doesn't Miss





The night of March 4th saw the finale of the second season of Unrivaled Basketball, the 3-on-3 women's basketball league. 

If I can be candid - I think they're really onto something.  I don't think it should replace the WNBA, I still like 5-person teams.  But it's like snack-sized basketball in a format that's easily consumable and makes a lot of sense - and is designed by actual WNBA players, not nerds beholden to interests off the court.  

Our champions were Mist who narrowly defeated Phantom, after narrowly defeating The Vinyl.  And that's the kind of spirit it takes to be a Championship team.  Because the season is so short, the bracket was played in single-elimination rounds, so no "best of seven".  If you don't win the game, you go home.

Wednesday, March 04, 2026

Happy Birthday, Ma!

The Admiral and KareBear drop by League HQ


Hey!  It's my mom's birthday!  I'm not allowed to discuss numbers, but it is a round number.

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Emmylou Harris at the Paramount, 02-23-2026

Emmylou Harris, Verlon Thompson and Shawn Camp


The Paramount didn't really do much to push the fact Emmylou Harris was coming to Austin when tickets went on sale - because they didn't have to.  The show sold out pretty quickly as near as I can tell.

Some shows you know are going to just stick with you forever, and I knew from the minute this got underway - yes, this would be one of those sets.  With zero ceremony, Emmylou wandered out onto the stage like a stage manager and informed us "I know you didn't know this, but tonight we're doing a tribute to Guy Clark".  With the crowd that showed up - a bunch of old Austin music nerds - that was like saying "everyone here is getting a $100 bill and a bag of candy".  No complaints were lodged.

Saturday, February 21, 2026

DITMTLOD: Ice Skating, Ice Capades and The 1992 Winter Olympics



We haven't done a DITMTLOD post in a long, long time, but here we go.

Gisela Head


I have a memory of the first time I saw a woman, who was not Princess Leia, as "attractive".  Who knows what word I had in my head?  I was probably around three years old, but it was such a weird idea at the time - that until I hit the ages where finding girls a great idea - I did not quite understand what that was all about. 

At the time, the Ice Capades were still very much a staple of American culture.  Younger readers will only know the post-Ice Capades world of "Disney on Ice" or "Muppets on Ice".  At one point, I know our family took in a mix of "The Ice Capades" and "Smurfs on Ice".  

The Ice Capades were essentially an odd relic of the Zeigfeld Follies/ Vaudeville shows that had died out decades prior with radio, film and television.  Why go out for singing and dancing and some comedy when Our Show of Shows was readily available or Ed Sullivan could show you Broadway, comedy and an opera star in one hour?  But on ice?  

For some reason, that lasted until the mid 1990's

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Happy Lunar New Year - Year of the Fire Horse




They tell me it's the Year of the Fire Horse.  

I know nothing about any Zodiacs, from any culture.  So I am left to Google this.

Apparently a year for rapid change.  Good golly, do we need more of that?

Let's round up the Fire Mares, then.


Sunday, February 15, 2026

Weekly Rewind - 02/15/2026

baby's first tooth brushing


Happy post Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day kind of came and went.  It's just not either my favorite holiday nor Jamie's.  It's expensive and a hassle.  We stayed in, had a pizza and watched a movie I did not like at all.  Jamie gave me a fun card.

This was our 30th Valentine's Day together, and every year we remember our miserable first Valentine's Day sitting in freezing weather outside waiting for a table, only to then be sat outside near one of those gas burners, which did nothing.  

It's a bunk holiday.

Steven and Lauren and young Alexander Come to Town